Annie, Tiyun, Zamin, and their unexpected new companion, Chae, finally made their way out of the settlement, heading down the road in the general direction Annie assumed Joshua would be.
As they walked, Annie leaned slightly toward the shopkeeper, her blunt curiosity getting the better of her. "So, what's your deal?" she asked directly.
Chae glanced over, raising a questioning eyebrow. "What exactly do you mean by that?" she asked.
"Well, it's just that you keep talking like you're some frail old woman, when you're clearly not," Annie pointed out, humming thoughtfully.
Chae let out a soft, amused chuckle, her previous annoyance with the blue-haired foreigner momentarily vanishing. She crossed her arms casually beneath her chest, her expression shifting into a smug, prideful smirk. "And pray tell, how old do you actually think I am?"
Before Annie could even offer a guess, Zamin chimed in from alongside them. "Let me help you out. She isn't nearly as young as you'd think."
Chae immediately shot him a sharp glare, but Tiyun quickly nodded in agreement. "We have also known her since we were children."
Chae's glare deepened as she looked between the two seasoned hunters. "Stop making it so easy for her," she scolded.
Annie tapped her chin, genuinely mulling the clues over before a smirk touched her lips. "Forty-two? That does seem to be the answer to a lot of things, though I only saw that in a single book someone else read," she mused, before adding with a wider grin, "And it's the exact age of another older person I know."
Chae stared at her in utter confusion, completely derailed by the bizarre explanation rather than the guess itself. "What are you even talking about?" she muttered, quickly shaking her head to clear it. "Regardless, I am flattered, but I am actually forty-five," she declared, placing a hand proudly over her chest.
"Yeah, I can see why you refer to yourself as old. You're practically ancient," Annie remarked dryly.
"She really is," Zamin agreed with a solemn nod.
Surprisingly, Chae didn't take any offense to the teasing. "I would technically be middle-aged, actually," she corrected with a confident smirk. "But do not think your little jabs will be effective. I fully embrace my age, and I am proudly an old woman."
Annie let out a bright giggle. "Oh, and you're already going senile! It's so great to have you along for this," she teased playfully.
However, her bright laughter quickly faded as her tone shifted into something far more serious. Her gaze dropped down to the heavily laden pouch strapped to the shopkeeper's hip. "But seriously... what can you and those trinkets of yours actually do? I'm not dismissing you or anything, but I really would like to know."
Chae took a deep, steadying breath, her hand lightly brushing against the heavy pouch resting at her hip. "These trinkets of mine are magical items. While the vast majority of them are strictly utility pieces and not made for combat," she began, shifting her gaze forward down the bustling street, "where we are headed, we will be needing that utility far more than we will be needing weapons."
Tiyun nodded in firm agreement, his heavy footsteps keeping pace with the group. "I agree. Weapons do not matter if we never make it to the top of the mountain to begin with."
"And Lady Chae is a ritual mage, so there's that as well," Zamin chimed in casually from the other side.
Annie's eyes instantly lit up, her curiosity piqued. "Oh~ a godling in the making, I see?" she teased with a wide grin.
Chae let out a long, weary sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I really do not like that title. But I suppose it is not entirely inaccurate, given what we can do." She dropped her hand, her expression turning serious. "Just do not expect much out of that. We are going into a mountain where it rains constantly. There isn't much in the way of delicate rituals that I will actually be able to perform in those conditions."
Annie offered a slow nod of understanding. As they continued walking, however, she suddenly noticed that the group was turning down a side street, taking yet another detour instead of heading directly out toward the city gates. "Where are we going now?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"To get mounts," Zamin replied matter-of-factly. "I mean, it's not like we're walking all the way there. That would take us like a month."
Both Tiyun and Chae murmured their agreement. "We will be heading out immediately afterwards," Chae assured her, catching the impatient gleam in the blue-haired girl's eyes. "Do not worry. I can clearly see that you are eager to finally fight that man."
Annie let out a low, dangerous chuckle, a dark, razor-sharp smirk creeping across her face. "Oh, you have no idea, old woman. No idea at all..."