Other World Woes - Part 1

After traversing the eastern grove next to Alameria, we reach the South-Eastern gate to find it... closed? After shouting a few more times for the wall guards to let us in, a town guard looks down from atop its high walls and he finally grants us access inside. However, as we enter the town, we observe that almost every building inside the walls has been heavily damaged. The people inside of Alameria are trying to rebuild and repair the damage, while others focus on fortifying their defenses for protection.

"What the hell is going on? What happened here?" Hikaru remains speechless at the sight of the devastated town. Meanwhile, my outburst catches the eyes of the surrounding people, who eye me harshly, as if I were an idiot who had barged into their town.

"Y'bin livin' onder a rock or somtin'? Alameria's bin onder attack, an' de dam he-row aint com' back in monts!" We look at the dwarf who chose to respond to my rhetorical outburst. While I understood what the dwarf said despite his accent, Hikaru has moved behind me, clutching the back of my armored coat. 'Is she scared?' Oddly enough, Hikaru's grip shudders slightly from time to time. 'Wait, is she giggling at his accent?'

I nod at the dwarf as a means of thanking him and acknowledging his response. I shake off Hikaru's grip on my coat and notice what looks like a goofy grin on her face. Ignoring it, I take her arm before pulling her into a jog until we reach the Life-Spirit Inn. Upon arriving at the Inn, I cant help but stare at several sections of its roof that have caved in, along with the extensive damage across its entirety.

Observing the damage, I notice the many impact points across the inn's structure, it's evident that something very aggressive must have been trying to get inside. I also spot numerous large claw marks and indents, which implies that a large creature was responsible for the damage.

As we enter the Inn, Hikaru and I notice that it is packed with more people than usual, and most of the occupants appear to be ordinary people using the Inn as a shelter. Making our way through the crowd, we manage to reach the middle of the tavern floor, when a loud booming voice drowns out the many other voices inside the building.

"TAKASHIIIII!" Everyone turns their attention to Rogardin, the big, burly man behind the bar responsible for screaming my name. With his round yet muscular frame, he hefts himself over the bar and charges towards me, forcefully landing his large meaty hands on my shoulders and nearly crushing Kiru in the process. He begins shaking me back and forth violently, causing Kiru to be thrown off of me. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry, things got a little complicated back home, and it delayed me a bit..." Despite Rogardin violently shaking me, I shakily utter a full sentence. Even as he shakes me, I can see how haggard he is, from the bags under his eyes to his frayed, unkempt beard.

"I know you said you'd be gone for a while, but disappearing for months at a time is pushing it!" 'MONTHS! Oh yeah, taking into account the time dilation, three or more days on Earth would translate to about four months here.' The calculations take me a little bit of time, Rogardin's shaking doesn't make it much easier for me either. Amidst the shaking, I can hear Kiru hurling all kinds of insults and curses at Rogardin for throwing her off my shoulder. Fortunately, Hikaru was able to catch her earlier.

"Alright, I get it. But it was out of my control. I'll try to be more careful in the future." I place my hands onto Rogardin's and with a small use of force, stop his violent shaking. He grunts and struggles to move is arms under the weight of mine, but I keep them held down with minimal effort. "Now, what happened here? Who attacked you, and where is Treia?" After Rogardin calms down, he takes in a deep breath, and I loosen my grip on him as he releases his grip on me.

"Treia is at the Guild, where you should be. You'll get the full story there. All I can tell you is that we've been under attack from bandits." Rogardin maintains his calm demeanor, but his tone carries a hint of sadness. 'Bandits caused this level of damage? Judging from what I observed outside before entering, they must be using beasts of some kind to attack the town. The bigger question is: what kind, and how many?'

Dragging Hikaru with me everywhere is a bit of an inconvenience, but I can't abandon her now, lest she get lost in the confusion, especially with the town in such a state of crisis. We pass numerous buildings, all of them in disrepair, until we eventually reach the largest building, which appears to have taken the most damage in Alameria: The Adventures Guild Hall. During all of my previous visits, the main hall, built much like the tavern's at Rogardin's Life-Spirit Inn, used to be bustling with upcoming and experienced adventurers. However, what we saw upon entering, was something else entirely.

The guild hall, which was once filled with adventurers of all kinds, happily interacting with each other, talking, bickering, eating, drinking and checking the message boards, is now a scene of horror and chaos. Its main hall is filled with dozens of injured, some occasionally groaning or screaming in pain, and too few healers trying their best to provide comfort and assistance. 

While the sight of the injured, wrapped in their bloody rags, and the smell of blood filling the hall doesn't have much effect on me, Hikaru is visibly shocked at the horrific scene before us. After some searching, I spot and approach Treia, who is applying a healing salve to an adventurer who appears to have lost a leg.

"Treia, what happened here?" After I call out to her, Treia flinches in place, quickly turning to find where I am. Her face contorts with a mix of shock and relief upon seeing me. After another moment of attention, Treia abandons the adventurer and marches towards me in an aggressive manner.

"Where the hell have you been? We needed you ages ago." Treia's expression appears more sad than angry, now that she is standing before me, I can't help but notice her exhausted appearance. "You know what, never mind. You need to see the Guild Master. Right now." Treia locks a rather weak grip around my wrist before pulling me towards the upper floors, we reach the Guild Master's overly large office door. After a resounding knock on the door from Treia, we enter.

