Dragon Quest XI: Partners Until the End

[Chapter 16]

The walk through the Celestial Sands was somehow both fun and entertaining while being exhausting and troublesome at the same time.

On one hand, travelling with Sylvando was rather fun, at least in Freya's eyes. The blonde twins seemed to enjoy his company, and the jester easily elicited a laugh from the three girls at every chance he could take—though the spiky haired thief still kept his wary attitude. Nevertheless, Sylvando was charming and funny and his flute playing skills were a sight to behold. Not to mention, the jester was surprisingly strong, which shocked every single party member during their first fight. While the performer did say he could handle himself in battle, nobody suspected him to be so well-versed against the monsters. It was impressive, and even Erik couldn't deny that fact. Plus, it was much appreciated, since—

"H-Help!"

—That was where the work came in. The sandy grounds were crawling with fiends left and right. It was already hard venturing across the arid landscape with the scorching sun rays shining down, but the constant need to protect Prince Faris grew tiresome. Each monster encounter had the boy screeching for help, which led to his knights scrambling to escort their beloved prince away from the creatures and ended with the group wiping out the fiends. It was a rinse and repeat situation every handful of minutes, but it was clearly getting on the nerves of some of the members, namely the two hotheads of the party.

Veronica let out a loud groan as the group of haystack needlers fell onto their backs right before vanishing away into wispy purple mist. The rest of the party members put away their weapons as the small blonde continued waving her wand above her head, fury flashing in her violet hues.

"I'm getting really tired of having to protect that buffoon," She hissed out, stamping her foot into the grainy sand underneath. Finally she strapped her staff to her back and rested her hands onto her hips in a vexed huff. "Honestly, can't he do anything properly?"

"Oh, Veronica, he's gone through a lot," Serena lilted, her soft voice ringing through the air, catching everyone's attention. Her lips curled into a small frown and her eyes were soft with sympathy. "We shouldn't be too judgmental, you know,"

"Nah, she's got a point, Serena," Erik snorted, making the healer meet his gaze. A simper graced his masculine features and the gleam in his eyes shined with a mixture of disdain and amusement. "That prince is an idiot,"

Serena could only sigh at the boy's words while both Erik and Veronica erupted into snickers. From beside them, Sylvando held an entertained grin as Freya rolled her eyes playfully at her friends. The brunette reached into her pouch to take out her water canteen and began uncapping the cork.

"That's enough, you two," Freya warned with a mirthful tinge before slipping the nozzle into her mouth to gulp down cool water. Beads of sweat trailed down her forehead as she let out a soft exhale. Her blue hues instantly locked onto her partner, who held out his hand expectantly with a cheeky grin. She chuckled softly as she placed the canteen into his palm, watching him knock his head back with hefty chugs of the liquid before continuing on. "I must admit, I'm pretty tired of all these small monsters. We've been working hard, and we haven't even seen the Slayer yet,"

"Oh, don't worry, darling! I'm sure we can take care of that nasty monster thing even without little Princey-poo at our side," Sylvando exclaimed, reaching over to lightly pat the brunette's shoulder. Freya watched the performer send her a wink with a dazzling smile gracing his handsome features. "Speaking of, we should really catch up with him and capture that awful Slayer,"