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Early Morning - Mid Summer : Deepcross, Southern Holy Kingdom

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- Astren Ravenna ~ (Unintroduced)

"Have you guys heard of the monster wave to the south? I heard there was a massive wyvern hunting the orcs."

"Yeah, one of the knight orders left the other day to go handle it, but they haven't returned yet. Do you think they could've been killed?"

"Pft, yer out of yer mind if you think they'd lose to a wyvern. They had a templar knight with them."

"Haha, I guess that's true... Do ya think it'd be worth to head south to try and pillage the orc villages while they are all gone? We may find somethin good."

"Hooh, thats not a bad idea!" The group of adventurers at the table behind me spoke nonchalantly, not caring about the dozen other groups within the tavern listening in on them.

"Hey, maybe if we make it big I can spend a night with that beauty!" The most ragged of the group glanced back at the young brown-haired waitress as he spoke.

Almost immediately, all of the locals went silent, and the gazes of several people idly sipping alcohol by themselves locked onto the group.

"Haah..." I could only let out a sigh. -They must be new around here...- The group of men behind me were clearly naive to the way things worked in these parts, likely only living and spending time around major cities and towns. -But if they have a death wish, it ain't my problem...-

The town I was in was called Deepcross, a town settled right between four huge dungeons, and my hometown.

All things considered, it was essentially the boonies. With a population of only fifteen hundred, everyone knew each other, and foreigners stook out like a sore thumb.

But it wasn't that we didn't like them, it was actually quite the opposite.

As the town has grown over the years, many powerful individuals have come and stayed.

Without a guild being here, one would expect crime to be rampant, but the locals always make sure to form connections with the strong.

-I guess my father was one of them at one point. ..-

My father was a templar knight of the cleric rank, and while he likely could get promoted to bishop with his strength, he lacked the faith in Asgard required for it. -I wonder when he will be back though...-

"Haah..." -Maybe he found a trace of Mother...-

As I let out a deep sigh, the group of men at the table behind me finally stood up and left, giving the waitress a hefty tip and a wink on the way out.

It wasn't long after that, that one of the men drinking alone at the edge of the tavern got up as well, setting a small golden medallion on the table as he did so.

But the young waitress was quick to move over and stand at his table. "Sir, is there anything you wish to drink or eat?"

Almost immediately, the hooded man paused. "An onion soup and a water will be fine..."

"Hmph..." The girl was quick to pout. "You know, if you eat too much onion soup, your breath will start to stink. And no one wants to talk to someone with bad breath."

"Haah..." The man's sigh was heavy as he sat back down and tossed the medallion up into his sleeve. "Then, just a water will do."

"Alright! Coming right up!" With a smile returning to her face, the waitress happily made her way back behind the bar.

-She is truly a kind soul...- The robed man in the corner was a man everyone called Shadow.

Before being exiled, he was a priest within the capital, and while we don't know much about his life before he came here, we all could tell it was one filled with blood and despair.

-But regardless, he's one of the reasons this town is so safe. ..-

Although he was always quiet and did all he could to stay out of sight, he did everything in his power to help the locals and keep the town safe, including 'cleaning out' bad actors, but Elora, the waitress at this tavern, was never fond of killing and would always let people go unless they posed some sort of threat to her or the town.

-But its been especially bad recently with the sudden rise in activity within the church. ..-

Although no one knew why, the strongest divisions of templar knights and other groups serving the church were all being assembled in the capital over recent years. -It makes me wonder if those rumors about the gods returning are really true...-

But after slowly getting lost in thought, I felt an aura so controlled it made my skin crawl.

At first I thought it was Shadow's, but when I looked at him, I saw him staring at the door to the tavern while on edge. -W..what?-

Immediately putting my hand on the hilt of my sword, I looked toward the door and expected the worst.

"Young master, please hold yourself back, this is not a town we should stay in for long." The voice was that of a relatively young woman, but she sounded truly worried.

-What is a noble doing here?- Expecting the 'young master' the woman mentioned to be the source of the aura, I tensed my whole body and prepared for a fight.

