《Outlander》 Chapter 1 I push my way past the crowded doorway to get off the bus. Why is it always so crowded where I get off? If it weren¡¯t for the fact that there were always three or four people standing in the doorway, I wouldn¡¯t care. I hate those guys: they always get on the bus a couple stops after me and just stand by the doorway the whole time. Well, I guess if I was a bit more forceful, it still wouldn¡¯t matter to me, but twice this month I took too gentle of an approach and missed my stop. Oh, and the same guys stay in my way when I get off on the stop after, anyways! I sigh. Well, not like I¡¯m ever in a rush to get home to my tiny apartment. Never been invited out or had anyone over. Man, I barely even talk with my co-workers. Well, most of them are jerks anyways, usually part-time high school students. They say you should treat your elders with respect but my age doesn¡¯t matter when you work at a grocery store for a living. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m really much older anyways; I even still have some acne. I¡¯m also not really much bigger than them either. But hey, whereas one guy has braces, I was born with naturally straight teeth! I sigh again and eventually reach my floor. If there¡¯s such a thing as fate, then it¡¯s being a real bitch right now. An eviction notice on my apartment door. Seriously? I¡¯m only a week late and I even told the landlord about not getting my pay until next week. Damn, now I need to go talk to him again. Oh wait, he went on a trip a couple of days ago. What the heck, he actually got someone else to put an eviction notice on my door anyways. What an ass! I turn the key and enter my apartment, momentarily disregarding my troubles. I step immediately into my part living room, part kitchen. My apartment is where I spend most of my day, well, if you include sleep. But even if you don¡¯t include sleep, it¡¯s still pretty close between here and work. Don¡¯t get me wrong though, I hate my work. I work 6 days a week for minimum wage and instead of getting more used to it, I¡¯ve been hating it more and more. I bet all my old classmates are probably partying it up at college right now. I hate those guys, too. Okay, I don¡¯t really, I¡¯m just¡­you know. I sit on my old couch and turn on the TV. I have basic cable, but I hate all those reality shows and sitcoms. I used to really like sitcoms when I was younger, but now they just make me too envious. I look at the corner of the TV where I hit once after getting pissed off at a main character¡¯s love troubles. Oh no, two hot chicks are into me and I don¡¯t know which one I love! Oh, I could tell the truth and get into a little trouble, or come up with a complicated lie that makes things much worse when they find out later! That stuff just isn¡¯t funny anymore. Well, not for me, at least. I watch the weather channel and close my eyes for a bit as it goes through the forecasts for the week. I like how they just flip through screens that give you numbers and pictures. I don¡¯t have to look at some fresh-faced anchorwoman as much. Also, the music they play in the background is pretty catchy. The music suddenly ends and I hear a young woman¡¯s voice. Oh, is this a serious update? She goes on about a thunderstorm at night and that there will be very high wind speeds. Good, make it harder for people to enjoy their Friday night. Stay home in your house like me, eyes closed, listening to the news. After she finished talking, I got up to cook myself some dinner. Nothing special, just fried up some eggs and put it on top of my instant noodles. I bring the bowl out to the living room so that I can sit and watch TV as I eat. Watch the news some more until they start repeating their reports and then I start flipping channels. Sometimes I like to listen to the music channels, but I put up the menu screen so I don¡¯t have to look at the video in the background. They never make any sense and honestly, it sometimes makes my head hurt trying to figure out the meaning. I seriously doubt there¡¯s ever any meaning. I come across the random music track channel and after some new pop song ends, I hear something familiar start up. I hear the piano start up softly and gradually crescendo before settling back a bit. I continue to listen and feel a sense of nostalgia. Then, I put my fork into the noodles and set the bowl onto my lap as I lean back and close my eyes. The music grows stronger and I actually start to grimace, as if holding something back. My muscles tense as I repress some of my memories. Despite all this, I refused to change the channel and waited until the entire musical piece concluded. I relaxed my muscles and gazed tiredly at the screen as a rap song started up. I turned back to the weather channel and finished my noodles. After that, I look at my watch. It was just after eight. I then see a brief flash of light from my window. Several seconds later, I heard the rumble of thunder. Nothing special is going to happen tonight; might as well just go to sleep. Maybe get breakfast at McDonalds¡¯ or something in the morning. After taking a shower, I slipped into bed and closed my eyes. I just sat there and tried not to think about anything. There was nothing good to think about anyways. I just needed to wait for the half hour or so before I blank out. Half an hour goes by and nothing. Then an hour and still nothing. I hear the rumble of thunder much louder now and even feel my room shake a tiny bit. I sit up in my bed as I hear thunder again. Won¡¯t even let me go to sleep early? Fine, be like that. I get up and walk barefoot in my shorts and tee shirt to the kitchen. I pick up a glass and go over to the sink to fill it with water. The rumble of thunder comes again, and this time I felt the kitchen shake even more. I gaze at the window over the sink and just listen to the pounding of heavy rain against the glass. I see a flash of light again, but this time, it did not immediately disappear. I glanced at the window for a couple seconds, but there was still the glow of light coming from behind it. I set my glass down and open the window. The light intensifies and I shield my eyes. After a moment, my eyes adjusted and I slowly poke my head out of the window to see where the light was coming from. I look down and see nothing; I do feel the rain drumming on my head and shoulders, though. I then looked up and saw a small shimmering orb. I put my hand over my eyes again to block out some of the light and rain and tried to make out any features. Then, I saw a great flash of lightning come and strike the orb. The light became blinding and I felt my feet suddenly slip. I felt nothing else after that. I felt myself start to wake up and the first thing I did was cough. I then opened my eyes and found myself on a dusty trail. I coughed more and started to get up, confused. I looked down at myself and saw I was still wearing my shorts and tee shirt. I looked up and saw the sun high in the sky. I looked around and swallowed a bit, immediately followed by spitting when I felt dirt slide in my mouth. I took a few steps and felt the gravel slide against my feet. ¡°What the hell?!¡± I said aloud. I hit my arm to check if this was a dream and then held it gently as I recognized the pain. ¡°Damn¡­¡± I took a few more steps forward and scanned ahead. I could make out something big up ahead, but I wasn¡¯t sure what it was. I then glanced back and saw forest. There was actually forest pretty much everywhere else. I hit my arm again. Still feel it. Forward it is, then. After about twenty minutes of walking and trying not to panic, I arrived at what appeared to be a small town. There were a few people standing around the wooden houses and many looked at me with surprise. I approach one of the men and try to talk to him. ¡°Hey, uh¡­um¡­¡± ¡°Yes, son? What¡¯s the matter? Does it have something to do with your missing clothes?¡± ¡°Uh, maybe¡­can you tell me where I am?¡± ¡°You¡¯re by the town Befson, son.¡± ¡°And¡­what is that?¡± ¡°Oh, just a nice little town at the edge of the Ertrill Forest.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡°Tell me, son, where do you come from?¡± ¡°Uh¡­Charlotte?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know?¡± I said, genuinely blanking on the exact name of my city. ¡°Son, are you alright in the head?¡± I brought my hand to my forehead and started to massage it a bit. Then, I hit myself one more time to make sure it wasn¡¯t a dream. The pain felt very real. It felt so real, that I reacted to the point that I even fell over. ¡°Ow! Geez!¡± I get back up, holding my thigh. ¡°If you¡¯ve got that much energy, you ought to put it to good use. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing in Befson, but we could always use more workers if you¡¯re interested. We could even loan you some clothes to wear.¡± It was an offer I could not refuse. They took me to a large building at the edge of town and I changed into a plain cotton shirt and pants, and a pair of boots. After that, I waited for the man to come back. When he did, he came back with another, much bigger man with a full beard. ¡°So, you¡¯re the newcomer, eh? Name¡¯s John, I¡¯m the foreman around here. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°...It¡¯s Braith.¡± ¡°Braith? Never heard that name before.¡± ¡°I get that a lot.¡± ¡°So, Braith, what brings you to Befson?¡± ¡°I have no idea.¡± ¡°Er¡­okay? Well, Dan here says you¡¯re interested in some work and we could always use more hands. You all set to go?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°Great, come with me and I¡¯ll get you an axe.¡± I started to follow him as he walked away and then paused. ¡°Did you say ¡®axe¡¯.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Yeah, what else would we use to chop those trees?¡± It took a couple seconds for me to figure it out. ¡°So¡­the work is being¡­a lumberjack?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I took a look over my body again and felt my next-to-nonexistent biceps. ¡°Are you sure I¡¯m up for something like that?¡± ¡°Hey, if you made it all the way to Befson, there¡¯s gotta be something strong about you.¡± ¡°I have my doubts.¡± Despite that, I followed him anyway. After grabbing an axe and heading out to the forest where the other lumberjacks were, I learned that my doubts were well-founded. It is really hard to chop down a tree. Finally chopping down a tree also puts the fear of death in you; they fall too unexpectedly! Halfway through chopping the second tree, my arms couldn¡¯t take anymore and I dropped the axe. The other lumberjacks came over to see what was wrong so I tried to get back to work but I just didn¡¯t have the strength to swing the axe anymore. The foreman came over and gave me a break, said I needed to rest until I was ¡°less addled in the head¡±, as he put it. I rested for a bit and before I knew it, it was already sunset. After that, the foreman came over with another lumberjack. ¡°Am I fired?¡± I asked nonchalantly, still too exhausted to realize how horrible that could really be if this really wasn¡¯t a dream. ¡°Fired?¡± ¡°Did I lose the job?¡± ¡°Well, Braith, you just got in town and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve had a rough day. You¡¯ll do better tomorrow. For now, Lars here will show you where you¡¯ll be staying.¡± ¡°I get a room in that building back there?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s actually full up right now.¡± ¡°So¡­I stay at someone¡¯s house?¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ll be staying at the old lodge outside of town.¡± ¡°What?¡± I suddenly felt myself revitalize a little bit. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad; nobody¡¯s used it regularly for about twelve years, but it¡¯s still liveable. You can pick any room in there you want and there¡¯s a stove.¡± ¡°But I can¡¯t use a stove.¡± By now, I had figured out the premise of electricity was slim to none. ¡°What, you¡¯ve never used one before?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think I can use that stove.¡± ¡°But you haven¡¯t even seen it yet.¡± At that moment, my stomach growled. ¡°Well, you should learn how to.¡± Lars took out something and unwrapped it, revealing a small piece of bread. ¡°It isn¡¯t much, but you can eat this,¡± Lars said, offering the bread. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said as I took the piece. ¡°We should get going before it gets any later.¡± I wanted to ask why, but at the same time, I don¡¯t think I wanted to know. It was about a half-hour walk before we reached the old lodge. Good news and bad news. Good news, I managed to just barely hold out and avoid collapsing from exhaustion. Bad news, I¡¯d like to say that I¡¯ve seen houses in horror movies in better shape. Lars unlocked the front door to the dilapidated building and then handed me the key. We entered the lodge together and the first thing I did was cough. I waved my hand around to get the dust from my face and slowly walked around the dark place. On the bright side, it was a lot bigger than my apartment. On the other hand, it was also worse in every other way. To name a few, there was no real lighting anywhere, the place was very dirty, and it was not in the vicinity of a major city. ¡°Alright, Braith, I¡¯ll get the fire going in the stove for you and¡­¡± Lars paused as he noticed me barely standing up, ¡°you go and get some rest. I will wake you in the morning.¡± I muttered my thanks and went looking for a bedroom. I found one, but decided to keep looking. After briefly comparing them, I picked the one I deemed to be least dirty. I took some worn sheets from other parts of the lodge to try and wipe off a bit of the dust around the bed but it was too hard to see in the dark and I was already so tired. I put the sheet down and slipped into bed fully clothed. Okay, dream, feel free to end anytime now. I lazily opened up one eye and then screamed out in surprise as I saw a giant, blurry blob in front of me. ¡°Woah, there, it¡¯s just me, Lars.¡± I opened both eyes and rubbed them a bit, blinking them a bit too, and slapping my cheeks to get myself awake. My eyes adjusted and yes, the blob was definitely a human being. ¡°Lars, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Well, I did say I would come and wake you, right?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. Wait, you have a key too?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t. I had to leave and come back so the door was left unlocked.¡± I just kind of stared at Lars for a bit with my mouth open, realizing how stupid my question was. Then, I thought I suddenly noticed something about Lars¡¯ right eye when my stomach growled. ¡°I figured this might happen. I don¡¯t know what happened on your travels or why you are traveling in the first place, but it looks like you¡¯ll be needing some help to get settled.¡± ¡°Uh, yeah, I guess.¡± ¡°I brought some food with me so I could use it to help show you how to use that old stove.¡± ¡°I get to eat the food, right?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± ¡°Ha, right, stupid question.¡± Man, how many selfish bastards have I been around to ask a question like that? I got up and followed Lars to where the stove was. Yeah, it definitely wasn¡¯t something I¡¯ve ever used before. Lars had already started the fire last night so he started by explaining to me how to keep the fire going throughout the day. He showed me how to open it, where to put in the new coal, and explained how often to do it. As I was thinking it seemed simple enough, he then described the more than two hour long process of getting it started again if the fire dies out completely. For the first time in years, I looked at someone with great admiration. As he cooked breakfast, I stared at Lars¡¯ eyes again and noticed that his right eye never moved. When I realized this, I suddenly took a step back and my foot hit a nearby chair. Lars stopped to look at me. ¡°Something happen?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± I said, staring at his right eye and then quickly looking away. Lars brought a hand over his right eye. ¡°Ah, you noticed my eye?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just a glass eye.¡± ¡°A glass eye?¡± ¡°Yeah, I lost my real one in an accident years ago.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I said, still not looking directly at Lars. Lars turned his attention back to cooking as I felt slightly ashamed about how I acted. As I ate breakfast, I forced myself to look directly at Lars. Although I thought this was a good way of redeeming myself, I think it might have actually made him feel more uncomfortable. After eating a breakfast of bread and porridge, I followed Lars back to the forest to get to work. This second try was not easier than the first. However, I was more persistent and had a bit more strength in me so I got a bit more work down. It was still nothing compared to the other lumberjacks, though. If I get fired from this, will I die? I mean, I won¡¯t have a home, food or money. I really, really don¡¯t want to become a hobo. Nine bucks an hour and a tiny apartment, oh, how I miss them now. Break came and almost on cue, my stomach growled again. Lars seemed like a nice enough guy to share a bit with me if I asked, but I feel like I already owe him a lot. Surprisingly, though, the other lumberjacks offered to share food without me even asking. Sometimes, I got the feeling that they looked a bit strangely at me, but it¡¯s not like I got any kind of a bad feeling from that. Overall, there was no hating on the newcomer, or paranoia over their jobs being taken, or anything like that. Is this what a friendly work environment feels like? Despite my comfortable feeling during break, after more hours of exhausting and basically unproductive work, I could not dismiss the eventuality of being fired, or so I thought. After work, John the foreman came over to me and I braced myself. ¡°How are you feeling, Braith?¡± ¡°Really tired.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Cold?¡± I said as the night wind chilled my face. ¡°Hmmm, well, even though it¡¯s still autumn, winter isn¡¯t far off. I¡¯ll see if we have any old coats you can use.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What are you asking about?¡± ¡°About that old coat.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure we can find you something that¡¯s just lying around somewhere so I¡¯ll give it to you when I find it.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± I asked excitedly. ¡°Of course, wouldn¡¯t want you to catch a cold. Oh, I should also get you some extra changes of clothes. Oh, and I suppose you¡¯ll be needing a bath as well. Oh, we should just head to the main lodge now.¡± ¡°So, I can keep working as a lumberjack?¡± I asked with eager anticipation. I have never wanted to be a lumberjack so much in my entire life. And this includes that one time in second grade where I wanted to be the lumberjack hero from Little Red Riding Hood. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t pay you as much as the others, but you can keep working here for as long as you want.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Heck, I probably don¡¯t even do half as much as the other guys. ¡°That¡¯s quite the spirit you have going for you, Braith. I look forward to how well you¡¯ll do from now on. For now, come with me.¡± I followed him and he gave me an old fur coat and some extra changes of cotton shirts and pants for me. Was all of this really just lying around? My spirits were lifted up a bit more thinking about this level of generosity. After getting back home, though, my excitement finally died down. After removing the possibility of starving to death out in the cold in a strange land, there was still the fact that I was in a strange land. It hasn¡¯t been long, but what if they find out eventually? What¡¯ll happen to me? Also, yeah, the coworkers seem great so far, but what about later on? And what about life in general? Even if they never find out, am I just going to live here for the rest of my life? I continued to wrack my mind over all these issues until finally I just let out an irritated groan and flopped onto my bed. I don¡¯t have time for this; I have an early day tomorrow. The next day, after work finished, I went to the main lodge again to bathe and noticed something inside. I saw a large axe mounted onto the wall. It certainly didn¡¯t look like an ordinary wood-cutter¡¯s axe. The handle was metal and the edge of the axe looked thinner than the edge of my axe. There was also a brand on the side of the axe¡¯s blade which resembled a pair of crossed blades. I walked closer towards it to inspect it further when I heard the foreman shout from behind. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t touch that, Braith!¡± I turned around, somewhat panicked. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said, walking closer. ¡°So, what is it?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know what this is?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s an axe?¡± The foreman then pointed at the brand. ¡°You don¡¯t know what this is?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Braith, where exactly did you come from again?¡± ¡°¡­Charlotte?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of that place before.¡± ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not even sure if that¡¯s where I¡¯m from.¡± The foreman then began to stroke his beard. ¡°Braith, are you an escaped prisoner?¡± ¡°What?!¡± An escaped prisoner?! How the heck does that pop into somebody¡¯s head?! ¡°Well, you won¡¯t tell me where you¡¯re actually from and we heard rumours a few weeks ago that there was a massive breakout from Shelton Prison.¡± ¡°No, no, no! I am not a prisoner! Definitely not!¡± I spoke honestly while vigorously waving my hands and shaking my head. The foreman continued to stroke his beard. ¡°Then¡­where do you come from?¡± I clenched my teeth and tried very hard to remember but no names came to mind. I dropped my head and spoke very worriedly. ¡°I- I can¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°Is this the truth?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Look me in the eye and say that.¡± I raised my head and stared straight at him. ¡°I am telling you the truth!¡± My body shook a bit. I know I wouldn¡¯t believe me, or at least not the old me. We stared at each other for a moment in silence before the foreman nodded. ¡°Alright, I believe you.¡± I started to relax. ¡°Right, so¡­I guess if you don¡¯t know where you are from¡­you are probably an outlander then.¡± I looked at him with confusion. ¡°A¡­what?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t come from any of the kingdoms do you?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°An outlander, eh?¡± So am I an outlander now? Wait, does that mean there are other people from different worlds who came here? ¡°But still, to meet an outlander who wouldn¡¯t recognize this brand¡­¡± ¡°Foreman! You say I¡¯m an outlander. Does that mean there are others like me around here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a strange question. Have you always been alone?¡± ¡°No, but I don¡¯t know where I am or how to get back home.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you travel here?¡± ¡°No, I mean, sort of. Ah, well, I just kind of woke up and found myself on the dirt road near this town.¡± The foreman gave me an incredulous look. Ah, and things were going so good. At that moment, Lars suddenly came over. ¡°Hey, John, I think you should just let it be. The kid¡¯s probably really confused about a lot of things right now.¡± I looked to Lars appreciatively. ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll take your story for now, Braith. But first, just answer this question for me: What are you?¡± Huh? What am I? ¡°I¡¯m¡­human?¡± The foreman nodded to himself. ¡°Yeah, I figured as much. Much too weak to be Battle-Hardened, at least.¡± ¡°Battle-Hardened?¡± The foreman pointed over to the brand on the axe again. ¡°That brand there means this weapon belonged to an officer for the Battle-Hardened clans.¡± I still didn¡¯t understand what he was saying and my expression seemed to reassure the foreman of something. ¡°If you really don¡¯t know who the Battle-Hardened are, then it¡¯s fine. Just remember this, if you ever see someone with this brand, or the brand of a winged person, you best steer clear of them.¡± The sudden seriousness in the foreman¡¯s voice unsettled me just a bit. Then, the foreman shifted to his usual speaking voice and said, ¡°Well, go ahead and take your bath and head on back to your lodge. Another early day tomorrow.¡± Chapter 2 For the next few days, I continued to work and I avoided asking any questions about outlanders or the Battle-Hardened. During those days, the foreman actually gave me some eggs, bread, and other food. I guess Lars told him I was eating too little. Well, I say give, but he told me that he would deduct them from my wages. I normally hate it whenever my pay gets deducted, but at least I know what it¡¯s for and it¡¯s not like I can avoid buying food. After work finished one day, the foreman had the workers gather inside the lodge and he handed out our pay. I received twelve copper coins approximately twice the size of quarters, in thickness and diameter. One side of the coin was blank while the other side was etched with the outline of an egg. As I played around with the coins for a bit, the foreman gave a very small speech. ¡°Alright boys, we all know what tomorrow is, so there is no work tomorrow. Enjoy your day off.¡± The men silently nodded and made their leave. I just stood by a little bit confused until Lars came by to ask me what was wrong. ¡°Something wrong, Braith?¡± ¡°Um¡­what is tomorrow?¡± ¡°Oh¡­right. Well, tomorrow is very special.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, tomorrow marks the anniversary of the end of the war.¡± ¡°War?¡± ¡°Yes¡­I suppose you don¡¯t know about that either.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Well, five years ago a really big war finally ended. It involved almost the entire continent so I¡¯m surprised you¡¯ve never heard of it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not from this continent.¡± At first, I thought this was a huge slip up on my part, but for some reason, I didn¡¯t feel the least bit worried telling this to Lars. This feeling was clearly right as Lars calmly continued on. ¡°So you really just ended up here out of nowhere?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ve been coping with this pretty well so far, then. You must be made of some pretty tough stuff.¡± ¡°Not really. I mean, I miss my home, but¡­well, let¡¯s just say life wasn¡¯t that great there.¡± ¡°I see. Well, you do want to go back home someday, right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but I have no idea where home even is.¡± ¡°I wish I could help you there, Braith.¡± I covered my eyes for a bit ¡°It¡¯s fine. Anyways, can you tell me more about the war or the celebration? Or basically anything else about this place?¡± ¡°Sure, but there¡¯s quite a bit to say. Maybe I can tell you about it while I show you around the town tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess that works.¡± It was at that moment when I finally realized that I have never actually been around the town. I¡¯ve always just worked the whole day and then went to sleep in the old lodge at night. I must have been thinking about too many other things. The next day, I met up with Lars and we went around town. Having never really been around the town, I wouldn¡¯t have even known that there was a celebration going on that day. Sure, there were a few stands set up but they were just selling ordinary things like produce. ¡°Is this how it¡¯s like every year, Lars?¡± ¡°Hmmm, basically. We are a pretty small town and this day isn¡¯t really so much a celebration as taking a day to remember the war. The main feature of today is later in the day where we mourn the fallen soldiers. ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯d actually like to know about the war now.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t. Well, like I said yesterday, the war took place across almost the entire continent. There were a lot of groups fighting, but it boiled down to the nine largest groups. The war also lasted nine years. That¡¯s why some call it the War of the Nines.¡± ¡°Nine countries were fighting against each other?¡± ¡°Not exactly.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, there were nine very large groups, but there were many others that fought with each of them. Some of the nine were also allied with each other. Some called it a war of the three races, but that wouldn¡¯t be quite right either.¡± ¡°Three races?¡± I asked, immediately thinking back about home and the many global conflicts. ¡°Yeah: the humans, the Battle-Hardened, and the Farseers.¡± ¡°Farseers?¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t any Farseers where you come from?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I don¡¯t think we have any Battle-Hardened either.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s just humans where you come from?¡± Lars asked, surprise clearly showing on his face. ¡°Well, yeah, I guess.¡± ¡°A place with only race? How interesting. It must be quite peaceful where you come from.¡± I cringed a tiny bit. ¡°Mostly. Anyways, can you tell me what the Farseers and Battle-Hardened are like?¡± ¡°They are both a lot like humans, but with some pretty big differences. The Battle-Hardened are considered by some to be the greatest warriors. Generally, you can¡¯t really tell the difference, but many of them are a lot stronger and faster than humans. The Farseers are also like humans, but they can tap into the energies around us; they can use the elements.¡± ¡°Elements?¡± ¡°Yes, like fire and water.¡± ¡°So they can use magic like wizards?! ¡°Wizards?¡± ¡°Oh, well, it¡¯s a word we have for people who can do stuff like that.¡± ¡°So there are Farseers in your world?¡± ¡°Um, no.¡± Lars gave me a very confused look. ¡°We have stories about people like Farseers and Battle-Hardened, but they go by different names and they don¡¯t actually exist in my world.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Lars said, putting on a pensive expression. ¡°So, can you tell me more?¡± ¡°Oh, of course. But, what exactly would you like to know now?¡± I had to pause to think. What are the most important things to know about an unknown world? I thought for a few moments and really couldn¡¯t think of anything. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure.¡± ¡°If you think of something else, just ask.¡± I nodded. We went around the town a bit more and nothing really festive happened. Sometime in the early afternoon, most of the townspeople seemed to start moving in one direction and they all went to the very edge of the town. I glanced around and saw several rows of stones standing in the ground. I also saw many people wearing dark clothing, quite a few looking down at the ground while gathered around the stones. Among the people dressed in black were the foreman and a few other lumberjacks. I instantly felt awful about referring to this day as a celebration. I looked down at the ground and nervously shuffled my feet. After a few minutes, I heard a voice speak and I looked up. It was the man I first talked to when I came to this town. ¡°Fair people of Befson, today we honour those noble men who fell during that terrible war. They may feel gone from us forever, but they are not truly gone from us as long as we remember them. Remember all of those precious moments we have shared with them all and know that they are living on in Valhalla for their heroism.¡± The man concluded his speech by clasping his two hands together and bowing his head. Everybody else bowed their heads too and I followed. The people remained in the cemetery for most of the afternoon, talking amongst themselves and a few speaking to the tombstones. Lars walked around a little bit but he did not appear to have any tombstone to visit personally. He spoke with several of the townspeople while I quietly stood in his shadow. I had nothing to contribute to any of their talks and the looks I received because of my unfamiliar face made me very uncomfortable. After suffering emotionally in silence for about fifteen minutes, I started to get annoyed and Lars eventually noticed. The two of us left the cemetery and I started to take in some deep breaths after leaving that crowd. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, only half meaning it. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Was there a certain grave you were waiting to visit?¡± I asked more genuinely. ¡°No,¡± Lars stated simply. I did not want to press further. ¡°Hey, Lars, can you tell me more about outlanders?¡± ¡°What would you like to know about them?¡± ¡°Well, where do they come from¡­generally?¡± ¡°Braith, do you have any idea where you are?¡± The question sounded kind of rude but I knew Lars didn¡¯t mean it like that. ¡°No, I have no idea.¡± ¡°Well, we live on the continent of Midgard.¡± ¡°Midgard? Hey, I remember that man mentioning ¡®Valhalla¡¯.¡± ¡°Yes, Valhalla is the final resting place for warriors.¡± ¡°Those names sound kind of familiar, but I can¡¯t really remember why¡­¡± Lars silently stood by, waiting for me to remember, but I couldn¡¯t. ¡°Just go on.¡± ¡°On Midgard, several powerful families control much of the continent, but there is also a lot of land they don¡¯t control. This land is mostly wilderness that is inhabited by nomads and other people living in small towns and villages. This land is called the Outlands, and people who live there are called outlanders.¡± ¡°So, outlanders are just people who don¡¯t live in larger towns?¡± ¡°Not quite. Most of the continent is wilderness, but the Outlands are a certain kind of wilderness. The Outlands are lands that are not controlled by any of the major families; they are independent.¡± ¡°So¡­they are the borders?¡± ¡°They are between the borders.¡± I couldn¡¯t quite understand that and any example I could use to help me probably wouldn¡¯t make sense to Lars. ¡°The Outlands are lands¡­that are between the large territories¡­but don¡¯t belong to anyone.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly,¡± Lars replied, nodding. ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s like what the Rhineland was.¡± ¡°The what?¡± ¡°Nevermind. So, are the Outlands¡­big?¡± ¡°Yes, they cover parts all across the continent.¡± ¡°Are we near the Outlands right now?¡± ¡°We are quite close; just beyond the Ertrill Forest would be the Outlands.¡± ¡°So, where are we right now?¡± ¡°Which territory?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Befson is under the Holtz kingdom. The territory¡¯s name is Holtzan, the southernmost human territory.¡± ¡°Does that mean we are near the sea?¡± I don¡¯t even know why I¡¯m asking this. I¡¯m not even in the mood for traveling and I got seasick the last time I was on a ship. ¡°Not that close; we are by the northern edge of Holtzan.¡± ¡°What about the other places?¡± ¡°I can only give you a rough idea about the other regions since I haven¡¯t traveled much in a long time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have a map?¡± Lars gave me a funny look. ¡°Maps are quite difficult to come by; they are very expensive. I don¡¯t think anyone in Befson has one.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Are you planning to travel soon?¡± ¡°Oh, no! I mean, I don¡¯t know where anything is and by the sounds of it, going just about anywhere can be dangerous.¡± ¡°The Outlands may be an unfamiliar place to most, but it is not that hostile of a place. Well, you generally don¡¯t have to worry about hostile people, that is.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ve been to the Outlands before?¡± For some reason, Lars looked just a bit troubled by that question. ¡°I have.¡± ¡°How far have you been?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve mainly just been around the area near Holtzan; I haven¡¯t traveled much, like I said.¡± Lars seemed to be intentionally keeping his response short. ¡°Why did you go to the Outlands in the first place?¡± I knew that Lars probably didn¡¯t want to go too deep into this but I had to ask. Lars turned his body around a little bit, as if preparing to stretch or sit and then he just folded his arms together. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that the drive to explore is something hard to deny in any man.¡± I nodded in agreement despite not liking his answer. I¡¯ve asked enough. I should just worry more about living here in the meantime. It has been a little more than a month and we are now nearing winter, or so they tell me. They have months here like on Earth but they don¡¯t call them the same names. When I first got here, it was apparently early in the month of Libra and right now it is the middle of Sagittarius. The fifteenth of Sagittarius to be exact. Each month has about 30 days and there are 12 of them so I guess time goes by at around the same rate here. Towards the end of work, it started to snow. I can¡¯t remember the last time I¡¯ve seen snow. After work finished, a lot more snow started to fall. Lars came over and asked if I had been storing enough food, firewood and coal at my lodge and I told him I was. After that, the foreman came over. ¡°The snow is really coming down. If the weather gets any worse, don¡¯t worry about showing up for work, just stay at home and keep warm.¡± ¡°Okay, I will.¡± I thought back to that time in high school where I had to take a make-up test right after I got back from being sick for a few days. It was awful. I made my way back to my lodge and noticed that the snow was getting much worse. I could barely see twenty feet ahead of me. I also noticed the wind getting stronger from the chills on my cheeks. As I got closer to my lodge, I started to speed up to get out of this cold. I couldn¡¯t see my lodge, but when I felt that I was almost there, I noticed something in the snow. It was something with a very deep red colour and I started to slow down as I cautiously approached. After getting closer, I saw that the red thing was possibly some kind of blanket. Getting even closer, I found that it was actually moving slightly. At first, I thought it was the wind but after getting up right next to it, I could sense that something was moving underneath it. I reached for the blanket, and right as I did, a particular strong gust of wind blew it back a bit for me. I gasped. At first, I took a few steps back and looked around in a panic. Then I sucked in some air, coughed a bit, and knelt in the snow by the blanket. I slowly brought my hand to the edge of the blanket and pulled it back more. I revealed the face of a golden-haired girl. From the tiny bit of mist swirling over her, I could tell that she was still breathing but her face was flushed from the cold. I could not begin to question just why a little girl was lying in the snow but that didn¡¯t matter. I had to get her out of the cold right now. As I bent over more to try and pick her up, I could feel the intensity of her shivering through the blanket. I put my hands under her and lifted her up. I brought her closer to my body for both balance and shelter from the snow and I quickly continued to my lodge. Oh, but this would be pretty awkward if she were to wake up right now. Please don¡¯t wake up until I get you back home. Oh¡­that didn¡¯t come out right. After a minute of walking, I could see my lodge, and with some difficulty, I unlocked the door and brought her inside. I first shut the door and then carried her to my bed. I did clean up the other rooms a bit during my time here, but only my bed had usable sheets. After laying her on the bed and putting my blanket on top of hers, I quickly shoved more coal into the stove. After getting a bigger fire going, I went to check up on her and saw that her face was getting a bit less red. I breathed a sigh of relief. I could now begin to question just why she was lying in the snow. Judging by her body size and face, she looked about five years old. Also, although I didn¡¯t confirm it, when I carried her, it felt like she wasn¡¯t wearing anything underneath that blanket. Before I could get more thinking done, I heard my stomach rumble. I don¡¯t know where she came from, but she¡¯d probably be hungry after waking up. Well, she¡¯d also probably be confused and scared as well, but I can only really deal with the first thing. I went to the stove and started to prepare some porridge. When I went back to my bedroom with two bowls of porridge, I saw that the girl was now awake. She had both blankets wrapped around her and when I walked in, she started backing away on the bed. I looked at her, and she looked at me, and I felt that she was planning to back away some more. I took a few more steps into the room to find a place to set down the bowl of porridge and she did move back more, her body pressed up against the wall. Very slowly, I put down the bowls of porridge and waved at her. Waving isn¡¯t exactly something you can forget how to do, but at that moment, my hand moved around in a very unnatural, shaky and mechanical way. If she could move back any further, I¡¯m sure she would. ¡°Uh¡­hi.¡± She said nothing. ¡°W-What¡¯s your name?¡± No reply. ¡°My name is Braith.¡± Still no response. I sighed and moved in a bit closer to sit on the bed. I saw her angle her body towards the edge of the bed. Inside my head, I almost laughed at the thought of her simply bolting out of the room. Then, I lightly hit myself for thinking that was funny. The little girl now put on an expression mixed with confusion, clearly seeing my own expression changing because of my random thoughts. I picked up one porridge bowl and brought it towards her without moving from my seat. After staring at the bowl for some time she pulled down the blanket so she could bring one arm out, but she stopped just short. I closed my eyes and then felt the bowl of porridge shake. My suspicions were just confirmed. I felt her take the bowl from my hands and I turned away from her before opening my eyes. I picked up my own bowl of porridge and started eating, still not looking at her. We ate in relative silence. After she finished, she put the bowl beside me and I picked it up while covering the side of my face. I left and waited in another room. Having nothing else to do, I lay down and just closed my eyes. Maybe I could just ask the others about what to do later. Lars might know what to do; he¡¯s strangely informative about a lot of things. When I awoke, I felt a bit colder than usual. I got up and went to check on the little girl. When I left my room, I felt some wind in the hallways. At first, I didn¡¯t think much about it, but when I got to my room, I saw that the girl was gone. I felt the wind again and I ran towards the front door and found it ajar. I opened it wide and snow started blowing inside. Faintly marked in the snow was what looked like a trail of little footprints. No, no, no. Why?! Why would she just leave in this snow?! Yeah, I¡¯m a strange man who brought you into his home without any real explanation, but¡­but¡­argh! I closed the door and pressed my back against it. That girl is as good as dead now. Going out in that kind of snow with just a blanket. There are wild animals in the forest, too! What could drive you to take your chances with that?! I fell to the ground and held my arms around myself. I closed my eyes and immediately began to mourn her for a moment before opening my eyes. I got up and slowly opened the door to see the raging snow outside. I closed it again and went into a room in my lodge to retrieve an old pitch fork. Then, I quickly put on an extra layer of clothing and went outside. The trail was fainter now, but I could still make it out. Young lady, you¡¯re gonna have a stern talking to when I get you back inside. I followed the trail as quickly as I could, but it was difficult due to the constant snowfall. After a while, the trail went into the forest. Of all places¡­I would have taken in a deep breath of courage before venturing in, but that would just hurt my throat. I entered the forest and continued to follow the path. Deeper in the forest, I noticed that the footprints were starting to look different. They seemed to be getting just a bit longer, as if she were starting to slide her feet. I tried to quicken my pace and then I suddenly heard a howl up ahead. Fear surged through my body but I refused to turn back. I raced forward, my throat starting to hurt from all the deep, cold breaths I was taking in. I eventually reached a small clearing and saw something red. I also saw something grey. The wolf turned its head slightly when I entered the clearing. I couldn¡¯t make her out clearly, but it looked like the little girl covered her body up with the red blanket. I advanced against my flight instincts and had the wooden shaft gripped tightly in my hands. ¡°Shoo! Go away!¡± I yelled at the wolf, waving my stick a bit. The wolf growled at me and slowly advanced. Oh come on, isn¡¯t this stuff supposed to scare you off? ¡°Shoo! Shoo!¡± I yelled again, waving the stick about more. The wolf just came in closer. I bravely, or recklessly, moved in closer as well. The wolf stopped in his tracks and I stopped, too. Suddenly, the wolf pounced at me and I frantically swung the wooden stick, striking him on the side before he could fully close in on me. Unfortunately, it was a shallow hit and my frantic swing caused me to lose my grip and the stick flew off. The wolf shook its body a bit and growled again. Without any weapon, my courage quickly dwindled and I started to back away. The wolf pounced again and I jumped to the side. I avoided the attack but I lost my footing on the snow and fell over. I glanced over my shoulder as I lay on the ground and saw the wolf. I covered my head with my arms and cowered as I heard the wolf run at me. Instead of my flesh getting ripped apart, I heard a loud thumping side and something landing in the snow next to me. I slowly removed my hands from my face and saw the wolf lying on the ground next to me. I then looked up and saw the little girl holding what was now a wooden stick; the pronged end had broken off. She was breathing heavily and her whole body was pink from the cold. After my brief moment of amazement, I looked away from her and got up. I took off my fur coat and handed it over to her without looking. She dropped the stick and took the coat from my hands. When I was pretty sure she put it on, I turned to look at her again and then quickly buttoned up the coat for her. I looked over at the wolf again and then at the little girl. I could see dried tears on her face. I quickly went to get her red blanket and she wrapped it around her body. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go,¡± I said, extending my hand to her. She took it. Personally, I wanted to just carry her since she was barefoot, but I thought that could have made things worse. I especially thought so since my own legs were still feeling shaky. We made our way back to the lodge and the first thing she did when we got back was sneeze. I put more coal into the stove and started to make some more hot porridge. When I came into the bedroom with the food, she was wrapped up in blankets and shivering, her face only a bit less pink. She looked up at me when I entered the room and didn¡¯t shy away this time. Before handing her the porridge bowl, I had something I needed to say. Do you have any idea what could have happened out there? You could have died?! It was freezing out there and you just had to go into a forest filled with predators?! Can¡¯t you think at all?! Yeah, I did want to say all that at one time, but now they just seem pointless now. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re safe.¡± I thought I saw her smile at me just a tiny bit before sneezing again. Chapter 3 The first thing I did after waking up the next day was to check up on the little girl. Thankfully, she was still there. From the way the blankets were, I could tell that she moved around quite a bit in her sleep. My blanket was almost completely off the side of her bed and the red blanket was folded a bit by her arms. My first thought was to put my blanket back on her but then I noticed something on the red blanket. Peeking up on the edge of the fold was something blue. I quietly came in closer to see it more clearly. If I pulled the fold more, I could reveal what it was, but...well, there are a few reasons why I didn¡¯t want to do that. I picked up my blanket and put it over her, pushing my curiosity aside until she awoke. That would not be very long for her eyes opened at almost the very instant I put the blanket over her. She stared at me with clear blue eyes and I could not simply look away despite my nervousness. As she continued to stare at me, I slowly pulled away while keeping eye contact. I went over to the door and she sat up in the bed, the blanket slipping off her body. However, she tugged at the blanket again to wrap it around her shoulders, still probably feeling quite cold. I very awkwardly waved at her again. ¡°Good morning.¡± She blinked a few times at me. ¡°Still can¡¯t talk? Uh, not that I think that¡¯s a bad thing, I mean¡­¡± I have no idea what I mean. ¡°So, want some breakfast?¡± She gave me no clear response. ¡°My name is Braith,¡± I said, as if a re-introduction would get the ball rolling. ¡°Um¡­can you speak at all or am I just looking more and more stupid right now?¡± Still, she said nothing. Wait, did I just say that part out loud. I¡¯ll just get some food. I returned with more porridge yet again, but this time with bread. I sat on the bed and we ate our food. I don¡¯t know if this is wrong on my part, but I kind of got tired of completely averting my eyes from her. The blankets were around her waist now, and yes, she was still naked, but come on, she¡¯s five. At least the bottom part¡¯s still covered and it was only briefly glancing at most. As we ate, I remembered what I wanted to check earlier and I looked at the red blanket and I could now see what was on the other side. I saw a pair of crossed blades. I stopped eating for just a moment. Well¡­this made some sense right? A five year old girl knocked out a wolf. That isn¡¯t normal. Neither is it normal to just be out in a snowstorm naked. Yeah, she got cold, but she didn¡¯t actually catch a cold, she was just sneezing for about half an hour. This still didn¡¯t explain why she was out in the snow in the first place, but it was at least a start. Unfortunately, that was kind of a problem. It may be wrong to call it racism, but yeah, I¡¯m pretty sure the town here is a bit racist. A giant war fought between the three races kind of strengthens my belief. The foreman, in particular, lost his brother in the war, as well as a lot of the other townspeople. I never heard anything good about the Battle-Hardened the whole time here. I looked at the little girl as she continued to eat and eventually, she noticed and she stared back at me. Then, she just went back to eating. As I started to think harder about this, I heard some knocking from my door. I got up to go get the door before stopping in my tracks. There is a Battle-Hardened girl in my house. She looked at me when I got up and I brought one finger to my lips. ¡°Shhh.¡± I will not comment on how stupid I felt for doing that. When I opened the door, I found Lars. ¡°Braith, are you alright?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m fine.¡± The snowstorm died down but it was still pretty bad outside. ¡°Are you, okay, Lars?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just fine. The snowstorm was pretty bad so I wanted to make sure you¡¯re alright.¡± ¡°Lars, it¡¯s really bad outside, why did you come all the way here? Wait, am I still supposed to come to work?¡± ¡°Oh, goodness no, the weather is far too bad for that.¡± But not bad enough to stop you from getting here. ¡°Well, would you like to come inside for a-¡± Wait, I can¡¯t let him come in here and see the Battle-Hardened girl. ¡°Hmmm?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m fine, and you¡¯re fine and there¡¯s no work so you can just go home.¡± ¡°Oh¡­okay.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± I started closing the door when he put his foot in the way. ¡°Wait, there¡¯s one more thing.¡± ¡°Uh, what?¡± ¡°Braith, if you ever need help with something, just come to me. I promise I¡¯ll do my best to help.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, a bit confused. He withdrew his foot and I closed it. I turned around and saw the little girl peeking her head out of the doorway. ¡°Ah! Uh¡­you.¡± She went back inside and I returned to the room. When I got back inside, I saw she had the red blanket back on but the outside was showing the Battle-Hardened symbol this time. Actually, now that I got a better look at it, I think it¡¯s actually a cape of some sort. Worn by knights or something, maybe? Not being able to talk to her was really starting to annoy me. ¡°Ah¡­¡± My eyes widened. Sure, it wasn¡¯t a word, but she finally made a sound. ¡°Yes?!¡± I asked excitedly. ¡°Ah¡­¡± she repeated. ¡°Is there something you want to say? Something you want to ask? Go on, don¡¯t be shy?!¡± I spat out ecstatically. ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°Yes?!¡± ¡°Name¡­¡± ¡°Name? Are you trying to tell me your name?!¡± Very slowly, she nodded. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± She stared at me blankly for a moment before shaking her head. Huh? ¡°Your name?¡± She nodded again. ¡°What is your name?¡± She shook her head. What? ¡°Do you¡­ have a name?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Braith¡­¡± Man, when was the last time I ever heard a little girl say my name? ¡°Yes, my name is Braith,¡± I said, pointing to myself. She pointed over at me as well. ¡°Braith.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She then pointed at herself and looked at me quizzically. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Do¡­do you want me to give you a name?¡± She slowly nodded her head. I don¡¯t know why exactly, but I suddenly had a very big smile on my face. This reminds me of when I first got my pet dog, Samus. Oh, maybe she¡¯d like the name ¡®Samus¡¯? Oh, but wouldn¡¯t it be weird to give someone the same name as your dog? Well, Samus technically isn¡¯t exactly a dog¡¯s name, it¡¯s just something I named her. ¡°Name?¡± she asked again, pointing at herself again. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll give you a name, but, I will do my best to give you a good name. So, I¡¯m going to go through a list, and when you hear a name you like¡­nod or something. Okay?¡± She stared at me for a little while before nodding. ¡°Okay¡­¡± I am having way more fun right now than I should be. ¡°Hailey? Joanne? Jessica? Ashley? Michelle? Nancy? Rebecca? Alice? Jasmine? Jennifer? Daisy? Madison? Marilyn? Betsy?¡± I fired off names randomly and garnered no response. I went through about thirty other names before I finally got a response. ¡°Natasha?¡± She lifted up her head a bit. ¡°Natasha?¡± Her eyes then turned up a bit as if thinking about it. ¡°Uh, maybe Natalie or something?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Tasha?¡± I asked. She thought for another moment before nodding her head with a small smile. ¡°Really, Tasha?¡± She then looked at me with a confused expression. ¡°Uh, no, no, Tasha is a great name. It can be short for Natasha! Yeah, it¡¯s fantastic.¡± I didn¡¯t dislike the name, ¡®Tasha¡¯, in fact, I did like it. But, I said so many other good names, even ¡®Samus.¡¯ ¡°My name is Tasha,¡± she said cutely. I don¡¯t know if that was intentional, or if that was her natural voice. ¡°Yes, you are Tasha; I am Braith.