It was probably around seven in the evening.
The forest had gone soft with twilight and fireflies.
And I was finally on my way back to Windket after spending the entire damn day killing everything that moved.
I'd started heading back by the time sun had begun to set
[And damn was it a long day.]
It really was.
After the whole Red Lightning assimilation nightmare came Laro and his men, then the Direbear.
And then spending the next several hours hunting every Magic Beast I could find.
Which was a lot of them.
The strongest thing I'd faced today was about twenty kilometers deep in the forest.
A Lunar Wolf.
A huge bastard.
Silver-white fur, sharp claws, the works.
Good thing I didn't run into it at night.
They jump two whole Tiers once the moon's up.
And that one had almost cost me my life, even during the day, forcing me to chug down a Grade-9 Healing Potion.
Twenty Credits gone, just like that.
But it was worth it.
Every kill added up.
By the time sunset arrived, I was close to levelling up again.
So, yeah.
Hell of a day.
And I was spent.
[There are so many insanely strong Magic Beasts not even that deep into the forest… How the hell have they never attacked Windket?]
The thought kept bouncing in my skull as I walked.
Half the time I jogged and the other half I dragged my feet, all so I could make it back on before dinner.
After nearly two hours of that on-and-off rhythm, I finally caught the scent of smoke.
Faint, thin… the kind that came from chimney fires and cooked meat.
"Almost there…" I murmured.
The trail opened, and I saw the outline of Windket's rooftops again.
My shack was near the very edge of the village, still within the boundary of the village, albeit technically.
It stood among a few other abandoned huts, all of them beyond repair.
[Home sweet home...]
I stuck along the outer edge of Windket, keeping to the shadows, close enough to smell the smoke but far enough to stay unseen.
And from here, the village looked… different.
Every house was lit.
Not the dim, dying firelight of usual nights, but real light.
Lanterns, torches, and royal banners were flying everywhere.
Windows were glowing gold like someone had declared a festival.
I slowed.
Even from this distance, I could see people gathered near the center.
The open ground where the Royal Association was probably supposed to set up tomorrow.
Laughter drifted faint through the air.
Men were drinking.
Children darted around, weaving between legs and stalls.
The whole thing looked wrong.
Too cheerful for Windket.
Like the village had decided to pretend it was worth something for once.
And yet… something was missing.
The streets, though bright, were mostly unpatrolled.
The usual clusters of those bastards were gone.
I let out a quiet snort.
"Well… I did kill half of them," I muttered, a crooked smile tugging at my mouth.
The irony wasn't lost on me.
And with that, I kept walking, hugging the border until the laughter and light faded behind me.
The roofs grew fewer, the air colder, until only the sound of the wind and my own footsteps remained.
And ahead, my shack waited.
A dark, crooked silhouette that housed the very reason I chose to dance with death toady.
By the time I reached the edge of my yard, the fireflies rose to meet me as though they'd been waiting.
The front yard didn't even have a gate.
Just a low fence made of sticks and twigs, the kind that might topple over if you sneezed too hard.
There was a gap wide enough for one person to pass through, so I did.
The dirt crunched under my boots as I stopped halfway in.
Didn't go straight to her. Not yet.
Instead, I brushed the dust off my clothes.
Straightened the creases in my shirt.
Ran a towel over my face, over the sweat and grime, till the fabric came away streaked brown.
Then I combed my fingers through my hair until it sat right again.
I looked down at myself: white shirt, black pants, brown boots.
Simple and much cleaner than what I was wearing yesterday.
[Good enough.]
I smiled.
That stupid, wide, satisfied grin that just shows up when something in your chest finally feels… right.
Then I walked toward the side yard.
"Surprise!" I said, raising my voice a little as I stepped past the crooked walls of the shack.
She was right there.
The small mound of moss-covered stones between the dancing fireflies.
A wildflower had grown up between the cracks, swaying in the breeze.
I stepped closer with a hand behind my back, trying not to laugh.
"And lookie what I got you…" I said, pulling the flowers forward that I'd picked on the way here.
Reds, yellows, and one violet in the middle that looked almost unreal.
I knelt and set them gently at the base of the stones.
"There," I said, smiling like an idiot. "From rags to… well, something decent."
I stood up and spun once, arms half spread. "So? How do I look?... Handsome, right?"
The night air moved through the yard.
No answer, just that quiet whisper through the grass.
"Wanna know how?" I asked, laughing.
"How this trash turned into -" I stopped myself, the laugh dying in my throat.
My eyes drifted back to the stones.
"You'd probably yell at me for going this far…" I said softly. "But… I did it, Ma. I really did it."
I crouched again, tracing my finger along the cool edge of the stone, brushing off a dead moss.
"I got real food now," I whispered. "Not rats or stuff by the trash. … But, real food."
The air smelled faintly of smoke from the village, faintly of earth and flowers.
"And I've got clean clothes…" I chuckled under my breath.
"You really wanna know? But you promise not to get mad…?"