02x02 - The Forest in the Dead of Night

[bunniefuu]

So how are we feeling about the run today, boys? Tindalos.

Baskerville. Ha ha. Oh, is that so?

Yeah, good job boys.

It's been a few months since I arrived in Rosenberg.

I've been working with different parties as a mercenary,

helping out on their jobs and trying

to build a good reputation among the townsfolk and adventurers.

The idea is to get popular enough

that word about me reaches zenith wherever she is.

Okay. Only like a hundred left to go. Come on. Heracles.

Hulk.

Listen up. Step leader is taking this s-ranked extermination job.

We'll clear the snow Drake infestation out

of Lilburn Cave in no time.

And we'll set out immediately. Yeah.

Hope the rest of you are ready

to marvel at our greatness when we return.

Hey, quagmire. Thanks again for the other day.

Oh, no. I should be thanking you.

We're leaving town.. Today, quagmire,

but I'll be sure to send word

if I hear anything about your mother out there. All right.

Oh. Thank you. Please do. Looks like

all my hard work is starting to pay off.

Because Rudeus gray rat now has quite the reputation in this town.

I'll take this one. Although more people

do know me by my nickname quagmire than my real one.

Making a name for yourself in one

town takes a few months to a year.

It feels like a hell of a long time,

but right now it's the best plan I have.

Isn't that right, Master Roxy?

Oh.

I'm Rudy Ascarate.

It's a pleasure to meet you. You that famous quagmire guy?

I don't know if I'm all that famous, but. Yes.

Well, then get to work. Celebrity.

Good boys. Way to go! On your way home?

Yes, I just finished a job, so I'll

report it and head back to the inn.

Well, we were just about to pick

out a new job ourselves. You want to join us?

Yeah. I met Kotaro as soon as I got here,

and I've worked with them a lot

since teaming up with one Party Over

and Over doesn't do much for my goal,

but it's hard to turn them down.

When would you guys be heading out?

Oh my God. If you're not interested,

then just say no. It's not like we're desperate.

Sorry about that. I'm just indecisive, huh?

You're sorry about everything? It's kind of pathetic.

Sarah. That's enough. Whatever. So what, you think you're coming?

I am, I appreciate the invite. Well,

then, let's get in there and find a job, shall we?

The Gorga Ruins were originally built as a fortress

during the first human Demon w*r.

Wow. I saw some pretty cool structures

on the demon continent, but nothing quite like this.

Don't just stand there staring. Oh, sorry.

I'm coming. Do you like architecture?

Not especially. I just haven't seen many places this impressive before.

You know.

Yeah.

Oh.

Hey, watch your.. Hands, creep! I thought I was.

Sorry about that.

This must be the place. Oh. All we're

here to do is collect a bunch of these fancy scales,

and they're just lying around everywhere.

Pretty easy for an A-Class job.

This is still snow Drake territory, so stay alert.

Don't go past that statue. Got it.

Actually, fighting the snow Drakes would suck.

But they only use this passage to get from place to place.

So we can just hide if any of them show up. But.

It's a little too quiet.

You know, that buxom babe statue kind of reminds

me of.

Talk about taking artistic license.

What was that? I've got a bad feeling about this.

We're under att*ck.

But why does this keep happening?

Guys.

Made the smoldering spark call forth

a great and searing blessing. Flamethrower.

On it.

These things aren't after us.

Just hit the ones charging towards us and knock them off course.

Gotcha. Coming in from the left.

Don't just stand around. You're in this fight too,

moron, right?

Haven't we had enough?

All right, let's press the att*ck as well.

Thought you'd never ask.

Is it over?

Hey there, I'm Timothy of Cantarero. Thank you.

You got a lot of nerve giving

me that dopey smile after you try

to swipe our prey. Are you joking?

We didn't know anyone else was working a job down here.

I announced it in front of the entire guild.

Well, it's news to us. Oh, do

you know something about this rudeus?

Well, come to think of it, he did

mention something about a job at the Guild Hall the other day.

I think they were going to exterminate

a snow drake infestation in Illerbrun Cave..

In Milburn Cave. That's a day and a half

away from here. These are the Galga ruins.

Suzanne, please. It's fine. Are you okay? Timothy, how's your face feeling?

I'm fine. He was kind enough to take it easy on me.

Sarah, lower your bow, please.

I think I see what happened.

This castle was once the base for a demon king,

with tunnels branching off to who knows where.

Maybe one of them opened up between the ruins and the cave.

So what, you're saying you came out here on a different job?

That's right. You can confirm this with the guild

when you return to town, if you like.

Well, sorry for punching you out of nowhere, then.

That's all right. We both misunderstood the situation.

I'm sorry we had to run into each other.

Well, I don't care how many you k*lled,

these drakes were still our prey.

We'll let you claim one corpse, but that's it. You understand me?

Yes. Of course.

Okay, then let's gather

up our scales and head on back to town.

We can celebrate together once we get there.

You got it, boss. I need a drink after this.

Hey, Rudeus. You should come to the after

party for once, huh?

Well, then. Cheers. Cheers.

Feels good to have made it out

of that mess without losing anyone, though.

It was pretty close for a minute there.

Yeah. You got really lucky, Rudeus. Was that luck?

It felt more like you guys rescued me.

Yeah, and you're lucky that we did.

Most parties would have left you to die out there.

Well. I'm grateful. Don't thank me. You should be thinking.

Timothy and Suzanne. They deserve all the credit.

No, you say that now. But you're

the one who rushed back in before any of us.

You insisted that we could save them.

Shut up! Suzanne. You helped us out last time with the Grizzlies,

so I wanted to return the favor.