But as the door was eventually pushed open, instead of seeing a tall, powerful noble, I saw a short figure in a black robe, followed by a young brat and a maid.

I felt so confused that I wasn't sure what to think, but that was when my attention was brought to the obvious pointy ears beneath the hood of the figure leading the noble kid. -A demihuman?-

Throughout the Holy Kingdom, seeing a demihuman was nothing odd, but they were either all slaves or runaways who did all they could to hide their identity.

Carefully keeping my eye on the group as they walked in, the noble kid and his maid took a seat at the table behind me while the demihuman continued up to the bar.

-A slave would have sat with their master.

..- Not hiding her ears while not being a slave was a show of arrogance that made me curious about who they were.

Elora didn't seem to care though. "What can I do for you?" There was a short moment of silence as Elora seemed to hear something we couldn't. "Haha, no I haven't heard of anyone like that around these parts, but my brother might have. Would you like me to ask him?"

The cloaked figure nodded immediately.

"Alright, then. Let me get you your drink first."

I looked at the figure in awe. -H..how are they doing that?- Being able to speak without letting noise leak out was one thing, but we could hear Elora perfectly without any kind of distortion meaning it wasn't a silencing barrier. -That person is strong...-

Urgently wanting to form a connection with them, I stood up and brought my drink to the bar.

As I sat down, Elora set a fruity, light alcohol in front of them, and I was quick to catch her attention. "Please put their drink on my tab."

But she just laughed. "Haha, alright." She smirked as she turned back to the hooded figure. "I recommend our morning special and Liquid Silver, it's a really tasty drink we make here but it's a bit pricy."

"Hey, you told me you were out of that!"

"We are, I just have a secret stash for guests I like."

-For guests she likes?- I turned to the person next to me with a quizzical look.

But that was when they reached for their mug, revealing their small white hands that resembled a young girls.

They looked as if they were made of porcelain; lacking any callouses or blemishes even though she was carrying some sort of sword and had the aura of a fighter who was far more skilled than I.

But before I could even question it, an enchanting voice met my ears. "Thank you."

She was clearly still learning the language, but her accent was one I had never heard before. -Where is she from?-

But before I could actually ask, the doors slammed open. *WHAM*

Everyone turned to look at the voice instantly, only to see a man holding his knees and breathing heavily.

I immediately noticed his unusual clothing, but it took me too long to realize it was what knights wore under their armor.

"Hah... Hah... Everyone needs to evacuate!" The silence that filled the room was deafening. "There is another huge monster wave coming here! Hah... This time from the Southern Dungeon!"

As if no one knew how to react, everyone just looked at each other until the panic started.

The several dozen adventurer groups in the tavern thinned out before anyone could even try to calm everyone down, leaving only about 10 people, two of which were the noble brat and his maid.

The maid was begging him to leave. "Young Master we need to leave! The city is only half a days journey north, so we should be able to make it even without restocking supplies."

"But we have Snow with us!" The young boy immediately looked at the girl next to me. "She's so strong that she could effortlessly kill that wy-" *thud* Before he could finish speaking, he fell unconscious on the table.

The maid erupted into panic. "YOUNG MASTER?!"

But she was promptly calmed down as Shadow walked over. "Miss, he is fine, I just put him to sleep. He will probably wake up in about an hour though, so you should probably get going."

She immediately gave him a conflicted look before finally thanking him and running out the door with the boy in her arms. "T-thank you, sir!"

Once she left, the remaining 8 of us sat is silence.

We were all strong, with the weakest of us being A rank, but even still, we were skeptical whether we would survive if the monster wave was mainly monsters from within the dungeon.

But before long, a sigh broke the silence. "Haah..." The girl next to me finally set down her mug as she tightened her embrace on her sword and hopped off her seat, somehow keeping her face just out of eyesight.

We all watched her as she got up, and expected her to simply walk out to catch up with the noble boy.

But that was when I heard her voice again. "Allow me to repay the favor for the drink..."