by Pirateaba
“A Runner? What’s that?”
Erin blinked at Joseph. It seemed so obvious, but he really hadn’t been here. She tried to explain.
“It’s like a post office worker here. She delivers messages, packages—usually she runs from city to city, avoiding monsters and bandits.”
“What? That’s so weird. Why would anyone want to do that?”
“Well…”
Erin stared at Joseph. She shook her head slightly.
“It’s what she had to do to survive. I mean, I became an [Innkeeper]—”
“You’re an [Innkeeper]? Why?”
“…Because that’s the only way I could survive. I didn’t know there were other people and Lady Magnolia wasn’t there, and I found this inn and got the class, so—”
Erin could only shrug. She looked at Joseph and the others helplessly.
“You’ve only been here for a week?”
They nodded.
“Maybe longer. But not much more than that.”
Rose interrupted. She pointed at the girl sitting in the chair.
“Not Imani. She was with another group of people in the airport. She ended up somewhere else.”
Erin looked at the girl again, and this time the young woman seemed to retreat further into herself as everyone stared at her. She clutched her knees to her chest with two arms.
“Um. Is she okay?”
For a second Joseph’s face lost its good cheer. He lowered his voice, although he was clearly audible in the room.
“Imani ran into monsters when she and the others appeared. She was the only one who got away, and she was in this small village until Lady Magnolia found her.”
“Monsters? What kind of monsters?”
Imani shuddered. She looked up at Erin.
“Crelers.”
She whispered the word as she rocked back and forth on her chair. The room went silent. It was the awkward silence of people not knowing what to say. Erin moved over, until she was close to Imani. She hesitated, and then pulled up a chair next to the girl and sat next to her.
“I’m sorry. I ran into a Dragon the first night I was here.”
“A Dragon? Reall—”
Rose, or perhaps it was someone else, kicked Joseph. But Imani looked at Erin. She seemed to understand.
“How’d you get away?”
“I ran. And then I ran into a group of Goblins.”
Erin had to smile bitterly at the memory. She could still taste the fear and feel the burning on her arm and leg as she ran, screaming and crying through the night. Imani looked at Erin and then uncovered her legs a bit.
“I hid. On the rocks. They can’t climb rocks.”
Erin put a hand on Imani’s shoulder. The other girl gripped her so tightly Erin could see Imani’s hand go white.
“I’m sorry.”
“They all died.”
It was a whisper meant only for Erin. And then Imani began to cry. Erin held her, as the other young men and women—the other boys and girls, really—stood around in awkward silence, not knowing what to do or say. But Erin did. She hugged Imani to her chest, and the other girl broke down in her arms.
It was something only they could share. Something only Erin and Imani could understand. So Erin held the girl and talked quietly, until she was sleeping and the others were sitting together.
They were no less talkative, but they were more subdued. Still, Erin saw the energy blazing in the eyes of all of the boys and most of the girls. And she began to understand a tiny bit of what was happening the more they talked.
“They might not be dead.”
“What?”
One of the guys looked at the sleeping Imani and lowered his voice even further.
“They might not be dead. I mean, Imani says she saw them die, but what if they just…woke up? If this is a game, then…”
Erin couldn’t believe her ears. She stared at him, but it was Rose who spoke up, sharply.
“This world isn’t a game.”
“How do you know? If this is some virtual reality—”
Joseph looked at Erin.
“It’s insane, this world, you know? Levels? Classes? I saw one of the maids use a Skill, and it blew my mind! She was cleaning up a spill, and then she just moved the mop and—it was all gone! In one go!”
Erin nodded slowly. She’d explained about her inn and Ryoka in briefest terms, but it was hard to communicate all that had happened to her to these people. They had no frame of reference to understand it.
“Drakes? You mean Dragons?”
“No—I mean they’re like walking lizards, only they don’t like being called that. And there are Gnolls—”
“Ah! I know Gnolls. Do you have to fight them off? Do you have any combat skills or spells?”
“No. I mean, I learned how to defend myself, but I’m no warrior.”
“What about magical items?”
“Magical items?”
“Like a sword or a ring. Something enchanted!”
“I have a chessboard.”
“A chessboard?”
“Yeah, it’s—well, it’s magical. Nevermind. It’s a long story. But what are you all going to do now that you’re here?”
Erin wanted to know what Lady Magnolia intended to do with everyone. But not one of the people in the room knew.
“We’ve been stuck in Lady Magnolia’s mansion for the last few days. Ever since she found us. We can go out in the garden or wander around, but she doesn’t want us leaving this place. She says it’s too dangerous.”
Erin nodded, although she noticed the dissatisfied look on Joseph’s face.
“It is dangerous. I’m glad Lady Magnolia found you all.”
“Yeah, but look out there!”
Joseph pointed to the window in frustration. He waved his hand and nearly spilled the goblet of wine he’d filled to the brim. Erin eyed it.
All of the international students and Rose were eating some of the food that had been laid out. It was all rich stuff, and delicious, but they were also drinking. A lot. Some of the students from other countries – like the guy from China and the one from Poland – were drinking at a slower pace, but the rest were enjoying alcohol liberally, especially the ones from America. Joseph kept offering Erin a cup, but she was sticking to a mild fruit juice.
Now Joseph took a gulp of wine and pointed out the window. In the distance, Erin could see countless buildings, spreading out across the horizon.
“Look at that! Even the sky is bigger here. And there are monsters and magical artifacts! I want to get out there and start leveling.”
“Leveling? In what class?”
Joseph shrugged as he grabbed a sausage off a plate. Rose gave him a disgusted look; she was using the silverware, which was actual silver.
“I don’t know. I’m thinking of learning to use a sword and becoming an adventurer. Or spells.”
“An adventurer? But that’s such a dangerous job!”
Joseph gave Erin an odd look. He shrugged.
“Yeah, maybe at first. But if I get to a high enough level and have potions, it won’t matter, right? I was thinking that we could form an adventuring team! I mean, there are eight of us—nine, including you Erin—but we don’t all have to go out. Some of us could take levels in supporting classes.”
“But why would you want to do that? Lady Magnolia wants to keep you here, doesn’t she?”
Another guy shrugged. He was from…Spain? No, that was Joseph.
“She says that she’s considering it. We’re hoping she’ll give us some magical weapons and armor—you know, to give us a head start. And maybe teach us some magic. I mean, what else should we do? Nothing?”
Erin shook her head.
“That’s really not a good idea. It’s dangerous out there. I mean, you could get killed.”
She wanted to add that they would get killed, but she couldn’t say it. Everyone—except for the sleeping Imani and Rose—didn’t seem to get the danger. Two of the
guys seemed almost ecstatic as they began arguing over the best class to take.
“So what about this Ryoka? Why isn’t she here? I know Lady Magnolia was looking for someone else besides you. Is she that far away?”
Erin’s heart sank as Rose asked her the question she’d been dreading. Erin had been wondering that very thing herself.
“I don’t know. She was going south, to meet some kind of important person and do a big delivery. She was going to earn eight hundred gold coins for it, but I haven’t seen her.”
“Eight hundred—!”
This time Joseph did spill some wine on the carpet. He looked guilty as Erin scrambled for water, but waved her away.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ve spilled stuff before and the maids clean it up. But eight hundred gold pieces? How’d she get that?”
Erin hesitated and sat down.
“I don’t really know. She uh, mentioned a client, but she ran off before I could get all the details. She was being chased. By Frost Faeries.”
“Faeries? No way!”
Nothing would do then, except that Erin tell the entire story of her meeting the faeries as they brought winter. Joseph shook his head, grinning again, when Erin had finished.
“Faeries. Wow. Bring a bottle and a net for extra lives, huh?”
