"Welcome back, miss Eria!" a blushing guard welcomed me back to the gates.
A few weeks had passed since I came to Rusceah, and already, I became familiar with the guards at the gates. It's not my intention to become friendly with them, but they keep asking for my name every time I go in and out of the city. Some of them had even asked me out for a date in more than one occasion. They seem to think that I'm up for grabs, as I always go out alone.
Almost all of them are young men, so they're very assertive in their approach. They also don't have the ability to hide their intentions. They never fail to talk to me while staring only at my chest.
Still, they're very respectful to some extent. They have never once crossed the line, or attempt to inappropriately grab me. I heard that city guards often prey on a lone woman, but they're nothing like that.
"What monster did you hunt today?"
The guards attempt to start a conversation, inadvertently keeping me from entering the city.
Until the main guard arrived back at his post, I wasn't able to get away. Fortunately, he takes his job seriously, unlike his young subordinates.
"I'm sorry for that, miss Eria," the veteran-looking soldier, the main guard, sincerely apologized. "You lot! Get back to your post!"
Because of him, I'm finally able to get back to the city.
"Look, Mom! An elf!"
"So she's that famous adventurer?"
Most people in Rusceah's main road now recognize me as the pretty adventurer elf. As elves are rare in general, we're easily distinguished in a crowd. As a female elf with the appearance of a swordsman, I'm even more conspicuous. It did not take long for me to become the topic of conversation among the citizens in the main road.
Ignoring the voices around me, I soon arrived at the guild.
Unlike the first time I came, the adventurers in the guild did not start a commotion over me. They've gotten used to my presence as well. A few common adventurer thugs would try to hit on me from time to time, but I would always beat them up. Honestly, they should try to be a bit more discreet.
My eyes glanced at one particular C rank party. All of them were men, and all of them were looking back at me. A clear smirk were showing on their faces.
"Hey, Eria!" a girly voice suddenly claimed my attention.
Erika and her two party members came to greet me.
"We've already spent all our money, so we're back on grinding quests," they explained.
"Even though you just ranked up, you should stick with the kind of quests you're familiar with for now," I said.
"That's our plan! We know we've gotten rusty from eating so much good food lately. We can't exactly tackle any difficult quests until we get back in shape..."
We continued to chat for a bit, and then I saw them off.
Done with my business in the guild, my next destination is the city square.
After clearing most of the highest difficulty quests in the guild, I've almost exhausted my supply. Mostly, I need to buy spices and recipes for my cooking. I also need to receive the new custom armour I ordered for Log.
Speaking of which, since Log just became a proper adventurer, he's now exclusively going out on solo missions. As a part of his development, he needs to learn how to rely on himself more than me. I'm confident in his strength, so I have nothing to worry about.
And then I arrived at the city square...
"C-Call the knights!"
"Monsters! They're in the city!"
The usually bustling crowd of the city square was in chaos. The merchants and ordinary citizens alike were running away for their lives. While soldiers were panicking, apparently as clueless to the situation as I was.
Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the Holy church temple at the end of my view.
Huh...?
Smoke comes out the roof of the tall building, and faster than the eye could blink, a humanoid figure flew out of it.
"Grah! And I'm finally able to sneak in the capital! Curse you!"
The humanoid figure settled in the air, wincing at whatever it was staring at the ground. The figure has red skin, and it has two wings that are each larger than its body protruding on its back. While it's as tall as an ordinary human, it's so lanky, that its body could be mistaken for a skeleton from afar.
What's an Imp doing here...?
"Buy me some time! Dark summoning!"
A number of black portals appeared all around a few meters away from the Imp, and out comes from each portal were a dozen of common monsters.
"Tch!" I clicked my tongue.
I hurried over the monsters and draw out my sword. Since I cannot exactly use magic in a populated area, I need to deal with them one by one. One, two, three—I cut down the orcs and ogres that came out of the portals.
"But there's too many!"
All the citizens have already vacated the area, but the soldiers and adventurers who came to handle the situation remain to fight the monsters. However, they're too weak. All they can do is buy time until the knights or stronger adventurers arrive.
Prioritizing saving those who are in a tough situation, I defeated the monsters one after another.
"I can't get there in time...!"
A large orc looms over a young soldier, as it raises its club for a strike.
I'm not fast enough to get there and shield the soldier from the orc's attack. Surely, he would be hit by its heavy club. His smaller frame won't be able to handle the impact, and he'll be crushed.
And so, I decided to use magic. My spell would destroy the building behind the orc, but that won't matter. Saving the young soldier's life should be my priority.
However, before I was able to cast my spell, the orc was suddenly cut by a flash of blue light. Literally, the pig-headed orc was vertically cut in half. Its guts and organs spilled out, and its thick blood flooded the floor.
"H-Huh?" the young soldier mutter in surprise.
"You should get out of here," said his savior.
A young woman wearing only a servant's uniform stood over the now diseased orc. She has a very distinctive short dark-blue hair that covers half of her boyish, but pretty face. She was wearing a squared glasses, which only accentuated her sharp eyes. Since her chest was flat, the only clear sign that she was indeed a woman were her slender hips that hang on her pinched-tight waist. She's definitely the stern office superior type beauty.
My heart skipped a beat as soon as I lay my eyes on her.
She's lacking in the chest area, but she's totally my type!
"Ah..." I absentmindedly murmur.
The cool beauty and I exchanged a glance for a second, and immediately, we were able to read each others' thoughts. I ignored the embarrassment I felt from absentmindedly staring at her in the meantime. We nodded at each other, and then we dashed off to deal with the remaining summoned monsters.
I'll definitely ask her out after this!