Bosco, although she had not visited the country before it seemed like it was a place that held a distant connection to her. Whether it was true or not, it seemed her ancestors, the Von Eisenberg family originally came from Bosco before settling in Fiore as part of their mission.

However, such thoughts were only allowed to occupy her mind for the briefest of moments, for the silver-haired witch had received a request for help from a new associate.

Although they had met before, and Esperia found him an intruiging person, Reiner's return to Bosco would likely be accompanied with a fair share of complications. Not only was he the bastard son of the late king, he was also a foreign presence in Bosco which meant he lacked the reputation that came with having spend years growing up in Bosco like his rivals did.

Nonetheless, Reiner had aided her in a certain endeavor in the past, and she was not one to shy away from repaying a debt. In this particular case Reiner needed aid with the protection of supplies. A caravan would soon depart from Bosco toward a large camp on the border between Bosco and Stella.

Overall the intention was to reinforce the camp and strengthen it with supplies, and at the same time a group of merchants were going to join the trip to settle at the camp to help peddle their trade there.
Of course, such a trip had its risk. Between wild animals, savage bandits and clever supporters of rival organizations it was evident that the caravan needed more than just the regular protection that a group of soldiers could provide.

It was for that reason Reiner had hired more skilled individuals for the job, in particular the Dimensional witch and another person who she had yet to meet.

The caravan had been preparing for their departure as Esperia was quietly seated near some of the crates, watching the workers put the last of the supplies onto the wagons while her gaze drifted over the map in her hands.

It wouldn't take long till they would depart, at her estimate, based on the caravan she thought it would take roughly three days of traveling till they would arrive at their destination, maybe two if they didn't encounter any unfortunate issues.

In terms of clothes she had her usual gear with her, hidden underneath a simple traveler's cloak. While she might had been a wanted woman in Fiore, Reiner assured her that as long as she didn't cause troubles for him, the issues Fiore had with her would stay in Fiore.

Hopefully, her partner on this trip would think the same.

A new land for Shichiro to wander around in or so he thought to himself. Already the air felt different from Fiore's own, putting him in some sort of uneasy state. Inhaling deeply, Shichiro, accompanied by his flying lemur, had begun to move to a certain location in question in hopes of fulfilling his request. The catch was, this job took place outside Fiore and he was supposed to support one of five potential royals. In terms of ideology, the one he could get behind the most was Reiner, the bastard as Shichiro was very big on the advancement of science and technology being a blacksmith himself.

In order related news, the guy was pretty big on gathering valuable resources and expensive knick-knacks. He figured, if all of that was going on then eventually, envious and shady people will begin to surface and attempt to acquire them by ill-gotten means. And once that starts happening, Reiner would need to hire some muscle in the form of mercenaries or military police. Since that was the case, it would be in his best interest to support him only to keep his active profession alive in the near future. admittedly, another leader had also caught his interest but he enjoyed gaining wealth with little risk to himself, then the looming presence of death every single time.

With the thought of future prospects ahead of him, Shichiro made it to his destination of where he was suppose to escort some supplies from point A to point B. Though normally nothing big happened on these travels, he was still itching for an event or two to surface in order for him to take part in. Maybe some highwaymen, bandits or even opposition from another supporting party that would oppose Reiner. Wearing his yellow shirt, navy blue pants and black shoes, Shichiro was draped with a white, hooded mantle he had bought for cheap elsewhere to match his headgear known as Battle Caster's Hood. It was an item he managed to find and re-forge in his travels.

Arriving at the scene, Shichiro had kept his eyes peeled in order to scope out who or what may look like a potential partner that would aid him in their endeavor to support Reiner in his efforts to secure the throne.

Esperia idly pondered about the identity of the other person who would be aiding her in the endeavor, and yet she soon spotted a familiar face nearby, making Esperia raise a hand at the man. "Shichiro?" It was a calm greeting, a light wave of her hand making it clear she held little to no ill will toward the man in the aftermath of the events that took place within Baska.

"I'm glad to see Reiner was able to get me a reliable partner for this trip."

Esperia chimed softly as she rolled up the map and placed it in her pocket, approaching the man while gesturing at the wagon at the front. "The caravan is about to depart soon, we'll be in the front wagon, most of the guards will be in the mid and back in case something happens. Which knowing my luck likely will~"

Stating it as a half jest she climbed onto the front of the wagon next to the spot the driver was seated at and tapped the spot next to her, as if beckoning for Shichiro to take a seat.

