Eleanor doesn’t have them run the whole way, of course; Even if they’re all in good shape, several hours of constant running would still tire them too much. Instead, she switches from running to walking every now and them, allowing the group to catch their breaths during the interval.

  To Ena’s relief, it doesn’t take long before they deviate from the main flow of travelers using the main road, heading into the maze of farms and groves which surrounds Elderspire.

  Sincir has to give it to Eleanor; He’d have long become lost on his own, but she doesn’t even hesitate before taking turns, cutting through small groves, or jumping fences as needed.

  “Is it really okay to just jump all of these fences…?” Ena asks after the fourth one.

  “They’re here to stop the animals, not us,” Eleanor says, “As long as we don’t steel anything, if we expin we’re here to work, they’ll leave us to it… Don’t forget that one of these farmers is probably the one who posted the sying request at the guild. They’ll be happy we’re coming so soon.”

  Sincir isn’t sure how long they jogged for, but the sun is a bit past its mid-point by the time Eleanor stops and points toward a small agglomerate of buildings in the distance.

  “The request came from this farm. We should ask them for more detailed information about where we’re supposed to look.”

  “El… Do you really do this every day…?” Ena asks breathlessly, her skin glistening with sweat, and face slightly red as she stares at the other girl with undisguised respect.

  “You’ll grow used to it in no time,” Eleanor says, with a shrug, “I also struggled when I started.”

  In truth, they’re all sweaty and tired, Sincir included, but the girls were running in leather armor, while he is still wearing his normal clothes... Though, to be fair, his legs are a lot shorter.

  Grabbing Eleanor’s canteen from her bag (having been the one who was carrying it at the end) he takes a long swig from it, before throwing it toward Ena.

  “Couldn’t you do the floating water ball thingy, so we can drink?” she asks before taking her own swig.

  “I will fill the canteen when you’re done, since it’s easier that way… Eleanor, you figure we should eat our rations now?”

  “You’ll probably be fine, but I think Ena might want to keep her stomach empty for what’s about to happen.”

  As she passes the canteen to Eleanor, Ena grimaces. “Don’t remind me. Can’t I sit this one out? I’ll make sure none of them escapes, or something…”

  Eleanor shakes her head. “Being an adventurer is not a walk through the grove. Like I said earlier, it’s dirty work.... If you’re not up for it, then you can go back to working at the tavern, or somewhere else; However, if you’re going to come with us, do not pull your punches. Goblins might be weak, but they won’t hesitate to kill you, if given the chance, or worse.”

  Ena frowns, and for her credit, faces Eleanor’s gaze directly. “I’m not going back… But I see the point of what you’re saying. Fine, I don’t like it, but I’ll kill them if they’re really a pgue, as you’ve described it.”

  “Do they have weapons?” Sincir asks, interrupting the two of them before things could grow out of proportion. “You also mentioned a possible shaman…”

  Eleanor takes a swig from her canteen, then shrugs. “I’ve heard goblins can become a much bigger menace if left alone for too long, but for smaller, newer tribes like this, you can think of them as slightly more intelligent wolves, or aggressive monkeys. I’ve seen a couple of them carrying stolen weapons and farm tools before, but it’s rare. Most likely, they’ll came at us using their cws and teeth, then run once they realize we’re armed resistance… Catching them is more of an issue than the actual fight, usually. As for their so-called shamans, like I said, I’ve never come across a single one, so I couldn’t tell you.”

  “You’ve said they reproduce like bunnies… We won’t have to kill a bunch of goblin babies, right?” Ena asks, looking slightly sick over the idea.

  “They grow to adulthood in less than a month, but we’ll probably have to kill a couple sooner of ter, yes. It depends on how big the tribe we were contracted to kill is.”

  “E-Eleanor, I’m not sure I can behead a pregnant goblin mother who is fighting to protect her children,” Ena says, now pale-looking.

  Eleanor sighs. “There are no goblin mothers, you moron. They reproduce by raping anything they can get their hands on, humans included… It’s rare for small tribes to manage to get their hands on an adult woman, but they sometimes manage to capture young girls; Except, they’re too stupid to realize an eight-year-old human is incapable of giving birth.”

  Ena blinks, then turns away from them... A second ter, she releases the contents of her breakfast over the grass at her feet.

  Eleanor grimaces. “Creator… I should never have let you convince Sincir it was a good idea for you to become an adventurer.”

  “Easy, Eleanor, it’s her first day,” Sincir interjects, pulling Ena’s hair out of her face and he tapping her back lightly as he meets Eleanor’s gaze and frowns. “How often are we going to rescue traumatized eight-year-olds from these dens?”

  “It’s pretty rare. People know not to let their children near the woods around these parts, and not just because of the goblins… But it could happen, and we should be prepared for it.”