¡± ¡°I am Tasha; you are Braith,¡± she said cutely again. Okay, so it is just her normal voice. Oh, and she catches on pretty quick, too. ¡°Daddy?¡± she asked. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Where is mommy?¡± she asked. ¡°Wait, you can actually speak?¡± She then ran out of the room. ¡°Mommy? Where are you mommy?¡± This just got really complicated. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Tasha!¡± I cried out, chasing off her. ¡°Where are we?¡± she asked, finally stopping. ¡°Where? Uh¡­¡± Where are we again? ¡°Um¡­Befson?¡± She looked at me with what was probably a lot like how I looked when I first got here. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a bit lost, too. Um, do you know where we¡­you are supposed to be?¡± She shook her head. I put on a serious expression and put my hands on her shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Tasha, I¡¯ll help you get home.¡± ¡°Where is home? Am I not home? Where is mommy?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not too familiar with where I am either, so it may take a while, but when I get myself sorted out, I¡¯ll do all I can to get you where you need to be. Okay, Tasha?¡± She then hugged me. ¡°Okay, daddy.¡± What am I supposed to say to that? ¡°Yeah¡­¡± was all that came out in the end. I asked Lars about the Battle-Hardened the next day, and he told me quite a bit. In particular, when I was asking about how strong Battle-Hardened children were, he told me that they usually do not show any level of extraordinary strength until at least a year or so before reaching adolescence. Furthermore, most Battle-Hardened are only slightly stronger than average humans. Although, most of the stronger ones do end up becoming soldiers or knights, which explains the generalization from the war. Apparently, Tasha¡¯s strength would be very rare, even among the Battle-Hardened. I still wasn¡¯t sure how I was going to go about finding Tasha¡¯s home, though. I shared with Tasha what I learned, but that didn¡¯t seem to help at all. She couldn¡¯t remember anything about her home. Things might have been easier if I could actually bring her with me to ask questions, but I don¡¯t know how the town would react to a Battle-Hardened. Until I could actually figure out where I needed to go and how, I told her that she had to stay at home. Yeah, I know that¡¯s kind of negligent so at the very least, whenever a merchant came by the town every month or so, I would buy some knick knacks or toys to give to Tasha to play with. I¡¯d also buy some children¡¯s clothes for her, which was only really awkward the first few times. I didn¡¯t even try to make up an excuse the first few times and just kept quiet about what they were for. I would still hear whispers behind my back every once in a while when I came back for more, though. I also started working shorter hours as well. I also started to get more productive at my job, mainly because I¡¯ve been building up my strength and endurance from all the work. Thanks to that, I got a pay increase so that I didn¡¯t need to work as much. Since I only spent money on necessities and some things for Tasha, I could get by on that. I would spend at least six hours a day with Tasha and during that time, I would teach her all sorts of things. I may not be the smartest guy, but I¡¯m sure whatever I remember from my school days would still help her. I also shared with her the various things I learned about from Lars and the other lumberjacks, such as how to use a coal stove and a rumoured hot spring in the forest. Arming ourselves, we did go out in search of that hot spring, and found it surprisingly quickly; it was only about a twenty minute walk into the forest. I¡¯m guessing that this was used by the lumberjacks who used to work at my lodge. Why nobody bothered to tell me this before, I will never know. Oh, but just so you know, we would be sure to be armed whenever we went into the forest. You may call this especially irresponsible, but seeing as how she was Battle-Hardened, I thought it only made sense that she should also train her body, so I exercised with her outside at night. She was stronger than me to begin with, but as she got older, the difference became clearer and clearer. Let¡¯s just say that by the time she was eight, she was doing one-handed push ups while I sat on her back. I¡¯d also like to say that it was her idea; I totally did not suggest that she try it. Also, by eight, I mean counting from when I first found her, which I count as her fifth birthday. Things seemed to be going quite well when something very strange happened. It happened about four years after I found Tasha when Lars told me he wanted to speak to me in private after I finished my shift. When I went to talk to him, I could tell from his expression that what he wanted to talk to me about had to be something he was holding off on for a long time. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Lars?¡± Lars looked down at the ground for a moment before staring at me. ¡°So, how have you been doing lately?¡± ¡°Uh¡­fine?¡± ¡°Good. Anything planned for tomorrow?¡± ¡°No¡­not really.¡± Lars nodded a tiny bit. ¡°Lars, whatever it is; just tell me. I mean, you¡¯re the one who always says to just come out and ask whenever I need something.¡± Lars¡¯ left eye went up a bit and he gave a tired smile. ¡°Yeah, I did.¡± ¡°So, what is it?¡± I asked, feeling a bit worried. ¡°Braith¡­you¡¯ll be leaving soon. Well, not soon, but eventually.¡± Huh? ¡°I¡¯ve known, or should I say I believed, that you had no intention of staying here for the rest of life.¡± I opened my mouth to respond, but he continued speaking. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that¡¯s a bad thing, though. I¡¯m not about to convince you to stay, either. What I am here to say is that when you do leave you will need to be prepared.¡± I closed my mouth and waited for him to continue, my silence acting as my agreement. ¡°I¡¯ve told you about the Outlands, the Battle-Hardened, and the Farseers, so I¡¯m sure you know about the tensions going on right now. Well, even though the war is over, things can still be very difficult for any traveler. I told you that the Outlands are generally quite safe, but that doesn¡¯t mean your safety is guaranteed. You must be able to defend yourself when you need to.¡± Lars took a deep breath. ¡°So, Braith, I will train you so that you will be able to defend yourself.¡± ¡°You will?¡± I asked a bit doubtfully. ¡°Yes, I will train you with a weapon I am quite familiar with: a shortsword.¡± ¡°You know how to use a shortsword? How?¡± Lars started to pace around a little bit. ¡°I used to be a mercenary, but that should not be very important to you.¡± I think it is pretty important that someone who¡¯s basically my best friend used to be a mercenary. Nevertheless, I went along with it. ¡°Will you accept my training? It is free of charge, of course.¡± I knew Lars was hiding more from me, but I trusted him enough to let that be. ¡°Thank you, I accept. Although, I hope I won¡¯t need to use your training.¡± Lars¡¯ expression suddenly looked more burdened, but he said nothing in response. After that, Lars gave me a shortsword and two-hour-long lessons almost every day. Tasha got really excited the first time I brought home the shortsword and although she is Battle-Hardened, it felt kind of dangerous to let a nine-year old girl play with swords. I told her to not play around with it but I came back home from work the next day and saw her swinging it around. I didn¡¯t want her to break anything in the house, so I just let her mess around with it during our nightly exercises. I gave some of the pointers I got from Lars to her at the beginning, but that didn¡¯t last very long. Even without proper lessons, she was clearly more talented than I was. I¡¯m not jealous or anything, though. It was several months after my training began that I really started to question what I¡¯ve been doing this whole time and I went to have a talk with Tasha. ¡°Tasha¡­how are you feeling today?¡± Oh wow, I sound just like Lars. ¡°Uh¡­good,¡± she said, perplexed. ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡± Come on, just say it. ¡°Tasha, I feel I have made a horrible mistake.¡± Don¡¯t say it like that! ¡°Tasha, I feel like I was wrong to have you stay inside this house this whole time. I mean, yes, you¡¯re Battle-Hardened, but it¡¯s not like that¡¯s obvious. If I bring you into the town, there¡¯s no guarantee they¡¯ll find out. Well, they¡¯d question where you came from and I¡¯m still not really sure how to answer that but I¡¯ll think of something. Anyways, even if they do find out you¡¯re Battle-Hardened, I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be that bad. I mean¡­yeah, I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be that bad. I know Lars will support us, at least. And¡­uh¡­even if it was that bad¡­¡± I¡¯m pretty sure this went better in my head. ¡°Daddy, it¡¯s fine,¡± she began with a smile, ¡°What fun can I have in town that I can¡¯t have here?¡± ¡°Uh, well, you could¡­play with other kids your age? Wait, there aren¡¯t any- okay, I think there might be a couple a few years younger than you.¡± ¡°Does it really look like I want to play around with some random kids?¡± she said, sounding somewhat pretentious. ¡°You might enjoy it. You don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I do know I have fun with you. And if there could be all those troubles for just going into town, I¡¯d really just stay and have fun here with you.¡± Wow, is she really only nine? Well, she is turning ten soon. ¡°You¡¯re right. You are absolutely right,¡± I said, smiling as well. ¡°I am very lucky to have a daughter like you.¡± ¡°You got that right!¡± We both laughed. Our time like that continued for more than three years before something happened one night in spring. During that one night, I couldn¡¯t quite fall to sleep for some reason and I got up to just walk around the lodge. As I did, I could hear sounds coming from Tasha¡¯s room. When I came in closer, I thought I could hear her voice, so thinking that she was also awake, I knocked on her door. ¡°Tasha, are you up? Tasha?¡± I received no response, but I thought I could still just make out her voice. I opened the door and saw her sleeping on the bed. For some reason, this made me remember the last time I saw her simply sleeping. It has been more than eight years now and she has certainly grown up quite a bit. Her hair was much longer now, the back reaching past her shoulders and her bangs stopping just below her eyebrows. She was also obviously taller now as well, a bit under five feet. Also, despite being a lot stronger than me, she really doesn¡¯t seem much different from any other girl her age. Well, aside from my clear favouritism towards her that leads me to be believe that she is the most adorable little girl in the whole wide world. I wonder how she¡¯ll look when she¡¯s older. Ah, this is only out of innocent curiosity. I started to think of my own age then. Despite being in my late twenties, I still haven¡¯t been able to grow a beard. Although, I still had to have my hair cut. As for Tasha, I cut it for her. It¡¯s not as bad as it sounds though, well, eventually. The first several times could have definitely gone better, but I think I¡¯m at least decent at it now. Or, at least I can trim and even out hair just fine now. My idle thoughts were interrupted when I saw her mouth start to move a bit and when I came closer, I found out she was talking in her sleep. I went right up to her bedside to find out what she was dreaming about. ¡°Mommy¡­mommy¡­where did you meet daddy¡­?¡± Are you serious? ¡°Where¡­? Where is that? The¡­plains?¡± Plains? What plains? ¡°The Dridam Plains?¡± Tasha stopped talking and her eyes suddenly opened. She started to scream and I reeled back in shock. ¡°Woah!¡± I yelled out as I fell back. ¡°Dad! What are you doing over my bed?!¡± ¡°Uh, I heard voices coming from your bed-¡± ¡°Voices? What voices?!¡± she asked, frantically looking around the room now. ¡°No, no, the voices was you, I mean you were the voice- argh! It was you!¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°You were talking in your sleep!¡± ¡°I was?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°¡­Do I sound weird when I talk in my sleep?¡± she asked, looking suddenly embarrassed. ¡°Your voice comes out staggered, but that¡¯s not important. You were talking to your mom and were asking her about how she met your dad! Uh, your real dad¡­um, don¡¯t you remember anything about your dream?¡± Yeah, real nice transition. ¡°What¡­no¡­I don¡¯t remember having a dream¡­¡± ¡°You were saying something about the plains, the Dridam Plains.¡± ¡°Dridam Plains? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s- Uh¡­it¡¯s¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± I got off the floor and started to think. I started to stroke my chin and Tasha copied me. It sounded familiar, something that I heard a long time ago. Wait, I remember now. ¡°I got it! The Plains of War! It¡¯s this area in the northeast of the continent. I think it¡¯s between Battle-Hardened, Farseer, and human territory. Lars told me.¡± ¡°Do you think I come from there?¡± ¡°Seems likely, or at least one of your parents were from around there, assuming that what I heard was actually a memory from your past.¡± Tasha lowered her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s¡­good.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you happy that we may have something about your past?¡± ¡°Yeah, I am,¡± she said with a little smile. ¡°So, are we going to go to those plains?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to need to get plenty of traveling gear set up first before we leave town. Also, I only have a rough idea of where the place is and from what I remember, it¡¯s practically on the other side of the continent. We¡¯re going to need to make sure we are fully prepared. But don¡¯t worry; we¡¯re definitely going to get there.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be very dangerous, though.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll make sure to stay out of trouble and stop by towns as often as we can. Also, I know we can handle a few wild animals just fine by ourselves. Heck, remember that bear you took out in one hit a year ago?¡± ¡°Yeah! He was all like ¡®rawr¡¯ and I was like ¡®I¡¯m not afraid of you! Hiya!¡¯¡± she said, laughing. ¡°You¡¯re even stronger now, and well, I¡¯m also pretty strong now. I¡¯m pretty sure I could take you on if you were five again.¡± We both laughed. ¡°Alright, Tasha, good night.¡± ¡°Good night, dad.¡± Chapter 4 I made a list of the things we would need such as rations, luggage bags, and other miscellany. By now, I knew the general time merchants tended to pass by Befson so I knew one would come by next week. I continued my usual routine, but I did meet with Lars privately to tell him I was planning to leave soon. ¡°So, you¡¯re finally leaving.¡± ¡°It sounds weird when you state it simply.¡± ¡°Sorry, anyways, I will miss you Braith, you¡¯re a great guy.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll miss you, too, Lars,¡± I replied awkwardly, but genuinely. ¡°So, where are you headed?¡± ¡°Well, the final destination will be the Plains of War.¡± ¡°The Plains of War? That is quite the distance.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± ¡°You might go weeks without coming by any towns if you¡¯re headed there.¡± ¡°Really? I mean, uh, yeah, we¡¯ll get by.¡± ¡°We?¡± Oh damn. ¡°Uh, sorry, I meant ¡®I¡¯.¡± ¡°Since you¡¯re headed far, you¡¯ll probably need a compass,¡± Lars continued without further question. ¡°Yeah. Um, are those any cheaper than maps?¡± ¡°No, they are actually more expensive.¡± ¡°Um¡­how much more?¡± ¡°Braith, how much money have you saved up?¡± ¡°Um¡­I think maybe around six hundred copper coins.¡± I was aware that was not exactly a lot for 8 years of savings, but I was working as a part-time lumberjack while raising a child. To put it in perspective, 1000 copper coins is around the amount one can earn from a year of manual labour. This is before any expenses. And a single copper coin can get you two loaves of bread. ¡°That¡¯s not enough,¡± Lars flatly stated. ¡°It¡¯s not?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°How much will I need?¡± ¡°A good one would probably cost about two thousand.¡± ¡°What?!¡± That¡¯s four thousand loaves of bread! ¡°I¡¯m serious,¡± Lars answered to my silent follow-up question. ¡°I-Is there any way to get a cheaper one?¡± ¡°You can try to bargain with a merchant, but I doubt you¡¯ll ever get one with that amount. Also, you¡¯re going to need that money for other supplies and for traveling as well.¡± I have greatly underestimated traveling. All the commercials back home make it seem so simple. ¡°Uh¡­¡± My mouth was agape. Lars patted me on the shoulder. ¡°You could always just try traveling without one if you really have to. Most don¡¯t use one anyways.¡± I have exceedingly little confidence in improvising in the wilderness. I slumped forward. ¡°What do I do now?¡± ¡°Do what you think you need to do. I¡¯m sure things will turn out just fine if you do.¡± A week later, a merchant came to town and by then I had long since gotten over my momentary depression. I exchanged a lot of my copper coins for bronze ones at a ten to one ratio and bought all the things on my list except for two items: a map and a compass. I tried to do some bargaining, but there was simply too big of a gap between what I could spend and how much they cost. Now, I am not about to work another twenty or so years in Befson so I¡¯m just going to have to wing it. Not the safest, or smartest, or even that good of an idea since I¡¯m also caring for a thirteen year old girl, but she seemed receptive enough. She really loves danger for some reason. I think she¡¯s actually proud of that one time she almost died in the snow just because she knocked out a wolf in the end. Sure didn¡¯t seem that way when it originally happened, but hey, kids grow up. I went back to the lodge and organized all the stuff I bought. Tasha and I had already agreed to leave in the morning so after this last night in Befson, we¡¯d be gone. I told Lars that I wouldn¡¯t be having another shortsword lesson with him and to not tell anybody else that I was leaving. Now, all that was left to do was just wait for morning to come. Well, wait and relax one last time in the hot spring, since we wouldn¡¯t be using it again for¡­a very long time, at least. I brought my shortsword and Tasha brought with her a wooden stick in case any wild animals attacked, which they haven¡¯t since the time Tasha knocked out that bear. The hot spring isn¡¯t that big and it isn¡¯t divided in any way so we do technically bathe together. But, it¡¯s not weird or anything, just some father-daughter quality time. Okay, it¡¯s still kind of weird for me. I don¡¯t really know what¡¯s more awkward: this or having the ¡®talk¡¯ with her at some point. We were casually chatting to each other in the hot spring when we heard noises in the distance. We stopped talking for a moment and then we thought we heard yelling. I got out of the hot spring. ¡°I¡¯m just going to check that out.¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming with you,¡± she said, getting out as well. ¡°Fine.¡± I just put on some pants, belt and boots, grabbed my shortsword and headed towards the sound of yelling. Not right away though, I had to tell Tasha to put on a shirt as well. ¡°But-¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Just do it, Tasha!¡± We went off and we heard the sound of a man screaming in pain. As we got closer, we saw the merchant from earlier coming out of the trees, breathless. When he saw us, he shouted out one word. ¡°Run!¡± Right as he said that, the man tripped on a tree root. I went over to help him and Tasha went in the direction that man ran away from. ¡°Tasha, wait!¡± I went after her and I saw a man lying on the ground, grasping onto a bleeding arm. There was a sword lying on the ground next to him and a bear just in front. The bear was salivating but it was not growling or anything. It was looking straight at Tasha while remaining silent. Suddenly the bear turned around and ran off in a panic. ¡°Yeah, you better run!¡± Tasha shouted at the bear, taking several strides towards the fleeing creature. I went over to the bleeding man to check on him. I looked at his blood-soaked arm and his drained face. He also had a gash on the side of his leg. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked quite stupidly. The man let out a long and loud groan in response. I didn¡¯t know the first thing about treating bear injuries so this had me stumped. ¡°Uh¡­I- I¡¯ll carry you back to town.¡± He resisted at first, just to ask me to help him tear up some cloth to bind his arm and leg. I crudely followed his instructions and then lifted him so that he was sitting up. Then I tried to figure out where to grab him from next. The only thing I could think of was to cradle him in my arms but he resisted this as well as he wanted to be carried on my back, but after trying it and him crying out in pain due exerting force with his arm, I just went with the cradle. With some difficulty, I lifted him up as he grunted. I looked at the arm again and saw the blood start to trickle down. Was the binding not tight enough or is that older blood? As I started to walk back with Tasha following, we saw the merchant still on the ground. ¡°Huh? What happened to that bear?¡± the merchant asked while clutching his ankle. ¡°That pushover? Heh, ran away with its tail between its legs,¡± Tasha said with a smirk. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re so very humble, Tasha.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s what happened.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Anyways, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± I asked the merchant. ¡°I sprained my ankle. Could you help bring me back to town?¡± I shot a glance over at Tasha. With a bit of a sigh, she went over to help the merchant up and gave him her wooden stick to use as a cane. ¡°Much appreciated.¡± ¡°Enough, let¡¯s get back to town.¡± Just as we were about to leave the forest, I remembered about Tasha. ¡°Tasha, head on back; I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡± ¡°What? Oh¡­fine.¡± Tasha left us and I continued to carry the bleeding man while the other one limped behind. I entered the town shirtless with a man cradled in my arms, which was sure to attract attention but the only person outside that night was the old man I first met sitting on his porch. He didn¡¯t seem to think much of it for some reason. I brought the injured man to the only ¡°doctor¡± in town and luckily for him, the injuries were pretty bad but not life threatening, and would leave scars. After that, I prepared to leave, but the merchant stopped me. ¡°Wait, I can¡¯t just let you leave without showing you my thanks.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°No, I will not take that as a response. You have saved our lives so some kind of reward is in order. Hmmm, come to think of it, you are that man from earlier today who was buying supplies from me. Right?¡± ¡°...Yes, I am.¡± ¡°Canteens, luggage bags, flint rocks...you plan on traveling soon, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, I do,¡± I answered, still trying to figure out what exactly he had in mind. ¡°Where to?¡± I hesitated. ¡°Come on, you can tell me.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Okay, how about this instead. I will pay you to help escort me. I will also pay for all food and lodgings. I am going north along the western coast.¡± ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m headed northeast.¡± ¡°Northeast? Without a map or compass?¡± ¡°Er¡­¡± ¡°How about this: instead of pay, if you stay as my escort for thirty days, I will give you a compass. Stay for another ten and I¡¯ll give you a map. And of course, I will still pay for your food and lodgings!¡± My eyes widened a bit. ¡°So, if I guard you for forty days, you will give me a map and a compass?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± I was about to agree instantly before recalling Tasha again. I leaned in close and whispered in his ear. ¡°And what about my¡­daughter?¡± ¡°Your daughter?¡± ¡°Shhh!¡± ¡°Uh,¡± the merchant began before whispering as well, ¡°uh, yes, she can come too and I¡¯ll pay for her lodgings as well.¡± ¡°I also need to meet you by the forest; do you remember where we came out?¡± ¡°Yes, okay.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be ready after sunrise.¡± The merchant nodded and then extended his hand. We shook and I headed back to the lodge with a slight bounce in my step. Why is this place so awesome? The last few times I tried to help out where I came from, people just got mad at me. I got back to my lodge and told Tasha the good news. She wasn¡¯t as excited as I was, in fact, she seemed kind of indifferent about it. Maybe she just doesn¡¯t understand how important a map and compass are. We went to sleep and I ended up waking up especially early in the morning. The sun was yet to rise and I thought I would get started on breakfast. Right as I was about to start cooking, there was knocking on the front door. Did the merchant just come straight to the lodge? I went and opened the door and found Lars. ¡°Oh, Lars, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°I came to wish you farewell.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°I also came to give you something.¡± He handed me his shortsword. ¡°A shortsword? But you already gave me one.¡± ¡°I just figured it would be good to have a spare.¡± There was something about the way he said that that made me a bit suspicious. Well, I had been suspicious for quite some time, but I still trusted Lars so I let that be. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said anyway. ¡°I also want to give you this.¡± He reached into his coat and pulled out a bag. I took it and opened it. It was filled with silver coins and I could see one gold coin buried underneath the silver ones. I looked at him, astonished. ¡°You¡¯re giving me all of this?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°¡­wow,¡± I picked up one of the silver coins. ¡°How much are these even worth?¡± ¡°One silver is worth fifty copper. The gold is worth twenty silver.¡± There looked to be at least thirty silver coins in the bag. ¡°Lars, this must be your life savings; why are you giving it all to me?¡± ¡°Wait, there¡¯s one more thing.¡± ¡°More?!¡± Lars took one more thing out of his pocket and handed it over to me. It was a map of the continent. ¡°I- I thought you said nobody in town had one?¡± ¡°Nobody except for me.¡± I simply did not know what to say next. ¡°Lars¡­¡± ¡°Braith, I¡¯m giving all of this to you because I think it¡¯s worth it. Go on your travels and do what you need to do. I wish you the best of luck.¡± I put all the stuff down and actually hugged him. I haven¡¯t hugged a man in¡­a very, very long time. ¡°Lars, thank you so much. I swear, I¡¯ll finish what I set out to do and that I¡¯ll come back some day.¡± Lars patted me on the back as I continued the embrace. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too far into the future; just take things one step at a time.¡± He then stepped back a bit and I let go of him. He gave me a tired, but wide smile. ¡°I¡¯m going back to town now. Farewell.¡± ¡°You mean ¡®see you again¡¯, right?¡± Wow, even I thought that was lame. In response though, my friend just smiled wider. ¡°Of course.¡± He turned around and left. I stood in the doorway as he set off and when he was almost out of view, I felt something tug on my arm. I glanced back and saw Tasha looking up at me. ¡°Dad, are you okay?¡± ¡°What do you mean, Tasha?¡± ¡°You look¡­sad?¡± ¡°What?¡± I brought my fingers under my eyes and felt that they were dry. Good, I wasn¡¯t crying. When I started teaching Tasha about different kinds of emotions, I started with happiness and sadness. Happiness was easy to explain; sadness was a lot more complicated. Being transported to another world was definitely¡­disrupting to say the least, but I was quite content with my new life. In the end, all I could do at the time was try to put on a sad expression, at which she laughed. The closest I really got to explaining sadness was when she accidentally banged her head against the wall and started to cry. She immediately linked crying to weakness and never cried again. She has also never seen me cry. As a point of pride, I don¡¯t intend to change that. ¡°Oh¡­don¡¯t worry Tasha. I¡¯m actually happy.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m remembering just how great of a life I¡¯ve had these past eight years.¡± She looked at me strangely at first, but then it looked like she slowly started to understand what I meant. ¡°Should I be sad too?¡± Maybe not. ¡°You don¡¯t need to be. In fact, don¡¯t force yourself to act like anything other than what you¡¯re comfortable with. Just do what you feel you need to do.¡± Tasha gave me one strong nod. ¡°Got it.¡± Chapter 5 After eating breakfast, I put out the fire in the stove, gathered all our stuff, and we went to meet up with the merchant. The wagon arrived just as we did. Other than the merchant, there was the wagon driver and someone who was probably another escort. We went inside of the carriage that the wagon was attached to and found that the injured man was nowhere to be seen. When I asked about him, the merchant told me he gave him his severance pay and he was resting in town. I was surprised to hear severance was actually a thing here, but didn¡¯t ask about the details. Instead, I asked him why he was in the forest last night to begin with and he told me he was looking for a hot spring he heard rumours about. We went through the Ertrill Forest along another path that led to the Outlands. The journey was relatively uneventful and neither the other escort nor the driver was very talkative, unlike the merchant. ¡°So, exactly how did you fight off that bear?¡± ¡°I already told you, it just ran off like a coward!¡± Tasha said. ¡°What does that mean? Did you scare it off with something?¡± ¡°I just looked at it and it went back home like a baby!¡± The merchant threw a look over at me and just for fun I kept my expression indifferent. ¡°Okay¡­so, do you know why that bear ran away?¡± ¡°Because it was scared!¡± Oh, Tasha, are you doing this on purpose as well? The merchant looked at me again and I gave no hints. He sighed and moved on to another topic. ¡°So, tell me a little bit about yourselves. Oh! My goodness, I forgot to introduce myself properly. I am Dennis Loharn, a humble merchant.¡± Considering the massive amount of goods the wagon was hauling, I doubted that. ¡°My name is Braith; I¡¯m a lumberjack.¡± Tasha was about to introduce herself as well but something about the look on her face told me that would be troublesome. ¡°This is my daughter, Tasha.¡± Tasha looked at me, a bit annoyed. ¡°Those are some interesting names; I¡¯ve never heard either of them before.¡± ¡°I get that a lot.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Tasha commented. Well, that¡¯s because this is the first person outside of me you¡¯ve met. Huh, that¡¯s actually a pretty mean thought, isn¡¯t it? ¡°Now, I have to ask; what exactly are you two?¡± Oh, I know how to answer this one. ¡°I¡¯m human.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he said, his jovial expression drooping a bit. ¡°Disappointed?¡± ¡°Oh, no, no!¡± he said, lighting up again, ¡°I was just thinking you might have been something else considering your confidence against that bear. But, of course, I¡¯m sure you are just very strong nonetheless!¡± ¡°I¡¯m the one who scared it off, though,¡± Tasha grumbled. ¡°And your daughter seems to be quite the fearless one as well. Oh, she has a shortsword, too. Do you train her?¡± ¡°A little bit.¡± Tasha blew out a puff of air. ¡°She¡¯s quite the natural, though. I know that I can trust her to watch my back.¡± Tasha smiled and nodded at this addition. ¡°If you can say that while she¡¯s still so young, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be an amazing warrior when she grows up. Or a strong-handed wife,¡± he said, laughing heartily. Tasha was not amused. ¡°Anyways,¡± I began, changing the topic, ¡°Where is our first stop?¡± ¡°Oh, just a couple days into the Outlands, there¡¯s a town by the name of Rettif.¡± ¡°Anything special about the town?¡± ¡°Well, it is known as a gathering for all sorts of people from Holtzan and other reaches of the Outlands. I think even some people from Brennan come by there.¡± ¡°What kinds of people?¡± ¡°Mainly merchants, mercenaries and bounty hunters, but sometimes people fleeing capture go there as well. Ergo the bounty hunters.¡± ¡°Is that a safe place?¡± I asked while furrowing my eyebrows. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s also a town guard that patrols it so you don¡¯t usually have to worry about things getting out of hand.¡± ¡°How come the town guard doesn''t just capture any of the escapees?¡± ¡°The Outlands are independent from any of the kingdoms so they have no obligation to turn them in.¡± He answered curtly, but I could tell from his face that I asked a strange question. ¡°Oh, right, sorry. I¡¯ve never traveled before.¡± ¡°Never? And you¡¯re headed all the way to the northeastern side of the continent.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes.¡± He cocked an eyebrow at me. ¡°It¡¯s one thing to be confident in your strength, but nature is a harsh and unpredictable part of traveling.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­um, it¡¯s a good thing I¡¯m coming along with you then,¡± I said, trying to smoothly transition. ¡°Right you are! Oh, and speaking of nature, that¡¯s where we¡¯re headed after leaving the Outlands. Oh, but I¡¯m sure you knew that.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± I lied. I didn¡¯t even get a good look at my map yet. ¡°The Nature clan¡¯s territory is filled with Farseers, but I¡¯m told they are the friendliest of all Farseers. Well, that¡¯s what I heard from some other merchants.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds good¡­¡± I guess. ¡°Anyways, we¡¯ll be staying in Rettif for a couple of days since it¡¯s a good place to sell some of my wares.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Small talk continued like that until we arrived in Rettif. It looked very different from Befson. For one, it was much larger, which was somewhat surprising, since it was in the Outlands. Many of the buildings were also made with stone or brick instead of wood. The streets were also paved in cobblestone. The town was bustling with activity compared with most of Befson¡¯s days. There were other merchants in the town and you could not look more than thirty feet without seeing someone holding a weapon. Among those people were the town guard wearing leather vests with badges pinned to them. We took our wagon to the town square and after Dennis gave one of the guards a bag of coins and showed him a card, he nodded and gestured over to a more open space to park his wagon. As Dennis started to unpack some of the goods to display, Tasha looked around excitedly. I could understand since she had never been into a town before. I also felt a bit guilty too despite that talk we had four years ago. Dennis seemed to notice her excitement and called out to me. ¡°Hey, Braith; I should be fine while I¡¯m just here so you and your daughter can just tour the town. You¡¯ve never been here before, right?¡± ¡°No, we haven¡¯t. Thank you, Dennis.¡± I led Tasha out of the town square and into an alleyway. ¡°Why are we here right now?¡± ¡°Just to set a couple ground rules right now. I don¡¯t know about this town so it might be best to still try and keep the fact you are Battle-Hardened a secret for now.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah, really. Although, I doubt there¡¯s gonna be a time where it¡¯ll be revealed here.¡± ¡°Okay. So, can we go around town now?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± However, I don¡¯t really know what a full-grown man and a thirteen year old are supposed to do while traveling in a new town. Should I buy Tasha something? But what? She doesn¡¯t really care for toys that much anymore. As I continued to walk, I ended up bumping into someone. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± He took a quick look over me and snickered. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing, just surprised that someone like you is traveling around the Outlands.¡± I didn¡¯t care to let the provocation get to me so I just tried to walk past him. He stepped in my way. ¡°Woah there, buddy! I¡¯m really trying to give you some good advice here,¡± he said condescendingly. ¡°That little sword you got there is nice and all, but you¡¯re gonna need a real weapon like this,¡± he said, pointing to a broadsword on his belt. ¡°And this,¡± he poked my cotton tunic, ¡°you think this¡¯ll save you from anything?¡± He then pointed to the chainmail he was wearing. It was quite dirty and looked like it hadn¡¯t been properly maintained in years. ¡°You need something like this!¡± Where the heck am I supposed to get chainmail, you dick. Also, why would I even want such crappy armour. ¡°But none of that really matters because there¡¯s no way you¡¯ll be able to take care of yourself; just run on back home before you get yourself killed. Okay?¡± What the heck did I do to deserve all that? Whatever, I still won¡¯t take the bait. ¡°He¡¯s not traveling alone!¡± Tasha shouted out. Well, it looks like someone here will take the bait. The man looked at her with bemusement. ¡°Oh, you brought your daughter along! How cute! Ah, she even has the same little weapon you have! What a pair!¡± he said, clapping his hands together. Tasha fumed and looked like she was about to draw her sword so I quickly put my hand over hers. I pulled her along and walked away from him. ¡°What? Got nothing to say? Oh, I take it that you¡¯re listening to me and finally going back home! Well, better get back soon; who knows what your wife¡¯s been doing since you¡¯ve been gone. Shame though, she must have been having a real great time with the other guys while you two were gone.¡± Tasha turned around and prepared to lunge at him but I held her back with all my strength, which was still fairly difficult. ¡°Why are you letting him say all those things?!¡± she screamed at me, her face going red. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tasha stopped struggling and I gently guided her over to the side. I placed one hand over my shortsword and slowly walked up to the man. Now that I was looking at him eye-to-eye, I could actually see that we were the same height, although he still looked much more muscular. ¡°Oh, what¡¯s this now?¡± ¡°Take back everything you just said.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Or what?¡± I pointed at his chainmail. ¡°Or I¡¯ll cut this pretty little chainmail of yours.¡± He slapped my hand aside and took a couple steps back. ¡°Just try it.¡± He drew his broadsword and took up a stance. Or, at least something he thought was a proper stance. I drew mine as well and went into my own stance. ¡°Heh, so you think you can fight me just because you can do that? This¡¯ll be easy!¡± He charged at me with full force¡­seriously. I evaded his attack and cut him at the side of his chainmail as I went past him. Some of the links broke and part of the chainmail flapped open. I slashed at it cleanly, but was still surprised at how easily I cut through it. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t sure it would be possible; was it really in such bad shape? I ended up doing what I said I was going to do and he was not pleased. Enraged, he turned around to swing at me again but I parried the attack before he could complete the attack and struck at the hilt to knock the blade out of the man¡¯s hand. However, he held firm and then put his second hand onto the handle as well. He slashed at me horizontally and I dodged to the side but he suddenly stepped hard into that direction and attempted to slash me again. I had no time to dodge and I could not parry such a strong, downward attack, so I braced myself and blocked it. My knees trembled slightly but I shot up and pushed his sword back up. It was now almost over his head as I went past him, slashing the other side of his chainmail, severing more links. He turned back around again, still not giving up. Expecting it this time, I struck at the hilt of his sword again. His grip loosened and I struck the hilt once more, finally knocking the blade out of his hands. The man immediately went to retrieve his sword but I quickly pressed my blade to his back, digging into the chainmail, but not into his undershirt. ¡°Anything you¡¯d like to say to me?¡± The man started to say something but he stammered. ¡°Come on!¡± I then heard a whistle. I turned around and saw a guard. I quickly motioned for Tasha to come over to me and I ran off with her as the man continued to fumble with his words. Luckily, we passed by another brawl that the guard went to stop instead. A couple blocks away in another alley we finally stopped running and I could catch my breath. ¡°That was amazing, dad!¡± Tasha said energetically without an ounce of fatigue. ¡°Well, I could have finished it faster but it¡¯s still so cool you did that!¡± I took a few quick breaths before answering. ¡°Yeah¡­I guess,¡± I gasped. ¡°He was all like, ¡®I¡¯m bigger and stronger than you¡¯ and you were like, ¡®no you¡¯re not. Hiya!¡¯¡± Yeah, sure, that¡¯s exactly how it happened. I just nodded in response. Tasha started dancing around now, mimicking fighting moves for a while as I recovered. As I watched her, I started feeling a bit annoyed seeing how clean her movements were. ¡°Well, it helped that his chainmail was really old and beaten-up; I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do that against normal chainmail.¡± ¡°Well, it looks like he¡¯ll be needing a new one after what you did, but don¡¯t worry, I can handle him next time!¡± I laughed with her but tried to change the subject. ¡°Okay, there is a slight possibility that I¡¯m wanted right now, but is there anything you want to do right now?¡± ¡°I want to fight too!¡± Tasha said as she slashed in the air with her shortsword. ¡°No, not that.¡± ¡°What?! Why not?!¡± ¡°I already said we can¡¯t go revealing that you¡¯re a Battle-Hardened. Not until we¡¯re sure how the rest of the town will react.¡± ¡°Come on! We can just say I¡¯m some genius or something!¡± ¡°No, Tasha!¡± I instantly covered my mouth. Tasha looked at me a bit surprised and then looked down at the ground. She sheathed her sword. ¡°Sorry, dad.¡± ¡°No, no, I¡¯m the one who should apologize. I didn¡¯t mean to raise my voice like that.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± she said, shuffling her feet a bit. Oh, how I wish I could just say, ¡®Cheer up; I¡¯ll buy you ice cream.¡¯ ¡°Come on, let¡¯s look around town a little bit; I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find something else fun.¡± She looked up at me and I smiled at her. ¡°Okay,¡± she finally said, smiling back. We went around town for another few hours and stopped by various merchants and saw a number of street performers such as jugglers, ventriloquists, and singers. We also stopped for lunch but there wasn¡¯t anything that really resembled a family restaurant. We ended up eating at a bar and as awkward as I felt, having never been in a bar before, nobody even batted an eye when I came in with Tasha. I didn¡¯t see any other children in the bar so I assumed that they all thought that everybody should just mind their own business. We returned to the town square to go see Dennis and when we arrived, we saw that there was a man bargaining with him. There were also several other people who were looking at the various items Dennis laid out on a mat. ¡°Hey, Dennis, how was business today?¡± ¡°Oh, welcome back, Braith. Business has just been dandy. Although I still get people like this who think I don''t understand the value of money.¡± ¡°Hey! Thirty copper is just absurd for this. Twenty, tops!¡± ¡°No! I already said I am not dropping the price by even one copper!¡± ¡°Do you need me to help you with anything?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, maybe if you can get it through this guy¡¯s head that he¡¯s a moron¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one trying to commit highway robbery here! My friend got one just like this from another merchant for fifteen copper!¡± ¡°Well then, go ahead and buy it from him!¡± ¡°Maybe I will!¡± ¡°Nobody¡¯s stopping you!¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯m leaving; you just lost yourself a customer.¡± ¡°Good riddance!¡± The man left and the merchant sighed. An old man picked up a six-sided dice and examined it. ¡°Oh, you have a good eye, my friend; it is made from the finest ivory! Even better quality than this fine compass over-¡± Dennis felt the corner of the mat and found that nothing was there. ¡°W- what?! Where is it?!¡± Dennis started looking around frantically. ¡°The only person who left since we got here was that angry man,¡± Tasha said. Dennis scanned the crowd and spotted him. ¡°There he is! Braith, catch that thief right now!¡± Without a word, I immediately dashed off after the thief. He briefly turned around just as he was about to exit the town square and immediately started to flee when he saw me running towards him. As I ran after him, I saw Tasha catch up to me. ¡°I got this one!¡± she said, speeding up past me. I grabbed at her hand and pulled her back. ¡°No, it¡¯ll look too suspicious if you outrun me!¡± ¡°But he¡¯ll get away!¡± ¡°Have some faith in me; I¡¯ll catch him!¡± I put on an extra spurt of speed and started to close the distance between me and the thief. Tasha maintained her speed as I struggled to keep pace with her now. The thief came upon a pair of guards but I barely even had enough air in me to keep my sprint going; this guy was really fast. ¡°Guards! Stop that thief!¡± Tasha called out in my stead. The guards then went to block the thief¡¯s pash but he managed to feint and slip past him. However, the guard brought out an arm to catch him as he ran past and his fingers pulled on his sleeve. The thief managed to break free but he lost speed. I continued to run my hardest and he and I were now barely five feet apart. The thief prepared to turn left onto a corner but then a wagon suddenly came out. The thief had to veer away instead to avoid being hit but I closed the distance and finally managed to tackle him onto the ground. I was nearly breathless but I pressed my weight on him and had him trapped. The guard came over and I turned to where Tasha would be. ¡°See, I told you I¡¯d catch him!¡± ¡°Uh, yes, quite well done,¡± the guard said as he took the thief away. Tasha was all the way on the other side of the block, walking, and breathing heavily. ¡°So, what did this thief take?¡± ¡°I- I think he took a compass¡­¡± The policeman felt around in the man¡¯s pocket and took out a velvet box. The policeman opened the box and revealed an ivory compass. ¡°Th-that¡¯s mine! These crazy people just suddenly came running after me when they saw I had one!¡± ¡°Well, is there anything you can say about this compass to prove it¡¯s yours?¡± the guard asked me. I sucked in a couple breaths before answering. ¡°It¡¯s not mine. It belongs to a merchant by the name of Dennis Loharn.¡± ¡°Where is he right now?¡± ¡°Town square.¡± ¡°Well, this should be simple enough to check out.¡± Tasha reached where we were and took in a few deep breaths. The guard called over another one and the two of them began escorting the thief back to the town square. When they were out of earshot, Tasha whispered in my ear. ¡°That good enough for you?¡± she said as she blew out one last breath. ¡°You could have ran a little bit harder; I don¡¯t want other people thinking my daughter is some dainty little thing.¡± Tasha smacked me on the back and smiled. I laughed. When we returned to the town square, Dennis had it sorted out and proved the compass was his. He knew what was engraved on the back of it; the thief did not. ¡°Fantastic work, Braith! I knew it was a good idea to hire you!¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± When night fell, we slept for the night at an inn. It was quite the unique experience. I¡¯ve been to hotels before, but an inn in this kind of world seemed much more comely. It certainly made me better appreciate traveling with Dennis. The next day, Dennis went back to the town square and Tasha and I went around town again. After talking with Dennis, I learned that although the guards need to break up fights, I don¡¯t have to worry about getting arrested for it. When we did happen across another fight, on Tasha¡¯s insistence, we stayed to watch it. It was between two unarmed men but it was still pretty entertaining. After the guards came and broke it up, Tasha started to mimic their punches and kicks. It may have something to do with being Battle-Hardened, but she learns really fast. Lars said I was a fast learner too, but Tasha is just¡­well, faster. We went to eat lunch at the same bar from yesterday and this time, Tasha was interested in eavesdropping so we did. There were a couple of guys, one much older than the other, sitting by a table next to ours and judging from their weapons and armour, they were either mercenaries or bounty hunters. ¡°Place sure has changed since last time,¡± said the older one. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re too young.¡± ¡°I¡¯m younger but I¡¯ve also been to Rettif before.¡± ¡°Well, you haven¡¯t been here during that time?¡± ¡°What time?¡± ¡°You dense? What other time could I be talking about?¡± ¡°The war?¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯m talking about the war!¡± ¡°Well, why didn¡¯t you just say so?!¡± The older man groaned in response and then noticed Tasha. However, it didn¡¯t seem like he noticed we were eavesdropping. Or he just didn¡¯t care. ¡°Even children are hanging around here.¡± ¡°There were some kids last time I was here,¡± the younger man said, taking a swig of beer. ¡°Well, if you were here during the war, you¡¯d know that all the women and children would stay locked up at home.¡± ¡°Well, war¡¯s over now, you know?¡± ¡°Shut up, of course I know the war¡¯s over!¡± ¡°Geez, what are you getting so mad about?¡± ¡°Back in my day, being mercenaries really meant something,¡± the older man sighed. ¡°Yeah, because there was a war.¡± ¡°Shut up! I¡¯m not done talking!¡± The younger man rolled his eyes but stayed quiet. ¡°You know, it was here in Rettif that all the big-name mercenaries came.¡± The younger man gave a certain questioning kind of look. ¡°No, I wasn''t a big-name myself, but I did meet with a lot of them.¡± The older man paused, silently giving the other one permission to speak. ¡°What kind of big-name mercenaries?¡± he asked, his voice monotone. ¡°Ever heard of Cold-Flame Cypher?¡± ¡°No.¡± The older man looked at him with mild disbelief. ¡°Well, what about Memento Maury?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Silver Fang Rayleigh? Greybeard Graham?¡± The man continued to shake his head. ¡°Well, who the heck have you heard of?! You have to know at least one of them!¡± ¡°Well, when I first decided to become a mercenary, I wanted to form a team, just like the Reapers.¡± The older man had a bit of an annoyed look. ¡°Have you heard of them before?¡± ¡°Of course I have!¡± ¡°Have you ever met them?¡± the other man asked, now genuinely curious. ¡°¡­no.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± the man said, hiding no amount of disappointment. ¡°But who cares about those guys! A real mercenary is someone with a solo reputation! Not just some ragtag team of men who never work alone!¡± The younger man suddenly stood up. ¡°Hey! Just because you¡¯ve never met them before, it doesn¡¯t mean they are no good! They¡¯re the people that others still remember! Who cares about Coldman or Memory-¡± ¡°Cold-Flame and Memento-¡± ¡°Who gives a damn?! Ask any mercenary or bounty hunter in this room and I guarantee you that they¡¯ll say the Reapers were better!¡± The younger man suddenly turned around towards us. ¡°You!¡± ¡°Me?¡± I asked, pointing to myself. ¡°Yeah, you! Have you ever heard of this Cold-Flame or Memento guy?¡± ¡°Uh, no,¡± I replied. ¡°See!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± the bartender suddenly shouted out. ¡°If you¡¯re gonna keep yelling like that, then leave my bar first!¡± The young man cooled off a bit and sat back down. I could tell Tasha was curious to learn more but the two were no longer speaking to each other. After that, we went around town again and something eventually caught my eye. On the streets, there was a woman covered up in a long robe with a cowl covering her face. She was seated on a carpet and had a crystal ball in front of her. Next to it was a small cup for collecting coins. I didn¡¯t know for sure, but she certainly seemed like a fortune teller to me. However, if she was Farseer, maybe she could actually say something useful. I went over to her and crouched down. ¡°Good afternoon. Would you like me to read your future?¡± she asked in a bit of a raspy voice. With her face hidden, I couldn¡¯t tell exactly how old she was but her hands at the very least didn¡¯t seem too old. I guess the voice was an act? ¡°How much?¡± I asked. She placed her hands on the crystal ball and began to swirl her hands around it. ¡°You only have to pay however much you think my words are worth.¡± Is this some kind of satisfaction guarantee? ¡°Okay¡­¡± She continued to move her hands over the ball for another moment before speaking again. ¡°I see¡­a foreign presence before me¡­an Outlander? No¡­not quite¡­and I see another distinct presence beside you as well¡­hmmm¡­very intriguing.¡± I looked over at Tasha who was staring at the crystal ball quite intently. ¡°In your future I see¡­many trials¡­the first of which will be by the elements¡­wind¡­earth¡­water¡­and fire¡­and then¡­even greater trials await you.¡± I don¡¯t think I like the sound of that. ¡°These trials¡­cannot be bypassed¡­and even should you succeed¡­I cannot tell where it will lead¡­all I see is nothingness after that¡­oblivion.¡± ¡°So¡­I¡¯m going to go through some problems¡­and then there is going to be some unknown conclusion?¡± The woman said nothing but I thought I saw her nod her head very slightly. Oh wow, that¡¯s so helpful. ¡°And what about my daughter?¡± ¡°Your two fates will be intertwined throughout the course of these trials¡­afterwards¡­I cannot see.¡± Tasha said nothing and just kept staring at the crystal ball. I took a single copper coin and dropped it into the cup. The sound of clinking metal seemed to snap Tasha out of her trance. I stood up and as I turned to walk away, the fortune teller said one last thing. ¡°Good luck.¡± Chapter 6 The rest of the day was relatively uneventful and we left Rettif the next morning. For the next couple of weeks, we passed by two small towns, but neither of them were even as big as Befson. After that second town, Dennis said we wouldn¡¯t be seeing another one for another two weeks. However, only a week later, while traveling along a road through a forest, we saw smoke rising up above the tree tops. Dennis checked his maps and saw that there weren''t supposed to be any villages or towns there. He decided to take a detour to check it out. The detour was fairly difficult considering the uneven ground and the trees. While going there, we were stopped by a pair of men wearing leather armour and carrying shortswords. Dennis got out of the carriage. ¡°Who are you?