Struggle

"Mr. Legot...?”

Holding on to the man in front of her, she stood, shocked.

“ALIZA! What happened?!”

Seeing her stand frozenin place, Ace came running behind.

“Wha-?!”

Witnessing who she had in her arms, Ace's body was also hit with an immense amount of shock.

But, seeing Aliza like that, Ace needed to be the one to take control.

“Aliza! Snap out of it! Pull him out!”

He hurried beside Aliza and shook her, wanting to detach her from her trance.

“Ah-- sorry...”

She recovered from her blank and looked back at the mouse demihuman in front of her.

“Hurry! Pull him away!”

Seeing Aliza act so different from normal, Ace continued yelling out orders.

“Mm... yeah...”

They started pulling the unconscious Mr. Legot away from the flames.

“Wha--!”

“STOP HELPING HIM! LET HIM BURN!”

Fruits, vegetables, utensils, and houseware were being thrown at Ace and Aliza.

“Why?! What’s wrong with you people?!”

Ace yelled, wondering why these people despised one of their own.

“You’re the one, aren’t you?! The human he’s been helping!”

The answer came to him, not needing to pull it out of them.

“KILL THEM!”

One demihuman shouted, followed by more screams and objects being thrown.

“YEAH! BURN!”

“Aliza... let’s hurry into an alley.”

They couldn’t stay here with all this attention on them. Ace grabbed Mr. Legot and carried him, seeing Aliza still a little shocked.

“Let’s go.”

They started running from the demihumans, the flames, and Mr. Legot’s possessions.

They ran into an alleyway and stopped to take a breather.

“Okay, we should be fine here for a little.”

Ace said, dropping Mr. Legot to the floor as he caught his breath.

“Hey, Mr. Legot, wake up.”

With a light slap, he tried waking up the unconscious demihuman.

“Huh...?”

His thin eyes slowly opening, the mouse sat up.

“What happened...?”

“We found your carriage in flames, and you were right in front of it.”

“Oh... I see... I remember now...”

“Can you tell me what happened, although I can probably guess...”

Ace carried the conversation as Mr. Legot continued to remember.

“Yes, I was attacked by those demihumans. They found out I had been helping humans, so theyset me and my carriage in flames.”

“That’s what I thought. They figured out that we were the ones you helped and started attacking us too.”

Mr. Legot glanced over at Aliza, who had been silent up till now.

“How are you holding up? Are you feeling okay?”

The topic suddenly shifting over to Aliza, it made her jump.

“Oh... yes. I’m fine...”

“You seem a little on edge... want to speak with this old man about it...?”

“Oh, sorry if I seem that way... At first, I was shocked to see you injured, but now that I know it’s my fault...”

She looked regretful and sorry for getting Mr. Legot involved with them.

“Haha... don’t worry about it. I knew of the dangers, please don’t think too much about it.”

“Sorry... it’s hard to shake off just like that.”

Ace didn’t like her looking all remorseful like that, he thought it didn’t fit her.

“Hey, Aliza, don’t worry about it. It’s already happened, so let’s just think about where to go from here.”

Aliza looked Ace in the eye, and seeing her look so down, he shot her a smile.

Her face relaxed a little seeing his smile, and she started to regain her composure.

“Yeah, that’s what I should be doing... I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, that’s right, keep looking forward.”

She kept her gaze on his eyes and positive attitude, then sent a small smile back at him.

“Ace, why’re you acting so tough...? Don’t forget whoyour instructor is.”

“Haha... if you’re my instructor, then act like it! What happened? You got so weak for a second there!”

It was only a few seconds ago, but she blushed hearing about herself.

“Shut up! I’m all good now, so let’s think of a plan.”

Seeing the two bicker, the old man also smiled.

“Youth... what a time... hoho....”

---

------

“Okay, I was thinking, and this is what I think we should do.”

Ace was the first to bring a plan to the table.

“We’ll meet up with Mila and see if she can help us with our situation.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. She’s a nice person and we don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

The two agreed on the plan, now to execute it.

“Okay, we’re going with this plan, but there’s more to it.”

Aliza said, continuing.