  Sincir nods. “Then let’s hope that we if do find somebody, they’re still alive, and not a corpse. I’m sorry, Ena, but that’s just how it is. If you leave the monsters alone, they kill people… The secret is to be able to differentiate a monster from something misunderstood. Now get up; C’mon, I know you’re stronger than this.”

  Ena quickly wipes her mouth as she finishes retching, then gres at Eleanor. “You fucking bitch, you did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

  Eleanor frowns. “If you’re trying to imply I purposefully said something shocking in the hopes you’d embarrass yourself, then you’re wrong; There are plenty of horrible things goblins do, including raping, as well as eating anything they can get their hands on. I was just trying to get you to understand that they’re not these poor creatures, struggling to feed their families, you seem to be picturing them as. They’re vicious, and they’re merciless, and they posses families… Like I said, you’re better thinking of them as animals, or monsters.”

  Having straightened herself during Eleanor’s expnation, Ena clenches her teeth, then shakes her head and takes a deep breath. “Okay… Fine. I’m sorry for assuming you were trying to mess with me, El. I get it… Goblins are bad news. I won’t pull my punches.”

  Eleanor stares at her for a moment, then shifts her gaze to Sincir. “I don’t trust her. I think she’ll hesitate, and get herself hurt.”

  Ena’s eyes widen. “I take back my apology! You’re such a-!”

  “Okay, stop!” Sincir interjects, rolling his eyes as he steps in between the two of them and raises his palms, “That’s enough, from the both of you. Eleanor, you should give her a chance to prove herself; And Ena, you did just empty your stomach in front of her, so you can’t bme her for doubting you. Now take a deep breath and rex, or I’m sending the both of you to sewer monster extermination tomorrow.”

  Eleanor scowls, turning away from the two of them, while Ena opens her mouth, but then closes it again, looking slightly regretful as she stares toward Eleanor’s back.

  Sincir sighs... Why did he think forming a party with the two of them would be a good idea, again?

  “...I guess this means we’re leaving the lunch for after,” he says after none of them speaks again, “Come; I think I see someone near those cows. Maybe they can tell us about the contract.”

  Sincir doesn’t wait for the girls to answer before heading in the direction of the lone farmer, giving them no choice but to follow him.

  As he approaches, it becomes clear the man has been eyeing them for a while, though his expression seems merely curious, rather than hostile or mistrusting.

  “Hello!” Sincir calls out, “We’re here on goblin sying business! Can you help us find who posted the request at the guild?!”

  The farmer, a tanned, shirtless man who is probably in his te teens or early twenties, beckons them closer as he shouts, “No need! I can lead you to where we st saw the bastards!”

  Sincir smiles; Well, this certainly makes things easier.

  The boy smiles at them once their group reaches him, tipping his hat in their direction… Though, once his eyes fall on Eleanor, his cheeks grow a couple of shades darker, and he immediately averts them away.

  “T-this way,” he says as he begins to lead them through the pasture, “Little green bastards took some of our chickens not two days ago… Wish I had seen them myself, though I suppose you’d be out of a job, had that happened.”

  Ena rolls her eyes; Either because of the farmer’s comment, or because of how he reacted to Eleanor, Sincir isn’t sure. Funnily enough, he catches her gncing at his well-defined muscles with appreciation, a moment ter… He guesses she’s a straight girl, after all, though he wasn’t a hundred percent sure, until now.

  “How many chickens did they take?” Eleanor’s asks, causing the boy to gnce in her direction briefly, then quickly avert his haze again.

  “A whole five of them, Miss. Pa was furious.”

  “Have there been other sightings, or was that the only one?”

  The farmer shakes his head. “We’d have asked for help earlier if there had been more. I’m gd you’re here so soon... It usually takes at least a week for anybody to show up. No offence, of course; I know you’re doing the best you can with so many of them roaming around these woods.”

  “She’s taking it so seriously,” Ena murmurs next to his ear, “Like this is a murder investigation…”

  Having obviously herd her, Eleanor tightens her jaw, but doesn’t take her eyes of the farmer as she continues, “Do you have any idea how many of them we’re expected to find? Or how far their den is?”

  “I’m afraid not, Miss. Pa forbade us from going after them, so we’ve been just watching the farm since it happened.”

  Eleanor nods. “Thank you for answering honestly. We’ll take care of the problem as best as we can.”

  The farmer blushes so much, even his neck glows a bit redder, though their trio pretends not have seen it, of course… Except for Ena, who rolls her eyes again. If the bitter look in her face is anything to go by, she might be a bit jealous of the attention the boy is giving Eleanor.

  “This is where they came from,” he says once they near a grove on the other side of the farm.

  “Is there a river or ke nearby?” Eleanor asks, to which the boy nods, surprised looking.

  “Y-yeah, not far from here going that way. How did you…?”