"The caravan is carrying important supplies, alongside the merchants that are accompanying us it will be important that we make it to the encampment at the border of Bosco. Unfortunately, rumors of bandits and foreigners working for Reiner's rivals have been causing troubles, so it be up to us to deal with them."

She paused for a moment, taking into consideration the next course of action and mused softly. "We can either take the swiftest route to the border, which will cut us a day of traveling but increase the risk of encountering problems since reports suggest bandits frequently like to target caravans passing through. Or we can take a detour from the main road through a nearby forest, takes longer but it's safer. What would you prefer doing?"

It seemed Esperia was more than willing to take the ex-mercenary's experience and opinion into consideration.

Well, it seems the individual in question was indeed his partner as he began to approach her. The woman was rolling up a map before she decided to approach him, informing him of the schedule the caravan they were guarding would follow. According to her, they were stationed in the front wagon where they would be the frontline should an emergency or something happen, which was fine with Shichiro. He wondered if brigands fight any better than the ones back in Fiore and he was itching to find out. "Fine with me, whatever happens. I'll deal with it. Don't worry so much about it." After that, Shichiro watched as she had made her way to the front where the driver was, making a gesture for him to follow. Giving a slight shrug, Shichiro had no choice but to follow as that's where he was informed he should be while the other guards took the middle and the rear.

Walking over towards the front, Shichiro had climbed onto the wagon and planted himself next to his partner for the time being. According to her, the caravan was carrying important supplies, alongside the merchants, to an encampment that's along the borders of Bosco. Well, he didn't know how long or short this ride was gonna be but regardless, Shichiro made sure to get comfortable. As he thought about how long the trip was, it seemed his partner had been clairvoyant enough to ask if they should take the longest or the shortest route to their destination. Shichiro was surprised he even got a choice as normally some other organizer would be the one calling the shots but Shichiro decided to take the short route in order to sate his curiosity about how foreigners handled themselves in a fight. Maybe he might pick up a technique or two that he could use in the future.

"Let's take the shortest route for the time being. I kind of want to get this over quickly and if a fight breaks out, as I said before, I'll take care of it," Shichiro said confidently. He was a bit unease about it but overall, he knew he'd be able to handle himself.

Esperia couldn't help but smile at Shichiro's confidence, and soon the caravan ended up departing from the capital city. The first few hours of the trip were uneventful. To the point that Esperia had decided to focus her attention on what seemed to be a book of sorts, although should Shichiro try to read the parchment that made up the pages there was no doubt it would likely look like foreign runes to him considering it was not written in the Fiorian language.

However, after a while, shortly after they started to traverse the road which ran along the outskirts of a forest Esperia suddenly closed her book and mused softly. "It seems you're lucky Shichiro, company is approaching."

At the same time Esperia said this a loud bone-chilling howl came from the forest. The caravan suddenly grind to a halt, the horses seemingly spooked by the sound while from the outskirts of the forest ten large wolves started to dash toward the caravan!

That wasn't all, however, for at the same time from among the shadows of the trees Shichiro would no doubt be able to see the approaching silhouettes of beings that resembled both man and beast: werewolves.

Five of them had started to approach the wagons, snarling and growling. It appeared that whatever gods the ex-mercenary might have favored, they clearly heard his desire for conflict!

In the back and middle of the caravan, the larger group of guards were starting to gather, rallying in a defensive line to engage any possible enemies that might be bold enough to approach them!

And like that, they were off. The caravan had began to start its scheduled motions from the capital city of Bosco to towards the borders. Shichiro had his arms folded as the wagon had made it's way through the shortest path, the one he had choose. He thought because this path was the shortest, he assumed they would get their immediately for some reason or the other. After a few hours of travel, Shichiro found himself nodding off on occasion. He didn't really have anything to keep himself entertained during what would likely be a long trip anyway. The partner in question that he was traveling with seemed to have been reading from some weird book he's never seen before.

He didn't care to discover what it was as he knew attempting to would just make him sleepier. After a little while, it seems his partner had closed their book, wary of something. Picking up on this little fact, Shichiro had opened his eyes, as he heard his partner say he might get his wish after all. Now wide awake, full of adrenaline, Shichiro decided to prepare his Bruiser's gauntlet just in case. A howl had began to emerge from the distance as he did so, causing him to get himself ready to jump out of the wagon and face his potential foes. As he did so, it seems the creatures he would face finally revealed themselves to be werewolves.

