lv 1 skeleton

chapter 31

Side Story: Kishande's (POV)

"Big sis Kishande, don't leave me here!"

I had tried to leave Miranda behind in the village, but in the end I couldn't bear to be apart from her. We were sisters, from the same poor family in a small mining village. As girls, we couldn't work in the mines and had to rely on our parents, but the world was not so utopian. We had been cast aside by our families and had to odd jobs which were dirty and involved hard labour. Even then, the reward was a pitiful meal and a filthy place to sleep.

"Sister, when we become adventurers, we'll be able to eat and live well!"

I had often seen adventurers dressed in fine clothes, coming in and out of the village's Guild.

"We shall be Invincible, fighting off monsters and protecting the lives of the common people!"

It was but a fantasy of two dreamy young girls. We worked hard for several years, saving money little by little until we had enough to register. I'll never forget the day we finally succeeded in registering at the Guild. Our adventurers were going to go so smoothly, because we had increased dexterity stats from only the hard labor we had performed. Humans are animals which can easily adapt, and I was ready to embrace my life of luxuries. Still, when things seem to be going too well, life has a way of throwing you curveballs. On our first assignment one of our party members died at the hands of goblins. That child who was always so bright and got along so well with my sister, had died in pain as poison spread throughout her body. Her death should have been my first warning, but I ignored it. Instead, I was glad that I had survived. In the end, it mattered little whether I heeded it or not, after all I was not willing to return to my life of depravity. Since that time, I've survived many situations, never once recognizing the amount of luck involved.

Eventually that fateful day of the Orc Subjugation quest had come. By then I would regard most Bronze quests as easy. True, I was also still ranked Bronze, but I had a lot of experience and could adapt easily. Our party of 5 was the first to enter, carrying our torches in the dark cave. At first, we were relieved to not have encountered any Orcs, thinking we might be able to complete the quest without any incidents.

Kurruee Kurr

"Just two Orcs!"

We were confident that we could overpower them with our numbers so we began to chase and they had turned tail and run. However, we had thrown caution into the wind, and soon walked into their trap.

"Shit, their numbers are growing, we're surrounded!"

Noticing the situation someone had shouted out.

"Miranda! Ashe!"

Ashe was my closest friend except for Miranda. Over the years of adventuring together, we had come to regard each other as sisters. She was a priestess which was useful to have in critical situations.

"Sister!"

I found Ashe by waving my arms around in the dark.

'Kurr Kurr'

"O..Orcs!!"

"They're everywhere...."

We were completely surrounded by Orcs, our frontline had already died and my magic was useless because it's cast time was too long. Likewise, Ashe's healing spells wouldn't help in this case.

The Orcs didn't proceed to kill us, and instead approached slowly. Their rotting stench reminded me of a terrible saying.

'Orcs liked to catch women and use them as sex slaves!'