The trading post town an hour's march from the RazenHeir estate.
Grain, fruits, spices from the farmlands from the kingdom of Herdial to the west.
Warehoused and sold here to merchants from the Zeppelin port MoraDale to the east, the gateway to much of the continent.
From the other direction, enchanted weapons , mana imbibed items from the workshops of the spire city.
A circular stone wall surrounded the town, just tall enough to keep the bears and wolves out.
The lush forested hills in the background.
Hikari walked beside Ria on horseback, taking baby steps with pauses in between to keep pace with her stead.
The traffic funneled to either side of her as the giantess strides along the center of the road.
The town seemed to have gotten livelier. Men appearing on the streets and popping out on the balconies, hiding their heads behind newspapers with two conspicuous holes through them.
A woman upon seeing her approach, yanked her man by the arm into an alleyway.
Ria rode nervously beside her. Staring down into the mane of her horse, holding the reins tightly.
The awkward sound of her horse cloping against the pavement and the muffled thud of Hikari's massive but careful steps.
"So Hikari. What is a day like for you?"
Ria could feel Hikari's gaze turning towards her.
"I train"
"I can certainly see that. But is that really all you do?"
"Yes"
"I see."
An awkward silence ensued. Ria buried her head back into her horse.
The ambient noise of merchants crying their wares and the street bards singing and plucking their ukuleles.
"Did you experience any troubles? I mean given your size, I imagine people don't quite react to you the same way."
Ria turned her head again. From her angle, Hikari's massive arm clad in black wyvern skin filled her view.
Hikari takes another step. Ria briefly squeezed her eyes together, expecting a loud thud as her boot lands.
But none came, her steps were surprisingly quiet, like a well trained assassin.
Ria turned her head and looked forward again.
A man carrying a crate crossed the road infront of them, turning his head towards Hikari. Ria briefly caught the white of his bulging eyes just before he crashed into a stand at the side of the road.
"No" Hikari took another step.
"Really now? I was expecting an uproar when the towns folk saw you. How long have you been living in these parts?"
"Years?"
"Years? That's strange, how come I never see you around in the estate grounds?"
"I live in the hills."
"Ah, I see. That makes sense. It would be difficult to house you properly within the main estate area or even the barracks area."
Hikari's gaze turned straight forward again.
"Say, with all those weapons, you must be a monster hunter."
"Yes"
"What do you slay? Dragons? Titans? Mystical beasts?"
"That's suicide"
"I'm just joking. I glanced through the ledgers since I'm starting to take on some responsibilities. Swamp trolls, rot hounds, Dire ents and wyverns."
"Correct."
"I heard the wyverns prow the trade routes from here to Herdial, dragging men and horses off with them. It must be a dangerous job, how do you manage them?"
"I slay them."
"Really? That's incredible. I guess that's plausible looking at you. The slayer herself. I'm honored to finally meet you. If I may, would you perchance be willing to share your strategies?"
Hikari turned her gaze back to her. Ria could feel every moment of the slow motion of her eye balls.
"You slice their neck"
"That's it? From what I read from reports by wyvern hunters, they had to do extensive preparations to lay a trap for the beast. Even then it takes a full squad to bring them down."
"Yes."
"That's amazing."
They reached a grass clearing with a round table covered in fine pristine white table cloth. A pair of silver plates and wine glass placed on either end.
"Greetings, young lady RazenHeir. Your reservation is in order." One of them approached Ria's horse and helped her dismount.
As Ria approached the table, a sudden rumbling sound was heard. A wooden cart full of jars rolled off a slope, barreling straight towards Ria.
Ria froze in fear as she turned her head and saw the wooden cart speeding towards her.
Just before it hit her, Hikari's boot appeared before her. The wooden cart crashed into of wyvern leather with a thud.
Smash! The sound of pottery smashing all over the ground.
"Are you alright my lady?"
Ria took a moment to recover from the shock. "Yes, thanks to you."
The cart was stopped, but the jars of tomato sauce it was carrying spilled all over Hikari's boot.
"Oh dear, this won't do." Ria took out her handkerchief and started wiping off the sauce.
Hikari looked on as Ria attempted to wipe her boots that were more massive than herself. The handkerchief barely made a dent on the puddle of tomato sauce even as it became fully soaked.
"Lady RazenHeir, may we help you with that?" The waiter grabbed a table cloth and approached her.
"Oh! Umm.. much appreciated!" Ria blushed red. She didn't know what came over her.
Dusting herself off and handing her soiled handkerchief to the waiter, she walked to the table and sat down.
The waiters served up appetizers.
"It would appear that our guest is late. " Ria said calmly.
Ria tilted her head back and looked at Hikari's face. It was subtle, but she noticed just a few shades of red.
She settled into her seat. Hikari was standing right behind her. Her wyvern skin boots towering over her.
"Who's the Marquess?" Hikari whispered suddenly.
