After stealing as many valuables from a group of thieves as she can carry, Lina Inverse—self-proclaimed beauty and genius sorceress—leaves with a fireball gift into the heart of her unwitting patrons’ campsite and heads toward Atlas City with dollar signs in her eyes. Before she can get very far, a horde of the surviving bandits ambushes Lina with vengeance on their minds. But sooner than she can put these one-dimensional goons out of their misery, a gallant wandering mercenary enters the scene, mistaking Lina for a damsel in distress. Lina gladly plays the role and lets the swordsman, Gourry Gabriev, do all the work for her. Soon enough, however, she comes to regret her decision, as Gourry insists upon his honor in escorting Lina the rest of the way. The thought sends shivers down her spine, but when the original owners of her stolen goods come to take them back, Gourry proves more valuable than anything of theirs. Figuring out that whichever item they seek is being tracked via magic and that some big names are attached to what is quickly becoming quite the scandal, Lina realizes that something far more precious than money has fallen into her hands.