With that in mind, Shichiro himself had jumped off of the wagon in order to face them. Once being a werewolf himself, he understood the great, physical prowess it afforded him once upon a time. A part of him misses that power but he didn't really have much of a choice in the matter when he lost it. He was currently cursed and it apparently cleansed him of not only his werewolf blood but his magic as well. He decided he wouldn't dwell on that right now as he got ready to head into battle with the foreign' land's werewolves. It didn't take long to start the fight as Shichiro headed into battle first. Some guards that had also been preparing assisted by taking on three of them at once with there combined forces, leaving Shichiro and his partner to clean up the remaining two.

Perhaps it was fortunate that they took the shortest route, for despite the fact she had been able to entertain herself by reading the book she had with her, Shichiro might had more difficulty dealing with the boredom of the seemingly uneventful trip, at least till the arrival of the enemy.


Before Shichiro could face the werewolves, seven of the canine predators were left for him to deal with, five of those were already heading in his direction, soon circling around him and waiting for an opportunity to attack.

However, two of them went past him, making their way for the caravan as Esperia rose onto her feet and...

With a casual hop she hopped off the wagon, her body changing form into that of a small bat that flew toward the direction the wolves were approaching from, and when they were underneath her she suddenly transformed back to normal!

The wolves were utterly bewildered as the silver-haired girl kicked a leg downward, striking the wolf with such force on the back that it went crashing into the ground! Of course the other wolf wasn't going to let his pack mate deal with this new enemy on his own. However, Esperia swiftly lunged at the foe, her body pivotting sideways as she came to a halt in front of the wolf, and at the same time its jaws opened up to bite at her Esperia sidestepped and punched the wolf's throat with all her strength, enough to send the beast reeling in the opposite direction.

Dusting off her obsidian-scaled knuckle Esperia looked at Shichiro and mused softly. "Need a hand? Or shall I go ahead and take my share of the werewolves?"

Moving towards the werewolves that had come out to engage, Shichiro had begun to lugne towards one of the two he was currently dealing with. The werewolf reared it's left claw, outstretching it towards Shichiro's chest. As the werewolf did so, Shichiro shifted his right arm towards his chest area being targeted in order to deflect the incoming attack. As he did so, Shichiro would thrust his left hand towards the abdomen of the werewolf, in order to knock the wind out of it. It was quite easy really, as if they were weaker than the werewolves he knew back home.

Shichiro kind of frowned at the thought of this, watching the monstrosity topple over, clutching it's stomach. Out of his peripheral vision, Shichiro saw the other werewolf lunging towards him, outstretching both of his arms towards him in an attempt to perform a grapple. The werewolf was lunging quite a distance away from him and Shichiro used that to his advantage to deliver a strong, back kick towards the wolf's forehead. This rendered the werewolf motionless for a few seconds before falling over, collapsing at the blow  that was delivered towards it. With two currently incapacitated, Shichiro had began to dust himself off before hear the sound of his partner asking him if he needed help.

Wiping his lower lip, Shichiro responded to her saying, "Sure, it'll make the work easier. I guess. This isn't very fun but at least it's profitable," responded a somewhat bored Shichiro. It appears two of them had gone to harass his partner, Esperia and some of the caravan guards. Giving a shrug, he pondered on which one he should give aid to first.

Hearing Shichiro's words Esperia couldn't help but snicker softly. "We can't always get what we want~"

With one of the werewolves dashing toward her, it seemed the other werewolf had chosen to attack the guards who were fortunately still holding their ground.

Esperia's gaze narrowed just as the werewolf lunged at her with a sweeping claw, but in the large creature's eyes, it would have looked like she had just disappeared into nothingness! Obviously one of the advantages Esperia had was that her lithe frame and agility were useful in avoiding blows from a giant wolfman like her foe, and as a result, when his claw swept through the air she had ducked underneath it, sidestepping behind the werewolf and with unnatural nimbleness, as if defying gravity she climbed onto the werewolf's back, one arm coiling aroung the lycan's neck and with a fierce twist tugged against it so much she could feel the sickening sound of bones snapping.

The werewolf collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud, making Esperia hop off the creature's back, preparing to help the guards but instead as she dashed forward her body seemed to stagger mid-dash, a light wobble and she was forced to regain her footing, a pained cough escaping her lips. "Not now... Shichiro! please help them!"

