Patchy said there was a strange series of events going on in the next town over, and it would be the adventure of a lifetime to investigate. He’s old and has done a lot of stuff, so it has to be really weird for him to call it out. Maybe it’s important, too, and I can be a hero!

Papa told me not to talk to him. Or anyone at the bar, really. He said there were a lot of strange old men who wanted to do bad things to little girls.

But it’s not like he ever bothers stopping me from doing anything. And I can take care of myself!

I haven’t had a lot of fun ever since moving out here. I don’t know why we moved here after Mama died, other than Papa said he “drew the short straw” and he had research to do. He won’t even say what his research is! Not even a hint!

He took me aside once we got here, and I annoyed him enough. I thought he was going to say something, but all he did was lecture me about being safe and not trusting strangers and staying away from animals and not wander off on my own and a bunch of other things that he doesn’t really care about probably. It’s not like I could do a lot after moving here, anyway, I was sick for a month. Papa said it was the “stress of moving” and that it would take some time to acclimate.

There’s not a lot of Reds out here; Papa’s basically the only one. He won’t say whether I’ll be Red, too, or if I’ll turn White like everyone else in town. Maybe people will talk to me if I’m White, and I can have some friends…

The only people who would talk to me were the people at the bar. It was basically the only place in town that mercenaries or adventurers or other people passing through would stop.

Patchy’s been there for a while, I guess. Ever since I got here. He’s always there when I stop by, just playing cards or reading a book. He said he was retired, but still liked hearing stories. When I asked him for some, he kept telling the same kind of stories again and again. About Demons that possess normal people and make them do other things they don’t want to. He said he had to learn a lot about them when he was active, that he hunted them down and made sure the Demons didn’t hurt anyone.

He said that he wasn’t all that special, he just took the time to learn what he needed to. And trained to make sure he could handle himself. That the world always needed some people to step up and do things, cause a lot of people just didn’t.

He seemed like he was trying to push me to do something, to be like him. It was strange.

But also, it felt… nice. To have someone pay attention.