Mixarnt casually helped Aelries to her feet, her legs still shaky from the sheer absurdity of what had just happened. With a grin, he held out the Sword of Sylphara, its blade glinting in the sunlight as if completely unbothered by the fact that it had just been used to slice open reality.
"Here," he said, pressing the hilt into her hands. "It's yours anyway since you found it first. Plus, it's an elven weapon, suits you better, hehe."
Aelries stared at the legendary blade now resting in her palms, then at Mixarnt's carefree expression, then back at the sword.
"Sigh… You are just impossible to understand," she muttered, finally sheathing the sword at her side.
Her momentary relief was short-lived, however, as she pulled out her map and realized, they were miles away from the elven kingdom. No horses. No supplies. Just an endless sea of grassland stretching in every direction.
"Uhhh… How did this happen?" Aelries groaned, crouching down and burying her face in her knees.
She had never traveled this far before. As a princess, she had always stayed within the safety of her kingdom's borders, only venturing out for patrols. Now, thanks to this infuriating human, she was stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing but little goods. She peeked through her fingers at her meager supplies: a single medical pouch and a few strips of dried jerky.
Then she looked up at Mixarnt.
He was just… standing there. Smiling. Like this was all some fun little adventure.
"This is the worst," she said, hiding her face again. "Stuck with this infuriating idiot who has no common sense… Why me?"
She almost wished the plant monster had finished her off. At least then she wouldn't be dealing with this.
"Hey, hey, elf!" Mixarnt suddenly called, pointing excitedly into the distance. "Look! There's a river over there!"
Aelries didn't even lift her head. "Aelries. That's my name."
Did she care about a river right now? No.
Did she have a choice? Also no.
"Nice to meet you I guess, name's Mixarnt btw." He said with a grin.
With the heaviest sigh imaginable, she forced herself to stand, dusting off her clothes with as much dignity as she could muster.
Mixarnt was already trotting ahead, humming like this was a pleasant afternoon stroll.
Aelries followed, her expression a perfect mix of exhaustion, irritation, and reluctant resignation.
"Just my luck," she muttered under her breath. "Stranded in the wilderness with the most annoying human in existence."
Mixarnt, completely oblivious or perhaps deliberately ignoring her suffering, cheerfully called back, "Come on, slowpoke! Maybe there's fish in the river! I'm starving!"
Aelries sighed again. "This is going to be a long journey."