Melina had expected plenty of resistance from Gilbert. She had expected the Guildmaster to completely reject her request and perhaps even send people to watch her to make sure she wouldn't sneak away. What she had not expected was for Alistair to get mad.

"Melina, this is out of the question! It is the Monster Realm we are talking about, not just the forest beyond Sunglow's walls. We cannot predict what will happen there," Alistair said, his eyebrows furrowed in an angry scowl. It was a good thing they were having this exchange in one of the many private audience chambers in the Guild, otherwise it'd be quite the spectacle.

"You said it yourself that nothing really happened last time," Melina protested, putting her hands on her hips.

"We got lucky! It was daytime and there were no dangerous monsters around at the time. What if it's nighttime? Apparently, that's when the more dangerous beasts come out to hunt."

Very true. Monsters certainly prefer to use darkness to catch their prey off guard.

"I've got Sienna," Melina retorted.

"You're going to bet your safety on a monster?" Alistair narrowed his eyes.

"She's my familiar," Melina said stubbornly. "There is no stronger connection."

"Sienna cannot protect you from everything. She has limits too you know," he objected.

"If there's something stronger than Sienna then you'd have no chance of defeating it either."

Alistair flinched back and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not coming. If it's the magical ingredients you want, I'll bring them back for you."

Melina narrowed her eyes and whispered, just in case somebody might be listening in on them, "Do you have a skill that would let you discern magical properties in ingredients?"

"No. You don't have such a skill do you?" he asked suspiciously, also lowering his voice to a whisper.

"I actually do."

"I'll just bring back everything I find. It is far too dangerous for you," he persisted.

Melina frowned. She knew it would be difficult to convince Alistair once he had made up his mind. He was rather stubborn. But she had managed to change his mind in the past. She won't back down that easily.

"So it'd be better if I sneaked off on my own?"

"You wouldn't," Alistair narrowed his eyes.

"Master Gilbert approved. Guildmaster approved. Why are you resisting so much?" She huffed. "I am going to the Monster Realm, and you can't stop me."

Alistair groaned and got up from the chair, pacing angrily around the room. "Why are you so stubborn? Can't you see I'm trying to keep you safe?"

"I'm not some damsel in distress that needs to be kept safe!"

"Melina, if something were to happen to you, I couldn't—" his face turned into a pained grimace and he turned away. Melina was taken aback by his reaction. Was all of this resistance really because he didn't want to see her get hurt?

Her heart fluttered at this realization and she stared at him, trying to search for answers in his expression. She wanted to ask what exactly he meant by that but he looked away from her.

Don't get carried away. Alistair has always been very protective of others.

"Please, Alistair. We'll leave at the first sight of danger. My goal isn't to fight monsters. I only want to find the ingredients to make healing pastries," she pleaded.

Alistair peeked at her over his shoulder, his expression still torn. "You know I'm not trying to hold you back to spite you. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Of course, I know that," Melina said. "But… I'm not that weak. Please, trust me to defend myself. I won't charge into the mouth of the first monster that crosses our path."

They stared at each other for a long moment, until finally, Alistair let out a deep sigh. "If I say that we're leaving, then we're leaving at that exact instant. I'll carry you out forcefully if you don't obey."

"I'll obey your every command, Captain!" Melina saluted. He chuckled and then nodded.

"Very well. But I'm only agreeing to this because I don't want you to go sneaking off on your own."

"Thank you," she smiled innocently. "With this settled, you have to decide who we're taking along."

"Remi without a doubt. As an elf, she is far more attuned to the Monster Realm than we are. Barrett is also a good choice," Alistair said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Some magic would be useful…"

"Not Leon," Melina shook her head.

"Agreed."

Unfortunately for them, Guildmaster insisted that they did need a mage, no matter how cowardly he was. So their party consisted of Melina, Alistair, Remi, Barrett, Leon, and an elven warrior named Illitran. She'd seen the black-haired elf before, however, never exchanged a word with him.

However, during their preparations on Sunday evening and Monday, when they discussed various scenarios that might happen in the Monster Realm, it became clear that he was an elf of few words. He only spoke when spoken to, and said the absolute minimum required of him. It was a rather stark contrast to the ever-chattering Remi, who was beyond excited to go to the Monster Realm.