  “Goblins need water, just as any other animal, so they tend to settle near water streams. Don’t worry, we can take it from here.”

  “Oh… Yes, of course. Good luck on the hunt.”

  Once the boy heads back to his own job, Eleanor gres at Ena. “Listen, sometimes it’s hard to find polite, cooperative people, so when you do, it’s better to return the favor… Just like at the tavern, the customers pay our sary.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he’d love nothing more than returning the favor on you,” Ena retorts drily, “And did I hear it correctly, or were you trying to lecture me about customer service? Need I remind you how I many times I put my job on the line to apologize because of a client whose nose you broke?”

  Eleanor clenches her firsts, cheeks reddening. “I never asked you for anything; That being said, it was the minimum you could’ve have done, considering the person most of those so-called clients were harassing wasn’t me, Ena!”

  Sincir facepalms. “I’m begging the both of you; Do we really have to do this right now?”

  Ena unlocks her sword belt, then throws it on the ground, ignoring him as she continues to face Eleanor’s gaze unblinkingly. “First to have their ass touch the ground has to go back and ask farm-boy for a kiss.”

  Eleanor snorts, unfastening her own belt. “If you wanted to kiss him so much, then you should’ve just said as much to him… Though you might consider washing your mouth a couple of times before kissing anybody.”

  Sincir throws his hands up. “You want to duck it out? Fine! But I forbid the both of you from using magic, and I will make the loser fulfill their part of the bet, so you better think hard about whether or not you really want to do this… Hey, are you listening?!”

  Sincir grimaces as he realizes the girls are already circling each other, gazes locked and fists clenched.

  Damn it all, they’re not listening... Fuck it, he washes his hands from the whole thing.

  They’ve spared many times before, and in virtue of that, there’s not much of a ceremony before Ena charges at Eleanor, sending a front kick which is easily sidestepped, followed by a rotating high kick which Eleanor ducks under, maintaining her distance.

  “What’s wrong, demi-human? I’m starting to think you really want that kiss…”

  “You promised never to call me that again!”

  Ena is clearly faster than Eleanor, but she still struggles to connect her blows as she continues to chase after the other girl, who dodges by a narrow margin every time, waiting for her opportunity to counterattack.

  It is a familiar scene for Sincir, as Ena tends to be hotheaded during their spars, causing her to often being led by her nose by her opponent…

  Suddenly, Eleanor steps in and sends a jab, followed by straight, both of which hit Ena’s face as she was about kick, drawing blood.

  Still, Ena stands, dodging Eleanor’s follow-up sweep by quickly jumping away, then screaming as she charges at the other girl again, now moving even more recklessly.

  Ena punches, knees, and then kicks; Eleanor sways her head, steps back, then grabs Ena’s leg, pulling it as she attempts to cause the other girl to fall…

  Except Ena doesn’t, and instead, she immediately jumps and sends a kick with her other leg, hitting Eleanor square in the face and causing her to take several steps back, nearly falling.

  “Zarod already grabbed my leg yesterday! I won’t fall for the same thing twice!” Ena shouts as she nds on her feet and continues to chase after Eleanor, sending another kick which strikes Eleanor’s stomach, then grabbing her hair and pulling her closer for a knee aimed at her face.

  Eleanor guards at the st moment, stopping Ena’s knee, then punches her in in the stomach, managing to free herself as Ena doubles over.

  “Almost had me… Hope you enjoy the kiss!” Eleanor shouts coldly as she clinches Ena’s body, wraps her legs behind hers and then jumps, casing them both to fall… Except she falls on top of Ena, undoubtedly having won their bet.

  Staring at them both on the ground, bloodied and dirty, Sincir rolls his eyes exasperatedly. “Well? Satisfied now?”

  Both Ena and Eleanor grunt as they begin to rise, but Eleanor is the first to straighten herself completely, spitting a mouthful of blood on the ground, as she heads for the nearby grove without looking back.

  “Wait for us!” Sincir shouts after her, “Or I’m making you kiss something far worse than a farm-boy!”

  Eleanor flips him over her shoulder, causing Sincir to chuckle. Then, seeing that Ena is still on her knees, looking shocked and a bit disoriented, he sighs, walking up to her.

  “Are you okay?”

  Ena gnces at him, then blinks, bloodied face crunching up. “I… I wasn’t going to actually make her kiss him…”

  Sincir shakes his head as he crouches before her, taking her face between his hands and causing her to flinch.

  “Let me see it… You’re fortunate your nose isn’t broken, though I don’t think Eleanor had the same luck.”

  Ena flinches again, this time for a different reason. “I... Fuck, I was being an idiot, wasn’t I?”

  “It happens to the best of us,” Sincir tells her as he begins to fix her face with a healing spell, “Let me guess; You don’t want to kiss him?”

