Meet Your New Party

I was released back onto the streets of Yore later that night. Leilei, unfortunately, remained imprisoned. She wouldn't be released until after we'd successfully cleared the dungeon and reported back to Ramsy.

He had put together a party of adventurers for this mission, which he reassured me would fill in any gaps made by my low level. Well, hopefully at least one of them was several levels over 20, because I was essentially dead weight that needed to be carried.

Now I was headed to the Poison Honey, one of Yore's inns, in one of its seedier districts. There I would meet my new party. Hopefully we would set out tonight, because by the looks of it, we still had at least four hours until sunrise, so we should be able to it clear by then.

I remember it only taking about 30 minutes when I played on my computer, but obviously I had to take that assumption with a grain of salt in light of how drastically the dungeon itself had changed. Not to mention how we would get there. I was too low a level to have my own mount yet (I couldn't even afford a broom!) so hopefully someone in the party had a multi seat mount, or better yet: a method of teleportation.

The streets in this part of town were seedy indeed. All around me the atmosphere was pervaded by the smell of alcohol, cheap perfume, lust and every other mortal sin imaginable.

I saw a group of Dryads standing outside a dilapidated building lit with neon lights—I couldn't tell if they were Harlequin, or something akin to this world's version of a Geisha on account of their make up. The way they were calling out to passers-by, however, made me strongly suspect the latter.

Boy, this world sure has changed from what I remember when exploring it from my computer screen. It must have had something to do with the face on the wall and "the Acquisition" he mentioned.

At least it seemed like I would be getting some sort of answers by working with Ramsy and exploring the Countryside Manor, even if my gut told me that I was walking straight into a trap. 

My rational mind, however, likewise told me that if they wanted to kill, torture or even enslave me—which were the worst fates I could possibly fathom—then they could have already done that while I was locked in a dungeon cell, completely at their mercy.

All I could do was now was go along with their demands while keeping my eyes open and remaining vigilant.

"Oi, who let you out?!" said Reems' pig-headed sycophant, who was leaning against a wall next to the rooster head and Reems himself.

Ugh, these losers again? When will I ever get a break? It just felt like I was dealing with one pain after the other. Hmm, maybe I should at least find out what his actual name is... I was about to check the stats of the pig headed Behemoth who spoke, but then I decided against it. 

Pigface will do just nicely. 

Even if they were actual players, their behavior wasn't any different than an NPC programmed with generic bully behavior. So unless they ever changed that, I saw no reason to treat them any differently than I'd treat an NPC.

"She must have escaped! Nobody would have let her out after that little debacle!" said the rooster head. 

Hmmm.. being that he has the head of a rooster, perhaps I can get away with calling him Cockface...

"What's so funny?!" demanded Cockface, scowling at me as I stared back with both hands covering my giggling mouth. "Someone, call the city guards!"

"No need, we'll take her in and collect the bounty ourselves," said Reems.

"Great idea, Reems—maybe they'll even give us first dibs when they auction her off!" suggested Cockface.

"Yeah! We'll be needing someone to scrub the pots after dinner, cuz I ain't doin' it no more!" said Pigface.

"Yeah, and she can rub Reems' feet too, cuz I ain't doin that no more neither!" said Cockface.

Ramsy was nowhere in sight. "You haven't spoken to your brother yet, have you?" I asked Reems, allowing myself a self-satisfied smirk.

"Ramsy? How did you know he was my brother?" he asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Why don't you send him a message and ask him," I suggested.

He glared at me as his sycophants turned from me to him then to each other, confused as to how they should react.

"I don't know what sort of spying you've been doing on us and our affairs, but you're about to regret it." He cracked his knuckles.

The sycophants got their cue: "Yeah, hows about another duel?" asked Cockface.

"Let me take care of her this time, Reems!" said Pigface, licking his lips.

There was zero chance of me accepting a duel from any of these miscreants again—not until I was of an equal level or higher. Then I'd be all too willing to release all the rage that builds up every time I look at one of their stupid faces or hear one of their stupid comments...

Right now, I didn't even want to be anywhere in their vicinity. I looked around to see how I could brush past them, but then I realized we were right by the Poison Honey—where I was supposed to meet my party.

An Ice cold anxiety spread out from my stomach as I looked back at the party of goons before me. No... Please, no... Please don't tell me... "You... you can't be the party I'm supposed to join..."

"You, join our party?" They all burst out laughing.

"Not only is she a criminal, but she's insane too!" said Pigface.

"I'll say!" said Cockface.

I let out a deep breath—never had I ever been so relieved to be mocked! 

But if this wasn't my party, then where was it? I tried to brush past them while they were busy laughing, but Reems noticed and roughly seized me by the shoulders.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Yeah—let's bring her in already!" said Pigface.

The shadows of the three great beast men enveloped me as they backed me into a corner, getting so close that I could smell their breath, which reeked of stale beer and rotten souls.

"Unhand her at once, you belligerent oafs!" came a familiar voice. Like, super familiar, yet also kind of hazy....

Reems' and his goons spun around just as another party stepped out of the shadows of an adjacent alley.

"At once, I said!" repeated the figure in the middle, with all the airs of the leader as he drew his rapier from his belt.

He was a Satyr, shirtless save for a tight, leather vest strapped across his chest in the shape of an X.

To his right was a Dryad, who looked a lot like Leilei, only teal instead of lime-green and with her long wavy hair all brushed to one side, like a waterfall cascading down the right side of her head. And, being that such a hairstyle could only cover one nipple, she had a leaf over her other—matching the one covering her crotch.

To his left was a Pixie—floating, via her levitate ability. Her posture was relaxed yet alert as she held her wand at the ready. She had a peculiar hairstyle that I'd never seen before. It certainly wasn't one of the default options available at the character creation screen (or else I'd have chosen it for myself). It was pink and rubbery, like bubblegum. Despite that, it looked professionally styled, with two curly strands hanging down like springs on either side of her face, and the rest of her hair pulled back into a bubbly little side-tail.

Her robe came down to rest just above her knees and was super wide and baggy, as were the sleeves, which came all the way down to the middle knuckles of her fingers. She was so cool! Stunningly adorable, yet genuinely intimidating. To say I was jealous of her... well it would be the truth. She was exactly the kind of Pixie I wanted to be.

And in the back, looming behind the rest, was another Behemoth. He had bifocals and neatly combed hair that parted down the middle, which, together with his scholarly robes, gave him an erudite appearance that looked somewhat odd on such a great, bestial figure.

Which was to his credit, because he looked nothing like the three goons that'd been harassing me.

"That's right, she's with us," said the Pixie with a smile. The kind of smile that radiated confidence like the sun radiated light. The kind of smile that said: please, just try something stupid—nothing would make my day more than giving me a reason to put you punks in your place.

Guess I found my party.

I would have been smugly grinning in Reems' face if I wasn't so fixated on their leader, who caught my attention even more than the Pixie I was so envious of. 

Not only was his voice familiar, but also his eyes. Who could this be... I focused on him, and his stat sheet appeared.

Haruto: lvl 20

Race: Satyr

Class: Cloud Tamer

Kraft: Dancer

My staff clattered against the cobblestones as it fell from my grasp.

Indeed, it was that Haruto, the very same former crush that was stolen from me by my ex-best friend.