Duty Session 26: Convoy Escort Quest I

    Ah, escort missions, aren't they a blast? The general consensus appears to be 'no'. But whether you're a fan for one or not, it seems like a few of the Landers have reached out to Adventurers inorder to help them through Aincrad towards the newly reclaimed town of Tolbana. As far as mission details go it appeared that the convoy was looking to gather quite a few supplies to help with the restoration of the city. Of course, with so much supplies it seemed like it was going to take a few days to get such a large quantity of equipment into the city regardless.

    That's where you come in. As Adventurers, the Landers have requested aid so as to avoid any possible attacks on them or their cargo as it would be quite problematic for them should they have to restock on such a long journey. Of the Adventurers that first made it to the meeting point of the convoy is none other than a bespectacled Enchanter who greets most of the Adventurers that come along, "Ah, good timing. I was afraid were weren't going to have enough people for this. I've spoken to Landers and seems like if we don't run into any trouble it should be a fairly easy trip. But since it'll be a few days they said that bringing some extra food might be a... Good idea..." Even as he says that he can't help but feel a bit defeated already, knowing just how horrible all food in this place had been in Elder Tale. None the less he checks along with the others to make sure that everyone seems comfortable enough to head out.

    It's only then does one of the Merchants comes over to the group asking about which one was suppose to be the one leading the caravan which leaves a bit of a baffled look on Shiroe's face. After a few moments of explanation though it becomes apparent of the confusion about the convoy having requesting a leader. "Ah...Well...Anyone feeling up to the task?"

There's a lot that needs doing in the aftermath of the Black Wave. Before, Proteus would have ignored such requests, but right now everyone is scraping for every bit of XP and loot they can acquire. Everyone has to restart somewhere.

Hence why the cloaked Imp is hovering near the Enchanter. "You should have everyone you require for this. Unless you are expecting something of an army in the way?" She looks about at the rest. "There should be plenty of food to scavenge along the way. This land is fairly rich... Unlike others I could name."

She shrugs at that.

The edge of a smile underneath a grey hood.

A number of Adventurers came to help the Landers settle into Tolbana, bringing with them extra supplies of.. well.. a food like substance, anyways. It looks the same but.. uuurgh. While there is something to be said of an acquired taste, soggy crackers after a full week become.. well, a little more than tiresome.

Still. You work with what you have on hand. The Adventurers have no particular guild affiliation, just low(ish) level folk who have the same ambivalance towards an escort quest that the rumors say. There are more than one pairs of rolled eyes. Amongst their number is an unremarkable woman in a plain beige traveling cloak. The color has long since been smeared and smudged with dirt and various wear debuffs, the clothes underneath the same as the food in the convoy. Bland, tasteless and almost aggressively middle of the road.

Nothing to see here. Honest.

It had been a couple of days, since Nevarri went on one of these ventures with a party, and since the last time she met some of the people in this little escort group, the explorer has had a change to her character profile should anyone check.

Name: Nevarri Wryss
Guild: Silver Sword

"Maybe this won't be like the game. Maaaybe we're not going to get attacked incessently by hordes and hordes of mobs and our lander friends won't try to fight for himself."

That is a thing that could have changed, surely.

When it comes to an issue of Navigation, Nevarri sighs and pulls out a map and a compass that she had acquired for herself by this point, and makes her way to the head, "Hang on, friendly neighborhood Explorer, coming through!" As she proceeds to help provide directions.

    The infamous escort mission.

    But then, it's infamous because of bad AI always being a problem. And if the Landers are something more... This sounds like an excellent opportunity to find out more about... whatever's going on with the Landers. Not only to see if they behave intelligently, but a reason to observe the same few over a long period that's less creepy than like... stalking one all day. Plus, it comes with a reward at the end!

    Of course, she doesn't tell the Landers her true reasons.

    Some of her fellow adventurers seem upset about food. "Have you tried raw fish? It's basically sashimi, nya!" Sam is trying to lean into character a bit to keep spirits up for this long, arduous journey... but perhaps not quite so far as talking in the third person.

    "I'm nyat sure seasickness is really going to be an issue here, but other kinds of sickness might. I cyan try to sniff out medicinyal herbs, at least..."

    And then some Lander comes in acting all snobby. "Hey! We all got our levels reset, okay? Anyone better than us is busy clearing Aincrad! WE are what you get, if you want your goods to get there on time! Besides..."

    She does some cool-looking ninja moves with her knives, then moves with lightning speed to suddenly be standing behind the Lander with a hand on his shoulder. "Do our skills really seem so shabby to you?"

    But it turns out they need convoy leading skills, not convoy guarding skills. "Why can't we just go towards the quest marker? There's no quest marker? Is this a videogame or orienteering practice!? And at least then you get a map..."

A new escort quest the good news is this one wasn't on a boat this time, and she was okay with that. It was still gold, it was still a chance to get some more connection with lander merchant too right?

"We might want to bring some basic medical supplies the last escort I was on had a few issues with that."

She looks over to Nevarri.

"Let's just hope it's not goblins or Gnolls we have to deal with."

She grins at Nevarri.

She would take note of Proteus for a moment.

"Yeah like I here you, it's pretty crazy how rich this world is..."

Gwen's going to need some help here as she doesn't know this region as well as she like and soon she ends up pretty lost on this one. The Holy Knight needs to work on her map skills it seems. She's very glad Nevarri is on board for this and her having a guild tag not isn't lost on her.

"Welcome to the world, Mizuki."

    Mizuki groans when Gwen mentions gnolls, then again at the 'welcome to the world' comment.

The sound of singing is heard nearby. The idol seems to be in a much better mood to sing after some pop talk from a loud knight she shall not name. Well, he was right. If her songs can bring something, she's going to sing her heart out.

At least that's what she was doing until Shiroe did a call for arm, so she tuned down from singing to hmming as she gathers up with the others, hands in her back, and bouncing on her heels a bit.

She hasn't played much of a game, so she can't really make a difference between the players and the Landers, most of the time. She's starting to get it though. The Landers have no idea they are in a game, compared. To be fair though... she's starting to wonder if this is a game by now.

"I got my Spyglass, so leave it to me to scout out~" Others might be able to as well, but more eyes don't hurt any.

     It's because it's Shiroe that those wings are here. Those unmistakable wings, those angel's wings, those wings free of sin. Those wings earned by slaying Sin itself.

     Balmung of the Azure Sky.

     He's not fond of this kind of thing. He never liked parties in Elder Tale Online, never liked them in Fragment. Balmung has always been the sort of person to keep to himself and extensively so. He's the sort of person who avoided running dungeons and instead levelled on outside mobs until he could solo the quests, the sort of person who spent all his free time grinding in ways that other people simply couldn't take. Aloof, distant, as far away from earthly touch as the angels he so resembles, Balmung has always held others at arm's length, unwilling and unable to trust them to do the bare minimum he requires.

     But this is a new world, and it's a new world where he has to trust at least someone else. It might as well be Shiroe and Naotsugu, until Kanami shows up, or...

     No, that would be much too convenient. Shiroe and Naotsugu, then. For now.

     So the Descendant of Fianna is here on his behalf. He's keeping to himself, mostly, too; he doesn't really volunteer to lead, and his directions, if asked, are sort of half-assed at best. He's not really a great leader.

     Unsurprising. Being a great leader sort of requires you be...you know, willing to trust your subordinates.

    AMALTHEA HAS REQUESTED TO JOIN YOUR PARTY.