“If we get spotted in town, that’ll be trouble, so I’ll go to Mila on my own.”

“Wait, shouldn’t it be me? Now that you’re fine, you can protect Mr. Legot better than I can.”

“No, I can use my skill Shadowy Presence, so I won’t be caught. You just have to stay here until I get back.”

“Oh, okay, yeah, that does seem like it would be best.”

They agreed once again and put it into action immediately. Aliza set out for the guild using her skill, and Ace stayed behind with Mr. Legot.

• • •

Aliza set out, leaving Ace and Mr. Legot alone.

Now that he had time to spare, Ace needed to carry out something he had been thinking about ever since he saw the flames.

“Mr. Legot, I need to do some thinking. Just sit tight for a little.”

The old man nodded his head and left Ace to his planning.

Now that he had nothing to worry about, Ace opened his menu. The thinking was just a cover up for this.

359 Days

2:45 PM

Level

Map

Support

Skills

He focused on the word, “Support”, to establish the connection between him and the god.

--Hello~~ How can I help you~~?

Ace never knew if this worked since he always talked out loud, but he tried speaking to Deepa inside his head.

--Can you hear me?

--Loud and clear~~

--Okay, I’ll get right to it. What was that dream?! I know it was you who showed me that dream about what would happen!

Remembering back to the dream he had last night, it was an almost identical situation to the one Ace just witnessed.

--I will admit~ That may have been me~ Just consider it a gift~

Ace has had a burning hatred for Deepa ever since he’s come to this world, so even just talking to him now made him mad. But he had to admit, if he continued to get powers like this, it can be super helpful. It may be disturbing to wake up screaming every time, but it can avert major problems.

--Fine, I won’t ask anything else about that and just keep going as if my dreams can tell the future.

--Good, good~ You’re learning~

--Okay, that was problem one, now for number 2. I know you heard Aliza’s story yesterday, was it real?

--Hahaha~ Asking me personal questions now~? Aceyy, I want you to focus on your goal, buuutttt... I know you’re going to be hung up on it, so I will tell you this~ The altar is a link of some sort, but the story itself is false~

--Last question. Did you set up this situation somehow?

--Why would you think that~~? I am still on your side you know~

--Answer please, stop wasting time.

--Nope~ it is completely natural~ that’s all~~ byee~

Their conversation ended with that final bit of information.

Ace sat and reflected back on what they talked about.

--Okay, so my dreams can now tell the future, Aliza’s story about Deepa was false, and Deepa is not working against me. That’s all I got today. But wait! Shoot! I should have asked him if the dreams have a specified time of when they would occur. Today’s vision happened about half a day after the dream, so I’ll go off that for now.

He opened his eyes and finished his reflecting, now to wait on Aliza.

• • •

“Shadowy Presence...”

In an alleyway stood Aliza, saying the name of her skill.

Shadowy Presence is a skill that allows one to conceal their presence. They do not become invisible, but it becomes more difficult to notice the user. The skill duration is one minute, with a cooldown of 10 seconds.

She activated her skill and her body let off a very dim, black light.

Aliza rushed to make the most of her skill, moving from alley to alley, towards the guild where her target was.

She stopped before moving into the streets, looking around so she wouldn’t be noticed. The skill was helpful, but out in the open, even Shadowy Presence could not save her.

“3, 2, 1, Quick First Step...”

Her feet lit up and she ran across the street towards another alley, continuing to close the distance between her and the guild.

Using her two skills whenever the cooldown ended, she quickly made her way to the guild.

---

------

“I’m here...”

She stood in an alley, staring at the guild from a distance.

“Now, how do I do this?”

Now that she was actually here, she had to get inside without being noticed, then make contact with Mila.

“Let’s start with this...”

She decided to look for a back door first, as that would be the safest option of getting inside.

“Here I go... Quick First Step, Shadowy Presence...”

She activated her skills simultaneously, her body glowing a dim black, and her feet a mixture of black and crimson.

She ran towards the guilds back side.

“---!”

She saw a back door and rushed towards it immediately to make her way inside.

She grabbed the handle...

“Yes!”

The door was unlocked.

She quickly hopped in and shut the door to not be noticed.