I don't like being in anyone's debt,

and that's all there is to it.

In any case, we made it back in one piece

and got plenty of cash. That's my kind of job.

Although, shame we had to run into that jerk.

Would have been even better if we hadn't.

Yeah. Being the toughest party in the guild made them pretty insufferable.

I wish they'd stick to their damn labyrinths.

And that jackass calls himself a party leader.

I can't help but wonder if Paul

was like that when he was younger.

Huh?

Yeah. Hey. What do you want?

I was all worked up back in the cave,

so I thought I'd come set things straight with you people.

I didn't know what was going on, and I kind of screwed up.

So I guess what I'm trying to say,

that was my bad or whatever.

But that said, her face just pisses me off, man.

Always grinning like an idiot. And then

you just let a guy punch you

like that? Didn't even argue or nothing.

You're just all smiles and bruises.

And I hate that sh*t. Sometimes a

man's gotta fight. You feel me?

Well, yes. Perhaps you're.. Right.

Suzanne often tells me I'm too passive. I'll remember that.

God, yeah. You remember that?

No. Quagmire. Yes, Timmy. Here's one thing.

But I can't.. Stand your ass, kid.

You got this weird people pleaser attitude, but no one's buying it.

Yeah, and that creepy grin of yours makes me sick.

Maybe you think that's a smile, but it ain't.

Try a little harder. We can see the contempt in your eyes.

Who do you think you are, huh? Come on. Let go of me! Give

it a.. Rest. Look at him.

He's done. Face powder. Dry mouth. You're

the saddest boy in the world.

I don't know what happened to you, quagmire, but you're depressing.

So you can either learn to man

up and face your stupid problems,

or get the hell out of my guild.

I didn't realize I bothered you so much.

I'll do my best to stay out

of your sight from now on. Oh, boy.

What is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to piss me off?

Is it fun for you acting like a martyr all the time,

or acting like you're too good for money?

We all need cash to survive. You brat!

That's enough soul. Go sleep..

This off. Shut up! Let me go! Conrad!

Hey, listen, quagmire. If you hate your life so much, drop dead.

At least I won't have to see your stupid face again.

I'm so sick of your sh*t.

The guy is the worst.

Mm.

Oh, waiting for cheap jobs again.

I have my reasons for doing this.

Well, I bet your reasons suck. You

half ass everything you ever do, don't you?

Hello. Oh. It's Rudeus. Is something wrong?

It's me, Mia and Sarah. Oh. Are they okay? They're both dead.

Oh, I know Mia is dead, but Sarah just got separated.

If we leave now, we may still

be able to find her to go back out.

Right now, in this blizzard. We'll die

long before we ever find her.

We shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have made the call.

We all agreed to run. We're equally responsible. Okay.

Um, where did you lose her? In tree or forest? To the west.

The blizzard blinded us. And then a herd

of snow buffalo att*cked. I see.

That must have been awful. But I should be going.

Well, I bet your reasons suck. You

half ass everything you ever do, don't you?

Maybe he was right. What the hell

am I doing out here alone? Stroking my own ego.

Of course I want to find Sarah.

But I don't think I even care if she's alive or dead.

Maybe I just want to take action

and have something to show for it.

Get a result. Any result. Or maybe

I wanted to actively make the choice

not to abandon someone the way Eris abandoned me.

That could be all there is to it.

But what if I do find her? I don't know.

Maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up.

I'm not going to accomplish anything here. How could I?

Mimir? Yup.

Where's Sarah?

It's not like Sarah and I were close or anything.

But she hadn't been nearly as prickly lately.

I bet we could have been friends eventually.

Sarah.

Sarah. Sarah.

Sarah. Sarah. Who's there? It's rudeus. Rudy.

I'm here to save you.

Okay. Now, do you mind? Nope. Go ahead. Thank you very much.

What are you thanking me for, weirdo?

There's nothing wrong with your legs still, is there? It's fine.

It doesn't even hurt now. All good.

Well, if you're sure. I just feel like something is off.

I told you, everything is fine. Oh,

but you being here alone is kind of weird, I guess.

Well, you know, your party you mentioned you were missing.

So what. Are they all okay?

The mirror is dead.

Oh.

Are you ready to head back to town?

Listen.

I'm really glad you came to rescue me.

And just like that, something inside me clicked together.

I feel like I've been forgiven for

everything I've done and been in a way.

I sort of feel like Sarah just saved me.

Suzanne. Sara. You had me so worried. We were just setting..

Out to go look for you again. It's okay. Rudeus rescued me.

Did you. Did you set out..

By yourself after we told you what happened last night? Well, yeah.

Do you have any idea how reckless that was?

How would we have felt if you had d*ed out there?

Suzanne, you don't have to put it like that. Geez.

No, I suppose you're right about that.

I'm not exactly myself right now.

Rudeus I apologize. I should have started

by saying thank you for saving her. Sorry.

Rudeus. I'm grateful. I mean that with all I am.

If there's any way at all we can repay you. Just name it.

Please. You don't need to thank me.

You've done so much to help me already.

Honest. And I mean it too. Arrow

has been there for me since the second

we stepped foot in this town. They don't owe me a thing.

If you like, we can just say this makes us even. Okay?

Really? If you insist. But if you

need us, we'll always be around.

Okay. And, hey, the same goes for you guys.

My. I. I ought to go home.

Okay. I'll walk you there. But rudeus.

I'll see you later. Make sure you get some rest today.

Time for a break. I think I earned it.

I feel like I can sleep soundly for the first time in ages.

Lya. Lya.