    >Y/N?

    Escort mission or no, a quest is a quest, and sometimes the rewards can even be nice. Of the people arriving, one such person is an older woman; her pace slow and casual, heavy armor rattling gently as she makes her way towards the gathering adventurers.
    "This is the group for the caravan escort, yes?" She asks, putting on an easy smile as she rests a hand on the pommel of the sword at her hip. "I'll be joining you then."
    ... And then the caravan isn't moving.
    "Ah. We're expected to lead, is it?" She huffs. "Not exactly my specialty but let's get moving, eh?"

    As Proteus makes her way over to him he takes a gander over to the group in question. "Mmm, this should be fine. As for armies..." He finds himself pushing up his glasses for a moment, his eyes hiding behind the gleam of the lens. "I think I'm quite content without leading one of those for a while..." As Nevarri brings up the cliches of escort missions he can't help but find himself chuckling now all of the sudden, his mood getting just a bit lighter, "It'd be nice. But guess we'll see one way or the other. Also wait...Does Sashimi still taste the same? Mmm, it might be worth trying but without someone who knows how to prepare it I'd probably hold off..."

    As Nureha arrives, those eyes rolling can also be seen mumbling amongst themselves, though if they have something to say it doesn't appear they have the guts to say it to any of the Adventurers face. Probably for the best. Could you imagine how annoying it'd be if one of them decided to hold everyone up cause they had an issue with the group???

    Meanwhile as everyone begins to get situated it seems like the Landers are making their own opinions about who they'd want to act as leader. The consensus seemed to be that Shiroe didn't particularly appear to be leader material from first glance. Mizuki telling them that all the 'better' Adventurers are already in Aincrad already also didn't seem to give a good vote of confidence. Also the talk of videogames is making them lean a bit away from Mizuki as well. What is that even? Gwen's talk of running into Goblins or gnolls has the same effect. Who wants to end up jinxed wih mention of that stuff? Balmung also ends up getting brushed off as well. Not because his wings don't inspire awe in the Landers. It's just that his overall demeanor apparently leaves just as much of an impression.

    Thankfully a good enough impression is left by the rest of the group of Proteus, Nevarri, Amalthea, and Nureha (which was surprising given her dirty attire). Each seeming to at least appear somewhat like capable enough adventures to lead this Convoy. So without to much fuss the group's able to find themselves off. Finally appearing to be on their merry way. For about half a mile when the wheels of the wagon start to sink into the earth. It appeared that this trip was going to have a very slow start if things continued on like this...

Nevarri just begins to drool at the mere mention of sashimi, "Suuuushiiii, I miss you so muuuuuch!" She sniffles, "I found a Vendor with sushi, and it looked so good, but it tasted so bland...! Why does everything have to taste like soggy toast, whyyyy?!" Such is the lament.

To Gwen, Nevarri shrugs, "I mean, I fighting isn't the issue with escort quests, it was always keeping the goon alive, or them suddenly slowing down for no appearent reason----"

And then the convoy STOPS. For no apparent reason. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Nevarri rushes to the front and attempts to help with the cart, but she doesn't have nearly as much finesse with earth magic as she does with fire, so she ends up sinking the wagon a little bit. "Oh come on..."

Inspect gets a basic rundown of the Imp:

Name: Proteus
Guild: :plant: :duck:^H^H^H^H^H Plant Hwyaden

Unlike the Completely Forgettable Person Over There, Proteus seems to be some weird combination of outdoorsman and Shadowy Figure. A Shadowy Figure that is already rubbing her head when Mizuki acts like an archetypal catgirl. "This is why I usually operate alone." She mutters just barely loud enough to be heard.

She speaks up again, then. "I'm going to roam ahead. I can do some scouting and keep people on the path. I've been making maps of the area, regardless." She nods to Gwen in response to the comment. "There's a lot this world has to offer... if one is willing to make use of it." Another nod goes to Reika, and she smirks a little under that hood. "A spyglass, huh? Take good care of it, it should help you out. I'll keep in touch with you on the scouting front."

And then he appears. Those wings are unmistakable... And something untouched by the Black Wave. Even that can't erase that distinction from Balmung. The figure turns and looks to the man... And simply leaves him be. She is no fangirl. There is just a deep nod of acknowledgement and she withdraws from his presence. If he ever wants something, he'll approach her, not vice versa. The issue of the Villain in Glasses aside, Proteus certainly doesn't look all that trustworthy on her own. Though the line between ominous and mysterious can be a fuzzy one indeed... "Decent food is a problem. At least we can forage. But anything more than that, and..." There is a grimace.

SOME TIME LATER...

Plotting the route works out well enough, but no one can really plan for getting stuck in a mud puddle. "This is a level of realism I can really do without." Proteus mentions, a little sulky at the look of the situation. Maybe she can deal with this without getting her handy dirty, however. "Come on..." She says, muttering as runes form around her hands, trying to manipulate magic to cause the mud to reject the water and push the cart up out of the water.

It's not going well.

    "I don't mean sushi bought from vendors, I mean fresh-caught fish you just eat the meat off of." Noone else will try raw meat. Mizuki's still the only one to have given up the dignity of civilization in this way ;.;

    Mizuki starts out leaping from tree to tree ahead of the group, because she freaking can. But they've barely set out when she hears a commotion behind her, and comes back to find the wagon stuck in the mud. She scratches her chin, but there's already the gleam of an idea in her eye. "Check this out: Just like on avatar! Haaaaa..." She takes a martial-arts-looking stance with a lifted foot, then slams it into the ground... and a pillar of earth rises up a little to close to her! That could have seriously damaged the wagon if she hadn't missed. "Ah-hhehhh...." ._.;

Reika has taken place on one of the convoys wagons, still singing merrily, while checking through the spyglass for incoming problems. She nods to Proteus "I don't know why, but this was in my equipment even when I was in Ezzo, so might as well make use of it." And thanks to game physics, it even survived her death. "It's surprisingly easy to use too, good zoom, lighting and such."

Unfortunately, while looking for monsters, totally misses what's right under the wheels. She only notices that the ones in front seem to get slowed down and bumpy, but when theirs sink into the mud as well, she sighs. "Well, nothing to it, right? Let's get this out so we can move again."

She hops off her perch, and gets to work at pushing and lifting it out of the ground. While it seems Proteus can't get the magic to make it work, the physical labor will eventually bring it back to rolling.

    "I miss sashimi." Amalthea muses to herelf, overhearing Shiroe's ponderings. But the group presses on, and so does she. "Real, honest to God sashimi, not the... Well whatever it is they call an excuse for it in this damned game."
    And so they continue onward. Only for about half a mile right before there's a problem.
    "What's all this now?" The aged Adventurer calls out, scratching at the back of her head when it turns out the wheels are getting stuck in the mucky earth.
    That just won't do.
    Might be why she gets behind the cart, "Heh... I'd joke about my bad back, but it ain't so bad anymore." Muttered as she takes a grip on the back of the wagon.
    And HEAVES. She puts every ounce of her strenth stat into lifting and pushing the damned thing.

"A little extra preparation never goes amiss, I find." Nureha says to Gwen in passing, although she too rolls her eyes at the 'Welcome to the world' bit. She walks with the Peco drawn wagons for awhile, but as they get further down the road the level of the wagon bumps and suddenly sinks drastically as one of the largest wagons decides to take up farming.