¡± one of the guards asked. ¡°I am just a traveling merchant, as I¡¯m sure you can tell from a quick perusal of my wares.¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°Like I said, I am a merchant who is traveling northward to reach the Nature clan¡¯s territory to do business.¡± The two guards started to whisper to each other. ¡°Does that mean you intend to go through Reapers¡¯ Pass?¡± Reapers? ¡°Yes, I¡¯m already cutting time pretty close before the fog rolls in there.¡± The two guards spoke to each other again and one of them nodded. ¡°Very well, you may pass.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± The wagon started up again and we reached the village in about fifteen minutes. The village was in a large clearing in a forest next to the mountainside and all of the buildings were made of wood and only one-story high. Dennis browsed around a bit and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be getting any good business here but it¡¯s already getting late so we¡¯ll stay here for the night.¡± Dennis set up shop anyways but nobody was interested. After about an hour, a group of people wearing leather armour returned to the village along with a small wagon. I also noticed that they all had shortswords on them as well. However, one of them seemed to be different from the rest and my eyes felt drawn to him. He was dressed the same, but he had some rolled up paper in one gloved hand and there was just something about the air around him. I didn¡¯t want to go over to them, but after seeing so many guards, Tasha got really excited and ran over there. I followed. Tasha went right up to one of them and started to examine his armour. ¡°Uh¡­hello?¡± the guard said. ¡°Oh, travelers?¡± the ¡®special¡¯ man said. I caught up to Tasha and replied. ¡°Yes, we are stopping by here for the night. I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Not at all!¡± he said. He then extended one hand. I looked at him and saw that underneath his leather helm, he had long black hair and dark brown eyes. He also had the smoothest complexion I had ever seen on any man thus far. ¡°My name is Jack Free; I¡¯m sort of the leader around here.¡± ¡°My name is Braith.¡± I shook his hand. ¡°I¡¯m just an escort.¡± ¡°An escort named Braith, eh? Never heard that name before.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot.¡± ¡°And this is your daughter, I presume?¡± ¡°Yes, this is my daughter, Tasha.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you too,¡± he said, extending his hand to her as well. ¡°Okay,¡± she said, shaking his hand, ¡°Can I see your sword?¡± ¡°My sword?¡± ¡°Yeah, it looks really cool!¡± ¡°Why do you say that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. It just does.¡± I took a closer look but I did not see much of a difference between its sheath and the others. Although, I guess it just kind of gleamed a bit more than the rest. ¡°Well, if you insist, you can look, but please don¡¯t touch it.¡± He unsheathed his shortsword and my eyes widened. At the base of the blade was a pair of crossed blades: the mark of the Battle-Hardened. Tasha¡¯s eyes widened too but unlike me, I think she was more focused on the quality of the blade. Jack noticed my eyes and smiled. ¡°You noticed the brand?¡± he asked. ¡°Uh¡­¡± He laughed. ¡°No need to be so nervous!¡± ¡°Well¡­are you Battle-Hardened?¡± I asked. ¡°Nope,¡± he replied with a smile. Huh? ¡°I¡¯m a Farseer.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re one of those magical guys?¡± Tasha asked. Huh, was that I described them to Tasha? ¡°Well, yes, I am one of those magical guys,¡± he chuckled. ¡°Now, I assume you are wondering why I have this sword.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s a hero!¡± one of the guards suddenly exclaimed. ¡°Yeah!¡± another one shouted out. The others started to clamour until Jack raised his other hand to silence them. ¡°Pardon that; I¡¯m sure you¡¯re a bit confused by it. Well, you see, I took this blade off a Battle-Hardened officer. You see, he and his company wanted to come here to eliminate this poor village even after the war ended.¡± ¡°But then Jack wiped them out and saved us all!¡± ¡°Er, well, yes, that happened. I assure you the battle was not as spectacular as they make it out to be; I nearly lost my life.¡± The guards began to clamour again before Jack silenced them. ¡°Anyways, that¡¯s the story.¡± ¡°I see. So, now you have guards on patrol to keep the village protected?¡± ¡°Only for now! But soon, we¡¯re going to find a way to keep us protected forever!¡± one of them shouted at. Jack raised his hand to silence him, but for just an instant, I thought I saw Jack¡¯s expression stiffen. ¡°What was that about?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, nothing.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Nothing?! We-¡± This time, Jack actually turned around and the man shut up. ¡°Just nothing. Now, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be wanting to get some rest if you want to leave early in the morning. You wouldn¡¯t want to be caught in the fog in Reapers¡¯ Pass.¡± Jack prematurely raised his hand when he said the last part. ¡°Yeah, we will.¡± I went back to Dennis¡¯ wagon, pulling Tasha, who wasn¡¯t really paying attention to the conversation at all. Back at the wagon, I saw Dennis going through his maps again. Briefly, he looked up. ¡°Oh, welcome back, Braith,¡± he said before looking back down. ¡°Find anything interesting about this place?¡± ¡°Actually, quite a bit.¡± ¡°Mhmmm.¡± ¡°For example, the village is led by a Farseer called Jack Free.¡± ¡°Mhmmm.¡± ¡°Apparently he protected the village from an attack by some Battle-Hardened soldiers.¡± ¡°Mhmmm. Argh, none of my maps have this village marked! Oh, I know! I can just mark it down here, and then, when I travel the continent, I can have a new map made! Yes, that¡¯s a brilliant idea!¡± Dennis started marking his maps with his fountain pen. He then looked up at me with a grin, clearly oblivious to everything I just said. ¡°Yeah, great idea.¡± ¡°Do you think there¡¯s something else around here?¡± Tasha suddenly asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Dennis and I asked at the same time. ¡°Well, those guards and that Farseer came back all at once. Isn¡¯t that really strange timing for patrols? Also, the first two guards we saw weren¡¯t with them.¡± ¡°R-really? I hadn¡¯t noticed.¡± The things that Tasha notices almost scare me sometimes. ¡°Farseer? There¡¯s a Farseer here?¡± Dennis asked with surprise. ¡°Yes, Dennis,¡± I sighed. ¡°There is a Farseer here by the name of Jack Free.¡± ¡°A Farseer by the name of Jack Free¡­¡± Dennis started to stroke his chin. ¡°Hmmm, that can¡¯t be right¡­no, it can¡¯t be¡­¡± ¡°What are you talking about, Dennis?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, if I recall correctly, there was a certain Farseer who supposedly had the surname Free.¡± ¡°Who was this person?¡± ¡°He was one of the Reapers.¡± ¡°Reapers?!¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve heard of them, Braith?¡± ¡°Not really, but go on with what you were saying.¡± ¡°Well, among the Reapers, there was a Farseer who used the element of wind. He was publicly known as Wyvern, but there were some rumours that said his real surname was Free. Hmmm, I guess it wouldn¡¯t be too surprising to find a Reaper here, since we are near Reapers¡¯ Pass. But, maybe it¡¯s still just a coincidence.¡± ¡°Dennis, what is this about Reapers¡¯ Pass.¡± ¡°Well, it got the name because it was there that the Reapers displayed their powers to the fullest. Small armies, human, Battle-Hardened, and Farseer, would try to go through that valley, but were completely crushed by a group of mercenaries known as the Reapers. That¡¯s how it got the name.¡± ¡°Hey, someone answer my question!¡± Tasha shouted out, a bit annoyed. ¡°Oh, right¡­Dennis?¡± ¡°¡­What was her question?¡± he asked. ¡°I asked if there was anything else around here.¡± ¡°Anything else? Other than Reapers¡¯ Pass I don¡¯t think there is.¡± ¡°Maybe a mine or something?¡± she asked. ¡°A mine?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, that wagon had some pickaxes and shovels in it.¡± Yes, I taught Tasha what all that was. Even drew sketches of them. I needed to teach something to make up for what I forgot from Science and Social Studies. ¡°I¡¯m surprised I didn¡¯t look at what was in the wagon.¡± Although, I did remember how fixated I was on Jack Free. ¡°Anyways, mine or not, I¡¯m sure they¡¯re hiding something. Or at least that Farseer Jack Free is.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We¡¯re leaving in the morning,¡± Dennis said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious, though, Dennis?¡± I asked. ¡°We are actually on a pretty tight schedule right now, Braith. Reapers¡¯ Pass gets really foggy around this time.¡± ¡°So, what if it gets foggy? It¡¯s still just a valley.¡± ¡°Fog attracts all kinds of trouble; trouble that we won¡¯t even be able to see before it¡¯s too late. If we leave early in the morning, we should be able to get through Reapers¡¯ Pass without worrying about any of that, though.¡± I really didn¡¯t want to just up and leave but I did agree to escort Dennis so I remained silent. Tasha did as well and we went to sleep. Early the next day, before dawn broke, Tasha woke me up. ¡°W-what is it, Tasha?¡± I asked before yawning. ¡°Dad, I really think we should stay here.¡± I blinked a few times and sucked the inside of my mouth a couple times. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I had a dream last night.¡± I suddenly became more awake. ¡°Y-you did?!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°What was it about?! Did you remember more about your past?¡± ¡°No, I mean, I don¡¯t know?¡± I cocked my head to the side. ¡°I don¡¯t really remember what happened, just the feeling. The feeling that something is going to happen here, and very soon.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why we have to stay here? Why? To stop it? To witness it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just feel we have to stay here until that time comes.¡± I pressed my hands to my eyes and took a deep breath. ¡°Do you not believe me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about whether or not I believe you.¡± ¡°I guess I just sound¡­crazy or something?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about that either.¡± I arched my back in the carriage seat and looked over at Dennis. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll stay. I¡¯ll tell Dennis when he wakes up.¡± Almost on cue, Dennis started to stir. He slapped himself in the face and then opened his eyes while yawning. He jumped back a bit in his seat when he saw both of us staring at him. ¡°Woah! Well, you two are sure up early¡­¡± ¡°Dennis, I have something to tell you.¡± ¡°What is it, Braith?¡± ¡°We¡¯re staying.¡± Dennis stared at me without any expression for a moment. ¡°This again? No, Braith, we¡¯re going. When the fog rolls in it sticks around for weeks; I can¡¯t wait around for that long.¡± ¡°No, I mean, me and Tasha are staying. You can go on without us.¡± Dennis¡¯ jaw dropped a bit as he looked at us incredulously. ¡°What? Hey, aren¡¯t you in a hurry somewhere? Can we really afford to waste your time here?¡± ¡°I set off in the first place for Tasha. If she says we need to stay, then we¡¯ll stay.¡± ¡°Well, okay, but maybe you don¡¯t remember, but you have another¡­seventeen days left to escort me for!¡± ¡°Seven days.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need the map, just the compass. I¡¯m willing to pay off the remaining seven days in coin.¡± ¡°This was a special deal, Braith! I gave you a reduced price in return for your escort. You¡¯ll need to pay a lot extra for those remaining days!¡± ¡°How much?¡± Dennis leaned into his seat and started thinking. His mouth curled into a small smile. ¡°A thousand copper. I won¡¯t take one coin less.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± Dennis continued to look at me with that small smile before his face started to twist. ¡°What? I said a thousand copper! I know you don¡¯t have that much!¡± ¡°Actually, I do,¡± I said very calmly. I took out the bag Lars gave me and counted out twenty silver coins. Dennis stared at the coins in disbelief. Then he looked at me, mouth still open. ¡°How long have you had that much?¡± ¡°My friend gave it to me before I left.¡± Dennis started to take quick breaths. ¡°I¡¯d like to have that compass now.¡± Dennis clenched his teeth. ¡°Fine!¡± Dennis took out a briefcase under the seat, opened it, and threw me a compass. ¡°You know, Braith, I hired you because I could sense you had a strong set of morals. It¡¯s dangerous being a merchant, you know?! It only takes one bad decision to ruin you!¡± ¡°And I thank you for placing that much trust in me. However, this is something I have to do. Perhaps, in the future-¡± ¡°No, there is no future between us! Braith, I¡¯m going to become one of the wealthiest merchants ever, and you¡¯re going to regret leaving!¡± His face was red and contorted with anger but I maintained a nonchalant expression as Tasha slightly shrunk back. I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. ¡°I wish you the best of luck,¡± I said genuinely. ¡°¡­Get out of my carriage.¡± We grabbed all of our luggage and got out. Dennis roused the wagon driver and they quickly left. ¡°I didn¡¯t want that to happen,¡± Tasha said sadly. I hated this parting too, but I did not let it show. I know now that it was constantly feeling regret that made me so stagnant in the past. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Come on, let¡¯s see what the village is up to.¡± Chapter 7 We went into the village, but since it was still twilight, it seemed they were still all asleep. The only sounds were just birds chirping, or that¡¯s what I thought until I thought I heard something else. I went towards that sound and I thought it kind of sounded like someone was fighting. I put my hand on my shortsword and rushed over. The sound was coming from behind a certain house and I encountered a shirtless man swinging his shortsword by a torch stuck into the ground for lighting. When he saw me, he jumped back a bit in surprise and immediately went into a stance. I raised my two hands up in the air. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just that traveler from the other day,¡± he said. ¡°Getting ready to leave soon?¡± he asked while loosening his stance and wiping some of the sweat off his forehead. ¡°Actually, I- we have decided to stay,¡± I replied. ¡°Really? Aren¡¯t you worried about the fog?¡± ¡°Not really. Besides, I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll be leaving anytime too soon.¡± He looked at me, puzzled. ¡°Anyways, I see you were practicing¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm, oh, yes. Lately, I¡¯ve felt I¡¯ve been neglecting my swordsmanship a bit so I woke up extra early to train. Is that why you are up so early as well?¡± He pointed at my shortsword. ¡°Not exactly.¡± Tasha started to pull on my arm while pointing at her sword. Are you serious? ¡°But, well, if you don¡¯t mind, would you mind sparring for a bit?¡± ¡°A spar? Well, now that¡¯s interesting! Sure, I¡¯d love to test myself a bit against a mercenary.¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not actually a mercenary. And also, I was proposing a spar between you and my daughter.¡± ¡°What? Surely you must be joking¡­¡± Tasha looked at me with disappointment. ¡°Well, she is quite skilled.¡± He still looked at me dubiously but Tasha didn¡¯t seem ready to relent either. ¡°Just give her a shot.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­well, I am a bit curious as to how skilled a mercenary¡¯s daughter can be.¡± I was going to tell him again that I wasn¡¯t a mercenary but Tasha just jumped right in and drew her sword. ¡°Raring to go?¡± Tasha nodded and took up her stance. However, just as they were about to fight, a little boy walked onto the scene. ¡°Father?¡± the boy said, rather sleepily. ¡°Remi, what are you doing up so early?¡± ¡°I just kind of woke up and saw that you weren¡¯t in your room. What are you doing out here?¡± he asked, looking at Tasha and then to me. ¡°Just practicing, son.¡± The man sighed. ¡°Actually, I think I¡¯ve done enough practice for today,¡± he said to us before turning back to his son. ¡°Since you¡¯re already up, shall I make us breakfast?¡± Remi nodded. ¡°Oh, you two can join us if you want.¡± Tasha turned her head away from them, clearly upset that the spar was cancelled. ¡°We¡¯d love to,¡± I replied for the both of us. She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment but I paid it no heed. We went inside his house and we had a breakfast of berries and nuts. He apologized for running out of meat a couple of days ago. I said it was okay but this kind of breakfast did not please Tasha very much. As we ate, we introduced ourselves to each other. ¡°The name¡¯s Bradley and this is my son, Remi. I am the guard captain of this village.¡± ¡°My name is Braith and this is my daughter, Tasha. We are just a pair of travelers.¡± ¡°Just travelers?¡± ¡°Yeah, just that. We aren¡¯t mercenaries or anything like that. Anyways, you¡¯re the guard captain?¡± ¡°Indeed I am.¡± ¡°What about that Farseer Jack Free?¡± ¡°Oh, he¡¯s the leader of the entire village!¡± ¡°I see. Can you tell me more about him?¡± ¡°Oh, there are lots I can say about him, but¡­¡± he said, perturbed. ¡°But what?¡± I asked, leaning in slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t think he would want me to tell you too much.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± I brought one hand to my chin while leveraging my elbow against the table. ¡°Not too sure, really. He just said that we shouldn¡¯t be saying too much to strangers.¡± ¡°I assure you, we don¡¯t have any ill intentions.¡± I looked over at Tasha and she put on a straight face and nodded. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really see why I can¡¯t just tell you the same things everybody else in the village knows,¡± he relented. ¡°Well, Jack Free used to be one of the Reapers for one.¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯ve heard a bit about them.¡± ¡°Yes, the Reapers were a legendary mercenary group, probably the strongest there ever was. Jack Free was the wind Farseer, Wyvern. Even among the other Reapers, Wyvern was known for being one of the strongest. Well, not surprising since he did single-handedly crush an invading group of Battle-Hardened.¡± ¡°Yes, about that. Can you tell me more about that?¡± Thinking more about it, and thinking about Tasha¡¯s strength, that really was a seemingly amazing feat. ¡°About how he defeated the Battle-Hardened?¡± ¡°Yes, that.¡± ¡°Well, you see, our village is made up mostly of Outlanders that used to be nomads. But, there are also a lot of us, like me, who used to be soldiers from Holtzan.¡± That instantly struck a chord with me but I stopped myself for the moment. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be honest here, we were deserters. The battlefields just weren¡¯t for us and we couldn¡¯t return to our homes. So, we settled here with the Outlanders. Of course, we knew that one day, someone might be after us, either for deserting or being former Holtzan soldiers. That day came a year ago. A small group of Battle-Hardened soldiers came, seeking revenge for the war. We never even fought against the Battle-Hardened, but they didn¡¯t care. Jack encountered them first in Reapers¡¯ Pass and defeated their leader, but that didn¡¯t stop them. They continued to our village and with us as archers, we defeated them all.¡± I really wanted to ask more about Holtzan, but there were things about that story that just seemed a bit off. ¡°So, you actually saw those Battle-Hardened soldiers?¡± ¡°Indeed, and they were quite frightening. The kind of rage they had when coming after us is hard to describe.¡± ¡°For how long was Jack Free a villager here?¡± ¡°We first met him on the day of the attack.¡± ¡°¡­what do you mean?¡± ¡°He came to warn us that some Battle-Hardened were coming to attack the village.¡± ¡°How did he know they were Battle-Hardened?¡± ¡°He defeated their leader earlier and took his branded shortsword.¡± ¡°I see¡­so, what happened after the attack?¡± ¡°Well, we celebrated a little bit, but Jack told us that we must be careful about future attacks.¡± ¡°Makes sense,¡± I said, not really meaning it. ¡°So, what did he suggest? Did he train you all or something?¡± ¡°No, even better!¡± he began excitedly. ¡°He told us of a way to keep our village protected forever!¡± ¡°And what is that way?¡± Here, Bradley¡¯s expression suddenly soured. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­that¡¯s a secret,¡± he said, fairly emotionlessly. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s okay!¡± I said, raising my hands slightly and smiling. ¡°Your story was just so interesting that I really wanted to know more!¡± ¡°Jack really is quite amazing, isn¡¯t he?¡± he asked, his face returning to normal. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s quite the guy. I guess that¡¯s why you don¡¯t mind that he¡¯s Farseer.¡± ¡°Oh, I guess he¡¯s also the reason why we got over that.¡± ¡°Hmmm?¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°We always used to think that Farseers and Battle-Hardened were people that we just simply could never get along with. But, after meeting Jack, I can say that not all Farseers are like that.¡± ¡°And Battle-Hardened?¡± ¡°Well, the ones who came after us were clearly the worst of the bunch. If Farseers can be good, I don¡¯t see why Battle-Hardened can¡¯t either. I guess this is also one of the reasons I love living here. It¡¯s more refreshing than the towns in Holtzan where people only say awful things about them. Actually, where are you from, exactly?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m actually from Holtzan too¡­¡± I replied, only somewhat lying. ¡°Really? Where in Holtzan?¡± ¡°I came from Befson.¡± ¡°Befson? Hmmm, sorry, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever been there.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t really matter; I haven¡¯t been to anywhere in Holtzan other than Befson.¡± ¡°And yet you come all the way out here?¡± he said skeptically. ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡± Bradley nodded in understanding. ¡°Father, don¡¯t you have to go soon?¡± Remi suddenly asked. ¡°Hmmm? Oh right! Thanks for reminding me, son!¡± Bradley got up from his seat. ¡°So sorry, I¡¯d love to stay and chat but I have somewhere I need to go.¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s fine,¡± I said, getting up as well. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll just be off to look around now.¡± ¡°Still not leaving for the north yet?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no rush.¡± ¡°Well¡­okay then. Take care, anyways.¡± The two of us left the house, but I was not done with my investigation just yet. Tasha and I found a place to hide in the bushes just on the outskirts of the village but still in view of Bradley¡¯s house. After about five minutes, Bradley exited the house wearing a full set of leather armour. As he drifted from our view, we tried to follow by circling along the village¡¯s perimeter. At times, our view was blocked by other houses, but eventually, we were able to find out his ultimate destination. Bradley gathered with several other villagers in leather armour, including Jack Free. Bradley bowed his head, probably apologizing for being late, and then Jack Free started to say something to the rest of them. A couple of villagers grabbed the wagon and then they all left. Keeping a safe distance, we followed. However, I would like to note that sneakily following people while having all of your luggage strapped to your back is difficult. Well, at least for people who don¡¯t have superhuman strength like Tasha. After an hour-long trek into the forest, we reached the mountainside. Watching from the edge of the forest, we watched the guards bring the wagon to what appeared to be the scene of a major rockslide. Massive boulders and other rocks lay over the sloped mountainside over a distance at least a hundred yards wide. However, there was one large section of the rockslide that had been mostly cleared away. The guards took out pickaxes from the wagon and started breaking the remaining boulders from that section. Judging by the size of the section and just how many mounds of rubble there were, they had to have been working on this for months. ¡°Hey, what are you doing here?¡± I heard a voice ask from behind me. I turned around and saw another guard. ¡°Uh-¡± ¡°I thought I heard something. Nick, what are you doing here?¡± I heard from behind me again. I turned once more and saw another guard, followed by others. ¡°And who are these people?¡± ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late; I thought I had patrol duty today,¡± Nick replied. ¡°You do.¡± ¡°What? Ah, darn it,¡± said Nick. While the two guards talked, everyone else gathered, including Jack. ¡°You¡¯re those two travelers¡­I thought you left with the merchant?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Well¡­something came up.¡± ¡°In any case, why are you here?¡± Normally I¡¯d just lie and stick with it, but I had a feeling it wouldn¡¯t work on this guy. ¡°We followed you here,¡± I replied. Tasha nodded. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I was curious.¡± ¡°I see. Well, has your curiosity been satisfied now?¡± I¡¯m starting to dislike this guy. ¡°No, I still don¡¯t know what you are doing here.¡± Jack leaned his body back slightly while entwining his fingers. ¡°Well, that¡¯s something you don¡¯t need to know. What we are doing here shall only be known by the village.¡± I narrowed my eyes and thought about what to do next. Then, my mouth curled into a small smile, which instantly depressed me after recalling how Dennis looked earlier that day. I shook my head, cleared my throat, and continued with my new idea. ¡°Well, what if I join the village?¡± ¡°What?¡± Jack separated his two hands. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, as I already said, I¡¯ve left the merchant. This means I¡¯m not really traveling right now. In fact, I think I¡¯d quite like to settle down. Your village seems like a beautiful place so I was wondering if I could stay here. Of course, I am willing to work; for example, I can help with whatever it is you¡¯re doing here.¡± The other guards looked at each other and a couple seemed to be somewhat in agreement to the idea. Jack sighed. ¡°It is not so simple.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that? What is it about me that means I can¡¯t just settle down and live in peace?¡± Now the rest of the guards were in clearer agreement. Jack struggled with his words as he tried to think of something else to counter. To finish it off before he could regain any ground, I pulled Tasha in close to me. ¡°I just want to find a nice place for me and my daughter.¡± ¡°Jack, I think we should let him,¡± Bradley spoke. The others nodded and Jack was forced to give up. ¡°Well, as long as he only has peaceful intentions, I do not see any reason why we should deny him stay in our village.¡± ¡°Thank you so much!¡± I nudged at Tasha to go along with me. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said sweetly. Most of the guards smiled. ¡°Now, I¡¯d love to get to work right away! I¡¯ve already got my shortsword like the rest of you and as long as there¡¯s a spare tool, I¡¯m sure I can help right away!¡± Jack turned his head away. ¡°Bradley, handle this while the rest of the guards get back to work.¡± ¡°Yes, Jack.¡± The rest of them left, as well as Nick who went back to patrol duty. ¡°So, shall I get started?¡± ¡°Not quite yet, Braith. You still need some armour.¡± ¡°Armour?¡± ¡°Yes. We need to guard this place from wild animals while working at the same time. You will need some armour to help protect you.¡± ¡°Where can I get any armour?¡± ¡°Go put your luggage in the wagon and then quickly catch up to Nick. He¡¯ll take you back to the village and show you what to do.¡± I nodded and we hurried after Nick. After explaining things to Nick, we returned to the village and stopped by two houses. They each belonged to former Holtzan soldiers. They still had their leather armour but did not work with the rest of the guards because of permanent injuries. It took some convincing, or a lot of lying as you may call it, but I got Tasha some armour as well, although it was a bit big on her. In case you were wondering, the convincing involved stuff about how Tasha couldn¡¯t bear to separate from me and all that business. Having never worn armour before, I took a few moments to admire the look. I had on a leather helmet, boots, armlets and gloves. The main piece to the armour covered my chest and shoulders and had a pleated leather skirt. Dubious of its defense, I hit myself and was quite surprised to find how thick it really was and how well it softened the blow. Although, I still doubted how effective it would be against blades. Despite being oversized, Tasha was enjoying herself very much in her new attire. It still fit relatively well on her though, since the former soldier was a pretty small guy. We then returned to the site and Bradley filled us in. ¡°I¡¯m sure you are wondering what we are doing here, Braith.¡± ¡°I suppose I am a little curious.¡± ¡°Well, remember when we were talking about how to keep our village protected?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, this is it. Jack has an ancient map that shows something is hidden right here in the mountainside. Beyond that rockslide, we are searching for an entrance to an ancient chamber. Inside that chamber is one of the Spirit Altars.¡± ¡°Spirit Altar?¡± ¡°Yes. Thousands of years ago, Midgard was first settled by many different clans. These first clans started Midgard¡¯s original noble families. During that time, Midgard was home to far more dangerous beasts in the wild and none of the land was tame. The clans worked together to settle the land. Aside from their skills and strength, each of the clans also had a Guardian Spirit. Using the powers of the Spirits, all of the enemies in the wild fell before the clans and Midgard would later become what it is today.¡± I furrowed my eyebrows. ¡°If that¡¯s true, then why should this Spirit Altar matter so much? I mean, wouldn¡¯t the Guardian Spirits only help those original clans?¡± ¡°Uh¡­well, the thing is that some time, a long time ago, many of the original clans grew separate from those clans¡­¡± Bradley began his uncertain explanation, ¡°but the Guardian Spirits still exist and will follow those that they deem worthy. Yes¡­¡± ¡°Okay¡­so¡­what is the plan?¡± ¡°The plan? Um, after we find the Spirit Altar, we will use the Guardian Spirit to protect our village.¡± ¡°Who is going to use it? Jack Free?¡± ¡°Well, the Spirit should only loan its power to someone worthy, and I don¡¯t know anyone in the village more worthy than him.¡± ¡°How is Jack Free worthy?¡± My implicit insult struck a nerve. ¡°What do you mean?! Jack saved us! If it weren¡¯t for him, there wouldn¡¯t even be a village to protect!¡± ¡°But he is also a mercenary who has killed many people for money,¡± I countered. I spoke without raising my voice, in the hopes that Bradley would reciprocate. Thankfully, he did. ¡°What does it matter if he is a mercenary? At least that proves he has courage on the battlefield.¡± ¡°Is that a good thing?¡± I asked not to provoke, but to truly know Bradley¡¯s opinion. ¡°¡­It is at least better than a coward who flees at their first chance¡­¡± Bradley lowered his head. ¡°But you fought for your village didn¡¯t you? Doesn¡¯t that prove you¡¯re not a coward? You could have run away again but you stayed and fought.¡± ¡°That was only because Jack was supporting us! If it were just us¡­I¡¯m sure I would have¡­¡± Bradley kept his head hung low. ¡°I don¡¯t think you would have run again.¡± Bradley raised his eyes but kept his head low. ¡°You have a family right here now. Do you really think you and the others would have taught their children to be cowards?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I would have just convinced everyone in the village to evacuate¡­I would have made them give up their homes¡­¡± ¡°If everyone evacuated, then that would not be cowardice. Everyone would have been saved and you could have all lived on.¡± Bradley raised his head, but his expression may have gotten even worse. ¡°But what if I did just leave the others behind?¡± I stared hard into his eyes for a moment. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have.¡± Bradley turned away from him and stayed silent. I don¡¯t know why I tried so hard to encourage him. Maybe he reminded me a bit of myself. Always assuming the worst about everything. Always imagining terrible things about himself. After enough time in Befson, I realized just how cynical I used to be. Right now, Bradley looks like an idiot, but the kind of idiot I want to help. Or maybe, I just don¡¯t like it when people are so negative around me in general? It just unsettles the optimism I¡¯ve gained. I would have went on to say more, but then Jack came over. ¡°What is going on over there?¡± ¡°Oh sorry, Jack. Nothing, I¡¯ll get back to work now.¡± I went to follow Bradley, but Jack stopped me. ¡°Hold on. You wanted to be a guard, right? Well then, you should patrol the forest around here to make sure no wild animals catch us by surprise.¡± ¡°Sure thing, boss!¡± I said enthusiastically. ¡°Come on Tasha! Let¡¯s go on patrol to make sure no nasty animals attack anyone here!¡± ¡°Um, okay.¡± Don¡¯t worry Tasha; my mocking is hard to understand sometimes. The two of us went into the forest, looking for nothing in particular. Things went by pretty quietly for about an hour, until I thought I heard something coming from the dig site. Would you call it a dig site, actually? Excavation site, maybe? Whatever. I heard something coming from there so I ran back, but a bear suddenly got in the way. Tasha smiled at me. I took a step back and nodded at Tasha. She drew her sword and rushed at the bear fearlessly. The bear attempted to swat at Tasha but she easily evaded the attack and cut right through the side of the bear. He let out a roar in pain and slumped to the ground. Tasha gave the bear some distance and waited for it to make the next move. The bear was smart enough to not try again and it left. Tasha¡¯s momentary excitement instantly evaporated. We arrived at the excavation site and found nobody there. My running immediately slowed to a walk as I scanned the entire site. I called out but there was no answer. Cautiously, I walked over to where the guards were working earlier. I went to the cleared section and saw that it was actually pretty deep. After looking around the rest of the site one more time, I descended down the path and came across an entrance. It was framed in stone bricks and I saw several rocks littering the ground. I guess they found the chamber. The inside of the chamber was pitch-black. I called out for anyone inside but received no answer. ¡°I¡¯ll go check out the inside first, Tasha. Make sure nothing sneaks up from behind me.¡± Chapter 8 After mentally preparing myself, I stepped into the darkness. Looking immediately ahead of me there was only more darkness. Same for the left, but to the right, I thought I could see a faint glimmer of light up ahead. I walked towards the faint light and suddenly tripped over something. I let out a very manly cry of surprise. ¡°W-what happened, dad?! What was that scream about?¡± ¡°I tripped on something!¡± I felt around the ground and felt my hands go through something wet and sticky before hitting something solid. I felt it and realized that it was leather. I continued to feel the object and then I felt something softer like fabric. Very slowly I continued to feel it and felt leather again. Nervously, I continued to feel it and when I reached the end of the object, I pulled back and let out another cry of surprise. ¡°What?!¡± ¡°T-Tasha! Uh¡­don¡¯t come in here!¡± She rushed inside anyway. ¡°Ah! What did I just trip over?!¡± ¡°Tasha, just get up and lean against the wall!¡± ¡°Uh¡­okay!¡± I got up as well and tried to make my way over to the wall without tripping over anything else. ¡°Are you at the wall yet?!¡± I yelled out. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Okay! Uh¡­head on back outside and keep watch!¡± ¡°What?! Why?!¡± ¡°Just do it!¡± Wait, why are we yelling again? ¡°No, I want to come with you!¡± ¡°Tasha, I can handle this!¡± Personally, I didn¡¯t want to go further inside by myself, but that¡¯s a separate matter. ¡°Handle what?! What is going on?!¡± ¡°Nothing! Just keep watch!¡± ¡°No!¡± I heard Tasha making her way over to me along the wall. I was going to tell her to stay back again but I heard her let a sudden gasp. ¡°What is it?!¡± ¡°I almost tripped over something again!¡± ¡°J-just go back outside!¡± Tasha did not reply and after a moment, I felt something grab my hand. ¡°I already said, ¡®no¡¯. I¡¯m coming with you.¡± I felt relieved and ashamed at the same time. ¡°O- Okay¡­stay close¡­¡± We inched along the wall for about another thirty feet before we reached the corner of the hallway. The new path was illuminated by blue light. When I looked for the source of the light, I saw glowing, square blocks spaced apart along either side of the hallway. ¡°What are those?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. They¡¯re kind of like light bulbs, though.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tasha looked at me with confusion. ¡°Nothing. Let¡¯s just keep going forward.¡± We walked down the path and when I thought she wasn¡¯t looking at me, I quickly looked at my fingers. The glove was lightly stained in red. ¡°Where do you think this hallway leads?¡± Tasha suddenly asked. I pulled my hand far out of her view. ¡°Dad?¡± ¡°Uh¡­no idea. Let¡¯s just keep going.¡± The hallway went on for about thirty yards before turning another corner. Past that corner, Tasha screamed and I gasped. There was a guard lying face-down on the floor, blood coming out of his back. Tasha stood stock-still, hands covering her mouth. I knelt next to him and tried to check his pulse when he suddenly groaned. ¡°Ah!¡± I fell back onto my butt. ¡°Y-you! You¡¯re still alive?!¡± ¡°Is that¡­you¡­Braith¡­?¡± It was Bradley¡¯s voice. ¡°Bradley! Yes, it¡¯s me, Braith!¡± I went back over to him and turned him over so I could look at him. There was a wound in his chest and his face was completely pale. ¡°What happened?!¡± At first, he tried to swallow, but ended up choking on something and he coughed up a bit of blood. A few drops splattered on my chest. ¡°S-sorry¡­what happened¡­? It was¡­Jack¡­he attacked me¡­and¡­the others too¡­¡± I knew he was trouble, but I didn¡¯t think he would do something like this. ¡°How?! Why?!¡± Bradley took in a few slow breaths. ¡°Jack¡­when we found¡­the entrance¡­he and I went in¡­first¡­he attacked me here¡­then he led the others in¡­and¡­I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°The others? Where are they?!¡± Tasha asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­but I know¡­he went back for them¡­¡± Bradley coughed up more blood. ¡°He went on ahead¡­alone¡­¡± Bradley¡¯s eyes started to close. ¡°No, Bradley! Stay with me!¡± Bradley drew in long, slow breaths before suddenly clenching his teeth and grasping at his sheathed shortsword. ¡°Braith¡­¡± He began pulling out his sword. ¡°Get that bastard!¡± He pulled his sword all the way out and raised it up next to me. He let out his breath and his arm immediately fell back down. Bradley¡¯s jaw relaxed and his eyes remained closed for good. I checked his pulse and then shook my head. I turned around to look at Tasha. She was braced against the wall with one hand while the other one covered her mouth. Her eyes were wide and watery. I think she also figured out the entrance now. I gently laid Bradley¡¯s body back onto the ground and slowly stood up, bracing one arm against the wall. ¡°Tasha¡­¡± I closed my eyes and slumped against the wall. What the heck am I supposed to say next? I heard something scrape against the floor and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw Tasha staring hard at me, tears gone. I looked to her hand and saw that she was holding Bradley¡¯s sword. ¡°Dad.¡± We stared at each other for another moment before I started to stand straight up again. I looked back down where we came and then I looked ahead. Far, near the end of the hallway, there was white light coming out of one wall. I looked back at Bradley one last time. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡± Tasha nodded and we continued along the hallway. As we neared the end, we saw the white light more clearly. It looked like it was coming out of another doorway. As we approached this doorway, we could hear something like static coming from inside. When we reached the doorway, I saw something very unexpected. There was one straight stone path that led straight to the other end of the massive chamber. On either side of the path, there was a massive pool of¡­electricity? It looked like it and sounded like it, but just how is that possible? The pools looked like they were filled with water with massive amounts of electricity being conducted through it. At the end of the path, I saw Jack Free standing with his back to us. From that end, there was a continuing stone pathway that sloped upwards and snaked all around the round chamber. I looked all the way up and saw that the stone pathway still stopped at least thirty feet shy of the stone ceiling. The circular ceiling had four straight lines going across its diameter, resembling a cut-up pizza. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Why?! Why?!¡± I looked back at Jack when I heard his shouting, but saw that his back was still turned to us. ¡°I¡¯ve made it all the way here, but it won¡¯t open!¡± ¡°Jack Free!¡± Tasha suddenly yelled out. He turned around, but I could not make out his expression from this distance. ¡°You two?! Oh¡­that must be it!¡± Tasha started making her way across the stone bridge, Bradley¡¯s sword in hand. ¡°How could you just kill them all?!¡± ¡°It was necessary!¡± Jack said, almost happily. ¡°How else can I prove that I am most worthy? A direct display is best!¡± ¡°That is a terrible reason!¡± ¡°You just don¡¯t understand!¡± Jack angrily shouted back. ¡°An eternally weak and powerless person such as yourself could never understand!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with being unable to understand a crazy person like you?!¡± ¡°Me? Crazy?! Ha! Don¡¯t speak like that just because you are too dense to understand power! Ah, but you can still be of use! I killed those fools in the hallways, so they must not have counted! Now, here in the Spirit Altar, I will be sure to prove my worth!¡± ¡°What is all this talk about power?!¡± I shouted out. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a Reaper?! The most powerful mercenary?!¡± ¡°Shut up! Just shut up and die for me! Ahahahahaha! Now, I can finally be just like him!¡± ¡°I will carry out Bradley¡¯s vengeance!¡± Tasha shouted out, raising his sword. ¡°Oh? Ha! Come on, make this a challenge! The Spirit won¡¯t be too impressed if I just beat you like this!¡± Jack took his sheathed shortsword off his belt and then held it out in front of him with one hand. He suddenly thrust his other hand forward at the sheath and it came flying towards Tasha with a massive gust of wind. She struck it down onto the ground as it came at her. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Tasha shouted at him. ¡°Use that blade! I need you to be better equipped to make this a worthy display!¡± Tasha snarled at him. ¡°No! I will defeat you using this!¡± Tasha slashed Bradley''s blade in the air. She then stepped on Jack¡¯s sword and kicked it back towards me. ¡°So be it! Come! Let¡¯s see what a mere human can do against a Farseer like me!¡± Tasha started running across the bridge while Jack spread his arms out to his sides. Suddenly, he started moving his arms as if he were throwing baseballs. I couldn¡¯t see them, but I definitely felt them. Jack launched powerful gusts of winds towards Tasha. More amazing than that though was how Tasha was weaving through the invisible attacks. However, she could not keep it up. Halfway across the bridge, Jack launched simultaneous attacks that forced Tasha to move to her far left, but with another movement of his arms, the gust must have curved as I saw the sword suddenly knocked out of Tasha¡¯s hand. She lost her balance trying to reclaim it and another gust knocked her right over the edge. The instant she fell into the pool, I could hear her scream in pain. I immediately leapt into action and ran across the bridge myself, but Jack was not going to be idle. I could only guess where the wind would strike judging by his hand movements, but I could dodge a few of them, if only barely. However, this was mostly luck, and having only gotten a third of the way to Tasha, I was finally knocked over the edge myself. The intense shock that went through my body immobilized me. Added on to that, the water was very hot. When I tried to even breathe to scream out in pain, it flowed into my mouth and I coughed in even more pain. However, I could break through and get my head over the water¡¯s surface. This did little to ease my pain in any way though. Looking ahead, past the sparks flying above the surface, I could see Tasha struggling as well, too far from the bridge to reach it. At that moment, I remembered that Tasha didn¡¯t know how to swim. I clenched my teeth and at first tried to get back onto the bridge but Jack even blasted wind at me in the water, knocking me back under the surface. There was only one way I was going to do this. I began to swim through the electric water towards Tasha. Every stroke, the powerful shock made my muscles feel like seizing, but fortunately they did not and I willed myself to continue. The distance was probably less than twenty yards, but every foot was very hard-won. It was not long before my mind started to go blank from all the pain, but at the very least, I knew this wasn¡¯t real lightning. That would have killed both of us a long time ago. This thought alone made me believe that as long as I persevered, it could be done. However, as I continued, I noticed that my body was beginning to sink; I was losing the energy to keep myself afloat. I was also clearly slowing. Just barely, though, I could see Tasha trying to tread water and struggle to keep her head above water despite the pain that she must have been feeling as well. I continued my slow, arduous pace when Tasha suddenly sank. Her legs were no longer moving, but her arms were still thrashing about. With a sudden burst of energy, I accelerated the pace towards my drowning daughter. I launched myself towards her and grabbed onto her. Then, I broke the surface of the water, screaming in both pain and accomplishment. Tasha was too busy coughing up water to be screaming with me. I swam the last couple of yards to the bridge and pushed Tasha onto it. I then climbed onto the bridge myself and collapsed, now exhausted and still in excruciating pain. I was drenched in a mixture of the water and my own sweat. I was almost too tired to even continue to cry in agony¡­almost. I stared ahead of me with blurred vision. Just as I was wondering why Jack didn¡¯t knock us off while coming back onto the bridge, I could finally distinguish the sound of grinding stone and saw the ceiling opening up. ¡°Yes! Yes! The Spirit acknowledges me! Do you see that, you half-dead fools?! I am about to ascend into greatness!¡± As the pain continued to course through my body, I forced myself to turn my body to look at Jack. He had his two arms to the side, palms facing the ground. Slowly, his body started to float up into the air. ¡°Ahahahahahahaha! You humans are so worthless! Even if I wasn¡¯t here, you would never have gotten the power of the Spirit! Do you think a powerless human like yourself could reach the ceiling?!¡± He continued to float upwards as he continued to laugh in triumph. I smashed my fist against the bridge in anger. Is this how this world is?! A man kills off a bunch of innocent people who trusted him, and then that man is rewarded with power?! I smashed my other fist against the bridge and cried out with rage. ¡°JACK!¡± ¡°Oh, you can still speak human?! Well, let me be merciful since I could not have gained this power without you. In fact, you should feel honoured; the attainment of a Spirit¡¯s power is not something someone as low as you should ever expect to witness!¡± Angrily, I pushed myself off of the ground. The pain had barely subsided, but suddenly, I could move with ease despite my body feeling feverish. I looked up at Jack floating towards the now-opened ceiling. In the center of it, I could see a downward-facing stone needle. ¡°So, you can still stand? Commendable, but futile.¡± I looked at the snaking pathway and immediately began to run. Every step made my legs and lungs burn but I would not stop. I ran down the bridge and started to run up the pathway along the walls of the chamber. This might have worried Jack, or made him laugh even more. I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t care. My entire body was throbbing and my intense breathing drowned out most of the noise around me anyways. As I continued to run along the path, although the pain did not subside to any degree, I thought I could feel myself getting faster. I sprinted to the very end of the path and then jumped off towards the ceiling. I drew my sword in mid-air and slashed at Jack. I had somehow managed to launch myself further up than I thought humanly possible, but still fell short of him. As my body began to fall, I stared at Jack and saw his face quickly flash from panic to smugness. As my fall began to accelerate, he looked back up towards the ceiling and laughed. The speed of my fall quickened, but then I suddenly felt myself slightly lift up. I looked down and saw that Tasha was underneath me, in mid-air, bracing my feet against her shoulders. Before I could even begin to ponder how she could jump up this high or ask anything else, Tasha fiercely shouted at me, her face red, and tears in her eyes. ¡°Jump!¡± I looked back up and felt the both of us begin to fall again. Jack looked down as well with a slightly nervous expression. Yeah, you should be. I bent my knees and brought my blade right in front of me. I felt a jolt surge through both my legs as I jumped off and soared higher than should have been possible. I thrust through the air and finally reached Jack, my sword piercing right through his chest. The wind beneath Jack suddenly stopped, but the impact of my attack still pushed us upwards. Jack gasped at me with a completely shocked expression. My blade was stuck in Jack¡¯s chest all the way up to its hilt. I let go of the sword as the two of us were about to start falling back down. I instinctively grabbed above me and I grasped onto the tip of the stone needle. I kept hold of the needle for dear life as I watched Jack¡¯s body fall. Drops of blood flew upwards out of his wound as he plummeted. The drops of blood soon fell back down as well to catch up to their former vessel. Jack¡¯s body crashed through the surface of the electric pool below, but it had little effect on the water¡¯s raging currents. Nearby, I saw Tasha lying on the bridge, immobile. ¡°T-Tasha!¡± I cried out to her, but instead of her voice, I heard a deep, reverberating voice coming from all around me. I was in a dome in the opened ceiling, and patterned across the walls of it were what appeared to be eyes carved into stone. They glowed with a white light. ¡°That was a most spectacular display. You have done more than enough to prove your worth, human.¡± Normally, I would ask for the voice to introduce itself, but I was much more concerned with how to get back down to Tasha. ¡°Hmmm, this is interesting, though. Although you are human, you are not human at the same time.¡± I felt my grip start to weaken. ¡°Ah, but I have no time for questions, now, do I?¡± ¡°Whoever the heck you are, just tell me how I can get down from here and help my daughter!¡± ¡°Your daughter? I sense no blood shared between the two of you¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have time to debate! You are some powerful Spirit, right? Well, I beat that guy so hurry up and help her!¡± ¡°Yes, I am the Spirit of the Thousand Bolts and I do plan to help. Indirectly speaking. Both of you have been exposed to that pool of lightning, which is sure to induce immense amounts of pain.¡± ¡°Yeah, no kidding!¡± The sweat from my hands was making me start to lose traction. ¡°With my power, you will have the ability to control that lightning, and to use it for yourself.¡± ¡°Will that make the pain go away and all that?!¡± ¡°In a manner of speaking, yes.¡± ¡°Then, hurry up and give that power to Tasha!¡± One hand came off of the needle but I quickly grabbed onto it again before falling completely. ¡°But you are the one that I have selected to be most worthy.¡± ¡°Then you suck at choosing! Tasha is like five times stronger than me!¡± ¡°I do not choose based on strength alone.¡± I slipped more on the needle; I was now just barely hanging on. ¡°Just do something already!¡± ¡°Very well, I shall now bestow my powers unto you. Now, this process will take-¡± ¡°Dude, just hurry up! Do it now!¡± ¡°That would be incredibly painful.¡± ¡°Go!¡± ¡°Very well.¡± The stone needle glowed with a white light, and then each of the eyes on the walls suddenly shot a bolt of lightning at me. For a few seconds, I went blind and then I felt myself let go of the needle. As I fell, I slowly regained some of my vision and I saw the ground quickly approaching. I braced my hands in front of me and I hit the ground hard. I expected my head to hit the ground, or at the very least, my arms to snap, but neither happened. In fact, I didn¡¯t feel anything aside from the coursing pain from earlier. My vision still blurred, I crawled over to Tasha. My body didn¡¯t really feel damaged, but I could barely move my arms and legs at all. Everything felt hot, painful, and numb at the same time. When I reached Tasha, I wasn¡¯t even sure what to do next. I would have asked the Spirit directly but my jaw was sealed shut from the coursing current, I guess. I just placed both hands on my daughter and tried to think of something. I tried to concentrate, but I didn¡¯t know what to concentrate on. I tried to focus on lightning in my head, and I felt a more powerful surge start to go through my body. My vision had not cleared up any more, but I could see electricity coming out of the pool and pouring into my body. Not exactly what I wanted, but it was a good enough hint. I focused on Tasha, and electricity started to flow out of her body and into me. The pain increased, and my body felt ready to collapse. I grimaced and continued on until the electricity stopped flowing out of Tasha¡¯s body. The very instant that happened I began to breathe a sigh of relief as I fell unconscious. Chapter 9 When I woke up, I felt hot and cold at the same time. My body could still recall the heat from the electric pool, but at the same time, my body had mostly cooled, although I was still covered in sweat. I also expected my entire body to be sore, but surprisingly, the numbness and pain were almost entirely gone. I got up with relative ease and saw that Tasha was already awake, lying with her back against the wall. We were both by the entrance to the Spirit Altar. Tasha smiled weakly at me and I went to sit down next to her. Her face was a bit red and judging by how gaunt her face looked to me, she was either still recovering or had been brooding for a while now. Before I could ask, the Spirit spoke again, his disembodied voice coming from everywhere in the Altar at once. ¡°I see you have successfully received my power, human.