“See, Draycott is here, and we met you somewhere around here,” Petven explained, tapping his cuddly drawn map for emphasis. I nodded absently, only half paying attention through my body’s irritability over another day of walking,
We hadn’t lingered over breakfast, and in a total blur, I was now back on the road, continuing north. At least I was among friends; I really did make all the difference to my morale. It was also a gorgeous day out, the tall grass swimming in the wind, the sky clear and blue above.
“Up here is Agocester,” Petvent continued. “And… hold on,” he blinked, folding up the map and quickly sketching something with the lump of charcoal he had. I did at least appreciate the attempt, and I did have a vague sense of where I was going and how I was getting here and there. “East is… mountains,” he muttered, attempting to draw while walking.
Martrix laughed at his antics. Frida walked along pensively while Kimrel loudly chewed on jerky beside her.
Fuck, it was good to have friends. Actual friends, and not whatever Candy was. I still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of our conversation last night. On one hand, I really did hate her, on the other, it had given me a lot of insight into her. She just didn’t understand, but she could clearly learn. I had been so concerned about her constant surveillance that I had ignored the fact that she was also taking everything in.
She wasn’t a mindless slime anyone. And despite the underlying horror of my being inhabited, it had felt good to… teach her, to explain the way humans worked. Humanoids, there were more than just humans here.
Fuck, I really should have continued being a TA. The premise of getting my doctorate had been suffocating, but in hindsight… the insurmountable challenges didn’t seem so insurmountable. How different my life would have been if I had just been a little braver. I could have kept teaching, I could have done my dissertation, hell, I could have maybe even become a professor somewhere. How cool would that have been?
It was too late for any of that now. On the off chance this world had some vaguely medieval form of academia, I certainly wouldn’t be qualified for it. I had missed my chance. And then done fuck all, created nothing, learned nothing. What a waste.
I shouldn’t try to help Candy. It wasn’t my job to fix her. Yet I still wanted to. I could show her how to be a good person, I could explain the complexities of sociological behaviour, I could explain morality and ethics. All of that was something I was actually good at, stuff I was passionate about. It lit a strange spark of determination within me.
Sure, I had been Isekaid, but that wasn’t the defining feature of my life here. I was. And well… maybe Candy too, but that one was a work in progress. The point was, I needed to find what I wanted to do here. Wandering around and learning was fun and all, but it was also miserable. I needed a project.
I needed something to get sucked into that had nothing to do with slime.
Candy wanted to build a dungeon. What did I want? Unfortunately, being aware of the question didn’t give me an answer. This was not a problem that would be solved today.
I certainly knew what I didn’t want to do. I didn’t want to walk anywhere ever again. Maybe I could learn magic just to levitate myself around, or teleport? Would that be petty? Probably.
Fuck, magic. I wanted to learn magic. Even if I would never be as strong as I had briefly been, I really did want to learn magic. Adventuring or mercenary work or whatever was great and all, but not my style. I wanted to sit down with a good book and cast spells.
So how did I make that my life? Especially with a very stubborn and endlessly hungry growing inside me to god knows what end. Gods know, this region at least was pantheistic. Were the gods literally real? That was a sudden revelation. I hadn’t even really considered that much.
The notion that there were literally beings so powerful was a terrifying one. What if they decided they hated me in particular? Or if they got in a fight with each other or fell in love or… so much else. It could be disastrous to every living thing. Granted, I was just picturing the Ancient Greek gods, and assuming they were flawed all the same. But again, I was making assumptions.
Though… [Analysis] was powered by celestial flying monkeys. Whatever that meant.
Already exhausted with going around in circles in my head, I turned my focus back to the journey ahead.
“So…” I piped up. “Frida said she was a nun. What about the rest of you? What got into… mercenarying?”
It wasn’t the best segue, but alas, it couldn’t be helped.
“I worked as a scout before,” Petven offered casually. “I was already doing the odd job here and there and eventually stumbled into working for Wolfbit. It’s not quite as exciting as Frida’s story.”