Their group met up twice, once on Sunday evening and once on Monday morning, to finalize everything for their trip. They had a rudimentary map drawn from the memories of those who already ventured into the Monster Realm. It was a very crude map, but it did at least give them an idea of where to go.

Their main destination would be the odd forest where Leon had noticed feyfruit. Melina was elated to hear that. Even if they found nothing else, they would be able to get those. The terrain was easy to traverse and aside from whistlewisps, there weren't any known dangerous creatures there. But even so, all the warriors would be going armed to their teeth.

Melina also prepared some pastries and food for the journey. She wished she could prepare something more appropriate for travel instead of her regular lamb pastry bundles, but they were relatively small and filling. Gilbert prepared some meat buns as well as some cheese and jerky. They didn't pack too much food as they intended to stay for a few hours at most.

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They were also given some healing potions and a mana potion for Leon. The reason why Guildmaster insisted on him going was due to his utility spells. He could cast fire and water spells which were crucial for such trips. The man himself didn't seem very willing to go. They barely managed to convince him to attend the meetings.

When they finally departed on Monday, straight after lunch, Remi couldn't stop her excited chatter for even a second.

"Oh, I can't wait to see the Monster Realm. You might find it odd, but despite being an elf I've never actually been there. I was born in the Human Realm," she gushed as they walked through the forest. The weather was quiet and overcast, it felt like it might start raining at any moment.

Sienna was glancing suspiciously up at the sky as if daring it to start raining. The wyrm curled up comfortably on Melina's shoulder while Alistair walked on her right and Remi on her left. Barrett and Illitran were walking close by, while Leon was hanging back a little.

"Hey, Leon! Don't fall behind," Barrett called out to the mage.

"I'm not. I just…" he ran a bit closer to them but then stopped when Sienna glanced at him. "Is it really such a good idea to bring Sienna along?"

"Oh, yes, we should totally leave a strong monster that would protect us from other monsters at home. Sounds logical," Remi rolled her eyes.

"How do you know she will even defend us?" Leon asked skeptically. Melina thought that he was getting more used to Sienna. He stopped by the bakery often enough, either to buy pastries or to help them chill pastry cream for an extra coin.

"Wyrms are extremely loyal. They would do anything to protect their owners," Remi huffed.

"Indeed," Illitran nodded. His words were quiet, barely audible, but somehow they carried more weight than anybody else's. Leon didn't look fully convinced but fell in line with everybody else.

"Just remember to remain vigilant at all times. Even if nothing bad happened last time we went, we can't be certain that the area is safe. It is far more likely that we were just lucky," Alistair said sternly when they were getting closer to the passageway.

Thankfully, no monster had dared to attack their group, although Melina did notice a few swamp boars rustling about deeper in the forest. They wouldn't hesitate to attack a lone traveler but were clever enough to know when they were outmatched.

Before long, they were standing in the clearing with the invisible passageway. The same place where Melina managed to stabilize it and where Alistair figured out that she's a System user. Alistair looked visibly uncomfortable, glancing at Melina as if to wonder whether they really should go.

Melina decided to not give him time to ponder. She lowered Sienna to the ground, a little distance away from everyone. "Take your big form, Sienna."

The wyrm tapped her feet excitedly—she wasn't allowed to take her big form in the bakery—and quickly began to grow. It was an odd sight, seeing just a small creature stretch, body elongating and growing larger. Her limbs grew muscular and slender, instead of the stubby little feet she had in her tiny form. Not to mention her formidable claws, teeth, and horns.

When Sienna was done with her transformation, she stood ever taller than Barrett, flicking her tail from side to side in satisfaction. Leon hid behind the large man, eyeing the wyrm warily. Even Alistair looked a bit unnerved. Remi and Illitran however seemed completely unbothered.

"Oh, look at her scales! What a beauty!" Remi gushed, walking up to Sienna without hesitation and patting the scales on her back. The wyrm was pleased by that, sticking her snout up high.

"She better be. She demands me to wash her scales at least twice a week," Melina said. It was an easy enough task when Sienna was in her tiny form, but she insisted on doing that in her large form and then it could take more than an hour to get every scale on her body.

"Are you really sure she'll protect us?" Leon asked shakily.

"Wyrm loyalty cannot be questioned," Illitran said, not turning his gaze away from Sienna. The silent elf was smiling at the wyrm, a child-like glee in his eyes. Elves really did like wyrms. Maybe it was the same as with humans and dogs.