¡± I glared up at the open ceiling. ¡°You know, I hate how ¡®human¡¯ keeps getting used as an insult.¡± ¡°My apologies. I should be calling you by your name anyways. What is it?¡± ¡°My name is Braith.¡± ¡°An interesting name; in all of my years, I have never encountered an individual with such a name.¡± ¡°Thanks, that means a lot to me,¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°I think it would be good for you to remain serious for the rest of this conversation.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Because I will explain to you my power.¡± Oh, that actually would be useful. ¡°I am the Spirit of the Thousand Bolts, and you are now the current vessel for my power. Within your body, a thousand bolts of a unique kind of magical energy are circulating throughout your body.¡± I looked at my hands and started flexing my fingers. I guess I felt a little tinglish. ¡°Most of the time, none of those bolts are actually used, but when they are, they amplify your physical capabilities. They increase your strength and speed. However, a mortal body can only withstand so much of that burden. The more bolts you try to use, the more pain you inflict upon your own body. Overexert yourself too much and you can suffer permanent injuries. Even death.¡± ¡°Death?!¡± Braith began frantically examining his body for any warning signs. ¡°Yes. If you recklessly use too much of my power without training yourself, your entire body will break down and you may die. However, that kind of limit should be far beyond the kind of energy you can draw for at least a few years. For now, the most bolts you can use would probably only leave you exhausted and in excruciating pain.¡± Thank goodness the only setback is excruciating pain. ¡°I would rather never have to go that far.¡± ¡°It will be necessary when your life is in peril. Those kinds of consequences are still better than death, are they not?¡± Hearing death again, I fully realized what I¡¯ve just done. I killed a man. I mean¡­that was what I planned to do originally right? Or was it Tasha¡¯s plan? Is this what Bradley wanted? It only made sense. I looked back at my hands and then to my empty sheath. Also, next to me, I noticed Jack¡¯s sword still in its sheath. ¡°Dad?¡± Tasha suddenly spoke, interrupting my train of thoughts. ¡°Yes¡­?¡± I said, without meeting her gaze. Suddenly, I felt her hug me. ¡°Thanks for saving me.¡± I closed my eyes. Yes, I killed Jack Free. He was a man who murdered innocent people and tried to kill me and my daughter. Killing him¡­was the only way to stop him. However, that rationalization did not ease my mind much at all. I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling again. ¡°Spirit!¡± ¡°Call me Thousand Bolts.¡± ¡°¡­Thousand Bolts¡­if Jack had actually killed the both of us¡­would you have given him your powers?¡± The Spirit did not immediately reply. ¡°Well?!¡± ¡°No¡­I would not have. He was unworthy.¡± That was the best answer I could expect, but I still felt unsatisfied with the matter. ¡°What about between me and Tasha? If Tasha were still conscious, you would have given her the power instead, right?¡± ¡°Both of you were well-deserving of receiving my power. In actuality, I had intended to give my power to the Battle-Hardened girl. Both of you piqued my interest, being such unique individuals, but the girl caught my eye first.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not too late; you can take the power and give it to Tasha now!¡± Tasha suddenly let go of me, and actually looked a bit upset with me. ¡°W-what? He said he wanted to give the power to you first¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what he says! You¡¯re the one who beat Jack!¡± ¡°I only beat him because you helped!¡± ¡°But you¡¯re also the one who saved me!¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°Dad! Do you really think this is something I would like? Being given your reward just because you¡¯re my dad?!¡± ¡°T-that¡¯s not how I meant it¡­¡± ¡°The two of you can cease your argument because it is too late. My power can only be transferred at the end of my host¡¯s lifetime. Your debate about worthiness is also ridiculous. Both of you are exceptional. The fact that you could somehow use the electric water without my power is beyond amazing. I say this with the highest praise as I was not sure what to expect from the first visitors in¡­well...centuries at least.¡± I pressed my palm against my forehead and wiped off some of my sweat. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Tasha.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m not¡­¡± I laughed. ¡°Yeah, I guess you have nothing to apologize for. When you¡¯re right, you¡¯re right.¡± I stood up fully and posed with my hands on my hips. ¡°It may have cost me a sword and a portion of my morals, but I have a shiny new power now.¡± I looked back at Tasha and I saw that she was staring at Jack¡¯s sword. ¡°Maybe not a sword¡­¡± ¡°Tasha¡­you can¡¯t be serious. Jack used that sword to kill all of those villagers.¡± ¡°I know¡­but, he¡¯s gone now.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care how good the sword is; I don¡¯t want to use the sword of a murderer like him.¡± I instantly realized the hypocrisy of my statement. I would have continued to use my old shortsword if I could have retrieved it. ¡°What I mean is¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I get it.¡± Tasha started to stand back up while bracing herself against the wall and I helped her onto her feet. ¡°At the very least¡­maybe we should at least bring it back to the village?¡± Her expression looked more forlorn then tired now, and I imagine my own face quickly matched hers. ¡°I guess. We also need to tell them everything that happened here¡­¡± ¡°Are you leaving now?¡± the Spirit asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, let me tell you this. Once you leave this Altar, I will truly become one with you and reside inside your mind for the duration of our pact.¡± ¡°Inside my mind?¡± ¡°Do not worry. I will not be able to manipulate you or tap into your deepest thoughts. I will only be able to observe everything that you observe. It is to make sure that you make yourself well-known to the world as my vessel.¡± I continued to be amazed at how the disembodied voice could say such things with a straight voice. ¡°Well, don¡¯t count on me suddenly becoming a hero or anything.¡± I stepped outside of the Altar and when I next heard The Spirit¡¯s voice, it was much quieter. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll still live up to my expectations.¡± ¡°Whatever,¡± I said aloud. Tasha looked at me a bit strangely. ¡°I did tell you that I would be in your mind from now on.¡± Oh great. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will recede into the recesses of your consciousness soon enough. You won¡¯t even remember I¡¯m here, aside from the existence of my power.¡± I did not feel like talking to the Spirit any longer, so Tasha and I went back outside of the mountain. Right as we got our bags from the wagon, I saw a group of villagers coming over. I also noticed that they were all carrying weapons. ¡°You!¡± one of the villagers cried out. I was not sure what he was mad about, but I noticed that Remi was there as well and that he was crying. Just as I was about to ask what was going on, the villagers surrounded us and another one spoke up. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You monster! Murderer!¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± I said, confused. ¡°You even killed Jack, didn¡¯t you?!¡± My face lost a bit of its colour. Yeah, I did. This seemed to show quite clearly to the villagers. ¡°How could you?!¡± ¡°I had no choice!¡± I yelled back at them. ¡°You killed him and all of our friends! Why?!¡± Wait, do they actually think I killed everyone else? ¡°I think you are all misunderstanding something!¡± ¡°We most certainly are not! Remi wanted to see what the excavation was like, but when he got here, everyone was dead!¡± I looked at Remi, and saw him wiping away some tears while staring at me, eyes filled with rage. I instantly recalled Bradley¡¯s dying breaths and imagined Remi coming across his father¡¯s body. It was a horrible feeling. ¡°Did you do all of this to us because of Jack Free?!¡± another villager asked. I could not understand the meaning behind that question. ¡°You are a mercenary, right? Did you fight in the War of the Nines? Was it later skirmishes in the Outlands that you fought in?¡± Why are the villagers asking these kinds of questions? I opened my mouth to explain myself, but the villager was not finished speaking. ¡°You have some grudge against the Farseers, don¡¯t you? You just had to get rid of him, and when anyone else got in the way, you killed them! Well, Jack Free was a hero to us! How dare you do this in blind hatred?!¡± Are they serious?! The villagers looked ready to attack and Remi suddenly charged ahead, wielding a knife. Just then, the ground started to shake. The earthquake caused loose boulders from the side of the mountain to fall right on top of us. The villagers quickly got back but Remi was intent on getting his revenge on me. As the boulders came down, I felt a sudden jolt run down through my legs. I easily dodged Remi¡¯s attack, grabbed him, and jumped out of the way of the falling boulders. A bunch of boulders fell down between us and the villagers and Remi tried to stab me with the knife. I let go of him, and I felt a jolt shoot through my arm as I knocked the weapon out of his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Remi screamed at me. Beside me, Tasha wore a difficult expression. It was mixed with sympathy for Remi, shock over the villagers¡¯ reaction, and anger over Jack Free¡¯s deception. Tasha then opened her mouth, probably to explain the situation. I instantly turned around and began to run, grabbing Tasha¡¯s hand as well. She briefly resisted and the villagers started to chase after us. ¡°But, you didn¡¯t do anything wrong!¡± she said to me. ¡°Leave it!¡± The two of us ran away and quickly got away from them. Even with the weight of the bags on our backs, we could run so much quicker. As Tasha very gradually got over the emotions of the previous situation, she seemed to be quite impressed that I was keeping up with her. When we were completely sure we got away from them, we started to walk again. ¡°Dad¡­¡± ¡°Tasha, we can¡¯t go back.¡± ¡°But, they need to know what really happened! They need to know what Jack Free was really like!¡± she said, clearly feeling sorry for the villagers. ¡°Do they really need to know?¡± I asked seriously. ¡°W-what?¡± Tasha began, just a bit taken aback by my attitude. ¡°Of course they need to know! That man tricked them all and killed all those people!¡± ¡°Tasha,¡± I started, still figuring out my words carefully, ¡°if we go back there and tell them that Jack Free, the person who they believe was a hero, killed all of those people, how do you think they would feel?¡± Tasha looked at me with surprise. ¡°Do you think they would be happy?¡± ¡°N-no, but-¡± ¡°But what! They won¡¯t feel any better, but we will?¡± Tasha looked a bit mad now, but I was not finished. ¡°If we tell them the truth, and they believe us, they may thank us. We may feel better about it all, but the villagers will not. They may also never trust another Farseer ever again.¡± ¡°Who cares about that?!¡± Now I was taken by surprise. ¡°Jack Free was an evil man! He does not deserve to be remembered as a hero while the real hero is seen as a murderer!¡± I stopped in my tracks and Tasha did as well. ¡°I don¡¯t want all those people to praise and mourn him while only thinking bad things about you. It¡¯s just wrong!¡± Tasha almost looked ready to cry. I bent down a bit and placed my hands on her shoulders while looking her in the eyes. She turned her head to the side to avoid my gaze. ¡°Tasha, look at me.¡± She slowly complied while saying nothing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I misunderstood what made you so upset.¡± I swallowed to clear my throat. ¡°You are right. Leaving things as they are is wrong. However, Jack Free is dead now. That wrong doesn¡¯t matter anymore. Think about it this way. Being betrayed by a man you admired and trusted for years, or by a man you only knew for a day. Which would hurt you more?¡± From her expression, I knew that Tasha knew what I meant. ¡°But...what about you?¡± ¡°I may never even come across those people ever again. It doesn¡¯t matter how I feel about it. But, remember that I know that this is still wrong. If I ever come across another person who deserves to be punished, then I will make it known.¡± I suddenly laughed, forcefully. ¡°Listen to me, I sound like a hero!¡± Tasha laughed too, not as obviously forceful. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s keep going now.¡± Tasha nodded with determination. I pulled out the map from the luggage, but when I looked for the compass as well, I realized that the compass I bought from Dennis was in my pocket. The same pocket which was just as exposed to the electric pool as the rest of my body. I turned it around, tapped it several times, even banged it against a true, but it was all no use; the compass was broken. So, we are still in a hostile forest and we have no compass. Just another thing to deal with today, but I can make this work. After hours of wandering through the forest, we managed to come across the dirt path again. We followed it and just as the sun started setting, we finally reached Reapers¡¯ Pass. It was a rather low valley at the edge of the forest, but it is not as if its height mattered. The sheer cliffs made the idea of scaling the walls an idealistic dream. With only a few steps into the valley, I knew that the stories about the fog were by no means exaggerated. It was like walking under complete darkness, except all you could see were cloudy walls of grey instead of pitch-black. I instantly reached for Tasha¡¯s hand and pulled her in close. We slowly made our way to one side of the valley and then continued forward as quickly and carefully as we could, mindful to not trip over loose rocks and other debris. As we continued walking through the valley, we gradually increased our pace as we became more adjusted to the fog. Just barely, we could see a bit further into the fog, and the ground was relatively even. However, we remained vigilant about any sudden events or encounters. Staying on edge also helped me ignore what had happened earlier today. I would have time to sort through my emotions and thoughts after reaching a safer location. After what felt like an hour of nearly blind travelling, I paused. I could feel Tasha tense up next to me and knew that she heard something as well. I squinted in vain to see deeper into the fog. I tried to focus my hearing and my heart rate started to climb as I tried to concentrate. There! I heard it again. Not too far ahead of us, but coming from the other side of the valley. When we entered the valley, it was about twenty feet wide, but the fog made it impossible to know just how much it may have narrowed or widened up to this point. ¡°Tasha,¡± I whispered, ¡°I¡¯m going to go over there to find out what that sound is. You wait here.¡± ¡°What?¡± she whispered back, quite loudly. ¡°Shhh. I¡¯m just going to walk over there and when I find out whether it¡¯s friendly or¡­not so friendly, I will shout back to you.¡± ¡°What if you need my help?¡± ¡°In this fog, I would really prefer not to fight.¡± Standing right next to each other, we could make each other out pretty well, although there was a slight haze obscuring the finer details. However, neither she nor I should be under the delusion that any techniques for gauging distance and appropriately timing attacks would work too well. ¡°We would just run, instead.¡± She wore a disagreeing expression, but eventually nodded. ¡°But, please draw your sword before checking it out, anyways,¡± she requested. I looked over at Jack Free¡¯s sword for a few seconds before nodding in return. I silently drew the blade and made my way over to where the sound was coming from. During our exchange, we did not hear the sound a third time, but I heard it again after taking a few small steps towards it. This time, it seemed like a familiar noise. A few more slow steps towards the other side of the valley and I spotted a shadowy blur seated on the ground. I paused and felt a bolt run through my body as my adrenaline started pumping again. I stared at it for a few seconds before taking one careful step towards it. I still couldn¡¯t make out what it was and it didn¡¯t seem to move. I couldn¡¯t slow my heart rate, but I at least had the patience not to rush my approach. Very slowly, I took another step forward. Then another, and another, carefully focusing on both that object and the sound. By the next step, when I heard the sound again, I could tell the sound was coming from further away. With the step after that, I thought I could finally make it what it was. This made my gradually calming heart race again. I couldn¡¯t be completely sure just yet, and as much as I wanted to shout out a warning over to Tasha, I controlled myself. Another step forward and I was certain. The person was lying face-down. He was wearing leather armour, stained from blood from multiple lacerations across his body. Still making sure not to forget about the sound, I stood over the corpse and noticed two more things. One, I could now make out another, larger blur further away. Two, the body seemed familiar. I crouched down by the body, made sure I still had a firm grip on my sword, and made one last check around me before lifting the person¡¯s head off the ground to see their face. This time, I could not stop myself from letting out a surprised shout. ¡°What is it?!¡± Almost instantly, Tasha ran to my position, without faltering a single step. She looked at the body, and although she wore a clearly shocked expression, she focused on scanning the fog around us, spotting the large object as well. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Not sure,¡± I half-lied. We heard a sound coming from over there, but this time, it was more audible. I threw caution to the wind and ran towards it. It was Dennis¡¯ carriage, sans the wagon. The horses, still tied to it, were also lying dead on the ground, multiple arrows sticking out from their throats and flanks. Sitting up between the wheels was the driver. His chest was soaked in blood and his eyes were half-closed. When he had a clear look at us, they suddenly widened. ¡°You!¡± he croaked out with a bit of blood. ¡°This¡­this is your fault!¡± He coughed up more blood. I crouched down next to him to have a closer look at him. His hands were covered in dried blood, probably from trying to stop the bleeding from his chest wound. ¡°You need help,¡± I said, like an idiot. The driver¡¯s face contorted with both pain and anger. ¡°We waited for hours!¡± He coughed again, this time with even more blood. I reached out one hand with no idea on how exactly I was supposed to help. The driver continued to cough as he slumped onto the ground. I looked with horror as I realized the coughing fit caused him to start bleeding out. ¡°Uh, um,¡± I fumbled uselessly as I knelt in closer, still having no idea on how to help. Just a few seconds later, the coughing ceased, as did all other movement. I reached over to his neck and lightly pressed two fingers against it. No pulse. I let out a slow, pained sigh and got back up. I turned around and recoiled in surprise, having briefly forgotten that Tasha was still there. ¡°Dad?¡± ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± I deemed further elaboration unnecessary. I began walking forward again, away from the carriage. Then, just ahead, I saw one more figure in the fog. I casually walked over to it. Now that I was only a couple feet away, I could confirm his identity. It was Dennis. He was lying on his back. There was a long slash going across his chest. His face was shaking as I stood over him. Wait, shaking? My gloom instantly evaporated. ¡°Ah¡­so, it is you, Braith¡­¡± he said, voice riddled with exhaustion. ¡°You¡¯re still alive!¡± I immediately knelt down over him to take a closer look at the slash. It was rather long, but it didn¡¯t seem too deep. I sheathed my sword and prepared to pick him up. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dennis! I¡¯m going to get you help!¡± Dennis closed his eyes. ¡°I guess¡­I should have waited a bit longer¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk, Dennis. Save your strength. Tasha, let¡¯s go!¡± I cradled him in my arms like I did back in Befson and quickly started forward. ¡°We¡­were attacked¡­¡± ¡°I said to shut up, Dennis. Just¡­just don¡¯t talk. We¡¯ll get you help. You¡¯ll get through this.¡± ¡°Did you¡­find what¡­you wanted¡­?¡± ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s not important.¡± I looked over his face again. His eyes were still closed, and his face looked completely drained. The fog was as thick as ever, but I could not waste any more time in Reapers¡¯ Pass. I stamped my foot on the ground and it worked as intended. I felt a jolt run through that leg. ¡°Tasha, we¡¯re running! Follow closely.¡± I stamped down the other foot to force another jolt and then I began sprinting forward. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Braith¡­¡± You¡¯re sorry? ¡°I overreacted.¡± ¡°No, Dennis, you were right to be upset. You have nothing to be sorry about.¡± ¡°I tried waiting¡­before the valley.¡± ¡°Dennis, please, stop talking,¡± I said, partly saying it for my sake as well. His circumstances would only worsen the quagmire of emotions I¡¯d have to sort through. He stopped talking and I just had to hope that was because he finally listened to me. After another few minutes of sprinting, we suddenly burst out of the valley, the fog giving no indication of thinning even until the very end. Above us, the moon was high in the sky and the world around us was cast under a pale blue light. Before us was a vast expanse of grasslands with what looked like forest far in the distance to our left. ¡°Where to now, dad?¡± I paused at Tasha¡¯s question. My incompetence was showing again. I realized how little backing my promises had as I simply gazed ahead of me. ¡°Uh¡­to the Nature Clan,¡± I said, half questioningly. ¡°They can help?¡± Right? I felt Dennis shuffle a bit. He slowly tried reaching into his breast pocket, but the arm suddenly dropped back down. ¡°What is it, Dennis?¡± ¡°My pocket¡­¡± His voice was even weaker now. ¡°Tasha, come over here and take out what¡¯s inside his pocket.¡± She obeyed and pulled out a velvet box. ¡°The Nature¡­go northwest¡­¡± Dennis gasped out before suddenly coughing. Blood dripped from his mouth. ¡°R-right. Got it. Come on, stay with me, we¡¯re going to the Nature Clan.¡± ¡°I¡­was saving it¡­for you,¡± he said in between coughs. It was now that I remembered what was in the box. ¡°Tasha, open the box.¡± She opened it and inside was the ivory compass that the thief tried to steal back in Rettif. ¡°Do me¡­a favour¡­¡± ¡°Yes, of course, anything! What is it?¡± ¡°Go to Deimos¡­tell Zalae¡­a green hat¡± He paused after another round of coughing. There was now a spatter of blood around his mouth. ¡°A green hat?¡± I turned to Tasha. ¡°Where¡¯s northwest, Tasha?¡± She turned the compass around quizzically, but also with a mix of panic. ¡°Uh¡­I don¡¯t know¡­¡± I would hit myself in the head if I were capable of doing so and in a less distraught state. Of course she wouldn¡¯t know how to use a compass. ¡°I¡¯m going to set you down for a moment, okay.¡± I knelt down and gently set Dennis onto the ground. I took the compass from Tasha and quickly determined the northeast direction. I¡¯m sure knowing the exact degrees would be extremely helpful but finding any friendly settlement will more than do. I picked Dennis back up and he opened his eyes. ¡°F-feeling better?¡± I¡¯ve been saying a lot of stupid things recently. He closed his eyes again and his lips barely curled into a smile. ¡°Thank you¡­it was¡­¡± I forced myself to ignore him and sped ahead. Tasha quickly followed after me. Dennis didn¡¯t say anything else during the entire time we ran. I lost track of time as we ran, but we eventually saw a fire and smoke in the distance. I didn¡¯t even take the time to consider whether they would be friendly or not as I rushed towards the campsite. There were several large, animal hide tents set up around a fire, a couple wagons, and some horses. The people wore hide armour and were clearly armed. Regardless of the possible threat, I did not hesitate to run right up to them. Chapter 10 ¡°Help! My friend¡¯s been severely injured!¡± The armed men exchanged bewildered looks with one another. Then they nodded to each other. ¡°Take him over here!¡± one of them said, walking towards, and pointing at, one of the tents. I followed him in and he gestured over to a mat in the centre of the room. ¡°Set him down.¡± I did as he said and another two men came into the tent, one of them carrying a box. They went over to Dennis and they opened up the box, revealing different compartments containing various tools and jars. ¡°You can wait outside,¡± one of them said to me. I left the tent and stood outside. Tasha came over to me and silently held my hand. After a few moments of silence, I finally realized just how much danger I put everyone in. I glanced around at the various armed men, feeling partially relieved that they didn¡¯t turn out to be hostile. I also started to think about everything else that happened today before hitting myself in the head. Tasha looked at me with shock. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked, looking at me with concern. ¡°Yes,¡± I lied. I knew I had to deal with everything sooner or later, but I greatly preferred doing it later. The armed men milled about the campsite, some of them watching us warily. Then, a woman came out of one of the tents. She spotted us in an instant and walked over to us. She had long, black hair, and unlike the men, wore rather fine traveling clothes. They were dyed a dark green. I¡¯m sure there were also a variety of other little details about her clothing, but I noted none of them. I was a lot more focused on her face. Her black hair fell over to her right side, and partially covered up her right eye as well as her cheek. In the dark, the one eye I could see clearly seemed to shine with a piercing, silver light. When she arrived at our location, she gave a beautiful smile. ¡°Hello,¡± she spoke, with a silky voice, ¡°I am Destiny.¡± She offered a hand. I blanked for a second. ¡°Uh¡­hi. My name is Braith.¡± I shook her hand numbly. ¡°My, what a unique name. I do not believe I have ever heard one quite like it before.¡± ¡°Y-yeah. I get that a lot.¡± I then realized that I had still yet to let go of her hand. I quickly released my grip. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t mind it.¡± I blushed. Literally. ¡°And may I ask who she is?¡± I looked to my side, a little bit confused, before seeing a pouting Tasha. ¡°Ah! Uh, right! This is Tasha.¡± I hesitated before continuing. ¡°My daughter.¡± I never paid much attention during previous introductions, but I was strangely keen to see Destiny''s reaction. She just beamed at me with another one of her beautiful smiles. ¡°Oh, is that so? Well, she is an absolutely lovely-looking little girl. You must be so proud.¡± Damn straight, I thought, my other concerns momentarily pushed off to the side. ¡°So, what brings you to our little camp?¡± That question took me a few seconds to process. My face returned to a look of utter depression. Then, before I had a chance to answer, the men from inside the medical tent came out. They came up to me and all but one of them had a stone-faced expression. The last one had a face that made the results obvious. ¡°Most unfortunately, we could not save your friend.¡± I swallowed a bit. Reflecting back on the day, I began regretting my decisions and wondering what I could have done instead to prevent even just one death. But, remembering the last time I started along this sort of downward spiral, I tried to stop myself by just saying anything. ¡°I see. I thought it didn¡¯t look too bad, but¡­¡± well, what do I know, I¡¯m not a doctor. ¡°Well, the wound itself wasn¡¯t too serious. Honestly, if it was only just that, we could have saved him.¡± I looked at the man quizzically. ¡°We took a closer look at the wound and found traces of poison. Not particularly fast-acting, but it numbs the senses and eventually causes death in a couple of hours.¡± ¡°A couple of hours?¡± I asked, thinking back on how long it took to reach this camp. ¡°It was already too late by the time you arrived.¡± I just stared back with my mouth agape. ¡°Sorry,¡± he added unnecessarily. ¡°My most sincere condolences, Braith.¡± Destiny¡¯s voice somehow had the effect of washing away some of my depression. I still didn¡¯t feel good, not at all, but I did feel better for some reason. ¡°Thank you, Destiny. I¡­I just¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± Really, I had no idea what I was trying to say. Some line that perfectly encapsulates my anguish? Some kind of line to indicate I can move on? Some line that subtly, but strongly shows how I think about her and her dazzling beauty? Wait, what? ¡°You look like your entire day has been rough, Braith,¡± Destiny said, cutting into my elongated silence. ¡°Please, rest here for the night. I know the rest of us won¡¯t mind, right?¡± She glanced around the camp and every man who met her gaze strongly nodded. ¡°Of course, you must be feeling awful right now. Please, we have some open space in one of our tents, you must stay here for the night!¡± one of the men insisted. Destiny glanced back at me with a smile and I immediately found myself strongly nodding as well. ¡°You¡¯re right. Thank you.¡± One of the men guided Tasha and I to one of the tents. We removed our luggage and I lay down on a mat, staring blankly at the tent¡¯s ceiling. After a few moments, I felt a sharp nudge in the side. I turned over, and saw Tasha, crouched down on all fours. The tent was dimly lit by a mix of moonlight coming through the opening flap and a lantern sitting at the other end. Despite the shadows, she looked very visibly upset. ¡°W-what? What is it, Tasha?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to call out to you for the last ten times and you just ignored me.¡± Really, that doesn¡¯t sound like me? My expression showed my thoughts and Tasha nudged me again. ¡°Ow! Stop that!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stop when you start acting like yourself again.¡± I sighed at her comment. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Listen, Tasha, I know you want me to get back to being myself, and believe me, so do I. I- I just need time. A lot has happened today.¡± Tasha could still be immature at times, well, a lot of the time, but I was hoping that she could understand the terrible day we¡¯ve both had. I guess Tasha is just made of stronger stuff than me because her face showed no sign of relenting. ¡°Dad, you don¡¯t get it! You don¡¯t even realize you aren¡¯t acting like yourself!¡± She got up and took a few steps away. ¡°Do you even understand what I¡¯m saying here?¡± For some reason, that struck a nerve with me. I stood up too and advanced a couple steps over to her. ¡°Tasha, I perfectly understand what you are saying. You are saying I am not acting like myself and that¡¯s true.¡± I felt the volume of my voice quickly rising. ¡°Heck, I don¡¯t know if I can ever be exactly like myself again. Just today alone, I¡¯ve walked over several corpses and listened to the dying words of three men, one of them asking for revenge, another cursing me, and the other thanking me before dying in my arms. I also killed a man, and received the powers of some guardian spirit as a reward for that! Does that sound like a normal rate of progression to you?!¡± It would have been no surprise to me if everyone in the camp heard that last line. For just a second, Tasha looked hurt. I was a bit harsh, but maybe I finally got through to her? Then, she instantly wore an even angrier expression than earlier. I actually stumbled a bit as she walked right past me to exit the tent. ¡°T-Tasha? W-where are you going? Come back here!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going for a walk, dad. I need some air,¡± she said coldly, without turning back. I wanted to chase after, but I suddenly had no idea what to say anymore. I also didn¡¯t much feel like tolerating the gazes of the people outside. I slowly slumped back down onto the map and hit myself in the head. It¡¯s not Tasha¡¯s fault. Well, not entirely. I mean, no, no, it¡¯s not her fault. I hit myself in the head again just as Destiny stepped inside. I gazed at her blankly before putting on an awkward smile. ¡°Oh, hey. Um, what brings you here?¡± I asked, clearly knowing why. ¡°Well, after hearing all of that from outside, I was wondering how you were feeling now.¡± She came in closer and wore a concerned look that seemed to go straight to my heart. ¡°Oh, yeah, it¡¯s just¡­I¡¯ve been acting like an idiot. I feel that, only just now have I realized that the things I¡¯ve set out to do are way bigger than I could imagine.¡± ¡°What kind of things are those?¡± Normally, I would never tell anyone about Tasha¡¯s situation. Actually, wait, I thought, why would I change my mind now? ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t really say,¡± I said, for some reason hating myself a bit for keeping the secret. ¡°Oh, no, I¡¯m the one who should apologize,¡± she said, waving her hands in the air, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to pry.¡± Her reaction almost made me change my mind. ¡°Anyways, it is still quite plain to see you¡¯ve had somewhat of an argument with your daughter. I hope it is nothing too serious.¡± ¡°She¡¯s just worried. Too worried. She needs to understand that some things just take time.¡± ¡°Well, patience is quite the rare virtue for children.¡± I smiled a bit. ¡°Yeah, you can say that again.¡± ¡°Oh, looks like you¡¯re already starting to cheer up. It can¡¯t have been that serious, then?¡± I stood back up and puffed out my chest. ¡°Yeah, it was just a misunderstanding. I better go and talk to her again right away.¡± I walked over to the exit just as Destiny called back to me. ¡°Oh, wait just a little bit.¡± I turned back around. Destiny came up right next to me and casually grabbed one of my hands with both of hers. ¡°Girls are really quite fickle, you know. Of course, they always want to think they¡¯re right, but if you go along with them too quickly after disagreeing with them so strongly, they¡¯re not going to think it¡¯s genuine. I suggest letting her cool down a bit longer. That way, when you finally talk with her again, she¡¯ll believe that you spent long and hard thinking about it.¡± At that moment, if someone were to tell me if Destiny wasn¡¯t the smartest woman in the world, I¡¯d call them a dirty liar. ¡°Of course! Right, I was just about to make another mistake, wasn¡¯t I?¡± I asked rhetorically with a laugh. ¡°Right, right, I should just wait here for her to come back when she is good and ready.¡± Destiny squeezed my hand just a bit tighter and leaned in closer. ¡°Well, not quite.¡± She was close enough for me to feel her breath on my neck. I instinctively swallowed and felt a few beads of sweat break out on my forehead. ¡°If you¡¯re still here when she comes back, she might also think that you didn¡¯t spend any time thinking about how you were wrong at all.¡± She looked at me very knowingly. ¡°Uh¡­yeah,¡± I stammered out, ¡°Girls sure are complicated¡­¡± She smiled at me and sentences just stopped trying to form in my head. I put on a goofy smile and just nodded repeatedly. ¡°Right, so, let¡¯s leave this tent for a bit, you know, so that she¡¯ll think you went looking for her or that you got some air to think on things as well.¡± ¡°Sounds good,¡± I said, still nodding. She led me out of the tent and before I knew it, we were suddenly seated on a mat. In the distance, we could faintly see the light from the camp¡¯s fire. I tried looking around a bit more but Destiny called out to me. ¡°Look up,¡± she said. I obeyed and found myself gazing up at the starry night sky. ¡°Beautiful, don¡¯t you think?¡± Well, not that most beautiful thing I¡¯ve seen today. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s nice. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve actually really looked up at the stars like this.¡± I heard Destiny shuffle a bit and when I looked over, I saw her lying down on the mat. ¡°It¡¯s better if you lie down as well,¡± she said, patting down right next to me. I did as she suggested, and although the sky didn¡¯t look any different, it did have a very different feel. This was mostly due to my fixation on the fact that Destiny was lying down right next to me. ¡°So, do you come out to watch the stars often?¡± I asked, still looking straight up at the sky. ¡°Oh, all the time. One of the best parts about traveling.¡± ¡°Is that so? I guess I¡¯ve been missing out on a true traveling experience.¡± I let out a bit of a depressed sigh as I thought back on traveling with Dennis. ¡°Hey, come on now, you¡¯ll move on,¡± she said encouragingly, as if reading my mind. ¡°You think so?¡± I asked, turning my head to face her, and almost regretting that decision. Her face was a lot closer to me than I expected and I almost gasped in surprise. ¡°Of course.¡± She smiled at my apparent embarrassment. ¡°So, what do you plan to do next? Where are you planning to go?¡± ¡°Well, we were headed for the Nature Clan, but¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have any reason to go there anymore, right?¡± she guessed correctly. ¡°I¡¯m also supposing there wasn¡¯t really a back-up plan?¡± My silence was my expression of agreement. She just beamed even more and gave a short laugh. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be so down. Life is filled with all sorts of unexpected twists. You just need to look for new opportunities and make the best of them.¡± ¡°New opportunities? Like what?¡± ¡°Well,¡± she pursed her lips together as if unsure of whether or not to go on. ¡°Please.¡± She looked as if she were thinking about it a bit more before continuing. ¡°You could travel with us,¡± she suggested with an expression that seemed to convey her uncertainty. ¡°Oh, well, I don¡¯t know about¡­¡± ¡°Oh, no, I¡¯m really sorry. That was probably a really stupid suggestion.¡± Destiny¡¯s embarrassed look made it even harder to try and think straight. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s just that¡­well¡­¡± ¡°Well?¡± Well what? What was the problem? My traveling companion is gone now, and today was the biggest wake-up call imaginable for why one shouldn¡¯t travel alone. Heck, they even have someone with medical knowledge. And most importantly of all, there was Destiny. Only an idiot would just go off on their own after receiving such an offer. ¡°You know what, there is nothing else. That sounds like a great idea, Destiny.¡± I still felt uneasy saying this. Why was that? ¡°Oh, but would the rest be okay with that?¡± Ah, that must be it. ¡°Oh, of course they would. We are just a group of friendly adventurers who help out when it¡¯s needed. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure they would love to have you on board.¡± Destiny¡¯s assurances, although having a soothing effect on my soul, did little to ease my uncertainty. There was still something else. Destiny suddenly held one of my hands in hers. ¡°I look forward to traveling with you.¡± My resistance had nearly broken down before I suddenly remembered. ¡°No, I can¡¯t!¡± My refusal shocked her. I freed my hand and sat straight up. ¡°I have somewhere I need to go. No matter what.¡± How could I have forgotten my promise with Tasha? ¡°W-wait!¡± Destiny cried out, also getting up. ¡°Where do you need to go? We can go together.¡± Maybe, but that would probably require me to reveal Tasha¡¯s secret. This was something I could not compromise on. ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry Destiny, but that won¡¯t do.¡± I stood up and gazed around, trying to see if I could spot Tasha in the dark, but it was futile. I shook my head and started walking back to the camp. As I neared the edge of the campsite, Destiny ran up to me and grabbed my arm. ¡°Come on, Braith, where are you going? I¡¯m sure we can work it out together.¡± I turned around to face her and she gave me one of her beautiful smiles. It was still quite lovely, but something seemed different. I stared back at her quietly as she continued to smile at me, and that¡¯s when I noticed the silver glint in her eye had faded. Well, that¡¯s the only difference I could think of, but that probably just had to do with the moonlight or something. I brushed that thought aside and gently put one hand on one of her arms. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but no.¡± I started pulling away again. Instead of letting go of me, though, she pulled in even closer. Our faces were now right next to each other. ¡°Braith, stay, please,¡± she said, with a rather strange intonation. I just looked back at her with confusion. Then, she suddenly kissed me. Chapter 11 It was the first time I had kissed anyone in this world. Yes, I am an adult and I have lived here for more than eight years, so what? I had other things to do. You know, like chopping wood, eating, sword training, playing with Tasha. Equally, if not more important things that one does aside from romance. Well, anyways, it was a rather long kiss that left me breathless when it was done, but only because I didn¡¯t breathe in the middle of it. That was mostly it, though. Her lips were soft and I could still feel the sensation and warmth for a moment, but there was no stirring of the heart and loss of the senses like my earlier meetings and exchanges with her. She smiled at me expectantly as she let go of my arm. ¡°Sorry,¡± I apologized one last time as I turned my back on her. Before taking two more steps into the camp, Destiny screamed. ¡°Help!¡± I turned back around and she suddenly took a step towards me and tripped over. I looked at her, dumbfounded, as she continued to scream. ¡°Somebody, help!¡± Still confused, I reached over to her but she turned away from me as she crawled along the ground. The armed men quickly rushed over to the scene of the commotion. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?!¡± one them shouted out, as more continued filing in. I was about to speak but Destiny cut in first. ¡°B-Braith,¡± she stammered out, pointing at me shakily, and looking disheveled, ¡°I was just trying to cheer him up when he suddenly forced me down!¡± Her one clearly visible eye looked watery as she finished. Before I had a chance to refute her, one of the men suddenly attacked me. I evaded it, but stumbled and fell onto the ground. More of them started to surround me and began drawing their weapons as well. ¡°You bastard! We offer a helping hand and this is how you act?!¡± ¡°W-wait, listen to me!¡± I tried to get back up off the ground but one of them kicked me in the side and I fell back down. Then, another one stomped on my back, forcing me against the ground. ¡°She¡¯s lying!¡± I shouted out as I tried to lift myself back up. Destiny began to sob very audibly and I knew my words fell on deaf ears. I grinded my teeth and focused. I felt a jolt shoot through my body, and I suddenly leapt off the ground with explosive power, lifting the man who was stepping on me a few feet into the air. I quickly bolted through an opening in the crowd of armed men and then turned around to face them. I reached for my weapon, only to realize it was still back in the tent. ¡°Get him!¡± Half of the men rushed in as the rest continued to gather around or stayed behind to comfort or defend the tearful Destiny. I ran towards the tent and two men who were yet to gather by Destiny suddenly appeared from behind it and came to intercept me. One charged at me with a spear and the other stayed a bit back, preparing to swing with an axe. I crouched low and kicked off with a jolt, evading the charging spearman. As I was about to pass by in front of the axeman, I suddenly sprang upwards and bashed myself into his chest, knocking the wind out of him as he flew off his feet. I quickly ran into the tent as his unconscious body was still falling onto the ground. I quickly retrieved the sword by my luggage and turned back around just as the first of more armed men came into the tent after me. The tent was less than three hundred square feet and these somewhat tight quarters definitely felt like a disadvantage on my side. ¡°Listen, nothing happened between me and Destiny,¡± I tried to reason. The man swung his sword at me, but with my new legs, I easily dodged the attack and knocked him out from behind with the pommel of my sword. Another two men came into the tent. ¡°Okay, something did happen, but it¡¯s not what Destiny said,¡± I said, retracting my previous statement. The two attacked me with their swords, one after the other. I parried each of them and they were directed to either side of me by my defense. I spun on my heels and hit one of them on the side of the head with the flat side of my sword before they could turn. The other one rushed at me. Normally, simply jumping back in that position wouldn¡¯t be fast enough, but that would have been for the old me. My backwards jump got me just enough room to evade the attack and as he stopped short and began to follow with another attack, I swung the flat of my sword into the side of his head. I turned back to the entrance of the tent and watched as three more men cautiously entered. ¡°You¡¯re definitely no ordinary traveler,¡± the one in the middle said, as he looked down at his fallen allies. It looked like they were silently planning something, but as they continued to look at the three men already lying on the ground, it was clear that they were all hesitant to initiate. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. However, I don¡¯t want any more trouble with you guys, so just let me leave and I won¡¯t have to take things even further. Okay?¡± I hoped a bit of intimidation could prove more successful. From outside the entrance, I saw more of the men shuffling around to see what the hold-up was. ¡°You think we can let you go after what you did to Destiny?!¡± the one in the middle barked out. ¡°And what is it that I did exactly? I¡¯ve already told you that I haven¡¯t done anything to her. She just suddenly started screaming.¡± ¡°Heh, likely story!¡± With no other witnesses, this was just a case of he said, she said, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever won one of those before. First time for everything? ¡°Well, if you¡¯re so sure, then tell me, what did I do? Did you even hear any specifics?¡± ¡°That¡¯s obvious! You assaulted her!¡± The other men shouted out in agreement. However, they were still yet to advance on me. ¡°How? I mean, in what way? Also, do you think that really makes sense? I came into this camp full of armed men with my daughter asking you to save my friend. Why on earth would I then choose to assault one of you that very same night? Does everything I¡¯ve done up until now just seem like some clever ploy? What benefit or reason is there behind such actions?!¡± Finally, some of the men started to wear confused expressions. The one in the middle of the three in the tent, though, was unconvinced. ¡°If you¡¯re the one telling the truth, though, that means Destiny was lying! Why would she do that?!¡± The confused expressions quickly reverted to looks of anger and revenge. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe it¡¯s because I didn¡¯t want to play along with her plans?¡± I said, basically giving up on my argument. It looks like we¡¯re going to have to do this the hard way, after all. I readied myself as I expected the men to charge at me any moment, but then I heard a commotion coming from outside. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°W-what the heck?!¡± ¡°Arghhhh!¡± ¡°Someone get her!¡± ¡°Ooof!¡± Various cries and shouts could be heard outside and as the commotion continued, two of the men inside the tent eventually turned around to see what was going on. I took that opportunity to immediately dash forward, spearing the handle of my blade into the middle man¡¯s chest. He was launched out of the tent, and before the others could react, I struck the one on my right with a blow to the sternum. The armour reduced the impact of the blow, but I thought I still heard a crack. I¡¯d feel a bit worse about not being able to hold back if the man behind me didn¡¯t slash at my neck. I could have dodged, but my peripheral vision told me that was unnecessary. Before the blade could come within even a foot of me, the man suddenly crumpled to the ground after being struck hard in the ribs by Tasha. I gazed out at the scene of more than a dozen men lying on the ground. Destiny and an escort of about another twenty armed men then came walking in from the side of the camp. That¡¯s a pretty large consolation group, I thought. Destiny¡¯s expression of slow recovery from grief suddenly turned to shock, as did the rest of them. ¡°Yo,¡± I said, suddenly feeling very invigorated by my overwhelming position. Destiny clearly struggled with trying to piece together her words while the others scanned around the campsite with stunned silence. I felt Tasha nudge my side, gently this time, though. ¡°Have you finally snapped out of it?¡± she asked. I thought for a second and then laughed. Her insight surprised me once more. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry about it. I wish you were a bit clearer though.¡± She nudged me again, harder this time. ¡°Right, right, I¡¯m sorry. I should have known better.¡± I took a few steps towards Destiny and the remaining men. ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of trick you were trying to pull on me earlier, but it¡¯s not going to work.¡± I looked over the fallen men and then at the standing ones. ¡°I assure you, I¡¯m not just going to be another one of these men.¡± Destiny tried smiling at me again, but to me it looked like it was filled with repressed rage. ¡°Oh, Braith. What could you be going on about? There¡¯s been no trick here. Ah, but I suppose I could have misinterpreted your very forward advances for assault. Really sorry about that.¡± ¡°My forward advances? No, I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re the one who kissed me.¡± ¡°Kiss?¡± Tasha blurted out, confused. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Well, I believe that¡¯s your misinterpretation this time. You were the one who kissed me, although I¡¯m sure you thought I was hinting for you to do so. Mistakes on both our parts.¡± Destiny continued to fabricate this new story, ignoring Tasha¡¯s comments. Her escort looked at her questioningly, unsure of what to do now. Perhaps, it might work now? ¡°All of you, take a moment to hear me out,¡± I said, gesturing towards the men, a bit more threateningly than intended as I was using the shortsword. ¡°Destiny has been saying nothing but lies about me, and I think I finally get it. She was trying to convince me to stay with you all and I was just about to agree.¡± I looked over at Tasha, who looked back in surprise at what I had just said. ¡°But then I remembered an important promise that I had made. And nothing would ever make me break that promise. So, I refused.¡± Destiny prepared to cut in, but I raised my voice and continued. ¡°She continued to plead with me to make me stay and when that failed, she kissed me. Now, that part just seemed a little too out of place. And if it weren¡¯t for what happened today, I wouldn¡¯t have even considered the possibility. Destiny! You have some kind of power don¡¯t you? Perhaps, from a guardian spirit?¡± Destiny¡¯s eyes went wide. The rest of the men continued looking between Destiny and I with confusion. Destiny smiled, but it wasn¡¯t like all the previous ones. This was the smile one would have while delighting in doing something they shouldn¡¯t be smiling about. She gave a short laugh. Then another one. Then, she brought out almost hysterical laughter. She looked to be in manic ecstasy, wildly grasping around her chest and face, and body arched back. The confusion on the faces of her escort gradually turned to unease. I nervously looked over to Tasha, who wore the expression one expects to see from someone staring at a madman. Destiny¡¯s laughter came to an abrupt end and she gave another one of her new sinister smiles. ¡°I guess I should have known that was the reason. You seemed to be falling so hard for me like all the rest in the beginning that I thought you just had a tougher mind. I guess that guardian spirit inside of you was what kept you from my control. You do have one as well, don¡¯t you?¡± I found myself nodding. ¡°Heh, I guess I have been getting a bit too greedy with gathering every man with a weapon I can make mine.¡± ¡°D-Destiny, what are you talking about?¡± the man standing closest to her asked. She pressed a finger to his lips. ¡°Shhhh, this is no place for puppets like you to talk.¡± She glanced back at me. ¡°Tell me, Braith, now that we¡¯ve gotten to know each other better, are you sure there isn¡¯t some way we can still work this out?¡± Her eyes shifted over to Tasha as she put on a mischievous expression. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it?!¡± I snapped at her, assuming the worst. She put on a fake, disappointed look. ¡°Oh, what a shame. And even after you received an advance payment from me. Well, don¡¯t blame me if these men here take revenge on you out of jealousy.¡± She took a few steps back. ¡°All of you, be a dear and do something really awful to that little girl of his.¡± It looked like they were about to protest, but she suddenly put on a very stern expression. ¡°Now.¡± As if hypnotized, their eyes clouded over and they slowly started advancing. As they got closer, a few of them even snarled. As their advance continued, Destiny came forward a bit again. ¡°Last chance, Braith, I¡¯d just hate it if I really had to do something bad to that lovely-looking little girl of yours.¡± She was clearly reveling in her own belief of victory, but that started to fade a bit when I smiled back at her. ¡°If there¡¯s one little lady here who should be worried, it¡¯s you. Tasha, just don¡¯t kill them.¡± She sprang forward and I followed suit. The entranced men attacked like savage beasts, and although their attacks were more powerful than those earlier, we only needed to be a bit more careful. We ran to either end of the wave of charging men and quickly knocked out one each before they even got to attack. We then evaded or parried the attacks as they came in, sidestepped or backed out of the way before getting surrounded, and knocked one down whenever the chance presented itself. We repeated this cycle in quick succession and I imagined that Destiny¡¯s face was probably just about to shift into a look of fear. It only took a minute to take down all the men, and now all we had to do was capture Destiny. Unfortunately, I was too focused on the battle and when I turned to look for her, she was at the edge of the camp and was already on one of the horses. I tried to run after her, but she kicked at the horse and it began galloping away. I was about to speed up, but my leg cramped up. ¡°I swear I¡¯ll get you for this!¡± she cried out as she rode off into the distance. Wow, what a clich¨¦ line. I clutched at my cramped leg and watched her a second longer before turning back to the camp and all the men on the ground. ¡°Are you okay, dad?