It was nighttime, two days after I had safely made it back to Realzahd.
According to our schedule, Ralph and Hester should have been returning today, but since night had now fallen and they still weren’t home, I was starting to grow worried.
When I stopped to think about the distance between the capital and Realzahd, though, I knew it wouldn’t have been out of the question for them to arrive even as late as tomorrow.
Just as I was trying to reassure myself of that, I heard the door open.
“We’re back, Chris!” Ralph exclaimed.
“I’m glad to see that you made it back safely too,” Hester added.
The two of them entered the room, carrying their luggage with them.
Whew... Thank god they’re okay, I thought.
I was relieved that they seemed to be doing well and had arrived back in one piece.
“I’m glad you’re both safe. How’s your leg, Ralph?”
“It’s totally fine! I just got the stitches removed, and we took a carriage on the way back, so I got to rest a bit. Vlad said I’d be good to go after some rest and rehabilitation.”
“So, I’m guessing the first goal is just to get you walking again, huh?”
“Yeah, and you’d better not treat me like an errand boy once I can, got it?”
“Heh. I’m looking forward to that.”
Ralph seemed so fired up that it was hard to even picture just how depressed he’d been not that long ago.
It had been a risk to cheap out and put our trust in that sketchy doctor to perform the surgery, but it had paid off in the end. I was so glad that it had been a success.
“So, what should we do from tomorrow on?” Hester asked. “Ralph still needs to recover, so that will just leave me for now...”
“Good point. Hmm... With your current capabilities, I think you could take on bronze-level quests on your own now, but...why don’t we take on some quests together for a while?” I suggested.
“Huh?! You want to do quests together?!”
“Yeah. Not as a party, though, exactly. We’ll each take on a location-specific quest and go to two locations per day. For my quests, I’ll do the bulk of the fighting, with you just providing support, and vice versa for yours. I think that should work pretty well for us.”
“Okay! Count me in!”
It was settled: Hester and I would take quests together while we waited for Ralph to recover.
It would be painful not to be able to hunt stray cowbirds (which was the most efficient way to make money on bronze-level quests), but I couldn’t exactly pit Hester against monsters like that when she’d only just started learning magic.
“Man, I wish I could start smashing out some quests already too!” Ralph exclaimed.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ve only just had your surgery, so you need to take the healing process step by step. Nothing good will come of pushing yourself.”
“I know, I know... But surely I can get some practice swings in with my sword, right? I’m itching to get moving.”
“I guess that’d be fine, as long as you don’t use your legs.”
“Great. I’m gonna get some in now, then.”
“Hold on, you can’t start on that today. Why don’t you hold off until tomorrow? From tomorrow on, you can start doing your practice swings in between your rehabilitation exercises,” I said, just as Ralph picked up his wooden sword. “Putting that aside for now... There’s something I need to tell you guys.”
At this, Ralph and Hester sat back down.
I’d been mulling over something ever since I got back to Realzahd a couple days ahead of them, and I’d decided that it was time to fill them in.
“Oh, what now?”
“Is it...something bad?”
“Well, I don’t think the two of you are going to like it,” I began. “I got ambushed on my way back to Realzahd by one of Claus’s acquaintances. I managed to get away without a scratch, but worst-case scenario, Claus might end up figuring out that I’m here.”
“What?! You got ambushed?! What are you gonna do now, then?”
“Well, my attacker doesn’t know I’m living in Realzahd, at least... But I think it’s just a matter of time before that comes to light. So, I’ve been thinking about moving our base once Ralph’s knee has fully healed.”
“So... The bad news was that you got ambushed?” Hester asked.
“No, it’s that I’m proposing we leave Realzahd. You two were born and raised here, right?”
I knew that insisting they leave their hometown would be a big ask. They probably knew a lot of people here, and anyone would balk at the idea of leaving behind the streets they knew and loved.
“Well... This may be our hometown, but it’s not like we have many happy memories of it. Actually, most of our happy memories are from after we met you, Chris.”
“I share Ralph’s sentiment. It’ll be a little sad to say goodbye to some of the people here, but I’m not really opposed to leaving. It might actually be nice to have a fresh start in a new town,” Hester added.
“Well, that’s a relief to hear... I appreciate you guys being open to the idea.”
“It’s actually perfect timing, don’t you think? I mean, we’re about to start working together as an actual party. Moving to a new city feels like the perfect way to kick off that new chapter,” Ralph said.
“That’s right! The timing couldn’t be more perfect!” Hester agreed.
I was grateful that no one was against my idea.
Just like they were saying, it felt most appropriate to get our things in order and wait until Ralph’s leg was back to normal—then we could make our start as a real party in a new city.
Now that Ralph’s surgery was over with and Hester had gotten her grimoire, we finally had some breathing room. But things were probably only about to get busier from here on out.
“Well, that’s settled, then. Make sure you keep our plan in mind,” I said.
“Will do.”
“Roger that. So, have you already decided where you want us to move to?”
“I’ve got a rough idea, yeah.”
I felt bad for prioritizing my own needs again, but I wanted to pick somewhere where I could continue my studies on poisonous plant species—which was to say, somewhere near a forest that would contain more of the unclassified species listed in Otto’s autobiography.
Ideally, I’d still be able to find ghost grass, speckled shrooms, and lyzoff fruit there, along with other potentially performance-enhancing plants.
Best-case scenario, there would be a bustling town near the forest that we could stay in. But I hadn’t found anywhere that fit the bill yet, so I’d have to keep looking.
“Great. We’ll leave it up to you, then. I’ll just focus on getting my knee all healed,” Ralph replied.
“I’m happy to help you think through the options, so please just say the word if you’d find that helpful. And if you need to find more information about a place, I’m your gal!” Hester added.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. I’ll let you guys know as soon as I’ve picked somewhere.”