In the shade of the forest sanctuary

Memories were indeed what would construct one’s own personality and dictate how they would act toward people, what actions they would take in the world. As much could be surely figured out by anyone. Acquisition of memories and new information was constant and an inevitable for living beings. Every creature was always exposed to an immeasurable amount of information at all time from all their senses. And thanks to a personal portfolio that was part of every mind, most of that information would be filtered away and only the important would remain. It was funny for Leila to think that way. She was quite knowledgeable when it came to humans and their bodies, even minds.

As such, she knew that forgetting consumed much more actual energy than memorizing something. And yet, here she was with a lot of her memories simply missing. Or perhaps that idea in itself was wrong. Those memories were still there, but she just wasn’t able to access them right now. And yet, she didn’t really feel sad about it at all. Sure, at first she was extremely confused and scared because of her last memories being ones of her own death and ones where her dear friend was in deep trouble.

But once she had learned of what happened to her and her friend, everything was just fine. Honestly, the memories she had lost, whatever they were, weren’t essential it seemed. She still remembered most of her life and with those memories, shew as still able to be a good person and a good mage in the services of Golden Phoenix. And honestly, that was good enough for her. Yes, she was still very much curious as to what exactly she lived through that was forgotten… but she could go on living even without knowing, and that was the main point.

She would nod and place one of her hands on her chest where her heart lied. With a smile, she gazed right back at the dragon girl, as her words made Leila quite happy. “I appreciate your offer greatly. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea how to regain any of my lost memories as of right now. But if I do ever discover a way, I will make sure to ask you for help then!” Akeya was right though, as now was no time to dive into that. Her lost memories were a subject for another time, as they had an actual currently ongoing problem right now.

“I have discovered that in the amount of time I have forgotten, I was promoted from my Rising Star status to one of the Wizard Saints. My name has spread a fair bit, and I am known for my love of nature. Hopefully, that alone will be enough for others to believe our intentions. If now, I will do my best to convince anyone and everyone we might run into. And, well…” The silver-haired maiden suddenly turned her gaze to the side for a little bit as her cheeks seemingly took on a faint hint of rose red color.

In a second, she would look at Akeya again and grin like a really happy small child. “I have a lot of respect for dragons. Fell in love with them from the moment I first saw one, so it’s a great honor to be talking to you like this. Other animals might see you as a predator, but know that there are beings who have a lot of respect for you~.” Whatever reaction those words would create, Leila didn’t care much. She just kinda blurted it out without even properly meaning to. But those were her honest feelings. She adored dragons as species. Despite their flaws of arrogance.

In the end, the dragon female did not change her offer and still desired Leila Vergious to be her ally in this mission. That fact made the Eden’s caretaker pleased, to say the least, as she didn’t hold that much faith in her current state. If it was a mission, then she always assumed that powerful allies would be required. But if she was still wanted, then she had absolutely no reason to refuse at all! And the fact that it was currently beginning of the night didn’t bother the girl all too much either.

She had switched her sleeping cycle plenty of times during her career as a mage, especially when contracted to deal with a nocturnal beasts or thieves that would come out during the night. This would just be another one of those times. And if night time only made the dragon girl stronger, then all the better for them! Nodding to the request as a whole, she would extend her own hand to meet the dragon’s. “Let us go.” Her words were filled with confidence and determination to not hold her partner back in the least.

As the shadows embraced them, she would just close her eyes and instinctively squeeze the other female’s hand a little bit tighter. Leila was no stranger to spacial transportation magic, but it was always a little unusual for her body anyway. Still, the feeling of another’s hand and being so close by was very comforting. And soon enough, they would emerge and their destination. Once more gazing at the portals, the girl couldn’t help but sigh. She let go of Akeya’s hand, not wanting to invade her personal space too much if possible.

Tetsukazu was their destination if she recalled correctly. She found the portal soon enough, but then merely turned toward the dragon girl and waited. “You’re the one who accepted this contract, so maybe you should take the lead. I will make sure to follow right behind!” What she just said was half of the reason. The other half was that she tried to test how much dragon superiority this one had. Was she also someone who would always try to take the lead and lead others into actions? Even if she was, Leila had no problems with that at all. So for now, she just waited.

