Wilona eyed as a fatter, bulkier beaver walked across the water? No, swam. He was still swimming, his head was just poking out or something like that, wasn't sure. Also, if this guy was the leader of these beavers, then she needed to expect that he was going to be a tough fight.

  Wilona prepared to cast fireballs or maybe call on the nearby plants to bind the large Castorimorphian.

  And holy shit, it was one large beaver. It stood taller than her by at least three feet—and she was tall for girls her age. 5'8" wasn't a joking height, really—and was so fat that he could probably lift an entire tree if Wilona judged him based on proportional strength alone. But since magic was involved here, this thing was definitely stronger than that.

  "You gave us food." Huh, the guy's voice was a whole lot more normal than Wilona expected. "I want to thank you, but I also want to know why."

  "I dunno, man!" Wilona raised her hands in defeat. She couldn't just say that it was part of her quest now, could she?! Who would believe her? She made up a lie on the spot. "I saw some giant beavers and decided that I wanted to talk to you guys. Do I need a complex reason to do that?"

  "You are a mage," the Castorimorphian said in a matter-of-fact tone. He narrowed his doe eyes. "And mages should not be trusted."

  Wait, seriously? Mages had that kind of reputation here? What the hell did those guys do? Wilona lowered her hands. "Listen, man, I'm not here to hurt you or your people. Hell, I want to help even! If you need help, just say so!"

  "Sounds suspicious," said one of the beavers. Wilona used every ounce of her self-control not to glare at the piece of shit. "It's like she knows that we need it."

  You know what? She's doubling down. "Yeah! Exactly! I know that you guys need help!" Just what they needed help with, she wasn't sure. Food? "I have, like, multiple vases of food back in my camp, and I can bring them all here! I have more fish..."

  "Fish... Hm?" The giant beaver leaned his head closer to Wilona. "And if I think that it's a trap?"

  "Well, it's not like you can do anything about it." Was this guy stupid or something? If he did send his people over to her camp—which he didn't know the location of, by the way—then did he expect himself to run over there?

  From the way he flinched, the giant beaver was taken aback by Wilona's flawless logic. He growled, "You seem confident in your power."

  "Yep." Wilona crossed her arms. She could shoot this guy with a wind blade aimed for his head, and he wouldn't even see it coming. Which meant if they needed help in, like, killing something, she'd be their gal! "Very confident. If you need me to kill someone, just say so. I am here to help."

  "And in exchange?"

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  "Hm." Wilona went silent and thought it through. She couldn't just say that she didn't need anything because the rewards she'd get after completing the quest were enough, but that would make them more suspicious. "How about a favor for a favor? I can ask you guys for help later. If it's too much for you, I'll respect it and try to cash in the favor another time. How about that?"

  "It's a deal," said the beaver. His pride seemed to have lowered because the next few words that came out of his mouth were him actually asking for help. "I need your help. I am asking for the food that you are offering, and if you want to help us kill the invading ogres, then I will welcome you into the fight."

  What did he say? Wilona blinked. "I'm sorry, ogres?" Did she hear that right? "You guys are fighting ogres?"

  The beaver nodded, his eyes widening when Wilona burst into laughter.

  "What, do they have donkeys with them or something?!" She looked at the Castorimorphians, and when she saw that they weren't laughing with her, she slowly calmed down. "Haha..." She cleared her throat. They probably didn't get what she was trying to say. "Right, ogres. You guys need me to help kill ogres."

  "Yes," nodded the beaver. "I will put my trust in you and allow my men to escort you back to your camp. After you come back, I hope that you stay with us until the invaders come to try and kill my people."

  The situation caught up to her, and Wilona solemnly shook her head. It was one of those things, huh? Wilona felt wistful. On one hand, she was gonna kill ogres, but on the other hand, if she left them alone, then they were gonna kill the beavers. It was a two-sided thing, and she needed to pick a side.

  "Okay, fine." Wilona nodded despite knowing that she'd never killed before. "I'll help out with killing the ogres."

  Using magic from a distance should push away the guilt she would have felt when killing something in close quarters, right? She hoped so. She didn't want to come out of this with PTSD gnawing at her sanity.

  Wilona left the wetlands with two beavers tailing behind her. She cast bioluminescence to push away the darkness. She turned to the two beavers, a small smile on her face. "So, uh, what are your guys' names?"

  No answer. Okay... Guess they didn't want to talk to her. Fair enough. They'd just met, after all, and they seemed to be in a tense situation, so, like, trusting really wasn't their strong suit currently. Wilona totally understood.

  She kept trying to talk to them anyway. Eventually, they'd give out. Wilona was sure of this.

  When their friend came back from the forest, the first thing that Fuzz noticed was her voice. By the gods, Wilona was talking again! The myceloid wanted to cover her ears, but to her misfortune, she no longer needed them because she could hear through her mycelium.

  Mossheart seemed excited to hear Wilona, but that was just the ent being herself.

  Wait, who was Wilona talking to?

  The answer to that question came when Fuzz noticed the two creatures—Castorimorphians—following Wilona. They seemed tired and looked like they were on the verge of tearing their ears out, and Fuzz sympathized. Wilona talking about something might as well be torture. The girl never shut up. It was kind of impressive, honestly.

  "Hello, Mossheart!" Wilona waved at the ent. She didn't notice the two beavers behind her freezing in place at the sight of the massive creature. "I brought some friends over! Come say hi!"

  Fuzz could have sworn that one of the Castorimorphians was close to fainting when they saw the ent wave.

  "Oh, and who's this?" Wilona was, naturally, referring to her. And Fuzz couldn't help but notice that she didn't look scared. At all. "Your friend?"

  "It's me, Wilona."

  "Fuzz?!" Oh, so now she's surprised?! "How?!"

  "I decided to grow myself a body," the myceloid answered. She looked at the two Castorimorphians. "And who are they?"

  "My escorts or whatever. They're supposed to carry the vases full of dried fish back to the swamp. They're apparently being attacked by ogres, so they need food and stuff. I decided to give them some of mine." The way Wilona calmly said that they were being attacked by ogres could only mean that she'd never seen one of the pseudo-giants before...

  "That's... good?" Fuzz shook her head. She gestured to the tree and opened the door. "You can bring them here. I'll watch over our guests."

  And watch, Fuzz did. It was almost cute, watching the balls of fur squirm under her non-existent eyesight. They looked very uncomfortable around Mossheart and her. It felt pretty good, if she were to be honest.

  Wilona soon came back. She carried the two vases like they were nothing, and the sight of it unnerved the Castorimorphians even more. "Here you go~"

  The Castorimorphian heaved when he caught the vase Wilona handed over. The next one feared for his life as he prepared to catch the second one. He, too, heaved after the ceramic container slammed into him.

  Wilona tilted her head. "It's not that heavy, is it?"

  The two Castorimorphians shook their heads. Big mistake. Now Wilona, the only person who could possibly carry the vases for them if they felt tired, went back to the tree to grab another vase.

  After saying goodbye to her and Mossheart, Wilona left with the two beavers in tow. Poor fools.