Chương 10: New Weird Companion

The bow and quiver rattled against my back with every stride. I'd argued with Eris about carrying them: heavy, awkward, unnecessary when I had a perfect tongue. She'd insisted. I insisted back. But it was the first gift she'd ever given me that wasn't food, so I'd stopped pushing back after three full days. I ran straight for the gate, reviewing the quest I'd taken yesterday. The one Eris had said was already too late in the day to start, and that I should simply do tomorrow instead. Today was tomorrow.

The paper had a crude drawing of a bug with a long, narrow tail, presumably a dragonfly. A number was written beneath it: 10. Eris had taught me how to count, a process that had cost both of us two nights. I passed the old guard at the gate. The same one who always seemed to be drinking something regardless of the hour. He waved at me with a wide grin.

"Out for another bug-catching quest, lass?" I nodded.

"I'm a bug-catching expert now." I had completed three of the fourteen quests I had taken, which struck me as an impressive figure, given that two weeks ago I had not known what a quest was.

"Ohh, that's quite the feat, lass. Good luck out there." He tipped his cup back and drained it in one go.

"Morning drink's always the best." What a strange old man. If it was a bug, I could understand. I raised my foot, but before I could take the first step, he shouted, "Hey!" I looked back at him. His expression softened.

"You've got a better look on your face now." I didn't understand what he meant by that. I nodded anyway, and ran on toward the field. The field with the tall grass was the correct destination. Dragonflies favored it, according to my salamander memory. I confirmed the distance with Hawk Eye, a skill the human brain had argued I should learn. The distance expanded as I adjusted my head angle a few times. After my thirteenth try, I found them: plump, glinting, thoroughly promising dragonflies.

Scattered through the grass like the field had been decorated specifically for me. I ran in and let my tongue do the rest. The first catch went into the container, as it was supposed to. The second one did not. My aim was fine, but I misjudged the return. The tongue snapped back with more momentum than I'd planned for, and the dragonfly went straight down my throat. I did not regret this. It was delicious. No, it's not! the human brain complained. It always does. Hours passed. Eventually the field had gone quiet.

No more of that particular buzzing hum that meant the grass was worth searching. I peered into my container and counted.

"One, two, three… nine." I was short one. I searched the grass again in case I'd simply missed one hiding somewhere low. I found nothing. Use Hawk Eye, the human brain instructed. I nodded and used it to scan the distance. I saw a tree. A squirrel burying an acorn. A snake eating its own tail, which struck me as a poor life decision regardless of species. I concluded that none of this was helpful for my current situation. Put your vision above. Like a flying hawk. The human brain explanation was bad.

Eris could do better. But I've never experienced flying. I never had, except for that one time I fell off a tree, if you could call that flying. Neither have I, but I made it work before. Are you bragging? Why, you— [How about imagining a view from above a tree?] Oh. That could work. I had climbed trees. A lot of them. I pictured myself perched at the very top of one — and there was a snake. Stop imagining useless things and focus on the tree! the human brain shouted. I restarted my imagination session.

I pictured myself on top of a tree. A tree that would most likely have no snake included in the package. Just a tree. I looked down at the field below, and used Hawk Eye. I spotted it. It wasn't hiding, but already caught, clamped in the jaws of a lizard. I leapt. I got there before the lizard finished. Wrestled the dragonfly free with rather less grace than the moment called for, and dropped it into the container with the other nine. I looked at the lizard afterward. It stared back at me unimpressed. Probably.

I'm a salamander. I don't understand lizards. I released it. The lizard took a few steps, then looked back.

"Stupid human!" I froze. Then dread flooded in. I'm a salamander. Not a lizard. I shouldn't understand— You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. [You have the skill Translation Dragon.] Oh. Right. That. [Dragons and lizards are close enough kin that the skill covers both.] Wait. I'm not a lizard or a dragon. Why did I have that skill? I waited for the voice to say something. Anything. The voice said nothing.

The sun was climbing toward its peak, which meant it was nearly time to find shade. Preferably damp shade, before the day turned more unreasonable. I turned and started walking back toward the gate, container full, ten dragonflies rattling faintly inside with every step. I didn't look at the lizard again. The voice still hadn't said anything. I adjusted the rock on my head.

I pushed the guild's door open. Inside, I spotted the pointy ear who'd drawn his sword during the brawl. The one who'd been dragged off and beaten for it. He was sitting at a table with the same humans who'd done the beating, laughing along with them now. Looks like I'm not the only one adjusting. A girl slipped in ahead of me before I could step through. She wore white gloves and a long white coat.