She takes the time to talk and get to know the Landers who are making the difficult and uncertain journey out to Tolbana. This can't be a small and trivial thing for them. From... recent sources, there hasn't been Lander civilization in the tower itself for time out of mine, if ever, so those who are willing to make the journey must be brave and ambitious souls (or the foolish and the desperate) but she isn't going to tell them that second part. Now. Better to lean into the opportunity for better lives in a location reclaimed from the wilderness and ripe for opportunity.

She doesn't spend much time, just a few words or a small conversation in a low and soothing voice. As she walks past Proteus, she uses a nearby stick from the path to draw small additions to the runes. "That should work a little better."

She moves on and helps Amalthea shove the wagon. "It never hurts to get a helping hand, though. Bad back or otherwise. Do you mind?"

     Balmung does not seem especially bothered that the Landers are avoiding him. That probably happens a lot - how often do people want to approach someone who looks like that? An angelic questing knight, even in drab grey Outlander clothes, is still someone who just looks completely otherworldly, like he just doesn't *belong*. He's a fairy-tale character in a world of mud and muck.

     It's weird to see him, then, strapping luggage onto a cart, helping secure boxes. There's no smile - he doesn't seem to smile much at all - but that attitude is very 'helpful senpai in an otome game' vibe, the 'cool' character archetype who takes a lot of work before he'll let you in, before he'll trust you with intimate details. It just adds to that distant feeling, that 'I'm outside your world' sort of aura he exudes. Even doing mundane things.

     Fairy tales don't change when you drag them into the real world, after all.

     Still, he's helping, which is more than one might expect from his reputation as both a hero and a soloer.

     As the cart goes along, Balmung is largely quiet. He's listening more than speaking, offering very little in the way of hard conversation. Addressing him might get a 'hm' or a stoic 'alright', but he ventures very little and offers almost nothing. He returns head-nods, and that's about as close as he gets to saying hello or introducing himself.

     Well.

     When the wagon gets stuck, however, Balmung moves forward and rams his rusty sword into the ground. Two fingers go up behind the hilt. There's a flash of light in his eyes. The ground rumbles. The mud ripples. As Balmung tears the blade out with his other hand, the mud sort of slides away from the wheel and solidifies in front of it - probably enough to help people who are pushing push a little easier than 'lifting straight up.'

     It looks a *lot* like he cut the mud in half, and half of it turned to clay.

Gwen does not catch Nureha is here, nay Gwen's too focused on other things and Nureha has crafted her disguise too well. She looks to Mizuki again and seems to be getting a bit annoyed. She hadn't even thought about jinxing it she's going to need to work on that later. For now, though they will move on with their merry way.

"Look I have had no luck with the food, at least I found out fruits and veggies taste right if they are not prepared."

She's been getting a lot of apples lately to be sure. Then he looks to Amalthea and laughs at her comment.

"There is an upside to that isn't there?"

she does wonder about her fellow tank though form that comment. She will also leave the Landers be if they don't want to intact with her she will leave them be.

As for the mud she'll put some earth magic to use in an attempt to help move the wagons.

    Shiroe tries to ease the tensions as Nevarri keeps up bringing up food. "Ya know, if you keep talking about it so much, you'll get the rest of us feeling starved. And with what our options are already..." Let's just not think about it okay? The warning goes to Mizuki too! As it goes when both end up trying to help with dealing with the sinking wagon their aid doesn't prove to provide much support.

     As for Proteus, he can sorta understand where she might be coming from but speaks up regardless. Of course her demeanor does give the impression of one who preferred a bit of solo play. None the less he still felt somewhat chatty. "Some cope in different ways. And honestly, if that keeps people motivated to keep moving along through all this I'd probably say all the more to them." That's all he manages to say before Proteus starts heading to the front of the convoy. Though while she tries to distance herself from the rest of the group, it ends up being the case that she gets paired up with Mizuki and Nevari who also weren't able to do much even with magic. Even Gwen's earth magic still doesn't immediately provide enough support. Her efforts and the efforts of the others appear to rub off on the Landers enough that at the mention of apples, one of the Landers does try to share a few he had planned to save on the trip with the Adventurers. Reika doesn't prove to have much luck either when she tries to physically move the wagon, at the very least she's seemed to gain a few fans from the Landers with her singing.

     Amalthea on the other hand...Her physical strength alone astounds the Landers as they watch her start to HEAVE the wagon. None of them would have ever believed she would have ever had a bad back. Nureha's small talk also ended up garnering the attention of a few traders who opt to talk about their jobs, their families and other things to shoot the breeze. But the momentum of the conversation is lost when the momentum of the wagon is as well. Though her use of magic ends up bringing up a whole new topic of conversation once she helps the others.

    As for the former members of the DTP, Shiroe finds himself using his earth magic to try and help push the wagon out of the ground a bit more which proves useful, though it's Balmung's swordsmanship that really seems to catch the eyes of the Landers. Some a bit impressed. Some a bit more...Concerned?

    It seems that with the wagon issue resolve the group finally starts to make some headway into their trip. For several hours go by and the group's able to enjoy the scenic views of the first floor of Aincrad. Nice sunsets, a bit of banter between the merchants. It honestly seems like even if they didn't view all of them as the leader type they're an easy enough bunch to get along with. Sadly the good times don't appear to keep rolling.

    Dinner starts the quartermaster ends up making a rather unsettling announcement to both Adventurers and Landers alike. It seemed like all the food that they had prepared for the trip ended up spoiled, rotten, or somehow mushed and squashed as they were traveling. It's at this point he gives the group some options. See if someone can make a meal from what they have left, see if anyone wants to hunt for some game, try to find a stream to fish, or search around the area for some herbs and fruits to munch on.

Proteus barely paid attention to Landers in the best of times, that isn't changing now. Shiroe, however, gets that attention. "One supposes." Proteus shrugs in response to Shiroe. "But there are better ways to cope than others." "You're just eating the meat right off the fish? You are such a... cat." Proteus comments, giving Shiroe a meaningful glance about just this before looking back to Mizuki. "Why do you hate yourself that much?" Mental note: Poke Att to see if he's figured out what's up with this yet. Of course, the massive pillar causes Proteus to glare slightly at Mizuki. "Do you even know what 'fine control' means?" She asks, sighing and shrugging. "Well, I suppose my control isn't working out either so I have little to say in that respect." Nureha pops by and adds some oomph to the magic, and thankfully it begins working. "This is what happens when I work outside my specializations..." She sighs to herself with a rueful smile for Nureha. "Thank you for the lesson."

Reika, of course, gets a little smirk. It looks like Proteus has warmed up towards her slightly after her Actual Death Experience and the aftermath. "Take good care of it. Knowing where something is can be the first step in dealing with it, for good or for ill."

Amalthea's griping gets another shrug from the Imp. "Maybe you'll be lucky and a sushi chef will be in here too with us. I don't think any of us will be going to the local place anytime soon."

Balmung, of course, unleashes his own solution. The wave of light and heat is impressive, and it seems that the Black Wave didn't slow him down much at all. Some things, perhaps, simply remain even when all else has been removed. There is a little hum from Proteus at the display.

SOME TIME LATER...

"The food is rotten? What do you MEAN it's rotten? Did you people not even check it before packing it?!" Proteus grimaces, shrugging. "Fine, I am going to have to figure something out. I will go look for some forage in the area, I suppose." She turns and heads off into the growing darkness.