  Once Sincir finishes and rises, Ena’s shoulders drop. “I d-don’t want my first kiss to be over some stupid bet.”

  “You’re the one who proposed it,” he reminds her.

  “…Please don’t make me?” Ena murmurs, staring at the ground as she does so.

  “What is going on? Why did you suddenly become so aggressive to Eleanor? You know she never backs down from a confrontation.”

  Ena finally rises her gaze to meet his, narrowing her eyes as she does so. “Where did you sleep st night?”

  Sincir rises an eyebrow. “As the person who locked me out of my own room, are you sure you have a right to ask that question?”

  Ena grimaces. “You slept with Eleanor, didn’t you?”

  “And what if I did?”

  “Is that all you did?” Ena asks.

  “Is that why you’re picking on her today? Because you think something might be going on in between the two of us?”

  Ena grimaces again. “I… No. I was just… I don’t know. You asked me why I was angry with her, and that’s what I thought of… I know I’m the one who locked you out, but I didn’t think she’d jump on the chance to bed you so readily.”

  “How did you even know we slept together?” Sincir asks. At very least, he knows she was still sleeping when he left Eleanor’s room.

  “I woke up to use the toilet at night, and her door was the only one closed, so I knew you weren’t in any of the other rooms, or in the couch.”

  Sincir sighs. “If you must know, Eleanor helped me after I exhausted my mana st night, but I forgot to prepare any of the rooms before doing it, so she offered her own; It was a tight fit, but we didn’t fuck, if that’s what you’re implying... Not that it’d have been any of your busines,s even if we had.”

  Ena grimaces. “Don’t say it like that... You make it sound so dirty.”

  Sincir ughs. “Sex is a dirty thing; You’ll understand one day. Now get up, so I can clean you.”

  Ena is still making a face by the time Sincir cast a cleaning spell on her, then walks up to Eleanor’s backpack and grabs her canteen of water, throwing it in Ena’s direction.

  “Wash your mouth with that, then spit it.”

  Ena stares at the water container with a look of dread on her face. “Sin, wait, look, let’s talk about this.”

  Sincir shakes his head. “I did warn you, and you ignored me… That being said, Eleanor is the one you’ve made the bet with, so I’ll let you beg her for forgiveness; Is she gives it to you, then I’ll let you off the hook, but if she doesn’t, then I’m sorry, but you’re losing your first kiss today… Be thankful he is at least good looking.”

  Going by her expression, for a moment, Sincir thinks Ena might prefer to go through with the bet rather than apologize to Eleanor, but then she sighs, swigs a sip of water, gargles it, and spits.

  “…Fine. I admit I was in the wrong this time, so I’ll apologize, even if I think there’s a snowball’s chance in Hell she’ll let me off the bet.”

  They find Eleanor not far from the grove’s entrance, leaning against a tree with a murderous look on her now healed face.

  She doesn’t turn to look at them as they approach, even though she must have obviously noticed their footsteps.

  Once Ena stops a bit away from Eleanor, but doesn’t say anything even after several second have gone by, Sincir clears his throat.

  “Eleanor, Ena has something she wants to say to you.”

  “I don’t care for some stupid apology from somebody who kicked my face. Did she lose her first kiss yet?” Eleanor says coldly, still not looking at either of them.

  ‘C’mon, this is a good chance for you to grow closer to her,’ Sincir sends Eleanor, telepathically, ‘Try being nice, for a change. It won’t kill you.’

  Eleanor grimaces as she finally shifts her gaze toward the two of them, focusing on Ena.

  “...What? Are you just going to stand there in silence, forever?”

  “…I’m sorry,” Ena says, maintaining her gaze locked against Eleanor’s as she does, “I won’t ask that you to let me off the bet completely… But please tell to do something else.”

  Eleanor snorts. “You know, you have been an unbearable brat tely, and not just to me. You don’t wanna kiss farm-boy? Fine, but your choices are either him, or my boot.”

  ‘I told you to be nice! You promised you were going to listen to me, remember?!’

  Elenor ignores him as she continues to face Ena’s gaze daringly.

  “…Your boot? You mean for a kiss?” Ena asks, grimacing.

  “What else? Get on with it, or we’ll never return before sundown.”

  Ena bites her lower lip as she gnces toward Sincir, who rolls his eyes, throwing his hands up.

  “You know what? You’re both fucking dumbasses; I don’t care anymore.”

  Ena takes a deep breath, then nods. “F-fine, but Sincir has to turn away, and if either of you ever tell anybody about this, I’m murdering whoever does it.”

  Sincir blinks, while Eleanor smiles.

  “Amazingly, you really care about it so much that you’d rather kiss my boot than lose your first kiss… It’s almost like you’ve been saving it for somebody in specific?”

  Having said as much, Eleanor straightens herself, then heads into the grove.

  “Forget the bet; We have goblins to kill,” she says.