"Oh?" Ria tilted her head, meeting Hikari's eyes.
Hikari's gaze turned back up, looking straight into the distance.
"Oh, It's nothing special. Just a nobleman from the northern lands. I'm meeting him to negotiate the purchase of a shipment of our house's enchanted swords."
As they waited for the arrival of their guest, two men walked up to them. They wore the RazenHeir crest on their tunic, each armed with a sword and a musket.
"Greetings lady Ria. We apologize for the interruption."
"Is something the matter?"
"Nothing major, my lady. The guard captain requests that Knight Hikari report to him. We are sent here as replacements."
Ria took a glance at Hikari.
"Changing of guard is unusual and quite against the rules I believe. I ask again. Is something the matter?"
The two men were unable to provide an answer and glanced at each other uncomfortably.
They reached for their swords.
As their hands barely gripped their handles, a sudden kinetic blast knocks them onto the ground. Two massive daggers impaled them into the ground, tearing a hole through their flesh through to the grass on the backs. Their tunics were toon soaked with their blood gushing from their chest.
"Get down!"
Ria was stunned. Before she knew it, she was pressed down into the grass by Hikari's hand.
A volley of musket balls landed around her, bouncing off Hikari's fingers.
Boom! Boom!
Hikari blocks two cannon shots with her sword. A third hit her chest and bounced off, leaving a crater in the grass.
Hikari drew her handcannon, aimed in the direction of the cannon shots and released a bolt of brilliant flame, incinerating the cannoneers in their disguised position on the top floor of a inn.
"Excuse me my lady."
The seams on the chest area of her wyvern skin suit opened. Hikari picked Ria up like a doll and stuffed her between her blossoms and then sealed her inside.
Ria found herself entombed in a dark prison of damp cotton, suffocated by the sweaty fumes trapped in the prison with her. She held her breath but eventually she had to breathe. She breathed and choked, and breathed, and choked again. She felt dizzy from the smell of sweat filling her lungs.
A swarm of cloaked swordsmen rushed Hikari from all directions.
Hikari telekinetically released her blades hidden under her skirt to create a barrier of whirling steel.
Her attackers charged zealously into the whirling steel undeterred.
Their bodies were ripped to pieces by the momentum of the whirling steel. Ribcages and skulls were crushed. Limbs were severed.
By luck, one swordsman got through and thrust his sword against Hikari's boot. It did not pierce at all. With a shuffle, the boot knocked him to the ground. The last thing he saw were the boot soles hovering over him before crushing his bones and splattering his insides with a crunch, squeezing the blood out of his body onto the stone pavement.
After clearing the first wave, Hikari bent her knees and leapt onto the top of the town church.
From her vantage point, she could see the chaos below. The town guards locking swords against the hooded men. Musket smoke everywhere. Town folks being herded dragged onto wagons amidst the fighting.
Hikari dug her boots in, laid down a mana circle around herself. Steel balls suspended in mid air around her. A hooded man hid behind the street corner to reload his musket. His chest was abruptly crushed by a steel ball, his guts splattering onto the wall of the building.
Hikari was peppered by a volley of musket fire. She ignored the feeble attacks and continued picking off the hooded men.
With her help, the town guard was starting to recover from the ambush and gain the upper hand.
Then an eerie horn sound could be heard.
Grotesque masses of flesh burst out from carts and cellars all around town. The guards initially attempted to hold their ground, but the flesh monsters were impervious to sword and musket fire.
Hikari spun up a steel ball and hurled it towards the flesh abominations. The spin from the steel ball tore through its torso, scattering its flesh in all directions.
One by one, she picked off the flesh abominations.
Before long, cloaked assassins confronted her, standing on the surrounding rooftops. Hikari drew her sword and assumed her stance. Her daggers create a whirling barrier around her.
The assassins charged in a staggered formation. As they entered the whirling steel, the spell on their cloaks activated, phasing them out of the material plane, materializing once they passed the daggers.
They bared their daggers, dripping with acid, ready to strike. But they were now caught in the danger zone.
Hikari swung her sword severed several assassins in two.
A telekinetic blast knocks the assassins to her rear back into the whirling dagger storm, cutting them into pieces.
The second and third wave phased out back into the material plane and suffered a similar fate. The fourth wave broke off their attack, several of them getting dismembered as they materialised on the edge of the whirling daggers.
Hikari swung her sword, splattering the blood stuck on the edge.
She turned and saw an assassin struggling on the ground, his left arm was gone. The assassin raised his musket and fired but the bullet harmlessly bounced off Hikari's boot.
The boot raised above him, blocking out the sun before it crashed down on him splattering his insides.
Hikari looked on as the remaining hooded men fled the town.
She opened her suit, allowing Ria to fall onto her hand. Gently, she lowered her onto the roof top ground.
Ria took a deep breath and then threw up, before falling unconscious onto the ground.
"She's safe now. But it looks like I'll be busy for a while."