About an hour later, she returns bedraggled and covered in bits of shrubbery. "I think... we might be in a bad area for forage." She says, her voice tight.

Singing keeps spirits up. She can be just as nice in the game to Landers than she is outside of the game through her pictures and songs. Maybe there is a market to claim here after all.

But right now, more pressing matters... Hunger. Even if it's just tasting like soggy crackers it's still important to keep energy levels, and for that they need food...

Many suggested they'd be find hunting along the way, so the idol attempts at using her sneaking skills on animals.

Animals are more keen than humans though, so it doesn't work very well, and she comes back empty handed. Sad ninja. Can't sing on an empty stomach either.

"Who's idea was it to not bring any food with us again?" -.-

    "Fruits and veggies have TASTE?!" Mizuki is astounded at the news.

    The trip proceeds uneventfully for the rest of the day. "You know... this isn't so bad. Hiking without biting bugs and a body that's super in-shape? Nature... well, simulated nature... actually looks pretty cool. I could actually see myself exploring just to see it, when taking a break from our job I mean."

    She also starts up conversation with the landers, continuing to investigate how people-like they really are. When apples are offered, she actually shifts back to human for once so that she'll have appropriate teeth.

    But then it turns out that the provisions are ruined. "...Well, I'll see if I can sniff out some food, but this hasn't worked well so far..."

    To everyone's surprise including hers, she comes back with an inventory full of plants and mushrooms. "Okay, I know THAT one is edible because mobs drop it sometimes, but are the rest of these food?"

     With the wagon free, the party continues onwards. Balmung continues to mostly admire the scenery - and what a view it is. The world of Elder Tale Online, the game they're trapped in - or the world they've been brought to - is a place made with love, and this is no exception.

     When Mizuki speaks, Balmung, for the first time all trip, actually replies to someone with more than a nod or a noncommittal standard reply.

     "It's part of a story. A story that someone loved enough to make real. It's opera made of code. Someone wrote a poem in lines of data."

     That there is a horrible tragedy attached to pretty much every opera may indeed be subtext, but he doesn't seem *that* depressing, so maybe it's just an accident.

     As they set up camp, Balmung sits off on a rock, watching the setting sun. White wings catch the orange light, from angel pure to phoenix flame, beating slowly behind him. That's been one of the worst parts of it all - learning to adjust to the (mostly useless) wings.

     Sleeping has been a real pain in the ass.

     No, really. A *real* pain in the ass. Have you ever tried lying on your side with giant bird wings coming out of your back?

     Of course not. Sylphs have it easy. Their wings fold up.

     In fact, when it's announced that they're out of food, Balmung kind of shifts on the rock to turn towards the fire. He stares at it for a long moment.

     Then he slides down, unravels some ingredients from a pack he'd been carrying, and starts cooking.

     And boy is he *terrible* at it.

     Really, really terrible at it. Like, wow. Like he could burn water.

     Indeed, the sort of stoic, solid face flushes just a very tiny bit. It's mostly swallowed by the fire and the sunset, but that pale skin and that white hair do, for just an instant, catch it.

     The pouch of ingredients he brought with him is completely, utterly burned up.

     Well, at least he was *trying* to contribute something rather than sitting off and eating by himself. That's...progress? Of a sort?

Gwen has much to learn about all she can do now, still, she remains in good spirits and does not complain about being muddy. Things keep going on well enough until dinner time. Gwen offers to help with the cooking. The good news is Gwen has a fair bit of experience cooking in-game and will do what she can.

"If anyone has ingredients left? Give them to me I'm going to try to make us some sort of stew."

Sure it will be wet soggy soda crackers but at least they won't be hungry. She raids her inventory for what she has to add to this mad cooking plans he's up to.

Nureha takes immediate notice of Balmung by virtue of acting like any player in the multitudes who has seen a faery tale walk amongst them. The wide-eye stare. The chewed lip, the shy side glance.

But it does seem that she doesn't interact with him as much as give him his space, as though they respect the silence, the quiet between long stretches, while being at the same time someone who is completely dismissable. They fall into a little pigeon hole and are categorized, then binned.

She watches the mud ripple and transform with glimmering interest, an ear flicking and tail swishing before she breaks off and moves away. The whole thing, when examined from a distance, was both respect.. and the curiosity of someone examining a rare specimen in the wild.

She gives Proteus a smile and a nod. "It's not always so straight forwards, learning by yourself."

MEANWHILE.. BACK AT THE FOOD STORES.

The good will of her and the people she came with are a little further strained when they discover everything is ruined or smashed. It wasn't packed properly and in another crate, insects and in another crate a small critter explodes from the jar, dripping with juice. "Well. This... is unfortunate." she murmurs. It's further unfortunate when Proteus returns and she has to restrain a smile, let alone a giggle. It wouldn't be proper. She tells Reika. "You may find yourself asking yourself that question." with a faint note of chiding.

She stays very still, taking in the grumbling complaints and the food they had on hand. She grabs rotten pieces of food from the crates, putting them into a little pot. She takes a clump of weeds from the surrounding campsite and adds them in. "Mizuki. Do you mind if I borrow a few of those mushrooms and one of those berries you have there?"

What she does with it is dump the whole mess onto a stew pot already over the fire. There is a WEIRD smell that comes from the pot as it warms up, the spoiled smell transforming into something weirdly pleasant, if a little earthy. Spores have grown over the spoiling food, breaking it down into a thick stew with the mushrooms and herbs. There is a final WHOOMPH of escaping white spores that go everywhere but.. it's at least passable.

    "Don't. Mind. At. All." Amalthea says through gritted teeth as Nureha comes to help her out. "Much appreciated." That is to both the Cait Sith... And Balmung, making the pushing all the easier.
    "What's his deal, anyway?" She asides to Nureha in a quieter tone. "Haven't heard barely a peep out of him this whole way. Not that I mind, he's definitely pulling his weight."
    Looks like someone doesn't know of the legendary Balmung of the Azure Sky. At least not by appearance.
    Then again, up until very shortly ago, Amalthea was just a dirty casual.
    "Definitely an upside." She agrees with Gwen, though, dusting her hands off once the cart is handled.
    But if it isn't one thing, it's another.
    The food's all rotten.
    "Geeze... Alright, alright let's see what we can drum up." She mutters heading off for the nearest source of water.
    It's a little while before the aged adventurer returns within a few hours, flashing a cheeky smile to Proteus as she does.
    "SO about that sushi chef..." She says, holding up her catch. It's not much, but better than absolutely nothing.
Only to damn near drop it in the dirt when Balmung speaks.

    A poem in code, huh...?

    Mizuki obligingly gives her ingredients to Nureha and Gwen to try and make food from.

    Proteus' question is justified and the Quartermaster is just as pissed if not a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, turns out we left the new guy in charge of getting food. Some trader's kid or something. Besides the fact he left the container open to let bugs in, he apparently he couldn't figure out the difference between ripe fruit, and spoiled...I guess it wasn't just the food that'd been spoiled if ya know what I mean..."

    It was an unfortunate fact, but the reality of the situation. They were just going to need to rely on their hunting and culinary skills...It was at this moment, that most of the Adventurers learned their greatest weakness...Culinary challenges. Or in Reika's case, her hunting skills. Upon Amalthea's return the Landers look at her in awe once more. Not only has this Adventurer's physical feats been giving her some high esteem, but she's the only one that's been able to provide everyone with MEAT. Meanwhile Shiroe...Not so much.

