4 - Bittersweet

Kana, Toast and I were just outside the village when she made her grand declaration. I hesitated to ask but I needed to know for... personal research.

"Kana, how old are you? You can't leave your village just like that, I'm sure."

"I'll have you know I'm already 20-"

YES! Ahem.

"and I can do as I please! My parents have been gone for years, and I love the people of the village but I'm... bored. I was so excited when I came across you in the woods. I haven't felt anything so exhilarating in my whole life."

I felt myself smile to watch her speak so passionately. It was also a treat to hear a plain background story that fit snugly in my ideal RPG fantasy. Against my better judgement I protested.

"You don't really know me though, anything could happen. Do you have any combat skills?"

"No... All my skills are housekeeping related. I'd make the perfect housewife!"

You can't just say things like that directly!

Kana blushed. She blushed. I might lose my mind.

"Anyways, just wait here while I go grab some things, and I'll be back soon. There will be no more discussion on the matter!"

She gave a coy smile and turned on her heel, and ran back into the village out of sight.

Toast pulled me towards a large tree and I remembered the ordeal his harness and leash had caused. I settled myself under the tree, opposite from where he'd...marked it, and patted my lap to beckon him over. He jumped onto my legs, allowing me to unhook his gear. He shook his body like a small fluffy tornado. I bet the harness feels nice to take off. Like pants at the end of the day.

I held the Goddess' charm in my hand for a moment and wondered whether or not I should still display this so people assume he's a "Spirit"? I feel like that might have saved us from those villagers becoming more aggressive before. Once again, seconds after I'd thought my thought a dialogue box appeared.

NEW ITEM GET

When I clicked, a collar the same gold colour as the harness appeared in my hand, and the harness and leash vanished. The collar had the same emblem as the harness, with the circle and strange character I couldn't read.

"I guess she really wants you to promote her brand."

Sliding the collar over his head, he gave another little shake, and the charm glistened in the light. I flipped him over and held him in my arms like a baby, and reminisced of our quiet nights at home like this; him falling asleep in my arms while I watched some new anime after a long day at some part time job I hated. Our moments of calm helped me get through my days. I wondered if we would ever have that again here.

We sat together under the tree waiting for Kana, and drifted into a sunny day nap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I opened my eyes again the sun was already high in the sky and the shade had shifted leaving me with a fresh sunburn.

Toast had clearly abandoned me and followed the shade. He was still snoozing on his side in the grass, snoring away.

I heard Kana calling out and saw her re-emerging from the village, arm waving. Giant. Massive. Backpack. On her tiny body. Easily two times her size.

She approached us and sighed, clearly sweating from carrying such a load. Was it possible she could be even more beautiful while working hard?

She dropped the bag on the ground and it made a loud clank which disturbed Toast's slumber. He jolted upright and let out a little "boof" in reaction.

After arguing back and forth about what she'd brought and what we actually needed, I managed to convince her to let me carry the rucksack. She said in a bigger town we might get lucky and be able to buy an item bag, but neither of us had any money to our names so far so that might be a luxury best saved for later. At least I've learned that things like "Inventory" and "Item box" are rare skills even amongst people with high levels, but supplementary workarounds are available for everyone if they have the coin to spare. If Toast can poop item boxes he definitely has an inventory. I only wish I had access to it.

We walked and walked, and I felt like a character one might read about in a famous trilogy about destroying some jewelry. Toast had given up walking about ten minutes away from the village, and I'd resigned myself to carrying him. My spoiled prince.

I kept talking with Kana. She made it so easy to keep up a conversation. I kept forgetting I was supposed to be a loser that was afraid to talk to girls. We talked about the different places in this world, different job classes, their money system, etc. She thought it was funny that I was so ignorant of such basic knowledge, and I managed to cover things up with the tried and true;

"I come from a faraway land where things are completely different"

Eventually our conversation turned to monsters, and I recalled that she'd referred to that moose thing as a Jika. I asked if she knew what a Moroza was. She stopped walking and her face became dark, like she was fearful to even speak of it.

"The Moroza are the worst monsters you can run into, and you might never know that you've met one."

She regained her composure and started walking again. Toast had fallen back asleep in my arms and let out deep breaths and occasional snorts. 

Read the mood little guy!

"Moroza are shapeshifters. No one knows what they normally look like, but they can take the form of anything. Even...people."

She looked sullen as she spoke and I knew I shouldn't press for details, but I had other questions.

"How does anyone know about them if you can't tell them apart from what they're copying?"

"People have shared stories for generations. Towns have fallen to paranoia, not knowing who to trust. The uncanny feeling you get looking at them. Fighting a monster that uses strange skills compared to normal."

She described horrific things. The Moroza sounded like evil incarnate that prey on the trust of humans. Fakes that violate natural laws, even in a fantasy world.

"Sometimes after defeating one you'll get an item with the name Moroza in it."

I touched the antler hooked onto my shorts.

"No one can tell if someone or something is a Moroza, but the scariest thing of all is that they're classified as... A common monster."

The weight of her words laced with the hint of personal experience sent a shudder down my spine. Something happened to this poor girl in the past, I just know it. I tried my best to change the subject from there and lighten the mood but the tone was set and our conversation dwindled as the evening set upon us. We agreed to camp for the night.

I'd managed to get a fire going thanks to my part time job as a camp counsellor, and we made a simple meal of bread and cheese that Kana had brought from the village. I toasted the bread and melted the cheese on top which seemed to blow her mind and brought back her happy self.

Toast was somehow eating another smoked ham looking thing, which further confirmed my suspicions that he had an inventory. 

Of course he would use it for food. My greedy fat boy.

Toast made himself comfy a short distance from the dwindling fire, and Kana and I cleared rocks in the spots we would sleep. As I tried to get comfortable laying on the dirt with a thin blanket, a faint memory of my first apartment snuck in. 

I can definitely sleep like this but man I miss that pillow.

I stared at the back of Kana's head, following the pink curls this way and that. I reviewed all the information I'd learned about the Moroza and wished I knew more about her instead.

Once again I fell asleep thinking of her, and once again I was unaware of the turmoil about to befall me.