It had been a few days of traveling the lands since the last quest for Ragnar. This was ultimately nothing unusual for him, as he often found himself drifting around the realms, simply living off of the land until he came across another quest. The barbarian was not sure why exactly he found this life so fulfilling, merely existing between tasks for other people, but it was something he found great joy in merely for its own sake. Even when grateful lords would offer the hands of their daughters in marriage, he would turn them down and simply move on—alone. On some lonely nights, Ragnar would wonder if it was time for him to seek out a companion, but he would always dismiss those thoughts, figuring that if it were time for him to find a companion, he would know it.
And so, he found himself drifting into another village, similar to many other villages he drifted into in the past. In his experience, there was little need for him to actively seek out people to help, since it seemed that people seeking his help just sort of gravitated towards him these days. There were some benefits to building up a reputation as a hero, and not having to spend a lot of time looking for work was one of them. Indeed, Ragnar had barely made it to the center of the village before he was approached by the elder, who explained to him that there was a hut on the outskirts of the village that was occupied by a wizard. Apparently, there had been strange noises coming from that hut at night, and the villagers were getting worried that something terrible was going to happen. The elder asked Ragnar to go and ask the wizard to leave, as apparently this was becoming an untenable situation for some reason or another that the elder did not elaborate on.
Ragnar cared little, for this was simply another task to him, and he did not expect this to take very long. The barbarian made his way over to the outskirts of the village, where he did indeed find an isolated hut. He entered it with little regard for knocking beforehand, causing the inhabitant on the other side of the hut's inside to jolt up in his chair, almost falling over in sheer surprise. "Wh-What do you w-want?" he stammered.
Now, Ragnar was never one for diplomacy. In fact, he was blunt to an absolute fault, and that showed in his response. "Elder says you have to leave the village. You make too much noise." When the warrior made these statements to other people, the responses were mostly violent, because he was used to making demands of brigands, thieves, and similar lowlives. What he was not expecting was for them to start crying.
Indeed, after a few moments of silence, the wizard simply slumped over his small desk and began to cry, letting out weak sobs in between muttering in a soft, defeated voice. "I... I don't h-have anything else a-anymore... why do t-they have to d-do this to me..." He then looked up at Ragnar, his expression pathetic and broken. "I... don't know you. You don't know me. But... p-please have mercy. If... if I can't stay here anymore, I'll die..." he begged.
While Ragnar was never one for diplomacy, he was no stranger to recognizing that perhaps, whoever had given him a task was not telling the full story, and at this point, he was feeling fairly certain that the village elder was not the good guy in this scenario. But at the same time, there was something different about this situation. Looking at this wizard, his eyes reddened by tears, reduced to a weeping pile of misery, Ragnar felt something he had not felt in quite some time. Above all, he felt that he wanted to protect this wizard from all harm. It was odd to him, but that was what he felt, and in all his time, he knew to trust his gut. "You know magic?" he asked. The wizard seemed surprised by this question, but nodded. "You come with me? Go on adventures together and help people," Ragnar then added. It was a simple solution to him. If he takes the wizard along, then he's out of the village, but he'll be taken care of.
Esorin could not have been much more confused. Driven to poverty after the magical college he had put everything into attending was burned to the ground and trying to simply stay alive by doing parlor tricks now that he had no more access to magical materials, he was at the end of his rope. He knew his time in this village was limited, that the villagers hated him because of their prejudice towards magic users, and he had been dreading the day that they made their move. And yet, here was the executioner of their will, offering him a way out? Before he could even comprehend what he was doing, the wizard had jumped off his chair and ran over to the barbarian's side, wrapping his arms around him and clinging to him for dear life. And as the warrior's strong arms held Esorin's trembling body, he knew that even if the future might hold risks, there at least seemed to be someone that believed in him.
And as Ragnar held this sobbing, shaking young man, the barbarian knew he had made the right decision, and he knew that he had found the companion he had been seeking. The wizard then looked up at him, a grateful, yet confused look on his face. "But... but why?" Esorin asked.
Ragnar smiled. This was not a common occurrence, but in this moment, he was happy in a way that he hadn't been in a long time. "You are cute," was his simple reply, and it was the truth. He had found this little magic user to be absolutely precious, and did not care to dress that up in more flowery language.
That response made Esorin's heart beat faster. This big, strong mountain of a man that had practically pledged to protect him found him cute? All he could do was bury his face in the barbarian's chest to hide his blushing out of sheer embarrassment. The two stayed that way for a few moments before eventually parting and going through the basic introductions. The wizard told Ragnar the story of how he got into this situation, and Ragnar in turn affirmed his commitment to making sure he would have a better life. In the end, the two went to the village elder and explained the situation, and while the elder was clearly not happy with the result, he was not about to argue with the famous hero about it and paid out the reward. As the two left the village, Esorin turned back one more time, and Ragnar placed his mighty hand on the wizard's shoulder. It was with that that their lives were forever changed, and they set off, in search of new adventures to have and people to help.
The next day,