Was all she could say as a warning while reaching for the pocket of her garb, withdrawing what appeared to be a carton of sorts.

As he thought about who to aid first, it became evident to help the guards were were busy engaging the other werewolves that were attacking the rear of the caravan. It became even more apparent when his partner had told him to go help them instead of her, despite recently taking a blow and suffering an injury. Deciding to fulfill her wishes, Shichiro nodded towards her before hurrying off to aid the guards. For now, it seems as if they were holing their own but without aid, the tide may or may not turn unless one of the two of intervene.

Running towards the position of the guards and werewolves, two of them had been alerted to his presence as their ears perked up and they began to react to Shichiro. He was prepared however, and began to launch his assault against the two of them. Delivering a swift straight punch to a werewolf's temple on his right side, he narrowly hit them, halting their movement briefly. Using this to his advantage, Shichiro had taken the leg of the one he had immobilized and swung that body of it into the other werewolf that happened to be charging at him as well.

With the two remaining werewolves dealt with it seemed the tide had turned into their favor, and the last of the werewolves were vanquished. However, should Shichiro decide to check on his partner he would likely notice that Esperia had disappeared. Instead, where she had been earlier a final werewolf was seen, collapsed, and more bloodied than the others that the girl had dealt with.

"Thanks for lending us a hand" One of the guards said in appreciation for Shichiro's intervention, while the other one mused softly as he cleaned his sword of the blood of the wolves he had fought just now. "Wonder where the girl disappeared to." one of the guards gestured at the wagon at the front. "Saw her heading in there, by the way she dropped this..." The man was seen holding a small juice box in his gauntlet, looking at it in bewilderment. It seemed to contain the logo of a red-haired werewolf girl, albeit somewhat more comical in design while the words: WAIFU JUICE served as a brand name. "Waifu juice? weird name for a dri---" Muttered the guard when suddenly he squeezed the box a little too strongly, causing the guard's armor to receive a small splash of a crimson liquid. "That's not ketchup..." muttered one of the guards, while the other exclaimed in response. "Of course not, idiot! that's blood!" Wait, blood? "But that makes no sense, aren't vampires nocturnal, and who even heard of a vampire drinking blood from juice boxes? Don't they usually prey on people?"

Seems Shichiro might had gotten himself involved in a new mystery, and judging from the silouette he could see in the wagon, it was clear where his partner had been.

Tossing one werewolf into another one, it seems this was enough to take care of the two of them. With that, Shichiro aggressively brushed his hands together as if he were cleaning them. Honestly, he couldn't tell if he was happy he didn't have to do much work or if he was unsatisfied because they didn't meet his expectations. Regardless, what was done was done and he went over to make sure the guards were okay. As he approached them, He was thanked for lending them a hand to which Shichiro had replied, "He was just doing the job he was being paid to do'' and just left it at that.

Shortly after this response, the guard had inquired where his partner had ran off too. Turning his head, Shichiro looked in the last direction he had spotted the woman. It turns out, she was no longer there. The only thing that remained was a bloodied and beaten werewolf. Walking over towards the body, Shichiro checked to see if it still had a pulse, which he confirmed it did. Another nearby guard had been holding a box filled with 'juice' in which he decided to apply pressure to it. A crimson, colored liquid had come out of the box which seemed to alarm the guards in some way, shape or form. He found the reaction odd as they had just finished quite a brutal skirmish.

Regardless, Shichiro was no on a mission to find where his partner had run off too. He recalled somebody saying his partner had entered the wagon in the front of the caravan and so that's just what Shichiro would go and do, search the front of the caravan. He also figured he would try and locate the driver to see if they had also disappeared or hurt in the scuffle.

In front of the wagon the driver was visibly shaken, although he was uninjured, instead he was gazing worriedly at the space next to the wagon where a werewolf was seen collapsed, seemingly more bloodied than the rest but still fine. "Your partner fended off this werewolf that tried to sneak up on us from the other side." The driver explained as he gestured at the inside of the wagon where Esperia had been seated.

Once Shichiro decided to get on the wagon and for the group to resume their travels Esperia finished drinking the contents of the pocket carton she had brought with her and explained in a hesitant voice.

"After our last meeting in Baska I got involved in a incident which turned me into something similar to a vampire."