It was a bit strange to Leila, seeing someone who said that they wanted to help her regain something that she had lost in the past without actually knowing much about her. While the girl appeared very trusting on the outside and carefree or even ignorant of the many cruelties in this world, deep down she was actually a bit paranoid herself. She lived the life of an endless wanderer and it was nothing simple. She had to doubt everyone at all times in order to prevent a possibly swift end to her journey simple because she trusted someone she should not have.

Of course, Akeya was not a human and followed principles much different to humans. But that did not mean there were no ‘evil’ dragons in the world. For what it was worth, there was a moment when Leila felt genuinely happy after hearing those words, just before she would mentally suppress the feeling and offer a smile in return. Whatever the real intention was here, she did not actually know how to regain her memories, so there was no way the dragon girl could help anyway, even if she really wanted to. And honestly, Leila’s problem ran much deeper than she herself yet realized.

She would also shake her head a bit soon after. “It is true that I’m a Wizard Saint. However, that does not always help. After all, it is a position given to people by the Magic Council that not everyone respects. And, well… the more extreme case of when this can be more unpleasant than pleasant is when those who think themselves mighty decide that they could fetch a good sum of jewels if they could capture or even kill a Wizard Saint. There is plenty of dark mages devoid of common sense who would readily attack me if I admitted my rank to them. Though I hope we won’t run into anyone like that.”

But since they were going to a different world, the likelihood of actually running into such barbaric enemies was quite small, to begin with. And the possibility of running into guardians of nature that came from Gaia itself was a little bit more pleasant to the silver-haired maiden. “A lot of magical creatures are actually perfectly capable of understanding human language, especially if our kind visits this world often enough. Even if that won’t be the case, I can thankfully translate most of the animal languages, so we should be good on the communications front.”

When it came down to a conversation about dragons, the girl withdrew slightly. While she was often happy to share her love for the creatures, she also didn’t want to come across as strange or obsessive. Such view could very easily impair the ability to work together later. For now, it was probably best that Akeya just knew of Leila’s love and respect for the greater species. But all of this actually made the girl wonder if Akeya had a fully grown dragon form she could enter, or if this humanoid mixture was the only physical appearance she had, period.

The walk to the portal was not long at all, which left Leila with little time for mental preparation. Not that she needed much of it in the first place, but it was always a journey beyond these grand portals. That much she learned from experience with them. “I might have a connection to nature, but that doesn’t really reflect in how I look. But alright, I’ll try to lead the way. Though, you should be prepared for anything regardless.” While they had some sort of plan, there was no guarantee that it would actually work out in their favor. And so, they would have to remain cautious at all times.

She watched as the dragon girl stepped through the warp gate and disappeared. A light sigh later, the Eden’s Caretaker would shrug to herself and walk forward herself. How many times was it now, that she moved through these unknown worlds? Too many to count. She was already used to the sensation of transportation and did not pay it any mind, soon finding herself in the vast jungle that seemed to be this world. A quick look around showed that Akeya was nowhere to be found until a few seconds later when she transported back with her magic. She certainly wasn’t losing any time, was she?

“Wakusei portals lead to the worlds that are pretty close to Earthland itself. That means it’s usually pretty likely to find similar time or weather here as there. I can’t really see that well in this dark… but I should be fine. The jungle will lead me. I can hear it.” There were many different sounds in this place, but that wasn’t quite what she meant. Nature whispered to the mage and would let her know her surroundings. “Now… since you’re a dragon, any chance you could smell out where we’re supposed to go? I can’t feel anything nearby, so all I could do is head off in a random direction for now.”

That said, surely the poachers had some kind of path marked so that they would know where to head? Organized crime had it in the name, there had to be some organization to it all. The only problem was, nature would not quite warn Leila about things that were not part of it, so she could easily miss the marks, whatever they would be even if she was standing right in front of them. And that was not exactly the best. Worst case scenario, they would wander around long enough to find something, as there was definitely life in this area, that much she could feel still.

