"People were disappearing? I mean this is the Feeorin forest so I guess its not that unusual." She commented, "Still pretty fucked up…"

She had little to do with all of this defeating kelpies and saving people. The girl knew she was many things but a hero was not one of them. Being a hero meant having some level of strength. Today had shown once more how pathetically weak she was. The stranger seemed to be aware of the kelpie and had some level of experience with creatures like them. The Feeorin forest was filled to the brim with monsters and creatures, a field day for any monster hunters. Dala looked at Natsumi with surprise when she mentioned a job. 

"Sure. But if I end up dead I swear I'll haunt you." The girl said half jokingly. 

The coin was fine but the food was more important. Normally she could afford some decent food but there weren't any shops or taverns nearby. As for the death, everything she did could end up in her dying. Simply walking down the street on her own could result in death. Anybody and any creature could kill her easily, she wasn't going to pretend otherwise. She had been practicing in the sword but she still knew she wasn't anything in comparison to other fighters. 

"So what's the plan?" She asked, "And what do I call you?" 

Natsumi: (regards Dala through the cold visage of her mask) You can call me Fox; and you’ll be fine so long as you can swim. (walks to the edge of the water while she explains the job) Long story short, part of my contract has a stipulation for extra payment based on the number of victims I can confirm. I’ll give you a 40% cut of those fees if you dive down there and fish out whatever keepsakes you can from those bodies. (takes a runed stone from inside her coat pocket and tosses it on the ground to magically form a large campfire with wooden benches) That should net you about 64 silver by the end of the day. While you’re diving, I’ll also make sure to get you a meal. It’s almost lunch time anyway.

{Natsumi sits on one of the benches and pulls out a list of 18 names. They are the names of everyone who went missing, and she shows them to Dala.}

Natsumi: Do we have a deal?

As the stranger, Fox began explaining the task at hand her eyes grew serious as she thought of the people who had gone missing. A trinket to their families would probably be the closest thing these people would get to a proper burial. Dala listened to the awards Fox was offering but she had already accepted the deal in her mind. However, the girl smiled at the idea of getting a free meal.

"Deal." Dala agreed with excited eyes.

She threw off her shoes and dove into the water, creating a massive splash. The young girl kicked her feet and opened her eyes to let them adjust underwater. The hardest part about diving was never the swimming. It was holding the breath that gave most trouble. As she inched closer to the bodies at the bottom of the lake, she spotted fish swimming around and an old piece of rope stuck around a rock. With a bit of nudging, she managed to free the rope and swam back to the surface to take another breath. The girl dove back under and swam towards one of the first bodies. Their clothes were ruined and every piece of flesh had already been stripped away before they arrived.

But she did manage to snatch a broken pocket watch that happened to be laying next to one of the corpses. The initials were on the back so the girl considered this a valuable keepsake. Dala then tied one end of the rope to a rock below and returned to the surface for air. For the rest of them, she used the rope to quickly pull her way to the bottom instead of wasting breath or energy swimming. By the end of it, she managed to collect seventeen keepsakes. Some were personal items like toys and painted photos while others were remaining clothes or jewelry. One even had a golden tooth which she managed to yank from the damaged skull.

Eventually, she swam her way back to the edge of the lake with a collection of items. The eighteenth body was there but it had been the first. The only thing that remained from that corpse was the half-buried bones in the sand. The sun was still high in the sky and white fluffy clouds dotted the sky. Dala knew she would be sore tomorrow from all that swimming and pulling but it would be worth it if she could get some silver and free food.

"Found most of it." Dala said, "There was an eighteenth corpse but it was stripped bare. I could try to go down there and break off a finger bone if you want but there wasn't anything else."

The girl hopped on a wooden bench and began drying herself off by the fire.

For as much as I thought Dala would be little more than an urchin of dubious reliability when I gave her that job, she acquitted herself quite well with it. I watched her for a time, counting each round trip she made into the lake while warming myself by the fire. I was reasonably confident she wouldn’t drown by the 5th, allowing me time to go get our food.

Up north in Baltil, there was a tiny restaurant that I had taken a recent interest in. The proprietor specialized in making portable food that was both delicious and reminded me of home. He had come to know me as a regular, and wasn’t all that surprised when I dropped in an order slip via gate magic. Generally speaking, my favorite orders from him took about 30 minutes to prepare, so I waited about that long before teleporting over to pay in person.