    In regards to those who actually attempt to cook...Balmung's amazing prowess from before is immediately snuffed out by Landers who look like they're about to cry for the poor ingredients that had gone to waste in his cooking. A few are able to laugh it off, though some others can't stop shaking their head. Gwen on the other hand appears to make some edible food, and by edible I mean soggy soda cracker flavored food. That still proves more useful than Balmung's stuff though.

    Nureha's use of herbology definitely garners a bit of attention as she takes Mizuki's good fortunes along with the spoiled food into her pot. Some of the Landers trying to figure out what sort of magic was used while others are just happy they might get something to eat.

    Overall it looks like the party manages to scrounge enough food to keep the convoy content. Not happy, but content enough that no one had started contemplating what fried Wings of Fiona tasted like.

    Eventually dinner comes and goes, and night turns to day...And then breakfast comes around...Hopefully they still ended up with enough for breakfast? Well, if they didn't, having morning hangriness wouldn't be the worst of their troubles as the path that leads them into an ambush. The group of wagons is completely halted as bandits swarm the group on all sides. They make their demands very clear from the get go. They want money, items, animals, and gear...You know, the usual sort of bandit necessities.

Delicious. Honey Barbeque Balmung needs a proper sauce to counteract the stolid flavor.

"Most likely a Soloer." Nureha says to Amalthea during their conversation near the wagon when they were pushing it out of the mud. "Not everyone feels up to dealing with people. He's also pretty popular, ported in from another game where he defeated what was termed an impossible challenge."

Much later...

A red cross can be plainly seen adorning Nureha's mysterious grey hood. She had drawn a representative to one side of the tree line to discuss the terms of their surrender. The Bandit's Surrender, of course. "I'm saying you'll have to pay Compensatory DAMAGES."

This line of conversation wasn't going very well. Unfortunately, it seems the bandits don't know that line, or the triggers were corrupt and they kept looping as they discussed the word between themselves.

Will. Not. Draw. Attention. To. Self.

Nureha disengages before her urge to murder the ignorance morons gives her away. She retreats, hounded by stones, hoots and catcalls with her tail between her legs (literally).

Reika managed to still get something from the others that had more luck with their hunts. She's content with fruits today, really. So she asks for a few apples, and that will give her enough of a bellyfull for the night.

She still eyes Nuhera for that answer "I wasn't told what to bring with me, you know. Just heard lots of the others say 'we can hunt along the way'. Well that didn't work. Lesson learned, never go without a packed lunch." Munch munch munch meanwhile -.-

After that they were able to take turns sleeping and keeping a watch. Until morning, where they resume the drive again. At that point, more singing from the idol, as she tries to work a repertoire of songs from her world, those that she know enough at least.

Looks like her Spyglass didn't help with an ambush though. She can look in the distance for monsters, but bandits hiding in bushes are harder to see. That's they get the jump on them. "Uhm, I don't have much money, and already lost my life once, thank you very much." Of course that's why they were here for the escort, probably. These Landers need some protection. So she goes into the scuffle with them, drawing her swords out and moving nimbly to take out the closest ones.

    Mizuki attempts to eat a raw mushroom. But it only tastes like sadness, so she waits for soggy cracker stew. Which also tastes like sadness, but at least it's filling.

    Night falls. Mizuki sleeps in a tree or something. One advantage of fur: She's got a built-in warm blanket between her and everything she touches. And of course, cats can sleep anywhere and in any position.

    One day she'll get to try a bed that doesn't suck, again.

    Bandits show up. Now THIS is a challenge all Adventurers are ready for. "You sure that's a good idea?" She asks the bandits, sweetly. Then extends her claws. "We fight monsters bigger and tougher than you for FUN. But if you want to give us free loot, Mizuki's fine with that too!" She retracts the claws and draws a pair of long, straight daggers. "This trip's been lacking for combat encounters so far!"

    Unfortunately, it turns out that she underestimated the bandits' levels, and just can't seem to provide the expected degree of DPS.

"The new guy." Proteus sighs. "And the new guy is completely inept." She shrugs. "So be it." Still simmering, Proteus nonetheless seems to be saving her ire for something else. Maybe the New Guy. She's giving the Lander Quartermaster a pass for the time being. It's not like she can blame him entirely for what happened.

Still, at least they get some food, even as unpleasant as soggy cracker-flavored fish is. She does, hoever, listen as Balmung performs his culinary slaughter with the same graceful and deadly efficiency as he does raid bosses. "A poem in code..." She mumbles to herself, thinking. "Hmm." She doesn't say anything more on that, instead turning her attention to her food.

LATER...

"Bandits. Of course there's bandits." At least this is a situation Proteus understands. As the initial conversations occur, she spreads her hands apart, and tendrils of dark energy begin weaving together, runes appearing before her. "Omen." She incants, and flicks a hand, cards rising before her. "How predictable." She mutters, and looks to the others, relaying the information given to her so they can force the enemy into a specific, easily-countered assault pattern.

Gwen does find that she doesn't botch the cooking so everyone has something bearable to eat. Then again do the landers think mushy soda crackers is how everything should taste? She does not know and given how uneasy they are she doesn't want to push things. Breakfast is interrupted by bandits.

"Bandits... great!"

She calls out to Amalthea.

"I'll take the right flank, you take the left!"

With that she'll grab her shield pull the sword out of the back of her shield and go charging at the bandits on the right flank.

"You want to harm the people here you got to get through ME! ANCHOR HOWL!"

At this moment she dearly wishes she still had ... Grand Cross, so very much as it would be a wonderful follow up to this. She'll have to make due and she'll then move to engage the Bandits calls out.

"Protect the Caravaners!"

     Now that he's actually fucked up *horribly* at cooking, Balmung probably feels a lot more...approachable. Still that air of fairy tale knight, but at least he's a *person* now, and not just Legendary Killer Of The One Sin, Name Known To Fucking Everybody, Descendant of Fianna. Now he does just seem like an Otome Game Character rather than an angel come to earth.

     Which isn't *much* of a change, admittedly, because 2D is still defined as 'a thing you can't touch,' but hey. Husbando is probably better than angel.

     Sleeping is, again, an absolutely miserable experience for Balmung. He can't sleep in a tent - the wings are much too big - so he winds up sleeping outside, wings spread outwards behind him as best he's able. When he was just Nobuyuki, he preferred sleeping on his back. Now, it's painful, but he can't sleep any other way. Twisting and turning, at least, has stopped utterly - it's impossible to twist or turn with wings that big.

     Fortunately, this also means he's willing to take double watch and let somebody else get eight hours, because God knows he's not.

     By the time the morning comes, the angel looks like he didn't so much saunter vaguely out of heaven as hit the ground and then peel himself off of it. His pretty white hair is mussed up, his eyes are dark and unhappy, and he's yawning a lot more than he ought to be.

     He's *so* tired, in fact, that when the bandits come 'round, the flapping wings spring to alert, but the spell doesn't come to mind. The rusted sword just swings sideways, and while he does manage to look very impressive with his huge angel wings cast against the sun, that's about all he manages to do.

     God this was so much easier when he could *actually* sleep between dungeons.

