Books of Chrona

Volume 1: Never Judge a Book

"Are you sure this is where they will be passing through?" A tall, thin man wearing ragged clothes hiding in a bush was whispering to his comrade.

"Yeah, the scouts we sent are sure." The old, bearded man beside him donning padded armor replied with conviction in his voice.

"I'm asking you, though!" Hints of irritation and nervousness can be detected in his complaint. It was understandable due to the silence permeating inside the forest.

Situated on a path towards the city of Treshour, the Forest of Danger was appropriately named and perfectly situated for the plans of the men hiding in the bushes. Monsters roam the lands of Chrona, a fantastical world of creatures and magic, but for some reason they do not enter this particular forest.

"Quiet! I see them coming. Alert the others." The man in armor then moved from his position while his comrade went to a different direction.

One by one, there were rustling in the bushes. Then, figure upon figure of armored men wielding all sorts of weapons emerged from those bushes and behind the trees. There was only one way this scene could be described: An ambush.

---

A short distance from where the ambush was awaiting, there was a group of people walking towards it. They were casually talking with each other, not aware of what was about to happen. Upon reaching the ambush site, the armored man stepped out in front of their path.

"So, this is the infamous party who can't be defeated?" He breathed a sigh of disbelief. "How the hell did you get your bounties so high? Are the other mercenaries really that weak?"

The other members of his mercenary group showed themselves. The man in ragged clothing approached his comrade.

"See? There was nothing to worry about!" The confidence in his voice was a far cry from how it shivered mere moments ago.

"That is why we shouldn't trust rumors! How can an ordinary party like them beat hundreds of mercenaries? I mean, even monsters can't kill them? Look at them!" The guy in armor started to feel like having brought about forty of his men to ambush the party in front of him was a waste of time. He could identify their job classes because of their clothes and weapons. There was a cute girl with shoulder-length blue hair, having an eerily cheerful smile in her face and donning a mage's hat. The other beautiful girl, with long pinkish hair and pale skin, was wearing clothing from the clergy, thus making her a priestess. There was a lean guy with brown hair wearing bluish metal armor that seemed too heavy for him and the mercenary decided that guy was a knight for sure. The slightly taller guy, with combed back green hair and a vacant look on his face, had a bow behind his back so he definitely must have been an archer, he thought. Then the young looking man with golden hair and a scared expression was perhaps a merchant in the mercenary's mind.

He stared at the priestess standing in front of the party, wondering why they would let their healer be in the most vulnerable spot. Then he looked at the mage who was vulnerable as well, standing slightly apart from the rest of the group. He was also baffled why the knight that was with their group was hiding in the middle, between the archer to his left and the other guy to his right.

"Let's just finish this and get our money." The armored mercenary raised his sword to signal his men. "Kill—" The mage suddenly ran towards the woods. It took the mercenaries by surprise. "Huh? Where is she going? Go after her!" About ten men followed after her.

The other party members dispersed to different directions, except for the priestess. The remaining mercenaries followed them. The armored mercenary was left behind to deal with the priestess.

"I get it now. Every member runs for their lives when you're attacked. No wonder you survived this long. I guess those other mercenaries were too ashamed to admit they let you run, so they just claimed to be beaten. How pathetic!" He was inspecting his blade as he spoke, ensuring its sharpness was enough to cut through his prey's flesh. The priestess posed no threat to him. "But still, your comrades are heartless, leaving you alone. They just let their healer die like that? I sort of feel pity for you. Too bad you're a looker, such a shame I have to kill you here." The priestess was just looking at him silently. "Not even a prayer, eh? Fine." He dashed and swung his sword upward to cut the priestess. "Die!"