Chapter 2.5 - ???
(???Male) "So far so good. At least I wanna say if you ignore that we've been attacked three times and we are not even past our first night in this damned forest!"
The man speaking is rugged in appearance, with brown hair and eyes, and wearing scale mail with a bastard sword on his back as he rides a horse with a simple leather saddle and barding, contrasting with the warrior on them.
(???Female) "Oh quiet already! Seriously all you do is complain when we're on a job even if you picked it out, which I may remind you, you did for this job!"
The woman speaking now is slightly shorter than the man with her deep blonde hair done up in a bun, exposing her pointed ears that mark her as an elf, and her armor is rather one sided as if to compensate for weight with a bow sling over her shoulder and a quiver of many arrow types at the ready.
(???Male) "Yeah yeah I know, still just wondering why the hell we are off the set trail, in the Maoe of all things..."
(???Female) "Beats me, lets ask the boss! Heyya boss! Why are we so far from the trail, I know we have no wagons and all, but still?"
(???Boss) "'Cause the cargo is precious, while I am confident in the two of you after that rock golem I wanna make sure no thieves get any ideas in the first place! Remember that our contract is payment after we've delivered to the buyer, if it gets nicked I don't get paid, and I don't pay you by extension should it happen."
The final person there is a slightly heavier set man, the calluses on his hands suggest that he worked hard with them, with clothes that would look right at home in a store.
(???Female) "Right right, heard it clear the first time about the contract, it's just slower and dangerous is all. We're not exactly racking up bonus pay since we gotta keep moving and can't dismantle our kills. Would you be wi--"
(???Male) "Wait! Look there!" He points at a few trees nearby that have their upper branches broken as if something fell or landed between them. "That's not normal, was it an aerial beast?"
(???Female) "The area doesn't seem damaged enough for a dragon-type, not even a drake is small enough to avoid damaging the foliage. Chimeras or gryphons would have left territory marks... And the longgrass over there seems harvested?"
She seems to be very deep in thought, and troubled.
(???Male) "Why the question?"
(???Female) "Because there are footprints, mana residue, and it looks like whoever it was headed deeper in the woods... Sorry boss, guild regulation states we need to pitch a temporary camp and search for anyone here for a day. We can't leave people in the Maoe Great Forest willing or otherwise for everyone's safety, if we can't find them after 3 days we'll move on and assume the forest claimed the person."
(???Boss) "Ugh... damned guild rules, fine but since this stop is for your guild y'all pitch the camp, I'm gonna make food."
(???Male) "...understood, the guild will also reimburse you for complying and delaying your trip, so please rest easy."
(???Boss) "I'll do just that then."
After finishing the basics for a temporary campsite the two adventurers start taking a closer look at the branches scattered everywhere and the disturbed earth.
(???Male) "Okay spill it, your ears always twitch like that when there's more to the story."
(???Female) "Ah, dammit I need to break that habit... Thing is those tracks... they were three days old already, but more than that, I know the tracks of my kin at a glance. These are without a doubt elf feet."
(???Male) "Heh, foot-fetishist."
(???Female) "S-Shutup! I don't get on you for being an ass man!"
(???Male) "That's cause it wouldn't deny it one bit, I love nice butts!"
(???Female) "Haaah, how did I ever get stuck with you..."
