Maid

"But, mom! It's too dangerous to go out!" Jack held tightly onto his mother's waist.

"No buts. The taxes are rising, your grandmother has ran out of money to support us, we cannot keep relying on her to help us financially. We need to do this." July said as she got onto a wooden cart being pulled by 2 donkeys.

"She's right, you know?" Sam said, sitting beside July.

"Uncle, at least take this." Jack handed Sam a shotgun, the same shotgun that Will made for them.

"We're already well armed." Sam pointed at the cargo part and there was a bag filled with various guns for protection.

"We… can always sell it, if you want?" Jack was hesitant to sell the shotgun, after all Will made it for them. However they truly needed the money.

"It's too good to sell it. Unless if we're really desperate for money, like really, really, really, really-"

"Okay, he understands." July pinches Sam's mouth shut with her fingers.

"Just, stay safe! I'll watch over the blacksmith shop!" Jack said.

"I know you will. Stay safe, sweety. If you need help ask your grandma." July and Sam rode off on their cart.

"Welp, you drive, I'll supervise." Sam got on the cargo part and laid down comfortably.

"Remember, when we're coming back, you drive." July reminded him, they take turns driving the cart as they have since they were younger.

"Yeah, I know, I know. You know, I haven't been to the blacksmith village in a while."

"Really? How long?"

"Eh, 5-6 months give or take. I wonder how my teacher's doing there, that small, chubby, bearded bastard!"

"You haven't kept in touch with him?" July asked.

"Sort of. I do keep asking him for help every now and then. But he recently became a master blacksmith, like 2-3 months ago. We haven't spoken much because of his new title."

"Oh really? What kind of magical item did he make?"

One of the requirements to become a master blacksmith is to create a magical item. If he got promoted to master, it means he created a magical item.

"I am pretty sure it was… a magical wand? He sold it to the kingdom for a hefty sum to help his village. I heard that it was given to a hero, Josh Jones. I think it was his name."

"Oh…" July immediately thought of Will.

'Why is Will hiding his identity?' July thought.

However, it seemed like him and Jack were good friends, it would be cruel of her to take that away from him, especially a hero who Jack admires with all his heart.

"Wait, he got promoted to a master and we're going to his village without a congratulatory present?" July stopped the donkeys therefore stopping the cart in place.

"Why are you stopping?"

"We're going back home, we're going to find a present, and we're going to give your teacher a present."

"We don't have to."

"We will and we are. Now move it!" July commanded the donkeys and they heeded her command.

Meanwhile…

In the village of blacksmiths, which was just recently attacked, the remaining survivors were left with no homes, food, and a lot of dead people.

Jasmine, had been seriously injured. Her robes were burned to a crisp, and part of her leg was burned and it melted with the clothes she was wearing.

Still, trying her best to ignore the pain on her leg she aided the people. Some of which were in grave condition.

The people hiding in the bunker came out. They began aiding the wounded, those who didn't or couldn't, were either crying, screaming, searching frantically for their loved ones, it was a nightmare for all of them.

Someone was stuck under some rubble, it was a fully grown man, he was one of the people that tried to take down the dragon. His entire arm and feet were crushed entirely by debris.

"It's okay, I got you." Jasmine used her staff, which was beyond broken at this point to lift the debris. But, at that point, the man lost his life due to blood loss.

Jasmine saw the life of his eyes vanish. She teared up heavily. Today's events were too much for one person to bear.

"Okay, everybody listen up!" One of the villagers said very loudly. There were battle wounds on his body, as he was one of the men that tried to take down the dragon.

"I have contacted the black tower, sorcerers will be coming to help us, along with potion-makers who can heal your wounds. Everyone help each other out! We need to stay calm until they arrive to our aid."

"How long will that take? We're very far from the kingdom. My husband won't be able to make it much longer!" One of the women villagers said holding her children tightly.

"... The sorcerers will arrive in… a day, at most. As for the potion-makers, at most two days." The man covered his face with his hand. Most of their wounds needed to be treated immediately. The longer they wait the more likely most of them will die.

Sorcerers use mounts, some which are flying mounts, and sorceres can also fly so they should reach there first. As for potion makers, it depends.

"Bullshit! My brother can't hold on that long!"

"My son… is dead… he died!"

"Isn't there anybody else we can call? What about the other nearby villages?"

The villages nearby were hours away. It's still a long period of time, but it was better than waiting for two days.

"Can anybody here do that? Does anybody here have a way to contact nearby friends, families?!" The man asked the villagers. It was a good idea,

"I can!"

"Same!"

Some villagers hurriedly started contacting their nearby friends and families.

Jasmine, however, did not think this would work.