“No—it’s cold iron. They’re dangerous, right?”
Erin nodded.
“I’m just worried Ryoka is okay. I tried asking the faeries to forgive her, but they all left a while back and I haven’t seen one.”
“I’m sure she’s fine. Don’t worry about it. If she’s got levels in this uh, [Runner] class and potions, she should be able to outrun anything and heal up, right?”
Erin shook her head.
“Ryoka doesn’t have levels. Or classes.”
“Why?”
Erin could only shrug. She couldn’t really explain it, not to these people. She went on, growing more silent as the others began talking and arguing more and more.
It sounded like they had gone over these topics many times before, because Erin sensed each group had their own opinion. Rose wanted to make contact with other people from their world, along with two of the other girls, but Joseph and the guys wanted to try fighting monsters. With magical items, of course. The other girls just wanted to explore the city and the world as if they were tourists.
Rose glared at Joseph as he argued with her. Both of their movements were growing exaggerated, and they were getting louder the more they drunk. Joseph grabbed something from one of the tables, and Erin saw with a shock that he had a tablet in his hands. Apparently, this group had been holding their carry-on luggage, so they had quite a number of objects from their world with them.
“You’ve got a phone, and I’ve got a tablet right here. All we need to do is level up in the [Mage] class—or earn enough gold to hire someone to cast the right spell! Lady Magnolia could help with that, and once we get strong enough, we can probably travel there ourselves.”
Another guy—Leon from Poland—nodded. He pointed to the expensive furnishings of this room for emphasis as he spoke.
“It’s all about getting the right start. It’s almost like a cheat to have Lady Magnolia helping us—if we get magical artifacts right off, we can fight tougher monsters without being worried about getting hurt. We gain gold, level up, and do that until we’re high level!”
“And then what?”
Leon looked at Erin as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“We’re going to find a way to go back home. Through a magical portal or something. Or a spell. There has to be one.”
Joseph nodded.
“If we got here, there has to be a way back.”
Everyone nodded. There had to be. Erin stared down at her hands and thought of Pisces and Ceria. She was sixty years old and she hadn’t hit Level 30.
Oblivious to Erin’s thoughts, Joseph grinned.
“There’s so much I want to see. Like Goblins. I hear they’re pretty nasty. I wonder how dangerous they are? Erin, could we take on a tribe with some swords and potions?”
Erin looked at Joseph and tried to imagine him facing down fifty screaming Goblins as they charged and screamed. She shook her head.
“Goblins aren’t all evil. Some of them friendly. Or can be.”
“Oh, you mean they’re not all dangerous? Do some have peaceful villages or something?”
Erin hesitated.
“No—they’re just—”
She gave up. How could Erin explain Rags to the people here? She hadn’t even talked about how the Goblins had killed Klbkch, or the day when she’d woken up and seen Relc holding the severed Goblin heads. She hadn’t talked about fighitng the Goblin Chieftain or Skinner, or anything else.
She just listened, growing more silent as she sipped at her drink as the talk wore on. They were going to explore, leave the mansion soon. Erin was supposed to be the last member of their group since Ryoka couldn’t be found. Lady Magnolia had promised them weapons, gold, even lessons on magic. They were going to find a place to stay in the city, enroll in the adventurer’s guild—at least the guys were—and they’d all find good classes. One girl asked if they could stay at Erin’s inn for a while. Erin imagined them meeting Toren or dealing with a Rock Crab and couldn’t reply.
It was as if someone had let a fly or a mosquito loose inside of Erin’s head. She thought she heard buzzing, faint, but inescapable. It grew louder as the conversation progressed, until it was trying to burst out of her head. The voices around her became fragments, and more slurred the more the others drank. They were so excited from Erin’s arrival that they ate and drank quickly, talking in bursts over each other.
“We need to find a place to stay. An inn, like Erin’s, or we could stay here. But what we really need is potions—”
“I want to learn magic. Did you see that Pegasus outside, and those suits of armor? We could be [Summoners]—!”
