Strange Appearances

The more time I spend with Elizabeth, the more intrigued I am by her. She's an incredible warrior, and much stronger than I am at this moment, but it's like she's missing certain key pieces on how to act and interact. For instance, she seems to see no problem with being naked around those of the opposite gender. Primarily me. It could be because I look like a kid to her, but I doubt it.

It's almost like her mind is that of an innocent child, albeit a very powerful one. She can cook, but she always adds way too many spices, or way too few. And when she cuts vegetables, they're always completely uneven in size, like it's the first time she's doing it.

We've been travelling together for about 4 days now. Having finally left the confines of the forest, we head towards the nearby town of Elsvaert. As we cross over the top of a hill, Elizabeth pauses and speaks to me.

"Down there."

She points down into the grassy meadow in the valley beneath us. I sense it, too. Monsters. I count 4 from the mana, but they're not particularly strong. Elizabeth has been letting me kill weaker monsters as a part of my training.

"I can take them," I say.

She nods, her face blank as ever, and I proceed down the side of the hill. As I go, I pull out the small metal dagger that Elizabeth lent me. It's not infused with magic, which is unfortunate, but it has been serving me well. Closing in on the bottom of the hill, I get a visual on the monsters.

It seems I was partially right. There are 4, but one of them isn't a monster.

3 of the creatures appear to be goblins. They are everything that elves aren't. Stupid, ugly and gross in both looks and personality. The only similarity to elves is the pointy ears. They're wielding some rusty swords, which they've probably stolen from humans. I look to the other creature in the valley.

Well, "creature" may be a bit rude.

It's an elf. Hence the comparison.

It's a very handsome young-looking man with blonde hair and pointed ears, wearing a green cloak with leather armor underneath. If the elves here are anything like the ones like the emissaries I met as Number 2, this man is probably a few hundred years old. He seems to be holding his own against the 3 goblins. Not bad, considering all he has to fight with is a wooden pole.

He smacks one of the goblins on the head, causing it to jump backwards with a raspy groan of pain. Another one leaps for his lower leg.

Apparently forgetting the rusted sword in its hands, it bites down on his Achilles tendon. He gives a sharp yell of pain and tries to hit the goblin off his leg with the pole.

"Do you need help?" I ask plainly.

"Argh, what- who?"

He seems startled by my appearance. Or maybe it's just the goblin gnawing at his leg.

"Oh, yes! Please, kid, help me get these things off of me!"

Was the "kid" really necessary? Aren't you in pain?

Well, no matter.

The goblin he hit in the head spins around to face me. Using magic would still be a bad idea for me, but I have always been excellent with weapons. The gods must have decided that my muscle memory was important enough to keep it through all 1600 years of my life. Maybe that's how they pick who to reincarnate me as, since my proportions have remained mostly the same.

The goblin jumps directly at my face. They're even stupider than I remember. This one forgot about its sword, too. I duck slightly to the side and stab my dagger directly into its belly. The monster hits the ground with a lifeless thump. I take a swipe at the second goblin, still facing the elf, apparently oblivious to my presence.

Two down.

The last goblin is hanging on tight to the man's leg. He raises his staff and knocks the goblin directly in the head with surprising force. The goblin's skull makes a crunching noise as the creature falls off of the elf's leg.

It's an uncomfortable noise. For a moment, I'm back in front of the greater monster, crunching down on the barrier in front of me.

"Haaa"

The elf falls backwards to rest on the ground with a sigh. His leg is bleeding a bit, but goblin teeth can't go very deep. he should live.

"Thanks, kid. I owe you one."

You don't say.

I can feel Elizabeth's mana getting closer behind me.

"Why were you trying to fight 3 goblins with a stick?" she asks with a blank face. "Are you stupid?"

For some reason, I feel like chuckling, though I don't do it. I think I'm starting to warm up to this woman.

"Huh? N-no, of course not! I was just on my way to Elsvaert and I got ambushed out of nowhere. Seriously, not a single monster for the entire trek through the forest and then, suddenly, POOF! Goblins! I've never seen anything like it."

Poof? Hold on. A thought strikes me. An impossible thought, but then again...

"Are you saying that you *saw* the goblins spawn?" I ask.

"Exactly! One moment there were grass plains in all directions and the next there were goblins right in front of me."

That isn't possible. It's a well known fact that monsters never appear in the presence of intelligent living creatures. It's been that way for every reincarnation so far, and I even remember reading about it in a book back in the mansion. It shouldn't be possible. It shouldn't be. But there is something weird about this world. It's almost the same as the others, but different in all the wrong ways. Even the people living here seem aware of just how off it is.

I must've been silent for too long, because Elizabeth steps in to continue the conversation.

"It's only a few hours walk to Elsvaert. Do you want to come with us?"

"Oh, yes, please, I would really appreciate that. The Gods know what might happen if more of those monsters show up on my way there."

"My name is Elizabeth, and this is Sebastian."

"I am Vale Synistra."

"Nice to meet you, Vale."

"Nice to meet you," I say, following Elizabeth's lead.

"Ah, even nicer for me to meet you. You have truly saved my life."

Yeah.

There's a lot of life-saving going around right now.