Out Of The Pan
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As we take our first steps out of the city walls, the giant wooden gate behind us closes with an explosive boom. I let out a hearty sigh and remark, "Well, that is very symbolical in relation to our current situation," before shutting my eyes as a rush of melancholy and defeat showers my body.
I then turn to face forward, listening to the rustling of the leaves and blowing of the wind; it is oh-so peaceful out here compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, wherein almost every corner has a market stall selling very overpriced potions and gear.
My eyes then catch a beautiful sight: a flock of birds soar in the air, their colors are extremely vibrant, their flying is majestic and coordinated, as if this movement was rehearsed millions of times through countless generations. If I were to be reincarnated, I would become a bird.
A thunderous roar then cuts through the skyline, causing a shockwave to come our way which nearly takes us off our feet.
"What in Chazzynth's name is that!?" Benjiro-kun screamed at the top of his lungs while transitioning into a battle-ready stance. "Is that a goddamn dragon!?"
The scaly beast starts arising from the horizon, each flap of its wings causing a burst of wind to be displaced. The beast lets out another roar worthy of awakening the slumbering druids from their eternal slumber.
The dragon perches on top of a windmill, one of its feet crushes straight through the roof of the windmill, before tossing its head back, seemingly charging up an attack.
I look back towards my friends, and it seems they are both in complete disarray.
Benjiro-kun is banging on the giant wooden gate, shouting with all his might to let all of us in before the dragon eats the three of us.
Meanwhile, Kitamura-san had already clasped both her hands together, while praying with a strained look on her face, "Oh Great Goddess Of Fortune, Duena, bless us with thou path, bless us with thou light, bless us with thou-"
"Now is not the time to be praying, Kitamura-san!" I shout while beads of sweat run down my face, before grabbing a box from the ground. "We have to get out of here before the dragon disintegrates us to ash!"
I then hand over the box I am currently handling towards Benjiro-kun, and I can already feel the disappointment seeping from his face plate, but now is not the time to delve into the feelings of my companions since there is a dragon in the distance!
As I pick up another box, the dragon lets out a massive blast of molten lava and fire from its mouth, disintegrating the flock of birds I was gazing at earlier; I stare at it in disbelief as I regret my prior decision.
I start legging it towards the forest opening while screaming, "SCRATCH THAT, I DON'T WANT TO BE A BIRD ANYMORE!!!"
"You bastard, hold up! Don't just leave us here!" Benjiro-kun yelled out. I turn my head slightly to the left and watch as he and Kitamura-san try to catch up to me in a sprint, albeit at a distance. "I'm still not ready to become dragon food yet!"
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A few moments have passed since the party has escaped the scaly beast. Out of breath and scared, the three sit on a nearby tree stump, which was luckily big enough to support the three of them.
The blowing of the breeze is enough to set off the already extremely paranoid Takemoto as his eyes start darting around, followed shortly by his head scanning the surroundings, almost resembling an owl in the dead of night.
Nishimoto rests both of his arms on both of his knees, restless and breathless due to the amount of maneuvering he has been performing in such heavy gear in such a short period of time.
He turns over to Kitamura, who is currently resting her chin on her hand, seemingly thinking about what to do next, but after a few seconds of thoughts running through her head, she slouches over in defeat, as if her brain had just stopped working.
"I still can't believe an actual dragon showed up in this region..." Kitamura ponders on the thought before fixing her posture and turning towards her companions. "Damn, I almost forgot."
"We still need a place to stay for tonight, and possibly the days to come."
Kitamura places her thumb on her lips as a way to focus more on her thoughts, "I could contact someone, but at most they would arrive the next day, and we can't stay in any taverns considering the fact we are banned from any establishment under the flag of Ladour."
"Would now be a good time to call in that family favor?"
"Considering the fact we're in a state of desperation, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do so."
And so Kitamura's plan was set into action; she got off the tree stump and took an empty scroll from one of the boxes that is filled with their belongings.
She also proceeds to take a container of ink and quill before crouching down and writing something down on the scroll.
Nishimoto looks over at Kitamura without moving his head at all, extremely curious as to what she is doing. "What is she doing?" He thought, without considering the fact the narrator had already stated what he was doing.
A pang of fear suddenly hit his thoughts. "Oh Ziione, Great God Of Fear. Please don't tell me she's writing our death notes?!"
He then imagines Kitamura doing heinous things to the both of them while laughing maniacally, one of the images he imagines is her tying the both of them with a rope against a tree and leaving them there for an entire month; he then proceeds to start quivering in his armor while sweating bullets.
And after just a few seconds of writing, Kitamura stands up with a gleeful expression and the scroll proudly displayed in front of her. "Finally!"
She then turns to both her friends and hands them the scroll, while proudly informing them, "Now, with this scroll, we just need to find a place that is capable of sending scrolls to a location!"
"So, what you're looking for is a tavern?" Nishimoto raises with a slightly tilted head.
"Exactly! However, a tavern that isn't under the banner of Ladour, which I suppose is easy enough to find," Kitamura proclaims with a sly grin.