“I played Dark Souls. Not the same thing obviously, but if we keep an escape route open we should be—”
“—Tactics. Someone has to be a tank. We can get defensive equipment—”
“—Tame a monster—”
“—Wonder when we’ll go back home—”
“—Learn to cast magic—”
“—Hang out here. It’s like a hotel, isn’t it? Way better than back home—”
“—As soon as we can get Ressa to leave us alone, I want to see if they’ve got any artifacts in the armory we can use.”
“Ressa?”
Erin’s head snapped up. She looked at Joseph.
“What about Ressa? She seems nice.”
He made an expression of displeasure, one that was mirrored across the other’s faces.
“She’s a pain in the ass. Lady Magnolia gave us the freedom to go wherever we want, but Ressa keeps insisting we stay together in this part of the mansion.”
“Really? She didn’t seem that way to me.”
But Rose was nodding.
“She and Magnolia—well, they’re not bad—”
“Ressa is.”
“Right, but Magnolia’s generous. It’s just that she’s awkward, you know?”
“No?”
Erin had no idea, and Rose struggled to explain.
“Really awkward. It’s like she’s a countess out of Downton Abbey or something, you know?”
“Oh come on, she’s not that bad. She’s pretty outgoing!”
“Yeah, but watching everyone bow to her is kind of cringy, isn’t it? And she keeps laughing when we explain elections and democracy to her—”
“At least we’ve got proper toilets and they wash their hands here. I was really afraid they’d all be eating with crap on their hands or filthy and depressing like Game of Thrones.”
“I know, right? And the servants don’t seem to have any kind of education. You know they don’t have schools here? It’s as if—”
The girl that had been speaking broke off quickly. Erin
turned in her seat, and saw the door at one end of the room was open. Ressa was standing there, quietly emanating…dissatisfaction.
Perhaps it was the look of the room. Food was scattered across the sofas, on plates or on the carpets. More drinks had been spilled, and half of the people within were lounging around or fiddling with the electronics they’d brought. Erin had been shocked to learn all of them were still able to use their devices thanks to near-daily [Repair] spells.
The [Head Maid] looked at Erin in the silence.
“Miss Solstice? Lady Magnolia will receive you at your convenience.”
Erin stood up.
“Looks like I’m going to meet her. Um, nice meeting you guys.”
She walked towards the door. Joseph stood up awkwardly as if to follow Erin.
“I’d—we’d like to go with Erin. To talk to Magnolia.”
The expression on Ressa’s face froze as she held the door open for Erin. She did not look quite at Joseph.
“Lady Magnolia will speak to you at a later date. For now she wishes to speak to Erin alone.”
“Yeah, but she’s one of us. Why does she have to be alone?”
“That is what Lady Magnolia wishes.”
Erin stepped past Ressa. She heard Joseph raised his voice.
“Could I—?”
“No.”
Ressa closed the door. And then she took a key from her pocket and locked the door from the outside. Erin wondered if that was overkill, but two seconds later she heard the door handle rattle slightly.
The maid turned and nodded to Erin again.
“My apologies. If you will follow me?”
Erin walked with the tall maid in the corridors for silence for a few minutes. It was hard to reestablish the conversation after all that. Erin cleared her throat silently, and then spoke up.
“Um, we were in there a long time. Was Lady Magnolia busy?”
Ressa shook her head as she walked Erin back through the corridors, and then up a long flight of stairs.
“Lady Magnolia felt it best that you mingle with the others for a while, given you had already met. She is now free from any business at the present time.”
“Oh. Good.”
More silence. Ressa was walking faster than normal again. Erin thought, and spoke to the maid’s back.
“I’m uh, sorry about the mess they made. I’m an [Innkeeper], so I know how it gets. I’ve got [Advanced Cleaning]. Maybe I could help…?”