“Exciting? I feel like you glazed over something,” I said, turning to look at Frida, who blushed and looked embarrassed. “Wait, what's Wolfbit?” I asked to clarify first. I felt like a bobble head on a swivel.
“The Wolfbit Mercenary Company,” Martrix supplied for me. “Don’t be shy, Frida, do tell,” she grinned.
Frida blew out a breath. “Nothing really. I was just… a tad bored of living in the nunnery.”
“Oh?” I asked, and everyone waited expectantly.
Frida groaned. “I was a tad infatuated with a knight that passed through. So I got permission for a pilgrimage and… well…”
“She ditched her duties,” Martrix smirked.
“I did not, I am merely taking a slight detour,” she huffed. “Vows of poverty and celibacy really aren’t any fun,” she added, ears pink with embarrassment.
I stared at her with disbelief.
“A slight detour of two years,” Petven nodded solemnly.
“You’re all the worst,” she grumbled. “Not once has Cemir expressed an ounce of disapproval, so why shouldn’t I?”
I pointed at her. “Can’t argue with that. She’s got a god’s permission, pretty sure that outranks like… everything.”
“Oh, we’re not judging,” Martrix assured. “It’s just delightful.”
“Yes, and you always find it delightful at my expense,” Frida squinted at the halfling.
Martrix just shrugged, unabashed.
“What about you, Kimrel?” I asked, maybe just a smidge too curious about the dragonborn.
“My dad was a knight,” he offered. “But I’ve never been much for politics or court. But I did like swinging a sword, so when Martrix asked me, I was happy for it.”
“We’ve known each other since we were kids,” Martrix explained. “I for one have always wanted to be a travelling bard, bringing stories, news, and music, but it doesn’t pay so well practically,” she smiled. “I could have been a herald for some stuffy noble, but I’d rather fight monsters.”
“Cool,” I nodded. “Very badass.”
Martrix nodded. “I love your bizarre expressions.”
I grimaced, cheeks flushing.
“What about you? What did you do before you tumbled into this place?” Martrix asked slyly, not missing a beat.
“I was uh… well… I was a bit of an academic for a time. Philosophy, sociology, a little cultural studies, and such, the social sciences,” I explained vaguely.
“Wow, you must have been loaded,” Petven whistled.
“Ah, no, quite the opposite, I was severely in debt,” I laughed, oddly finding some absurdity now that I was free from all of it.
“Oh,” Petven grimaced, “sorry.”
“No worries,” I shrugged. “It’s… different to be here. A new start, I suppose. Definitely better since running into you folks.”
“Aww,” Martrix cooed saccharingly. “You're not so bad yourself.”
“Um, I hate to interrupt, but we have a problem,” Frida piped up. “There’s an upturned wagon around the bend, no sight of the horse or driver.”
“Wait, what?” I blinked, looking between everyone. “How do you know?” I asked.
Frida pointed up at a faint blue shape high above, it tilted with the wind, a bird soaring on the breeze. A bird made out of crystalline light. Oh damn. That was very cool.
Kimrel drew his sword, Petven notched an arrow, Martrix somewhat anticlimatically hoisted her lute.
“Stay close,” Kimrel told me firmly.
“What?” I flailed slightly.
“We need to see what’s going on,” Martrix explained calmly. “Someone might be hurt, but it might very well be dangerous. So we need to be careful.”
“We’re on a road,” I protested. “How dangerous can it be?”
Martrix shot me a look.
Frida placed a gentle hand on my shoulders. “Monsters are known to come down from the mountains. That’s the risk of living so close to the frontier. It’s probably nothing, Pamela. We just need to be careful.”
“Okay,” I mumbled weakly, hurrying after the group as they picked up the pace.
We were literally running into danger. A low hissing noise made me pause. I searched the grass. The tall grass, definitely tall enough for something to be hiding in it. Ah shit.
It was a blur as it lunged at me. Sharp pain burst from my arm as it yanked me off the path. I collapsed into the tall grass with a shriek as it dragged me away with its teeth.
“Pamela!” Frida yelled.
They had already been left behind.