Episode 22: The adventurer party assembles

Taro and Sidra were back at the church, tired after the training, Taro remembered the important thing he wanted to do at the beginning of the day

Taro: oh!, sister Sunny, we go

Sidra: with all the talk about the bruo, I almost had forgotten

they went to sister Sunny’s room; the bald priest and some others were just walking out

bald priest: what are you doing here? don’t disturb sister Sunny right now

Sidra: we are worried for her; we haven’t seen her in a while

Taro: pleaze, let, see, sister Sunny

the bald priest took a moment to ponder, and sighed

bald priest: alright, I’ll ask her first, and I’ll only let you see her if she accepts

he went back in, a faint voice could be heard, not loud enough to reveal to Taro and Sidra if they could come in or not. shortly after, the bald priest walked out

bald priest: she said its ok, you may come in

upon entering the room, they were met with a worrying sight: sister Sunny was in bed, full of black spots all over her body. She wanted to greet them, but was too weak to talk. Taro was shocked and speechless to see a person he remembered as strong, now in such a state

Sidra: sister Sunny! what has happened to her?

bald priest: I'm afraid she has been struck by the blackening, it’s a rare illness, and one of the few that the Healing Grace cant vanquish

Sidra: the Healing Grace doesn’t work? goddess gracious, what is this malevolence?

bald priest: we’ve been easing her pain by healing her every day, but we can only slow down the process, not reverse it

Taro: (sister Sunny, how could this be?, she is one of the kindest people I know, she saved my life twice, when I was transported to this world and when I got sick, she allowed me to live in the church and has been patient with me, why does this have to happen to her?!) way… way to, help, any?

bald priest: there is a medicine that could help her, but it's made with a rare plant that grows on the side of the river in the forest of Naro. We already issued quests but people don’t go because all our adventurers are busy with training or watching over the town. the news about the Horde could not have come at a worse time

Taro: I go, forest of Naro, I find plant!

bald priest: what are you saying, Taro?, the forest’s entrance may be near, but the river is 2 days away, you can't just go and throw your life away like that, you’ll just sadden sister Sunny on top of her blackening. our best bet is to keep her alive until after the festival, when there’ll be more adventurers available to go to the forest

Sidra: may the goddess grant us the time

Taro looked at sister Sunny, who had fallen asleep while they were talking, he felt frustrated to see her like that, and it made him remember when his own mother fell from the house stairs and injured herself badly

Taro: (back then, I didn’t even want to go to her room to check on her, I was scared. to see my mom, the one who was always busy, always strong, suddenly in bed, full of bandages, unable to lift a spoon to feed herself, what kind of son am I?. sister Sunny is like my mother in this world… I won’t let her down, this time, I won’t run away)

Sidra and Taro went back to their rooms, to roll around in their thoughts on that sleepless night

The next morning happened with Taro on auto mode again, with his body on the holy tasks, but his mind thinking how he would manage to reach the Naro forest river. before he realized, he was already in the guild office

Ari: brute? hello?, are you there?

Taro: ah, Ari, goomornin

Ari: are you ok? you look like you saw an evil spirit, or perhaps you’re still scared about the bruo? hehe

Taro: ah, heh, yez (I don’t know if I should tell her I’m planning on risking my life in a 2-day long trip, wait, more like 4 days considering the travel back home)

Ari: just don’t travel at night, it’s very simple, don’t stress over it you brute

Taro: (traveling at night, just the thing I want to do, sounds like it would indeed be like throwing my life away, but there must be a way, perhaps digging a hole and hiding in it at night—) uhh…

Ari: Seriously, you look too stressed, are you ok? tell me what’s wrong, or I’ll get it out of you

Ari was about to wrestle him, but she remembered she was hurting him last time she did that, so she just held his wrists together and poked his ribs with his other hand

Taro: no, pleaze, I not, feel good

Ari: then what should I do? I know you don’t owe anyone an explanation, but… I wish you did, you’re my friend, one of the few close friends I’ve ever had

Taro: …you know, forest of Naro, river?