She took a breather after the intense mental test.

--What if the door wasn’t unlocked...? I got lucky...

But she didn’t have time to be sitting around.

She raised her head--

“Ah--”

Someone stood in front of her, wearing a clerk outfit.

“Mila, I’ve been looki--”

As she continued to raise her head, she realized this wasn’t Mila... but someone else.

“Mila? Oh, she is out front.”

Aliza completely faced the clerk now, and the male clerk got a good look at her.

“Wait... that outfit... that hair... you are... working with the human... aren’t you...?”

News spread quickly... Aliza had been caught and there was no way out.

“Sorry for this.”

She quickly drew her sword and brought it to the clerk’s neck.

“I need you to stay silent for a little. Move, I need to tie you up somewhere.”

A few different thoughts went through this clerk’s head as he was ordered. A young male who grew up learning of the war had a chance to be a hero and get revenge on a human right here and now. He thought of the options he had. Number one, go along with her plans and let himself get tied up. Number two, try to fight back, but she looked experienced, so that was a no-go. Number three, call for help.

A nasty smile grew on the feline demihumans face.

“What are you--”

She moved her sword closer, causing a scratch. Aliza was trying to be as threatening as possible, but--

“HELLPP! THE HUMAN’S FRIEND IS HERE!”

Surprise, shock, and anger painted on Aliza’s face; she was pressured to cut his head off. But she knew it was normal for demihumans to think like that, so he seemed like a victim.

“HELLPP!!”

He may have been a victim, but she could not let this continue. Aliza rushed closer and knocked the young man out.

“*sigh* I need to move...”

Now that help’s been called, she could not stay here. How could she call for Mila while trying to get away--?

“Where’s the human’s friend?!”

She could already hear the adventurer’s running towards the screams for help.

“Shoot... I need to get to Mila...”

Aliza glanced at the knocked-out clerk.

--I don’t want to do this, but--

“This is the only option.”

---

------

“Where are they?!”

The adventurers came running towards the back door, then stopped as their vision met Aliza.

“Should have expected as much from someone who’s helping a human!”

Aliza had the clerk in her arms with her sword at his neck. She decided to use him as a hostage, although it hurt her pride immensely.

“Put him down! You have nowhere to go!”

The adventurers continued to shout, trying to provoke Aliza, but she was still the one with the hostage.

More people ran into the back, seeing Aliza with the hostage.

“---!”

As Aliza scanned the people entering her vision, she noticed a young, blonde demihuman in a clerk’s outfit.

“I will release him! But! Under a few conditions!”

The adventurers jumped, not wanting to agree to anything she says. But Aliza still had the life of a young man in her hands, so they continued to listen.

“You!”

She pointed at Mila who she noticed earlier.

“Bring me money from the front desk! A good chunk! I will be waiting in the back room! If anyone other than that clerk comes in, I will slice this man’s head immediately!”

“Fuck off! Why should the guild give you money!”

“Yeah! We could kill you right now! Don’t fuck with us!”

The adventurers continued to vent their frustrations.

“You would sacrifice this man’s life over some money?! I think the guild should be the one to decide what happens!”

Aliza pointed at Mila once again, who has stood in silence as the two sides argued.

“...”

“I will bring you the money.”

Mila agreed to Aliza’s demands, leaving all the adventurers in shock.

“Mila, why are you agreeing to her demands?! I know the man’s life is in danger, but she’s helping a human!”

“I will be the one to decide what happens! Everyone,stay out of this!”

The group of adventurers stepped back seeing the normally friendly clerk shout out orders.

“Fine, we will leave it to you Mila.”

The adventurers calmed down and kept an eye on Aliza. Aliza moved into a back room and waited for Mila’s return with the money.

---

------

The door handle started to turn, Aliza gripping her sword harder.

“---!”

Mila walked inside the room holding a small bag. She closed the door behind her and--

“Aliza! What happened?!”

Her commanding attitude from earlier dropped and was replaced with straightforward worry. Aliza was tense, but seeing Mila act normal calmed her down. She dropped her sword from the clerk’s neck.

“I heard some news about humans in town, I got worried about you two. What’s going on?”