    "Huh." A soloer. One who beat the unbeatable.
    There really are all kinds in this game.
    Except it's not a game anymore.
    But with that, after a hearty bowl of depression soup, the old adventurer turns in for the night.
    Flash cut to next day and...
    "They want our what now?"
    It would seem, the old lady isn't used to highway robbery, and heaves a tired sigh as it sinks in.
    This is going to come to blows.
    In an instant the old adventurer is on the move, several swift steps carrying her into position as dictated by Gwen.
    The old woman takes on a defensive stance, sword drawn and resting on the upper lip of her raised shield.
    For the entirety of the trip until now, Amalthea has worn an easy smile. That smile is gone now, replaced by an icy hardness in her eyes, as she waits for the bandits to so much as take a step towards her.
    Her armor creaks in anticipation. Her fingers curl tighter around the hilt of her blade.
    Between her and Gwen, not one of those bandits will pass.

    "Anchor Howl..."

    The words leave her lips in a near whisper. And with Proteus' Omen in play, countering any attack thrown her way is just doling out swift, utter, brutal, punishment on those poor bandits.

    As the bandits start encroaching upon the wagons, many of the Landers are surprised to see Nureha go out first inorder to negotiate with them. Many are warning her not to. Most don't want to lose one of the Adventurers that kept their bellies full. A few more were just more aware how encounters with bandits went. You couldn't negotiate with them! She's got every reason to put her tail between her legs, at least that's what both the bandits and merchants alike think.

    What really ends up taking the bandits off guard is the combined Anchor howls that end up being used by both Gwen and Amalthea. At first one of them just seems completely baffled at what just happened and ends up trying to attack, Gwen only to end getting assaulted by the howl's penalty damage. So another one attempts to attack Amalthea instead...To the same end. One of the bandits ends up trying to get to Nureha...He gets double the penalty and proceeds to face-plant into the ground unconscious. The use of a Double Anchor Howl proves to be quite the powerful defense that allows for Reika and Mizuki to get a long of free swings in at the bandits without having to worry about whether they're providing enough DPS. In fact, the very fact that they're even drawing aggro is apparently working to their advantage.

    Balmung sadly finds himself losing his train of thought thanks to his good-will of acting guard the night before. Though like the others it would have made sense that he would end up protected by the efforts of both Gwen and Amalthea should they attack. But the moment they see those glorious white wings, their eyes widen. "O-Oi...Isn't that?!" Before he can even get a response from the other bandit that had attempted to go after Balmung, he can see that his buddy has already started flailing in panic in the opposite direction. If all they needed to do was have Balmung flap his wings a bit, maybe they could have saved those uses of Anchor Howl.

    At this point the bandits seeing no way to attack, no way to even stay and linger, most decide to the best course of action is to run off. Though at this point Shiroe's and Proteus' magic is able to catch them from a distance. This would ensure they wouldn't have to worry about a second ambush come later.

    As everything settles the group get their praises sung as the Landers applaud their efforts. This lets the group continue down the forest path for the rest of the day. Once again they find scenic views and enjoy another day's sunset as they start to finish up for the day. It seems like everything would finally start to calm down a bit.

    Just kidding, it's never that easy. As the night approaches a few of the landers handling the animals start making notice of the unruliness they've been experiencing. There's no reason for the behavior, but the commotion they're causing is making it not only difficult to handle them, but just keeping anyone from getting a wink of sleep.

Nureha takes the time to get some ingredients together in case they are needed later. She wanders off the trail several times to pick flowers or gather herbs, packing them away in her inventory as they make their way steadily towards their destination.

Another thing she does, is confront him with blankets. (They don't have spares but she figures it goes to a good cause.. or at least a worty charity) So --the next time they bed down to sleep, she brings him and extra blanket where Balmung has decided to park himself which, if folded up, would make things SLIGHTLY less unpleasant. Nureha speaks to him as they are changing off watches. "I had no idea sleeping would be so unpleasant with a tail." she genuinely cringes at the memory of the first night or two.

And then... and then.. all of her preparation comes to naught. Oh yes. The grand Epic of her great and meaningful saga ends.. with a Peco-Peco knocking her flat in the mud.

It started simply enough, she had the ingredients and the skill to use them. The amounts, however, must have off. A little too much of one, not enough of another. Substitutions not allowed.

And so the brazen, grumpy, horrible thing rears up and, confused and dizzy and NOT AT ALL SLEEPY, knocks her down and begins frantically nibbling on hair. She is pretty much willing to tap out at this point. No amount of study is worth this.

Reika is glad they put the bandits on the run without too much trouble. Mostly thanks to Balmung it seems. He is rather imposing after all.

But they can't get a break in this escort. Now the mules are acting up. And just about everyone present try to calm them down, her attempts are met with angry animal sounds. Even her songs can't help with animals. She sighs, and slides fingers through her hair, watching as she hope someone else gets it under control, or this trip is going to be far harder.

"The good side to having lots of peopole, having varied skill sets to offer." Although this quest she feels pretty useless up to now.

     The bandits flee. Balmung takes the blankets and gives Nureha a long look. It's one of those sort of 'I-don't-know-how-to-respond-to-this-properly' stares that you might get from a high school kid, one of those...those *awkward* moments. It's not distant, it's not rude, it's not 'what are you doing', it's...it's just *awkward*.

     Finally, he settles on, "Doors aren't very pleasant, either."

     Hey, good job, you made small talk.

     The blankets are stored in his pack as the animals start acting up. The Peco-Peco starts chewing on Nureha's hair.

     Balmung grabs the animal's reins. There's a quiet susuration, a little whisper of a noise, from both the angel and his wings. He doesn't *say* anything, but he doesn't really *need* to say anything - the gentle fingers across the creature's ears, or snout, or relative animal parts, are enough. Maybe he's done this before?

     (He hasn't.)

     (It's just a class skill.)

     (But it certainly seems like he is.)

     Once the creature's released Nureha, all he says is, "Repaying the favor."

    "Phew, those bandits were tougher than expected... You doing okay, man?" she asks Balmung.

    The rest of the day is uneventful. The adventurers will have to fill it with their own words and activities. "I remember seeing Prontera for the very first time, back during the beta. The idea that all the other people I saw running around were actually other people, in the same game... it seemed so magical back then. I went out into the fields, explored a little farther, found some random girl in the same area and we talked then partied up for a bit... I don't think I'd had the words to describe it back then, but the idea that everyone could have a physical, visual presense in the same virtual world was just amazing, you know?"

    "I never dreamed I'd get STUCK in one of these worlds, though." She hums the melody of the Prontera theme for a bit.

    That night, the animals won't settle down. Mizuki drops out of her tree and approaches the campsite irritably. "What is it? Aww, c'mon..." She walks up to the rowdy peco pecos and attempts to pet them soothingly. "Ssssh. There there. Goood bird."

    Of course, as far as the peco pecos are concerned, she smells and kind of looks like A HUNGRY TIGER HERE TO EAT THEM, which might cow them into hiding in silence, or just rile them up worse. Oops.

The bandits are driven off, as expected. Proteus didn't think they would really be that much of a problem, but you never know sometimes... "No one expects being stuck in a world that is supposed to be a simple enjoyable pasttime." She replies to Mizuki. "Adjustments have to be made for it, it seems."

The way Balmung is having problems with his wings doesn't go unnoticed to the Imp, but she continues to leave him be. Proteus is observing, not interacting... And someone like him isn't going to appreciate her drawing attention to his discomfiture regardless. Still, it does take some of the shininess off to see he has to deal with the same crap everyone else has to.

