Departure

- Four days pass

Arya’s p. o. v.

O please, goddess, don’t let it be my time again. I don’t want to return; I want to stay in my darkness so I don’t have to deal with all the human experts. Please give me strength and patience so I don’t start throwing fireballs at them. I mean, hasn’t Tristan got enough already?

As I wake up from the bed, I see a letter on the desk awaiting me.

Tristan third letter

My dear and beautiful Arya, I must apologize for some of my fellow citizens's behavior. If it weren't such a serious matter, it would definitely be the best comedic play at the local theater for many months.

You probably meet with the guy who wanted me to swallow enchanted coins to track them in the ether realm. Another tried stabbing me in Gabriel's office to see if I really healed. The only one thrilled about it was the elven ambassador. But the shaman barbarian woman was by far the most remarkable. Her lizard man piss was supposed to cure all curses and make you appear instantly next to me. I am sorry, Arya. I love and miss you very much, but you must wait for another medicine because this one might prove too effective and finish the curse too soon. Then, people might start gossiping that we weren't cursed in the first place.

You could tell Gabriel to be more careful when selecting chaos magic experts. I already told him, but even he seems to have given up.

You were right. Too many experts are presenting themselves just because of the gold involved. Much publicity has been made, and many swindlers just want to make a quick bag of gold.

Even the city folk now know about us. A guy proposed to me that when I transformed into a girl, I should work for him in the red-light district. Apparently, he has many men who, at night, have the same curse and are transforming into women.

So I have already suggested you visit my mother. It's only a 2-day ride from the city if you want to skip the **** Gabriel is putting us through and return at the end of the following week. Then, we can finally depart for the elven kingdom. There is a forest, a river, and an old castle's ruins. You can go hunting with my sister; my mother grows vegetables in her garden. I know it is not much, but we can relax for a while, and if any real experts come, we will immediately return.

You were right all along. This chaos magic is as rare and mysterious as the demons that are using it. At this point, I am convinced that only a demon or someone who knows their language can help us.

I will await your decision.

Yours beloved Tristan.

Well, now I see that Tristan was having it worse than me. At least Wendy protected me from specific individuals. I wonder why she didn’t do the same for him also? Well, at least he is now convinced about the gravity of the curse. I expected he would tell me to go for the Elven kingdom immediately. But I see he needs to prepare himself and his family.

The demon lands are no joke. With all his humor and bravado, I can see he is worried. I am afraid also. I have seen what a demon can do to a low-rank hunter; even my B rank is not enough. Usually, only S-rank hunters are allowed on my mother's ships to explore the coastline of the demon lands.

I should tell Gabriel and Wendy about Tristan's wish, and after that, I will write him a letter with our decisions.

I take the road for the guild this time. I want to arrive there early because I don’t want the ambassador to be there and speak with Gabriel and Wendy alone. I hurry up on the busy street and see Wendy opening the office.

She smiles as she sees me.

“Arya, you arrived early. Is everything all right?”

“Yes, just cursed with chaos magic.” I need to talk to you and Gabriel before Alandel comes.”

“I don’t know if it is such a good idea, Arya. He might get angry. “Wendy says, looking worried.

"I don't care about his anger, and why are you so scared of him? “Wendy’s answer is bothering me.

"Well, you know he is an official. "She tries to smile, but she's not fooling me this time. These days, I saw a change in her whenever Alandel was around.

"Wait a minute, did he threaten you or say anything weird? I will have him gone from this city in a second." I am getting angry, and the day hasn't even started yet.

“No, nothing like that. He is close to your mother, and I don’t want to cause any misunderstandings.”

"Let me worry about my mother. Are you coming or not?" I head towards Gabriel's office, seeing that she is making me lose precious time.

I find Gabriel looking out the window, sipping a glass of tea. He seems concerned and lost in thought.

“You’re here early; what‘s going on,” He sees Wendy behind me and looks at her angrily. It seems that something is going on between them. I will ask Wendy afterward because now I have more significant problems than her marriage.

“Tristan wants to skip next week. It seems that he had enough of your experts,” I tell Gabriel.

“Hey, I didn’t do this for myself but for you. I don’t need your irony because everything else seems like a better idea than going to the demon lands. “He appears in a bad mood.

“I understand, but avoiding the problem is not going to solve it, “I tell him.

“You guys do whatever you want. You are both adults. I wanted him not to waste his life so young, but who knows, maybe he will make it. I don’t care anymore”. He says with a saddened voice. It’s bizarre seeing him like this. I wonder what happened that made him so troubled.

“Okay, we will depart tomorrow to spend a week with his family. He wants to say goodbye to them before we leave for the elven kingdom. “

"That makes sense. I hear Tristan's sister is an appointed ranger. You can ask her to come along, "Gabriel tells me.