Ari: huh? what does that have to do with anything?

Taro: I go, important, plant

Ari: you’re going to the forest of Naro river?, alone?, do you know how long that journey is? you don't even know the way

Taro: yez, but… sister Sunny, need plant, I go

Taro’s voice cracked on that last sentence. Ari looked at Taro’s sad expression, let go of one of his wrists, but still held on gently to the other

Ari: sister Sunny needs a plant? why? is she sick?

Taro: yez, blaken, heal not work, need plant, but no one go, so I go, before sister Sunny… die

Ari: I’ll tell my father, there must adventurers willing to help

Ari interrupted the guild master while he was giving instructions to some other people, both Ari’s and her father’s body languages were very illustrative of what they were saying. after their back and forth, Ari returned to Taro

Ari: he said there’s no available adventurers, they’re all busy patrolling, instructing, or investigating the bruo’s whereabouts. he said the only adventurers available are pretty much us, but he won’t let us go anywhere until the bruo’s hunting area is located

Taro: us?

Ari: yeah, I won’t let you go and get lost in the forest you brute, you need someone to protect you. be grateful I’m doing this for you, despite you always keeping secrets from me

Taro: tank you

Shizuka walked in with Nagye and Sidra.

Nagye: whew, w-we made it, sorry, has the guild master said anything?

Ari: good afternoon, not yet, he’s busy with something

Shizuka: ah! Taro looks tired too!, could it be that you also had a bad night?

Taro: yez, I, no sleep, much

Shizuka: That makes 4 of us!, Sidra couldn’t sleep either, Nagye worked on something all night, and I had a nightmare about running away from a bruo. what happened to you Ari?, hmm, you do look fresh and beautiful though

Ari: wh-what do you mean by that?, I did sleep well last night

Taro: (if we had more people to go to the river, I think it could be easier and safer, but I can’t put them at risk, especially if I can’t protect them)

guild master: please lend me your ears everyone. today’s training will end a little earlier than before. You will wear this black cloth and will try to ambush anyone wearing a white cloth, the goal is to learn how to think like an enemy to be better prepared to fight them. when you hear the bells, return to this point, any questions?

there were no questions, so they were all signaled to go while the white cloth teams gathered to receive their instructions

Nagye: I-I feel bad for the other teams, it will be very easy to find them using m-my bird, p-perhaps I shouldn’t use it

Sidra: We're here to think like enemies, wouldn’t an enemy use anything at its disposal?

Ari: exactly. what if the enemy can also use birds?

Nagye: y-you’re right. bruos are birds, and bruos don’t just fly around, they also attack people

Nagye focused on finding the white teams while the whole team hid among the tall grass

Shizuka: so, did something happen at the church last night?

Sidra: nothing in particular, to my knowledge at least

Shizuka: I mean, you and Taro couldn’t sleep well, I thought something happened, the bruo flying around the church or something

Sidra: oh no, nothing of the sort, perhaps we just a little bit too worried, sister Sunny is sick, and it was quite shocking to see, may the goddess grant us strength

Shizuka: sister Sunny?! the snotter?

Sidra: something much worse unfortunately

Shizuka: Oh that's very bad! I wouldn’t have slept either, no wonder Taro has been so silent today (I must find the right time to talk to him soon…)

Ari: we’re planning on going to the Naro forest river, we’ll get the plant sister Sunny needs ourselves

Shizuka: huh?! why didn’t you tell me earlier?, sister Sunny is like a grandma to me, I’m going too

Sidra: goddess gracious, I was just thinking about the same thing last night, count me in, may the goddess show us the way

Nagye: I-I’ll go too, I think I can help not getting lost with my bird, b-besides, if you’re talking about the Naro root, I also need it, it-it’s a very rare ingredient and-and I would like to collect some too

Ari: its decided then, let’s get this done quickly so we can plan our first adventure together.

Taro: but, danger, and bruo, we wait, for guild master

Ari: ahh I had forgotten about that, hopefully they find the bruo soon

the team prepared for their first ambush on a white team they had on their sight