Her black hair was braided into two thick cords that swayed against her back as she walked, moving with a rhythm that reminded me of two large centipedes. Round glasses sat low on her nose, framing a pair of black eyes that swept the room. Whispers rippled between the tables the moment she crossed the threshold.

"She's here again."

"Don't make eye contact."

"That Mad Alchemist…" I ignored the whispering. It wasn't directed at me, and things not directed at me were not my problem. I moved straight to the counter. I set the quest paper and the container down in front of Eris. The container gave a small, indignant shudder.

"Welcome back, Ruina." Eris smiled perfectly. She always did.

"You really do like collecting bugs, don't you?"

"I'm a bug-catching expert now." Eris let out a short laugh, pulled a handkerchief from her chest pocket, and reached across to wipe something off my cheek.

"Did you lock the house before you left?"

"I did," I said, chest puffed out.

"Last time you didn't even close the door."

"That was last time."

"That was yesterday." I said nothing. There were moments, the human brain informed me, when adding more words would only dig the hole deeper. A phrase I found confusing, since I had never once dug a hole to bury a conversation in. But I had learned, over the past days, that Eris's face did a specific thing right before more words arrived, and that the correct response was silence. Eris sighed, but her smile remained. She flicked my forehead, took the container in both hands, and disappeared through the back door.

When she returned, she was holding a coin pouch instead. She set it on the counter. I picked it up, opened it, and began counting the coins inside. I laid each one out in a careful row the way she'd taught me. Eris watched, chin resting on her palm.

"Good. Always count your coins."

"Is she your daughter now?" Nill leaned over from the neighboring counter, elbows propped on the wood.

"Apparently so."

"Wouldn't she make it harder to find a date?" Eris turned her head toward Nill.

"You talk like dates have fixed your problem of being single." Nill opened her mouth, closed it, and returned to her paperwork. I watched the two of them for a moment. I decided this was the ideal window for an exit and drifted toward the quest board. The girl with glasses was there again, standing in front of it. This wasn't unusual. The board was always crowded with humans squinting at paper. She glanced sideways at me. Or, more accurately, at the rock.

"How did you keep it balanced?" I ignored the question, moved into position in front of the board, and began my search. This was more important. I would greet her properly later, assuming later ever arrived. Bug catching was reliable work. The targets were familiar, the danger was minimal, and the pay was modest but consistent. Three things that, taken together, made for an excellent quest category by any salamander's standard. My eyes moved across the board. Left to right. Top to bottom. Nothing.

I checked again, in case the quest had been hiding. It hadn't. My gaze eventually dropped to the girl standing beside me. I noticed she was holding a quest paper. I looked at it. She moved it left. My gaze followed left. She moved it right. I followed right. She turned. I orbited her like a small focused moon.

"You like this one?" She held it up properly, letting me see it in full for the first time.

"It's the last bug-catching quest," I said, in a grave voice.

"I noticed." She smiled.

"And I have no plans to let it go." My head dropped.

"How about we form a party instead? We could do it together." I raised my head again.

"Eris told me I can only form a party with humans ranked F, and only take on easy quests."

"What a coincidence, I'm F rank myself." She extended a gloved hand.

"Name's Xyno. Alchemist." I looked at the hand for a long moment. The human brain suggested that I take it. I took it.

"Ruina. Archer-mage. F." The handshake lasted for a while. Xyno glanced down at our joined hands and smiled.

"You can let go now, Ms. Archer-mage." I let go, though I wasn't sure what the point was of grabbing someone's hand only to immediately release it. Humans had strange rituals.

"Now that introductions are handled, let's go turn in the quest." Xyno was already walking toward the counter. I followed. At the counter, Xyno and Eris fell into what I could only describe as a staring contest. Like a deer asking a crocodile for permission to drink. I decided to give them space. Xyno shrugged.

"I'll keep her alive." Keep who alive? I tilted my head.

"That's reassuring, coming from someone with a consistent record of dead party members," Eris said, not breaking eye contact.

"Well. Death is part of being an adventurer."

"I know you used the bug-catching quest as bait." Eris glanced at me. I decided this was another excellent moment for silence.

"Then I'll promise to keep her alive," Xyno said simply. Eris held her gaze for a long moment. Then she sighed, picked up the stamp, and brought it down on the quest paper with a decisive thunk. Xyno collected the paper.

"Thanks, Ms. Receptionist." She turned and headed for the exit without further ceremony.

"Ruina." Eris's voice found me before I could follow.

"Come home before dark, or there won't be food waiting for you." There was no room in her tone for negotiation. I nodded. Food was important. Possibly the most important thing, on any given list. I turned and followed Xyno out into the street.