She will, however, need to ask him about certain things later. Not right now amidst the angry pack animals, however. Some of them try to run off, but Proteus is right there, managing to chase them down and bring them back in to have others get them settled in. Like Balmung, who seems to be the Peco Whisperer tonight. "This was so much easier before." She mutters. So many skills lost...

"More hands are sometimes their own benefit, it seems." Proteus agrees with the Nero Idol. "You'll develop more broadly applicable skills with more practice and hard work."

Mizuki gets another glare, however. "It seems that others seem to mostly be best at being a cat."

    That's... That's it for the bandits then.
    Amalthea reflexively wipes her brow after sheathing her blade.
    That was harrowing.
    The poor old woman is on edge for the rest of the damn day, until it's time to wind down, make camp and turn in for the night.
    Except the damn horse-birds are making a fuss.
    A groggy, bleary-eyed Paladin emerges from her tent.
    "What *now*?" Amalthea demands of no one in particular before it sinks in that the birds are spooked.
    The old woman's sigh is absolutely legendary. It's clear that even her patience is beginning to get tested after a few days of nonstop trials. But she rallies, and gathers her composure quickly picking out a fussy bird from the lot of them and lightly takes it by the reins.
    "Alright... Alright that's enough of that now." She coos gently, urging the thing to calm and stop making such a racket.

Gwen has charged into the ranks of the Bandits and is getting into a good bit of a fight, but then comes Balmung his reputation is shown s the bandits see who now figure out who it is. Seem spooked they start trying to run. Gwen will leave them to it as she's not going to risk anyone in the caravan. Not to get a few kills, she ends up falling back into the formation when it's over until they have to deal with the animals she's not going to fight with the pack animal but she's going to attempt to assert dominance a she'll make one heck of a threat display to one to try and establish dominance.

    The leader of Plant Hwyaden can handle politics, can handle monsters, can even handle bandits enough to try and talk them down...What she can not handle however is apparently the wrath of a peco peco. Thankfully Balmung's calm demeanor ends up soothing the savage beast to the point that it lets loose of her hair and starts walking off to rest. This catches the attention of a few of the animal handlers who start requesting Balmung to come over to help with the rest since it seemed a few more of the Adventurers weren't proving to be as helpful in the situation. One of such being Reika who finds that her skill level is apparently not high enough to sooth the wild beasts. Shiroe isn't much better, he finds that his intellect is being challenged in every capacity to try and appease these beasts. "MMmm, I would have thought feeding them would have calmed them down. Maybe there's something in the distance spooking them...?"

    While Proteus has definitely lost a fair share of skills after the Apocalypse, apparently her touch at handling the peco is enough to garner the thanks of the Landers as well. Which puts her in the same boat as Balmung for being requested to help out more with dealing with them. Especially since another Adventurer ended up spooking them or something...The Lander in question finds himself turning in Mizuki's direction as he mentions this.

    Meanwhile Amalthea has continued to impress the Landers with how she's able to be tough enough to handle bandits in one moment, yet calm enough to ease the bird-like beasts. As for Gwen, a tried to warn her not to try and upset them like Mizuki had done...Only to be utterly surprised when she actually does end up asserting dominance. They don't even question it at this point. They're all just happy if they can get these animals to calm down so they can enjoy the quite night to come.

    So with another rough night coming to an end, in the next morning they're able to ship out. Once again though, they find themselves meeting travelers upon the path. Though this time rather than bandits it appears they end up meeting more Adventurers. That shouldn't seem so bad. What would be more easing then being able to converse with others of similar experience, being able to ask for directions about if they're almost to Tolbana. In fact it seems like they're already aware of the quest and give good news of how close they are....The bad news...It seems like after all that pleasant banter they appear to want to try and get in on the quest now too.

Nureha lets out a snorting laugh, quick and unforced. "Ugh." she picks herself up, trying not to grit her back teeth in the process. She was just this side of the 'Exhausted' debuff, with clothes to match. "Thank you." she says simply and retreats to gather her composure, wipe off the 'Filth' debuff as thoroughly as possible (the might be a water source nearby. If an emergency, which it was, she might just use Jet Spray and suffer the consequences.)

She, unfortunately, doesn't have enough experience in being a Fox. And a Tail Cramp is a horrible thing to have, something that nags her and gives her MUCH LESS patience than she would otherwise have. In earlier times, her patience and tolerance would be near infinite. After several days of rough conditions and poor food, she has a mental list concocted of things to fix, the top of which is certainly having a discussion with whoever programmed the 'realism' of this particular entertainment gone mad.

However, no matter how she feels about a situation, there were the landers to consider. This was their journey. She and others just came along for the ride. It was their Life and until the Black Wave and the Apocalypse, they had only been visitors. Tourists. She consults with a couple of the landers she's spent time talking to on the journey and tries to convince them to approach the adventurers and tell them that the 'Quest' wouldn't allow them to join. It was 'Instanced' for them. It was Adventurer lingo, and it would keep them from bothering the Caravan.

Wrangling Pecos has its advantages. One of them being not bullied by a giant bird. Poor Nureha. But then, everyone has their issues. Proteus, for her part, at least does Nureha the benefit of pretending she didn't notice.

Proteus leans back against a tree, cloak wrapped wround her as she calls up her menus and fiddles with the flickering UI, performing various tasks... Or perhaps not. Maybe she's having trouble with it, considering how often she seems to be trying to scroll in odd directions, twist and maneuver the menus in unusual ways, accidentally pressing multiple buttons at once. More than once, her entire inventory pops out onto the ground around her, only to get rapidly sucked back in. And yet, she simply stares intently at the menus, as if looking for something in particular she can't find...

LATER...

The other adventurers approach and ask nicely, trying to edge in with banter and conversation.

Unfortuantely for them Proteus is not a nice person. "Yes, I see what you lot are doing there. Yes, I mind. No, you can't jump in mid-quest. Were you idiots raised in a barn? We did two days of work to get this far, you go to the start zone and begin two days back like everyone else." Before they can object, Proteus even follows up with flicking a hand. "Dark Wave." She enunciates, a wash of shadow rushing back to help make her point by weakening the sneaky weaklings even more. If they want to take exception to Proteus' tone, they can always risk throwing down a duel challenge and find out what happens the hard way.

Now that the caravan is moving again, Reika sits at the back of her convoy, resuming her repertoire of songs for the Landers nearby, that seem to appreciate it at least. Foreign songs are interesting for them likely. What a trip this was up to now. Bandits, animal problems, mudholes, food shortage. But they should be coming in soon...

If it wasn't for other players trying to leech on their hard earnings. She bites her toungue to keep herself from saying anything untoward mostly, and lets the others that are more verbose handle this. Because after all of them, they definitely earned their keep in this task.

"I never thought about this, I guess if this was a normal game it wouldn't matter as much, but after all the problems we went through..." She mostly says to herself, or any of the adventurers near her.

    It seems that others seem to mostly be best at being a cat.

    "Hey!" Mizuki's fur bristles. "It's not a BAD skillset, cats have been a successful species for millions of years! I mean... mya, you're just jealous I get to sleep comfortably!" She then hides behind a tree to try and pet her fur back down.

    As they come into sight of the town, Mizuki gives a relieved sigh. "Almost there...!" But then...

    "Hey. Hey! You don't get to come in here and ninja our quest! We had to actually travel on the road for days and sleep in the woods and deal with wagons stuck in mud and uppity animals! You do that and YOU can have the quest reward, too!"

    "Besides, does it even WORK that way? You don't have the quest to turn in, and the Landers here know you weren't part of the party... why would they give you stuff?"