¡± ¡°Yeah, just a cramp. Nothing serious.¡± Her concerned look did not immediately go away. I made a show of brandishing my arms and turning my hips. ¡°Come on, look, no cuts or anything. I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°And, uh¡­your head, too?¡± ¡°Relax, Tasha, I¡¯m over that, too. Destiny is a vile, manipulative woman. See? Would I say something like that otherwise?¡± Tasha smiled. ¡°Although, there is still the issue with all of these guys.¡± Tasha¡¯s smile dropped away. ¡°Should we just leave? In case they fight us again?¡± I pondered that for a moment. ¡°Well, let¡¯s try waking one of them up first. Maybe they¡¯ve snapped out of it, too?¡± Tasha paused for a second before giving a quick nod. We went looking for a random man to wake up when we heard one of them groaning as he roused to consciousness. It took him a moment to remember how he got knocked out to begin with and although he was quite flustered, he calmed down soon enough. I asked him if he remembered anything about Destiny and we learned that he had joined up with Destiny¡¯s camp a month ago. He went along with a group of other men as part of a hunting party for their village and they came across her group. That same day, they gave up on their objective and ended up joining them. The man also remembered that some of the other men in the hunting party also had families to care for. We asked some more men, and we received similar stories. The men encountered Destiny and ended up joining up with her, several more of them had also left behind a wife and children. Upon realizing the horrible reality, most of the men were extremely grateful towards us. Some, however, did not have such reactions. They were insistent that Destiny¡¯s actions today were far from her true self. They adamantly claimed that she was a saint and a saviour and what she did today only meant that she was either possessed or was actually an impostor. One also thought that everything still going on was just a dream and he repeatedly banged his head against the ground to wake himself before a couple other men restrained him. Perhaps being under her control for so long resulted in too great of a backlash. Regardless, knowledge of how Destiny first began recruiting men or why would remain unknown. This was the last thought on my mind before suddenly passing out. Chapter 12 I opened my eyes and found myself looking at a vast expanse of nothingness. Well, white nothingness. Below me was a white floor and it looked like I was in a giant white room. At first, I was greatly confused, but that quickly turned into panic when I remembered what I was doing. Was this some kind of trap? Did I let my guard down? Where am I? ¡°Calm yourself, Braith, you are in no immediate danger,¡± the disembodied voice of the Spirit of the Thousand Bolts spoke. ¡°You have merely passed out. You should be mostly recovered when you awake.¡± ¡°No immediate danger?¡± I asked, with a hint of anger, part of me unjustly blaming him for almost falling under Destiny¡¯s powers. ¡°Yes,¡± the Spirit answered simply. ¡°Well, care to explain why I¡¯m here if nothing is wrong?¡± I asked impatiently. ¡°I did not say nothing was wrong, just that you were in no immediate danger.¡± ¡°Enough of the nuances, just get on it. Why did I pass out and why am I here?¡± ¡°Your body is not used to my powers yet; you have simply passed out from exhaustion. Eventually, this will become much less of an issue. As for why you are here, it is because I have a few things I must discuss with you.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t have talked about it earlier? Maybe back in the altar?¡± ¡°I felt these matters needed a bit of time. Also, you seemed to be in a bit of a hurry.¡± ¡°Whatever. Okay, go on.¡± I tried to say this nonchalantly, but this discussion made me anxious. I felt like I really needed to have a serious and important talk for some reason. At the same time, though, I didn¡¯t want any more priorities on my plate. ¡°First off, congratulations. You kept yourself safe from that woman¡¯s influences.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, it¡¯s not like I could have resisted if I didn¡¯t have your powers, anyways, right?¡± ¡°My influence on your subconscious was minimal compared to your own willpower. Thanks to that, I could ascertain that you certainly have the drive and motivation to accomplish great things.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± I don¡¯t think I like where this is going. ¡°Now, as to what those great things will be¡­¡± Oh, here it comes. ¡°That will be up to you.¡± What? I had my mouth somewhat agape in surprise. Then, feeling like an idiot and realizing that I had nobody to even look at, I closed my mouth. ¡°Up to me? You¡¯re not expecting me to become some great hero or something?¡± ¡°I chose you as the vessel for my powers because I liked your character, not because I wanted you to live out my aspirations. I am not here to control you or force you to do something.¡± ¡°Well, how generous of you.¡± I was still feeling pretty doubtful about something that happened to reside in my mind. ¡°I am serious, Braith. I will not manipulate your actions. In fact, this exchange we are having right now will likely be one of our last. My thoughts will fade away completely from you soon enough.¡± ¡°If you are so insistent on not being so intrusive, then why bother having a talk with me at all?¡± As virtuous as the Thousand Bolts was trying to seem, it seemed obvious that there was some ulterior motive. ¡°As I said, I gave you my powers because I liked your character. I hoped that this little talk could reassure me that I was not wrong about my initial impression.¡± I gave a short laugh, feeling a bit stupid as there was still nothing around me. ¡°A bit too late for that, don¡¯t you think? You said earlier that you couldn¡¯t change to someone else until I died. If I went on a murdering spree tomorrow, then there¡¯ll be nothing you can do about it.¡± I felt somewhat sick immediately after using that example. ¡°True, but I was hoping you could at least do me the favour of having this talk.¡± I sighed. The current back and forth wasn¡¯t going anywhere, anyways. He had something up his sleeve, but I still owed him. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll stop complaining for a moment. Go on.¡± ¡°Thank you. Now, Braith, I want to hear it from you clearly; what is your most important goal?¡± ¡°Finding Tasha¡¯s parents.¡± I answered without hesitation. ¡°To what lengths would you go to accomplish this?¡± ¡°Whatever it takes.¡± ¡°Even if it requires you to kill again?¡± I instantly felt like calling him a bastard. He had to know all these emotions I was going through after this day of seeing all this death. He says he won¡¯t influence me, but someone living inside my head should know better than anyone else how hard I was trying to not dwell on that. ¡°If¡­someone would try to kill me or Tasha, I would kill them first. Simple as that. Nothing to regret,¡± I answered more to myself than to him. ¡°No regrets?¡± ¡°Yeah, no regrets! What, got a problem with that?¡± I found myself suddenly pacing forward, as if trying to corner the Spirit. ¡°I¡¯m going to use your powers for these selfish kinds of reasons. If someone ends up suffering because of that¡­¡± I pushed Dennis out of my head, ¡°then that¡¯s that.¡± ¡°If that is what you believe in, then I have no complaints.¡± ¡°Oh, so my answer was good enough for the great and powerful Thousand Bolts?¡± I knew I was acting childish, but I couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Any answer would have been fine, Braith, as long as you had one.¡± The white nothingness suddenly started to darken. ¡°Just don¡¯t forget the answer you have given today.¡± ¡°Oh, so you are going to hold me to that now?!¡± I yelled out, as everything around me turned black. ¡°No, just don¡¯t forget.¡± The floor beneath me fell away and I found myself falling into the shadowy void. ***** The next morning, the camp packed up and prepared to head east as that¡¯s where most of them came from. The men who could not accept Destiny¡¯s reality either broke down but let themselves be restrained, or ran off earlier in the middle of the night. The men offered to escort us, and even properly compensate us once they returned to their villages. However, we could not make such a detour, especially after receiving an additional piece of information from them. About two hours before we arrived, a group of people claiming to be merchants came in with a wagon trying to sell some goods. Their descriptions were rather vague but I was certain this was the group that killed and robbed Dennis. This was because one of them was described as wearing a green hat. They left the camp rather quickly, perhaps sensing something was off, and headed in the direction of the Nature Clan. The men held a short funeral service for Dennis in the morning as well. Surprisingly, I did not feel sad as we buried his body and prepared the rites. Instead, I only felt the intense drive and motivation to seek those responsible. My promise with Tasha was the main priority, but this was not something I would ever forget. Afterwards, the men gave me some traveling gear and supplies before leaving. Something noteworthy among those items was a moonstone lantern. It looked like an unhooded lantern, but in the clear glass container was a translucent blue stone. They said that it would radiate blue light under the moon¡¯s glow. We parted ways and we continued on our journey to the Nature Clan. It was not exactly in the direction of the Dridam Plains, but it was important to travel through as many towns and villages as we could for shelter and supplies. That, and for gathering information. Well, that would be the plan, but the map I had wasn¡¯t the most detailed, seeing as how it was a map of all of Midgard. It noted major landmarks, the territories for the Clans, and what I assumed were other major cities. I also noted that Deimos was marked on the map. I know Dennis wanted me to pass on his words to Zalae in order to track down his killer, but I had to postpone fulfilling his request. Even though he didn¡¯t ask for it from me, I wanted to personally take my revenge, and the detour, as well as the time in finding this man I never heard of before, would only allow them to get further away. After leaving Reapers¡¯ Pass, I planned our next stop to be the closest place marked on the map, which was called Bronze Territory. Bronze Territory was just southwest of a large mountain range called the Western Iron Wall. There was also an Eastern Iron Wall, and between the two was the kingdom of Brennan. To the Bronze Territory¡¯s western border was the Nature Clan¡¯s territory, which accounted for all of the forests on the western coast of Midgard. We travelled for a few days uneventfully. It was nice not being suddenly attacked, and the flat ground made it easy to spot anyone approaching from a distance, which helped me be a little more at ease. However, seeing nobody else the whole time did start to seem a bit suspicious. I didn¡¯t tell Tasha about what I was thinking about during this time, but I assumed she had some idea. We talked with each other, but not about anything important, both of us skirting around what occurred recently. It was fine this way, though. We just need to move on. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. In the middle of our fifth day of traveling, we saw something large and made of stone in the distance. As we neared it, I recognized it as being the ruins of some kind of fort. There were the dilapidated remains of towers, one of which had actually collapsed, and much of the walls had been knocked down. There were many piles of rubble scattered on either side of the broken walls. As we neared a particularly large gaping hole in one of the walls, I saw a large plank of rotten wood poking out from stacks of stone debris. Perhaps this was where the main gate used to be? I was very curious about this destroyed fort, and wanted to investigate it further, but I stopped myself just before stepping through the broken wall. ¡°Why did you stop? Is something wrong?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°I was thinking about why there was a destroyed fort here.¡± ¡°Fort? That¡¯s what this is?¡± I furrowed my eyebrows at her question. It then quickly dawned on me that I never did explain forts to her before. I explained to her what war was, or at least, the aspects of the war I heard from Lars, but it did not cover things such as tactics, fortifications and other such specific things that had occurred. Just general war stuff. Like death on the battlefield. Not the best things to teach a young child, but¡­no, I guess I can¡¯t really think of a good excuse. ¡°Yes, a fort. They were built to, uh, help defend against attacks.¡± Tasha nodded. ¡°The walls make it difficult for enemies to get in, and those towers provide vision for sentries and archers.¡± I took a closer peek inside the fort, still not stepping through. ¡°And they usually have some sort of residence or keep past the walls for living in, but that¡¯s usually only important if the enemies breach the walls. Well, strategically speaking.¡± Tasha just kept nodding, but I wasn¡¯t sure if she took all of that in. I took another peek inside of the fort and made out the leveled remains of the residence. The destruction seemed far too thorough to have occurred from the normal course of battles. Whoever won the battle must have really hated their enemies. With trepidation, I finally decided to enter the fort and Tasha followed close behind. With the exception of a few towers and parts of the base of the walls, everything had been demolished. I did not expect to find anything noteworthy so I decided to just check out the towers before moving on. As we made our way over there, I heard the sound of shifting stone, and a piece of rubble suddenly sprang towards me. I dodged it just in time and I drew my weapon to deflect a second piece that came at me from another direction. The clanging sound of stone on metal was a good mimic for how my arm felt after taking that hit. I clenched my teeth and felt a bolt shoot through my body. I trained my eyes and ears and noticed several of the rubble piles shifting simultaneously. Five stone bricks came shooting out from different directions and I dodged out of the way of three of them and deflected a fourth with my sword. Tasha took down the fifth. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Tasha asked, as she positioned herself to be back to back with me. Stone bricks continued to throw themselves at us. ¡°Not sure. Maybe this fort¡¯s haunted?¡± I said, not really meaning it. ¡°An angry ghost? You think maybe we can just talk to it?¡± I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if she was being sarcastic. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s give it a shot.¡± I took a second to clear my throat. ¡°Hey, if that¡¯s a ghost attacking us, please stop!¡± I yelled out as I continued to dodge and block the flying stones. Instead of stopping, even more stones started launching themselves at us. ¡°Maybe the ghost thinks you weren¡¯t asking nicely?¡± Okay, pretty sure that was sarcasm. From the corner of my eye, as I was dodging, I noticed that Tasha looked to be making an effort of knocking down as many stones as possible instead of dodging. I smirked a bit at how she was making a game out of this attack. In all honesty though, this wasn¡¯t that hard to handle with the two of us. Just as I was thinking that, the stones suddenly stopped coming. It was calm for just a moment before I felt the ground start to shake. The earth between the two of us suddenly split and a wave of dirt and stone suddenly erupted outwards. We jumped back to either side and an entire mound of stone bricks suddenly came flying towards me. I just barely dashed out of its pash as the stones smashed into the geyser of earth that came out of the ground. I looked back and saw that Tasha wasn¡¯t attacked by such a barrage. Well, it would be a bit scary if whatever was attacking had that sort of power and control. ¡°Tasha, we need to get out of here, start heading back to where we came from!¡± Without knowing what exactly we were fighting against, this simply wasn¡¯t worth the risk. ¡°What? You¡¯re just going to let this ghost push us around?!¡± She said with a mix of outrage and glee as stones started launching themselves at her again. ¡°This isn¡¯t some game, Tasha!¡± The ground beneath me shook again and I preemptively jumped to the side. The ground shattered, but no wave of earth erupted outwards this time. Instead, another massive barrage of stones suddenly came flying towards me from the direction I jumped towards. It was too close and sudden to completely dodge so I brought myself low to the ground and just focused on shielding my face. A few stones smacked against my chest but the leather armour did a reasonable job of dulling the impact. After the stones shot past me, I quickly got up and made my way towards Tasha. The ground shook again, but this time, it felt like the ground all around us was shaking. I scanned all around, trying to figure out where the ground was going to break this time. Tasha did the same, with an expectant look on her face. Suddenly, the ground stopped shaking. I then expected another sudden barrage of stones but that didn¡¯t come either. Tasha continued to scan her surroundings, but after a while, I saw her put on a disappointed look. ¡°Really, that¡¯s it?¡± I cautiously went up to Tasha, and the fort remained silent. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a bit of a letdown,¡± Tasha said to me as she casually put her arms behind her back, sword still in hand. I smacked her lightly on her head. ¡°Hey! What was that for?!¡± ¡°Tasha, I told you to run for it and you didn¡¯t listen. In fact, you¡¯ve never listened. Don¡¯t you realize how dangerous it is for you to keep ignoring me like that?¡± I tried to say this as angrily as I could without actually raising my voice. ¡°Huh? Oh, come on, you just keep overreacting. What¡¯s a few stones going to do? And besides,¡± she began, putting on an upset expression herself, ¡°it¡¯s not like you always listen to me, either. You think it¡¯s impossible for me to tell if something feels dangerous or wrong?¡± She had a point there, but this wasn¡¯t about that. ¡°Tasha, even if the situation turns out okay in the end, that doesn¡¯t mean that will always be the case. If these attacks, or those other times ended up getting worse¡­who knows what could have happened. Those risks aren¡¯t worth taking.¡± ¡°What risks are worth taking, then?¡± Tasha asked. That question caught me off guard as I had no idea what she was getting at with that. ¡°I¡¯ll know when it¡¯s worth it.¡± My answer was clearly not to Tasha¡¯s satisfaction, but I was putting an end to this discussion. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get out of this fort before it starts acting up again. Tasha let out a ¡®hmph¡¯, but she complied. We were almost at the hole we came in from when a mound of rubble started to shake. Tasha had a glint in her eye as she readied herself for another game of defense. I took a few steps away from her so as to not get in the way should she actually decide to dodge. It was a bit strange though, the mound continued to shake without launching itself. We continued to stare at the shaking mound but a few seconds went by and still, nothing happened. For the tiniest moment, I looked a bit over to the side at Tasha, preparing to say something to her, when I saw a stone brick flying towards her from behind. Due to my surprise, I wasn¡¯t sure whether to dash at her or tell her to block. Obviously, I should have done both, which I did, but it was a split second too late. From the change in her look, I knew she heard my voice, but the stone hit her in the back of the head before she could move. She let out a gasp and the sword dropped from her hand as she fell forward. The shaking mound then launched itself towards Tasha. I grabbed her as she fell and tried to jump out of the way but a few of the stones struck my legs. ¡°Tasha!¡± She looked back at me, disoriented. Good, she was still conscious. I prepared to pick her up and run past the broken walls, but the mounds of rubble from outside of the fort suddenly shifted themselves to block my way. I turned back around and ran for the wall on the opposite side of the fort after sheathing my sword. I carried Tasha under one arm and forced another bolt through my body. Along the way, I picked up Tasha¡¯s sword, and the mounds of rubble scattered across the fort began shaking again. To reach the other wall I would need to go to either side of the residence, but those paths were narrower than the grounds we were fighting in earlier. They also had no shortage of rubble mounds. Taking a gamble, I ran straight into the leveled residence itself. On the far side, parts of the second storey floor were still intact, and vaulting over that seemed like a better prospect. I ran past the broken walls of the first level of the residence and I forced another bolt through both my legs as I prepared to jump. Once I felt I got close enough, I made my jump, and successfully landed on what remained of the second storey. Unfortunately though, the floor could not handle the impact and immediately broke away. I plummeted back to the first floor and I rolled onto my back in midair just before crashing into the ground. Tasha¡¯s body shuddered from the impact but her head didn''t hit the ground and it didn¡¯t seem like anything was broken. I looked above and saw the open sky and what little remained of the floor above. The floor looked like it was shaking and I looked to the side, only to see a wall, I knew that there was little room to escape from another attack here. I got back up, Tasha¡¯s sword tightly gripped in my hand, prepared to give my all to defending another barrage. However, the shaking very quickly stopped and no attack came. As I thought about it for a moment, I think the shaking from above was probably just from most of the remaining floor breaking apart from me falling through it. I heard Tasha groan as I continued to nervously wait. ¡°Tasha! Are you okay?¡± She blinked a few times and held her head. Since she still had her helmet on, I didn¡¯t actually know how bad the hit was. However, after another couple of quick blinks, her eyes suddenly looked very alive, if not a bit confused. ¡°W-where are we? How did we get here?¡± After she asked the question, she winced. ¡°Oh, right¡­I remember what happened now.¡± Her cheeks flushed. ¡°I-It was a cheap shot.¡± Even in this rather dire situation, she could still feel embarrassed. She picked herself back up into a seated position and looked around for her sword. I returned it to and she prepared to stand back up but I stopped her. ¡°Hold on, not yet.¡± She looked at me quizzically. ¡°Listen, ever since we got here, the attacks have stopped.¡± ¡°How do we know it¡¯s not just another trap?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, but there wouldn¡¯t be much reason for another one, would there? We are basically cornered right now.¡± Tasha took a closer look around as well. We were literally next to a wall and on the other side were the remains of the residence. There were piles of broken pieces of wood and stone and beyond that were the open grounds we were fighting in. To our sides were the other walls of the residence, intact up to the floor of the second level. ¡°How long have the attacks stopped for?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°Um, for about a minute now, I think.¡± ¡°What do you think they could be waiting for? What could they be planning?¡± ¡°Who exactly are they?¡± I asked, the spark of an idea suddenly going off in my head. ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No, I mean, they.¡± Tasha just looked at me as if I had gone crazy. ¡°We don¡¯t know who they are, but they are definitely there.¡± Tasha was completely lost. ¡°What I mean is that someone or something has been attacking us, and their moves have been very deliberate. They shot stones at us, but when that wasn¡¯t good enough, they started breaking up the earth to surprise us. When that didn¡¯t work either, they laid a trap. This attacker clearly saw how we reacted and made changes in accordance, trying to finally get us.¡± Tasha nodded with a look that showed me that she thought that was completely obvious. ¡°No, don¡¯t you get it, Tasha. The attacker can see how we reacted. But here,¡± I said, throwing my arms out wide towards the walls and partial ceiling above us, ¡°it hasn¡¯t made a single move. It can¡¯t see us here.¡± I walked towards the corner of the residence. ¡°But, what is attacking us?¡± I closed my eyes and tried to remember the layout of the fort. After a moment, I smiled. ¡°You figured it out, dad?¡± Tasha asked excitedly, standing up. I quickly went over to her and pushed her against the wall. ¡°Don¡¯t do that!¡± She looked at me with worry. ¡°Ah, sorry.¡± I turned my eyes back towards the corner. ¡°Whoever is attacking us has this part of the fort as a blind spot, which could only mean that they are in that tower on the other side of this wall. If they were in a tower over there,¡± I said, pointing out towards the open ground, ¡°they could still see us. But here, we have this bit of ceiling and the walls. Also, only one of the towers on this side hasn¡¯t collapsed, so we know exactly where they are.¡± ¡°But, we still don¡¯t know who they are.¡± I thought for a moment longer but couldn¡¯t come up with a definite answer. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know exactly who they are, but they will be very sorry once I find them.¡± I reached for my sword. ¡°Alright, are you ready to head out again?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± I pulled my hand away from my sword and reached for her head out of concern, remembering that her answer was far too obvious. ¡°I¡¯m serious, here, Tasha. This is a blind spot so we can take a bit of time to make sure you¡¯re feeling okay. In fact, maybe we could even stay here to lure them out, or even wait for nightfall.¡± She brushed my hand aside. ¡°I¡¯m fine, dad! Also, do you really think you can just tell me to wait after hearing you figure everything out? Come on, let¡¯s get them!¡± I relented. There wasn¡¯t going to be a way to stop her, anyways. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s the plan.¡± I struck at the wall with the pommel of my sword, and it caved in slightly. I nodded. ¡°We are going to break through the wall. Right after we do, you can bet that those mounds of rubble are going to start attacking again. We will make our way towards the hole in the wall, and this will make our opponent focus their efforts in blocking off the path again. Right as the exit¡¯s about to seal off, we change direction and head towards the tower. Now, I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ll figure out that we are actually gunning for the tower, and not just to backtrack our escape route, but that shouldn¡¯t matter. The rubble attacks should be much more predictable, since they won¡¯t want to launch any stones at the tower itself. And if they do anyways, well, that¡¯ll work out for us fine as well. Be prepared for stupid, I guess. Anyways, one of us will go into the tower. Even if the opponent¡¯s a little stupid, there¡¯s no way they¡¯ll be reckless with attacks inside the tower. The other one of us will stay behind to make sure they don¡¯t escape. Alright, got all that?¡± Tasha nodded. ¡°Okay, so, I will be the one to go into the tower, and you make sure they don¡¯t get away, okay?¡± Tasha vehemently shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll go into the tower. I¡¯ll take care of whoever is inside.¡± I was rather surprised by how adamantly she said this. However, I believed that going inside the tower was more dangerous since we were unsure of the full extent of the enemy¡¯s power and there was the possibility of them getting desperate. ¡°I don¡¯t care, I¡¯m the one going into the tower,¡± she continued, as if hearing my thoughts. I clicked my tongue and sighed. She clicked her tongue back at me. ¡°Okay, you¡¯ll be the one to go into the tower. Just be careful.¡± She was taken by surprise earlier, but I¡¯m sure it would have gotten me as well if I was the target. I just needed to have confidence in her, and remember her performance at Destiny¡¯s camp. ¡°Relax, I¡¯m always careful,¡± she lied without hesitation. ¡°Right.¡± I struck the wall again, a bit harder this time. I would shoot another bolt through my body for good measure, but I was already starting to sweat as my heart rate continued to climb. I silently prayed that I could hold out. ¡°One more thing, though, Tasha. If I tell you to run, do it this time.¡± She gave me no definitive answer. That was probably the best I was going to get from her. I tensed up my muscles and prepared to smash through the cracked wall. ¡°Ready?¡± She nodded. Chapter 13 I struck the wall with all my power and I broke through it completely. It broke so completely, that I was somewhat alarmed when the partial ceiling above us shook violently. We quickly ran through the hole in the wall and raced towards the fort wall. As expected, rubble soon came hurtling towards us but we evaded. Then, mounds of rubble quickly shifted from outside the fort wall to block off our escape. Without missing a beat, we made a sharp turn and made a bee-line towards the tower. No rubble came shooting at us directly from behind and the few shots coming at us from the front were easy to evade. When we were within ten yards of the tower I drastically slowed down and Tasha continued racing into the tower. Right as she entered, the rubble outside stopped and I knew that we had them cornered. I turned my eyes up to the top of the tower, getting ready for the possibility of them escaping by jumping out. The tower was about sixty feet high so I did not think it would take very long for Tasha to reach the top. After just a minute or so, I thought I could faintly hear sounds coming from inside the tower. The noises continued for about another thirty seconds, but after that, the tower started to shake. I looked up and down the tower in alarm, wondering where another attack could suddenly come from. Then, with an ear-splitting sound of stones grinding and smashing into each other, the entire tower collapsed on itself. My jaw dropped as I stared at the crumbling tower with a look of horror. The scene was so shocking that I did not even move out of the way as a few of the bricks showered down on me, a couple of them hitting me square in the chest and another on my shoulder. I stumbled slightly but my feet remained planted on the ground. Large clouds of dust billowed out as the stones fell on top of each other and when the dust had completely settled, I slowly forced my way forward. I tried calling out, but my voice would not come through. As I got closer, I noticed that my hands were shaking, and I quickly tossed my sword to the side as it was quickly becoming impossible to maintain my grip. I reached the edge of the massive mound of rubble and I placed one hand on it. I gazed out across the ruins and tried calling out again, but still, my voice seemed stuck in my throat. I climbed on top of the rubble and shakily tried to rummage through the stones, but it was proving extremely difficult. It was not that the power of the bolts had left me, I still faintly sensed the currents surging throughout my body, but my body was just incapable of effectively putting that to good use. I clumsily crawled over the mound and grasped at loose stones, but it was nearly impossible to pick them up. I saw drops of water fall onto the stones beneath me and could now more clearly notice my clammy hands, sweating forehead, and haggard breathing as my heartbeat continued to climb, but I didn¡¯t have the mind to do anything about that. I started shoving the stones aside a bit at a time with sweeping motions of my arms, as if I didn¡¯t even have hands. Despite my efforts in forcing my unstable body to continue, I could only sweep about a dozen stones off the mound before I just lay flat on top of rubble, my will to move having drained away. I closed my eyes and I felt the tears begin to form. I bit down on my lip to stop myself from openly sobbing, but I still cried. Even now, I still could not bring my voice out. As I continued to lie atop the rubble, I felt my body start to slip off the mound ever so slightly. Whatever, I initially thought, my mind flooded with too many other thoughts and emotions. However, when I felt a couple of the stones jerk off the mound, I opened my eyes. It was hard to see clearly, but ahead of me, part of the mound was shaking. Gradually, I tried to concentrate on it more, making sure it wasn¡¯t just some trick from the water in my eyes, and the strength very quickly returned to my body. I pushed myself back up and unsteadily made my way over there, blocking out everything else other than the shaking movements of the stones. When I reached the spot, I immediately began digging through the mound. What was I thinking? So what if it¡¯s a sixty-foot fall from instead a tower that practically imploded? My daughter is a Battle-Hardened who weathered a blizzard and knocked out a wolf when she was only five! Psh! What¡¯s a ton of rubble gonna do? My digging got faster and after only about twenty seconds, I cleared away at least three feet of stones, and through a small gap in the stones, I thought I saw clothing. I dug my hands around the gap, and aggressively scooped out the stones. When I had cleared away a gap about half a foot wide though, the stones suddenly shot themselves right at me, many of them hitting me in the chest and arms and one that just grazed my right ear. I was knocked onto my back, and I let out a cough as I massaged my chest. I peered over my body, back still on the mound of rubble, and saw a hand claw its way out of the hole I dug. Soon after that, the rest of the body came out. It was an old man with long, scraggly gray hair. He wore a leather tunic on top of gray robes. In almost an instant, my body chilled and then my blood boiled. I immediately sprang back up and tackled the man. We crashed into the mound of rubble and our bodies almost slid off the edge. ¡°You! You were the one in the tower!¡± My voice had suddenly returned to me. The man looked back at me with panicked eyes as I put both of my hands around his neck. Before I could start strangling the man, several stones came and pelted me, one of them hitting me hard in the back of my left hand. My grip with that hand loosened, but I ignored the blood and the pain and simply used my right arm to beat the man in the face. My first blow was slightly interrupted by another stone that struck me in my right shoulder. This led to a clumsy punch that didn¡¯t even hit the man square in the face. My next two punches to his face were intermittent with more stones striking at me, one of them cutting my cheek. I suppose the man¡¯s accuracy would have been better if I was not straddling and beating him. ¡°S-stop!¡± the man cried out. Oh really? You really freaking think I¡¯m just gonna stop? I punched him a fourth time, this time breaking his nose. Ironically, if I was in a more focused state of mind, I probably could have dealt a lot more damage to him already. After I punched him a fifth time, I felt the mound start to shake. The man coughed out some blood, and then both of our bodies were suddenly shot up a few feet into the air as dozens of stones beneath us lifted us up. In my surprise, the man pushed me away and we fell back onto rubble, now about fifteen feet away from each other. The man quickly got onto all fours and started to quickly crawl away. I prepared to chase after him, but I felt the stones beneath me shake. Still got energy for another attack? Well, I¡¯m going to make sure you don¡¯t have enough energy for anything when I¡¯m through with you. I planned to make my charge right after he made his next attack, but it didn¡¯t come. He just continued to crawl away, yet the stones immediately beneath me shook again. I stared at the stones with a bit of confusion, and just faintly, I could hear a muffled sound coming from below. Suddenly losing my sense of danger, I pressed my ear hard against the ground, and I thought I could hear the sound again. My anger was instantly pushed aside with hope as I desperately began digging through the rubble again, oblivious to the retreating man. I ignored the pain in my left hand and dug out the stones as quickly as I could. After a foot of digging, I could now almost hear her voice clearly. Another two feet, and I could just barely see leather armour through a gap. I pulled the stones away and before I completely cleared it, Tasha swatted away the rest. Her whole body was dusty and her face had minor cuts, but other than that, she looked fine. I pulled her up towards me and embraced her. I can¡¯t remember the last time we had ever hugged like this, and Tasha was also probably surprised. She took a moment before wrapping her arms around me as well. I heard Tasha try to voice something, but it was suddenly cut short. Perhaps she was unsure of what to say. Anything would have been fine. After one of the longest hugs ever, I finally dropped my arms away from her and she followed suit. She took a closer look at me and I could tell she was worried about my various injuries. She also pointed at my face, but quickly put her hand away. I reached for my own face, feeling my wet cheeks. We began climbing out of the hole just as the mound shook. Off to the opposite edge of the mound, I saw the old man. I quickly pulled Tasha out of the hole with me just as stones fired off inside like a dart trap. My anger returned, but I was much composed now. I calmly dashed over to him and feinted a turn before kicking off into the air. The man was either too unprepared or too tired to properly evade or defend, but I punched him while I was still in mid-air. The blow knocked him out and he flew several feet back. I shook my fist a bit to get the blood off before casually strolling over to his unconscious body. Just before I could stand over him, Tasha suddenly came in between us. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t kill him!¡± she cried out to me. I put on a perplexed expression. ¡°I- I know he¡¯s done some horrible things, but we can¡¯t just go around killing everyone!¡± Her arms were spread out to her sides to stop me from going around her, which I found rather amusing. I smiled at her, and put a hand on her head. ¡°Relax. I won¡¯t kill him.¡± Not anymore. I let my anger consume me, and although I said I would be willing to kill, it wasn¡¯t necessary. ¡°Thank you, though, Tasha.¡± Tasha was eventually satisfied, and put her arms back down. I forced off the power of the Thousand Bolts and my heart rate slowly went back to normal. My sweat-drenched body still felt rather hot though. I went to retrieve my sword and Tasha rummaged through the rubble to find hers, which thankfully did not take very long. After that, I bandaged up my left hand. Then, I tied up the man¡¯s hands and feet with some rope and waited for him to wake up, which also did not take very long. I told Tasha to keep a close watch on our surroundings in case he tries something again. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be. Not dead yet,¡± the man remarked with a hoarse voice, while lying on his back. I felt like bluffing the man with some death threats, but Tasha would just get upset with me. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a pleasant surprise for you?¡± I asked, crouching down next to him. The man just looked at me, devoid of emotion. ¡°So, I don¡¯t think we would be fooling anyone if you told me that you only just started doing this kind of stuff. You¡¯ve killed before, haven¡¯t you?¡± He still said nothing, but I just knew what the truth was. ¡°Perhaps there is something you want to talk about?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know who you think I am, but you have the wrong man.¡± What a vague, yet seemingly incriminating thing to say. ¡°Well, do you happen to know what kind of man we are looking for then? Or, where that man might be?¡± I asked, playing along. ¡°I see a lot of people.¡± ¡°Right,¡± I said, nodding, not really thinking much about his statement. But then, I remembered that I was looking for some people. ¡°Well, you get a pretty good look out from that tower, mind telling me about the kind of other people you see.¡± He gave no response. ¡°Alright, let me be more specific here. Did you happen to see a group of merchants with a wagon come by in the past few days?¡± He looked from side to side. ¡°I might have.¡± ¡°Can you describe them?¡± ¡°Can you?¡± After checking to see that Tasha was still on lookout and not watching me specifically, I brought my sword close to his neck. ¡°I¡¯m the one asking questions here.¡± He did not seem to take my threat very seriously so I brought the blade closer. I saw a bead of sweat trickle off his forehead. ¡°Well¡­I might have seen some people with a wagon.¡± ¡°I need definite answers here. Did you see those people? When did you see them?¡± I pressed the blade just a bit closer. ¡°I- It was two, um three nights ago. No, two nights! Um, yeah! It was really dark though!¡± I quickly withdrew my sword, figuring that Tasha would probably turn around after hearing the hurried speech. ¡°Well, where were they headed?¡± ¡°W-where else? They came by the fort so they¡¯re obviously going to the Bronze Colony.¡± His story made sense. I couldn¡¯t be sure if he was lying, but it did not seem like it. We had enough information, so I guess all that was left to do was bring him with us to the Bronze Territory and see if there are any authorities there to take him off our hands. I got back up and turned my head to Tasha. Tasha was still diligently keeping her watch on the surroundings. I guess she does trust me to keep to my word. Suddenly, the old man rolled over to the side, and a spiked pillar of stone came shooting out of the ground, aimed at Tasha. The earth where it came out of was already cracked open, something he must have done while hiding it behind his back. In order to stop it in time, I managed to force two bolts through my right arm as I blocked the stone spike with my sword. Had I been even a split second later, it could have impaled her back. My anger returned as I turned to face the old man, who had now hopped onto his feet. ¡°Don¡¯t you even think about it!¡± I forced a bolt through my leg to kick off and intercept him, but a thick curtain of earth came out of the cracked ground. I kicked off towards the obscuring wave of dirt and stone and slashed through it when I had already passed halfway through it. I felt my sword slice through something, and after getting to the other side of the wave of earth, I saw the old man in the middle of falling to the ground, blood spilling out of his neck. He crashed onto the ground and I spit the dirt out of my mouth. I casually went up to his body and one look at the deep slash in his neck and his glassy eyes told me everything I needed to know. Tasha came up to me and then gasped. ¡°Y- you killed him.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I said simply. Tasha furrowed her eyebrows and smacked me in the chest. It wasn¡¯t a very hard hit, but my strength had drained away after using my powers again so I fell onto my butt. ¡°You promised me that you wouldn¡¯t kill him!¡± Although my strength had mostly left me, my anger was yet to fade away. I could have told her it was just an accident, and that I couldn¡¯t see through the wave of earth. A minute of reasoning probably would have been enough to settle the matter. But no, I didn¡¯t want to do that. He didn¡¯t deserve that kind of defense. ¡°He tried to kill you, Tasha. Me too. Not just now. This whole time we were in this fort! He¡¯s a murderer who has already killed other people the same way!¡± ¡°It¡¯s still wrong, dad! You¡¯ve told me that when people do bad things, a good person should not do those same kinds of things in return.¡± I might have said something like that during one of my morality lessons. Well, let¡¯s continue with those lessons today, then. ¡°Tasha, there are always going to be a lot of different situations in the world. That means right and wrong can vary a lot depending on the place and time.¡± Even I thought I was just about to spout some nonsense, but I held onto the hope it was going to get good somewhere. ¡°Murder is one of the worst things you can do. It is so bad that you cannot possibly blame others when you are killed instead.¡± Tasha looked at me incredulously. ¡°Besides, don¡¯t you remember Jack Free?¡± I knew now that I was making an even greater mistake now. ¡°We wanted to get revenge on him for Bradley. You even took up his sword.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to kill him!¡± ¡°Could have fooled me.¡± Oh shit, did I just say that out loud? ¡°Well, even if you weren¡¯t, he¡¯s dead now because I did kill him.¡± This is turning out to be one of my worst transitions ever. ¡°I mean, I wasn¡¯t wrong when I killed Jack Free, right? I saved you.¡± Did I just try to guilt trip my daughter? Well, it seems to be working, going by Tasha¡¯s confused expression. ¡°I mean¡­in the end¡­I guess I did want him dead¡­¡± Tasha said, losing confidence in her argument. This was exactly what I wanted, but it made me feel horrible at the same time. I struggled back onto my feet and put my arms on her shoulders. ¡°And there was nothing wrong with that. Jack Free killed many innocent people and at the time there was no other way to stop him other than killing him. This was the right decision.¡± Yes, of course it was the right decision. Why was I struggling so much with this earlier. It¡¯s so obvious now. ¡°And this man¡­he was no different. Indiscriminately, he would attack his victims with the intent to kill. Who knows how many countless others he killed before we stopped him? Saying we went too far with someone as far-gone as him is a meaningless argument.¡± I smiled at Tasha and she looked at me uneasily. I ignored it and grabbed her hand to pull her along to leave the fort. She looked back to the man I just killed but did not resist. After an hour of brisk walking, we reached the outskirts of farmland as the sun was setting. I stopped a farmer who was cleaning up for the night to ask him if we were in the Bronze Territory yet. He looked at me a bit funny, but eventually just told us to keep going forward. We did, and we reached the town gates after a little over two hours. Most of the buildings were made of wood but had stone foundations. The pathways of the town were mostly just dirt. I asked around for a place to stay and I was directed to an inn. Along the way, I noticed a number of guards wearing leather armour patrolling the streets. We rented a room at the inn and slept for the night. There was only one bed so I slept in the corner of the room. Even up until then, Tasha did not speak another word to me. Chapter 14 Once again, I awoke in an empty white space. I sat patiently and waited for him to speak first. ¡°Hello again, Braith.¡± ¡°Hello to you too, Thousand Bolts? What can I help you with today?!¡± ¡°I can see you are not feeling too well.¡± Oh, really? ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about. I¡¯m just peachy!¡± ¡°Our time is not unlimited.¡± I sighed. ¡°Alright, carry on. Man, are we going to have a talk every time I kill someone?¡± It was a terrible thing to say, but I didn¡¯t feel that bad saying it. ¡°No. We are just having another discussion to re-affirm your thoughts and beliefs.¡± ¡°Well, nothing¡¯s changed. I said I¡¯d be willing to kill someone if they went after me or Tasha, and I did.¡± ¡°Is that all there is to it?¡± ¡°What more would there be?¡± I asked, frustration creeping into my tone of voice. ¡°I just want you to be clear about how you feel about yourself as this may be the last time we speak.¡± ¡°Is that supposed to be some kind of ultimatum? An implicit threat telling me to change or else?¡± I refrained from shouting, but my anger was evident. ¡°No, not at all. I will not control your actions as I wish my vessels to live as naturally as they wish. To do that, they must be free from any kind of control.¡± ¡°Good, leave me alone and I will do what I want. Thank you, everything¡¯s all cleared up now. I¡¯ll just be on my way now!¡± I stood up and started walking, but as expected, I felt no progress at all. ¡°When I mention control, I don¡¯t only mean myself. Do not feel like you must be forever tethered to some kind of role or ideal. People change, and this is never inherently bad.¡± ¡°Oh, cut the philosophical crap! From what I got from that, you think that I am being controlled by something I believe in. Well, you¡¯re wrong! I am making rational decisions, completely in control of myself! And even if you were right, that would still be me living how I want, right?!¡± The space began to rapidly darken. ¡°Finally, I¡¯m done with this.¡± ¡°Remember what you have said today, Braith.¡± ¡°That again? You keep saying you won¡¯t interfere but all you do is badger me!¡± The space turned pitch-black and I fell into the void once more. ********** I blinked my eyes awake and I groaned as I slowly got up and stretched out my muscles. I didn¡¯t pass out this time, but I feel like I did a full-body work-out. Well, I guess I sort of did. Tasha was standing by the door and when I finally turned to greet her, she spoke first. ¡°Good morning, dad!¡± she said with a chipper voice. ¡°Oh¡­good morning, Tasha.¡± She walked over to the window and drew open the curtains, letting the sun in. ¡°It sure is beautiful today!¡± She turned to me and beamed radiantly. ¡°So, what shall we do today?¡± Wow, she sure cheered up quickly. Well, children do tend to do that, right? ¡°Well, it¡¯s been a while since the last time we''ve been in a town. Perhaps we could just take a stroll for the day? Ask around for some information while we¡¯re at it, too. Um, what do you think?¡± ¡°Sounds great, dad. An easy day like that sounds nice.¡± She went back over to me and held out her hand. I took it and she helped me up. I grimaced a bit as my muscles ached. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Her sunny disposition was momentarily broken by the concern in her voice. ¡°Oh, yeah, yeah. Just a bit sore.¡± I fully stood up and after stretching one more time, we gathered our bags and left the inn after eating breakfast. The first place we went to was the town square. Along the way, we passed by several guards and saw even more of them in the town square. Well, it seems like a pretty well-protected town I guess. In the centre of the town, where one normally expects some kind of monument or fountain, there was instead a fenced-off garden of young trees that took up most of the space. Surrounding the garden were several merchants that had set up shop. I went around the various merchants and tried inspecting them closely. Unsurprisingly, a few of them got very uncomfortable with that and eventually a guard came over to tell me to not get so close to them. At the end, I learned that a group of merchants did set up at the town square a couple days ago but left the same day. They weren¡¯t sure where they went after that. Inside my head, I figured the only place that made sense was the Nature Clan. After browsing around and buying some supplies, we went to go have lunch. The only open spot when we got there was a corner next to the bar counter. A brief look showed a couple of men in dirty work clothes who were already drinking. The two of them were rather loud and I expected that they were not on their first round. ¡°Going to be another long night today,¡± the taller one said. ¡°Going to be? Shouldn¡¯t you have already be back at work?¡± ¡°Nah, got another¡­ten minutes or something?¡± He then let out a weird laugh. ¡°Well, you better be right about that, the foreman won¡¯t like it if you¡¯re late.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Why don¡¯t you just hurry up and go to sleep or something? You still got energy left in you after the graveyard shift?¡± I hope the graveyard shift means the same thing here that it does where I came from. Well, not that it¡¯d be good either way. ¡°Yeah, but I gotta get back in four hours.¡± ¡°Ah, right, you pissed him off last time when you showed up five minutes late.¡± ¡°It was two minutes!¡± He banged his fist on the table and the bartender shot him a look. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said quietly. The two of them downed their glasses and ordered another. ¡°You sure you have time for one more.¡± ¡°Look, if I¡¯m not working with at least a little bit of a buzz when I get started, I¡¯ll feel like throwing myself off a cliff.¡± The two of them received their glasses. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be saying stuff like that¡­¡± he said, somewhat melancholic. ¡°Yeah¡­I guess I shouldn¡¯t.¡± He took a swig. ¡°So¡­did you get a letter this month?¡± ¡°No, and I haven''t heard back for three months now. I¡¯ve even gone and asked them about it but they won¡¯t tell me anything.¡± ¡°You asked the guards?¡± the taller man asked, with an incredulous tone. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Who else can I ask?¡± The taller man thought for a moment before taking another drink. ¡°I guess there¡¯s no one else. But, uh, hey, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s fine. I mean, when Rufus¡­you know. He found out, right?¡± ¡°But then why am I not getting any letters from him? Is he just too sick to write? Did he get in trouble over there? Are the guards or messengers just messing with me?!¡± He slammed both hands on the table and his glass fell over, shattering on the ground. ¡°Woah, woah, woah! Calm down, man!¡± ¡°How can I be calm if I don¡¯t even know if my brother is alive or dead?!¡± He buried his face in his hands and started sucking in quick breaths. ¡°Relax, don¡¯t worry, calm down.¡± The taller man said, putting one hand on his shoulder. Slowly, the other man started to recover. ¡°Ah, darn, I think I might actually be late.¡± He got up from his stool. ¡°Put it all on my tab.¡± The bartender nodded. Then, he turned to the other man one more time. ¡°Listen, as long as we don¡¯t know for sure, there¡¯s still a chance.¡± Before waiting for a response, he ran out the door. A minute later, the other man also left. I didn¡¯t want to get involved in whatever drama that was, but Tasha got up and went right up to the bartender. ¡°What happened?¡± she asked him. The bartender cocked an eyebrow at her. ¡°What was he so upset about? What was that about his brother?¡± The bartender looked away from her and just shook his head, ignoring her. ¡°Hey! Why won¡¯t you talk to me?¡± I sighed and got up from my seat. ¡°Sorry about that, she¡¯s too curious for her own good,¡± I said, grabbing Tasha¡¯s hand. ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± he said. ¡°Children can get like that.¡± ¡°But, we are travelers and we just arrived here. Is there something that we need to know about this place?¡± ¡°Nope, nothing you need to know. You¡¯re in Bronze Colony. That¡¯s it.¡± I took a look around the bar and did not spot any guards. ¡°Bronze Colony, eh? That¡¯s very interesting. I thought we came to the Bronze Territory.¡± The bartender narrowed his eyes on me. ¡°How old are you?¡± he asked me. ¡°Clearly too young. But not young enough to not know what a colony is.