The topic of different worlds existing in certain areas of the universe as a whole was an extremely interesting topic to be discussed, but also probably one they should not delve into at the moment. Leila herself was not exactly an expert on these sorts of things, but she had traveled through the Wakusei portals enough times to be able to tell something about them to others that knew nothing at all. There was even a moment when she conducted some small-scale research on the warp gates and how exactly they link to different worlds and, apparently, planets in order to learn more about her own connection to different worlds.

After all, there were still the Gardens of Eden. And in that aspect, the girl must have been an actual expert on trans-dimensional warping along with the workings of time in different worlds. Why? Because she actually created a world different from Earthland itself. Granted, she was quite literally a different person when that happened, but that didn’t mean she had no memories of it. Kinda funny how she was missing a chunk of her recent memories but could recall what happened actual thousands of years ago from this point in time. The workings of her brain were something that still eluded her, it seemed.

In any case, she wasn’t even able to access Gardens of Eden right now anyway, her magic was sealed. It was honestly almost wrong to call Leila “connected to nature” as she was actually connected to the paradise gardens that simple mimicked nature of this world and thus formed a bond inside of her that could be recognized even in this place. But those thoughts were quickly getting out of hand, and this was not exactly a time for the girl to be created complex theories about her own being and how well it can exist within a world based only on the traits similar between two dimensions. Honestly, she probably should stop thinking about multi-verse as a whole for a bit.

“Even if it was just a simple coincidence that this place is after dark right now, it will help us all the same. Suppose I’ll be relying on you a bit more than I’d like…” She would then exclaim toward the dragon girl, following her statement with a somewhat nervous laugh. She was still plenty capable, but there was no questioning who was better off from those two in this specific situation. And Leila honestly hated the feeling of being powerless and having to rely on someone in almost every aspect imaginable. Especially after she managed to achieve all those great things by herself. Kinda felt like it was all for naught at the moment.

But her powers and memories would return to her one day, there was no doubt about that. So she could only stay positive and strong, focusing on the moment and how to deal with it without having to drag everyone down. Thankfully, she had a pretty good idea of how to do that in a place like this. As Akeya took the request of scouting out ahead, Leila would nod toward her in an agreement and look around when her companion was gone. A world that was covered in vegetation this thick… strangely, the girl did not recall ever visiting here. One would think it’d be the first world she’d take interest in.

But oh well, she always managed to get herself into a situation where she had little to no free time due to accepting far too many contracts for her own good. She was no a perfectionist, but she certainly acted like one from time to time. Taking but few steps away from the portal in order to fulfill her companion’s request in not wandering too far away, she’d crouch and place her bare palm on the ground. The grass her felt soft and there was plenty of it to feed any herbivore one could imagine. And due to the thick vegetation, it’d be difficult for any patrols to actively go through this place. Truly a paradise for poachers.

Perhaps she’d try to bring this issue up with the magic council, or at least the few individuals inside of it that were somewhat sane and actually cared for the well-being of the populace of the magical world. Something that could not be said for the main body of the council, unfortunately. Their actions and decisions always seemed somewhat questionable and she did not envy their place of power in the slightest. With a deep sigh, she would get back and stretch, looking around some more for the few minutes that Akeya was gone for. Thankfully she arrived with some positive news, even if the lead they got wasn’t anything too big.

As promised before, Leila took the lead, though the dragon girl seemed to follow pretty close behind. There was no telling how far they would have to travel before finding anything, which made the wolf girl assume a bit more relaxed stance as she moved forward. That said, she was not unprepared. Honestly, it was more of a bait than anything. She was quite experienced with exploring old tombs and other dangerous places where something hostile could jump out from behind literally every corner and stone. And as a little method to deal with bandits, she learned how to assume a seemingly defenseless stance to lure them out in order to quickly strike them down.