“Thanks for your business,” he shouted over the din of the midday market, to which I responded with a silently raised, open hand. Dala was just finishing up her task when I teleported back from that establishment with hot food in hand, and it wasn’t much longer before she finally brought back the fruits of her labor.

“Well done.” The girl had found 17 trinkets in total, and I verified each and every one based on what I knew about the victims. They were all there, meaning that the 18th corpse my little helper had found was most likely the first victim. “Tragic,” I said to no one in particular - as if my mental dialogue could be heard by anyone present. The part I actually meant to say only came after I reached into the takeaway bag that I had brought back with me.

“No, that won’t be necessary,” I said while grabbing a box from within and offering it to Dala. “Lunch? I ordered some pork buns and fried rice for you. There are utensils inside too so try not to use your hands?” After my assistant had taken the box from me, I returned to my seat and got my own order out. “We can talk more business after you eat. In the meantime, no need to worry about that body down there; especially, if it doesn’t have a trinket.”

Fortunately, her new employer was not interested in the bones of the dead. If she was, Dala would have to jump back in and figure out how to break a bone before she ran out of breath. The second thing the young girl noticed was the box emanating a delicious scent. Her eyes widened and just from the aroma she was already drooling. The second the box was offered, she snatched it and started tearing the box open.

She grabbed the first pork bun and was about to eat it with her hands when Natsumi mentioned proper utensils. Dala slowly put the pork bun down and picked up a fork. Then she tore into the bun like a starved racoon using her fork. The child ate like she was a whirlpool, sucking in the dinner like it was about to vanish at any second. She didn't even bother speaking throughout her meal as her mouth was too busy chomping down on delicious fried rice. Soon the food was gone, and the girl gave out a loud burp. 

"Scuse me." Dala said quickly, "That was delicious!"

For a few moments the girl was happy. Then came the stomach ache from eating all that food so quickly. Unfortunately, fast eaters were rarely rewarded in this world. Still Dala was able to keep a neutral expression and pretend she couldn't hear the grumbling of her upset stomach. A distraction. That was always the cure for her upset stomachs after eating. She stood up and looked at Natsumi with an eager expression. 

"So what's next? Killing another monster or somethin?" She asked. 

Dala had a feeling this "Fox" person wasn't an ordinary monster hunter. Most monster hunters weren't able to fight creatures that strong with that type of speed. Then there was the aura of mystery surrounding the individual. Still, Dala was raised to have supposed manners and knew better than to ask too many personal questions. That was how you ended up dead in a ditch. Dala had little fondness for death or for ditches, so she would do her best avoid it. Still the girl was interested in getting more food and more jobs. 

My company wasted no time in consuming her meal once I had given it to her. In fact, she was more like a racehorse than a human child from my observations, scarfing down her food in a way that made even raccoons appear to have better table manners. It was quite the antithesis to my own dining habits as we sat by the fire, but she paid for her eagerness in the end. While I was still quietly munching on some almond chicken with a half-lifted mask, Dala was suffering from indigestion and trying to talk over her irritated stomach.

“So what’s next? Killing another monster or somethin” she asked? I stopped eating for a moment and cleaned my mouth with the included cloth before looking in her general direction.

“Now I finish my food and we part ways,” I told her straightly. “I don’t typically work with other people, kid. Too much trouble, and my trust does not come easily. If we meet again someday, I might hire you again; but I’m not looking for another partner.” Taking another bite of my food, I continued. “Don’t worry about your payment. I have enough silver on me to make due on my promises. But once coin changes hands, I’m gone.”

There wasn’t much food left in my box by then. A few more bites and I was done, but while I was polishing off the rest of my lunch my assistant displayed an ethereal script over my eye.

‘Present owed to Dala,’ that message said, alongside details of a previous encounter that Lucina had had with the girl in question. Apparently sometime in the past my daughter had promised her a dress fit for a princess; but she had never had the opportunity to give her the present in person. Thankfully, the coordinates attached to her note meant I could rectify that mistake.

So I did. Just after I put down my empty box and utensils, I reached behind my back and summoned the items in question: a pouch with payment and a dress sewed by Nea. I presented them both to Dala for her perusal.

