She was wearing a light magenta-colored armor that covered her upper torso. The rest of her body was covered by flexible tight clothing. I could understand she favored function over form. Wait, wasn’t the moon supposed to be out of order? Lianne mentioned something about many moons, which triggered my curiosity. If I recalled correctly the moon wasn’t seen in ages.

“Isn’t the moon just a legend these days?”

“These days…” She took a minute. “It’s just an expression. Don’t worry about it. The moon is just a legend.” She emphasized on the legend part and just stared at the distance. “I guess it’s been a while.” She was gazing at something in the far west; perhaps reminiscing of the past?

That was weird and I had a lot more to do than do worthless chat about the moon. “Anyway, thank you, Lianne. I was in quite a bit of trouble.” I would have been in real trouble if she hadn’t shown up. However, I was prepared from the moment I set out on this journey. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. But getting help like this was really a blessing.

She chuckled. “Don’t worry. You already repaid the favor by getting the big one before it could reach me. Having a bow has its own drawbacks you see.”

I could feel it just by talking to her that she was just being polite. An adventurer of her caliber should have been able to slice one or two hobgoblins with ease. I didn’t yet know whether she was an adventurer or not though.

And the sword she carried was the proof of that. Without making much of a scene she cut of the goblins ears and plucked off their dominant fangs with a small knife. She told me to follow suit. I obliged, without even knowing what I was doing.

Some goblins had a few rare things. One even had a three gold coins. If I was in my own world this much gold would have been enough for me to live a moderate life without doing any sort of work at all for at least a year. We put all the things in separate bags.

“Why do this?” I asked. I didn’t know much about this world and customs. I also didn’t know much about monsters for that matter.

“To sell them of course.” Lianne answered as if it was only natural. Actually she gave me a glare of doubt when I asked it.

“Sell? As in money exists in this world?” I was taken in surprise. Before I could understand, I had said something which I should have asked way before. But people in the village used goods instead of money…

“Of course. But what do you mean by this world?” she asked as she looked intrigued. I was on her radar now.

Shit! I didn’t mean to say that. But there wasn’t any money system in that village! I didn’t have any excuses. I was about to lie to her about my memory, but it seemed that wasn’t necessary.

She finished up. “Never mind. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to say it.”

To a guy like me, who came from another world she looked like an angel. But regrettably my heart didn’t flutter. For I knew what this world was like and what horrors could lie in front. More importantly, I didn’t yet trust her. It seemed too convenient for her to show up at this moment and help me.

“Thank you for understanding.” But I held respect for her.

She continued to answer my earlier question. “You see, these things fetch good prices depending on where you sell them. That brings me to my question. What were you thinking sleeping in such a place!?” She was brutal with her words in the art of scolding. It was like a thief being caught red handed, me being the thief.

“Ha ha. I was actually very tired. I fell asleep before I knew it,” with a defeated chuckle I answered. It really was stupid of me to sleep there.

“You also appear injured,” she said. She did seem a little concerned but I couldn’t tell much of her expression. I could outline her face and so I could gauge at her expressions, but for some reason he had a calm and relaxed mood. Only her tone of voice changed. Perhaps it was an elven trait.

“Don’t worry about it.” She had already done me a favor. I didn’t need more. “These will heal in no time.” I tried to reassure her and put up a front. But I knew it wasn’t that easy.

She pointed in the direction I came from. “So, what are you doing in these lands? If you’re looking for a human village then you should head that way.” She was looking exactly towards Dune’s village. It brought back unnecessary memories.

“I’m actually heading to Moire.”

“I see. That would make sense why you’re here. As luck would have it, I too am heading that way. Would you like to travel together until we reach the city? You seem to be acquainted with the sword although your movements are that of an amateur. But I think it’d be best if we worked together. Besides, I feel bad about the whole blood-in-the-eye situation…” Lianne tried to be considerate. And perhaps she was just trying to make up for something. But it didn’t make sense to me. Why would she go so far as to save me and offer me help like this?

She seems rather talented. I would be much safer with her. But should I endanger her life to save mine? And wasn’t the blood-in-the-eye situation my fault?

She took my silence as a no. “I suppose you don’t want that.”

“It’s not like that. You see, bad things tend to happen to people around me.”

That was a weird thing to say. Especially to a random stranger. But it was true.

She giggled. “You should worry about yourself first. Anyway we can split the rewards from those fangs after reaching the town.”

A little manipulative, but she was still polite.

“However, just so you know, there is a grand monster on top of this mountain. For centuries, this mountain has been its nest. This is the very last chance you will have before it’s too late to head back,” She said. Her tone changed drastically. “And it also means your life won’t be guaranteed at this time of year.”

It was a funny thing to say. She was the one who suggested we travel together and before we could even start she gave me warnings. Yet another unfamiliar term. Given the fact that this world is so game like, it would probably be, something like a super boss. So I shouldn’t worry too much about it. I wouldn’t be able to beat it anyway. “Don’t worry. My mind was already made up.” Being a naïve guy I was, that was quite expected. I didn’t have anywhere to go back to anyway.

“Good,” she said with a smile. Her face was hidden but I could tell she was smiling. It was a beautiful smile suited to her face. Honestly, if she claimed to have been sent from heaven, I’d believe her.

I looked one last time in the direction of the village. There was no trace of it left for me to see but I was kind of attached. Farewell Dune, Sheila, and Milai. I could finally move on.

“By the way shouldn’t we bury them?” I looked at the dead bodies. They’d rot if we left them. And they’ll turn into undead.

“They’d turn to undead regardless. So no need to waste our energy.” Lianne didn’t waste time and we packed up.

This world is messed up. It really was. And so, our journey towards the mountain began.

After half an hour we reached the foot of the mountain. I was already out of breath.

“Are you okay?”

“F-fine.” I was definitely not fine. My wounds weren’t open but, things weren’t looking too good for me.

There was a thin path leading up, but its curve and upward angle were definitely not for the faint of heart. There were various kinds of monsters here. Fortunately, no goblins-at least not till now. The flying bird-like monsters and the cactus-like ones were a chore though. The former ones would shit all over the place while the latter just stung, very badly (Try grabbing a cactus with your bare hands with your full force). The mountain was tall and its peak touched the clouds. Honestly, even with my good eyesight, it was difficult to see the apex. But my mind was made up. There was no turning back.

“Before we begin, there’s something you must know,” Lianne said with a serious tone. Her change of tone was sudden and it triggered my full attention.

Wait, there’s more?