After all, there was a fair chance the poachers would take their chances to go after unfortunate travelers such as these two girls in order to extract them from any goods they could possess. Or even take them hostage for the slave markets, as that was apparently always bringing in the big bucks these days. For some reason, it seemed to be a rather common misconception among the bandits, the whole idea of overpowering anyone if you have enough numbers. Regardless, it would have saved them a lot of time if such thing truly did happen. But no such luck was bestowed on them as they ran into something else instead.

Akeya quickly stopped and the Garden’s Caretaker also noticed the presence up ahead. Though she was still pleasantly surprised by the gesture of a clawed hand resting on her shoulder. She would simply nod and crouch down while sneaking a little bit closer. The noise that was carried by the wind, along with the vibrations of the earth indicated that it was not humanoids ahead, but something that walks on all fours instead. And not just one, but a whole bunch of creatures that were moving together in order to apply the famous ‘power in numbers’ strategy. Or perhaps there was a different reason for that.

The dragon did not seem to return, at least not in the traditional way. She still managed to speak out to Leila, however, and that was plenty. Asking if they should try to approach them or avoid them entirely, the silver-haired girl would cup her chin with her long and pale fingers, thinking. Yes, she could try to get some information out of these vine-covered creatures as Akeya described them, but there was a lot of risks involved. If she were to anger several foes at once, a brawl would surely follow. And making excessive amounts of noise was the last thing they wanted to do while tracking bandits and poachers.

“Avoiding them would be probably the best course of action for now. We should- wait!” As she whispered back to the shadows, hoping that she was communicating with her companion right, she would notice something. A rustling in the leaves up above, on the other side of the pack ahead. It was some sort of masked presence that perfectly blended in and just now was the first moment it could be sensed. From that alone, it could be safely judged that it was some sort of predator. Even if Leila was in tune with nature, it’d be for the best if they avoided an actual hunter, especially a hungry one.

But just as the girl wanted to take few steps back and start moving around the field, she heard something even stranger. It was… music? Some sort of melody anyway. And whatever it was, it also carried magical energy with it. Leila herself could not feel being affected by it in any way, but there was something else she suddenly got worried about. Tossing stealth out the window for a brief moment, she would speed up forth while still crouched until she reached the pack of deer-like creatures. They were moving in a rather odd way, all somewhat wobbly and approaching a single spot.

Whatever this magical tune was, it was controlling the animals that heard it. And in an instant, Leila saw something reflect a bit of light in the crown of a nearby tree. With her judgment lagging behind, she was driven by instinct alone. In a single moment, she would leap out of the bush as sprint toward the glimmer of light, stopping in front one of the creatures and in a single motion, unsheathing the blade that was resting on her back. The one method of proper combat she had with most of her magic sealed away. But she did not slash at anything, no. She used it for defense, as a crossbow bold suddenly deflected from it and pushed Leila back.

The force behind that shot was actually so strong that it knocked the girl back, making her fall on her behind clumsily. “Guh…!” She could only hope that Akeya was able to follow what was going on and would strike as well. Whoever was hiding in those trees, they clearly were not friendly. And Leila suddenly had her own problems to deal with, as one of the animals got spooked and automatically went into a defensive mode as well. Even if magical, these beings were still feral and largely driven by instinct rather than calculated thoughts.

And because of that, it attacked. Or at least it tried it. The vines from its body would extend and try to impale the girl, but another green flash suddenly flew out of the bushes, from the same direction Leila leaped out of. A blur of green and pink… that was enough to tell the wolf girl what just happened. A rather strangely colored wolf appeared out of nowhere and got behind Leila and the deer, its growl making the creature back away quickly instead of following through with its attack. “Melon!” It was Leila’s companion wolf that followed her here, probably looking for its owner who was taking her sweet time returning home from the city she was just meant to visit for a short while.

The little green and pink pup was honestly amazing. Thanks to a magically formed bond between the two, Melon was able to track Leila even across even different worlds. And now, she arrived just in time to save its owner from harm. Speaking of which, Leila got up to her feet again as well, quickly looking back in the direction from which the bolt came. She was hoping that Akeya managed to get whoever it was in that moment, but couldn’t rightly confirm anything in this darkness and with so much going on. Even as nature itself whispered to her, there was just too much information to sift through in that short amount of time.

