Friedenshain Cleanup (pt 1)

The refreshed trio knocked on the princess’s wooden door, the royal cat Silverbell following closely. Since the palace staff was washing their clothes, they were now dressed in royal maid uniforms made of the highest quality materials.

“Please let yourselves in,” the posh princess replied. Miho grabbed the golden door handle and swung open the door. The girl was seated behind her desk in a big satin chair, but as soon as she saw Silverbell walk in, she got up and grabbed her from the floor, ignoring the girls completely. She returned to her chair where she started calmly brushing the cat's silky white hair.

“Do not dare abandon me in such a manner again! I hope you didn’t display any unladylike behavior there in that wretched forest,” she instructed the cat. The princess sneezed. She looked at her hand in shock.

“G…glitter…” she stuttered with a soft voice. She started right into Miho’s eyes.

"Who dares claim responsibility for this folly?"

Miho had to think, could it be that the perfume’s effect had worn off?

If the perfume caused the evil forest to grow, then cutting down that forest might make the glitters reappear - a vicious cycle with no end.

She didn’t feel like using the perfume again, since Clarice’s magic was causing all kinds of havoc. It was too dangerous… too unpredictable.

I need a way to comfort her.

“Don’t worry your majesty, there is some residual magical dust still in the air after we cleared out the forest that may result in condensation in the form of glitter. This will resolve itself in a day or two,” Miho said with confidence. Obviously, this was completely made up but would allow the party some time to return to Friedenshain before her lie would be exposed.

“Well, I have to take your word for it,” the disappointed princess responded, trying her best to wipe away the specs of glitter.

“I would like to thank you three ladies for saving my precious kitten and restoring my bountiful gardens. Please take these humble rewards,” she said while her head maid entered the room with a platter containing three items.

First, she handed Miho a bag containing more gold and silver coins, who gracefully accepted her reward.

Second, she gave a silver necklace with an amulet to Hanna.

“This… this… is so beautiful! I am just a small-town girl… I am not worth it…” she responded, her eyes gloating.

“I’d like to disagree, you saved my dearest Silverbell so you deserve a suitable reward,” the princess responded. Hanna hesitantly took the necklace from the plate and held it before her.

That must be worth a lot, Miho thought.

“Let me help you put it on,” Miho suggested, pulling Hanna’s long orange hair to the side after which she proceeded to put on the necklace. Hanna turned to one of the princess’s mirrors to admire the beautiful piece of jewelry. She faced the princess and made a deep bow.

“Thank you so much for this beautiful necklace, your majesty.”

Lastly, there was a vambrace made of a bluish-looking metal. Inserted into its edge were a couple of green gems. Karen stared at the expensive piece of equipment, then grabbed it from the platter and put it on.

“It is said this piece of armory will add endurance to any weapons used in a fight. Not that I know anything about the art of combat myself,” the princess said to Karen. While looking at the mirror, she practiced some punches while wearing the vambrace.

“Careful!” Miho yelled as Karen almost knocked over an expensive vase.

“My bad… my bad,” Karen said while rubbing the back of her head.

“Thank you for your audience and our rewards, we will now return to our assigned rooms. We will leave tomorrow morning, back to Friedenshain where we will assess the situation with the goblins,” Miho said, after which the trio left the princess’s office.

X

After a night of well-deserved rest, the girls boarded the carriage that would bring them back to Friedenshain. Hanna and Miho sat on the bench next to the driver, Karen and her large sword had taken place in the back.

“I want to give you a heads up, something is happening in the town. I heard another driver talk about it in the stables,” he said with a concerned voice.

The goblins.

“Do you have any more details?” Miho asked the driver.

He shook his head.

“But I wouldn’t worry too much. By the time we arrive, it will probably already be resolved. These things never take that long.”

Ever since Miho moved to Friendshain, she had never witnessed any threats. It seemed like a peaceful, uneventful town.

But I guess those walls and castle are there for a reason.

Hanna grabbed hold of Miho’s hand.

“Do you think my mother will be okay?”

“I guess so, the guards will protect her in case there is an attack, right? I’ve only moved in recently,” Miho responds.

“I know… I know… but it helps hearing it coming out of someone else’s mouth.” Hanna laid her head on Miho’s shoulder.

“Hanna, please-” Miho muttered, interrupted by Hanna putting her finger before her mouth.

“Just for a minute okay?”

Even though she did her best not to stay calm, Miho also couldn't shake off the feeling of something bad happening in Friedenshain. Something she bore the responsibility for.

“How long until we arrive?” Miho asked after a couple of hours of travel.

“One more hour, once we pass this hill we will see Lord Cedric’s castle appear on the horizon.” A bit later they were met by an oncoming farmer that waved at them. The driver stopped the horses so they could hear the man speak.

“I’d stop and turn ‘round if I were you. It ain’t good there in the town,” he warned them.

“W…what is happening, sir?” A panicky Hanna asked the man.

“The gates are dead shut. Some monsters are attackin’ da town.”

“Goblins?” Miho asked in confusion.

The man nodded.

“Lil’ green man. I could just make it out on time,” he said with a scratchy voice.

“Mom…” Hanna said with a pale face.

Karen turned around and lifted her sword.

“Don’t worry sir, me and my trusted Chopzilla will take it! Please continue mister driver!”

After a brief discussion, the driver agreed to get the girls a little closer to the town’s walls to address the situation. In the distance, the girls could see a big horde of goblins running against the town gate. Archers standing in the watchtowers tried their best to shoot down as many of them as possible, but they were clearly overwhelmed by the sheer number of intruders.

The cart suddenly started shaking from side to side. Miho looked to the left and saw a goblin had appeared from the bushes. Karen jumped off the back of the carriage and struck her sword.