Most of the wounded needed to be treated immediately. And they all needed to find a safe place to hide, eat, and sleep. They could not afford to sleep outside with the monsters.

And they could not take the injured with them, all of their carts were broken or very damaged. If they were to move the injured, they'd most likely die before help got there.

With the corpse of the dead dragon literally meters away from them, it was bound to attract hungry monsters, and no one here had the strength or energy to fight again.

"I wish I had a mount, any mount would help their situation!" Jasmine blamed herself for not taming a mount yet, as she has never had a chance to. Looking at the people who died, she didn't want the other injured people to die.

"Wait… no, Will is too far. But, his mount is fast. Faster than I am when flying that's for sure." Jasmine looked at the villagers who were nearly dead.

"It's worth a shot!" Jasmine immediately started writing on her communication stone.

If she doesn't ask Will for help, or try anything at all, she believes that it will haunt her consciousness till her death.

Meanwhile…

"Wait, you're not coming?" Sandra asked.

"Sorry, Sandra. I can't leave this place. It's… become like a second home to me." Said Will.

They were still in the forest discussing things.

At some point Sandra asked Will if he wanted to come live with her in the kingdom of Reyes. However Will wasn't too eager to move out.

Will couldn't leave his base at any cost. It would be a dumb move on his part if he dead. He was in the middle of creating golems. And grows exotic flowers which raises his HP.

"But… okay." Sandra could tell that he was not going to change his mind. Before Will was always hesitant, but now he's different.

'What happened to you in these past 3 months?' Sandra thought. It's like it was a different person she was talking to.

"Well, now that we checked on Adaline, I believe it's time for us to-" Grace stopped mid-sentence.

Grace, Rias, Arbor, Adaline, and Drake, all had the same weird reaction, as if something was wrong.

Adaline quickly got beside Will to protect him.

"What's wrong?" Will asked. They noticed that their moods changed for some reason.

"There's been a dragon attack on a village. Nothing to worry about." Rias said. They almost immediately ignored it.

The forest immediately alerted what it witnessed to all the elves and organic creatures in the forest.

"Wait, a dragon attacked a village? That's nothing?" Bruce asked.

"We thought that there was a dragon nearby, but it seemed it's not, so we're safe." Grace said.

"That… that's horrible! We have to help the people!" Sandra said loudly.

"No need to. That dragon has been taken care of. It's dead."

"Still, there's bound to be wounded people who need our help!" Bruce also loudly said.

"It's not worth the trouble." Grace said.

"She's right, Sandra." Will added.

"What?" Sandra was surprised to see Will act so indifferent. Bruce and Sandra acted like this because that's what they think they should do, help the weak. Their experiences in this world differ from what Will had to go through all this time.

"I learned a few things from living here in these past 3 months. One of which is 'just because people ask for your help doesn't mean that they deserve your help.' in the two instances where I helped people, one of them tried to kill me and kidnap Adaline to sell her. The second time I helped another village by rescuing their people, they wanted to sell Grace because they knew she was an elf."

"Will, there are people there who need our help! We didn't sign up for this, but we have to do it." Bruce got closer to Will as he said that.

"You're right, I didn't sign up for this, so I don't have to do shit. No matter what I am not helping them." Will stood firmly on the ground. But then decided to sit on a log because he was tired from standing.

Will wasn't afraid, he just doesn't see a reason to help strange people who might betray him yet again.

"What happened to you, Will?" Sandra asked worried about him. It was like his emotions were being stripped away.

"A lot happened." Will began thinking back all the pain and suffering he went through in this world.

'Maybe I did change.' Will thought to himself. Back then he would have felt bad for those people and would have lend them a helping hand, but now he just doesn't care anymore.

"You, where did the dragon attack? Where is the village?" Bruce got closer to Grace and Rias.

"It's far away. Even with your speed, hero, you would reach it in than 8 hours at most." Grace said indifferent to this matter. She didn't like humans to begin with.

"That's good enough! Where is it?" Bruce asked again.

"... just keep going south-east from here." Grace didn't care at all, she just wanted Bruce out of her face.

"Got it! Sandra, you coming?" Bruce asked.

Sandra, looked at Will, and back at Bruce.

"You go on… I'll catch up."

"But… okay." Bruce left in a blink of an eye.

"It's my first seeing a hero run at that speed. Impressive." Grace said, now she knew to be more careful of any hero she meets in the future. Rias and Armor weren't too surprised, as they had seen how powerful heroes can be.

Sandra, kneeling on one leg, she gently took Will's mask off from his face. She was clearly saddened.

"Will… I am so, so…"

"Disappointed? Yeah, I know."