¡± Thinking back, I think I do remember Lars mentioning the Bronze Territory fighting with the Nature Clan. It was very interesting since the Bronze Territory was formed by the union of many different tribes, mostly Battle-Hardened, and the Nature Clan was one of the most powerful Farseer clans, and founders of the largest Farseer nation on Midgard. He did not mention much else and didn¡¯t bring up the exact results, though. It was something I wanted to know more about at the time, but he quickly changed the topic and it had slipped from my mind since then. My mind was already piecing together the clues so I just started formulating questions based on my assumptions. ¡°So, letters every month?¡± ¡°What about the letters?¡± ¡°Well, do you get them, too?¡± ¡°That is not a very polite question, sir.¡± What a strangely timed shift to formality. ¡°My apologies. It appears that in my ignorance, I can only ask inappropriate questions.¡± ¡°Well, it would be better to not ask any questions at all, then, sir.¡± It would probably be easier to get the information I was looking for from somebody else, but I wasn¡¯t about to give up just yet. ¡°Well, you might be right about that. At the very least though, do you think you could provide some helpful advice to someone on their way to the Nature Clan?¡± The bartender froze up for a second. ¡°Yeah, we are planning to head out towards the Nature Clan tomorrow. Might come back here as well once we''re done there. Just wondering if there¡¯s somewhere in particular we should go first.¡± The bartender coughed and turned his eyes downwards. ¡°Surely you jest, sir. Traveling to the Nature Clan isn¡¯t that simple.¡± ¡°Oh, why is that?¡± ¡°Well, I suppose you could go into the forests, but you¡¯d be escorted out once any of the patrols find you. Also, even if you did reach their capital, there is no way a common traveler could enter.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t view myself as the common traveler. I also do not think I travel with the most common methods.¡± I tried to choose my words in such a way to make the bartender think in a certain way. ¡°Even so, it would be difficult.¡± Despite his words, I could sense his resistance being whittled down. ¡°I can be very motivated and determined when I want to be.¡± The bartender took a glass and put it down in front of me. ¡°What kind of drink can I get you, sir?¡± he suddenly asked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t quite catch that.¡± The bartender then leaned in close and whispered into my ear. ¡°Behind the bar, in one hour.¡± ¡°Oh, right. Sorry, new to this place. Just get me something nice and simple, eh?¡± ¡°Right away, sir.¡± He poured me a drink and I took a sip. Yeah, that¡¯s alcohol all right. I swished it around a bit in my glass before taking another sip, trying to mask my discomfort from the burning in my throat. Tasha stared at me, and then looked at the bartender. I¡¯m not completely sure if she was trying to signal something, but I ignored it. I nursed the drink for another few minutes and then I paid the bartender. Then I realized that we still hadn''t eaten yet. We got some food and I told Tasha to eat quickly, which was mildly embarrassing when she finished much quicker than I did. We left the bar and after walking around until the awaited time, made our way to behind the bar. The bartender showed up a few minutes later. ¡°So, any reason we had to have this talk here?¡± ¡°They hate it when we talk about them.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see any of them inside the bar.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean it won¡¯t get back to them. Some of us here are so used to them that they would actually go against the rest of us.¡± ¡°Well then, I thank you for taking the risk to talk to me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you around before and you don¡¯t look to be the type who¡¯d work for the Nature Clan.¡± He focused briefly on Tasha. ¡°But, please tell me anyway that you were serious back there.¡± ¡°Well, I definitely do have plans to go to the Nature Clan, but it seems like the ones I¡¯m looking for won¡¯t be heading there.¡± The bartender''s expression turned somewhat gloomy. ¡°Probably not. Last I heard, only merchants are allowed to enter the capital these days.¡± ¡°Heh, well, I guess I still need to go there after all.¡± The bartender¡¯s expression lit back up. ¡°So, you will go?¡± ¡°You can bet on it. Teach me a couple things and I¡¯ll do you a favour while I¡¯m there.¡± ¡°Alright, first of all, do you know what happened to us after we lost to the Nature Clan?¡± Well, I could guess a few of them. ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°Well, after destroying all of our forts, they took a bunch of us back with them to their capital.¡± ¡°As slaves?¡± The bartender shook his head. ¡°As hostages. Well, they say they are being imprisoned for their acts during the war, but, they are basically hostages. As for the rest of us, we¡¯re basically all slaves. From the first day, they told us that if we acted out against them, we would never see any of the prisoners again. So, for the past thirteen years they¡¯ve been watching us and most of us have rotations working at the farms, forges, looms, and mines. They even had us plant those trees in the middle of our town.¡± ¡°I see. Hmmm, as for those prisoners, can I assume you receive letters from them every month so that you know they are safe?¡± ¡°Yes, but they started to change starting two months ago.¡± ¡°So it wasn¡¯t just that one guy in the bar?¡± The bartender shook his head. ¡°I hear from a lot of different people while I work and there were several others who didn¡¯t get any letters. That number went up the month after that. As for the people who still got letters though¡­¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Well, they were different. The letters used to always just be about how much they missed them and how they wanted to come back home. The most recent letters, though, only talk about how nice it is being with the Nature Clan. They mention how beautiful their capital is, how good the food is there and things like that. It¡¯s just¡­so strange.¡± It wasn¡¯t strange at all. I already knew exactly what all that meant. ¡°Censorship.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The Nature Clan is telling them to write those things.¡± ¡°What? Why? We have been under them for so long, what difference would it make at this point? Why would our people even go along with it? Why wouldn¡¯t they tell us?¡± ¡°I guess something drastic might have happened. Also, what makes you think the same threats you guys are getting are any different from their threats as well? As for why they wouldn¡¯t tell you, some of them probably did, or at least tried to. But my guess is that the Nature Clan just looks through all the messages before they are sent. They don¡¯t fake them since you can probably recognize the handwriting, but only those who go along with the Nature Clan have their letters sent.¡± The bartender looked at me with horror. He swallowed and then continued, a desperate tone in his voice. ¡°We have to do something about that! We need to save them!¡± Tasha suddenly grabbed onto my hand and looked at me pleadingly as well. I looked at them one by one and then put on a stern expression. ¡°No.¡± They both gasped. ¡°I understand that this is a terrible situation, but I am not some hero. I said I would do you a favour, but don¡¯t you think that¡¯s way too much to ask of me? If you want me to confirm that they¡¯re still alive, sure I can do that. I can even ask some of them if they still miss you. But asking me to actually save them? Have you no shame? I did not fight in your war. I am not going to cover you for that loss.¡± The bartender looked down at the ground and rubbed his eyes. ¡°Y- You¡¯re right. Sorry, I got far too carried away. He looked me in the eyes again and gave a weak smile. Just knowing that they are still alright is good enough. You can still do us that favour, please?¡± I nodded. ¡°Dad, we have to help them!¡± Tasha protested. ¡°We are not going to risk our lives for a group of strangers. If it¡¯s doable to get into the capital, then we will, and we will check out the situation. Any more than that is simply reckless.¡± ¡°But, dad-¡± ¡°No buts!¡± Tasha stopped arguing and I continued my discussion with the bartender. He told us the usual patrol paths of the Nature Clan soldiers and marked some of their forts on my map so we could stay clear of them. He thanked us and then left. After he left, Tasha spoke up once more. ¡°Dad, after everything he told us, how can we still not help him?¡± ¡°We are helping him, Tasha. We are going to go to the capital to put his mind at ease, and that alone is already very risky. Attempting a prison break with just the two of us is suicidal.¡± Tasha¡¯s expression changed to that of confusion. It looked like she was about to ask something, but it appeared that she quickly changed her mind as she put on a fierce expression once more. ¡°We have to at least try! There¡¯s just two of us, we can move very quickly and we¡¯re both so strong! To not even bother trying when-¡± I interrupted her with a slap to her face. To make sure it made contact despite her reflexes, I made sure to charge two bolts through my arm. She reached for her cheek as she looked up at me with shock and a hint of fear. ¡°Tasha,¡± I began, trying to make my voice as even as possible. ¡°You need to stop with your reckless and dangerous suggestions. What you are saying can get both of us killed. Do you understand? We can end up dead like Bradley or Dennis.¡± I then tried to soften my voice as much as possible. ¡°I care about you more than anyone else, and I cannot bear to lose you like that. Do you understand?¡± Tasha took in a couple awkward breaths and looked down at the ground. I took my hand and pulled her chin up so that she would face me. She shifted her eyes away from me. If anyone else did this to Tasha¡­heck if even I did this a week ago, I would kick my own ass, and beat me to within an inch of my life. I had never hit Tasha to discipline her before in her life, but if a shock like this is necessary to change her reckless attitude, then so be it. My constant concessions have been a problem. ¡°Yes¡­I understand,¡± she finally said with a slight crack in her voice. I immediately felt some guilt, but I stayed quiet. We passed by the rest of the day without incident. I took her by the shops, asking if she wanted anything but she said she was fine. As expected, I don¡¯t think she was feeling fine at all, but she¡¯ll get over it eventually. Perhaps she¡¯ll just cheer up again by tomorrow morning? Yeah, I¡¯m sure of that. Kids bounce back quickly. Chapter 15 We left early the next morning. Tasha acted a bit brighter, but her smiling expression did seem a little off. I tried not to read too much into it and I tried my best to just casually continue our journey, at least until we reached the Nature Clan¡¯s territory. On our way there, we passed by another destroyed fort, which we steered clear of. Not too far past that fort, we arrived at the edge of the forest. We traveled through the forest for about an hour before coming across a dirt trail. We followed it for another couple hours before night started to set in. We gathered some firewood and set up camp for the night a bit away from the trail. A week and a half went by like this and although we were close to running into Nature Clan patrols a couple times, we avoided them in time. As we neared the heart of the giant forest, I would occasionally climb up a tree to spot ahead. Early in our tenth day in the forest, I spouted the landmark in the distance. It was a massive tree, at least five hundred feet tall. I had heard from Lars once before that the Nature Clan¡¯s capital was founded around this giant tree that they treated as a deity. I originally thought that just meant it had historical significance, but after seeing magic at work and gaining the powers of a guardian spirit, I¡¯m not so sure of that anymore. I climbed back down from the tree and we travelled for another hour before I climbed up a tree again. By this point, we noticed that the number of trees had begun to thin quite a bit. The trees were now more than fifteen feet apart on average, although they were still quite large, at least forty feet tall even for the smaller ones. In general, the forest was not particularly thick with trees and there were not that many places where a group of people would have difficulty getting through. However, that did not change the fact that this forest was indeed massive. We were near the capital, but according to the map, that was not even halfway through the forest. The forest was also longer north to south than it was east to west. Enough about that, though. There was something more important to be concerned about now. To no surprise, I was told that patrols were the greatest around the capital. After climbing up the tree, I thought I could spot faint movement just ahead of us. There was also movement not too far to the right and left as well. I climbed back down from the tree and went over the plan with Tasha. ¡°Alright Tasha, we¡¯re almost there now. There are a lot of patrols around and even if we run our fastest, there¡¯s a decent chance one of them might still spot us.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re just going to turn back?¡± she asked with subdued outrage, probably not wanting to raise her voice too much. ¡°If worse comes to worse, we will.¡± She glared at me for a second before turning away. ¡°However, that doesn¡¯t mean we won¡¯t try. We will see if it¡¯s possible to sneak past them for now. If they do catch us, I will try to convince them to let us through. Whatever I say when that happens, just play along, okay?¡± Tasha nodded without looking at me. I charged up a couple bolts into my legs so we could dash away if necessary. Then, we cautiously made our way forward. Right as we spotted a pair of soldiers from the corner of the eye, we quickly hid behind a tree. I concentrated on the sound of their footsteps and waited for the sound to fade away. Then, I waited another ten seconds for good measure before taking a quick peek around the tree. I didn¡¯t see them and quickly beckoned for Tasha to continue to follow. The moment we stepped out from behind the tree, we heard a commotion coming from the direction the soldiers walked off to. It sounded like a loud cracking sound followed by shouts. Unsure of what that meant, I didn¡¯t know whether or not to hide behind the tree again or make a break through the patrol routes. Before I could decide, Tasha grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. Breaking through it is then. As we started to race forward though, we heard shouts coming from the opposite direction of the commotion. Another pair of soldiers came running in and although we dashed behind a nearby tree as quickly as we could, one of them caught sight of our movement. ¡°Hey, there¡¯s something moving over there! Right behind that tree!¡± the soldier cried out. Well, trying to keep hiding clearly wasn¡¯t going to work. So, keep heading for the capital, or fall back. Tasha gripped my hand again. Honestly, the plan already seemed like a bust, but there were only two soldiers for now so I can go along with this for a little bit longer. Tasha would probably act up if we gave up so quickly anyways. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go,¡± I said in agreement to her silent request. We came out from behind the tree and went running towards the direction of the capital. The soldiers quickly spotted us and started running towards us, and although I didn¡¯t look back, judging by the sound, we were rapidly gaining distance over them. We continued to run for another couple minutes and by this point, we were sure that we lost them, but another few seconds later, the forest came to an end and we were faced by a forty foot high, metal-plated wall. Standing atop the wall, I spotted a lone archer. Unsurprisingly, he spotted us too. He took an arrow from his quiver and readied a shot. I charged up a couple bolts and focused on him. He fired off the arrow and I evaded it. Well, that¡¯s it for now. I grabbed Tasha¡¯s arm and pulled her along, retreating from the capital. Reinforcements were likely to arrive and even with our strength and speed, we would not be able to scale the wall. Tasha resisted me for a couple seconds before sighing in resignation. At least she understood it well this time. We ran away from the wall, but to my surprise, the archer readied another shot and fired at my back as we fled. Honestly, I thought we were quite a bit out his range and the piercing of my back was surprising. I stumbled and tripped, crashing into a tree. The end of the arrow also snapped as I fell, somewhat nudging the arrow slightly deeper into my back. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Dad!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± I quickly got back up on my feet and started moving. ¡°We don''t have time to sit around!¡± I started sprinting again and Tasha followed. As we got deeper into the forest, we encountered a pair of soldiers. They may have been the ones chasing us, but that hardly mattered. In the distance, I heard even more soldiers shouting. Several patrols had clearly gathered together by now. We charged at the two soldiers and slipped past them. They both tried to take a swing at us, but even with half an arrow in my back, I was still in more than good enough shape to dodge. As we passed them, I noticed that the commotion had grown louder. Then, coming from the direction we were heading towards, a girl with flowing brown hair came running towards us. She didn¡¯t look much older than Tasha and she wore hide armour and a felt, triangular-shaped hat. She also had a bow and quiver slung around her chest. For a split second, I turned to look at Tasha, to check to see if she was seeing the same thing I was seeing. ¡°R- run away! That way!¡± Tasha blurted out awkwardly at the girl. The girl slowed her pace a bit. ¡°N- no! Run that way! There are a bunch of them right behind me!¡± she shouted back in between quick breaths. ¡°No, there¡¯s a bunch behind us! There¡¯s a wall and an archer too!¡± Tasha shouted back, somewhat needlessly as we were now only a few yards away from each other. When Tasha and the girl were right next to each other, they both stopped. They both started to argue how either direction was dangerous. Then, soldiers came in from our left and right. Well, I knew what was behind us, and even though she said there were soldiers in front of us as well, that was still the safest direction. ¡°Tasha, they¡¯re here, we gotta move!¡± ¡°Huh? Yeah, right! Come on, we gotta get out of here.¡± Tasha grabbed the girl¡¯s arm and started pulling her along. She might have tried resisting, but with Tasha¡¯s level of strength, I really couldn¡¯t tell. ¡°Fine, bring her along!¡± Whatever, I don¡¯t care. Tasha successfully dragged her along with us and we started running again. However, the girl couldn¡¯t run as fast as us and the soldiers were starting to gain on us. I let out a quiet sigh of exasperation. I charged up another bolt throughout my body, which both induced a minor headache and stinging pain where the arrow was still in my back. I took the girl away from Tasha, picked her up in my arms and just ran. Tasha followed closely. Soldiers appeared in front of us and I asked Tasha to clear the way. Tasha drew her sword and engaged them for just a few seconds, enough to give me space to run past them. Then, she gave them the slip and continued chasing after me. Before escaping, another arrow came whizzing by and missed me by a couple feet. For a second, I imagined how horrible it could have been if all our previous enemies were archers. After another few minutes of running, I was now pretty sure we lost the soldiers, but now I had a rather intense headache. I dropped the young girl onto the ground rather unceremoniously as I leaned against a tree and massaged my temple. The power of the bolts quickly faded. ¡°Are you okay?¡± the girl asked, seemingly not upset about how I¡¯ve treated her so far. ¡°Dad, are you okay?¡± Tasha echoed, which caused my head to pound a bit harder. ¡°Y-yeah, just¡­don¡¯t talk so loud.¡± As the headache started to die down a bit, I felt a burning sensation in my back. I reached at my back and recoiled as I touched the broken shaft of the arrow. Right, that¡¯s still stuck in me too. ¡°Dad, we need to get that arrow out.¡± Tasha went behind me to pull out the arrow but the girl stopped her. ¡°Wait! If it¡¯s really deep, he might bleed out if we can¡¯t stop the bleeding.¡± ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t feel that deep. Just burns.¡± ¡°It burns?¡± she asked with great concern on her face. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a burning pain.¡± ¡°We have to get you help right away!¡± she said with panic. ¡°What? Why? Is something wrong?¡± ¡°Yeah, is there something wrong?!¡± Tasha asked, repeating my question. ¡°The arrow might be poisoned!¡± she answered. Oh, that is indeed a problem. ¡°What?! Dad!¡± ¡°Calm down, Tasha! You, uh, you!¡± I said, pointing at the young girl, who seemed to be shaking slightly in my eyes. Was the poison affecting my vision now? ¡°I¡¯m Flora.¡± ¡°Right, Flora, do you have something? Antidote or something?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything like that on me right now, but, I can take you to my grandpa and he can help.¡± ¡°What are we waiting for then?!¡± Tasha spoke up quickly and loudly. ¡°Come on, dad, we need to hurry.¡± ¡°Wait, we don¡¯t want to rush too much as well. It could be a poison that spreads faster if you do that.¡± Tasha looked around in a panic for a bit before suddenly nodding her head. ¡°Got it,¡± Tasha began, before turning to face me again. ¡°Alright, dad, I will carry you to Flora¡¯s grandpa.¡± I immediately threw one hand in protest. ¡°No, no, no, I can walk just fine. Flora, is this place far? How long would it take for you to lead us to it?¡± ¡°It would take me about an hour to get back there.¡± ¡°How do we know if we even have that much time?! Alright, I¡¯ll carry both of you.¡± I could tell from Tasha¡¯s face that she wasn¡¯t joking. ¡°No, an hour should be fine. Odds are the poison isn¡¯t lethal, but meant to cause other serious conditions. Um, a lethal poison would have killed you already. Probably.¡± Probably? ¡°But you¡¯re not sure?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure.¡± ¡°Enough! Flora, just lead the way, please.¡± I put one hand over Tasha¡¯s mouth. ¡°We¡¯ve wasted enough time arguing.¡± Tasha finally submitted and we followed Flora. As we traveled, I started feeling feverish but I ignored it. We had just arrived at a small hill when the fever suddenly intensified. My vision blurred and my entire body felt like it was on fire. I lost the energy in my legs and I collapsed to the ground. I heard Tasha and Flora shouting above me, but it was all muffled. I blanked out soon after. Chapter 16 With great effort, I opened my eyes and lazily stared ahead of me, waiting for my vision to focus. When it did, I let out a short laugh. As I remembered what happened, I found it strangely funny to not be in the Thousand Bolts¡¯ white space. After determining that this was probably the real world, I tried moving my body, and it did, but only just barely, still far from recovering from my fatigue. At the very least, I didn¡¯t feel very feverish anymore, just numb and tired all over. ¡°Oh, are you awake now?¡± a voice asked, just as I decided to try turning my head to see where I was. I was lying in bed and there was an old man with white hair sitting on a chair by my bedside. He did not look as old as the white hair would seem to suggest and he had well-defined facial features that led me to believe that he was probably very handsome as a younger man. Not that I¡¯m saying he looked bad as is. He was also simply dressed and had a rather serious expression. ¡°Uh, yeah. Where am I?¡± ¡°You are resting in my cottage.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I started looking around the room. It lacked any kind of decoration and the only other thing I spotted in the room was a wooden desk in the corner. The man caught my wandering gaze. ¡°If you are wondering where your daughter is, she is with Flora at the moment. They waited a while for you to wake up, but eventually, she remembered that you had left your things in the forest. They left together to go fetch them.¡± ¡°What?¡± I tried to get up, but when I brought my head a foot off the pillow, my vision blurred again and my head ached. ¡°Calm down, there,¡± the man said, gently pushing me back down onto the bed. ¡°I cured the poison when they brought you in, but your body needs some more time to fully recover.¡± ¡°The poison? Oh, right. Ah, thank you.¡± I blinked a couple times until my vision cleared up again. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Just continue to rest for now. Don¡¯t worry about your daughter either, she has your compass and Flora knows her way around the forest quite well.¡± I had no other choice than to try to be reassured by his words. I closed my eyes and decided to just try and relax. ¡°Oh, going back to sleep already?¡± I opened my eyes again. ¡°Is that a problem?¡± I asked, thinking it strange to hear such a fast contradiction. ¡°Well, if you really need to, then by all means, do so. However, I was hoping we could talk first.¡± All everyone ever wants to do is talk to me, huh? ¡°Talk about what?¡± My previous interactions with the Thousand Bolts may have made that sound a bit more defensive than I had intended. ¡°Well, for starters, I am curious as to how you got poisoned. Both Flora and your daughter were so worried about you that I delayed asking for the details. Now that you are awake, I hope to finally hear about it.¡± I looked at the man¡¯s eyes and thought for a moment. He was willing to help me, but given that I was here to sneak into the Nature Clan¡¯s capital, I was skeptical of how much I could really tell him. ¡°Well¡­I was shot by an arrow.¡± This much was obviously impossible to lie about. ¡°I didn¡¯t get a good look at who took the shot though.¡± This wasn¡¯t technically a lie, but he saw through it nonetheless. ¡°I want to be clear with you that I am not too concerned about your circumstances. What I really want to know is where you were when you came across my granddaughter.¡± ¡°I was¡­¡± It was especially difficult coming up with a lie on the spot with my body and mind in its current state. ¡°Wait. It is rather rude of me to be so prying with a complete stranger. I am Hiram, and you are¡­?¡± ¡°Uh, my name is Braith,¡± I responded with a slightly dumbfounded look on my face from the sudden switch up. ¡°Braith, huh? I see. That¡¯s not a name I¡¯ve ever heard of before.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot.¡± ¡°And your daughter¡¯s name?¡± ¡°She¡¯s Tasha.¡± ¡°I see. Have the two of you been traveling for long?¡± ¡°No, not really. I think it¡¯s only been about¡­five weeks?¡± ¡°Only five weeks? Where did you come from?¡± ¡°Uh, I came from Befson.¡± I strangely found myself completely caught up in Hiram¡¯s pace. ¡°So you came from Holtzan?¡± ¡°Well, yeah¡­¡± Hiram easily picked up that there was something more to my hesitation. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re not really from Holtzan. That¡¯s fine, you don¡¯t need to be completely forthcoming with me. I don¡¯t need to know everything about you.¡± ¡°Thanks, I guess. What about you?¡± ¡°I was born and raised in the Nature Clan¡¯s capital of Eden. A variety of things led to me living out here, though.¡± I could tell that this ¡®variety of things¡¯ was probably quite the euphemism, but I felt no need to pry. ¡°Oh, okay.¡± There was a brief silence as we just looked at each other. ¡°So, Braith, you¡¯ve had a pretty rough time traveling so far?¡± ¡°What makes you say that?¡± ¡°Well, for someone shot by an arrow, you don¡¯t seem very upset by it. I¡¯m guessing that this isn¡¯t too out of the ordinary?¡± I chuckled, but it quickly ended with a cough. ¡°You¡¯re pretty good at guessing.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll try to not judge you on what you¡¯ve done so far, but has it been very dangerous?¡± Oh, you don¡¯t know the half of it, I thought to myself. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been the most comfortable time,¡± I understated. ¡°Does that include today? Even before getting shot by an arrow, that is.¡± I was not surprised to see the conversation come back to this. However, by now, I actually thought it was okay to just be open about it. ¡°Yeah, it wasn¡¯t a very safe thing to try to do. Trying to get into the capital.¡± ¡°So you were shot by one of the Nature Clan¡¯s soldiers?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°And it was around that time that you encountered Flora?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Hiram wore a serious expression. ¡°Any more questions?¡± Hiram shook his head and got up from his seat. ¡°That¡¯s all for now. I said I wouldn¡¯t judge you and I appreciate you for trusting me enough to tell what you¡¯ve said so far.¡± ¡°Well, I had the feeling you weren¡¯t exactly in league with what¡¯s going on in the capital.¡± ¡°Still, thank you for answering my questions. Get some rest, you should be good as new by tomorrow.¡± He went to walk away, but then the door to the room opened. Flora and Tasha came inside, and their worried faces lit up when they saw I was awake. I felt it in Befson, but still, it just feels so strange seeing other people so concerned about me. ¡°Dad, you¡¯re awake!¡± she exclaimed as she raced to my side. ¡°Grandpa, is he all better already?¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Mostly, but he still needs his rest.¡± ¡°Dad, how are you feeling?¡± Tasha asked right as she reached my bedside. ¡°Better. A lot better thanks to Hiram. Thank you, too, Flora, for bringing me here.¡± ¡°I was the one who had to carry you up here,¡± Tasha said, fishing more for praise than trying to whine. ¡°Yes, thank you, too, Tasha.¡± I would pat her head, but I was much too tired for that. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough now. He needs his rest,¡± Hiram said for my benefit. Tasha did not move from my bedside, though, until Flora came over to her. ¡°Grandpa¡¯s right, Tasha. Your dad still needs to rest up. Come on, let¡¯s go. I can show you the archery range I told you about earlier. The hot spring, too.¡± ¡°Listen to them, Tasha, I¡¯ll be just fine here by myself.¡± Tasha eventually relented and they left the room. I closed my eyes and sleep came by much sooner than I expected even with my fatigue. The next day, I woke up feeling refreshed. I got out of the bed, and saw some clothes placed on the bedside chair. My armour was missing however. Well, it wasn¡¯t really mine. I would just ask Hiram about it later. I left the room and after exiting a short hallway, entered the downstairs living room. The stairs leading up were by the side of the room and there was a table and some chairs on the carpeted floor. I didn¡¯t notice anyone else in the room and right when I went to the stairs to explore further, Flora suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, looking noticeably tired. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake, um, Mr. Braith,¡± she said a bit sheepishly as she continued down the stairs. ¡°You can just call me Braith.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± ¡°Is something the matter?¡± ¡°No. Well, no, it¡¯s okay.¡± I didn¡¯t really notice earlier given the situation, but she speaks with a rather timid voice. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Um, well¡­it¡¯s about Tasha.¡± ¡°Tasha?! Did something happen to her?¡± I instinctively grabbed her in a panic. ¡°Well, it happened in the middle of the night,¡± she began uncomfortably, her shoulders clutched by me. ¡°What happened?!¡± I looked ahead of her. ¡°Um¡­it started for her.¡± ¡°Started? What started? Please, just tell me what happened?!¡± I started shaking her. After a moment of this, I realized what I had been doing to her this whole time and let go. I took a deep breath. ¡°Sorry. That was¡­very rude of me. But please, what is the matter? She is okay, right?¡± ¡°Oh, no, don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s fine. She¡¯s just resting right now. Um, it¡¯s really not that bad, she was just really shocked by the¡­uh, blood.¡± Blood? Flora quickly realized her poor choice of words. ¡°Oh, no, it¡¯s not an injury or anything. Um, you do know about it, right? She¡¯s just, uh, started to mature.¡± I stared at her blankly. ¡°I-Is that¡­ a Battle-Hardened thing?¡± She looked back at me with equal confusion. ¡°Um¡­no, I don¡¯t think so. All girls go through it. Well, that¡¯s what grandpa told me when it started with me a year ago.¡± We both looked at each other a bit longer, confused about something. Then, finally I realized what she meant. ¡°Oh! Oh, okay¡­oh¡­well...¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°No, nothing, yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. So, she¡¯s fine, right?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s fine. Just resting now.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± I shuffled around a bit awkwardly. ¡°Do you need to go see her right now?¡± ¡°No, no, no! I¡¯m fine, it¡¯s okay. Uh, yeah, I¡¯ll just¡­so, where did your grandfather go?¡± ¡°Grandpa¡¯s tending to our apple trees.¡± ¡°I see. Well, that sounds really interesting. Mind leading me there?¡± I asked, not interested at all and just wanting to move past what just happened and to do something else. Thankfully, Flora was willing to oblige. I followed her to behind the cottage where there were five apple trees. Hiram was seated on a stool, perusing through a basket of apples. He turned to look at us briefly when we approached. ¡°Ah, good to see you up and about, Braith,¡± he said, looking at the apples. ¡°Guess you probably won¡¯t be needing one of these, then.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I asked, confused by his last statement. ¡°Hmmm? Oh, right, you¡¯ve never been to the Nature Clan before.¡± He got up from his stool and showed me his basket. There were half a dozen apples in it. They were kind of small, but looked like ordinary red apples. ¡°These are potion apples. They¡¯re very rare since they only grow with special soil and fertilizer.¡± ¡°Potion apples?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never heard of them?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t, but I feel like I already have an idea of what they are.¡± Well, if the word ¡®potion¡¯ was any indicator, that is. But, that would be just a little ridiculous. ¡°They are magical fruits that heal you when you eat them.¡± Wow, they literally are potion apples. ¡°How effective are they?¡± ¡°Well, they won¡¯t save you from mortal wounds or regrow limbs, but they¡¯re still very useful. Any injuries or fatigue you have that you would naturally recover from will be instantly healed. Serious injuries and illnesses can also be relieved to some degree.¡± That does sound pretty good. Getting one of these everyday would probably be overkill on healing. ¡°Is that what you used for my poison earlier?¡± Hiram shook his head and then gave a soft chuckle ¡°Oh, no. I could have used one of these if too much time had passed or if your body went through serious side effects, but these things are a bit too rare to waste.¡± ¡°Oh, was the poison not that serious?¡± ¡°Hmmm, it wasn¡¯t something to take too lightly, but it was made worse by the state your body was in. You have clearly been overworking your body for some time now. Have you been making sure to rest properly during your travels?¡± Stress and fighting is probably what Hiram was pointing at, and he certainly wouldn¡¯t be wrong about that implied guess. Although, I had also been using my powers every day to get here faster as well. ¡°I might have been a bit reckless,¡± I admitted. ¡°Well, as long as you remember to take better care of yourself. You should also be thankful that whomever made the poison wasn¡¯t very good at it.¡± I furrowed my eyebrows. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°The poison on the arrow was made from a variety of some fairly common flowers around here. When mixed properly, it can be a lot more potent. On top of those fever-inducing effects, it can also cause nearly immediate paralysis. It would still be non-lethal, but that was never the point behind this particular poison.¡± ¡°Because the Nature Clan wants to catch their enemies alive?¡± Hiram¡¯s expression turned somewhat sour. I really hope I did not just step on a landmine. ¡°It¡¯s an old type of poison that many of the people no longer know how to mix properly.¡± Hiram turned his body to the side and started pacing. ¡°Now, they focus on new things. Hmph, mostly to do with metalwork and forging. They even plated the city wall with metal now.¡± ¡°So, the metal plating was something that happened recently?¡± ¡°Yes, it was something they had the captives from the Bronze Colony construct for them. They also work the forges and do other labour inside the capital.¡± This piqued my interest. I had failed to enter the capital, but I may still be able to get some information. ¡°Hiram, what do you know about the current situation in the capital?¡± ¡°The current situation?¡± ¡°With the prisoners from the Bronze Territory.¡± Hiram¡¯s expression shifted to a calculating look. His eyes went over to Flora who had been silently standing by the whole time. ¡°Flora, do you think you can go and check up on Tasha?¡± Hiram asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯d feel a lot better if someone with experience could comfort her.¡± ¡°Oh, sure, grandpa.¡± Flora didn¡¯t seem oblivious to Hiram¡¯s intent, but she left without putting up any resistance and went back inside the cottage. I looked at Hiram silently for a bit after she left our view. ¡°So, can we talk now?¡± Hiram blew out some air from his mouth and took a seat on his stool again. I remained standing. ¡°That depends¡­how open do you plan to be with me?¡± ¡°After all the things I¡¯ve said so far, and the fact that the Nature Clan soldiers haven¡¯t come to get me, I can say quite a lot.¡± Hiram leaned forward on his seat, with his elbows on his thighs, and forearms bent upwards with clasped hands to support his lowered chin. ¡°Alright, let me hear you out first.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a particular reason I travelled here, well, actually a couple reasons. However, the reason I want to talk to you right now is about the Bronze Territory.¡± ¡°It¡¯s interesting to hear someone call it that.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got an outdated map. Also, I don¡¯t really like the sound of ¡®colony¡¯.¡± ¡°Alright, I understand. Continue.¡± ¡°When I was in the Bronze Colony, I overheard some things from the people there. In particular, I heard about the letters that the prisoners here send to their friends and family. You know about that, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I am aware of that.¡± ¡°Are you also aware about a sudden change that happened with that letter policy starting around two months ago?¡± ¡°A change?¡± ¡°Some people stopped receiving letters from the prisoners, and the letters that they still got were now strangely praising the Nature Clan.¡± Hiram¡¯s expression turned very serious. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°It¡¯s what I¡¯ve heard.¡± ¡°That does sound quite troubling. However, Braith, I am sorry, but I do not have any information about why such a thing has started happening. I haven¡¯t returned to Eden since the end of the war.¡± ¡°What?¡± That was a rather surprising reveal. I figured Hiram was a bit of an outcast, but the war ended thirteen years ago. ¡°What about Flora?¡± ¡°She has never been to Eden before in her life.¡± Another interesting piece of information. It really made me start to wonder what she was trying to do when we first encountered each other. ¡°But why?¡± I felt the need to ask, knowing full well I probably wouldn¡¯t receive a real answer. ¡°Yes, I suppose it is rather strange to hear that. As members of the Nature Clan, even if you do not live in Eden, you¡¯d be expected to visit it to at least form a contract with the guardian tree.¡± It looked like Hiram was misunderstanding the reason for my confusion, but this was fine as well. ¡°By guardian tree, you mean that giant tree?¡± Hiram looks almost offended by that question. He clicked his tongue and returned to a stoic gaze. ¡°Yes, that large tree in the centre of Eden. It is an ancient existence that houses the guardian spirit of the Nature Clan, the earth goddess, Gaia.¡± ¡°A guardian spirit? Wait, you said that people come to contract with it, does that mean there are multiple vessels?¡± Thousand Bolts did mention he wasn¡¯t like the other guardian spirits, but this is quite the drastic difference. ¡°I find it interesting that you use the word ¡®vessel¡¯.¡± I froze up a bit. Was I being too open? I mean, now that I think about it, I really should be very careful about telling people that I have a guardian spirit. ¡°Well, it¡¯s the original term. Anyways, no, those of the Nature Clan do not come to contract with Gaia, but with the guardian tree itself.¡± ¡°With the tree?¡± ¡°The guardian tree is a magical existence that has been rooted in Midgard long before recorded history. Our ancestors worshipped it and in return, it granted us many blessings. As for the guardian spirit that also happens to reside within the tree, she has been around since the founding of the Nature Clan. She had made previous leaders of the Nature Clan her vessel in the past, but when she is not inhabiting one of us, she lives within the guardian tree.¡± ¡°Oh, so the guardian tree is like her Spirit Altar, and she waits there until a worthy vessel shows up.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly,¡± Hiram said after a moment of hesitation. ¡°Braith, you mentioned that you had other reasons for coming here. I know that I could not help you with the first one, but perhaps I may know more about the others.¡± I could tell this was his way of getting me to confirm what he has probably already guessed. It wasn¡¯t so much that I minded telling him the reasons themselves, but the context behind those reasons had to be kept secret. ¡°I¡¯m searching for some people. Well, two different types of people, for different reasons. One, I have something to settle with. Another¡­for Tasha.¡± I was intentionally vague, despite saying how I was going to be very open with him. However, Hiram seemed to know the reasons for my search. ¡°One for the sake of revenge, and the other for your daughter¡¯s sake. I cannot say putting those two on the same path is advisable. But that is not my decision to make.¡± The way Hiram said this made me feel that there was a lot left unsaid. ¡°So, I assume you will be back on your journey fairly soon, then?¡± I had to think about that. Trying to get into the capital would probably be a bust, but I don¡¯t know if Tasha will be so quick to completely give up on it and move on. Also, even if the chances are slim, I still wanted to try as well if I could get some information on those merchants. Oh, and I guess I should also probably try to figure out the deal with the letters. ¡°Probably, but Tasha¡¯s going through some¡­new times, and I think she might need more than a day before she¡¯s ready to go. Do you mind if we stay here a bit longer?¡± ¡°No, just take your time here.¡± ¡°Thank you. Oh, by the way, where is my armour?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll show you to it. I¡¯m not sure you should keep wearing it, though; it¡¯s pretty worn out and there¡¯s a few holes in it, including the more recent one from the arrow.¡± ¡°Well, that''s all I got. If I keep traveling, I guess I¡¯ll try to pick up something nicer if I can.¡± ¡°Your daughter¡¯s armour isn¡¯t in very good condition either.¡± ¡°Well, nothing I can do about that either, at the moment.¡± ¡°Well, just bear that in mind that they don¡¯t offer much protection, well at least not if your journey¡¯s going to continue to be even half as dangerous as it has been so far.¡± ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± I was growing impatient with the sudden influx of complaints. I did not expect to get into such dangerous battles when I initially set out. I just wanted to find Tasha¡¯s parents. Ah, but I suppose that was just my incompetence. Thinking that traveling Midgard would be like rugged camping was a silly thought. It was one of many silly thoughts I''ve had, but I guess it is better to just accept them in move on. I shook my head and then let Hiram lead the way. Chapter 17 I put my armour on and then I thought about seeing Tasha. Hiram told me which room she was in, but I was anxious about seeing her. Instead, I just stood outside the door and waited for a bit. Eventually, Flora exited the room. ¡°Oh, Mr. Braith, you surprised me.¡± She had already forgotten that it was okay to just call me by my name. ¡°Ah, right, sorry about that. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was okay to come into the room.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Flora opened the door wide and I saw Tasha lying in bed, her back facing the door. ¡°Are you really sure?¡± I asked in a whisper. Flora seemed confused by the sudden change in volume. ¡°Um, if you don¡¯t want to be here, it¡¯s okay to leave. Um, not that I¡¯m suggesting that you should leave. I just mean if it makes you uncomfortable, you don¡¯t have to be here. Ah, but I don¡¯t mean to be rude.¡± Flora said this rather hurriedly with her face growing redder by the second. ¡°Is she in pain?¡± ¡°Just some discomfort. Um, Mr. Braith, if it¡¯s okay with you, I¡¯d like to leave now.¡± ¡°Oh, right, sorry about that.¡± I backed away from the doorway and she timidly made her way past me. She gave a small bow and quietly ran off. I looked back in the room and Tasha¡¯s back was still turned to the door. Am I someone who can have a conversation with a girl in this specific situation? No, I am not. I softly shut the door and went downstairs as well. I left the cottage and had a look around the rest of the area. There was a small vegetable patch in the front and on one side of the cottage was an archery range. Flora was there and it looked like she was just about to start practicing. She seemed a bit surprised to see me again so soon but she quickly put on an understanding expression. She is awfully considerate for her age. ¡°Hello,¡± she said simply as she took an arrow out of her quiver and nocked it on her bow. I waited for her to take her shot. There were five targets on the other side of the range at varying heights and distances. She fired at one that was about four feet off the ground and eighty feet away. The arrow hit the bull¡¯s eye. ¡°That¡¯s pretty impressive,¡± I commented. ¡°Thanks.¡± She nocked another arrow and fired at a further target this time. Once again, it hit dead center. I didn¡¯t say anything this time. She fired another eight arrows, two each at each of the five targets, and they all hit with similar accuracy and precision. ¡°You must be really good at hunting,¡± I commented after she retrieved her arrows from the targets and came back. ¡°Um, no, not really. I don¡¯t really like hunting.¡± ¡°Oh, so you practice archery as just a hobby, then?¡± ¡°Um, sort of. It¡¯s something that grandpa started training me in and he said it would be important to know. I guess he thinks it¡¯s good to be able to defend yourself.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose that¡¯s pretty important, especially if you haven¡¯t contracted with that guardian tree.¡± She showed clear discomfort with my statement. ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± She took a seat down on the grass. I took a brief look around again, thinking it rather amazing that they just have all this land around them to themselves. I then went over and took a seat next to Flora. We sat together in awkward silence, both of us wanting to start up some new topic, but not wanting to bring up something inappropriate. ¡°Uh,¡± I began. Flora looked at me in nervous anticipation. ¡°So, Flora¡­how long have you been living with your grandfather?¡± ¡°Oh, ever since I can remember. My parents died during the war when I was just a baby and grandpa has been looking after me ever since.¡± Wow, I am so good at picking conversation material. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry to hear that, Flora,¡± I said a bit awkwardly. ¡°But, uh, it seems like he¡¯s done a good job at raising you. You¡¯re probably the nicest girl I¡¯ve met so far. Uh, no, wait, that doesn¡¯t sound right, I don¡¯t mean anything when I say that. No, what I mean is, uh, yeah¡­¡± Flora¡¯s face showed me that she had no idea what I was getting at. I let out a very bizarre laugh. ¡°Well, you know, I wish Tasha could act more like you sometimes. You know, not as brash and loud.¡± ¡°Really?¡± She seemed to take what I said very seriously. ¡°I think Tasha is wonderful. She was really worried about you when you were unconscious, but when I started to get worried too, she was the one who cheered me up. She said that you were made of much tougher stuff and that you would wake up very soon.¡± ¡°Tasha really said that?¡± I asked with genuine emotion. ¡°Yeah, she said a lot of other stuff, too.¡± Flora smiled. ¡°I mean, I could still tell she was worried, but she started talking about this and that to keep our minds off of it. Now that¡¯s something I wish I could do. Grandpa teaches me all sorts of things but when I have problems, I end up getting really down about it. I just end up stuck, unable to do anything sometimes when I get sad like that. I wish I could just brighten up as easily as Tasha.¡± It was interesting to hear someone interpret Tasha¡¯s reckless and carefree attitude as something so positive. ¡°Well, Flora, don¡¯t you think that maybe you are just too hard on yourself? I mean, you say you have problems, but seeing how good you are at archery, you clearly have the patience and drive to learn in spite of those flaws.¡± Flora fiddled around a bit with an arrow in her hands, her expression sullen. ¡°I just have too much time. I¡¯m not any good at taking care of the garden or the trees, and I don¡¯t go hunting either. Half the time, I¡¯m just alone and have nothing better to do.¡± ¡°Well, I know a lot of people who would have just spent those days sulking and wasting the day away. Believe me, Flora, you are a great person to have worked hard to get that good at something.¡± I felt mildly embarrassed saying such a cheesy and vague line, but I meant it. Especially the first part. ¡°Thanks, Mr. Braith.¡± She stopped fiddling with the arrow. ¡°I can see why Tasha likes you so much.¡± ¡°Ah, well, that¡¯s just how children tend to be towards their parents. Until they get older.¡± She looked at me with mild confusion. ¡°I don¡¯t think age alone would do that.¡± ¡°Well, a lot happens when you grow up. Hmmm, actually, how old are you, Flora?¡± ¡°Me? Oh, I¡¯m fourteen years old, but I will be fifteen this summer.¡± Yeah, that sounds around the age I expected when comparing her to Tasha. Flora did seem more mature. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t happen to everyone,¡± I continued on from my prior point. ¡°Some people start off nice or mean and just stay like that.¡± ¡°Does that mean you used to be mean when you were younger, and then you became nice?¡± Flora looked strangely serious when she asked me that question. I laughed, but not in a happy way. ¡°Flora, I¡¯m going to say this so that you don¡¯t make this mistake in the future. I am not a nice person.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Why do you say that? You don¡¯t look like a bad person and Tasha hasn¡¯t said anything like that either.¡± So, Tasha hasn¡¯t said anything bad about me? I wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about that. ¡°No, I do things selfishly. It¡¯s just that I care about Tasha so I want to do things for her as well.¡± I was a firm believer that there was no such thing as true altruism. ¡°I don¡¯t think someone truly bad could do something like that. You seem to really care about other people.¡± I refused to accept her compliments. ¡°No, you just see things like that because you¡¯re the one who is too nice. It might not be a bad thing if you just live peacefully here in this cottage, but it will get you into trouble otherwise. Don¡¯t ever make the mistake of trying to become some kind of hero.¡± I spoke that last sentence with particular emphasis. ¡°A hero? Is that what you wanted to be?¡± The question was asked with innocent curiosity, but it somehow incensed me. ¡°Yeah, right! It¡¯s always been my lifelong dream to go around the world helping those in need. I¡¯d swoop in at the nick of time and rescue the people from the villain!¡± I said extremely sarcastically while wildly gesticulating. Flora was shocked by my sudden change and I was rather ashamed with my outburst. I waited for Flora to say something so we could change the topic. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with wanting to do something like that?¡± Well, I guess she doesn¡¯t want to change the topic. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous and it isn¡¯t worth it. Inevitably, you will also fail.¡± Flora started anxiously fiddling with her hair. ¡°Flora, why were you by the Nature Clan¡¯s capital?¡± I originally had no intention of asking, but I¡¯d rather stop talking about myself now. ¡°Um¡­no reason,¡± she lied, obviously. ¡°Do you honestly expect me to believe that?¡± I did not expect her to tell me the truth, but as I said, I just wanted to move on to something else, even if it required some light and futile interrogation. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can tell you.¡± I blew some air out of my mouth and looked up at the sky. ¡°What about your grandfather? Shouldn¡¯t you tell him?¡± ¡°No, I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± I asked, a bit absentmindedly. ¡°She told me not to.¡± I suddenly became alert. I turned to look at her again and I saw a mix of apprehension and fear on her face. ¡°Who is she?¡± Flora shook her head vigorously. ¡°I can¡¯t say it.¡± She had the look of someone who was being blackmailed. ¡°Flora, this is serious. Why can you not say who it is?¡± Flora continued to shake her head, her expression growing worse. I stood up. ¡°Flora, if someone is threatening you, we should tell your grandfather right away.¡± ¡°No! Don¡¯t!¡± She grabbed onto my arm to keep me from walking away. ¡°Terrible things will happen if we tell him!¡± I tried to calm her down while gently getting her to release me. ¡°Flora, please, calm down. Alright, I won¡¯t tell your grandfather, but you have to at least give me some idea of what is going on.¡± Flora took in a few deep breaths to relax herself. ¡°I¡­she¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°She said that I could not tell grandpa no matter what.¡± I found it peculiar that Flora kept bringing up her grandfather. ¡°Did she mention your grandfather specifically? Or did she say to not tell anyone?¡± Flora thought to herself for a couple seconds. ¡°She said to not tell grandpa.¡± That truly was odd, but it was something I could use. ¡°Well, that means you can tell me, right?¡± I slowly sat back down on the ground and Flora took some more time to calm down. ¡°Um, I guess I could. But, I don¡¯t think I should.¡± ¡°Flora, believe me when I say I will not tell your grandfather,¡± I said, assuming that was the reason for her hesitation. She took another moment to think to herself. ¡°Are you sure I should tell you?¡± ¡°As long as you think you can.¡± Flora nodded once. ¡°Okay. Um, please don¡¯t be too scared after I tell you.