I turned around, facing a young couple, maybe a couple years older than myself.

  “Do I know you two?” I asked, letting the sword drop from my hand to the barrel.

  “You’re the guy with the elf, right?” He asked, sneering. “How’s that working out?“

  “Good,” I said. Something about them tickled a memory. “Were you two?---”

  “Oh we saw you and your elf in the café, dear,” the young woman said. “I’ll admit, we felt rather sorry for you, didn’t we, Carlos.” She nudged her boyfriend, and the two chuckled.

  “Well you don’t have to worry,” I muttered. “Me and Sern are quite alright.”

  “You’ve given it a name?” Carlos winced. “You do know elves are bad, right?”

  I frowned.

  His girlfriend laughed, plucking a Wyvern spitmail dress from the rack. “Oh honey, explain to the kid, would you?”

  I flushed, stuffing my hands in my pockets. “I’m fine, thank you very much.”

  Carlos sighed, “Look—” he glanced above my head, “Grind—don’t you know anything about this world?” He gestured toward the walls of the room. “What do you think this shop is for? Don’t you know what any of these items are made from?”

  “Monsters, I assume,” I stated.

  He grabbed a sword from the bin, twirling it in his hand. “That’s an ElfSkin hilt, if I’ve ever seen one.”

  My stomach flipped.

  His girlfriend nodded. “And their hair makes quiet nice string—”

  “Oh shut up!” I snapped, knocking the sword from his hand.

  Carlos laughed, mocking fear. “Calm down!” He said, shoving me back. “They’re monsters. Not one person who’s done the monster slave’s quests have ever survived.”

  I glowered. “Three have.”

  His girlfriend laughed. “Who told you that?”

  “Just a rumor.”

  “Well anyone with half a brain knows what’s going on,” Carlos sneered. “I’ll bet, at the end of her quest, she kills them. Every single adventurer.”

  I bristled.

  “Oh, don’t give me that look.” He stated. “If a monster gets killed, they get stronger. It’s only natural. However cute you think she is, there’s a monster in her, born from the deaths of thousands of adventurers like yourself.”

  “You two are awful people.”

  His girlfriend—I looked above her head—Sharene’---brought the dress to Urok’s counter, smacking the bell. “Oh we don’t mean to be mean,” she chuckled. “We’re just trying to help. Nobody likes a dead rookie.”

  “Grind!” Mall called.

  My eyes shot wide. “Wait!---”

  She brought Sern into view, beaming. “Isn’t she precious?”

  The dress had shrunk, bunching up around the hips into a skirt. The sleeves were still a little long, but Sern seemed to like them. She kept swaying back and forth, rubbing her hands together.

  The couple burst into a fit of laughter, shaking and grabbing onto one another to stay upright.

  “Please tell me you’re joking,” Carlos hissed. He covered his mouth, turning bright red, until he burst into another fit of wheezing and choking.

  Sern took a step back, behind the Mall.

  “You did!” He hissed, flashing teeth. “You’re seriously buying that thing a dress?”

  Urok cleared his throat, moving us forward. “That’s five iron rings.”

  “Right,” Mall grumbled, counting them in her hand. “We should get out of here sooner than later.”

  Sharene plucked them out from her hand, sighing. “And, Grindy, you’ve got a girl roped in, do you?” She dangled the rings in front of Mall, giggles splitting into full blown laughter. “What is wrong with you people?”

  Carlos shook, grabbing me by the shoulder, pointing to Sern. “You’re serious?”

  The longer I spent with these two, the more obvious it became that they weren’t all there at the moment. No sense arguing with a couple drunks.

  I shrugged him off. “C’mon Sern.”

  She took my hand, clinging close.

  “Oh look at her—” Sharene wheezed, clutching her chest for breath. “That’s what you think she looks like?!”

  Carlos sighed. “Npcs look like whatever they’re coded to, until you give them an order. She’s probably not even conscious right now.”

  Sharene nodded, waving a hand in my direction. “Go on. Give her an order! See what happens.”

  Sern pressed her face in my leg, making herself as small as she could.

  “Hey, you back off!” Mall shouted, jumping toward them, sword in hand. I pushed her back, and she snapped toward me instead. “What’s your problem?”

  “We can’t kill them,” I hissed. “Just ignore them.”

