Taiga

The rain had passed, and the sun began to rise again. It was about time that Roz ventured out of the watchtower to return to Bordertown. The forest grew damp from all the water that had fallen from the sky, so the ground was muddy and full of puddles.

Eventually, he had made his way back to town. Bordertown was far more busy during the mornings. Despite all the barbarian attacks plaguing the town, the citizens continued to live their lives as normal. The woodcutters walked to the forest in the east with axes on their shoulders, while the town’s blacksmith was banging his hammer on the anvil. The builders were busy building new houses to replace all the ones that had suffered from the fate of invaders. Meanwhile, most of the women were either living as housewives or working as merchants and shopkeepers around the plaza. Perhaps, their source of willpower came from the statue that was built at the center of the town two years ago. A replica of the boy named Lucian Ashred, who was supposed to be the town’s chosen one. He was the eldest son of Baron Ashred, and he was the first one in the history of the town to become a Hero of the Alexandrian Kingdom, a feat that most people could only dream of being. Everyone was counting on him to save their town from the barbarians of the Farlands, but he never came back. Still, he remained as a beacon of hope for the town.

“Roz! There you are!” a voice yelled out from afar.

Roz could only pinch his forehead for what was about to happen next.

A shaggy silver haired girl ran up to him and clasped her hands together.

“Please join the Adventurer’s Guild!”

“I refuse.” He shut her down almost immediately.

“Pretty please?” Her yellow eyes gleamed like a puppy begging for treats.

Roz ignored her and began walking away.

“Wait!” She blocked his path, extending her dark grey jacket to show her sleeveless white shirt and tanned shoulders.

Roz feinted to the left. The girl fell for the bait, watching the masked figure shift his direction to the right.

“Come on! Why won’t you join already?!” she complained.

“I already told you a hundred times, Lupa. I’m not interested,” Roz said. “Why are you so persistent?”

Lupa leaned closer to his ear. “You’re the only one in this place with guts,” she whispered. “If you’re gonna keep pretending to be the town’s secret night guardian, then you might as well be an adventurer! Think about the things we could achieve together!”

“You should think about why there’s only one member in this town’s Adventurer's Guild.”

“You could raise it to two!” she tugged on his arm.

“No matter how much you beg me, I’m not going.” Roz slipped out of her grip.

“No matter how much you reject me, I’m not stopping!”

Lupa tried to tackle him, but Roz was too swift to be caught.

“Think about the things we could achieve together!”

No matter where Roz went, Lupa would follow. She was like a persistent dog who would never leave his side. The only thing that was missing from her was a wagging fluffy tail.

Eventually, they would make their way over to Amity’s bookstore.

It was the same as Roz had remembered. Cracked holes on the cobblestone road, and a broken window on the front of the store. Amity was outside sweeping the glass shards on the floor, humming happily as if nothing ever happened.

“Roz!” her face beamed.

“Amity.”

“Yikes, what happened here?” Lupa asked.

“Oh, Lupa!” Amity greeted her. The shopkeeper’s face raised her eyebrow. “Are you bothering Roz again?”

Lupa looked away. “I’m just checking out the store, you know?”

Amity narrowed her eyes. “You don’t even read.”

“I just wanted to see if you’re all right!” Lupa gave her a sheepish smile.

Amity looked at Roz.

“Tell me if she’s bothering you.”

“She is.”

“H-Hey, you don’t have to be so straightforward about it!” Lupa exclaimed.

“Lupa!”

Amity marched down towards Lupa, but Roz blocked her path.

“I’ll help you with the repairs,” he said.

“H-Huh?” Amity blinked her eyes, then she looked away and twirled her hair. “B-But you don’t have to. I can get the builders to do it later.”

“Soul of Invention: Ice Hammer.”

Before Amity could even blink, he walked straight into the door to the store.

“Wait!” Amity ran after him.

“I’ll help gather the materials!” Lupa said.

In the end, Amity couldn’t stop them, so she gave up and allowed the duo to work on the repairs. After a few hours of hard work, they managed to fix most of the bookshelves that had been ransacked and arrange the books back into their original spots. Unfortunately, there were many books that had been severely damaged from the attack, and the broken window had to wait another time.

“Thank you, everyone!” Amity said, wiping the sweat off her brow.

Lupa stretched her arms and yawned. “We did it…..”

Roz walked over to Amity and returned the book he rented.

“How was the book?” she asked him.

Roz took a pause before responding. “It was…..something.”

“Oh. The Mad Count.” Amity looked at the title of the book and frowned. “I didn’t like the ending on this one either.”

