First Contact

As we walked in silence, approaching the nearby town to begin our official mission of improving the world, I began to worry. My party had no context for how I’d been behaving. They didn’t know about the secret late-night assassination, the presence of the creepy maid, any of it. All they had seen was me behaving erratically, and that was an understatement. I realized they might be uncomfortable with the “episodes” I’d had, even if they had been eager to help.

If I were in their shoes, I’d feel extremely unsettled. I wouldn’t have blamed them at all if they began avoiding me as much as they could without impacting our work. But that wouldn’t be ideal for the mission, I knew; we needed to have trust and understanding for this to work. I opted to make an effort to repair the group’s cohesion before it got any worse. Clearing my throat, I forced myself to speak.

“Hey guys, sorry about that outburst earlier and… well… everything up to this point,” I said. All three faces turned toward me, and I forced a smile. “I’m feeling a lot better, both physically and mentally. I admit I haven’t done much for the team, but if you’re still okay with being part of this, I’m happy to help out with anything while we’re here. Just point me in the right direction.” I hoped I had arranged my face with the right levels of penitence and optimism.

The three of them exchanged looks. I chuckled nervously, awaiting their response.

“It’s fine, it’s all –,” Estelar began. But he was quickly cut off by Andra.

“Ugh, I cannot stand this miserable, depressing mood!” she snapped, waving her hands dismissively. “All’s fine now, we know what we need to do, so let’s just get it done!”

She whipped around and kept marching forward. She was definitely not one for displays of vulnerability, although I could tell she cared in her own way.

Her usual attitude was refreshing though. It cheered me up more than I’d like to admit that she was behaving as she always had, at least for the short time I’d known her.

Pira smirked and raised an eyebrow at me, which I also took as a positive.

For the rest of the short hike, Pira and Estelar walked alongside me as we exchanged pleasantries. They told me about their lives, their families, and I offered a few details about my home in response. It was a relaxed, easy vibe, and I decided that my worries about how they thought of me had proven to be blown out of proportion. The weight of all my other worries still weighed heavily on my soul, however.

As we emerged from the tree line into the open field that surrounded the village, Andra fell back behind the rest of us as if attempting to hide in our shadows. She was almost small enough to get away with it, even if it seemed a bit unnecessary. Habit, I expected; she felt safer when she was less exposed.

“Welcome travelers! Could you be one of the rumored hero parties? What brings you to our village? Do you need help?”

The greeting drew our eyes to an older gentleman waving at us from the path ahead. He was plainly dressed, but his clothes were clean, and the scarf at his waist had a splash of bright red. His hair was laced liberally with gray, and while he approached with a confident stride, he seemed slightly out of breath. Even at this distance, I could tell the smile he wore wasn’t genuine. It wasn’t as disturbing as the smile of a certain prince, but it was clear he was less than pleased with our arrival.

“As you correctly guessed, we are one of the hero parties,” Estelar replied, sketching a slight bow. “But to your question, it’s not our group that needs help. We’ve come to lend aid in any way we can to the small villages and towns on our travels at the behest of the young Prince Elias.”

The man frowned, his graying eyebrows knitting as he pondered the words. He was wary of us. After a moment, he shrugged.

“Our monster populations have been quite low as of late, so your help would be unnecessary,” the villager began. “Best be on your way before -“ Estelar politely raised a hand which made the man pause.

“Monster hunting is just one of the many things the kingdom can do to lend aid,” the elf mage explained. “Our party specializes in increasing quality of life in a variety of ways, including technology and crop yields. I’m sure even the most thriving village yearns for something to make life easier or more comfortable.”

“You’ll definitely ‘yearn’ for something after seeing what I’ve brought.” Pira chimed in, her hands clutching at one of the bags of tools she’d brought. The word ‘technology’ seemed to have activated her like a sleeper agent. I couldn’t resist smiling at her eagerness when she shook the bag, making the contents jingle.

Estelar gestured to her in a slight “be patient” movement. As we watched, more people were beginning to emerge from the village and the field, approaching with hesitant curiosity to stand near the man. They all seemed to be… normal, really; they wore clean but simple clothes, most in shades of brown and green, and they didn’t appear to be armed. At Pira’s words, the people began murmuring among themselves.

Andra stayed behind the rest of us, but she was watching the exchange with interest, bristling a bit as if she expected a fight.

The man who had first greeted us abandoned all pretense of being friendly. He now looked annoyed.

“It’s not a good time,” he said through clenched teeth. “You don’t need to be here. There’s no reason for it.” He folded his arms, looking almost belligerent. The growing crowd around him didn’t seem to agree with his resistance, though, and many of them watched our party with increasing interest.

Suddenly, a younger woman came up behind the older man, laying a hand on his shoulder. She was as simply dressed as everyone else in a tunic the color of sand, but her dark hair had been tied up with a bit of red cloth. She glanced at us briefly as the man felt her touch and turned to speak with her. I couldn’t hear what was said, but while his tone was agitated, hers seemed calm. He waved a hand, gesturing with sharp movements, but whatever she said in response, she stayed firm. His hand finally fell to his side, his entire posture appearing more defeated, even from behind. After a moment, he turned back to us.

“You may show the village what you can do.” He sounded like he begrudged the words but was forced to speak them. “If what you have to offer is truly beneficial to us, then we welcome it.” His forced smile had returned slightly, an awkward twist of the lips that didn’t reach his eyes. “If not, you will be on your way with all haste.”

Estelar bowed and murmured his thanks, but the man had already turned on his heel and strode away, huffing under his breath.

I looked at Pira, who looked back at me with a confused tilt of the head. I couldn't understand why someone would be so hostile to a hero party lending aid.

“I’m sorry about my father,” the woman with the red hair tie eturned to us now, her voice warm and soothing. “Ever since he was named chief, he’s been wary of change, especially from hero parties.”

“It’s all right,” Estelar reassured her. “It’s not uncommon to be wary of strangers.”

“Why is he so worried about heroes?” I asked, confused. Everyone knew the proxy parties existed to do good, didn’t they?

“Well…,” she hesitated, but a glance at my face must have assured her that I was asking in good faith, because she pressed on. “Apparently during the last succession competition, the hero party that arrived in our village was quite ruthless.”

“Ruthless? How?”

“Hunters,” she said quietly. “Only not what you might think. My father was a survivor of one of their ‘hunts.’”

I blinked, caught off guard at the implication. 

“The lives of the villagers are worth less than the monsters they hunt in this twisted competition,” the woman continued. “So some especially cruel tacticians made a habit of taking people from local towns and using them like tools to guarantee a painless hunt for themselves. My father was one of those chosen.”

They were used as bait.

The villagers had been cannon fodder to draw out the monsters. And it hadn’t mattered how many of them had died in the process.

“It was a long time ago,” she said with a slight shudder. “But those who went through it didn’t emerge unscathed.”

The woman looked composed, but her face was visibly paler, slightly haunted. Estelar put a hand on her shoulder gently.

“I’m sorry for your village’s past experiences with hero parties,” he said, “and I can’t say your distrust in us is misplaced. Unfortunately, I’ve heard many such stories on my travels.” He put his other hand on his heart and stared down at her solemnly. “I swear on the life I’ve lived that we mean your village no harm. We strive to improve this kingdom, village by village if we must, and that doesn’t include taking innocent lives.”