  Sharene knelt down to Sern, grinning. “You’re a cutie. Do you like your new dress?”

  She nodded.

  “I don’t think you do,” Sharene whispered, flashing teeth. “Rip it off. Tear it to shreds, elf girl.”

  Her eyes went white, and she grabbed her new clothes, straining. At first, the wool held, but her strength skyrocketed, and the wool tore in her hands, like paper, its edges burning.

  “Sern!” I cried, grabbing her by the shoulders. “SERN! Stop!”

  Her eyes snapped back to a pale blue, and she shuddered, still clutching the torn edges of her dress. It was still mostly in one piece, with really only the sleeves and hem totally destroyed, so—

  Sern started crying.

  “Hey,” I whispered, covering her in my arms. “You’re okay.”

  Mall covered Sern’s ears, and I rose. “Grind—”

  I stepped toward Sharene. Something about my eyes must have tipped her off, before she immediately grabbed my wrist, struggling to tug me back. “GRIND! We can’t kill them!”

  “Why not?” I asked, Crapsholver at my side, red smoke curling around the side of the blade.

  Carlos was whispering to Sharene in low tones, gesturing toward the door.

  “Oh fine,” Sharene sighed, tossing Urok some rings. “We’ll get out of your hair.”

  When they left Sern broke into wailing, tugging her dress.

  “It’s not so bad,” I said, smiling at her. “It can be fixed.”

  “Grind,” Mall sighed, kneeling beside us. She picked up a piece of the dress, and it flickered, turning to ash. “There’s no way that can be fixed.” Mall pulled off her outer sweater, draping it over Sern. “There. Isn’t that so much better?”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Sern threw the sweater onto the ground.

  “Hey—” Mall started.

  Sern shook her head, curling up into a ball. She moved her lips, slowly forming a single word.

  “Rags,” She hissed.

  “You want to go back to those?” I sighed.

  Sern nodded.

  “Don’t give up!” Mall snapped. “We’ll get you any other dress—”

  “She doesn’t want it,” I said, holding up a hand.

  “But—”

  “She doesn’t want it. That’s her choice.”

  Mall slammed her foot on the ground. “Fine.” She summoned the rags ontop of Sern, storming off to scream at something somewhere.

  Sern hugged the rags to her shredded dress.

  I led her to the back, where she could get changed again.

  Once the door shut, Urok popped up behind me, clearing his throat.

  “Sorry, but merchandise doesn’t respawn so…” his eyes flickered white, and he stuck a hand out. “You break it, you buy it.”

  “You have a job to do,” I said, bending down, taking the iron rings from the floor and pressing them into his palm. “I understand.”

  Urok bristled. “Come back soon. Please.”

  “I will,” I said.

  Sern returned from the changing rooms, holding a pile of charred fabric. She offered it to Urok, and he took it.

  “Pleasure doing…business,” he said.

  Sern grabbed me by the arm, hugging my side.

  “Would you like to go home?” I asked, patting her hair.

  Sern nodded.

  “C’mon.”

  We left the store, eventually finding Mall again. She was slumped beside a tree, rubbing her knuckles. The bark had been scraped, by consecutive blows.

  “What,” Mall hissed. “Sometimes you just gotta hit something.”

  I think I understood what she meant.

  “Would you look after Serenity, Mall? I’ve got some errands that I need to run.”

  “Errands?” She frowned, glancing around town. “A quest? Now?.”

  “Yes, I’ve got a quest that I need to do,” I said. “It’s a very good quest, I’m sure of it.” I peeled Sern off, smiling. “Keep her by the park, okay? We can’t get too far apart, but the park should be close enough.”

  Mall squeezed Sern’s hands. “This can wait.”

  “I need to clear my mind,” I said.

  “Fair enough,” Mall sighed. “Just don’t take too long. It’s getting dark out and I don’t want Serenity to get worried.”

  “Me neither.” I patted her on the head, then left.

  …

  Carlos sighed, taking Sharene’s hand in his. They walked down the street, in unison. “Don’t you think that was a little…much?”

  “Oh please, he wasn’t listening to a word of your advice,” Sharene snapped, “So a demonstration was in order. With any luck, now that he’s seen the danger he’s in, he’ll have ended its quest, and be on his way.”

  Carlos smiled. “It was awfully considerate of us, wasn’t it?”