The only thing she knew for sure from all that just happened was that they finally found at least one of the poachers. No animal could fire a crossbow like that. And with Melon’s arrival, it also seemed that the other present creatures were rather reluctant to do anything, most of them trying to run away and not get involved in any shape or form. Something that played right into their plans, as Leila had no desire to fight the local wildlife and they would need space to fight t bandits anyway, if more were to show up. Or if the one from the trees were not down yet.

Dragons were always something amazing in Leila’s eyes. But it was combat where all things could shine in the greatest of lights, or bathe in the bloodiest of baths. While the silver-haired girl was getting back up on her own two feet, her enhanced senses coming in the form of wolf ears on top of her head could easily identify that something was happening in the trees nearby. A clash between two individuals that were both determined to get out of here alive and with their mission a success. It was also moments like these that the girl was most glad for a powerful ally. Especially with her magic still mostly gone.

Aside from a rather clear manipulation of shadows and her own body, Akeya didn’t actually show many of her skills yet. But that was something perfectly natural, as it was unwise to reveal your cards until the very end or as necessary. That said, Leila fully believed that her companion could take the enemy on without any trouble. And as she listened to the events nearby happening, she confirmed that she had placed her faith in the correct person. It also sounded quite clear that the dragoness wasn’t exactly going to hold back just to make sure the enemy remains with minimal injuries.

All that mattered was that the prey survives, so it can be taken to authorities that will pass a proper judgment. Well… Leila did not mind. While she herself always tried to hold back when fighting sentient opponents, she would never stop others from doing whatever they wanted. Everyone was their own person and they all had their own styles. So who was she to judge that based on her own beliefs? For now, she just prepared herself for any other possible incoming projectile. Though it quickly became apparent that there was no need for that. She could see it in the distance, between the trees.

Was that… Pied Piper?! She had heard of the female bandit few times in the past. Due to her close work with magic council and Rune Knights, Leila was quite familiar with the big names of the underworld. This one being one of them. Now the music they heard before made perfect sense. Not that she had an ability to really play her instrument and control the animals now. That said, she still had some energy left in her, and that was a bit troublesome. Though her attention was fully focused on Akeya, much like it was on Leila prior. And that was the last mistake she would make today. Probably…

Putting her blade back into its sheath, she would instead take the whole contraption. And with a swift movement, the sword in its metallic case bent and transformed into a bow. Arrows from pure magical energy were also easy enough to form. And at the moment Piper had the smallest chance to react, the girl would fire. And in no time at all, the arrow would stick itself in the enemy’s shoulder with ease. It was rather precisely aimed despite the darkness that was surrounding them. The feral senses Leila at least partially possessed were truly useful in these situations.

The pain caused by this, together with all the other injuries, was great enough for the bandit leader to drop her enchanted dagger. And that was the perfect moment for Akeya to strike again and finish the job. Since Leila had perfect faith in her companion to do just fine against an enemy who could barely move and no longer had any means of self-defense, she would transform the bow back into its original state and return it to her back. Looking around, pretty much all of the vine deer also ran away during the chaos, not wanting to have to do anything with this situation. She did not blame them.

Once all was done, she’d come closer and approach her partner. “This is a so-called Pied Piper. She is a fairly known face of the underworld, as she managed to slip by Rune Knights many times now. The fact you managed to catch her off-guard probably sealed our victory. She must be the leader of the gang that is causing trouble here, which is gonna make things much easier for us.” Looking around, the girl could not hear a thing, aside from noises generated by smaller critters and birds flying around. Nothing bigger was around anymore, though.

“If you cut off the head of an operation, the body will crumble. Or something like that. Without her and her magic to control the animals here, the rest of the bandits will fall apart. And lacking the power she has, Rune knights guarding the portal to this place will probably be enough to get them all once they try to return to Earthland.” Basically what the girl was saying to the dragoness right now was that their job was done, as they lucked out and managed to defeat the leader of the bandits with astonishing speed. It was rare for Leila to be done with her contract this fast.