Will could see it in her eyes, her disappointment in him. It's just how his parents looked at him when he disappointed them, especially in school related stuff, especially science.

"No… I am sorry."

"What?" Will did not expect that. What does she have to be sorry for?"

"You… this world has changed you. You have been alone this whole time, struggling to survive. It's no wonder you've changed so much. If I only knew about you sooner, I could have been there for you, and helped you." Sandra started to cry for him. Tears dripped down her cheeks then dropped from her chin.

Will's heart shattered into pieces. She blamed herself for something she didn't do.

"Sandra… don't blame yourself for this. No one could have foreseen this coming. It's just like how you blame yourself for Alex's death, when we both knew that it was my fault!"

"No, it's not your fault! It was that damn murderer who took him away from us!"

Will hugged her tightly into his embrace. Only then did she start calming down.

"I am not alone anymore. I have you here, and Adaline with me."

"And I also left you when he died, right when you needed me most, I wasn't there." She said.

"I pushed you away. It's not your fault. I was in pain, I thought that if I pushed you away from my life you wouldn't have to suffer, nor would I. But I didn't realize that… I should have been there for you as well."

They both stood in that position for a while.

The 3 elves were just awkwardly watching.

"We should go. We'll come back another day." Arbor gently said. It isn't right to stare at them like creeps.

The two other elves agreed and left them alone.

"Grace, we still need to get 'that' thing for Will." Rias said in english. They were referring to the magical item that can track down other magical items.

"I know. I'll ask grandfather if I can borrow it."

"What are you two talking about?" Arbor asked.

"You know… stuff." Grace lied horribly, but her father didn't probe into it anymore.

Then, Will's pocket shined brightly, someone was sending him a message.

"Sorry." Sandra pulled herself away from his embrace.

"Do you have any water?" She asked.

"Here." Will took out a chest full of food and leather water bottles. Using leather water bottles was a great way to carry water in chests.

"Your… hero ability lets you shrink and un-shrink items?"

"Well, you're not wrong."

"A… leather canteen?" Sandra asked confused as she took out a leather canteen from the chest. There were regular water bottles back in the kingdom, mostly made from metal.

"What? I think a leather water bottle looks cool. alright?" Will said honestly. He could have made a silver, or some kind of metal water bottle, but he liked the design of leather bottles.

"Pft. Yeah." Sandra laughed a bit because it's something he would like. At least now she knew that Will didn't change too much. She used a bit of the water to clean up her tears.

Will took out the communication stone from his pocket.

{Will, it's me, Jasmine. Please message me back as soon as you see this message.}

{Hi Jasmine. Are you a kingsguard yet?}

{No, listen, it's important, I need your help with something.}

{What do you need?}

{There was… an attack. I don't have many options but you're my only chance. There are many injured people here, I need you to bring enough healing potions for us. Please! We're at the blacksmith village on the south-east.}

{An attack? Wait, you mean the dragon attack?} Will thought it was too coincidental that there is a dragon attack, then Jasmine calls about an attack.

{Yes! Please come here.}

'Wait, I didn't mention it was a dragon attack.' Jasmine thought on the other side. How did Will know?

{Well…} Will thought if he should really do this.

{The dragon is dead if that's what you're worried about. Just please help us. That's all I ask.}

{Doesn't that village have a potion shop or something?}

{Completely crushed.}

{Are there any soldiers or sorcerers there to help?}

{No, just me. It's an independent village, it doesn't rely on the kingdom's protection in order to avoid paying taxes.}

{JASMINE! I DRSINS ADTACKD YU(A dragon attacked you?)} Jack wrote so fast that he couldn't write properly.

[I'm fine, Jack. Just some minor burns and what not.} Jasmine could understand Jack's messy writing. She could also not worry Jack too much so she made it seem like a minor thing.

[WILL! PELS HALL ER!(Please help her)}

{Fine. But after this we're even, Jack.}

Will couldn't properly read his message, but could guess what he wanted him to do. He owed Jack too much and would gladly help him if he ever needed his help. Without him he'd be lost in this world.

"I'm going to the village." Sandra said prepared to leave.

"Hold on, I'm coming, too." Will placed the chest in his pocket after shrinking it. He was already carrying with him many healing potions. He's learned his lesson and brought them in case he needed them, and was glad he did.

"What made you change your mind?" Asked Sandra.

"A friend of mine needs help. Get on Adaline. We'll make it there faster than we would on foot."

Will climbed on top of Adaline. He extended his hand towards Sandra to help her up.

*HISSSSS*

Adaline hissed at Sandra, it still doesn't trust her yet.

"Come on, Adaline, let her on top." Will gently comforted Adaline by patting her head.

