Duke Alaric's mansion was plunged in a calm so deep it felt insulting to Emi. Three days had passed. Three days of dust settling, tea served in fine porcelain, Alex lounging in armchairs as if he'd never seen a demon in his life. For her, it was torture disguised as peace.
"This is unbearable!" she declared, rapping her knuckles on the salon table. "We need action! Adventure! Something other than watching my imaginary sword rust!"
Meanwhile, in the mansion's deepest recess, Alex had found earthly paradise: the ducal spa. He was lying face down on a heated marble slab, his muscles—tight from months of being dragged, beaten, and used as a magical battery—finally yielding under the expert fingers kneading his back. A sigh of pure ecstasy escaped his lips.
This… this is the life. No portals, no hordes, no girls fighting…
BANG!
The door burst open.
"ADVENTURE TIME!" Emi's shrill voice announced, slicing through the atmosphere like a knife.
Alex didn't open his eyes. He just murmured:
"I knew it. I curse it, but I knew it."
"And what are you doing here?" Emi's voice changed, becoming sharp and suspicious.
Alex opened one eye. Emi was planted in the doorway, arms crossed, looking not at him, but at who was giving him the massage.
Aria. With absolute concentration, her fingers worked Alex's shoulders. But it wasn't the professional expression of a therapist. She had a slightly glassy look in her eyes, a tender smile, and little hearts that seemed to float around her head. She looked like she was in a low-quality romantic drama, and Alex was the oblivious protagonist.
"I'm… helping Alex relax," Aria said, still smiling. "Heroes need care too, you know?"
"I'm a heroine too and nobody gives me massages!" Emi grumbled, though the real problem wasn't the lack of a massage.
Alex sat up, covering himself with a towel. Paradise had lasted exactly seven minutes.
"Alright, alright. Adventure. Let's go on an adventure. But no fights. Understood?"
Aria jumped off the slab, her eyes shining.
"Great! Should I wear light armor or my explorer dress? Oh! Do we bring a picnic?"
"You're not coming," Emi said flatly.
"Of course I am!" Aria retorted with a triumphant smile. "My father already gave his permission. Where Alex goes, I go. It's a ducal order."
Emi looked at Alex with eyes that said "Do something!". Alex ran a hand over his face. Peace had been a brief, cruel dream.
"If you come, Aria, it's under my conditions: obedience and teamwork. No dramas."
They both nodded, one with annoyance, the other with barely contained joy. As Aria ran to her room to prepare, Duke Alaric handed her an ancient pendant with a dull violet stone.
"From your mother. It will protect you, little one."
---
The journey to the town was… revealing. Alex, trying to distract from the tension, asked Aria:
"What about your magic? We've never really seen it."
Aria's face lit up.
"It's fascinating! It's called Umbral Summoning. My violet aura lets me summon shadow spirits. They're like… useful ghosts. They can spy, attack, hold things…" Her enthusiasm waned a bit. "But they're a bit… creepy. They wouldn't hurt me, but their faces… empty. That's why I hardly use them."
Alex looked at her with genuine interest. A unique power, with a psychological cost.
"You shouldn't fear what obeys you. It's an incredible gift."
Aria gave him a shy smile, and then, with alarming naturalness, grabbed his arm.
"So… would you protect me if one looks too ugly and scares me?"
SWAT! Emi interposed herself, separating Alex's arm from Aria's.
"Stop exaggerating! It's not a romantic stroll!"
"I can also make contracts with rare creatures," Aria added, ignoring Emi and looking at Alex. "Not just anyone can do that."
Wow, Alex thought, a familiar weight in his stomach. She has unique summons and beast pacts. Emi controls pure light. And I… optimize. Definitely the supporting character handbook.
---
The Adventurer's Guild was exactly as Aria had dreamed from her novels: dark, gloomy, with the stale smell of ale, sweat, and old parchment. She acted like a child in a candy shop.
"Look! The beams are worm-eaten! So authentic! And that man with the scar… looks like a renegade pirate! It's so… ATMOSPHERIC!"
Nearby adventurers frowned, unsure whether to feel flattered or insulted. Emi was on the verge of an aneurysm.
"Shut up and let me choose a serious mission."
But Aria had already pounced on the job board.
"There are so many! Retrieve a magical cat! Clean a farm of slimes! This is wonderful!"
"Aria! You don't choose like that!" Emi huffed.
Alex, trying to mediate, intervened.
"Since it's your first time… you choose, Aria. Something… simple."
The idea was clear: let her pick the cat or slime mission. Something harmless.
Aria studied each parchment with fervor. And then, her eyes settled on one. She tore it off with a glow of pure excitement.
"This one! This one is perfect!"
Emi read over her shoulder. "Wanted: The Man-Huntress. A dangerous woman stalks the Forest of White Whispers. Lures men with deception to rob and murder them. Exact whereabouts unknown. Reward: 500 gold coins."
"Sounds… straightforward," said Emi with relief. "We can handle that."
But Alex, who had read the fine print and attached reports, paled.
"Wait." He took the parchment. "It says more here… 'The target shows a pathological aversion to the male gender, but an obsessive attraction to young, fair-haired women. Male victims found… mutilated. Approaching without a female lure is suicide.'"
An uncomfortable silence fell over them. Aria blinked, processing the information.
"Oh… So… she hates men?" she asked, her enthusiasm intact but now tinged with morbid curiosity. "How… interesting!"
"INTERESTING?!" Emi exploded. "It says she MUTILATES them, Aria!"
"But she's attracted to women," Aria reasoned with twisted logic. "I have fair hair. I could be the perfect lure! And you, Emi, could be my bodyguard!"
Alex felt the world tilt. His "simple mission" plan had mutated into a sadistic trap with gender preferences.
"Aria… this isn't a game. This woman is a murderer."
"That's why it's a real adventure!" Aria exclaimed, already running to the registration counter. "I'll take it!"
The receptionist, a man with a seen-it-all face, looked at her, then at Alex, and arched an eyebrow.
"Sure, miss? This is one of the… special ones."
"Totally sure!" Aria signed with a flourish.
As they left the guild, contract in hand, the reality of the matter settled in. Emi walked in silence, calculating the risks. Alex felt a knot of worry in his stomach. They'd faced demons, but this was different. This was human. And it had perverse rules.
Aria, on the other hand, hummed happily, already imagining herself as the heroine who would trick the villainess.
"Don't worry," she said with a smile that didn't grasp the gravity. "It'll be fun! Besides, I have Alex to protect me if anything goes wrong… right, Alex?"
He didn't answer. He looked at the forest in the distance, where the trees seemed gloomy.