  “Of course it was,” Sharene beamed. She pulled her new dress from her inventory, holding it up to her clothes. “Now, how do I look?”

  “Ravishing, dear,” Carlos chuckled. “You should put it on.”

  “Here?” Sharene laughed.

  Carlos glanced around the alley, smirking. “Well I suppose this isn’t really the place, is it? What say we head to the inn—”

  {Sharene}

  [(-58) 117 Hp] [(-58) 59 Hp] [(-58) 1 Hp]

  There were three consecutive sounds, like cracking bone, and Sharene stopped walking.

  “Sharene?” Carlos asked. “What is it?”

  “I’m bleeding,” she muttered, holding a hand against her head. Then her body shuddered, and fell.

  Carlos caught her, squeezing. “Sharene? Sharene? What’s H—”

  {Carlos}

  [(-58) 62Hp ] [(-58) 4Hp]

  With another two blows, Carlos joined Sharene, half-dead, on the street.

  I reached down, pulling the silvery dress from the woman’s cold hands.

  As I moved, Carlos twitched, forcing a bloody eye open. “You.”

  My hands shook, but I kept them steady..

  Would it really be this easy? Two opponents about as strong as myself, taken down in five hits.

  If I wanted, I could just kill the two, and be done with it.

  “Not today,” I whispered, giving him a poke on the head.

  {Carlos}

  [(-3) 1 Hp]

  …

  Mall frowned. “I see you took your sweet time,”

  I glanced down at the brown parcel in my hands. “I think I was rather fast, all things considered.”

  “Get over here,” she muttered. “Sern’s been acting strange.”

  “Strange?”

  Mall pointed to the little blond-haired elf, picking at the bark of a tree. She’d made marks from the base up several feet.

  I sat down beside her, sighing. “Today was a rough day, wasn’t it?”

  Sern glanced down at her hands. She shivered.

  “You do want a real dress, don’t you?”

  She started to say something, but the words were too soft and jumbled, so she settled to curl up into a ball.

  “You can say yes, if you want.”

  She gave a tiny little nod.

  “But you’re afraid of breaking it, right?”

  She nodded.

  I set a parcel into her lap

  Sern pushed it away, but I pushed it back into her arms.

  “I don’t care how strong or dangerous you are,” I said, smiling. “You won’t be breaking this anytime soon.”

  Sern huffed, peeling back layers of paper with two fingers. She reached in, pulling out a long length of soft silvery fabric, covered in hard scales. When she turned, the scales sparkled, purple and blue.

  Mall gasped.

  It was a gift too beautiful to be ignored. Sern turned it over in her hands, briefly confused. She looked to Mall, then back at the dress.

  “Go on. Try it out,” I whispered.

  Sern slowly reached out, stroking its layers. Then, she flexed, grabbing a corner, and twisting. Then she flexed harder, and harder still, until her hands started smoking, but the fabric remained as it had before, without so much as the smell of ash. The nearby grass, on the other hand, had set on fire, and Mall and I had to rush in and stamp it out.

  Sern clutched the dress to her chest.

  “You like it?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  Mall grabbed me by the arm, dragging me a little ways away. “Explain. Now.”

  I shrugged. “There was a quest.”

  “A half-hour quest that gives that?“ Mall hissed. “Call me skeptical.”

  “I’ve just been working on it all day,” I said. “I’ve had plenty of time, so I figured I’d try it out.”

  “And you got that exact dress?”

  I blinked. “Yeah.”

  Mall huffed, then nodded. “Well, you should’ve said something sooner, moron.”

  “I didn’t want anyone to get disappointed,” I said. “Anyway, we should get home so Sern can try it on. I don’t know if it’ll even fit her.”

  “Oh, I’ll make it fit,” Mall cackled. “Though it’ll be rough changing the stitching on battle fabric.” She sighed. “I can’t believe you didn’t win her something more ladylike.”

  Sern curled up into a ball—still clutching the dress—and she fell asleep.

  Mall blinked. “So should I carry her, or—”

  “I’ve got it,” I said, cradling her in my arms. Whenever I held her, it was always surprising just how frail and small she really was.

  “Nice work today, Grind.” Mall said, with a nod. “You did good.”

  I paused for a moment.

  “Yes. Yes I did.”

  “You don’t have to think about it that hard, nimrod,” Mall chuckled.

  I smiled. “Let's go home.”