Esperia smiled weakly, her eyes glowing a faint red as she spoke "I tend to only feed on my lover, or blood bags that were donated to me." Esperia sighed briefly, leaning back as she mumbled softly "It does make me incapable of fighting at my full strength, but I can't control my Precursor form yet so I don't wish to risk it while there are innocent people around."

Looking up ahead Esperia could see the wagons were starting to make their way onwards again. "We should be getting near the camp soon."

Checking the front of the wagon, Shichiro had found the driver of the wagon seemingly unharmed. However, he had been staring at a spot nearby to him. Tracing his gaze with his own eyes, Shichiro looked at the spot where the driver was focused on, noticing the body of one of their werewolf assailants unconscious near the driver. Shichiro had no recollection of taking care of this one and most of the other guards were at the rear dealing with a horde of them before Shichiro had arrived in order to offer aid. This could only mean his partner, Esperia had been behind this and successfully defended the driver from this sneak attack. He was relieved that he wouldn't have the trip delayed too much should the driver have been injured or perished on the way to their destination.

Speaking of his partner, Shichiro had looked around the immediate area to see if he could find her somewhere nearby but alas, he didn't spot her. He wondered if she had been taken out or elsewhere while the fights were going on. Or maybe she had skipped out on the duty as a whole and was lounging around somewhere else. The thought of that somewhat vexed Shichiro as he hoped back into the front of the wagon, awaiting the continuation of the caravan journey. Just as he was about to mutter some choice profanities, his partner had come back to the front of the wagon, explaining her disappearance. Apparently, shortly after their encounter, she had become a vampire or something. Seems to be common nowadays and in the future, he might have to hunt down a few of them to cull their population or something. Well, as long as he wasn't hearing anything about rampant vampire attacks or being paid to deal with it, the matter wasn't his concern.

Afterwards, it seems the caravan wagons were starting to pick up and resume their travels to their destination which made Shichiro a bit more relaxed than he was before in hopes this journey would end soon so he can get his reward and move onto a different venture.

It took only a few more hours after their encounter with the Werewolves till they reached the encampment, the fact the hostile threat was dealed with so quickly having likely explained why they were able to speed up through the journey so quickly.

As the caravan started to unload its goods at the camp a more formal dressed man approached the duo, seemingly pleased. "Excellent work, my name is Albert, an aide working for sir Reiner, I was instructed to provide you both with your payment upon arrival. The fact you got here ahead of schedule and without any of the goods damaged will surely please my lord."

Approaching Shichiro the man handed him a pouch full of jewels and after providing the same to Esperia went back to dealing with the unloading of the wares.

"I guess that's that for the job. Thank you for your help Shichiro." Smiling briefly at the Rune Knight Esperia raised a hand in a waving motion as she prepared to walk into the direction of one of the encampment's exits, although slow enough that she could be stopped if the need for it arised. But since they had completed their job, she wasn't certain if there was anything else left to be done.

Sitting in the front of the wagon, Shichiro had leaned against the caravan wagon in anticipation of their arrival. He was feeling somewhat fulfilled from the encounter they had, although it managed to go away quicker than usual as they weren't particularly strong. At least, not as strong as the ones who had turned and trained him some time ago. It was a shame that they couldn't live up to the outward challenges they've produced themselves. Hopefully, he'd find something else to do on his way there but if not, he'd mainly just take a nap until they made it to their destination, if they didn't get attacked again.

Arriving at their destination, Shichiro was woken up by the driver and escorted off of the caravan wagon so the workers that were on board could do their job unloading the cargo from the wagons. Shichiro was about to look for a place to lounge around when a formally dressed man had appeared in front of the pair. He introduced himself as an aide to Reiner who went by the name of Albert. Shichiro thought that was a funny name but restrained himself from cracking a smirk. Letting the man approach, he was handed a pouch of jewels for a job well done and the same for his partner. With that his partner waved at him and began to make her way towards the exit of the encampment. Shichiro waved back halfheartedly, shrugging off some of the interaction.

With that, there was nothing else left for him to do so he decided he would leave the encampment. First, he figured he'd explore the encampment a little bit to see if he could find another odd job or two in order to squeeze out some more jewels from them. Alas, he was unsuccessful as nobody needed a guard and he wasn't fond of doing manual labor for chump change. With that, he too would leave the encampment in hopes he could get another job in order to support Reiner.

[Exit.]