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Anger or concern would probably be a more realistic reaction as I simulated the various things she was about to say. ¡°Two nights ago, I had a dream. In the dream, Gaia warned me of a catastrophe that would occur.¡± ¡°Gaia? You mean, the guardian spirit of the Nature Clan?¡± Flora nodded. ¡°How did you know it was her? Have you seen her before?¡± Flora shook her head. ¡°No, it was just her voice, but she told me who she was.¡± I was skeptical, but I figured I ought to let her continue for now. ¡°She told me that the only way to avoid the catastrophe was to enter Eden.¡± Well, that obviously didn¡¯t work out. ¡°Wait, are you saying we¡¯re all doomed now?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I was worried about, too. After you recovered yesterday, I remembered how serious it was and I could hardly get to sleep. But then, Gaia came to me again in my dreams when I finally fell asleep. She told me not to worry and that there was still time.¡± ¡°You could have all the time you want, but I don¡¯t see how you¡¯re going to get inside,¡± I stated rather bluntly as I recalled the soldiers and the wall. ¡°Gaia said that she had a new plan. Three nights from today, there will be a new moon. She wants me to go to Eden again and to not worry about the wall. She says all I need to do is arrive and make my way to the guardian tree.¡± It took me a second to come to a certain conclusion. ¡°So, Gaia wants to make you her new vessel.¡± Flora seemed genuinely surprised by my suggestion. ¡°What? Why would you say that? She didn¡¯t mention anything like that¡­¡± ¡°Well, Gaia resides in the guardian tree. Assuming it was really her who spoke to you in your dreams, why else would she take all this effort to get you to come to the tree?¡± ¡°Well¡­I could make a contract with the guardian tree like the other Nature Clan Farseers.¡± ¡°Flora, according to you, Gaia, a powerful spirit of the Nature Clan, personally entered your dreams to convince you to come to where she was in order to prevent a catastrophe. Would she do all of that just to have you make a contract that thousands of other people already have?¡± I was still unsure of whether or not the Gaia that entered her dreams was the real deal, but it did remind me of the dream Tasha had in the forest before Reapers¡¯ Pass. Could the two be related? ¡°I- I don¡¯t think I can become a vessel to a guardian spirit?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just not worthy of that kind of honour¡­¡± The only two guardian spirit vessels I knew were me and Destiny. I did not have a high opinion of either. ¡°Anyways, why did she tell you not to tell your grandfather?¡± ¡°She said that I would not be able to stop the catastrophe if I did.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°I asked her, but she didn¡¯t say.¡± There seemed to be a number of things out of place, but despite that, there was one thing that was far more important to confirm. ¡°So, are you planning to try to go there again?¡± ¡°...Yes,¡± she answered after a long pause. ¡°Despite the dangers and lack of evidence that anything that happened in your dreams is the truth?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she answered quicker this time, and with the sort of determination I would expect from Tasha. ¡°Well, good luck with that, then.¡± ¡°You promise not to tell grandpa, right?¡± ¡°I really should tell him. I really, really should.¡± As a responsible adult, I should inform a child¡¯s guardian that their child is about to do something incredibly dangerous. Even if that means breaking a promise with that child. ¡°But I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mr. Braith.¡± Flora clearly looked relieved at my response. ¡°I¡¯d prefer it if you didn¡¯t thank me for turning a blind eye to your reckless behaviour.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! So, we are going to help you!¡± Tasha suddenly shouted from behind. I whipped around and saw her standing proudly with her hands on her waist. ¡°Tasha¡­how long have you been listening for?¡± ¡°Since the part about the new moon.¡± Is that good or bad? Could be worse, I guess, she could have heard my earlier outburst. ¡°Well, Tasha, you seemed to have missed the part where Flora was told to keep this a secret. This isn¡¯t something we can just involve ourselves with.¡± Tasha looked at me quizzically. ¡°She told you the secret, why can¡¯t we just help her?¡± ¡°Okay, so the part about it being a secret isn¡¯t that important. What¡¯s important is that assuming this is all some grand plan by the guardian spirit, she¡¯s calling for Flora, not us.¡± Tasha ignored me and walked right by me and knelt down to hold Flora¡¯s hands into hers. ¡°Flora, you¡¯re gonna go off to save the world and I¡¯m going to help.¡± Flora¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up a bit with panic. ¡°S-save the world?¡± The reality of preventing a catastrophe had apparently resurfaced, presenting a sharp contrast to her recent calm resolve. ¡°That¡¯s right! You only need to worry about getting there, I will back you up for the rest.¡± ¡°Tasha, I repeat, we are not going to help her. This is her business and we shouldn¡¯t be butting in.¡± Tasha swung her head around to face me and gave me a sharp glare, the most energetic expression I had seen from her in a while. ¡°I¡¯m going to help her and I don¡¯t care what you say or do this time!¡± I found myself clenching a fist. ¡°No, really, you don¡¯t need to do any of this for me,¡± Flora began, ¡°um, yeah, I can do this. Yes, I can do this on my own.¡± She didn¡¯t look the least bit believable with her quick breathing and shivering arms. ¡°Tasha-¡± ¡°Dad!¡± Tasha interrupted by leaping onto me. I fell onto my back and Tasha was now on top of me, she was in a push-up position with her hands pressed to the ground on either side of me. ¡°We have to help her. If you say you won¡¯t help her no matter what¡­then I will do it by myself.¡± I was about to protest again but Tasha had one last thing to say. ¡°I owe her a favour for saving the most important person to me.¡± I swallowed and then clenched my teeth. What have I been doing wrong this whole time? Clearly, I¡¯ve screwed up a lot, so I¡¯ve just been trying to keep things going in a safe direction. But, if my motivation for everything I¡¯ve done so far was for Tasha¡¯s sake, then I guess that leaves me with only two options now. One is of course to just go along with Tasha here and help Flora. The second¡­would probably be something I¡¯d regret for the rest of my life. ¡°Okay, Tasha.¡± She beamed at me. ¡°Do you really mean it?¡± ¡°Of course. Um, do you mind getting off of me now?¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± she backed off with a bit of embarrassment. I sat back up and looked at Flora, who looked like she was about to protest. ¡°Flora, we are going to help you, but I need you to promise me one thing.¡± Flora looked at me, perplexed. Eventually, she nodded. ¡°If things get too dangerous or if you think it is impossible to go any further; turn back immediately. Run back home, forget about whatever Gaia told you, and tell your grandfather.¡± I still don¡¯t know the secret about Hiram, but it was obvious that he was not some ordinary Nature Clan Farseer. I held out my hand. ¡°I promise,¡± Flora said with some confidence in her small voice as she took my hand. Tasha then put her hand on top of ours. She gave Flora a wide smile and she reciprocated. I gave a small smile as well, but I could not help feeling uneasy about what we were about to embark upon. Chapter 18 While waiting for the night of the plan, the thing I thought most likely to interfere in the plan was Hiram finding out. We got along very casually over the next couple days and did not discuss the plan any further. Hiram showed no sign of knowing about what we were up to nor curiosity over why Flora was by the capital in the first place. I guess he was serious about not prying unless she told him herself. I thought that this kind of patience would reach its limit by the time we got ready to leave. Nightfall came and the three of us gathered outside of the cottage. We used a regular lantern to see around us since the moonstone lantern was useless tonight. Any moment now, I thought, Hiram would wake up and discover us as we left the small hill, but it never happened. I finally gave up on thinking Hiram was going to show up as we reached the point where the patrols would be. We put away the lantern and used the light from the stars and the moving lights of the distant torches or lanterns of the Nature Clan guards as our guides. Progress was surprisingly fast and we soon reached the city¡¯s wall. Up on the walls, we saw little fires spaced out about every hundred feet. We huddled up by the wall, waiting for whatever miracle Gaia had promised was going to eventually happen. Even to my surprise, it did happen. The ground began to shake and I could hear the guards shouting from atop the wall. The earth quickly began erupting itself from the ground and the shaking continued for another fifteen seconds before finally subsiding. During this time, the guards had cast their lights in various directions, but simply could not see far enough through the night¡¯s darkness. With the ending of the shaking was a hole in the ground large enough for a full grown man to crawl through. Where it would lead was impossible to know, but if this wasn¡¯t a coincidence, it was still obvious. Taking a leap of faith, the three of us crawled into the hole and ended up on the other side of the wall. This certainly confirmed the fact that something really did want Flora to come here, but was this really all the doing of the guardian spirit? There was no time to ponder further though as the guards may discover the hole eventually and put the whole city on alert. We quickly ran towards the center of the city where the guardian tree was. Spread throughout the city were wooden poles with lanterns hanging from them. I assumed they were meant to act like lamp posts but they were spread out a lot further than I thought practical and some of them gave off no light whatsoever. They may have run out of oil or maybe they were moonstone lanterns; I did not bother to check. As we made our way forward, I noticed that the city appeared very sparsely populated. Other than the lamp posts, the only other structures I made out looked to be sheds. I suppose some of the larger silhouettes could have been barns or barn houses, but there were no lights on inside of them. We continued to move forward but encountered hardly any change in the scenery. Just more shadowy objects that looked like sheds or barns and the mix of lit and unlit lantern posts. After about half an hour of running, we were met with another wall. It was a bit shorter than the outer city wall and this one did not appear to have any guards positioned on top. As I considered whether this was something scalable, we heard voices coming from around the corner. Along with the approaching voices, I could also see a light shining from that direction. I silently drew my sword and charged up a bolt through my body. I whispered over to Tasha to get ready as well. Right as the lantern revealed our shadows, the two of us attacked. Before either of the guards had a chance to say anything, we knocked them both out. Flora jumped out from behind us and caught their lantern that was about to crash onto the ground. I had forgotten to consider that as well. ¡°Well, I think this wall¡¯s too high to get over, which means we have to find the gate,¡± I said as I killed the light in the lantern. ¡°But won¡¯t there be even more guards at the gate?¡± Flora asked. ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s not like there¡¯s any other choice. And seriously, what¡¯s up with this place? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen any houses so far, just tons of open space and sheds.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never been to Eden before, but, grandpa said that it¡¯s not that great of a place to live if you¡¯re not a noble.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that mean?¡± I feel like these details about the city should have been presented at an earlier time. But honestly, I didn¡¯t think it would look so weird beyond the wall. ¡°He said that although nobles live in castles or estates in the center of the city around the guardian tree, the rest of the people live underground.¡± I looked at the ground. ¡°Underground? What do you mean? How would we even get underground?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I didn¡¯t think it would look like this either so I thought it would be more obvious.¡± Hiram¡¯s knowledge would probably prove invaluable if he was with us right now. Well, we would just have to make due with induction. ¡°Do you recall some big hole in the ground anywhere?¡± I asked. ¡°No.¡± I think I could barely see Flora shake her head in the darkness. ¡°Anything seem out of place as we came here?¡± ¡°Other than not seeing any other people?¡± Flora responded after pondering for a moment. ¡°Yeah. Hmmm, wait. If most of the people live underground, there has to be more than one entrance. It would just be ridiculous to get everyone to enter and exit out of one location.¡± I looked back towards the supposed sheds and barns. ¡°The way underground might be back there.¡± I picked up one of the guards we knocked out. Worst case scenario, we can still use the sheds to hide them from further patrols. ¡°Tasha, you get the other one. Let¡¯s go.¡± We went back towards the closest barn. Upon a closer look, it really did look like just an ordinary barn. We opened the door and tried to peer inside but it was pitch-black. We took a couple steps inside and the typical barnyard smell rushed up our noses. I tried to focus my vision and could just barely make out what appeared to be rows of stalls and sleeping animals. Darn, this really was just a barn. We dumped the guards inside and left. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s in another one?¡± Flora suggested. I didn¡¯t really expect that to be the case but we went to another one anyways. We tried one of the sheds this time and inside were some miscellaneous tools and equipment. ¡°Well, if we can¡¯t find it, why don¡¯t we just dig a hole in the ground?¡± Tasha said. ¡°Just dig a hole in the ground?¡± I asked with bemusement. ¡°Flora, do you think Gaia can make us another hole?¡± ¡°Um, I don¡¯t know. Should I ask?¡± I guess sarcasm is harder to read when you can¡¯t even see each other¡¯s faces. ¡°No, forget about it.¡± I said, trying to shut down the silly topic. ¡°We can¡¯t just give up here!¡± Tasha exclaimed. ¡°Shhhh!¡± I nearly hissed at her. If the guards caught wind of us at this point, it would be next to impossible to escape. ¡°Oh¡­sorry, dad.¡± I wracked my brain trying to figure out what to do next, which is particularly difficult since a part of me just wanted to leave right now. Why should we have to spend so much time in dangerous territory for some potentially prophetic stuff like this? ¡°Um, Mr. Braith?¡± ¡°Yes, Flora?¡± I responded after letting out a long sigh. ¡°Um, maybe we could keep looking through the other sheds and barns?¡± I wanted to tell her that I thought her idea was stupid, but I figured I ought to let her see that for herself. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll keep looking.¡± The next shed and barn we checked were just like the first ones. However, I figured we ought to check one more so that Flora got the point. Perhaps a part of me just wanted to make Flora give up so we could just leave. No part of me, however, expected that the next barn would be devoid of any animals. Instead, there was a large hole leading underground. I almost wanted to slap myself, and not because I specifically thought I was an idiot. I would also like to put some of the blame on whoever was in charge of designing this city¡¯s infrastructure. We walked down the sloping hole and saw a light in the distance. I drew my sword and took the lead. I quickly knocked out an unaware guard and dragged him towards the hole¡¯s entrance. We then continued onwards. The tunnel had little stones spaced apart on the walls, just like the path that led to the Spirit Altar of the Thousand Bolts. I wondered why stones like these weren¡¯t used outside of tunnels, but I quickly stopped thinking about that. I¡¯d rather not distract myself in such a situation. After some distance, we came across a fork in the tunnel. ¡°Got any ideas?¡± I asked them both. ¡°Um¡­left?¡± Flora answered. ¡°Why left?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Her face displayed her honesty. ¡°Tasha, you got anything to add?¡± ¡°Right?¡± Tasha¡¯s honest confusion was clear on her face. ¡°Why right?¡± I asked, not really expecting her to have a serious reason. ¡°Uh, I thought you just wanted to hear the two options again¡­¡± I blinked a couple times. Did we all just get stupider all of a sudden? ¡°Alright, left it is.¡± We went left and after a few minutes, I could hear voices from around the next bend. We slowly crept forward to listen in. I figured this was a bit smarter to do, now that I¡¯ve realized just how little we know about this city. Even idle banter could be useful, perhaps? ¡°Did they finally settle down?¡± the first guard asked. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°No, they¡¯re all still up, complaining that we have to evacuate them in case the tunnels collapse,¡± the second guard responded. ¡°As if. The roots of the guardian tree span throughout all the tunnel walls, a little shaking isn¡¯t going to do anything.¡± The shaking was even felt all the way over here? ¡°Well, what would you expect them to think? They¡¯re Battle-Hardened; all they know how to do is hold a weapon or a tool. Manual work is all they¡¯re good for.¡± ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯ve been relying on them for that a lot more now.¡± ¡°Only because of what¡¯s been going on. The King said he has people looking into it. They should figure it all out soon enough.¡± ¡°Still kind of scares me, though. Can you imagine the look on my nephew¡¯s face when he couldn¡¯t make a contract with the guardian tree?¡± Wait, what? I found myself creeping in closer. ¡°Yeah, yeah, you told me this a bunch of times already.¡± ¡°My sister says he¡¯s still pretty shaken up about it. First one in the family. Heck, has this ever happened before?¡± ¡°No, never heard of this before.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already been two months. I mean, imagine what¡¯ll happen to us if this continues? A whole generation of the Nature Clan without Farseer magic?¡± I crept in a bit too close as I realized my shadow was probably visible to them. I instantly pulled back, but the shuffling of my feet made a louder noise than I intended. ¡°Hey, what was that sound?!¡± ¡°What? Is the earth shaking again?¡± I could hear the guards shuffling around. ¡°Sounded different this time. Let¡¯s go check it out.¡± The two guards walked around the corner and Tasha and I knocked them out. However, one of them managed to shout out before we took him down. I looked down the tunnel, expecting a slew of guards to suddenly start running towards us. I was really hoping it wouldn¡¯t happen, but, of course, it did. ¡°You hear that?!¡± ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s some intruders in here!¡± Four guards came running towards us out of another pathway further down the tunnel. Tasha and I fought them head-on, and I was surprised when one of them deflected my attack and almost pushed me back. I quickly charged another bolt through my body and quickly countered, slashing at the side of his chest through his leather armour. He let out a gasp as he fell to the ground. The next guard had a spear but with my new speed I just barely dodged it while moving forward and hit him on the side of the head with the flat of my sword. He let out a cry of pain and stumbled a bit. Wait, why are these guys so strong? The spearman recovered and charged at me again. I dodged and the spear tip connected with the tunnel wall. I tried to hit him in the head again but he ducked. He then turned his body and charged into me with his shoulder. I was knocked back a little bit but I quickly recovered. The next time he came at me, I dodged and slashed at his arm. He dropped the spear and I slashed at his leg. He went down on one knee and then I knocked him out by hitting him on the head. I turned back and saw that Tasha had finished knocking out the last of her two opponents. Flora was behind her, trembling a bit. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s keep-¡± ¡°Dad! What are you doing?!¡± Tasha suddenly shouted at me, interrupting my words. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°Why did you do that to them? Are you trying to kill them?!¡± I looked back down at the two guards I took out. The spearman was probably fine since I didn¡¯t hit any vital areas. As for the other guard that I slashed in the chest¡­I knelt down and felt for his pulse. ¡°It¡¯s fine, he¡¯s still alive.¡± I almost breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°No, it¡¯s not fine. Why are you suddenly fighting like this? We were just knocking them out until now.¡± What¡¯s with all of these complaints? ¡°They were a lot stronger than I expected, so I had to use more force,¡± I explained, trying to mask my growing annoyance. I waved my hands around a bit while speaking, which then happened to splash the bit of blood off my sword and onto the ground. ¡°Listen, Tasha, we don¡¯t have time to argue. We need to hurry before more guards show up.¡± Tasha clearly wanted to argue some more but Flora cut in. ¡°Mr. Braith is right.¡± Her trembling stopped. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that this is how it has turned out so far. If both of you want to turn back now, I understand.¡± Tasha let out a sigh of exasperation. ¡°No, we will stay with you, Flora. Let¡¯s go.¡± Tasha walked by me and shot me a look. We continued and we reached another split. One was where the guards came from. Along the other path, I saw tree roots clinging onto the wall. ¡°This probably means we are getting pretty close to the guardian tree,¡± Flora commented. Naturally, we should go down that path now, but I did not forget what the guards were talking about. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Mr. Braith?¡± she asked, noticing me staring down the other path. ¡°Well, the guards were talking about Battle-Hardened¡­¡± ¡°Wait, does that mean the prisoners are down there?¡± Tasha asked, momentarily forgetting her anger, I think. ¡°What prisoners?¡± Does Flora really know so little? ¡°The Nature Clan took some prisoners from the Bronze Territory,¡± I answered. ¡°Yeah, and we¡¯re here to rescue them!¡± Part of me wanted to ride along this momentum to keep Tasha in a good mood, but I had to shut it down. ¡°No, Tasha, I already said we weren¡¯t doing that. We were just supposed to relay some messages.¡± ¡°What?¡± Flora asked, still seemingly unable to fully comprehend what we were going on about. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know the details. Come on, we will take care of your business first, and then we¡¯ll come back here if we can.¡± Flora shook her head. ¡°No, if you came here to help some people captured here, then we have to go to them first.¡± ¡°You might run out of time, though.¡± Flora clenched her first and nodded to herself. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can take it from here. I just need to follow the tree roots and I should end up right where I need to go.¡± ¡°Flora¡­¡± Tasha didn¡¯t seem to quite believe the brave face Flora was trying to put on. ¡°Tasha, don¡¯t worry about me, either. I can do this, if I really am supposed to meet with Gaia, I should be able to do at least this much by myself.¡± Then, before we could argue further she ran down the tunnel. ¡°Help those people!¡± Flora¡¯s act was really quite unexpected. Although, that¡¯s probably because I thought I had gotten to know her a bit better. If the only thing I knew about her was that she was trying to sneak into the capital like we were, I¡¯d say her action was typical. Well, everybody has different sides to them. ¡°Tasha, let¡¯s hurry up and do what she said.¡± Honestly, I still kind of wanted to just retreat, but I had too many obligations for why I couldn¡¯t. Tasha nodded and we went down the other path. It went on for a rather short distance before turning in one direction and stopping at an open door. We stepped inside and I saw several cells with iron bars. However, there was a guard in the room who noticed us immediately. Tasha quickly charged at him and knocked him out. ¡°Who are you?¡± one of the prisoners asked, a mix of fear and excitement in his voice. ¡°Just a messenger,¡± I tried to say calmly as I walked over to the nearest cell. Inside were two male prisoners, both wearing ragged clothing. Their arms were behind the backs, their wrists shackled together. From another cell, another voice called out to me. ¡°Well, a visitor. This is truly a first.¡± The voice was smooth and deliberate. I turned around and walked up to him. He was a tall and slender man in a cell all by himself and he was dressed and cuffed like the others. He had a wild mane of black hair and a beard that went down to his collar. Despite the wild and unkempt appearance, however, he had a certain air of authority around him. ¡°A messenger, you say? Could I hope that that is merely an understatement?¡± ¡°Sorry, but I really am just a messenger. Is it safe to assume that you are all prisoners from the Bronze Territory?¡± He gave out a hearty chuckle that didn¡¯t sound quite right. ¡°To not hear my homeland called a colony almost brings a tear to my eye. Well, messenger, I am Mordecai, chief of the Bronze Clan.¡± Judging by the total silence from the other prisoners, I took his words to be the truth. ¡°Alright, good. Now, I don¡¯t have that much time, so could you please quickly answer a couple questions.¡± Tasha suddenly appeared by my side with a ring of keys. ¡°No time for questions, let¡¯s just get them out!¡± she said with a smile on her face. ¡°Tasha, I said we weren¡¯t going to do that!¡± ¡°Why not? We already have the keys, and isn¡¯t freeing them a much better way of proving they¡¯re all safe?¡± ¡°We are in the middle of an enemy capital, how do you plan on ensuring a safe and successful prison break! We just need to hear a few things and move on. We should not directly involve ourselves in these things!¡± Tasha ignored me and went straight to Mordecai¡¯s cell, picking out a random key. I grabbed her hand. ¡°No!¡± Mordecai let out a cough that actually managed to quiet me. ¡°I can see that there is a bit of a disagreement between the two of you so why don¡¯t I make this easier. Free us all and I¡¯ll tell you what you want to know. Oh, and don¡¯t worry about us once you do. We can take care of ourselves.¡± He gave a smile that only served to unnerve me more than reassure me. I ignored Mordecai and turned back to Tasha. ¡°Listen, Tasha, these two sides had a war with each other. What do you think will happen if you let them all go?¡± I shot a look at Mordecai before continuing my argument with Tasha. ¡°You don¡¯t want to see any more killing, right?¡± Tasha stared hard at me for a few seconds. ¡°Now, now, I can understand your concern,¡± Mordecai interrupted. ¡°Clearly, the two of you are ones of high moral standing, as to be expected of our soon-to-be heroes. However, if you are concerned with more bloodshed, please, rest assured. We shall do our utmost to subdue the remaining guards with non-lethal force while freeing the rest of our comrades.¡± ¡°The rest of your comrades?¡± ¡°Yes, this is only one of four cell blocks we are located in. Now, this process will result in quite a bit of chaos, but¡­I don¡¯t think that¡¯s necessarily something you are opposed to?¡± He was right. A big distraction like a prison break would probably help us and Flora out quite a bit. However, I didn¡¯t think I could trust him. ¡°Also, rescuing us will definitely result in a much larger reward than just delivered a message.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not here for some kind of reward. I only came by as a favour, so just forget about it.¡± No, I definitely couldn¡¯t go along with this. ¡°No reward?¡± Mordecai let out a roaring laugh. ¡°You really are something!¡± Mordecai pressed his body right up against the bars. ¡°I like you, meet me back in the Bronze Territory and I will definitely provide you with something you will not regret.¡± There was just something about his smile that always made me doubt his words. It wasn¡¯t a feeling that he was outright lying to me, but there was definitely more going on. As I thought about that a bit more, I heard the sound of a metal clink. I had let go of Tasha¡¯s hand and she quickly went about unlocking Mordecai¡¯s cell while I was focused on him. Tasha swung the door wide open and went inside to unlock his shackles. I tried to grab her shoulder but she suddenly kicked out from behind her and it connected with my gut. I fell over and gasped out a breath of air. This made two things clear. One, Tasha was clearly no longer in a mood to listen to me, and two, she has probably never seriously fought me before. Mordecai¡¯s shackles fell to the ground and he stretched out his newly liberated arms. Tasha then turned around and made ready to free the others but Mordecai stopped her. ¡°Ah, hold on. I greatly appreciate your work, but you are in a hurry, are you not? We can take it from here.¡± Mordecai took the keys from Tasha and the first thought in my head was, don¡¯t you dare touch my daughter. I got back up and pulled Tasha away from him. ¡°Thank you again, and know that I am very serious about rewarding you. Please do stop by soon.¡± He walked by us and casually strolled over to a cell and quickly picked out the correct key. I couldn¡¯t just let this be, could I? Tasha pushed me away from her and gave me another angry stare. I was about to say something when the ground suddenly started shaking. Flora! Damnit, I gotta move on. ¡°Come on, Tasha, we have to get to Flora!¡± Her expression softened a bit, but only because she was thinking about Flora now. Mordecai calmly waved us goodbye as we ran back. The shaking quickly subsided and we quickly ran back to where Flora separated from us. We went down her path and soon entered a very large, empty room. It had several different entrances, but one of the entrances looked to have more tree roots coming out of it. However, when we tried to go down that path, we found ourselves blocked by a shimmering, green wall of light. When I tried touching it, it felt solid and it didn¡¯t budge the slightest bit when I tried bashing at it. I tried peering past this barrier but only saw more light up ahead. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?!¡± Tasha yelled out as she repeatedly slashed at the wall to no avail. I was about to put forward my thoughts on it when we heard shouting coming from behind us. Pouring out of one of the paths into the large chamber was a group of at least ten soldiers. I tried slashing at the wall once more time but it was futile. ¡°Tasha, this way¡¯s blocked; we have to try another!¡± ¡°But Flora could be behind here!¡± ¡°Great, the soldiers won¡¯t be able to get to her, then!¡± I grabbed her arm. ¡°Come on, if Flora really is behind there, then I¡¯m sure it has something to do with Gaia. We gotta move!¡± I tugged at her again and she relented. The soldiers came at us but this was not the time to fight. The two of us picked another path at random and ran. We outran them fairly easily and after a few minutes in that path, it suddenly sloped upwards and we found ourselves back above ground. We were in the middle of some kind of courtyard with a pair of soldiers. ¡°Halt!¡± one of them ordered as Tasha simultaneously took out his companion. In an equal show of defiance, I knocked the weapon out of his hand and took him down as well. A brief look around the courtyard showed that we were on the other side of the inner walls and the guardian tree was much closer now. It was also the major source of light on this moonless night as it shimmered with the same kind of green light the barrier underground had. ¡°Where do we go now?¡± Tasha asked. Do we head to the tree since Flora was headed there too, or do we just retreat? ¡°Come on, the tree isn¡¯t far now. Flora should already be around there somewhere.¡± Tasha nodded in agreement and we headed in that direction, which required us to go inside what I presumed was the palace. If I wasn¡¯t in such a hurry, perhaps I would have spent some time taking in the architecture and the splendor of the interior. To describe it simply, though, although the walls outside looked to be stone, the interior was almost entirely wooden. There were also various artworks spread throughout, most of them paintings and murals of pastoral scenery, as well as tapestries with fantastical depictions of the guardian tree. As we made our way haphazardly through the winding corridors, I found it rather strange to not encounter any more guards. At some point we even went up a flight of stairs, but as we continued on the second floor, we eventually came across a window that overlooked the courtyard that the guardian tree was planted in. I stopped for just a second at the sight of this massive, glowing sight, and realized that it was much larger than I had initially thought. However, I could not waste time marveling at this tree and decided to just head straight for it and hope to find Flora nearby. I braced myself and jumped out the window, and Tasha followed. At the time, I did not think jumping down twenty feet was dangerous and we both did land safely. However, the moment we landed, we saw the figures of dozens of people positioned at the corners of the massive courtyard. As they moved in closer to encircle us, we were able to make them out a lot clearer under the light of the shimmering guardian tree. Coming towards us from behind the guardian tree were two individuals that looked different from the rest. One of them wore a bronze breastplate with some kind of symbol engraved in the centre. He also wore a bronze helm with bronze bracers and greaves. Beside him was a man wearing a heavy cloak made of some kind of fur as well as a golden crown atop his head. Chapter 19 ¡°So, the rats have made their way here, after all?¡± the man with the crown commented. I tried backing up a bit but was immediately up against a stone wall. My eyes darted around the courtyard, looking for an escape route. The way out of the courtyard appeared to be through the corners, but there were more than twenty soldiers no matter which path we chose to take. ¡°So, you¡¯re not all that surprised to see us, then?¡± I thought that maybe if I bought some time, an opportunity would present itself. The man with the crown made quite a show of looking at the shimmering guardian tree, and I let myself take in more clearly just how large it was. Its trunk was wider than the size of a large apartment building and the grassy courtyard we were in was as big as a city block. ¡°I would have been much more surprised to not see you turn up here at all, given the shaking of the earth and our shining tree in the middle of my palace.¡± ¡°Your palace?¡± It was hard to tell from this distance, but it seemed like he put on a rather disdainful face before responding. ¡°Yes, my palace. Was that truly a question out of ignorance or was it some foolish attempt to provoke me?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never been here before so I¡¯ve just been learning tons of new things all night so far.¡± I kept my tone of voice nonchalant as I continued to observe the area, trying to find an escape route. ¡°Really?¡± The man let out a sigh. ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard enough useless things come out of your mouth, so I will now ask that you quickly cooperate. What did you come here for?¡± ¡°Sightseeing,¡± I said rather calmly. The man in bronze lashed out at my answer. ¡°You dare lie so boldly in the face of His Majesty!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve no idea what you are talking about. I heard that Eden was nice this time of year, so I wanted to see for myself, but you know, it was such a hassle trying to get through the guards and everything so I took a different route.¡± The man in bronze started pacing towards me and the rest of the soldiers came closer as well. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can keep up the act when your arms and legs are broken!¡± the armoured man roared at me. ¡°Garden!¡± The man in bronze stopped, as did the rest of the soldiers. The king walked towards us as well now. ¡°Now, intruder, as you can see, everyone here follows my command. So, if you don¡¯t want us to be overly forceful with you, I suggest you honestly answer my questions.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do just that,¡± I replied cheerily. ¡°Excellent. Now, why are you here and where are the rest of you?¡± ¡°Which question do you want me to answer first?¡± I asked, joking with him. ¡°Whichever one you¡¯d prefer.¡± Either the king was poor at acting, or he simply didn¡¯t care to mask his annoyance. ¡°Okay, well, there is no one else. Just me. In fact, this person over here,¡± I began, pointing at Tasha, ¡°does not actually exist. She is a figment of all our imaginations.¡± Garden muttered something under his breath and the king tried to maintain his composure. ¡°Oh, yes, very funny. However, if you don¡¯t want something to happen to you, or your imagination, I¡¯d expect you to start answering seriously.¡± ¡°Oh, I am, it really is just us two. Well, really only me, but we can count her if you want.¡± Please, if some kind of miracle is about to occur, occur very soon. ¡°Intruder, I know that there must be at least one other person. The guardian tree would not be in this state for no reason. I also recently received word that the entrances to our Spirit Altar have been blocked off. Who is in there right now and what are they doing?!¡± If the king was actually trying to hide his anger earlier, he was clearly done with that now. I waited a moment before answering. ¡°Well, okay, the truth is¡­¡± I looked over to Tasha and she stared at me so intently, it was as if she was trying to silently transmit her thoughts. ¡°Yes?¡± the king spoke with a growl. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about.¡± Tasha turned to face the soldiers and prepared herself. With some effort, I tried to gather as much power as I could and, for the very first time, charged up to a total of five bolts, which made my head feel light and my vision go blurry for a second. ¡°General Garden, seize them.¡± Garden smiled. ¡°You heard His Majesty! Soldiers, capture them!¡± They came charging in and I went to meet those coming in from the left flank. I kicked off with more explosive power than I expected and ended up nearly crashing into an incoming soldier. I slashed with my sword while kicking at the ground in order to change my direction. I slashed at another soldier after kicking off. When I got both feet on the ground again, I quickly crouched down and kicked off the ground again, and speared my sword handle into the closest soldier. This knocked him into another soldier and opened up a gap in their ranks. I charged through the gap, but not to escape. I merely got behind them in order to slash at another one of them before he had a chance to defend. With my new strength and speed, although these soldiers were definitely tougher than Destiny¡¯s men, I could more or less repeat the same tactic. They were more coordinated and were a lot faster at encircling me, but I would either quickly jump and run back or charge through a soldier, whichever had a larger gap I could take advantage of. However, I could feel my muscles rapidly begin to ache and burn and I wasn¡¯t sure how much longer I could keep this up for. After another minute of this, I only had eight of them left to deal with. I was sweating profusely and I was growing worried about the grip on my sword possibly slipping. I gritted my teeth and focused entirely on speed. I got in just close enough to slash at the soldiers and even when nearby soldiers attacked me as well, instead of moving back, I just got in closer, just barely avoiding the path of the attack, and quickly countered. I refused to move back as I felt any additional strain on my legs could cause me to trip. Never before had I focused as much as I did that day as I predicted the attack paths and moved as little as possible to just barely avoid them while swiftly countering. On the last two soldiers to deal with, one of their spears tore through the side of my leather armour while I knocked out the other one. However, it was a shallow injury and I took out the last spearman as well. I immediately fell down to one knee, but just as quickly, I got back up and looked at how the other side was doing. Garden and the King were just watching the whole time and Tasha only had a few soldiers left to deal with. I tried to put on a smug look when I locked eyes with the King. He stared back at me with contempt, but then his eyes shifted upwards and he put on a smile. I looked up as well, but saw nothing. Then, I looked over to the side and saw a group of figures on the courtyard wall. ¡°You are late!¡± the King bellowed out with a mix of both satisfaction and anger. One of the figures jumped off the wall and the rest followed suit. ¡°My apologies, Your Majesty, but we came as soon as we could.¡± As they stepped under the green light of the guardian tree, I could see that they weren¡¯t dressed like the other soldiers. They wore hooded cloaks over hide tunics with some kind of symbol in the center, likely the same as on Garden¡¯s armour. They wore leather gloves and boots and none of them carried any visible weapons. I got back into my stance, but my legs were a bit shaky. From behind, I heard footsteps coming towards me and Tasha stopped by my side, apparently finished dealing with the rest of the soldiers. ¡°So, the cavalry has arrived?¡± I commented, still trying to act brave while having difficulty keeping myself steady. ¡°Cavalry? We are not mounted,¡± one of the reinforcements replied. Apparently, the phrase was taken literally here. ¡°Sorry, what I meant to say is that it looks like reinforcements showed up right on time.¡± The man who replied earlier seemed a bit confused by how casually I was treating the situation. ¡°I see.¡± The man stepped forward, and it now seemed like he was the leader of the group. As walked in closer, he looked around at the fallen soldiers. ¡°This looks somewhat impressive. Do you mind telling me what the two of you are?¡± This time, I¡¯m sure I understand the question properly. ¡°I¡¯m human. Just a human outlander.¡± ¡°A human outlander would trespass upon Eden and do all of this? Stop with your lies!¡± Garden shouted out at me. ¡°I do agree that this does all seem rather peculiar,¡± the leader of the reinforcements said, his tone of voice still strangely polite. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter what¡¯s really going on. So, are we going to do this or not? You guys are some kind of big shots aren¡¯t you?¡± I would have wanted to keep buying more time, but I don¡¯t think my body could hold out that much longer, even if I was just standing still. ¡°Hmmm, does that mean you don¡¯t actually know who we are?¡± he genuinely inquired. ¡°Should I?¡± The leader smiled, but it wasn¡¯t an unpleasant one. ¡°You came all this way to stir up trouble for the Nature Clan, and you don¡¯t even recognize us? We are the royal guard of the Nature Clan, the Druids.¡± If I was actually from this world, maybe that would have meant something. Heck, if I wasn¡¯t so exhausted, I could at least pretend it meant something. I was going to keel over any moment now anyways, so without further hesitation, I charged forward and Tasha followed. I slashed at the leader of the group, but he dodged. I quickly transitioned into a series of follow-up attacks but he dodged all of them except for the last. He stopped the last attack by catching my sword with his hands. I was stunned. He pulled the sword out of my hands and flung it off to the side. I took a few steps back but another Druid came from the side and pinned me to the ground. I tried to shake him off but to no avail. Beside me, I saw the earth splitting open and huge waves of dirt flooding out. Tasha evaded a couple of them but the third one pounded her from the side while a pair of Druids blocked off her escape route. Then, one of them pinned her to the ground and she tried to violently throw them off. It looked like she was about to succeed, but her whole body suddenly started sinking in the ground as it started turning into mud. I gritted my teeth and mustered up the last of my strength in order to break out of my pin and elbowed him hard. As I got up another Druid came at me and I threw a punch that actually managed to just barely connect. But then, the ground around me also began giving way as it turned into mud. I tried to escape but the ground turned to mud even faster than I could react and it felt like I was sinking into quicksand. Eventually, I stopped sinking when it came up to my shoulders. From behind me, I heard someone chuckle. ¡°Not so tough, now, eh?¡± Garden mocked. ¡°Quiet, Garden. You and your men failed to capture them. Do not think I will let this go lightly.¡± ¡°What? Uh, but Your Majesty-¡± ¡°Silence!¡± The King cleared his throat. ¡°Now then, intruders, your time has come to an end. I don¡¯t know what you thought to accomplish, but it ends here. I will give up on trying to make you answer any more of my questions. I¡¯m sure your missing companions will be keener to comply, especially once they¡¯ve seen your bodies. Sir Dristan, execute them!¡± Wait, what¡­? ¡°What? We¡¯re not going to take them prisoner?¡± Sir Dristan, the leader, asked, while looking honestly shocked. ¡°No, they are far too dangerous for that. Just kill them. Ah, but don¡¯t drown them in the mud, I want them beheaded outside of the courtyard. Our ground here is too precious for filth like them to drown in.¡± Is this really how it¡¯s going to be? The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Your Majesty-¡± ¡°Are you refusing my command, Sir Dristan?¡± ¡°No, but¡­uh, the Druids don¡¯t really deal with executions. I mean, beheading? We don¡¯t even have blades.¡± The King scoffed. ¡°Really, that¡¯s your excuse to me?¡± Yeah, even I thought it was pretty lame. But, please, don¡¯t give up, keep arguing. ¡°Go take his sword then, it¡¯s right over there. He won¡¯t be needing it anymore.¡± I saw Dristan go and retrieve my sword and then pause. ¡°What are you just standing over there for?!¡± ¡°Y- Your Majesty, this is a Battle-Hardened sword!¡± I heard the footsteps from behind me go to the side and I now saw the King standing before me. ¡°Oh, really? So much for being a human outlander. Oh, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re with the Bronze Colony. How foolish. Because of you, the treaty has been violated. I suppose we¡¯ll have to execute some of the prisoners now.¡± I had no intention of correcting him. Maybe, just maybe, if I get him to think what he wants to think, he won¡¯t kill us. ¡°Should we take them in for questioning, after all?¡± Please, please, please. ¡°No. I¡¯ve made up my mind, already. He is much too dangerous and must die now.¡± The King walked away and my last hope of salvation faded from my view. ¡°Do it.¡± Dristan walked over to me. ¡°Oh, wait.¡± Tree stopped. Is there still hope? ¡°Kill the girl first.¡± ¡°You bastard!¡± I screamed out. I knew he was saying that he would kill both of us this whole time, but hearing it finalized in such a way just made me explode with anger. ¡°Oh, finally got a rise out of you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare touch her!¡± I felt suddenly revitalized and I tried to force my arms out of the muddy quagmire. I felt my arms ever so slightly begin to move, but it was far too gradual. ¡°This is what happens to those who cross the Nature Clan. Druids, have the girl say something as well. She¡¯s being far too quiet given this dire situation.¡± I grinded my teeth and forced another three bolts through my body. It felt as if my entire being was on fire, and my muscles and bones felt like they were on the verge of snapping. However, with the extra burst of strength, I managed to force a single arm out of the mud and I grasped at the grassy courtyard. I pulled as hard as I could and I felt my body being dragged out of the mud. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen someone escape from a mud pit made by multiple Druids before,¡± Dristan commented, apparently too amazed to even think to stop me. ¡°What?! This- this is- Kill him! Kill him now!¡± I dragged my body up to my waist out of the mud as I saw Dristan come towards me, my sword in his hand. No, damnit! Dristan was already back and my legs were still trapped in the mud. There was no chance of getting out. Even if I did get out, there was no way I could hope to take on all of them. I stared out with hatred in my eyes as I continued to struggle. At the very least, I would be defiant to the end. If I wasn¡¯t, I would just end up thinking about the impending death that would befall me and Tasha¡­ Suddenly, the light from the guardian tree vanished in an instant. The courtyard went pitch-black and there were several confused voices. Then, the ground shook far more violently than all the other times. Fissures opened up all around us as the ground itself seemed to explode as if dozens of mines were going off in quick succession. The confused voices turned to panic as everyone started backing away from the fissures. The Druids retreated back towards the courtyard walls with Garden and the King, and the fallen soldiers fell away with the sinking earth. The mud pit I was stuck in turned to regular mud and I easily pulled the rest of my body out of it. I watched as tons of earth around the guardian tree fell away completely. The shaking subsided slightly and a green light shone out from the giant hole next to the guardian tree. Huge columns of earth rapidly shot out of the earth, and perched on the pillar in the middle of the other pillars was the source of the new green light. ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡± the King shouted out. ¡°You! How dare you steal the powers of the guardian spirit! Druids, kill her now!¡± The Druids hesitated. Flora, radiating green light, reached out one hand towards my direction and I felt the earth underneath begin to shake. Then, the earth rapidly shot upwards as a column. I almost lost my balance, but managed to steady myself well enough after the column stopped rising. ¡°What are you waiting for? The intruders are going to escape!¡± The Druids then took action and started rushing at us. A couple of them started striking at the pillar I was standing on and it soon crumbled away. I jumped off the collapsing column and landed safely on my feet. The two Druids advanced, but then tree roots suddenly came out of the fissures in the ground and grabbed the two of them and flung them into the courtyard walls. At this sight, the remaining Druids who hadn¡¯t already ran after Flora, ignored me completely and went to attack her as well. I watched as the Druids launched stones and huge mounds of earth at Flora. She defended most of the attacks well, but occasionally the attacks slipped past her guard of earth columns and struck her body. However, it didn¡¯t seem to do too much damage, at the very least, she didn¡¯t get knocked off her column. Still, though, I needed to give my support. I looked around for a weapon and saw my sword discarded on the ground a few yards away. I immediately went to pick it up, and as I did, I noticed the King standing by himself off to the side, staring at the battle angrily. My rage which had been interrupted by Flora¡¯s surprise appearance boiled over again. I dashed at the King and before he could even defend or call for help, I already had my sword at his throat. I wanted to savour the reaction so I didn¡¯t kill him immediately. ¡°Hey there,¡± I said in a chilling tone in personal contrast to my body which was still feeling like a furnace. It took a second for him to realize the situation he was in. However, he still put on bravado. ¡°You do not casually address the King of the Nature Clan!¡± From behind, I could hear the sounds of battle subsiding. I quickly stepped in and made my way right behind the King, with the edge of my sword at his throat. I took a good look at the stopped Druids and the massive mounds of earth lying all around them. Tasha was also among the edge of the Druids, her sword recovered and in hand. Flora was still on her column, but she only had one other one left, the others already destroyed. ¡°No, I think I can say whatever I want,¡± I replied belatedly. ¡°You think a mere outlander can get away with this?¡± I pressed the edge of my sword against his throat. It was enough to apply some pressure, but not enough to cut the skin, which was rather difficult given my pounding heart and increasing fever. ¡°Oh, and what¡¯s going to stop me?¡± I asked sadistically. ¡°You will all die here, today. This day where you came to intrude upon Eden is the last day of your lives.¡± Spare me the redundant threats. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that. I think you¡¯re the one who¡¯s going to die here today.¡± I pressed my sword in more, this time enough for a shallow cut. Garden, who wasn¡¯t participating in the battle, suddenly ran up to a couple yards away from me and drew his sword. ¡°Unhand the King this instant or else!¡± I laughed. A lot. ¡°Just a minute ago you were already going to execute me! And now that I¡¯m not trapped, you think you can threaten me with something worse?¡± I laughed again. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± I said coldly as I pressed the sword in deeper. ¡°W-wait, stop it! Release His Majesty this instant. I-If you do, we will let you go!¡± Garden offered. ¡°We will do no such thing!¡± the King decreed adamantly. ¡°The Nature Clan does not cave in to such threats.¡± The King turned his head to look at me, which also caused the cut to go in a bit deeper. ¡°Outlander, you, your family, your friends, everyone you know and cherish in the slightest, will suffer for your crimes. As long as the Nature Clan remains, none of you shall ever escape this judgement!¡± ¡°P-Please, Your Majesty!¡± Garden began to plead. ¡°Garden, silence! Druids, this is your king¡¯s command: kill all of the intruders and hunt down everyone they know!¡± I guess this was it. I was just about to deal the killing blow when Tasha shouted. ¡°Dad! Don¡¯t kill him!¡± Honestly, Tasha, this is not the time to be arguing about the morality of killing. This is a real life or death situation for us here. ¡°This is no time for you to continue being na?ve!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the point in killing him, though?¡± she shouted back at me. Everyone remained motionless, waiting for something to happen, I suppose. ¡°What¡¯s the point? Are you seriously asking that?! This man ordered our deaths! Our lives mean nothing to him and you think he¡¯s someone that we should go out of our way to spare?¡± I had no intention of letting him live when I first caught him. This whole hostage situation was really accidental and a part of me appreciated how uncooperative he was. ¡°Mr. Braith, listen to Tasha!¡± Oh, now Flora¡¯s going to preach to me. ¡°This was all my idea and all my fault! Don¡¯t become a murderer because of me!¡± I laughed. ¡°It¡¯s a bit late for that now! He won¡¯t be the first person I¡¯ve killed.