"Sienna won't hurt anyone, I promise," Melina said, then went up to the passageway. "Let's get going. The faster we go in, the faster we can go back."

"Wait—" Alistair began, but Melina stepped into the passageway with Sienna following behind her. It was just as she remembered—a misty pathway between worlds. She waited for others to follow her before continuing forward. Alistair was the first one to go after her, looking somewhat peeved. After that came Remi and Illitran, then Barrett, and finally Leon.

"Is this it? Doesn't look very impressive," Remi huffed.

"This is the passageway between Realms, not the Monster Realm," Leon explained, as he peered into the mist.

"Oh. Then why are we standing here? Let's go!" Remi said and ran forward, not bothered by the weirdness of the place in the slightest.

"I'm surprised…" Leon said as they followed after Remi. "You don't seem scared of this place at all, Miss Melina."

Oh, damn. I've gone through the passageway so many times that I'm not really bothered by it anymore.

"It's just mist, isn't it? That's not very scary," she said awkwardly. "Remi isn't bothered and it's her first time too."

"I don't think Remi would be bothered by anything," the mage grumbled, watching how the elf amused herself by trying to dissipate the mist with her hand. Of course, it wasn't moving anywhere no matter how hard she tried. "I'm honestly surprised you'd suggest walking into the Monster Realm yourself. You were so scared of goblins not so long ago."

Maybe I shouldn't have gone for that weak girl act at the start. Seems like I can't pretend to be a trembling weakling to save my life.

"Having an ember wyrm by your side puts things in a different perspective," she said dismissively. "Oh, looks like we're almost through."

Remi disappeared from view, having arrived at the end of the passageway. It was a good thing these were never too long, otherwise, Melina feared what would have happened to her more cowardly companions if they felt like they were walking in a neverending misty void.

As Melina passed through the barrier into the Monster World, she barely managed to restrain a curse. It was nighttime. But that by no means meant that the world was dark. No, the Monster Realm looked most beautiful during the night. The swayshrubs gently swayed in the wind while their long leaves glowed with yellow light which then changed to orange, then red back to orange and yellow again.

The rockpines had a more subtle glow as if somebody had covered their stony bark in small dots of bioluminescent pink paint. The ground underneath their feet reacted to their every step lighting up each time they stepped on a new patch.

I did consider that we might come to the Monster Realm at night, but I really hoped we might still catch the tail end of daytime. This complicates matters. It is much harder to find something in the dark since it looks completely different.

"Wow… this is so beautiful," Remi gaped in awe, looking at the light show of the Monster Realm night. A whistlewisp landed on a nearby tree, letting out its unique song. While the bird sang its tail feather glowed like a golden lantern.

"Oh, hello, pretty bird," Remi was about to reach her hand towards it when Illitran grabbed her hand.

"Don't touch it. It is poisonous," he warned.

The whistlewisp flew away, its tail appearing like a wisp just like its name suggested.

"I didn't expect it to be nighttime. Perhaps, we should come back some other time," Alistair suggested, looking nervously into the darkness.

"But didn't the Bishop lady say that the nighttime in the Monster Realm can last up to two weeks?" Leon said.

No, that's far too much lost time. I need to start working on my [Arcane Baker] skills as soon as possible. If the Church weren't on my heels, the story would be different, but time is not my friend right now.

Sienna, as if sensing Melina's wish to stay, let out a low growl and began to… glow. Or rather the bright orange lines of her body began to glow, illuminating much of the nearest surrounding area.

"Oh, she's like a light! How convenient," Remi cheered. Alistair, Barrett, and Leon, however, looked far from thrilled, having taken several steps away from the wyrm.

"We can look at the closest area can't we?" Melina pleaded. "We can see decently well now, can't we?"

Her plea was directed at Alistair more than anyone, but she could see that he didn't want to agree. "Please, Alistair. I know it's dangerous, but we don't know how long the night will last. We have a strong party with you as our leader. We don't have to go far. Just getting those feyfruit Leon noticed before is enough."

"They weren't very far. Somewhere among the rocky tree forest, if I remember correctly," Leon added.

"Me and Illitran will hear any danger coming from far away. We can just run if some monster approaches us," Remi said.

Everyone was looking at the increasingly conflicted Alistair. Melina wasn't sure whether he'd agree—he's always been a man of strong convictions.

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