An Invitation For Me

“Kitezh, what do you think you’re doing?”

An older man with a stern, angry face stands motionless yet intimidating over Kitezh at the guild hall. Unlike the colorful mages and warriors, this man was all black and white no nonsense. He is Captain Grigori, the man who is on top of all who want to fight for the city of Kitezh.

Despite his position, Grigori just only makes Kitezh exhale in annoyance.

“Do what? I stopped those cloaked wizards or whatever that the demon lord summoned,” replied Kitezh.

“I would commend you, but that was sloppy work.”

“Sloppy work?!”

Grigori crossed his brows more.

“You just let a bunch of our soldiers burn up, and you call that ‘mission accomplished’”

“My job was to stop the monsters no matter what it takes. That was the best outcome,” Kitezh responded as she rolled her eyes.

“We have three soldiers being treated for dark burns right now! Don’t give me 'best outcome’”

“It was going to happen no matter what. It was a hostage situation. The moment those cloaked figures hear any interference, they are going to kill everyone. There was no way to enter the weapons shop quietly, especially with that ringing bell at the door. Unfortunately, the burning and screams of the patrons being attacked was the perfect cover to mute our own infiltration in. It was was literally our opening into the shop.”

“If you got your ass going earlier, we would avoid these casualties. Would you be happy if I burned your house to the ground, and a mage start pouring water on the remains of your charred family?”

“I don’t have family here. I got nothing to lose.”

“You’re here to help people who have things to lose!”

“So what, you’re going to exile me, the invisible phenomenon who saves your asses all the time? What’s your point?”

“We’ll take heavier measures if we need to. I’ll admit, your unique abilities are unlike anything we have ever seem, but if we find it counter-productive, I can choose to have you executed.”

“Jeez, that’s extreme. You know, if you even catch me. I can turn invisible, by the way.”

“Think about others. We’re done here.”

Grigori stomped away on the stone ground of the guild hall. He was incredibly flustered, until he shook up back into his professional marching form.

Kitezh had a good look at everyone standing in the guild hall. She looked at the tables with people full of bright discussions. A young woman in a bright robe comes in as a healer. Some funny looking man with pointed horns carrying an axe paces around desperately for a new group.

“They all have their untold stories, but some must harbor some bad pages as well”. Kitezh thought to herself.

“She could suddenly throw a poison spell and run,” she thought, staring at the robed girl.

“He’s a pervert ready to snatch the panties off his own fallen partner,” she thought, staring at the horned man, who is talking to a group of girls in a cocky way.

“I’m ready to stop them so no one innocent suffers.” Kitezh walks up to the crowded task board. “Think about others. I do. Just, not the naïve way he defines it.”

Kitezh looks at the board, but hears her name called out.

“Kitezh! Kitezh! Kitezh!”

It’s always a different voice. That’s because everyone loves an invisible phenomenon. For any other mage or paladin, hearing your name is a sign of extreme popularity. Everyone would treat you like a God, and be comedically obsessed with you.

Kitezh on the other hand sees it as nothing more than getting spam mail telling her she was randomly selected for a free smartphone. But, one of these days, maybe she would accidentally put in her full credentials in the reply. And, that day, happens to be today.

“Kitezh, this task is really, REALLY IMPORTANT!”

These bubbly words were heard as something yanked Kitezh’s cape.

“Ow! I’m not choke resistant, you know.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry Miss Kitezh!” said the girl. She had a cute, pink dress. It was almost like she was a magical girl. Though, it was pretty clear she was some sort of mage, and that she likes to try hard to be cute. She’s doing it right now, bobbing her torso up and down very quickly. I think she’s apologizing to Kitezh.

“I’m not dead, so I’ll listen,” said Kitezh. She was prepared for something somewhat mundane and irritating.

“Listen to this task I picked up!” The cute girl pulled out the task in her hands. “We need to visit the Mala Raka, which is a small town near-“

SMACK!

“I have eyes. I hate using my ears!” Kitezh snorted, after snatching the flyer from the girl, who surprisingly isn’t unnerved.

Mala Raka is a small town close to the city of Kitezh. Lots of towns are built by the river for easier transport to the main city hub in Kitezh. Though, being small towns, they fall victim to the Demon Lord’s subjects.

This time, It is being attacked by swamp wolves. Normally they are just large wolves adapted to marsh environments. Of course, the Demon Lord wouldn’t just randomly summon them to a town like that. The notes say they have been cursed with dark poison magic.

These wolves have been intentionally infecting the farm life, and are going after the river to pollute it. Considering it is a river connected to the city of Kitezh, it is very important that they stop this horde.

However, of all the details in the task, the one that stood out was the text “Bring Kitezh the Invisible Phenomenon.”

“You think I’m going to join because you forged an extra note in this quest?” asked Kitezh, and she slaps the paper back in the cute girl’s hands.

“No no no! I swear the quest was written like this when we got it. I can ask the guildmaster to be sure as well.” The girl turned around. “Hey, guildmaster Askold! Did my task have Kitezh as part of this quest?”

“Is that the poison swamp wolf one?”

“Yes, that’s the one!”

Kitezh shuddered in embarrassment as she heard this back and forth talk. But in the end, it was confirmed that it was indeed part of the quest to include her. It was followed by the girl giving a "hmph!" of approval.

“Okay, but I don’t know why they need invisibility for this kind of mission. Don’t you have a team?”

“Yep! My name is Marigold, by the way. I’ll introduce you to the rest.”

Marigold daintily skipped to a table.

Kitezh walked and paid little attention to the rest of her team. She never had a quest specifically made for her.

“Maybe it’s just a dumb gimmick to have the invisible phenomenon visit a small town. Kill two birds with one stone. Or, kill one bird with one stone, and snatch another one into a cage,” Kitezh thought.

What could Kitezh trust? Is this Marigold girl actually the innocent cute girl she appears? She is quite artificial in nature.

Who was she calling out? Guildmaster Askold? He says the quest is legit. What if he is in cahoots for someone trying to transpire evil?

Kitezh kept these questions festering. She is not the Olga from her past, but her thought process creeps up like moments now. However, unlike Olga, she has the means to escape from a situation in a blink of an eye. She is not Olga anymore.

“I’m probably thinking too much. It’s just killing some monsters, and then I leave,” Kitezh concluded.

Kitezh had a conflict in her mind, but followed Marigold regardless. She wouldn’t want to play hooky due to the anxiety she was building for herself. If there’s one thing that she kept from her past life, it’s her weakness of curiosity.