Leave the Trickery to the Experienced

Roze stood before the crowd of dark elf hunters, wand in hand and ready to wave it like a baton to conduct Gideon as her secret weapon.

“I have come here to request for aid in clearing the path to the capital! I am in the middle of a journey to my homeland in search of power. If you have elected me to be your leader, then I will use that role to further my goals!”

There was an awkward silence among the entire group. Roze scanned all around for the first one to strike. She could not stay here. She was purposefully challenging their decision, knowing that it could lead to another fight.

If pure might gave a woman the right to become the leader, then she would impose upon them in accordance with their traditions.

As expected, Corazon came forward. She slung her axe onto one shoulder as if she would strike depending on Roze’s next words.

“Can we not convince you otherwise? Why do you seek this power in a faraway land?”

“It’s because I made a promise to my companion. To seek out the knowledge required to set him free from a curse no one else understands.”

Corazon bent down, her massive frame bending to reach eye level with the much smaller Roze. Their eyes met in a stare down, neither one backing off on their desires. Suddenly, Corazon’s face broke into a smile as she plucked the chieftain hat from Roze’s head and placed it back on her own.

“You have passed, Roze Campanella, human mage. This was a final test to understand your intentions, and that of your companion, Gideon. We know full well he is your partner in this charade.”

Roze’s tough façade dropped, and even Gideon eyed the two with a strange sense of panic, no longer hiding his passiveness since they had been found out. He struck a defensive pose that clearly revealed every intention to protect Roze.

“How, how did you know?” Roze asked.

“The attacks that took down our hunters, they didn’t smell like you. Rather, we caught a whiff of that man. It wasn’t hard to infer that you two had some tricks up your sleeves.”

Roze looked at Gideon who was sweating bullets. It was clear that he hadn’t predicted this outcome either. Leave it to those with freakish senses to discover something was amiss.

“Relax,” Corazon said again. “No harm will come to either of you, particularly since we have no reason to battle again. Even when we lowered your guard through offerings and gratitude, you remained true to your convictions and to the bonds that you hold dear. Even when put on the spot, you remain steadfast and honest to the means of furthering your goals. You possess a strength of the heart. As a reward, we will agree to your request.”

Roze blinked at the unexpected result. She was happy that they had agreed to help, but one question came to mind.

“Why did the relationship between Dominique and the hunter village deteriorate so abruptly?”

Corazon flicked her head toward the crowd, where one of the younger girls stepped forward and knelt.

“The young lord of that city fought this one, Mariposa, and prevailed. However, it was discovered that he purposefully sought after one whose training had yet to reach maturity. He boasted to all those around him at being superior. In response to such actions, our tribe established a rule that we would take down all those who triumphed against us. The young lord then decided to recluse himself in his mansion, out of our reach. Until a fully trained Mariposa removes the stain of defeat with a rematch, the pride of us hunters will not tolerate any mercy for the humans.”

“I see. The cowardice of the young lord resulted in a harsh judgment upon the city, discouraging any to follow in his footsteps. Since you could not flush out someone hiding in his own territory, the next best thing was to cause trouble for the entire city in hopes that he would reconsider.”

Roze felt kind of sorry for the dark elves. They were going to do her a favor, but she had nothing in return. She turned to Gideon to ask his thoughts, but she only saw an empty spot where he had been standing just moments ago.

“Gideon, where did you go?”

A quick look around showed no sign of him. It was strange. Gideon usually didn’t leave her sight. A feeling of loneliness and surprise struck her. When had he started becoming less like a convenience and more like a friend?

As her feet stepped forward, unsure, he popped up right before her.

“Good news, I got the scumbag to leave his room and touch grass outside of town. He’s on his way here, ready to get his ass handed to him by Mariposa.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing much. Just stabbed a letter of challenge onto his posterior with a fork. When he ignored that message, I stabbed him again with another one, saying that there was no escape.”

“Don’t tell me you walked all the way back?”

“Jogged to save some time. It still cost me several weeks of my countdown, but you know what? Worth it when I saw him beg for mercy to an invisible fury bearing down on him.”

Roze could imagine that a sudden stabbing and attachment of such a letter would convince even the most reluctant of people.

“It did take six tries though to get his ass in gear. Hope I didn’t miss too much while I was gone.”

Then again, a person could be stupidly stubborn against seeing obvious ‘reason’. She wondered if a proper rematch could even be held after leaving so many wounds. There was one thing for sure.