But at least that meant Akeya would not have to waste any more of her time here, either. As it was her task to begin with, so it was probably best to end it as soon as possible for her sake, rather than Leila’s. Honestly, the silver-haired girl did not care much for how long they would spend here. She had little to do without her magic to help with jobs and such. Scratching the back of her head, she would just nervously laugh. “Well, I hope I was at least of some use to you. Sorry that majority of the fight had to be left for you alone. I curse myself for being so weak right now.”

All the girl wanted was to have her magic back, so she could take part in teamwork properly again. She somewhat adored Akeya and really wanted to help out as much as she could. And while she did provide a much-needed distraction for Piper, she felt as if she had not done enough to deserve being here at all. Perhaps she was just too harsh at herself, but that was just who she was at the moment. Little did she know that she would not have to wait too long to get her magic back after this job. But for now, she just waited for the dragon girl’s reaction, which hopefully would be more positive rather than negative.

Running over to where Akeya was finishing the job, Leila easily noticed how it was all going. And for a brief moment, she actually felt kinda bad for the Piper. After all, the beat-down she was receiving seemed pretty cruel. Especially with the deep cuts in her body and a good bit of choking at the end. That said, the girl also quickly realized how she, herself, was often finishing her enemies in the past. She would never take another’s life, that she swore to herself. But some opponents would require a bit of beating before they would finally give up or at least faint.

Broken bones or somewhat mangled bodies were awfully common, really. It was this fact that made her scratch the back of her head nervously. It has actually been a good while since the girl was in a situation where she would have to beat her opponent that bad, it completely slipped her mind. Something that only pointed to how her life has been going. No power in her grasp and missions that were more about talking than anything else. It made her yearn for what she used to have, what she used to do. Perhaps once she would regain her powers, she would try to return to that life of excitement behind every corner.

But now was no time to think about that, regretfully. Just one simple sigh would escape from the wolf girl before she smiled at Akeya again. “Yes, and the reward for her capture should be fairly generous as well. There is probably still a good amount of poachers around, but as you said, they will not know what to do without their leader. The animals could very well take care of them now. But if they don’t, I’ll make sure to hunt them down later on. Perhaps with you by my side again as well.” Grinning slightly, the girl tossed an obvious wish to work again at the dragon female.

She had already admitted to her love for dragons, but that was not the only reason why she would want to work with this specific individual again. Akeya was a bit of a mystery, but she seemed to be a decent person at the core. Becoming acquaintances, or perhaps even friends later down the line would be something that could only benefit them both, surely. What would happen then was yet to be decided, obviously, but Leila was indeed looking forward to the possible future of these two working together to accomplish whatever goals they might have, or to conquer whatever walls will be built in their path.

And when she was somewhat praised for doing enough for this contract to be successfully completed, she would blush once again as well, averting her gaze to the side for the last time today. “Haha, thank you… I really wasn’t sure if I would be of any use at all with my powers sealed. But a good portion of that is thanks to Melon, too. He deserves some praise as well.” Saying that, the green and pink wolf wound suddenly emerged from the bushes and sit down next to the lupine girl, who knelt down and stroked her pet behind the ears.

Akeya was right. They all did their part, including the savior wolf who appeared later to save the day. And that was just how teamwork was. Some tasks were just too difficult to accomplish on one’s own, so playing your part and your part alone was no shame. Not one of them did “too little” or “too much”. They did however much was required for the mission to be a success. And the girl was very grateful for a partner that understood that, as she had met many mages in the past that would fall into depression when they would happen to fall behind Leila, who was sometimes the strongest one in the team.

Regardless, their job here was done. The wolf girl observed as their target was slowly pulled into the shadows, seemingly stored in some sort of pocked dimension or just the shadows themselves for ease of transportation. Some abilities were just convenient, weren’t they? When the clawed hand was placed on Leila’s shoulder, she would stare at the dragon in surprise, but then smile warmly. “Yes, let us return. I think I had plenty of adventure for one day without the option of relying on my powers. Normally I would be able to just warp out of here.” Lamenting a smidgen, she would follow her partner toward the portal again.