“Could you recommend something more lighthearted?” Roz asked.

“Of course!” Amity smiled.

She scoured around the bookshelves, then she went on her tippy toes to reach the book she was searching for.

“Got it!”

Amity held the book in her hand and showed it to Roz.

“To Woo A Dragon Lady!”

Lupa snickered.

“Hey!” Amity pouted. “This is good fiction! A non-reader like you would never understand!”

Lupa rolled his eyes. “As if someone as gloomy as Roz would read such a-”

“Thanks.” Roz picked the book off Amity’s hands and bowed.

“Hey!” Lupa’s jaw dropped.

Her face made Amity giggle.

“I’d rather read this than join the Adventurer’s Guild.” Roz walked towards the exit.

“Come on, don’t be like that!” she whined and followed after him.

However, before Roz could step out of the door, he looked at Amity once more.

She tilted her head. “Roz? What’s wrong?”

“Are you doing well, Amity?” he asked.

Amity’s lips curled down for a moment. Then she put on a smile.

“I’ll be fine, Roz.” She gave off a lighthearted chuckle. “Don’t worry about me.”

Lupa scratched her head. “I don’t get what’s going on.”

“Let’s go,” Roz said.

As they left the bookstore, they saw a group of three barbarians walking their way through the street. It was obvious to Roz that they were barbarians. They donned the skulls of animals on their heads, wore fur and leather clothes that exposed their bare bodies, and had tattoos all over their skin. But since they weren’t bringing harm to anyone, Roz couldn’t attack them. As long as they didn’t cause any trouble, Bordertown’s laws considered them as visitors. However, it wasn’t always this way. It was only thanks to one man that this was possible.

He stood tall amongst the group of barbarians, wearing the skull of a tiger on his head like a crown and had long red hair flowing down his shoulders. The man had a white fur cape over his back, while the front of his body was laid bare to see, exposing his bronze complexion and muscular physique.

His striking golden eyes caught onto Lupa, then he gave her a handsome smile.

“Ugh, it’s Taiga.” Lupa made a disgusted face.

The man named Taiga approached them with his arm around a fourth person, who was slumped down in shame.

“Yo, Lupa.”

Lupa growled at him.

“You look cute when you’re angry, you know that?”

“Get away from me!” Lupa snobbed him off.

Taiga laughed. “Are you still looking for new members for the Adventurer's Guild? You know we can’t have that, right?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“But it is.” He shook the person under his shoulder. “Me and my buddy here agreed that we’d be replacing the Adventurer's Guild and handle all the dangerous quests for this town, remember?”

The person nodded along with him.

“Acting Baron! Why are you siding with that lunatic?!” Lupa stomped her feet.

“W-Well,” the Acting Baron put his fingers together. “They have been successful in their quests…”

“Baron Ashred would have never let these barbarians into the town!”

Taiga scoffed. “Baron Ashred isn’t in charge anymore. The old man’s gone senile!”

“He’s still our baron!” Lupa protested.

“Come on, Lupa. You should just give up on the Adventurer’s Guild and join my harem. You’re always welcome to join!” Taiga extended his hands.

Lupa looked like she was going to hurl. “Never! Besides, I already have another person by my side! Right, Roz?”

Roz was nowhere to be seen.

“H-Huh?!” Lupa looked everywhere. “Where did he go?!”

It turned out, Roz was hiding behind the window, listening to their conversation from a distance. If there was anyone he wanted to avoid, it was Taiga, the tribal chief of the Crimson Desert Tribe. The man was a mystery to Roz. He knew nothing about what his Soul Art was and what he was capable of. But it was also the same for the other way around. Taiga didn’t know too much about Roz either, and the masked man wanted it to stay that way.

“Well, if you feel that lonely, you can always find me to make yourself feel better,” Taiga said.

The other barbarians laughed.

Lupa was steaming red from embarrassment.

“See you soon, love.” Taiga gave her a flying kiss and left.

“Screw you, bastard!”

Once they left, Roz stepped out of the store.

“Roz!” Lupa stomped on the ground again. “You’re so cruel! Why would you leave me all alone with those brutes?!”

“They didn’t attack you,” Roz said.

“But still!”

Roz grabbed her and moved his mask closer to her ear.

“The last thing I want is that man’s attention,” he whispered. “If he finds out that I’ve been killing barbarians from the shadows, I’ll have a lot more trouble on my hands.”

Roz let her go and walked away. This time, Lupa was unable to say a word. All she could do was stare at his back as she watched him leave.

“If only Lucian were here, he would know what to do.”