“I’m not going to be the one to heal his ass,” Roze sighed.

v

An entire tribe of hunters culling the wild beasts was certainly a sight to see. Gideon had been given front row seats on top of what looked like a giant wolf. In front of him, Milipitas gripped the reins, while Roze clung to his back, trying not to fall off the dang thing.

An entire brigade of wolf riders crisscrossed before them, shooting magic and long-range weaponry in a series of hit and runs. These attacks sniped the beasts from several angles at once, leaving them weakened for a single polearm or axe to finish the job.

It showed the battle potential of a small army, clearing the path forward in the span of twenty minutes. Far more time than that would have been wasted crossing through with only Gideon and Roze to take them on. That is, if no one counted the time spent to convince the young lord of Dominique to surrender. Gideon sheepishly kept that oversight to himself.

In any case, their success was now the reason they rode with Milipitas.

Within the same day, elven scouts had reported that the young lord of Dominique was en route to their village. This news brought great satisfaction to Milipitas, who had been responsible for training the young hunter that had been slighted.

A blemish on the record of her junior could hardly be brushed off. Not to mention, she had taken an interest in the duo who had done the same against her, only they had succeeded in bringing the tribe to its knees.

Milipitas fired off blades of wind that sliced deep into the beasts around her. They struck with amazing accuracy even from the back of a fast-moving ride. Roze held on to dear life as monsters came withing striking range of her backside, only for a timely attack to interrupt. On the other hand, Gideon cheered like he was having a blast.

Like that, it wasn’t too long before the numbers thinned out, restoring accessibility of the main road leading to the capital. The great wolf skidded to a halt, turning its attention back to the village.

“You may continue your journey, Roze and Gideon. The rest of this task is the responsibility of the other hunters. I have received word that my junior has taken back her honor by crushing her opponent. He will be left unable to leave his mark of superiority on any other female that he fancies.”

High-pitched whistles must have informed Milipitas of ongoings outside of their visible range. Roze had meant to question what she implied by the latter statement, but Gideon growing stiff before her hinted a not so pleasant result.

Roze and Gideon dismounted and started to walk away, but all of a sudden, Milipitas leapt from her wolf and aimed an attack at Roze. Despite holding the advantage of a surprise attack, the dagger in her hand was suddenly ripped away.

Milipitas noticed that Roze hadn’t even registered the sudden strike, whereas her companion had disappeared from her sight. No one had questioned just how exactly Roze had defeated their best hunters, but Milipitas simply had to know, even if it meant disrespecting their tradition.

“Come out, Gideon. I now understand that you are the one who was able to easily defeat me.”

Gideon appeared before her suddenly, sticks drawn for combat. He sighed with a weary expression of someone whose trickery had finally caught up to him.

“Does this mean that you’ll chase me to the ends of the world?”

“If I said yes, would you strike me down again?” Milipitas answered with a strange grin. Perhaps, she presented this question knowing that Gideon had been the main reason for Roze’s victory.

After a few moments of awkward silence, she sheathed her dagger and relaxed from her fighting stance. It was clear that she would bring them no further harm.

Rather…

“Let me join you on your journey. Since it would bring trouble to chase after a lover that is already claimed, I must prove myself worthy in some other way before returning to the village.”

Gideon and Roze were both wide eyed, causing Milipitas’ gaze to dart between them strangely. A realization that she jumped the gun came over her.

“Wait, are the two of you not lovers?”

They both shook their heads, Gideon a smidgen slower than Roze.

“Then-”

“I know it’s tradition for you to go after strong males, but you won’t find anything worthwhile from being with me. Not to mention, I don’t date those more than triple my age. Sorry.”

“Intriguing. You are daring enough to make fun of an elf’s longevity, yet claim to hold a power that I cannot benefit in personally. You leave me no choice but to discover the reason for such confidence.”

It seemed like no matter what, Milipitas would intrude upon their party. Gideon dismissed the trouble, finding the silver lining within.

“Yeah, yeah, as long as you pull your weight. I’m counting on your hunting abilities to help reach Roze’s homeland quickly.”

It was a reminder that they needed a good scout to avoid constantly running into things to fight and squandering Gideon’s precious time. Still, their party makeup was horribly imbalanced for the path ahead.

Gideon’s eyes turned to the direction of the capital next, hoping to resolve that issue soon.