Chapter 10: Interlude 2 : The Lives of Others

A handsome, blonde young man nodded with a smug, satisfied smile on his face as he looked at the provisions. Everything was in order. They were armed, armored, and ready for anything.

Rickard stretched his arms and chuckled, looking at his fellow teammates with a pleased, relaxed expression on his face. He had it great so far. He talked to the priest guy, had a bunch of easy sword training with the royal master-of-arms, and now he's an officially recognized hero.

It made sense, right ? He deserved to be a hero – anything less would be unfitting for someone like him. He was naturally awesome. He was the ace of the sports team, the blond, attractive, rising star of the high school, favored by the teachers and loved by the ladies.

Such a status would grant him the power he deserved, and the ability to do whatever he wanted ! He deserved it, after all. He had been brought here to save the world, after all. Somewhat on such a mission deserved everything they could ask for !

"So, first mission, right guys ?" he said, asking his teammates with a broad smile.

"Yep."

"Just a bunch'a thugs. Should be easy."

"They will fall to our superior might."

"Don't worry, all will be fine."

"They won't see us coming."

"Excellent !", said Rickard, emitting an unpleasant, snarly laugh.

He had been paired with powerful allies, to boot. Handpicked by the old priest, no less ! He suspected he priest used his magic to find good match for his personality, but not going to complain. He had a natural connection with the other guys, it was really nice.

A strong axeman, a proud mage, a skilled, knowledgeable healer and a nigh-invisible rogue. He'd really have to pour one out for the old man, for the priest had been nothing but excellent to him.

It was a bit sad that there were no girls, but them's the breaks. Plus Rickard was quite confident about that anyway. A hero like him ? The girls would swarm sooner rather than later. Now, they had their first assignment from the priest, and it was as simple as could be. A bunch of thugs was causing trouble in a town to the north.

"Hell yeah. This should be easy. Just relax, kill'em quick and dirty, and come back for our rewards !" laughed Rickard. "Everyone's got everything ?" he asked, although he already knew the answer to the question.

"Yep"

"A'right."

"Indeed."

"Yes."

"Everything is here."

"Wonderful. Let's go slaughter 'em !" said Rickard, to which the whole team cheered. The team moved to the teleportation station, their spirits and confidence high.

---

A blonde, tall, brown-eyed woman double-checked her equipment again. Nervosity and mild anxiety were evident in her movements, although it mostly seemed to be born from inexperience.

Yngrid sighed. The beginning had not been easy for her. Getting the priest to agree to set her up for the hero training had been a pain. He kept rambling about a lady's place, and Yngrid had to force him at metaphorical spearpoint to stop talking about the young nobles interested in her.

She did not care much for these people. They were haughty at best and rudely misogynistic at worst. Yngrid really hated their "I'm the heavens' gift to women" attitude. She had eventually received the princess' blessing, of all people, and that had shut the old priest up.

Yngrid refocused, her mind on other things right now. Mostly, ensuring she and all of her teammates came home in one piece, and that the mission would be a success. "Is everyone ready ?", she asked, staring at her fellow adventurers.

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"Yes."

"Indeed."

"Yes."

"You can rely on us."

Yngrid nodded in turn. She was not very confident. Her traning had been good and her equipment was decent, but she had to find people willing to work with a newbie and pay quite a bit. She would've preferred that money going into better weapons and armor, but what was was.

Although Yngrid failed to see it, the expression on her teams and their general opinion of her was quite high, despite her definitely strange approach. Prudence and being reasonable was rare in adventurers, especially those with royal backing.

Her teammates fully intended to back her up, although in no small part because letting someone with royal backing die or even simply hang out to dry was not a smart move. Especially when that someone valued their opinion and listened to advice.

"Bandits, huh ? This should be easy, but I don't want to get overconfident." sighed Yngrid. Slow and insidious killer and all that. She internally shook her head and refocused. She didn't have much other choices path she could have taken.

"A good move." answered the warrior, lifting his heavy axe on his shoulders. "Bandits have weak armor and weapons. However, they move fast and like poison."

"I do have an antivenom spell." said the cleric, a maternal-looking woman with a long history of temple life and generally kind, if fierce, personality.

"It won't help if you are knocked out or worse." said the mage, in turn, to which Yngrid nodded again.

"She's right... Let's be careful, everyone." said Yngrid. "They're just bandits, so we should be okay, but better safe than sorry.". She sighed again, something she had done quite a bit lately. "No point delaying it. Let's get going." The team moved out, careful and prepared.

---

"You are coming down with me... ♪ Hand in unlovable hand... ♪" A black-haired, black-eyed young man sang, sitting on a rock. He was at the cusp of being a man, and truly was still more of a boy. The caravan was just a bit further, he was simply taking a small break.

Yeff, real name Yeffrey, was having a pretty good time. He had left the capital, a bit tired of the hustle and bustle, and through a series of events involving, he was now hanging around this caravan of demon merchants. He even found a 3D girl willing to talk to him !

He turned his head around, seeing the aforementioned girl walk up. The blue-skinned demoness looked like a human woman in every other way. "You're a pretty good singer", she said, a bit of laughter in her voice, leading Yeff to forcibly suppress the butterflies in his stomach.

"Eh, I took a few lessons." he said. "The caravan be departin' soon ?", to which she nodded. She really does look human. Unlike, say, the oni with hands bigger than my head. Albeit said oni had been nothing but friendly, if quite loud and fond of drinking. Yeff wasn't a big drinker. He lost an uncle to it, learned better young.

"That's right." she said, Yeff getting up and walking up to her, the duo starting to walk together back to the caravan. "Where do that song come from, anyway ? Your home ?", she asked, curious. Yeff did not mind. It was nice having a girl interest herself in him.

"Yeah. It came from a show I watched. It's about a small kid in a uber-religious town. Jesus, am I glad not to be an American." he said, with a small laugh. "That show's really fucking depressing."

"I still barely get the context of half of what you say." she said, again. "But I don't really mind, you know.", she said afterwards, a bit of laughter in her voice again. She had a surprisingly high-pitched voice.

"Considering the amount of dudes who seem to be afraid of you..." Yeff said in answer. It had surprised him that every single one of the patrons avoided her like the plague, despite being pretty cute. Cowards with no taste. A real man likes a girl who can crush him with her thighs ! That's the best part !

"Well, yes. My reputation precedes me for most.", making Yeff chuckle. "Remembering those bandits ?", she continued, as Yeff reminded himself of the bandits' ill-fated robbery attempt and suppressed another laugh.

"Yeah. It was fucking hilarious to see them go from "Your money or your life !" to "Please don't huuurt me !"" he said, remembering the bandits' terrified expression when they realized who they were going up against. "I mean, I don't blame 'em. Nobody wants to fight who is most likely the world's strongest woman."

"I would call you a flatterer for that." she started as answer. "But considering the kinds of people I've fought and won against...", she said, her eyes staring to the side. For indeed, the woman was nobody other than the infamous Demon General Galneira, and calling her the world's strongest was no exaggeration whatsoever.

"Yeah, you earned that general title, that's for certain.", he said, as he saw the wagons entering his line of sight. He nodded, as the guys waved at him, Galneira racing ahead and quickly checking everything. They're a good bunch, Yeff thought as he received some friendly ribbing from the oni.

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