    She sighs. "We're all trapped in here together. Keep looking and I'm sure you can find an honest way to make your way! You could always go challenge the harder monsters here in the Tower if you're in such a hurry to level up!"

     "I'm fine," is all Mizuki gets. He's clearly not, but he's probably just that kind of person - fiercely self-reliant and not especially cooperative. At least he doesn't seem outright malicious, or angry, or grumpy, or any of your usual 'run-of-the-mill reasons someone might rebuff concern.' Just...self-reliant. Strongly self-reliant.

     He must be the kind of person who eats instant noodles because he doesn't care enough to cook when he's got Better Things To Do.

     Yeah, there's definitely that feeling to him, too. The kind of guy who lives a lot worse than he appears to because he's too busy doing things like 'school clubs.'

     With the animals calmed, Balmung turns back to the walk. No matter how tired he is he doesn't seem willing to just climb into the wagon and go to sleep. And that probably isn't about appearance, either - he clearly isn't too fussed that he looks like he just ran through Hell - but an unwillingness to be dead weight. Balmung refuses to be dead weight.

     One look at those pretty blue eyes is enough to determine that. He might be having a rough go of it, but he's still strong-willed enough to just push on through.

     When the adventurers come, Balmung, again, stays distant from them. He's standing mostly near the Peco-Peco he had to calm, patting it gently on the beak every so often to keep it placid. The small talk doesn't interest him much. As has already been established, he's, uh, bad at it.

     And then there's words about joining the quest.

     Balmung closes his eyes. There's a quiet sigh. Briefly, he regrets unequipping Shiroe's cloak and going about this journey unhidden - it would probably have been easier to duck under it, hide his wings, and not have to deal with this. People like this were *why* Shiroe had given him the cloak, after all, people who might want to try their luck.

     Had they not been more interested in stealing from the quest than PKing, this might've turned out a lot worse.

     The rusty blade slides out of its sheath with a thin hiss, the rattling of metal against a leather scabbard. Flakes of rust litter the ground as he draws the blade in the way a samurai might. The rust scatters like flower petals as he flicks the blade to the side. He's done that before. He's done that before *a lot*.

     That is most definitely *not* a class skill.

     The wings spread again. He turns away from the Peco-Peco with a gentle pat, and starts walking forward. The shadow cast by the sunlight falls across the caravan. Though he still looks like hell, mussed and exhausted, hair a mess and eyes bagged, it just adds to the appearance now - after all, these random adventurers haven't *seen* Balmung fuck up cooking, haven't *heard* Balmung speak. To the party, he might look like a tired high-school prettyboy with big pretty wings.

     To anyone else, he is an angel who has just emerged from Hell, demons dead at his feet.

     The rust swirls around his wings as they beat once. They scatter into the party of adventurers.

     The Descendant of Fianna sure looks mythical again.

     He's not a known PKer. He has, in fact, never killed another player in his life, save those who killed themselves. But everybody on the continent saw Balmung attack Kite in the square. Everybody on the continent heard Balmung say 'it's entirely possible that if you die in the game, you'll die in real life' with a razor's edge of deadly seriousness.

     The unspoken line, of course, is 'do you really want to take the chance that he won't kill you to protect himself if you get violent?'

     Not a word. Just a walk, a blade held to the side, a shadow, and a myth.

Gwen is glad her crazy stunt managed to be pulled off successfully stare down the Peco, and things turns out well she grins and seems relaxed when she's glad she pulled it off. The rest of the day passes well enough and they can get a good night of sleep which was the important thing in the end.

The next day, however, comes to a new problem. Other Adventuring sorts show up the next day and she's going to look at them for a moment. She shakes her head.

"I'm afraid we're already maxed out and you know as well as I? That's not how it works, you join at the start. Or you wait for the next run. There will be other caravans to guard. We will be happy to share notes with you when we're done however if you want some tips for getting through it."

    The sleep wasn't so great after dealing with rowdy horse-birds. But it could have been worse if they kept people up all night.
    Amalthea isn't complaining, the next morning, but she is yawning more than quite a bit along the way.
    She meets the new adventurers with that same easy smile she met the others. But then they want in on things.
    "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."
    "I'm sorry. But we worked very hard to get the caravan this far. Y-"
    Whatever she had to say is cut off by Balmung's display.
    That speaks far more than anything she could possibly say.
    You know what, this old woman is going to choose to display some discretion and just take a step back.

    The Landers have no issue with going along with Nureha's request. The quartermaster even ends up speaking up at the point as well, "Why in the world would we end up hiring more Adventurers at this point? We're almost there. Besides, not like we got the gold to pay for more of ya..." With that in mind the quartermaster would start heading over to the group ready to let them know their request wasn't even possible. Though it seems a few of the Adventurers were taking liberties with how to address the situation.

    Sadly, it's not just their group of Adventurers taking liberties. One spots Reika and tries to take the opportunity to get her on their side, "So what d'ya say? Us Adventurers have to look out for each other, right~? Besides we already know what'll come up next on the path, I'm sure we'd be plenty of help."

    At this point Mizuki's encouragement falls on deaf ears. "Oh come on, this isn't an honest way? We're just asking to tag along for the quest. Besides I bet those NPCs will just dish out more cash if you ask them to, it's no big deal right?" At this point it appeared they were getting more insistent on the matter. Gwen attempts to defuse the situation briefly, and most of the party seems pretty content on taking up the notes. Though the same one that was heckling Reika continues to be rather insistent. "That's a load, it doesn't affect you guys at all if we end joining or not. What does it matter, we'll end up getting the experience one way or another. Are you guys seriously going to make a big deal out of -" The agitated Adventurer's voice raises higher and higher, clearly getting agitated as one of his buddies starts walking up beside him trying to act as a strong man. Though just like Amalthea he's silenced for a moment as Balmung pulls out his blade.

    The wordy Adventurer's disgruntled demeanor slowly evaporates as Balmung comes onto the scene. As he pulls out his blade, one starts getting really agitated, "Oh, you wanna go huh? That's fine wit-" "Wait a minute...Hey back off him dude, I know those wings. Shit, I haven't seen those since Fragment. Shit, shit. We're sorry man. We're good here, honest. We'll do the quest from the beginning!" "The hell?! Why are you so worried? If they don't let us join we can just mess up their cargo and they'll have to start over again anyway." It's at this point that what would have been considered overkill on Proteus' side becomes completely justified as she ends up placing the omen's cursed status on the more jump members. Which...Immediately causes the rest of the group to back off, and go well on their way without them.

    The Landers say nothing on the matter at that point. They quartermaster simply urging the rest of the group to continue on so they can get to Tolba. So with no more interruptions and a few more hours of travel...They make it. They finally make it. The towering walls would appear quite familiar to those that helped in the siege which was not but a few days prior. As they arrive, the quartermaster makes his way to the Adventurer group with a smirk on his face. "Not bad...Was a bit of a bumpy road but definitely say you guys really helped out. I'd definitely hire you lot again." With those words he'd start handing each their share of gold with a smirk on his face. "We'll definitely spread word around if anymore more convoys need help you guys are worth it. And uh...Also, not sure if any of you Adventurers were part of clearing out Tolba as well...But uh...Thanks. Anyway, unless you guys plan on working for free from this point on, you all can go on and get. The rest of us still got some work to do from here on in. Gotta make this place presentable and what not..."