“These goblins have gotten a lot stronger!” she yelled as she engaged the goblin in a fierce battle. Chopzilla met the goblins' rusty sword a couple of times before Karen succeeded in breaching his defenses. Her sword pierced the goblin through its heart, making him collapse and crumble to dust.

Karen wiped off her dirt and returned to the cart ready to continue. The driver, however, had other plans.

“This is the farthest I could take you. I have to keep me and my horse's safety into account,” he said with a serious tone.

“I would advise you to return to a safer place with me, but if you must continue, I wish you the best of luck.”

Miho turned to her friends.

“What do you think? With the gates blocked, there will be no way for us to get in,” she said with a worrying voice.

“I know of a way Miho, there is a gap in the wall where we can get it,” Hanna’s face turned red.

“Sometimes when I had a fight with Mom I used it to get some quiet time in the forest,” she confessed.

“Please lead us there Hanna-chi!” Karen yelled in her ready pose.

“Are you certain that you can keep us safe?” Miho asked with a concerned voice.

Karen bowled her fist.

“With my soon-to-be-legendary sword Chopzilla, no goblin will be able to overtake us. And otherwise, we use Clarice’s advanced magic to defeat them for once,” she confidently exclaimed.

Right, using Clarice’s… magic… a chill went through Miho’s spine. More magic was something she wanted to avoid at all costs. She transformed Clarice into a broom for basic protection and then walked up to Karen.

“Okay, Hanna, can you lead us the way?”

X

After waving the driver goodbye, the nervous Miho and her friends continued their way toward the town’s wall. After a couple of minutes, Hanna stopped and faced the left.

“We should take this little trail, it will lead us to the gap in the wall,” she said while pointing. Leaving the main path and entering a small sand trail like this would leave them vulnerable to a goblin ambush. Even so, Miho concluded they had to continue. The driver had driven off the horizon and with the main gate blocked they didn’t have any other options left. The hesitant Miho followed Hanna on snakey dirt paths leading through the forest.

She had clearly been here many times, Miho surmised.

After a couple more turns and bends, the girls saw the wall appear underneath the thick bush. But unfortunately enough for them, they weren’t the only ones hoping to enter the town via the entrance. A small group of goblins had found this weakness too and were about ready to exploit it.

“Please wait here with Miho!” Karen yelled as she sprinted to Hanna while carrying her sword high above her head. The goblins noticed the girl running toward them and turned around.

I hope she doesn’t get overwhelmed, Miho thought, folding her hand before her chest.

With a fierce strike, Karen managed to cut all the goblins in the front line. With her newly acquired vambrace, she tactically blocked one of the attackers' hits. Another swipe took out one of the goblins standing on the left.

“To the right!” Miho yelled as she watched a goblin charging at Karen. With her powerful kick, she knocked down the goblin, its weapon dropping about a meter further into the dirt. After landing a critical hit at one of the goblins in the center, Karen decapitated the fallen goblin. The longer the battle went on, the more in tune Karen became. She wiped a few drops of sweat from her face as she approached the final group of goblins.

“Take this!” she yelled as her sword pierced right through two goblins at once. She pulled it out and directly continued to wipe the ground with the remaining goblins. One last swoop and the monsters fell to the ground.

“Hurry up, we have to be quick!” Karen yelled, signing the girls to follow with her hand. Karen pulled away a branch so Hanna could crawl through the small gap first. She then rotated chopzilla and put the handle side first through the gap so Hanna could pull it through.

“So… heavy!” she said while struggling to pull the heavy sword. After her sword, Karen went through herself. With her bulky armor, she was just able to fit through. Miho crawled through last. She got up and rejoined her friends waiting.

“Could we make sure Hanna is safe first?” The trio waved themselves through the maze of little streets, some of which had been blocked with made-shift barricades.

“They are almost breaking through! We can’t hold them any longer!” someone yelled at his friend who was sharpening a stick.

It might be worse than I thought, Miho thought as they passed by the barricade. The girls turned the corner and entered the street where Hanna and Miho’s houses were located. Hanna ran ahead and knocked on her front door.

“Mom! Are you here?” she yelled, after which she grabbed her key and turned the lock. She entered the house but came back shortly after.

“She is not here…” Hanna whispered while staring at the ground.

“We will look for her,” Miho responded, trying to make Hanna feel at ease. The neighbor’s door swung open, an elderly man coming out. In his hands, he carried a random assortment of wooden planks.

“Your mummy ain’t here missy, she went to the temple lookin’ for shelter,” the man said after which he started hammering the planks before his window.

“I ain’t going though, I can’t leave my dwelling to the herd!” he added while picking up the next plank.

The girls ran to the other side of the town, to the hill on which the temple was located. It was the same place they helped during the festival when Hanna and Miho had just met. They rushed up the stairs, passed a group of guards, and entered the church-like building. Hanna and Miho entered and waded their way through the crowd of people gathered inside, well surpassing its official capacity. Miho browsed through the faces, looking for her neighbor.

“Hanna?” a female voice yelled from the left. The girls turned around and saw Hanna’s mom sitting on the wooden benches.

“Thank Lifhild you're safe,” she yelled while folding her hands and looking at the ceiling. Hanna jumped forward and hugged her mom. Miho watched the mother and daughter reunite from the aisle.

I better tell Karen we found her.

Miho left the dark church and saw the well-equipped Karen waiting for the entrance.

“Did you find her?” she asked with an excited voice. Miho nodded.

“Then let’s slay some goblins!” Karen yelled after which she started rushing down the stairs.

Halfway through, she stopped and turned around with a confused expression.

“You aren’t coming, Miho?”

Miho shook her head.

“I am just a cleaner, not an adventurer. I will wait here and help clean the streets afterward,” she calmly responded.

“But Miho, that cannot be,” Karen yelled while shaking her head.

“You have to help us out!”