Aliza did not want to leave her in the dark any longer. She immediately started to confess her situation.

“Thank you for being you... Mila. I’ll keep it short since I don’t have time. The person we were going to travel with was attacked because people found out he was helping humans. Me, Ace, and him are sort of on the run. I came here to ask you for help.”

“Oh, okay, I will definitely help. What should I do?”

“Thank you. First, I think you should check up on the fire and our helper’s belongings. Go to the fire and try to collect anything that is still good. Next, we need to come up with a meeting spot...”

“Oh, just come to my house! It’s at the southside of town and has a red wreath on the door.”

“Are you sure? What about family?”

“Don’t worry about it! I’ll make it work!”

“Okay, I will trust you with that. We will be there tonight.”

“Don’t worry Aliza, I’ll save a room just for you and Ace~”

The situation was serious, but that did not stop Mila's teasing, Aliza’s blush, and Aliza’s rapid speaking.

“Come on...! I’m being serious here...!”

“Hehehe...”

Now that they have sorted out where they are going from here, Aliza needed to sort out the current situation.

“Okay Mila, give me the money. I’ll hold onto it until tonight to make sure the adventurers believe us. Also, I’ll keep him as a hostage until I reach the back door, then I’ll hand him over and run.”

Mila nodded, thinking that was logical. If she were to hand over the hostage now, she would probably be attacked, since she had nothing to hold away the adventurers.

“Let’s go.”

Aliza raised her sword back up to the man’s neck, then let Mila open the door.

“Clear the way!”

Mila called out to the adventurers, who were standing nearby. They backed up, trusting in their clerk.

Aliza moved towards the back door, sword and money in hand. When she reached the back door, she gave Mila a slight unnoticeable nod, then released the hostage. Aliza whispered quietly...

“Quick First Step...”

Then made her move, running from the guild--

“Wha--!”

She opened the door to see... dozens of adventurers blocking her exit.

“I guess this was unavoidable...”

Aliza did not want to harm them though, so she continued forward.

“Strike Averter.”

She activated another one of her skills, then dashed straight into the crowd.

“Take this!”

Adventurers took their turns swinging at the Aliza, as if it was a game of Cat and Mouse. Aliza struggled to dodge all their attacks, but she continued to move forward.

“Die!”

Receiving scratches here and there, needing to parry every few strikes, and running from many people all at the same time was tiring, but she could not let herself get caught. It would mean her death and she would lose the ability to keep adventuring with Ace. That was something she did not want to lose.

“Fall to your grave!”

Receiving insults and attacks from every direction, she pushed and pushed forward. She could not let herself die now.

“I will make it out of this...”

She advanced... running and avoiding, so no one would get hurt...

• • •

Ace and Mr. Legot patiently waited for her return.

“I’m back...”

Hearing her call just behind the corner, Ace jumped up from his spot.

“Aliza!”

Before he could see her, Ace already took her return as a good sign.

“Welcome back--”

She turned the corner.

“---!! What happened?! Why are you all injured?!”

Seeing her scratched, bruised, and tired body made Ace’s excitement turn to shock. Her posture which usually gave off a confident feel, now looked beat and tired. Her hair which usually shined, as if it was her blade, now looked frail and thin, matching her posture.

“I had to get myself out of a situation... sorry for taking so long...”

“No, don’t apologize! Here, sit down for now. Can you heal yourself with magic? Can I do anything? Tell me and I’ll do it.”

“Yes, I can heal myself... I should be fine... just let me sit for now. I’ll explain the situation...”

“Is it urgent? You need to sit and rest.”

“No, I guess it’s not too urgent... but I need to stay awake to heal myself... so I’ll just do it while I’m doing that.”

“Okay, I guess that’s fine... just don’t push yourself...”

Ace knew what it was like to be in pain, so he did not want to push her, but her healing took priority. If talking to her kept her awake, he would talk.

Aliza dropped to the floor and brought upon her blue light to begin the healing process.

“Okay... we’re meeting up with Mila at her house tonight.She will go retrieve anything still good from the carriage and any of Mr. Legot’s possessions... She will also get us a place to sleep. That’s the plan so far...”

