Arashi's Tale of Travel and Intrigue [Job]

Job Information:

Where exactly was Yakuroro? Arashi sat silently, hugging her knees as she thought about it. He said he was going to go talk to someone, right? Who exactly could he be speaking to? She leaned back, resting against the rock. He told her to wait here for him… but she was supposed to be his body guard. Who would be able to do any guarding from so far away? It didn’t make any sense! Was he really thinking of her as a bodyguard? Maybe he was just pitying her… or setting her up for something. No! Arashi shook her head. Yakuroro wasn’t like that, was he…?

Before she could even begin to worry, the sound of marching caught her ears. They were still in Zou… so that probably meant some form of soldiers, right? Arashi pressed herself against the rock as she crouched, peeking out to the road not too far off. Why were they out here? The troupe marching along the dirt path was made up of four armed guards and a small wagon with bars on the windows. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of that. It was a prisoner of the Zou Empire. That made Arashi instantly want to set them free no matter the crime. An enemy of Zou was her friend.

So, crouching, Arashi waited for them to pass her some. All the guards were facing up, clustered around the small carriage. Slowly, she crept behind them, keeping to the overgrown grass that flourished outside of the path. In her hand, she clutched several small marbles, preparing herself. When she was close enough, Arashi threw five small marbles towards the carriage, using Shot Three. Two flew over the top of the carriage, landing in front of it near the soldiers guarding the horse. Three rolled under the carriage, landing near the rear guard. Small clouds of smog would fill the air, causing a smokescreen to appear around the men as they began to panic. They shuffled around, trying to find the source of the smoke. However, soon they realized that something was wrong. Each of them found that one of their legs wouldn’t quite move.

Arashi took this chance to pull out more marbles. The soldiers, while trained in basic combat, were clearly still somewhat inexperienced. From her knowledge of Zou tactics, she figured they sent weaker soldiers because of how far into Zou territory they were in, but even then, if this was prisoner that needed guards to begin with, more trained soldiers wouldn’t be far behind. So, Arashi took this chance to take out the inexperienced soldiers while she could. They went down easily. A well-aimed marble shot was all it took to take them down. All in all, it took her four normal attacks to put them down for the moment. Each shot was aimed for various weak points, such as the temple and neck.

Approaching the carriage, Arashi held one of her specialty marbles tightly. She approached the barred window, stepping onto its sill to peer inside. Instead of a hardened criminal… Arashi found herself staring at a boy no older than five. His had light blond hair and large blue eyes. Why was this child being transported as prisoner? Before she could even digest this development, the sound of footsteps reached her ear. Darn! The boy watched her, eyes wide with hope as she began to pick at the lock. After several moments, the door swung open, and Arashi grabbed the boy by the hand and took off in a dash. She could see the soldiers behind her now, several dozen meters away. They had noticed the carriage and the damage Arashi did.

Damnit! There really wasn’t anywhere for them to go… However, as she worried about where to go, the boy pulled on her hand, pointing towards a cluster of trees. Arashi knew the trees wouldn’t hide them well, but she followed the boy anyway. There was a strange confidence in the boy’s actions. Soon, Arashi saw that the trees did hide something indeed- a cliff with a river at the end. Standing at the edge, she glanced down, gulping. Was the boy telling her to jump in!? Before she could even open her mouth to ask, the little boy jumped himself! What!? Arashi dove down after him without a second thought. What kind of little kid would jump into a river!? She had to help him!

Spoiler: