Who would have guessed that the red bottom technique that I received so many times would actually come in handy? That night when I got home, I slept very soundly after getting a bit of revenge on the brat. The next day we took a carriage down to the mercenary guild. The size and scope of this building compared to the one in Hammerlin was like night and day. But this was to be expected. After all, this was the capital.

Sophie clutched onto my arm as we walked through the door. This time though, unlike my last time in a mercenary guild, no one really said anything. I had a few stray eyes on me, but that was about it. It might be because it was mid morning when we arrived, but it did not seem all that busy.

“Oh? Faith!” A familiar voice rang in my ear as I turned to see Gesel walking up with her partner Fred.

“Gesel! I did not think I would see you so soon!” I said with a smile. Sophie tried to become transparent as usual.

“I see that you got an accessory this time around. A cute one at that.” Gesel teased. But instead of getting the reaction that she was expecting, Sophie buried her face in my shoulder. Sophie, I do not know how old you are, but burying your face in my shoulder when your head is much bigger than the shoulder itself doesn’t hide you, is what I would like to say, but I do not wish to hurt her feelings.

“Sophie is not good with others. It will take time to warm up to you. But yeah, she is my friend.” I explained. Gesel only smiled and walked over and hugged the both of us, causing Sophie’s whole body to stiffen.-.

“Haha! It’s fine, it’s fine.” Yes, I forgot Gesel was not one to care about personal space. “Hi, Fred.” I gave Fred a small wave with my free hand while Gesel was still hugging Sophie and I. She has been hugging us for quite a while, though… “Gesel?”

“Ah, sorry… I am just glad you are okay. I know you were traveling solo to the capital. You must have missed it, but there was a major incident on the way to the capital.” Gesel’s voice grew quieter as she spoke.

“What happened?” As far as I knew, I did not see much out of the ordinary on my way here.

Gesel waved her hand as tears began to form in her eyes, which made me even more concerned. She wiped her eyes and looked over at Fred. “Fred, you tell her.”

“There was a mass grave found. All girls. No one knows how long they had been there. But they were both human and beastkin. Gesel and I were sent to check it out, and what we found still haunts us even now. While some were skeletons, some were still rotting away. It seemed they aged from around your age, maybe younger, all the way to eighteen, maybe twenty. The mass grave was found by a hunter who was out hunting like he normally did when he stumbled upon it. I do not know if you can call it luck or what, but he found it when he missed his prey and his arrow sunk into the ground. He pulled it up but found it was stuck in a skull.” Fred’s expression did not look good as he spoke. I guess just remembering was enough to make him feel sick.

“He did not dig up the grave himself. As soon as he found the skull, he came running to the mercenary guild. There had been some missing person reports in Hammerlin as of late, but not to the scale of the grave there. That grave must have been growing bigger and bigger over time. By the time they finished digging it all up, it had already reached half a mile. Thousands of bodies were found. Gesel here automatically thought of you when she saw the rotting corpses. She swore to herself that if you went missing, she would make it her life mission to find your body.”

I was completely shocked by Fred’s words and, at the same time, felt warm due to Gesel’s care. But to have a half mile long mass grave is just insane. “They have no clue as to why they were killed?”

“None. That we can tell. Some of the more recent bodies have been sent in to have them examined. We mercs are not able to do such delicate work. That is all up to those who have the knowledge.” Fred scratched his head before patting Gesel on the shoulder. “Let’s not talk about what we do not know the answers to and sit down and catch up.”

Gesel nodded her head and followed Fred. I pulled Sophie along and went to sit with them. Gesel wiped her eyes again and forced a smile as she asked. “So tell me, how was your trip to the capital and your stay so far.”

“Not too bad? I met my second friend Sophie here.” I went on and began telling Gesel about my trip, only to get yelled at because I didn’t count her as my friend. So now I have friend number three. As I told her my stories of my heroine tales, I made sure to keep things about the spirits out of it.After telling my stories of my trip, I told her stories of everything that had happened in the capital. Gesel sat back and let out a long sigh. “You have truly gone through a lot. And you, Sophie made the right choice! Screw that count! He was lucky I was not there to, or his head would be shoved up his…”

“Gesel! Relax.” Fred reached out and grabbed the hand that was about to slam down on the table. “Do you want to get a scolding by the guild master again?”

Gesel blushed and lowered her head as she shook it. I could only chuckle. Just thinking of anyone yelling at Gesel seemed too out there. “Speaking of Count Freedman, I wonder who released him from my binds….”

“Haha! I bet he had to pay a heavy price. Magic is normally not very easy to undo. And I am sure your magic is even harder to undo. Not that it matters. He got what was coming to him. By the way, Faith, will you be entering the battle tournament this week?”

“Battle tournament!? How do I sign up!? Is there a prize?” I was all for a battle tournament. I mean, who can pass up something like that? I can not let all my skills go to waste!

“Hehe. You can sign up here at the guild. And the prize pool this time is one hundred gold! I am a favorite to win!” Gesel said proudly.

“Then I guess I will be signing up! Which means I will be the one to win.” I said with raised eyebrows in a taunting manner. I will never forget our arm wrestling match!

“Oh? You think you can best me!? You’re on!” Gesel reached out with her hand, and so did I. We clapped our hands together, making a promise that we would meet in the tournament.

Fred held his head as he looked at us. “You girl’s do know that if you two were to fight at any point and time before the finals that they will need to reconstruct the ring after each one of your fights.”

“Fred, you talk too much. What destroyed ring…” Gesel eyes that began to wander here and there caught my interest.

“Are you not going to tell them about all the rings you destroyed in the previous years?” Fred asked, causing Gesel to seem to fade into another realm. She was whistling and mumbling strange words as Fred’s eyes locked onto her.

“Fine! Stop with the stupid staring! Okay, so I destroyed a few rings every time I participated but that was because there was a strong enemy. If I do not go all out, how am I to win?” Gesel looked aggrieved. I could tell one thing though Fred was bringing all of this up like this to keep Gesel’s mind off the earlier incident. Ah, true love!

“If I destroy it, I will just make another one. They are made of earth, right?” I mean, as long as it is not a bunch of materials that are hard to find in this world, I saw no reason not to destroy it if you were going all out. It is a tournament, after all.

“Yes, all made of earth. But they are also well fortified with magic. You would need a large spell to break them.” Fred answered, while Gesel looked the other way.

I chuckled and said a silent prayer in my mind to the battle stages that were about to break. But I was actually quite excited to join in and test my abilities against others. I wonder just how well I will do.