Adaline turned away from Sandra, but it was still hissing and growling.

Sandra tightly held onto Will like if they were riding on a motorcycle.

"Hold on tight! Go! To the village where the dragon attacked!" Will said.

Adaline began running at full speed. This speed caught Sandra off guard and it almost flung her off. Luckily she held onto Will, and he was being held on by Adaline's roots.

"How is she so fast?" Sandra asked. Even at full speed she couldn't run as fast as her, and she's a hero.

"I dunno. But I like it." Will enjoyed being able to ride Adaline like this.

"You know, this reminds me of- PFT! BPFT! PFT! BLEGH! Cough!"

"What's wrong?" Asked Will.

"I somehow swallowed a bug."

"Yeah that'll happen. Just don't open your mouth for the remainder of the time." Will could talk without the fear of accidentally swallowing a bug because he was wearing a mask.

"Makes sense." Sandra didn't say a word for the remainder of the ride.

Meanwhile, Bruce was running at full speed, trying to help those villagers.

"I really hope this is the east. Um… sun rises on the east… or was that the west?" Bruce racked his brains to remember.

"OUT OF THE WAY!"

Bruce heard a familiar voice shout behind him. It was Will, riding on top of Adaline running at a great speed.

Bruce jumped to the side before getting hit. He noticed Sandra was also riding the organic creature.

"Best guess is that they're going to the village… well at least I know I'm going the right way." Bruce tried following them, but after a while he figured out that it was merely impossible because of Adaline's speed.

Meanwhile…

A certain loli had made it to a village. Her clothes were a bit tattered and messy, but she was fine overall. This is Maid, the dragon loli who escaped the hero's clutches. But the collar she was wearing impeded her from transforming into her true form, and she couldn't take it off.

The village was lively. Food, guards, people, music, everything fun imaginable was there. But the smell of delicious food attracted her to this village, as she was starving. It wasn't a good idea to come in contact with humans for many reasons, but now she had too because she's hungry. And it was easier taking food from humans than hunting on her own.

Not knowing if it was wise to enter a human village, Maid secretly entered the village by blending in with the crowd. Luckily some of the guards outside were either too drunk, or were having fun to properly keep watch. Maid used a part of her clothes to cover the collar in order to not get caught. But even still the collar was too noticeable as it was thick, and it was thicker than her own arms.

As Maid was about to enter a restaurant full of people, she noticed one of the people working in that restaurant threw away some food in the garbage can behind the restaurant. Maid's eyes shone. It was between two buildings so no one else was there, kind of like a dark alley.

The food in the garbage varied, from rotten food, to half eaten food, to spoiled food, but to Maid it didn't matter, food was food.

Maid pounced on the garbage cans like a hungry lion, only eating the half eaten food and not caring about the noise she made. As a dragon her appetite was huge. Still she thought that this was way better than being a slave to a hero.

"Are… are you okay?"

Maid quickly turned around and saw a little girl.

The little girl is a cute one, with big round eyes, loose long brown hair. This girl is Kat, one of the kids that Will had rescued from Taker even though it wasn't his true intention.

Kat heard the sound of trash cans being thrown around. Thinking that it was a loose animal, she went to secretly inspect and call her parents for help. But, when she saw it was a girl who looked to be younger than her, she couldn't help but want to help her.

After being kidnapped by Taker and seeing those locked up with her, she couldn't help but want to help those in need, especially when they were kids of her age. Thinking about it, she knew she was really, really lucky to have survived. No one else but her and the kids who were with her managed to escape successfully.

"Do you need food? I can go get you some. Stay right there. Don't move." Kat saw how Maid was hungry enough to eat garbage. So she ran back to her home to hand her some delicious food.

Maid couldn't actually understand what she was saying, most dragons don't even bother learning human tongue, because they'd rather eat them than to have a conversation with them.

She resumed eating garbage as quickly as she could, so she could find a way to get rid of the collar and fly back home to safety.

"Okay. I brought some pork chops, and some juice." Kat brought a handful of food because she thought that Maid couldn't eat more than that.

*Sniff*

Maid smelled the delicious aroma coming from Kat's hands. Sure humans taste better, but she can't smell humans in her human form.

"Please eat slowly. You don't want to-"

Maid ate the food instantly. She immediately resumed eating her garbage.

"Choke… huh. You're really hungry." Kat stared at Maid for a while. Then, she got a bright idea.

"Come to my house. We have more food there, and you don't have to eat here anymore." Kat gently pulled Maid with her. She can't bear to see Maid eat garbage any longer.

Maid struggled to free herself from Kat's grip, but her strength wasn't enough. She really didn't want to come into contact with humans any more.