“Squish... squish...”
Leo trudged through ankle-deep mud, each step producing a sound that felt particularly jarring in the deathly silence of the Red Mangrove Swamp.
The long trek had left his muscles aching deep inside, and his throat was so parched it felt like it might start smoking.
“Hey... you... Leo...”
From behind him came Lucrezia’s weak, weary voice, carrying a hint of a sob she couldn't quite hide.
“I... this princess... really... can't walk anymore...”
Leo stopped and turned back with a look of slight impatience.
This fallen princess of the Sylvania Kingdom wasn't doing much better than he was.
Her small face, now smudged with dirt, was so pale it lacked even a trace of color.
That once-luxurious princess dress was now in tatters after half a day of trekking, covered in brown mud and green grass stains.
Her white silk stockings were in the worst state; they looked as though they had survived a war, shredded in several places by sharp roots and thorns to reveal patches of pale skin covered in a mess of red scratches.
“Is there really a town nearby?” Leo’s face was pale from exhaustion and hunger. He licked his cracked lips. “You’d better not have pointed us in the wrong direction.”
“I... hah... am an honors graduate of the Arcanum Public Occult Academy’s... elite class!”
Lucrezia leaned one hand against a rough, moss-covered tree trunk while the other rested awkwardly on her hip. She panted heavily, struggling to tilt her dirt-smudged chin upward.
“How... hah... how dare a commoner like you... question my geographical knowledge!”
Leo’s lips twitched. To him, every tree in this swamp looked exactly the same; there was no difference at all.
“Gurgle—”
A very ill-timed, clear sound erupted simultaneously from both of their stomachs.
“Leo...” Lucrezia leaned weakly against the tree, her dirty face full of grievance, yet her tone maintained its pitiful pride. “I'm hungry... I, this princess, command you to go get me something to eat, now!”
“Where am I supposed to get food?” Leo didn't even look back, letting out a weary scoff. “Should I sculpt some out of mud for you? Or do you plan to give orders to a swamp monster and have it grill itself for you?”
He paused, his voice suddenly dropping into a low warning. “And didn't I tell you? Stop calling yourself ‘this princess.’ Do you have a death wish or something?”
Suddenly, Leo’s body stiffened. He jerked his head up, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air.
“...Smoke?”
It was the distinct scent of a wood fire!
Leo’s pupils constricted instantly.
“Over there!”
Almost instinctively, he grabbed Lucrezia’s cold, slender wrist. Summoning every last drop of strength remaining in his body, he stumbled toward the scent.
“Hey! What are you doing... slow down... ah!”
Lucrezia was yanked off balance and forced to keep up.
After pushing through a dense thicket of bushes, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
It was a dry clearing that had been deliberately carved out of the Red Mangrove Swamp.
In the center of the clearing, a campfire crackled. A beast of some sort was propped over the flames, sizzling as its fat dripped into the fire.
Five people were sitting around the campfire.
Two were human males wearing leather armor—one burly with a full beard, the other relatively lean and currently sharpening a dagger.
A demi-human covered in yellow and black striped fur, with a ferocious tiger’s head, was dozing off while hugging a massive battle-axe.
A lizard demi-human, covered in grey-green scales and dragging a long tail, was using his forked tongue to lick the grease dripping from the roasting meat.
Finally, there was a human woman with a voluptuous figure wearing revealing leather armor. She was giggling as she chatted with the bearded man.
“...Someone’s here?” The lean man with the dagger was the first to notice them.
The five of them stood up in a flash, instantly gripping their weapons and staring warily at the two unexpected intruders.
The atmosphere became extremely tense.
Lucrezia was terrified by the display and hid behind Leo, her small hands tightly clutching his tattered black and purple rabbit pajamas.
“Oh, good heavens!” The bearded captain froze for a moment after seeing their appearance. He lowered his greatsword and offered what he thought was a friendly smile.
“Don't be afraid, kids. We’re the Grizzly Bear Adventurer Team, just stopping here for a rest. Did you... run into some trouble?”
The moment Lucrezia saw the campfire and the roasted meat, her dull red eyes lit up with incredible brilliance.
She poked her small head out from behind Leo, her voice trembling with excitement. “Ah! We... we are from Sylva—”
“We’re travelers who got lost.”
Leo’s voice rang out gently. It wasn't loud, but it carried a sense of reassuring stability that perfectly masked her near-slip of the tongue.
He offered an apologetic, somewhat embarrassed smile as he naturally shifted his body to shield Lucrezia behind him.
The excited words Lucrezia was about to blurt out were shoved back down her throat.
“Oh?”
The bearded captain raised an eyebrow. His sharp gaze lingered on Leo’s bizarre pajamas for a second before settling on Lucrezia hiding behind him.
Even though she was covered in mud, the hem of her tattered dress still showed exquisite craftsmanship. More importantly, he noticed the subtle accessories on her neck and hands that the mud couldn't quite hide.
While maintaining his smile, Leo caught a flicker of greed in the depths of the man's eyes out of the corner of his own.
He cursed inwardly.
Dammit, I forgot to strip those trinkets off her.
“Lost?” The voluptuous female archer laughed. “Oh dear, you poor little things.”
She warmly poured a cup of hot water from a small metal pot boiling over the fire and pulled a thick blanket from her backpack.
“Quick, drink something hot to warm up.”
Lucrezia took the cup. Ignoring the rising steam, she blew on it frantically before taking a small, desperate sip.
“Sss—hah...”
“Thank you... thank you!” She panted as she greedily took another sip.
She felt like she was finally coming back to life.
“Drink slowly, little sister,” the bearded captain laughed heartily. He pulled a palm-sized piece of dark red, smoked jerky from a pouch at his waist and held it out.
“Here, you must be starving. Have some of this to tide you over; the roast meat will probably take a while longer.”
The rich, salty, smoky aroma of the jerky invaded Lucrezia’s nostrils.
Her throat let out a loud gulp. She swallowed hard and reached out with a trembling hand to take the life-saving food.
Slap.
A hand pressed down on her wrist, freezing her in place.
The bearded captain’s hearty smile also stiffened slightly.
Rate on N.U.
