A mote of snow fell on the tip of Laself's nose, a white dot amidst her pale skin. She pressed her index finger against it, feeling it melt, "you were right, this is nice."

  Their walk had mainly consisted of staying along the walls of Ghorise, and they often came back to the gates whenever they got too far. More often than not, she wondered if everyone is wondering about them, surely they must be right?

  "I know," Howaph rubbed his hands together, he blew hot air between his palms and looked at her. "There's just something nice about the emptiness that winter brings you know? I saw this scene once and wanted to experience the peace of it."

  Is it peaceful? Well, it certainly is quiet but when it comes to peace, she's always been under the belief that staying in her room and just working on her skill was far better. Knitting all by herself, with no one to disturb her or ask about her work always made her feel at peace.

  Getting into the moment, where her hands without thinking, slowly filling the fabric and making it whole... It is one of the only times where she felt like she belonged, where she could be herself.

  She sometimes wondered if she can talk to Rontress and ask her if it was fine for her to make clothes instead of simply cooking food but she also sees the benefits of using her newest class to attract customers so doing it only felt selfish, and besides, she's always wanted to help out and this is the best way she could do so.

  "You're right," she forced out a giggle and leaned her head against Howaph's shoulders, at least the latter wasn't faked. Her grip on his hand tightened. "Being a couple is more peaceful than I thought, I expected us to struggle while being together."

  "Laself... It is tough." Howaph's pause concerned her and she wondered what he was going to say after that. What was he thinking about? "We have Rontress to thank for why everything is so easy, she's basically paid for everything we could need and I didn't need to work to support you, because she did it for me."

  "Have you ever thought that we talk about Rontress too much?" She knew why they did that, she's not so stupid that she can't see her current world is revolving around Rontress. "It's like she comes up in every conversation."

  "That's normal I think," Howaph was definitely thinking the same thing as her. "She's the one responsible for everything we have so far so it's only normal that we talk about her, and besides, she's smart too isn't she? I often think about what she would do whenever I'm stuck at something."

  Him too huh? A sad smile colored Laself's lips, "yeah, I can definitely see why you would do that, she is smart after all."

  "And she's not here."

  She froze and Howaph's hold on her hand suddenly tensed up, she felt his fingers crush hers with enough force to make her wince. She didn't need to turn and look at him to see that he had gone pale.

  Howaph let go of her hand and he slowly faced the source of the voice, Laself followed suit despite her fear. Standing before them was a man, his face roughened by battles, a long scar ran down from the bottom of his ear to the side of his neck. A grotesque work of art and to the man, a reminder of a battle that he almost died in.

  What kind of creature can make that kind of scar?

  The man stepped forward, chuckling, Laself noticed his wide shoulders then, followed by the metal plate covering the front of his leather chest piece, then the sword he's holding.

  Snow compacted under the weight of his steps, his boots leaving behind prints that wounded the ground. His grin was all teeth as he eyed her, his gaze scanning her body up and down in a way that made her uncomfortable.

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  It all stopped when the man got elbowed from the side, the hit was light, barely enough to make a normal person feel pain, let alone an adventurer, but it did wake him up and make him stop ogling at her.

  Even then, the damage was already done, Laself shrunk into herself, defensive.

  "We're not here for that man, and this isn't some remote village with no defenses, there are guards here and it's winter, I'm not running in the damn snow!"

  This one looked only slightly worse than the first adventurer, he had a clean shaven face, a large nose, and eyes that would look beautiful if it was on the face of a woman, this guy though... He looked like an owl without its feathers.

  And his words...

  Does that mean that they've...

  Laself paled, she's heard that adventurers often forced themselves on women but she always assumed they were rumors. Was she wrong? Did they actually?..

  "Whatever it is you're thinking, you better stop." Howaph stood in front of her protectively. "She's married."

  Both of them only laughed in response, with the much thinner adventurer shaking his head in mockery, his large eyes shrinking as he cackled like someone desperately inhaling air.

  "Trust me, boy. If we wanted your girl, it wouldn't matter if she's married, no one's protecting women just because that's the case, isn't it? Words mean nothing to physical might." He was arrogant, really arrogant.

  "Try to get past me, just try it." Howaph was shaking, yet he still tried to be brave anyway. "I'll make sure you regret it."

  Can he fight them? Laself looked at her boyfriend in concern, he can buy time can't he? She will run away and call for help once he starts fighting the two adventurers, her success will depend on whether or not the smaller man will try to catch her.

  "You sure about that?" The man neared Howaph, his height dwarfing the latter. "Breaking you piece by piece while making her watch... You want that?" He laughed. "Not that it matters, you don't have a say in any of this."

  The two men neared, Laself backed down, Howaph stepped forward, fearless. Or trying to act fearless, rather.

  The first of the blows came then, and surprisingly enough, Howaph managed to dodge it. He ducked and then rushed forward, arms spread wide, he wrapped them around the waist of the large adventurer and then proceeded to push him down.

  With a yell, Howaph punched the downed man, his fist striking the soft flesh of the adventurer's cheek. Laself could see a bruise forming, and she thought that her boyfriend might have had a chance in winning this.

  That is, until the other adventurer moved and hit him on the back of the head. Howaph groaned but didn't fall, he pushed himself off the first adventurer and then glared at the one who hit him.

  When the two of them fought, Laself took the chance and ran away. She had tears in her eyes, telling Howaph that she'll come back with someone should be part of her plan, reassure him that she's not leaving him.

  She couldn't do it, it would slow her down, and she didn't want to see blood.

  With an aching heart, she rushed back to the gate, not one of the two adventurers caught up to her so Howaph must have kept them both occupied,

  The gates came into view and just beyond that, the slums, she kicked the ground and went even faster. Wasting time isn't a good idea, Howaph is still back here, fighting two adventurers who undoubtedly have more levels than him, she can't waste time.

  "Going somewhere?" A man caught her forearm, his grip hurt. She winched and attempted to get away but he was too strong, his hold was firm. "Now, I don't think you can—"

  Laself turned, tears now openly went down her face, there's no way... There's no way!

  "Leave me alone! Why are you doing this?!"

  "Money." The man shrugged. "I was paid to take you in, someone wants to talk to you and the things you sell in that shop, you wouldn't mind coming with me right?"

  Even if he asks to go with him, Laself knew she didn't have a choice in the matter. No matter how softly he does it.

  "What? I don't have anything on me!" She screamed, hoping someone would hear and help her. "Do I look like I have value?!"

  "Listen bitch, I don't care what you think or say, I'm getting paid to bring you in so that's what I'm doing." He pulled her forcefully. "So stop resisting or this is gonna get—"

  For the second time since he cornered her, his words were cut off, unlike the first time where her scream made him stop, this time it was a rock that hit him on the back of the head. Laself didn't know where it came from, just that it did.

  And that? That was enough to make her keep going, she went back to running, hopefully someone in the shop can solve this.

  Next time, she doesn't care if the food she's making is gonna get corrupted by the magic inside her scrolls, she's gonna carry it from now on.