A couple hundred meters outside of Beakwood—
Syla was following the straight road at her own pace, she didn't pay for a carriage since her destination for today was quite short compared to the other ones that she had visited. This time she was walking towards a small village called Boonsap, located on the North from Beakwood.
'Phew, thank god the location of the village was written in the quest paper.' Syla thought as she grabbed the paper from her satchel.
'Follow the road from the north gate and you'll arrive at Boonsap, approximate time to reach the destination: an hour by walking, 30 or less minutes by a carriage' That was the text written beneath the mission. Because it was such a simple description of the village location, Syla assumed that the village might be a checkpoint between towns.
'–Am i currently in the middle of the kingdom, or am i going to the middle.. To be honest i kind of want to see the ocean, i'll have to save this thought for later..' Syla said to herself.
It has been a couple minutes since she left Beakwood, and Syla's face gradually became more cheerful as she focused on the things infront of her, it's like she had already forgotten about all of the humiliation and mocker she received back in the guild. For someone who had lived in another world before, Syla was used with hardships, her time in earth could be described as boring, she never had the chance to achieve her dreams there, and in the end, she died before she could even find a lifelong partner or see her old face.
'Now that i think about it– I forgot the reason why i died.. Huh?— I also couldn't remember what i did on earth.. What does my face looked like?.. I only knew that i was a man before.. And that i lived a boring life- But other than that and my earth knowledge that i gained from the internet and school– Who am i?.. My parent's face... They're vague– And my friends, i only remember one.. Who is he?!.. I couldn't remember his face..' Syla's mind suddenly went into overdrive as she tried to remember her life on earth.
Yet no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to remember anything, she knew about earth, its technologies, and the internet, but everything after that, it's all a blurry fragments that she can't repair.
'Did living for 18 years in this world made me forget about my past self?..' Syla thought.
'The thing before my death.. What is it.. Im sure one of my friend was there- What did i say to him.. I can't remember...'
Rustle!
"Huh!"
A sound of something brushing against the tall grass caught Syla off guard and she gasped out of nowhere. She quickly turned her head towards the source of the sound and hear the rustling noise again, it was getting closer.
"What the hell.." She said, confused. 'A slime?'
After waiting for a few seconds, Syla then saw the creature that was hiding, it came out from the inside of he grasslands and startled her.
"Oh.. It's just a rabbit.." Syla said in relief, sighing deeply as she realized that it's just a harmless little critter.
The rabbit who had a horn on its head then stared at Syla, as if being curious by her eccentric appearance, Syla didn't move for a while, and when she do so, the rabbit then instantly jumped back into the tall grass and ran away.
"Ah, did i sense that i was about to kill it.. Such a shame, they're delicious when cooked.." Syla scoffed in disappointment.
While she was looking into the distance, rotating her head slowly and enjoying the scenery around her, Syla accidentally saw a group of people that was standing at the edge of the nearby forest. Syla decided to focus her attention towards the group and what she saw made her lips smiled.
Thanks to her heightened vision from being a demihuman, Syla caught a glimpse of Errick and his mercenary friends talking to each other, with Verima listening from the back while also giving some of her thoughts occasionally.
"Errick?.. Are they trying to enter the forest?" Syla said, since the day was still long and the sun hasn't reached its highest peak yet, Syla decided to spare some time to visit.
She walked off the road and into the grasslands, her dark cloak made it seems like she was suspicious, but she knew that Errick would've recognized her, he and his friends was one of the few that treated her like a normal person, and since they've also shared a few stories together, she assumed that their bond would be stronger.
And soon, Syla was spotted by one of the mercenary, if was Hilma that saw her first.
"Hey, who's that?" She said while the others were busy talking.
"Huh?" Errick heard Hilma's words and turned his head to his back. "That's.. Im not sure.. Huh wait.."
"That's Syla isn't it?" He said as he saw Syla in the distance waving at him. "Yeah that's her.. Why is she coming to us?"
"Syla? Where?" Yveia suddenly left the convo and searched for Syla with her eyes. "Oh!? You're right.. What is she doing here though? I thought she had her own quest?"
"Maybe her quest also happened to be inside the forest?" Vahen said.
"Hmm, or maybe she just wanted to say hi.." Anther added in a half-joking voice.
"Syla? That girl we met in the town?" Verima said.
"That's right, i thought we won't meet again, but sure.. I guess fate works in a strange way." Errick responded with a laugh.
Syla continued to walk closer, eventually reaching the field where the grass was shorter and normal be stepped on, she traversed through the slimes around her that was eating scraps and insects before arriving infront of Errick.
"Hello!" She said.
"Good morning again, what are you doing here?" Errick asked.
"I accidentally saw you guys in the distance and i thought that, maybe i could say some hi and ask a few question.." Syla responded. "Are you guys trying to enter the forest?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, since Verima said that the materials that she was looking for usually grow in a damp spot, the forest is the perfect place for it beside swamps, but since there's no nearby swamps here, we have no choice." Errick answered calmly, his head occassionally glanced at Verima to see her nod.
"I see." Syla was about to ask another question, but got interrupted by Errick.
"And you? What quest did you get?" He said.
"I took a quest for killing some orcs.. I heard some rumors that there might be a dungeon of them near Beakwood, so i also wanted to investigate, out of my own volition.. Im a bit curious." Syla replied as she showed the quest paper to Errick and his friends.
"Hoohh.. An Orc dungeon, that's quite a trouble if it's true.. Thanks for the heads up, i think we'll have to be more careful, right?" Errick then looked to his friends on the back.
"Okay."
"Sure."
"An orc dungeon sounds interesting, but i doubt we'll be able to clear it.. So alright."
"Yeah, we'll have to be aware of our surroundings."
Everyone expressed their agreement, and Verima also nodded.
"By the way, how's Jule?" Syla asked again.
"He's stable now, we brought him to a healer and his wounds have been healed, though his legs won't grew back ever again.. Unless we could- In whatever ways, hire a high ranking healer from the capital.." Errick replied, his mouth frowned for a little bit before he cheered up again. There's no need to feel pitiful now, what matters is that Jule is saved and he's alive.
"That's good to hear.." Syla grew a faint smile on her lips.
"Thanks— And, i think we have to go now, Verima seems to be impatient." Errick said, preparing himself to venture into the forest.
"H- Hey! Im not impatient!" Verima suddenly denied the accusation.
"Hahaha! Okay then." Errick laughed along with the others. "We'll be going now, i'll see you later."
"See you later! You sure you don't want to accept me as your student?" Yveia looked at Syla briefly before she followed Errick to the forest.
"Uhh no.." Syla said, still holding on to her 'solo' self.
"Awwhh.. You're so mean, well then see ya." Yveia then jogged her way to the forest until she was with her friends again.
Syla watched all of the mercenaries and the alchemist disappear among the endless trees, once they had all gone out of her vision, Syla then also continued her journey towards Boonsap, she slowly makes her way into the dirt road again and followed along for an hour.