“Got it.”

He heard the plan and once again felt lucky for meeting Mila. Nothing has happened yet, but just hearing that they have one more person to support them feels good.

Mr. Legot, who has been silent up until this point, to let the young ones take care of each other, now spoke up.

“May this old man request something of this Mila? If she can recover my merchant’s tag and check if my Helen is still alive, that would be a lot of help.”

Ace heard his request and thought that the merchant tag had some importance, but who was Helen?

“I’ll make sure to ask her when we meet up tonight. But who is Helen?”

“Oh, my apologies. Helen is my ground Llorse. She pulls my carriage.”

“Oh, yeah, it would be bad if we lost her. Sorry, I forgot to ask, but are you okay Mr. Legot? It must have been hard to go through that.”

“Oh, yes, I am fine. I have been with Helen for many years now, so I believe she will be fine, but if she does not come out okay, I am sure she will still be fulfilled.”

“I see, but what about you? Helen, your belongings, your carriage, they were all burnt. Are you okay?”

Ace did not get a response about Mr. Legot himself, and that is what he wanted to know. Seeing his concern, an old merchant like Mr. Legot could not help but laugh.

“Hahaha... thank you for your concern. Do not worry, I am also fine. I have lived a long enough life to not regret the choices I made or the different paths those choices bring me to. I chose to help you two, so that is what I will continue to do.”

“Thank you. I have been getting lucky with my encounters ever since coming to Furio.”

“Haha... no thank you. Watching you two reminds me of my youth, it leaves me feeling warm inside.”

Ace glanced over at Aliza who was on the other side of him, still healing herself.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m just about done... but it still hurts. Also, I feel like I’m about to pass out...”

“Don’t worry, I’ll watch over you... Take your pick, shoulder or lap?”

“None, idiot. Wha--?!”

“I need to help somehow, haha.”

Ace grabbed her head and dragged it to his lap, not giving her the chance to refuse.

“Comfortable?”

“I would have been fine with the shoulder...”

She pouted as she lay in his lap, staring at the other side of the alley.

“Come on, everyone knows the lap is a better pillow.”

“Idiot.”

“Aliza.”

“What?”

“Did it hurt?”

“I’m fine...”

“I didn’t ask that. Did it hurt?”

Not an aggressive tone, but one that sounded genuine.

“I just said I’m fine--”

“Did it hurt?”

He repeated.

She didn’t want to look weak, but it hurt. She wanted to vent her frustrations and cry. It hurt. But she wanted to stay strong. But it hurt. Stay strong, it hur--

“Did it hurt?”

Once again, he repeated, even more tempting than the last time.

“...It did.”

“Thanks for sharing.”

Ace placed his hand on her fragile head, his fingers stretching to her forehead.

“Keep going, I know you want to let it out. Tell me everything, your feelings, your frustrations, everything. You’ll sleep much better when you’re done, I promise.”

“...”

“Won’t give in, eh? Okay, I’ll ask you some questions. Where does it hurt?”

“...”

She stayed silent, not wanting to sound weaker than she already did. But Ace’s silence was also expecting an answer...

“My waist...”

“That’s it?”

“And my arm...”

“Both of them?”

“Just my left... my right held my sword... I couldn’t let it get injured...”

“Anywhere else?”

“My back... it hurt the most...”

“And? How does it make you feel?”

“In pain... I didn’t want to get hurt, but I had to get away from there... so I pushed through.”

“Why did you have to get away?”

“Because if I didn’t... I would lose it.”

“Lose what?”

“...”

Silence once again. Ace also stayed silent, knowing that she wanted to vent, so he waited.

“Everything...”

A small, silent tear dropped onto Ace’s leg.

“Everything... I pushed through to keep everything... *sniff*”

She cried silently in Ace’s lap, trying to keep up her strong personality as much as possible.

Ace stopped his questioning and left his hand on her forehead, wanting to let her know that he was still here.

He knew her situation. He has been in it before, so he knew that she needed someone near her right now. Pain is not easy to handle on your own, and Ace knew that. He let her cry silently in his lap... until she fell asleep.

“Sleep good...”