"Well, I don't know. We will return after a week, and you can keep the bounty. If anyone comes, you can send them to Tristan's village."

“ See you in a week then, “and I say goodbye to Gabriel and leave the office. This has gone better than I expected. I thought he would disagree, but it seems something else had happened, and he suddenly became indifferent.

“What happened to him? “ I ask Wendy as soon as we arrive at her desk.

“What, I don’t know human age problems,” Wendy seems to avoid my eyes.

“Is everything okay between you two? He seemed out of character.”

“Yeah, he has a middle-age crisis, humans call it; maybe Tristan will have it too.” She smiles at me.

Seeing that I won't get a straight answer, I take my leave and head straight home. I pack a small bag and write to Tristan, telling him the good news.

Tristan’s p.o.v.

I am finally back, and to my surprise, I am in Arya‘s bedroom. I guess there are no experts in chaos magic today, and I see a letter on the desk.

Arya’s third letter.

My beloved Tristan, this time, I have good news. It seems that Gabriel has finally understood that this curse is not something you cure by snapping your fingers. Our journey will take us beyond the boiling sea and deep into demon lands. I plan to hire S-class hunters to accompany us on our expedition. You must've heard that my mother ships are the only ones to cross the high-temperature waters of the boiling sea due to their unique design. I will tell you all about it once we reach my home. You will probably visit our ateliers and see for yourself how the ships are built.

I know the prospect of exploring the demon lands must be frightening for an E-rank. I didn’t want to go there until I was an S-rank. I remember that behemoth that attacked my friends and colleagues; that fear is something I have to face again, and I am sorry to drag you into it. I trained myself night and day because I knew what I was dealing with. You will also undergo special training once we reach the elven kingdom.

Anyway, I can’t wait to meet your mother and sister. Gabriel told me your mother was quite famous in her youth.

Tomorrow morning, I will leave the city and go through the western gate as I understand the village is located southwest next to the Silver Forests. Anyway, I will need instructions if you could draw me one of your detailed maps and give some directions. I am sure I will not go in circles.

Yours beloved Arya

I can finally return home after three years. Although I will go there cursed and probably worry my mother and sister. But still, I have to go as I need to say goodbye to them and have peace of mind when Arya and I face the new adventurers ahead.

I need to think about how I will explain it to my mother. If I say, we will depart for the demon lands. She can **** Arya and me and then make us stay there forever.

Even though she can't use magic anymore, my mother is still a very capable alchemist and potion maker. She may even insist that we bring her along to the demon lands. Now that I think about it, I really need to warn Arya, not to mention the demon lands to my mother. But also not to lie when my sister is around, as my sister's senses are out of the ordinary, and she can smell a lie from 3 km away.

I take my time writing and explaining my reasoning to Arya. I hate to make her lie, but it is for the best in this situation. She won't lie. She just needs not to mention everything. I also drew a map for her and wrote the route that we would take.

I go to the city and buy some sweets for my sister and a present for my mother. As I walk through the town, I see a Darwen weaponsmith shop and decide to enter to see if he has bows to sell; for a long time, I wanted to buy my sister a new bow but never had the time.

A redhead dwarf greets me as soon as I enter.

“Welcome. Anything I can help you with, my kind sir."

“I am looking for ranger longbows. Do you have any? “

"AAA, kind sir, we have indeed on the shelf close to the window," he points towards it.

“O right, thank you, “I approach the exposed bows.

They are perfect, but I see nothing enchanted.

“Anything enchanted by any case? “I ask as the bows exposed are rudimentary.

“We have a selection in the back, but the kind sir must tell me how much he is willing to spend before I take them out.”

"Fair enough, 300 gold, even more, if it's worth it," I tell him.

"Let me see what I can find," and he disappears in the back. And I immediately hear some wooden boxes falling and the dwarf swearing and cursing. He appears after a while with three bows.

“These are the best of this time made by a dark elf from Treenail forests. What is surprising about them is that they are one bow,” and he says the chant for wind, and to my astonishment, only one bow remains in the dwarf hands.

“This is great. How can this be? “I ask immediately.

“Well, the kind sir wanted something enchanted, and this has three enchantments: wind, fire, and water, but due to these unique features, anything less than 500 gold is an insult to his maker.

“Who is this elf? As of late, I am very interested in disappearing and reappearing acts,” I smile at the dwarf.

"Well, I don't buy these pieces myself. I have a traveling merchant who collects rare weapons and then brings them here. He usually comes every two months. I will ask more when I see him".

"A too bad I have to go away for a long time, but I will buy the bow nonetheless, "and I take my bag of savings and start counting 500 gold, then give them to the dwarf. There goes all the money. I hope my sister will appreciate it.

“Excellent, kind sir. Thank you for your business, and may it always hit the target.” The dwarf smiles under his thick beard.

I thank him and head home to pack everything and wait for my time in the prison of the ether realm.