บท 17: She Follows the Tracks

Robin bolted to her feet, drawing her sword out as she ran towards the scream. When she arrived, a crowd had already gathered, staring out into the night.

"What happened!?" Robin asked a nearby man that she remembered as a townsman.

"Hero! A demon has made off with one of the village maidens!" He reported.

"The Hero is here!"

"Hero! Please save my daughter!" An elderly woman cried out from where she sobbed on the ground.

"I can only do my best." She replied honestly.

Robin then glanced around.

"Who among you is the best tracker?" She asked. "I need someone who can follow that demon through moonlight and shadow, regardless of obstacles."

The crowd grew silent. No one wanted to face another demon so soon.

Finally, a small hand was raised up at the edge of the crowd.

"I-I can help you find the demon." A trembling voice said.

The crowd parted to reveal a small lad, dressed in worn, dirt-brown clothes.

"What is your name?" Robin asked.

"Gerard." The small boy replied.

"You are such a small boy. How are you going to help me find the demon?" Robin asked, not out of malice, but with genuine honest surprise.

"Because, I think I know where that demon's lair is. No matter where he goes in the forest, if he wants to do anything with what he has caught, he always returns to his lair, first." Gerard affirmed.

"Gerard! Have you been wandering deep in the forest again!" A lady gasped in shock. As everyone knew, the deeper one went into the forest, the more likely one would come face to face with a Demon.

"But I had to, Big Sis! It's the brute that's been snatching up our sheep!" Gerard argued.

But before the big sister could speak again, Robin held up her hand to silence her.

"You know where the demon's lair is?" She asked.

He nodded. Nobody else in the village supported his desire to explore the unexplored regions of the forest. But now, here was the Hero! If he could show the results of his meanderings as something beneficial, then perhaps the villagers wouldn't prevent him from travelling anymore.

After a moment of silence, Robin's voice once more came out. "Then, come. Lead me there."

His pale face practically beamed with gladness as he returned to his tent to grab his things.

At this point, Christian walked onto the scene.

"Who's screaming at all hours of the night?" He yawned. "Did someone see a large spider?...Robin? What's wrong?"

"A demon has made off with a maiden." Robin stated seriously.

"...WHAT! We've got to go after them then!" Christian was immediately awake and ready to jump into action.

"I know. One of the villagers knows where its lair is, so he'll bring us there directly, instead of having us be lead around for half the night on a wild goose chase."

"So it's a demonic goose?" Christian asked, confused.

"...No, that was an expression of speech from my homeland. It means something to the effect of 'putting a lot of work in with nothing to show for it'." Robin replied. "Where's Keith?"

"Ah, that's right! The soldiers just arrived, and he's meeting with them over there. KEITH!!!" Christian yelled and waved his arms.

A minute later, Keith appeared on the scene with an army marshall and several commander knights.

"A village maiden has been kidnapped. I'm going with the hero to save her. Will you stay here, or follow us?" Christian asked seriously.

"Isn't that obvious! You're not leaving my sight!" Keith exclaimed.

"In that case, we too-" The marshall began.

"No, you need to stay here and guard the village in case it decides to circle around us and return to grab more villagers."

Keith shook his head, and pointed at Robin.

"This is the Hero that killed over ten Orcs in less than a minute. Can your skills ever measure up to such a performance? That being said, a small group of people is enough to handle a single Demon."

After hearing that, the marshall could not speak any further, and could only helplessly close his mouth. Turning to the commander knights, he said.

"I am willing to take the men directly under me and guard the south side of the village." The south side was the one closest to the forest. This meant that the returning party would be greeted first by the marshall's own men.

The commander knights smiled wryly at this, but each came forward and stated their claims.

"I am willing to take my men to the east side of the village."

"I and my men will guard the west side of the village."

The last one could only sigh. "Do I have a choice in this matter?" He joked. "Be at ease, my men will guard the north side facing the road."

At that point in time, Gerard reappeared, a mottled cloak about his small frame, a pouch and a sturdy dagger at his waist.

"Follow me!" He called to Robin, who immediately moved to follow closely behind him.

In turn, Christian also took off after them. While Keith could only wryly smile and helplessly ran after them as well.

Thus, the first four members of the Hero's party had unwittingly gathered together on the eve of the Hero's first day on the job.

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The forest at night time was different from the day, but even so, Gerard knew his way like the back of his hand. A shriek sounded off to their right.

Christian was about to jump out after the sound, but Robin grabbed him by the collar.

"Stay together!" Robin said. "We'll do no good bumbling about in the dark. Gerard here said that the demon won't do anything to her until he arrives at his lair. If we leave the path now, can we guarantee that she will continue to be safe? Besides, that sound...might not have come from the maiden." She glanced at Gerard. "Right?"

Gerard nodded. "As expected from the Hero! The shrieking sound usually heard in these parts comes from a special kind of tree when the bark is rubbed off. In a different part of the forest, a Panther Demon sometimes makes a similar noise. We can't believe everything we hear, expecially at night."

Christian cleared his throat to offset his embarassment. "Well then, shouldn't we go faster?"

"I'm trying to get a read on which escape pattern he's using." Gerard said, as he examined his surroundings. "Each one gives us a different amount of time....ah. It's the third one! He'll go and hide in the tornado weasel's territory for a bit before ambling back home by way of the stinger bee's territory. Okay. We should have plenty of time! let's go!"

With that, the young lad charged forward into the night, but he always made sure to keep the others within sight so as not to lose them. If he wanted to disappear into the forest, he could do so at any time, leaving his followers none-the-wiser. But this time, he had to slow his pace to match with the ones who were clearly not used to stumbling through the forest...namely Christian.

"You all right?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, just let me catch my breath." He gasped. "I usually ride through a forest like this!"

"Don't worry, you'll get your forest legs in no time." Robin grinned, cheekily.

Christian glared. "What I don't understand is why someone like you is comfortable with a place like this!"

"I told you, didn't I? I had to make sure that my brother didn't kill himself. That being said, I know 108 ways to save a person within a forest setting." Robin replied seriously. "I learned for all kinds of situations. It's unfortunate that I don't have my travel kit on hand...well, I could always slowly build up another one, I suppose."

"Are you serious!?" Christian gasped.

"Hmm...But I didn't prepare for being summoned to a different world." Robin nodded.