A Salamander, but Mighty

POV: Tamara

Luchael was right: in the afternoon of the following day, the caravan reached a tiny and cozy village built on the side of the mountains. It counted no more than thirty houses made with dark wood and grey, cubic stones, with lush green pine trees all around them that made Tamara think of places like Asturias, Scotland or Tyrol.

It was so pleasant, Tamara would have seen herself with a house and a cat in a place like that, but she didn’t have either a house or a cat, heck, she didn’t even have a human body to begin with.

“Here we’re, end of the road for us,” one of the travelers that was in the same wagon as Tamara’s said, he was smiling widely with an arm wrapped around what Tamara assumed to be his wife.

Umpf!!

Luchael pressed a hand over the backpack, making harder for Tamara to see outside in the effort of hiding her better. “Do you live here or are you moving in?”

“Moving in,” the traveler exchanged a look with his presumed wife, “we know that the place has some issues, but we would like to grow our family away from big centers… and the biggest dungeons.”

“Especially those,” his supposed wife interjected. Tamara couldn’t see her clearly, but she seemed saddened by some thought, “I witnessed a dungeon outbreak when I was still a young girl and I’ve grown up hating be around them.”

“A dungeon outbreak? Really?” Helen’s voice sounded curious, “it doesn’t happen that often! Especially in big cities and powerful dungeons! What happened? Would you like to tell us about it?”

Tamara couldn’t help but wonder how a baby would feel in these situation if they were born with the brain of an adult. In the situation she found herself at the moment, she wasn’t all that different: she had the full capacity of an adult, but her ‘normal’ size was that of a baby and her ability to speak wasn’t all that different, she was forced to limit herself to just listen without any shadow of chance of being able to investigate more the information she received.

Why is people building towns around the dungeons if the monster of the dungeons can go on a rampage and flood outside of them? Tamara thought with a silent sigh. If only I knew more than a few letters…

Luchael taught her the first three letters of the Trade Alphabet the day before: it didn’t seem that hard to learn, the letters clearly resembled the silhouettes of everyday objects, the language didn’t develop on its own but was crafted in a way that everyone, even beyond the natural borders of the Eastern Continent, could quickly understand it. One of the first thing the leporan taught her about the Trade Alphabet is that it was called ‘Alphabet’ instead of ‘Language’ because it didn’t have a spoken form. It was some sort of rebus, good enough to convey simple sentences like directions, cost of goods or emergencies.

“Yeah, it happened over ten years ago, I can talk about it without shaking,” the woman displayed a faint smile, “it was the C- dungeon of Barkenhem, the Pillars of the Deep.”

Tamara felt Luchael leaning forward.

“There have been problems between the Adventurers’ Guild and the local nobles over the Pillars of the Deep, the nobles wanted to have exclusive access to it. The Adventurers’ Guild wrote to the king, but in the meantime the nobles of the city didn’t allow them to delve,” the young woman intertwined her fingers.

“Stupid morons,” Helen said with barred teeth and in a low voice, as if there could be someone in the wagon that could be willing to report her lack of respect for the aristocracy. “And I suppose they weren’t enough to keep the dungeon cleared…”

“Oh no, they were enough,” The woman wrinkled her nose, “the dungeon break was caused on purpose.”

Tamara wasn’t surprised: she had only sparse informations, remnants of the time she read the books, and the nobles were a problem even there. And as usual, poor people pays the price for the greed of the powerful, she thought, maybe Nightmare Tyrant could be a force for good...ish?

Thinking about it, Gornowayl asked her to declare herself to be Nightmare Tyrant… maybe she could have done it in a sort of ‘benevolent dictator’ way? People had already decided to fear and hate her anyway, so why not try to at least NOT lose herself in the process?

She realized that she lost herself in thoughts only when the wagon stopped. “And you guys? What you did for the travelers captured by the bandits suggests that you aren’t a couple looking for some distant loving nest!” Exclaimed the man.

“Uh! N-no!” Helen said quickly, “we’re two courageous adventurers on a noble quest to protect the mountain villages from the wild monsters roaming the lands.”

“So you’re going to stay here for a while?” Asked the man.

Tamara felt the backpack moving and then the pressure of Luchael’s back against her tail, a little jolt later confirmed they jumped down the wagon.

“Yes, just the time to fix the problem with the monsters there and then we will move to the next village!” Luchael said, “and also the time we need to heal up and be ready for the next trek.”

“About this,” Helen intervened, “do you know if there’s an inn where we can stay?”

“There isn’t, there’s a tavern, but travelers and adventurers that pass in this area usually stay in the stable of a farmer that let people sleep in for two bronze leuns,” the man said, “we can bring you there, if you want!”

“Please, do!”

She listened calmly to their chat for the following five minutes until they reached their destination, “here. I and my wife slept there the first times we visited this place.”

“It’s… a bit worn out,” Helen murmured, “well! At least it’s a closed space and it has a roof!” She said, laughing gingerly.

“Don’t worry, it won’t fall on you while you’re sleeping!” A new voice said. To Tamara, it sounded rasp, old, “and by the looks of you, you both need some day of rest…”

“Y-yeah, we would like to stay here for at least a week,” Luchael replied, “here, two silver and eight bronze leuns for a full week!”

That was one of the good things that came out of my misadventures in Sleepy Swamp, she thought smugly, a whole week here will be more than enough to kill all the monsters in the area!

…

When did I get so accustomed to killing monsters? She argued in her head, I didn’t feel this way when I was in Sleepy Swamp dungeon…

“Is there someone that sell healing potions? Or even better, a [Healer]?” Asked the leporan.

“Here in Wadencap? Not a chance,” answered the old voice, “sometimes a merchant with those potions cames about, but it happens just once a month or two.”

“Very well, thank you,” Luchael sighed.

“And thanks to you, too!” Helen said to the couple.

“You’re welcome, I hope we’ll see you around these days!”

A few minutes later, the opening of the backpack was finally uncovered and she could see and walk outside: the stable she was in was, as Helen said, quite worn out. The roof displayed the sign of the passing of time, with some missing tiles that let rainfall come in in certain spots, the wooden planks that made up the walls were partially worm-eaten but still solid and good enough to keep the cold wind of the mountains – mostly – outside the building. The stable wasn’t being used to house animals and so the floor was quite clean even if it was still made of dirt, with beds made of hay arranged neatly.

“It seems we’ll sleep in the same room for now,” Helen teased jokingly, “don’t peek while I undress, uh!”

Luchael seemd taken aback, his long hare-like ears pricked up above his head, “I… I wouldn’t, ever!”

Tamara tried a chuckle, traveling with the templar was getting fun after the human girl started warming up to her.

Maybe becoming the nemesis of this world will not be that bad...