“One more thing,” I said while lowering my mask to its normal position. “You met a Lucina Yamauchi in the past, did you not? She promised you a dress during the war with Azathoth.” The dress in question was neatly contained within a bag so that it would not be stained by the bog, and I offered it alongside a money pouch to the child in front of me. “Take it, along with the money I promised.”

"Fair enough." Dala said.

The fox lady was blunt and to the point, they would part ways here. Dala didn't mind since it made it easier to know where the money was coming from. Better to have someone be direct then to lead her on and dance around the issue. The child waited patiently until the fox lady was done with her food, taking a moment to recover from her own digestion issues. Dala began packing up everything into her backpack, getting ready for the next trip to get more money and more food. 

Suddenly, the fox lady reached behind her back and magically summoned or created, Dala couldn't tell, and presented them both to Dala. The young girl was confused for a moment, wondering why the fox lady would be handing her the items. Then the fox lady mentioned Lucina Yamauchi and the girl's eyes widened with realization. It had been a while and for a moment the girl had forgotten all about it. But now she remembered. She carefully took the bag and set it down on her lap. Reaching into the bag, she gently pulled out the dress, high enough to avoid the bog or the ground. The dress was beautiful. 

To anybody else, a dress wouldn't have much meaning. Dala gazed at the silk pink gown made perfectly in every way with eyes starting to water. The fact that Lucina actually remembered her and followed through with her wish… was unfamiliar to the girl. A smile appeared on the girls face as she carefully put the dress back into bag. The girl clutched the bag to her chest as she squealed with glee. 

"This is perfect! Please tell Lucina thank you!" She said, stopping herself from jumping up and down in delight, "I'll take good care of it. Promise!"

The money was just a bonus but the dress was a treasure. The girl still took the money of course but she put it in her bag while still holding the bag with the dress close. 

Dala’s barely contained glee was suffocating. She practically wept with joy when I handed her the piece; clearly more taken with the piece of fabric than I was. It was a treasure beyond gold for her, and that was something I did not wish to partake in. Not now, at least.

I was there for distraction; not hollow merriment and sentimentality. Last thing I needed was another “friend” that would one day die and leave me behind, so, when Dala asked me to pass on her words to my daughter, I gave a weak refusal.

“If I remember the next time I see her, sure; but it would be better for you to stay alive long enough to tell her yourself.” I packed up the dishes from our meal afterward, and sent them off to the restaurant by portal. After that, I wrapped up the belongings from the deceased in a sack of cloth and prepared to journey back to town with my trophy in tow.

“Anyway, it’s time I get going before this trophy smells even worse,” I said while commanding my firestone back to my hand, “Watch your bum.” Just as quickly as it had appeared, the camp dispersed. The benches sunk back into the bog and the fire snuffed itself out. All that remained was a tiny blue pebble in the center of my palm, one that I pretended to place back in a chest pocket while I really deposited the thing back into my magical vault.

That was the last of my preparations to leave. I turned from Dala back toward the outskirts of the village, and trudged away with a single hand raised limply over my head.

“And goodbye, Dala of the lake.”

Dala was about to offer to help clean up the camp but Fox Lady was already wrapping up the deceased in a sack of cloth. With her dress safely packed away, she stood and prepared herself for the journey ahead. Although she wasn't able to find that stupid star necklace, she still got paid in the end and knew exactly where she needed to go next. Her little dragon friend Charise, who had been napping in a tree somewhere, flew to her shoulder. Dala jumped to her feet when the campfire site was pulled away by the Fox Lady into a magical stone. If only Dala had a stone like that! She would have to see if she could find one on the markets. Or maybe a temple? The Fox Lady, stoic as ever, turned away from Dala with a single wave bye. 

"Bye Fox Lady!" Dala said, trying to be just as stoic but failing with that big smile on her face. 

Soon the fox lady vanished and Dala turned to her dragon friend. They had money and no longer needed that stupid star necklace. In fact, Dala had a much better idea. The noble lady had been pretty rude to all the adventurers they sent out and even allowed a child to participate, without any supervision. With the money concern handled, the girl went back to her schemes. 

"Hey Charise. Lets go hunt some rats. We could give a gift to that noblewoman." She said with a mischievous smile. 

Her little dragon squealed in delight at that idea. Together they ran off into the bog on a rat hunt, continuing their adventures.