"He's finally back." Treia addresses the aged man, sitting at his desk, organising through several stacks of paperwork. Meanwhile, Hikaru is occupied with admiring his well-decorated office. The man's scruffy hair is a dark grey colour, his face bears a number of small scars, some of which are concealed by his darker, well trimmed beard. Appearing worn out and ragged, he locks his gaze on the three of us standing in the doorway.

"Ah, Takashi. You're back." Giving Treia a nod, he sets his pen down on the desk and shifts his full attention to us.

"So everyone keeps noticing. What the hell happened here?" Guild Master Grey retrieves a cane from beside his desk, standing up from behind it. I gently guide an enamored Hikaru towards the other end of the office, where a large maroon sofa is accompanied by a display cabinet showcasing a dagger. 

Taking the middle seat of the chair, I am joined by Treia on my left, she sits in an awkward position and lets out a sigh of relief mixed with exhaustion. Meanwhile Hikaru settles into the right seat beside me, still immersed in the office's environment. Kiru, having been situated on Hikaru's shoulder since the tavern, performs a series of leaps down to Hikaru's knee, then onto the adorning coffee table, where she can munch on some complementary biscuits.

As Grey moves around his desk, my attention is on Hikaru. After she's finished admiring the room, her focus shifts to Grey as he emerges from behind his desk, revealing that his right leg is missing from above the knee. Hikaru fails to conceal her shock at the sight of this, while Grey can't help but notice her reaction and smile as he leans onto his crutch.

"Not to worry, my dear. It's an old injury that I've long since moved past." Grey reassures Hikaru as he takes a seat in his personal chair, positioned across from the rest of us, he gazes at Kiru for a moment, while she happily eats away at the biscuit that was approximately her size, he gives her a gentlemanly nod before going into detail. "So, no doubt you've noticed the damage throughout the town?" I nod to him in affirmation, and he continues. 

"This destruction was caused by a group of bandits that showed up here nearly three weeks ago. Normally, we would be able to drive them off or put them down with the help of our adventurers or mercenaries. However, this particular group has proven to be especially dangerous."

"I'm guessing its because of the beasts they've managed to tame?" Gray is surprised by my statement, and my understanding of their current situation, "The damage outside made it pretty evident."

"Of course. The damage was done by several Slytzars. While the bandits themselves haven't done much, their beasts have been scaling the walls and attack indiscriminately across Alameria. The beasts then retreat before the town's guard, or most of our adventures can respond or try to fend them off." Grey furrows his brows as he reflects on and describes the events of the last few weeks, he gazes at me with a serious expression as he continues.

"Over the last couple weeks, they've been wreaking havoc across town, the creatures tear through anything or anyone who gets in their way, smashing buildings indiscriminately without reason, and then they simply retreat. Yet, for some reason, the bandits themselves continue to keep their distance, they haven't made any kind of demands either. Something about all of this doesn't add up."

'Slytzars, otherwise known as King Lizards. I usually make it a point to avoid these creatures on account that fighting one is about as reckless as it is stupid.' Possessing the body of a giant snake with a strong core frame, long flexible limbs, they are armed with large claws sharp enough to slash, stab and crush their prey. The only upside to facing these creatures is their lack of armor, cutting one down is relatively easy, provided they don't cut you down before you can get close enough.

"A Catauri adventurer ventured out in search of the bandit's camp, and they were successful. However, they were spotted and one of their legs was blown off during their escape from the bandits. According to the injured Catauri, the damage was caused by a ranged weapon, something stronger than a regular gun." Treia's brief explanation from beside me catches me off guard, particularly her mention of a stronger weapon.

"Stronger than a regular gun... Are these bandits being backed by someone?" I consider the implications here, 'Finding a gun here isn't all that uncommon, but something stronger would imply that these bandits would have been supplied with specialised weapons, and quite possibly the Slytzars.' It's most likely someone from the city across the sea, is the one responsible for supplying them in this case.

"Honestly, I don't know. I apologise I don't have more information for you, but we've had our hands full trying to fend off the Slytzar attacks. Can I count on you to take care of this?" Grey bows his head as he makes his request, 'I was already planning to look into this, but I'll need a little more information first.'

"How many bandits?"

"About half a dozen or so." 'Several Slytzars, half a dozen bandits armed with high-powered weapons, talk about a one-sided fight.' I'm feeling a little excited about the idea of this fight, Kiru appears very interested as well, but I'm also worried about how it can go. Then, I'm reminded of the girl sitting on my right. 

'Wait, what about Hikaru? There's no way I can bring her with me on this job, it's too dangerous. I could take her to the nearest gate and send her back to earth alone, then take care of the bandits afterwards, but that would mean she'd have to face the school day alone, and I can't do that to her. Damn it!' I'm stuck at an impasse, then Hikaru speaks up.

"What happens if Takashi isn't able to take care of this?" Grey is surprised by Hikaru's question, even Treia and Kiru have reacted and is giving Hikaru their full attention, but they maintain their composure. Even my own curiosity has me wondering why she's speaking up.

"We've had a request available for the last couple of weeks, so far no one has acted, or responded." Hikaru appears to be in contemplation after hearing Grey's response to her question, with a nod she gives me a slight glance before facing Grey with determination.

"Then he'll do it!" It takes me a moment to register what she said, I voice my objection. Even Treia, Kiru and Grey appear surprised.

"Woah, hold on." Before I can say anything more, Hikaru silences me with a sincere look in her eyes.

"I know what you're going to say, and I'm not going to hold you back."

"You're not coming with me! I promised to protect you, so the last thing I'm going to do is take you with me on a dangerous job."

"That's why I'm staying here."

"Wait, what?"