Nishimoto leans forward, before shaking his head. "Does she not know that almost every tavern near the Kingdom of Ladour falls under the banner of Ladour?"
"Hmph, I should probably tell her." After considering his decision as suffice, he stands up and hands over the paper back to her.
"If you really wanted to hand in this paper to a tavern, you would have to find a very illegal tavern, probably a tavern filled with bandits or the scum of this world."
Kitamura gladly declines the paper by pushing it back towards him. "I already had that figured out, and if I remember correctly, Takemoto-san knows a certain illegal tavern in this region!"
Kitamura then looks over at Takemoto, who is currently curled up into the fetus position sucking on his thumb while mumbling to himself incoherently.
With a snarling frown and a furrowed brow, she lets out a sigh from her nose, before slowly approaching him and crouching down to his height.
"Hey, Takemoto-san, get a grip! We need your help urgently."
After hearing the word "help" exit her supple lips, Takemoto suddenly snaps out of his breakdown and looks up at Kitamura, before responding with a thumb still in his mouth, which is sadly not interpreted properly.
Kitamura rolls her eyes and pulls his thumb out of his mouth, before gesturing him to repeat his sentence.
"You need my help?" He spoke with eyes that would mostly resemble the eyes of a puppy.
His expression completely changes as he springs up from his fetal position and grabs a box from the ground immediately. "What can I help with? Do you guys need me to find something or perform something?"
"Yeah, we need to find an illegal tavern which hopefully houses bandits since we need to send a message to a family friend of mine."
He places a fist on his chest as a sign to show his dedication. "Don't worry, I know a place! Just follow me and I will bring you straight to it!"
And shortly after stating what he knows, he starts leading the way by marching off into the forest, while shouting off in the distance, "Don't worry! I know the way through this forest! I memorized this forest like it's the back of my hand!"
And a few minutes of marching through the thick forestry, they soon find themselves lost.
"Oh Goddess Of Fortune, Duena, why did we have to follow an actual IDIOT straight into the depths of the wilderness?" Nishimoto had pondered, now regretting his life decisions.
"Alright guys, we are nearly at our destination! Just a few more seconds and we can see it!" Takemoto had spoken with a still very high-spirited expression on his face, seemingly neglectful of the fact that they are indeed, lost.
Kitamura suddenly stops and winces in pain. "Wait, please!" She requests as she sits down on a nearby tree stump before taking off one of her boots and starts rubbing her foot profusely.
Her two friends stops in their tracks and approaches her before crouching down; Takemoto asks with a worried expression, "Is your foot getting sore? Should Benjiro-kun just carry you until we reach the tavern?"
Nishimoto turns his head slowly towards Takemoto, before hitting him in the back of the head with a slap which emits a loud "BANG!" thanks to the metal gauntlet he is wearing.
"Ouch, you bastard!" Takemoto exclaimed while rubbing the back of his head.
Nishimoto then turns back to Kitamura. "How long do we have to wait in order to get moving? Do you still need a lot of time to rest?"
Kitamura sighs. "Yeah~ I probably think so..." She then proceeds to look up through a gap in the leaves, wherein which she notices a tower of smoke coming from somewhere.
"Actually, I don't think we don't have to wait so long," Her eyes widened as she looks back down at her boot and immediately slots her foot into the opening of the boot, and tying it properly.
"Huh? I thought you needed to rest? What's with the sudden burst of newfound energy?" Nishimoto pondered as he pushes himself up with the help of one hand.
She points toward the smoke stack. "I think I found our illegal tavern in the middle of woods without a path that leads directly to it!"
The two boys then looks towards her finger, before following where the finger is pointed towards.
"Uh, you sure you're not hallucinating or anything? I just see a bird nest with a mother tending to her flock of babies." Takemoto had completely missed the mark of where she is actually pointing towards.
Nishimoto proceeds to help his friend by moving his head for him.
"Ooh! I see it now! You can let go of my head now, Benjiro-kun."
As soon as Nishimoto loosens his grip, Takemoto then starts leading the way again with his two friends following behind him like two ducklings following their mother.
"You know what, Kitamura-san?"
"Yes, Takemoto-san?" Kitamura had her hands relaxed behind her back.
"This is what I love about you, your ability to spot things that I sometimes would miss."
Kitamura suddenly feels a sense of heat overwhelming her face. "Love? Love as in romantic love? Is Takemoto-san confessing his feelings to me?" She had completely ignored the fact that he was complementing her ability to see things better than he could.
She then proceeds to cover her face entirely, completely embarrassed as to how she reacted to receiving such a simple compliment from a good looking man, while muttering, "T-thank you."
Her eyes divert away from Takemoto, clearly annoyed and still flustered by his compliment. "Damn you, Takemoto-san, you've always been so quick to woo girls with your compliments."
She lets out an exhale that empties her feeling of embarrassment and fixes her posture to a more straight back and pushed up head, before smirking. "Humph, as if I'm interested in you, Takemoto-san; not in a million timelines!"
Looking up through the gaps in the leaves, she watches as a flock of birds flies above them with elegance. "Not in a million timelines."