Maya did not talk in the stable.

She talked in the inn, at a corner table, with a cup of mulled wine in front of her and a small knife spinning between her fingers. The innkeeper had taken one look at her cloak and weapon belt and given her a wide berth.

"So," she said, "let me guess. You don't know how you got here. You woke up in the field with a hoe and a straw hat, and the first thing you did was figure out the world works like a game."

Leo said nothing.

"Levels. Status. Skills." Maya ticked them off on her fingers. "The way the monsters drop 'experience.' The way your body grows when you level. It's all very... *systematic*. Isn't it?"

"You're very chatty for someone I don't trust," Leo said.

"I'm chatty because I'm curious." Maya leaned forward. "In three years of traveling this world, I've met exactly one other person who could see their own level without concentrating. One. A man in the northern mountains who claimed he'd been 'reborn' from somewhere else. Sound familiar?"

Leo's heart skipped.

"What happened to him?"

"He got himself killed trying to take down a Level 40 wyvern." Maya shrugged. "Cocky. Thought his little trick made him invincible. Turns out the world doesn't care how special you think you are."

"Noted," Leo said dryly.

"Good." Maya sat back. "So here's my offer. You're new, you're strong, and you're stupid enough to fight a wolf pack with a bread knife. I'm fast, I'm quiet, and I know this region better than anyone. There's a contract on the board at the next town over — a wolf den in the northern hills. Big money, big risk. I need a fighter. You need a guide."

**【Quest: The Northern Wolf Den.】**
**【The village elder has a similar request. Reward: 50 gold, iron sword. Boss mob: Pack Leader (Lv. 20). Difficulty: High.**】

"Twenty?" Leo said out loud.

"Twenty what?"

"Nothing." Leo rubbed his face. A Level 20 boss. He was Level 9. The gap was not a joke.

But the Devourer had eaten a Level 9 boar's experience and jumped him two levels. What would a Level 20 boss give him? Five levels? Ten?

"Where's the den?" he asked.

Maya's smile widened. "I'll show you. For a share of the reward."

"Fifty-fifty."

"Sixty-forty. I'm the guide."

"Fifty-five-forty-five."

"Fifty-fifty, and you buy breakfast." Maya held out her hand. "Deal?"

Leo looked at her hand. The knife was gone, tucked somewhere out of sight. Her eyes were still sharp, still measuring.

He shook.

"Deal."

---

The village elder was a thin man with a white beard and hands that trembled around a wooden staff.

He sat Leo down in his hut the next morning and regarded him with a look that was half gratitude and half fear.

"The wolves have plagued us for three seasons," the elder said. "We are a small village. We cannot afford to hire mercenaries. We cannot afford to lose more sheep. And last night—" He stopped. "Last night, you saved us. A farmer."

"Lucky timing," Leo said.

"Luck." The elder's eyes were sharp despite his age. "Boy, I have lived seventy years. I know luck. What you did was not luck." He pushed a small pouch across the table. "Fifty gold. And the sword you've earned."

Leo opened the pouch. Fifty gold coins gleamed at him. The sword was plain but well-made, iron, with a leather-wrapped grip.

**【Quest complete: Defense of the Village. Reward received: 50 gold, Iron Sword (Common).**】
**【Reputation increased with Fallow Village.**】

"And now," the elder said, "I have a second request. The den. The wolves you drove off — they will return. They always return. If you can reach the den and kill the pack leader, the wolves will scatter for good."

"I know," Leo said. "I'm already going."

The elder's eyes widened. "You... know?"

"I have a guide. A girl named Maya."

The elder's face went carefully blank. "Maya. The traveler."

"You know her?"

"I know *of* her." The elder lowered his voice. "She is a thief, boy. A professional. She has been barred from three towns in this province. Whatever she told you, half of it is a lie."

Leo thought of Maya's sharp smile, her easy manner, her claim that she'd never seen another "reborn."

"Then I'll watch my back," he said.

The elder sighed. "Watch your purse too."

---

They left at noon.

Maya led him through the fields, past the treeline, up into the low hills where the grass turned yellow and the air grew thin. She moved like a shadow, never snapping a twig, never leaving a track. Leo, by contrast, sounded like a herd of cattle.

"You're loud," she said over her shoulder.

"I'm a farmer. Farmers are loud."

"You're a farmer who kills wolves with a bread knife. You should be quieter."

Leo grunted. "Where exactly is this den?"

"North ridge. A cave system called the Wolf's Maw. The pack has been growing for years — the leader's been breeding them." She glanced back. "You sure you want to do this? Last chance to turn back."

"You sure you want a Level 9 farmer as your fighter?"

Maya's lips curved. "I'm sure I want the gold. Whether you live or die is up to you."

They climbed in silence after that.

By late afternoon they stood at the mouth of the Wolf's Maw. The cave yawned open in the rock face, dark and cold, and from deep inside came the low, continuous sound of growling.

**【You have entered: Wolf's Maw (Dungeon).】**
**【Recommended level: 15. Boss: Pack Leader (Lv. 20).】**
**【Warning: This is a dangerous area.**】

Maya crouched, studying the tracks in the dirt. "Fresh. The pack's inside, sleeping. We go in quiet, we take the leader first, the rest will panic."

"And if it's not sleeping?"

"Then we run." She grinned. "I'm very good at running."

Leo tightened his grip on the iron sword.

"Let's go."

---