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised by your past, but the nature of your companions is surprising,¡± the King said to me. ¡°I suppose they are a couple of orphans whom you picked up in order to rationalize your actions. Typical of uncultured outlanders who refuse to acknowledge how worthless they really are.¡± I punched the King in his side with my free hand. ¡°You¡¯re going to be dead soon, anyways, so why don¡¯t you just shut up!¡± ¡°All the more reason for me to speak. My words carry weight to them and shall be remembered for years. You, on the other hand? Your existence is worth so much less and shall be forgotten the moment you die.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time for you to drop all the bravado? Or are you really this stupidly arrogant?¡± It was quite the toll to keep up my tough act as well, but I wanted him to break first. ¡°Your Majesty, please, do not die for this!¡± Garden tried pleading once more. ¡°I thought I told you to keep quiet, Garden!¡± I was a bit surprised, too. This whole time, Garden was giving me the vibe of some incompetent man who caves in to authority. ¡°No, the General is quite right, your Majesty.¡± Now even Dristan was speaking up. ¡°This is a rather unconventional situation. Intruders, release the King and we shall not pursue you this day.¡± ¡°Sir Dristan, you are overstepping your boundaries here. It is I, not you, who will determine the fate of these intruders.¡± ¡°Dad, don¡¯t kill him!¡± ¡°Your Majesty, please reconsider!¡± ¡°What are you waiting for, outlander? Kill me! For one fleeting moment, delude yourself into thinking that you are superior!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± I was nearly fed up with everyone else yelling as if anything they said was going to work. However, killing a man who wants to die has little appeal. But, if he really wanted to die, wouldn¡¯t he have just pushed his neck through my sword by now? In any case, I can¡¯t just let him live, can I? Whether he lives or dies, we¡¯ll still be on the run. At the very least, I want to put this bastard to death so that he can¡¯t have the last laugh. Yes, I¡¯ve decided on this since the beginning. I will kill him. Just like the others, this is a man who deserves to die. The choice of letting him live is just a trap. There is only one option. I am not wrong. I tightened the grip on my sword. ¡°Any more last words?¡± ¡°No!¡± a variety of voices screamed out. ¡°What more needs to be said?¡± He was right. I took in my surroundings to determine the best place to run to right after I killed him. Everyone else was rooted in place, either silent or still shouting or screaming at us. There really didn¡¯t seem to be a good place, but escaping through one of the corners would probably be the best bet. I glanced at the corners of the courtyard, trying to determine which one to run through, but with the green light only around Flora now, it was hard to make out anything that far away. Then, from one of the corners, I saw a light. It seemed to be coming closer, and then, I saw that it was a soldier carrying a lantern. He sprinted into the courtyard, and nearly collapsed onto the ground, breathless. Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Couldn¡¯t he read the situation? He took a few quick breaths before speaking. ¡°E- Emergency!¡± Nobody said anything. He sucked in some more air before continuing, but then he noticed the situation that was occurring. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Speak up, soldier,¡± Garden commanded in a somewhat uncertain tone. ¡°Uh, yes, yes! We have an emergency! The prisoners from the Bronze Colony have escaped and are currently engaged with the troops underground! They have made a huge advance and are near Eden¡¯s gates! Requesting reinforcements to subjugate them!¡± The soldier saluted and stared nervously around him. ¡°I see¡­¡± Garden responded, but with a face that seemed to barely comprehend what was said. ¡°General, please allow the Druids to take on this request,¡± Dristan spoke up. ¡°What? Do you not see the situation we are currently in?¡± Dristan looked at Flora, then Tasha, and then at me. ¡°Intruders, as a show of good faith, we will be leaving the courtyard to attend to something else. In our absence, please release our king and make your exit.¡± Dristan ended his words with a bow. Then, immediately afterwards, he went up to the soldier. ¡°Show us the way. Druids, we are leaving!¡± The Druids looked towards the king, expecting him to overrule him. He did not. After a few seconds of waiting, the Druids left, leaving only Garden, the King, me, Tasha, and Flora. ¡°W-wait! Sir Dristan, you can¡¯t just leave us like this!¡± Garden argued, much too late. This truly was an ideal situation. Without the Druids, I could easily kill the King and escape. I could even kill Garden, too, for good measure. ¡°Dad! Let him go! We can leave now! We don¡¯t have to kill anyone!¡± We don¡¯t, but why shouldn¡¯t we? ¡°He trusted us! Please, let¡¯s just leave!¡± ¡°Outlander, listen to them! J-just get out of here, alright!¡± Garden pleaded. Flora used her magic and moved her earth column over the ground and then over towards the courtyard wall. ¡°Mr. Braith, we really should just leave now!¡± I found it strange how the King was so silent about this. I took a closer look at his face, and saw that he looked rather expressionless and his eyes were closed. Huh? I pulled the sword a bit away from him but he gave no reaction. I nudged him and he immediately collapsed. I instinctively pulled my sword out of the way as he fell to the ground. What?! ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Garden screamed out as he saw him fall to the ground. He rushed at me, but I rather easily blocked his attack and knocked the sword out of his hand. I knelt down next to the King and checked for a pulse. I grinded my teeth when I found it. This whole situation was upsetting in a different way now. All that bravado and all those vile things you had planned for us and this is what happens to you? You pass out from fear right when you thought I was about to kill you? I kicked the King. ¡°You! How dare you!¡± Garden charged at me without a weapon and I jabbed him hard with the handle of my blade. It knocked him to the ground, winding him. ¡°We¡¯re getting out of here!¡± Tasha and I gathered together, and Flora created another column of earth for us. It was a bit weird, but they were really just shaped mounds of earth so with her magic, Flora could move them even over the walls and buildings. They were also surprisingly fast, even when just traveling. On the way out of the palace, we saw a few towers with archers in them. It was still very dark out and they were a bit too off-guard to really engage us though. Flora took us all the way to the outer wall, but almost exactly when the mound of earth we were on got past the wall, Flora¡¯s green light dissipated and we fell to the ground. Fortunately, the several tons of earth cushioned the fall reasonably well. Flora looked very pale and was panting heavily. I went to go pick her up and she recoiled a bit from the heat of my touch. Surprisingly, the pain had mostly gone away, and now I just felt very hot and dehydrated. ¡°Flora, what¡¯s wrong?!¡± Tasha cried out as she scrambled over to her. ¡°Gaia,¡± she spoke weakly. ¡°The guardian spirit?¡± Flora nodded. ¡°Yes, it wasn¡¯t a complete contract, so she¡¯s left now. So¡­I¡¯m just a bit tired now.¡± An incomplete contract? What does that even mean? ¡°Tasha, can you carry her back to the cottage?¡± She nodded and picked her up. We fled back to the cottage in silence. When we reached the front garden, as if coming off an adrenaline rush, the pain suddenly returned, and my muscles seized up and I collapsed onto the ground. Flora, who had now somewhat recovered, came over to me. ¡°Mr. Braith, are you okay?!¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I barely managed to mutter. Yeah, just fine. ¡°Actually, no, I¡¯m not fine.¡± I didn¡¯t mean to say that part aloud, but with all the pain and frustration about the situation hitting me all at once, I wasn¡¯t going to let it end there. ¡°No, I¡¯m not fine at all. Tasha and I accompanied you on a suicidal mission so that you can contract with a guardian spirit. However, we almost got executed and you failed to even get a complete contract!¡± ¡°Dad, stop, it¡¯s not her fault!¡± Tasha tried to intervene, but I was going to keep going. ¡°No, you¡¯re the one who needs to stop!¡± Probably through sheer willpower, I pushed myself back off the ground. ¡°You keep acting like you are always right and that you can always make good decisions! Well, guess what, you can¡¯t! You are thirteen, Tasha! Do you honestly think you have the knowledge and experience to always know what¡¯s best?!¡± ¡°Mr. Braith, I¡¯m really, truly sorry about everything. Please, don¡¯t blame Tasha, it¡¯s all my fault!¡± She looked like she was on the verge of crying. ¡°Damn straight it¡¯s your fault! If it weren¡¯t for us, you would have been caught by the first group of soldiers in the tunnels! Honestly, what were you thinking?! How can someone as weak as you even get the idea in your head to do something so stupid?! And even if you did get the chance to do it anyways, at least do it right! We risked our lives for you, and you come back empty-handed! Just who do you think you are?!¡± ¡°Dad, stop!¡± Tasha grabbed me and I tried to shake her off. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m really sorry!¡± Tears were already flowing. ¡°Do you think sorry would have helped when they were about to cut off our heads?!¡± Tasha kept pulling at me but I fought her off as I continued my tirade. ¡°No, but I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m really, really sorry!¡± Flora broke out in a hysterical bit of sobbing and went into the fetal position on the ground. Then, at either the worst or best timing possible, the cottage door swung open and Hiram stepped outside. He looked over to Flora sobbing on the ground, over to me and Tasha, and then back to Flora. ¡°Get inside,¡± he finally ordered. Chapter 20 After some calming down, we explained the situation to Hiram. I figured that after doing all we did, it was pointless to keep it secret any longer. Unsurprisingly, Hiram looked very angry when we told him what had happened. However, his anger did not seem to be directed towards any of us in particular. When we finished, Hiram took a moment to calm himself down as well. Then, with a sober expression, he told the three of us to gather up our things and wait behind the cottage. The three of us waited in awkward silence by the apple trees. I was dead tired now and it was difficult to keep my eyes open. Added onto that was soreness all over my body and the uncomfortable realization of my earlier outburst. I¡¯ve been yelling at children a lot more over here than back home. Flora and Tasha were sitting on the grass a little bit away from me, not trying to look at anyone. I just stared at the ground until Hiram finally came outside, carrying a satchel. He went over to one of the apple trees and picked one out. ¡°Here, eat it,¡± he said, tossing the apple over to me. I took a bite, and I must say, it really didn¡¯t quite taste like an apple. It tasted kind of sour, and was probably closer to grapefruit than apple. As the juices flowed down my throat, though, I could feel the soreness leave my body. I took another bite and blinked a few times, feeling much more refreshed. Hiram picked out a couple more apples and tossed them over to Flora and Tasha as well. As we finished eating the apples, Hiram took off the satchel and handed it over to Flora. ¡°What is this for?¡± she asked. ¡°You know what it¡¯s for. Now, onto the next matter. Flora, you say the contract with Gaia was only temporary, but since you were at the guardian tree, you should have made a contract with it as well.¡± ¡°My memories are a bit¡­blurry on that, but I think I might have.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s test it out right now. Visualize yourself gathering power inside yourself and then repeat after me. By my contract with the guardian tree, grant me nature¡¯s blessing.¡± Flora tried putting on a serious expression while she concentrated, and then repeated the words. ¡°By my contract with the guardian tree, grant me nature¡¯s blessing.¡± I didn¡¯t notice any visible difference. ¡°Well? Do you feel any different?¡± Flora moved her arms around a little bit and clenched a fist. ¡°Um, I think I feel¡­a bit more awake.¡± Hiram let out a soft sigh. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just try it again tomorrow, and next time, try to focus on something specific that you want to improve on for your body.¡± Hiram then turned to me. ¡°Braith, I hope you are feeling better now.¡± ¡°Uh, yes, thank you,¡± I replied with some measure of embarrassment. I felt like I was about to be lectured. ¡°I want all of you to know that I do not blame you for what you have done tonight. However, not many are as like-minded as I. The Nature Clan¡¯s King will not let this rest and as long as you are in these forests, you will be pursued.¡± ¡°I understand that. Tasha and I will try to get out of here as soon as possible.¡± It also probably wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to head back to the Bronze Territory, either. ¡°To assist you in our escape, I have provided Flora with the Alchemist¡¯s Satchel. Inside are potion apples, hide armour for you and your daughter, various other traveling supplies, and some coin to cover expenses.¡± ¡°Wait, Flora is going to guide us out of the forest? I don¡¯t think that¡¯s really necessary.¡± Despite everything that happened, besides simply forgiving us, I could hardly believe he wanted to be so helpful.. ¡°Guide you? No, she will be accompanying you. Her actions tonight are no less grievous than yours. The Nature Clan king may not want to kill her as he does you, but he will definitely want to capture her.¡± Oh, so that¡¯s what this is about. Still, this was not something I was just going to accept. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be the one to get her to safety then?¡± ¡°Braith, you don¡¯t seem to understand the seriousness of this issue. The King will send his men, and this will be one of the first places to come to.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that? Why would he know it was Flora that did it all? How would he recognize her?¡± Hiram sighed. ¡°The King may not personally recognize her, but I¡¯m sure others would. You mentioned that someone by the name of Dristan was there among the Druids, correct?¡± ¡°Yeah, why?¡± ¡°He would be one of those people. Regardless, the King should be able to put things together rather quickly. Among all the people who could intrude upon Eden and make a contract with the guardian spirit¡­well, there wouldn¡¯t be many others he would consider once he has some time to think about it.¡± His voice was full of certainty, which led me to bring up an old question of mine once more. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Just who are you really, Hiram?¡± ¡°There is no more time to waste,¡± Hiram continued, ignoring my question. ¡°Flora understands how the Alchemist¡¯s Satchel works and she has her bow and quiver. It is rather abrupt, but please treat her well and escort her safely out of this forest.¡± Hiram then turned to Flora. ¡°And no matter what may happen to me, do not return. Now, hurry and get going. Stop by the hot spring one last time to bathe before changing. This is especially important as you will be needing to run all night long and I believe you¡¯ve all already pushed yourselves farther than what a single apple can fully deal with. The spring has properties to help a bit more with your exhaustion. Oh, and one last thing; make sure to never eat more than one apple a day.¡± ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t be serious about all of this. You¡¯re just going to tell us to run away and take your granddaughter with us? What about you? Why can¡¯t you take her away?¡± This all just seemed way too drastic. I mean, yeah, we all trespassed on royal grounds and I assaulted a king, but¡­wait, am I the one who doesn¡¯t get it? ¡°This is a desperate time for me, Braith. I suppose I knew something like this would probably happen some day, but I didn¡¯t think it would be so soon and that I would have to rely on a strange outlander like you.¡± ¡°Well, sorry about that,¡± I said curtly. ¡°Maybe you ought to rethink your decision, then?¡± ¡°But I¡¯ll have to trust my gut this time and leave it to you nonetheless.¡± Hiram ignored my words and stayed resolute. ¡°I believe and hope that this is something I can leave to you. Braith, I know this all just sounds like I¡¯m barking out orders, but please, can you do me this favour?¡± Despite everything I¡¯ve done, he¡¯d still ask me to do something like this? ¡°You¡¯re insane.¡± I looked over to Flora and Tasha. Really, I could think of at least a few more ways to argue against him, but I was feeling very guilty about the matter and I knew Tasha would never let me refuse. ¡°But, I¡¯ll do it. I won¡¯t be taking any future complaints, though.¡± ¡°Thank you, Braith. Now, you really must be going now.¡± I got up off the ground and so did Tasha. Flora needed Tasha to pull her up, as she was still quite shaken. ¡°Grandpa¡­I¡¯m sorry. I really shouldn¡¯t have kept it a secret, after all.¡± Hiram put his hands on her shoulders. ¡°Do not worry about it,¡± he said simply. ¡°I love you, Grandpa. I- I don¡¯t want to run away. I¡¯ll miss you. W-when can I come back?¡± she said, tears starting to flow once more. Hiram hugged her. ¡°I love you, too, but you can¡¯t come back. At least not anytime soon. You must be strong, Flora. You must be patient. Never be hasty, and always continue to grow and learn.¡± ¡°...I will.¡± Suddenly, Hiram pulled back. ¡°The three of you, go now!¡± We nodded and immediately dashed off from the small hill. We stopped by the hot springs briefly as Hiram instructed and then ran north all throughout the night. Heading straight to the east would have been the fastest way out of the forest, but that¡¯s also where most of the forts and patrols were concentrated around. Instead, it seemed safer to head north for quite some time before trying to leave the forest. We traveled in relative silence both for reasons of stealth and to conserve energy. There were several times when it seemed like Flora was about to keel over and there were even a couple times where my head and muscles would ache with intense pain. The only one who seemed to be fine running nonstop for hours was Tasha. When dawn finally broke, we took our first break. It was a short break, though. Everyone seemed rather depressed, knowing full well why we all had to run away and the future problems that came with it. It was easier having a body approaching its limits, with lungs screaming for air, heart about to burst, and legs turning to stone, than to have to discuss everything that went wrong last night. As well as I could avoid talking about it, though, I could not help but sporadically wonder what was going to happen to Hiram and why he had to stay behind. ***** Immediately after Braith and the others left, Hiram went to stand in front of the cottage. He only needed to wait a few minutes before the visitors arrived. Six Druids strode the way past the fence and over to the vegetable garden in front of the cottage. Hiram took a few steps forward and glanced over them, shining a lantern over them. ¡°Hmmm, it doesn¡¯t look like Dristan is here,¡± Hiram remarked. ¡°The Captain is busy attending to other matters,¡± one of the Druids responded. ¡°I see. Well, what brings you all here to my humble abode?¡± Hiram asked calmly and politely. ¡°Where is the girl?¡± ¡°The girl?¡± Hiram asked after a moment of hesitation, feigning ignorance. ¡°Your granddaughter, Flora Tree.¡± ¡°Oh, she¡¯s fast asleep, as you might expect from a young girl at this late hour.¡± ¡°Well, wake her up and bring her out here, then.¡± ¡°I see no need to thoughtlessly disrupt a child¡¯s sleep. What could be so urgent that it cannot wait until morning?¡± ¡°Bring her out here right now!¡± a different Druid demanded. Hiram shot him a look that actually made him recoil slightly. ¡°No.¡± There was a moment of silence after voicing his refusal. ¡°You think you can just refuse?¡± the first Druid asked. ¡°We are here by order of the King of the Nature Clan.¡± ¡°Well, whether or not that¡¯s true, I don¡¯t see what that has to do with me or my granddaughter.¡± Everyone present could feel the tension in the air rise. ¡°You will bring her out right now!¡± the second Druid shouted out, having quickly recovered from his second of fear. ¡°My apologies, but I simply cannot comply. Please return in the morning, when it is a more sensible hour.¡± ¡°You old man! You think you can act like this after stepping away from the Nature Clan?!¡± the second Druid cried out. ¡°Enough,¡± began the first Druid, ¡°I think it¡¯s rather plain to see that the girl isn¡¯t actually here anymore. Well, it¡¯s not as if you can protect her, not after what she¡¯s done. Now, tell us where she is and who those other two were as well.¡± ¡°Other two? I have no idea what you are talking about. You are the first visitors I¡¯ve had in months.¡± The first Druid let out a sigh of exasperation. ¡°Clearly, words alone will not do.¡± He turned back to face the other four Druids that had not spoken yet. ¡°You four, go ahead and begin the search. If you coordinate your magic together, you might be able to trace them.¡± He turned to face the second Druid now. ¡°You and I will deal with the old man.¡± The other four Druids made ready to leave, but walls of dirt and stone rose up behind the Druids, blocking their path. ¡°I do not think your plan properly took me into consideration,¡± Hiram spoke casually as he took another few steps closer. A few of the Druids whispered to each other in a panic. ¡°Did you see him make a move?¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. How did he do that so quickly?¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± commanded the first Druid. He then let out a single cough. ¡°You should go a bit easier on using magic, Sir Hiram. You aren¡¯t as young as you once were and it¡¯s been, oh, how long since you last renewed your contract with the guardian tree?¡± Hiram took another step closer, and one of the Druids stepped back instinctively. ¡°If you mean to insult me, I think you could at least drop the ¡®Sir¡¯. Seems pointless to focus on that title when I¡¯ve never cared for such things nor even ever accepted it.¡± ¡°You treat your desertion so casually. I cannot understand why the King hasn¡¯t ordered your imprisonment earlier.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re all probably too young to understand why.¡± ¡°And you are too old to think you can take on six Druids at once.¡± The rest of the Druids pumped themselves up confidently at the declaration. ¡°Druids, let¡¯s put this old man to sleep before he gets any more senile.¡± The six attacked. Chapter 21 During our breaks as we went on our journey northward, we learned a few things. On our very first stop at the hot spring, I learned about the Alchemist¡¯s Satchel. It was an artifact created for the purpose of holding a large volume of objects. On the outside, its size was the same as an ordinary satchel, but the objects stored inside are placed in a different space. I was quite surprised when Flora pulled out two full sets of hide armour from out of the bag. I also found it strange that Hiram had two spare sets of armour that would fit me and Tasha to begin with. Flora said that they probably used to belong to her grandfather and her mother. Back to the satchel, though, not only does it store a lot, but you can easily access whatever¡¯s inside as long as you know what you are looking for. All in all, it seemed like an indispensable piece of traveling gear you¡¯d have in a typical fantasy role-playing game. On the next day, I woke up with my body feeling lighter than usual. I moved around a bit and tested my strength, and found that it felt just like how I usually felt after charging one bolt throughout my body. I suppose this was a new step in developing my guardian spirit powers. During that day, Flora also tried the incantation again, but still said she did not feel much different. I had no idea how these powers were meant to work but I just told her not to get discouraged over it and to not give up. Over the days, we also hunted game and gathered nuts, berries, and other edible things in the wild. Initially, Flora focused on gathering and we learned how to distinguish between many different types of plants and fruits. When we came across some deer in the forest, though, Flora took out her bow. She clearly looked unwilling but I suppose she resolved herself to take this first step in her growth as an adventurer. Unfortunately, her resolve could not overcome her aversion and she missed every single shot. When she went to retrieve her arrows after every failed hunting attempt, one of the arrows finally broke. However, she still put it back into the quiver. This time, though, she put a tall cap over the quiver. I learned that the bow was also an alchemist¡¯s creation. As long as it had the raw components, it would make the best quality arrows possible. I asked her about her bow, too, and she explained to me that it was a high-quality bow made of springwood and that the bowstring was also a special type of silk. This design allowed for powerful shots even with low levels of tension. So, it was not technically made by an alchemist, but by a highly skilled Farseer craftsman instead. Sort of jokingly, I then asked if she happened to have any more alchemist items and she actually did. She pulled out a box from the satchel and opened it up. Inside were various compartments that contained tiny bowls, jars, and needle-like tools. This was some kind of apothecary set used to create both poisons and cures. Flora said Hiram told her that she was very skilled with it, but she doubts whether it would be safe to try making anything new with it. Once again, rather jokingly, I commented that the only thing that could make her any better as a traveling companion would be if she had a lot of coin. At this, Flora took out a large purse from the satchel and opened it up in order to count what was inside. Lars is a very good friend and I¡¯ll always love him for all he¡¯s done, but the amount inside that purse put his savings to shame. As we neared the end of our escape from the forest without any incident, our spirits were high. It was clearly optimistic, but it was starting to feel like we could just step out of the forest and be on some kind of merry adventure. Perhaps a new lease on life? Although I did somewhat act like this, by no means did I forget the serious reasons behind our journey. I did wish to remain optimistic, but the rose-coloured glasses to that ideal vision were pulled away near the northeastern edge of the forest. We had been traveling for a few weeks now and that night was expected to be the last night we would be in the forest. We had just finished setting up camp not too far away from some kind of settlement very late in the afternoon. We didn¡¯t actually go to check it out, but I assumed it was a settlement from the smoke rising up in the distance. There weren¡¯t any Nature Clan forts marked anywhere nearby though, so I didn¡¯t think it was necessary to stay clear of it. We ate, chatted for a bit, and Flora practiced shooting in the dark (with surprisingly more accuracy than her earlier hunting attempts) for a little bit before we all turned in for the night. In the middle of the night, though, Tasha woke me up. I blinked my eyes awake and got up, noticing Flora was also up. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked, noticing a distant orange glow a second too late. ¡°There¡¯s a fire,¡± Tasha responded in a serious tone. I immediately ran several steps towards the glow and agreed with her assessment. ¡°How long has it been burning?¡± I asked as I tried to run through the reasons behind it. Were we discovered? Are we being smoked out right now? ¡°I don¡¯t know, Flora woke me up a minute ago and it was already like that.¡± ¡°Did either of you hear any other sounds or loud noises around the area?¡± Both of them shook their heads. Well, even if I am still not completely sure about the source, it was better not to take any risks here. ¡°I see. Well, let¡¯s hurry up and move somewhere else, then. The last thing we want is to get caught in a forest fire.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a forest fire,¡± Flora commented. I knew she was probably right. The glow was coming off in the same direction as the smoke from earlier. However, that was none of our business. Our priorities were to remain undetected by the Nature Clan and to escape from their territory. ¡°We need to check it out,¡± Tasha spoke with concern. We really don¡¯t. Come on, let¡¯s pack up and head out.¡± ¡°But there could be something bad happening over there.¡± The rising urgency in Tasha¡¯s voice was evident. ¡°All the more reason to not go over there, then, Tasha. In case you¡¯ve forgotten, we are essentially fugitives here. Getting involved in¡­whatever may be going on there is definitely not going to help with that.¡± Tasha protested a little bit more before begrudgingly relenting. This was fine; Tasha has resented me for many things and as far as I¡¯ve known, she¡¯s gotten over all of them. I led the way through the forest, making sure to keep a wide berth away from the orange glow. As we quickly tried to get away though, we heard rustling off to the side. I reached for my sword and readied myself against the danger coming to find us. Instead, though, it was a pair of young boys who came running towards instead. They abruptly stopped when they spotted us, nearly breathless. ¡°P-please, you have to help!¡± the younger of the two boys gasped out. Oh no, I see where this is going. ¡°Help with what? What¡¯s the matter?¡± Tasha asked with a gentle voice as she walked towards them. ¡°Our village! It¡¯s being attacked!¡± My gaze hardened. Not because I was shocked, but because I was already predicting what Tasha would say next. ¡°Lead the way!¡± Tasha responded without hesitation. ¡°No,¡± I said adamantly, grabbing Tasha¡¯s arm as she got ready to march forth. ¡°We¡¯ve caused plenty of enough chaos in the Nature Clan¡¯s territory already. We are staying out of this one.¡± ¡°Please, help us!¡± the younger boy continued to cry out. ¡°They came out of nowhere and just started attacking us. We¡¯ve never even seen them before. They just set fire to our village and- and, they¡¯re killing everyone!¡± Never seen them before? That does seem a bit odd. ¡°So you¡¯re being attacked by outlanders, then?¡± I asked, slightly curious. I remember when I was told about how most outlanders were decent but that some were very dangerous. I don¡¯t know the places of origin for Destiny and the abandoned fort Farseer, so this was either a long time coming or a continuation of miserable luck. Actually, I guess it¡¯s just miserable luck no matter how you see it. ¡°M-maybe, I don¡¯t know. But please, help us before it¡¯s too late!¡± For some reason, in the back of my mind I was thinking how annoying this pleading was. What made you think this random group of three would be any position to fight off some bandits? ¡°Come on, dad, let¡¯s go!¡± Tasha pulled free from my grip and then grabbed onto my arm instead. ¡°What do you think we can do? At least consider the details. How many enemies are there? How well-armed are they? Are they human, Battle-Hardened, or Farseer? We cannot just blindly run to help someone without knowing the first thing about how dangerous it could be. Don¡¯t you remember the Nature Clan¡¯s capital? Our unpreparedness almost got us killed!¡± Tasha seemed unperturbed by my reasoning. In fact, it was Flora who seemed most affected by my final comments. ¡°None of that matters if we are going to end up helping anyways,¡± Tasha responded. ¡°Yes, it does matter! Arghh, why are you always so hung up on helping others?¡± Tasha let go of me and ran behind the two boys and dropped her luggage. ¡°It¡¯s in that direction, right?¡± The younger boy nodded and then she ran off. ¡°Tasha!¡± I ran after her and Flora followed. I charged up a couple bolts to try and get in front of her, but she maintained her lead. I could have tried charging up more bolts, but I didn¡¯t want to risk exhausting myself while there were still some unknown risks looming around us. A few minutes later, we came into the clearing and saw the burning village. There were over a dozen huts, all of them on fire, and littered all around them were the bodies of the villagers. Amongst the inferno there were still many people engaged in battle, but it was completely one-sided. It looked like there were only a few villagers left who were still fighting. They were greatly outnumbered by men wearing overcoats and fur hats and were only running around the burning huts to prevent themselves from being completely surrounded. They clearly looked different from anyone else I¡¯ve seen, but I was more focused on wondering why the villagers had not simply run away already. But then, I saw several more enemies lined up outside the village. There were a few carrying torches and the ones who didn''t had crossbows. The crossbowmen weren¡¯t even set up to readily take a shot, but if the villagers tried to run away, there seemed little doubt they would succeed. Tasha ran into the burning village and I had no other choice but to follow after her. Flora remained behind, hiding by the trees. The attackers saw us approach and actually dispersed a bit, seemingly to make room for us to join the battle. However, this was definitely not done because they mistook us for allies. When we got into the middle of the village where the rest of the fighting villagers were, they then attacked us as well. I had no idea what kind of enemies they were, so I slashed at the closest one with a serious strike. My blade cut straight through his overcoat and drew a lot of blood. The man gasped as he went down to the ground from what was likely a mortal wound. This may have been at least the third man I¡¯ve killed, but that thought didn¡¯t faze me the least bit. I continued my attack as Tasha also fought, too busy to find the time to chastise me. After I cut down two more of them and was starting to feel that this was too easy, a crossbow bolt suddenly struck me in my left arm. I yowled in pain as I glanced over and saw that the laid-back crossbowmen were now taking action. The other crossbow bolts found their targets in the remaining villagers. It seemed clear that they were just toying with them and figured it was time to finally stop playing around. The attackers quickly surrounded me and Tasha before I even realized it. I charged up a bolt through my right arm and continued to fight. There were still more than twenty of them to fight through, excluding the crossbowmen on the outskirts of the village, but it should still be doable. I made sure to keep an eye on the crossbowmen as I continued battling. It was slower now, a lot slower, not just because I only had one good arm, but also because the attackers were also fighting more seriously. Every time I hacked into one of them, I was also on the verge of being killed myself. The crossbowmen timed their shots well and the enemies had a keen eye to taking advantage of my openings. I forced another two bolts throughout my body in order to remain nimble enough to continue to evade their attacks. It was an arduous task that was just as mentally draining as it was physically. However, when we finally managed to take down half of them, the rest suddenly fell back to the line of crossbowmen. I guess even up until now, they still weren¡¯t taking the fight completely seriously. They were either obsessed with fighting or had some other twisted kind of thinking. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I had no interest in taking things to the next level, though. All the villagers were dead now, too. There was no longer anyone to help and this time I was able to quickly convince Tasha to retreat back into the forest rather than to continue the fight. The enemies seemed genuinely surprised to see our sudden retreat and did not begin to pursue until we had already made it back to the trees. Hiding in the trees beside Flora were the two boys. Judging from the look in their eyes, they understood the reality of the situation. ¡°Come on, we¡¯re getting out of here.¡± Right as I said that, a crossbow bolt struck me in the back. Fortunately for me, though, the hide armour did its job and the bolt barely pierced it. I stuck my blade into the ground and then used my good arm to pull out the bolt. Then, I went to pull out the bolt still sticking out of my left arm but hesitated, contemplating the risk of bleeding out. Well, it¡¯s not like I want to risk moving that arm right now, anyways, so I¡¯ll leave it in until we¡¯re in the clear. We ran into the forest with the little boys trailing behind us, which made it difficult to gain any distance on our pursuers. Then, when it looked like we were finally about to get away, more crossbow bolts came in, two of them hitting the boys, one each. They both fell to the ground, and Tasha and Flora stopped. The light from the enemies¡¯ torches shone through the forest as they closed in on us. I went over to Tasha and Flora who were helping the boys back up. They weren¡¯t fatal injuries, but part of me believed that they weren¡¯t meant to be fatal. I considered if we could still get away if Tasha and I had to each carry one of them. Before I could finish working that out in my head, the vanguard of the attackers came into view, but that wasn¡¯t the worst part. In the distance, I could hear the sound of many more pursuers. They weren¡¯t necessarily the sounds of reinforcements, but I certainly doubted it was the arrival of friendly troops. I scooped up one of the boys with my one arm and beckoned for them to hurry up and continue running. We continued to run and eventually came across a stream. It wasn¡¯t particularly wide or deep, but the problem was that the enemy knew about it before we did. Right as we reached it, crossbowmen and escorts were already lined up beside it to cut us off. I didn¡¯t think they would, but instead of warning us to stop, they simply fired upon us right as we came into view. All but one of the bolts connected with us, but out of the ones that did hit us, only one didn¡¯t get stopped by armour. That shot was one that struck Tasha in the leg. She tripped and fell, and the boy she was carrying rolled over the ground, almost falling into the stream. I immediately dropped the boy I was carrying and took out my sword. I charged up to a total of six bolts and attacked the group that ambushed us. I easily sliced through the few escorts and then cut down the crossbowmen before they could load up another shot. After killing the last crossbowman, the light from our pursuers shone through the forest and onto the stream clearing. Judging by the width, I could now confirm that there were many more soldiers here now than were in the village. I went back over to Tasha as I awaited the next attack. ¡°D-Dad¡­¡± ¡°Just be quiet, Tasha. I will take care of this.¡± ¡°You just killed all those people.¡± Her comment momentarily broke my focus. Really? Even in this situation, after seeing these people burn down a village and kill its inhabitants, that is what you have to say to me right now? I clenched my teeth before responding to her. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been doing that for a while. If we want to have any hope of getting through this, that¡¯s how serious I¡¯m going to have to be.¡± Sweat was starting to build up on my brow. However, the feverish and burning feeling wasn¡¯t as bad as I expected it to be. I managed to get up to eight bolts back in the Nature Clan¡¯s capital and that made me feel like I was in an inferno. Now, I¡¯m thinking I just might be able to maintain it. Alright, after I engage them for a little bit, I think I¡¯ll charge up another bolt in order to throw them off again. How many are there now? Forty? Fifty? My train of thought was interrupted when Tasha grabbed my arm. ¡°Dad, you have to stop that. You¡­you just won¡¯t be you anymore if you keep killing everyone.¡± I tried to shake off Tasha¡¯s grip but she wouldn¡¯t let go. She got up with a grunt and a bit of blood trickled out of the wound in her leg. ¡°I¡¯ll fight beside you so you don¡¯t have to go so far.¡± ¡°Tasha, you can¡¯t even run with that bolt in your leg, can you? Just stay over there with Flora.¡± As I looked over to Flora now, I saw that she had her bow drawn with an arrow already notched. ¡°Mr. Braith, killing people isn¡¯t the answer. I- I¡¯ll lend us some cover fire, so please, don¡¯t go so far.¡± The idiocy of this almost made me want to smash my head against a table. ¡°A fighter who can¡¯t even run, and an archer too afraid to even shoot animals, want to support me? Well, don¡¯t. You¡¯ll only get in the way.¡± I didn¡¯t mean to sound as angry and insulting as it ended up coming out, but I didn¡¯t feel so sorry about it either. ¡°Can¡¯t run? This is nothing!¡± Tasha grabbed at the bolt and tore it out of her leg. She grimaced as she suppressed vocalizing her pain and blood started to ooze out of her leg. ¡°What the heck are you doing?!¡± And what the heck is the enemy doing, too? Don¡¯t just leave me alone to deal with these idiots. ¡°I- It would get in the way while fighting. It doesn¡¯t even really hurt that much, I can fight just fine.¡± On top of trying to comprehend the ridiculousness of the situation, I also started thinking that if we had just ran across the stream right after I took out the crossbowmen, we probably would have gotten away by now. Just as I started to consider doing that for real though, the enemies finally came out of the forest. They surrounded us and crossbowmen got into position by the edge of the forest. Damn, there were still more of those guys. Flora shakily took aim at their general direction and Tasha stayed right next to me, one hand on my sword arm. ¡°Stop it, Tasha, you have to let me handle things my way,¡± I hissed at her quietly. ¡°It won¡¯t just be us, those two boys are going to die too.¡± I valued the lives of those two far less than me and Tasha, but I hoped that this extra little bit of convincing would work on her. The advancing enemies stopped about thirty feet away and there were at least forty of them. However, instead of commencing the assault, they parted in the middle and someone stepped forward through the gap. He had a fur hat and overcoat like the rest, but his overcoat hung casually over his shoulders, revealing a set of bronze armour underneath. I knew from all the other soldiers I cut down that his armour set was unique. He glanced over at us and then turned to face the rest of our enemies. ¡°Are these all of the escapees?¡± he asked. His tone was rather nonchalant, but it was also a voice that subtly exuded power and confidence. ¡°No, sir, most of the women and children split off in different directions during the start of our attack.¡± ¡°Well, that wouldn¡¯t have happened if your unit didn¡¯t attack before I gave the order. You were only supposed to observe.¡± ¡°We thought that they were about to move out and we didn¡¯t know you were so close by.¡± I could hear the man¡¯s voice waver slightly. ¡°Are you making excuses to me, Sergeant?¡± The man in bronze armour did not speak in a particularly threatening tone, but I could sense that even the other men present froze up at his words. ¡°N-no, Lieutenant-Colonel. I apologize for taking independent action.¡± The man quickly bowed his head and kept it low. ¡°I hope you realize I¡¯ll have to reprimand you for this later.¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± The Lieutenant-Colonel then turned back to face us and the Sergeant slowly straightened his back again. I glared at him. ¡°So, you¡¯re one of the Battle-Hardened that escaped from the village?¡± So it was a Battle-Hardened village? What were they doing in Nature Clan territory? ¡°If you¡¯re gonna try and kill us, I¡¯d rather not waste my time talking to you.¡± I eyed the assembled troops again carefully as I responded. The Lieutenant-Colonel looked over all of us, and his eyes seemed to focus on our armour. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to be dressed like any of the Battle-Hardened, now do they?¡± he asked without shifting his gaze. ¡°Well, they weren¡¯t in the village when we began the attack. They showed up later. We believe they may have been out hunting or something of the like.¡± The sergeant voice was a bit more composed now, but you could still tell he was feeling tense. ¡°That¡¯s quite the assumption, don¡¯t you think?¡± the leader commented without looking back. ¡°Well, it seems the most likely reason. At the very least, we can confirm that they are Battle-Hardened.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± The leader took another step towards us as he asked his question. ¡°The strength they had while fighting was simply beyond that of any human.¡± ¡°Beyond any human?¡± Another step closer. ¡°Hey, are you just going to keep yapping to yourselves? I don¡¯t like having to wait for you to come over here so I can kill you.¡± He smirked at me. ¡°You¡¯re an interesting one, so eager to do battle. Well, not that I particularly mind. However, if that is the ultimate conclusion, don¡¯t you at least want to know why we are fighting? It would be such a shame if you died thinking we were nothing more than barbarians.¡± ¡°Barbarians?! They are the barbarians! How could you even say such a thing!¡± the sergeant yelled out, finally regaining his nerve. The Lieutenant-Colonel shot a piercing gaze over to him and he froze up. His nerve was lost once more. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right, Sergeant. That was a poor comparison. Instead, maybe you could please explain things to them.¡± The sergeant hesitated for a moment before complying. He took a few steps towards us and showed us a look of utter disdain. ¡°Midgard is meant to be a home for the humans, the purest creation of the gods. Not for the likes of you demi-human outsiders! We humans are the ones that carry the true blood of Midgard¡¯s ancestors and we shall purge your filth from our world!¡± I stared at him blankly, my mouth agape. When my brain finished processing what he just said, I actually felt inclined to continue the dialogue. ¡°Demi-human outsiders? What¡¯s that supposed to refer to?¡± ¡°To you, of course!¡± The sergeant snapped. ¡°All of the Battle-Hardened! All of the Farseers! You think yourselves superior to us humans because of your natural born strength and magic, but that is merely the result of inbreeding among beasts! You taint the land and dominate our lands when you have no right to even exist!¡± The sergeant made ready to actually attack me but the Lieutenant-Colonel cut him off. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough now.¡± He spoke cooly, and finally glanced behind him briefly. ¡°No, don¡¯t stop him, things we¡¯re just about to get good.¡± Against these kinds of fanatics, the chance of any sort of peaceful resolution was hopeless. I just wanted them to hurry up and begin the battle before the side effects of my powers set in. I¡¯d initiate it myself, but I¡¯d rather not do something too careless in front of so many enemies. ¡°You know, I almost admire your confidence. Almost. In reality, this is nothing more than arrogance and bravado, is it not?¡± Those words in particular really irritated me for some reason. What did they remind me of? ¡°Why don¡¯t you come and find out?¡± I said threateningly. ¡°Alright, then.¡± He casually started walking towards me. I was expecting him to give the signal to attack since he didn¡¯t even have a weapon drawn, but he just kept drawing in closer without slowing down. Tasha finally let go of my arm as she got into a proper stance. Then, he stopped when he was just inside my striking distance. The whole thing was so unexpected, that I wasn¡¯t sure whether to just cut him down now before he gave the order to attack. I took a brief glance at the rest of them to see if they were about to move, but they just continued to observe for the moment. I gauged the distance again and verified to myself that if I attacked, he should be unable to evade. I was at six bolts right now, and from that conversation just now, he was only human. There was no way he could surpass my strength and speed. As I thought of this, though, I suddenly noticed a blade right at my throat. I blinked as if to verify that this had really just happened. That the man standing in front of me could have drawn his blade and very well could have killed me before I could even react. I was so shocked that I couldn¡¯t even move. Suddenly, he moved the blade away and my knees buckled. I fell down as he sheathed his blade. ¡°What are you doing, Lieutenant-Colonel?! Why didn¡¯t you kill him?!¡± ¡°What would be the point in that?¡± the Lieutenant-Colonel laughed. ¡°What? What are you talking about?! It is the mission of the True-Bloods to kill every last Battle-Hardened and Farseer!¡± ¡°Well, as you can see, they are only human," the Lieutenant-Colonel casually explained. ¡°No, they¡¯re not! We saw how they were fighting earlier!¡± The sergeant was shouting louder than ever, and it was to the point that my ears were almost starting to hurt. ¡°Sergeant,¡± he began, with a serious tone, ¡°I don¡¯t think I like what you¡¯ve been saying so far. As True-Bloods, we swear to uphold the righteous rule of the humans. Yet, you seem to have implied multiple times that it is the Battle-Hardened and Farseer that are superior.¡± ¡°W-what? No! I- I was just referring to their strength and magic. Obviously humans are still the superior ones.¡± The volume of his voice diminished greatly, but his tone was still argumentative. ¡°And why is that?¡± ¡°W-what do you mean?¡± he asked, dumbfounded. ¡°Why are humans superior? It is because unlike the arrogant Battle-Hardened and Farseer who rely on powers they are born with, we humans are talented in our ability to learn and grow. Humans have talents and can engineer tactics and strategies that can defeat the strongest of them. So, when you bring up the notion that these people are Battle-Hardened simply because they were stronger than you, are you not making a different kind of mistake? A mistake in which you do not understand your own weakness.¡± ¡°I- I- but,¡± the confused sergeant floundered with his words. ¡°Do not make such rash conclusions simply because you are jealous of the talents of other humans. Or, do you mean to say that I am Battle-Hardened?¡± The sergeant shut his mouth and didn¡¯t move a muscle. ¡°Do you understand what I am saying?¡± Still, the sergeant said nothing. ¡°Well, let¡¯s double-check anyways, just to make sure.¡± He took a step closer and stood over me as I planted on the ground, my sword loosely gripped. In the corner of my eye, I saw that Tasha was still frozen in her stance. From that distance, she could have tried attacking the Lieutenant-Colonel, but just as I knew, she also probably knew that the very idea was ludicrous. ¡°Speak, what is your name?¡± ¡°I- It¡¯s Braith,¡± I stammered out, giving out my real name before even realizing how potentially reckless that was. I guess part of me thought it didn¡¯t even matter. This man could do whatever he wanted and I¡¯d be helpless to stop him. ¡°Braith, huh? What an interesting name.¡± I get that a lot. ¡°Now, just a quick question. Are you Battle-Hardened?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Farseer?¡± I shook my head again. ¡°Alright, say it clearly then, what are you?¡± ¡°I- I am human. We all are.¡± I regained just enough of my willpower to make that last assertion. He looked into my eyes and I tried to make myself look as confident and honest as possible, but I have no idea if that worked. Part of my brain was still just trying to function properly again. ¡°I see. Well then, my apologies for this little misunderstanding. I look forward to the continued development of your talents.¡± He turned around and started walking away. The rest of the troops stared at us, and from the faces I could see from the torch lights, they were also in disbelief. However, none of them spoke a word in opposition and they quietly retrieved the bodies of their fallen comrades and followed the Lieutenant-Colonel back into the forest. It was at least a minute after they had all left that the grip of fear over my body faded, and I collapsed sprawled out on the ground. The power of the bolts had faded away at some point and I was panting heavily, my body also numb. Chapter 22 ¡°Here, Tasha, eat this.¡± I heard Flora say this beside me. I turned my head and although my vision was heavily blurred, I think I saw Tasha taking a potion apple from Flora. She then came over to me and was about to hand me one as well. ¡°You too, Mr. Braith. Ah, but we should take the arrow out first,¡± she said, referring to the bolt still in my arm. I limply moved my hand over to the bolt and gripped it. I pulled on it and winced in pain as it resisted me. I took a short break and then pulled on it again, mustering enough strength to get it out this time. I tossed the bloody bolt to the side and resumed my heavy panting. I did not even have the arm strength left to take and eat the apple now. ¡°J- Just¡­give me¡­a moment¡­¡± I said in between breaths, as she still held out an apple for me. ¡°B-But you¡¯re bleeding now! You need to be healed right now.¡± Well, I guess¡­you could juice it or something, I don¡¯t know. I was going to need a bit more time before I could even explain to her the alternatives. My body simply wouldn¡¯t be moving for a while. ¡°How about we feed him the apple, then?¡± ¡°Oh, we can do that. Wait, um, can he even swallow it properly? Mr. Braith?¡± That¡¯s a good question, Flora. I¡¯ll get back to you on that as soon as I can. ¡°Dad? Can you hear us?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I barely managed to wheeze out. My vision was blurry, which wasn¡¯t that big of a deal since it was in the middle of the night, but my heart continued to pound like a jackhammer, which could not be good for the bleeding wound. This is what I assume; I¡¯m not a doctor, after all. ¡°By my contract with the guardian tree, grant thee nature¡¯s blessing.¡± Suddenly, my light-headedness and exhaustion began to dissipate. My heart rate slowed and strength gradually returned to my arms. I bent my fingers and shifted my legs a bit. Then, I just sat straight up and breathed out in relief. I looked at Flora, right next to me, her hands out in front of me, looking at me with just as much a look of surprise as I probably had. ¡°How did you do that?¡± I asked. ¡°I- I don¡¯t know. I was just thinking that any powers I may have gotten from the guardian tree were wasted on me. So, um, I wondered if I could just use it on others.¡± ¡°Is that supposed to work?¡± I asked, curious to learn more about Farseer magic. ¡°Um, I¡¯m not really sure. Grandpa never said much about that. Just said that the guardian tree lends its powers to help us.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± I tried peering into the hole in my sleeve to see if the bleeding stopped. I couldn¡¯t really tell, so although it wasn¡¯t the best idea, I just put my finger into the hole to check to see if there was any more fresh blood. That didn¡¯t seem to be the case. ¡°Well, thanks.¡± I got back up, but stumbled a bit almost immediately. The injury was taken care of, but I was still pretty tired. It would probably be too cheap to so easily get over the side effects of using my powers so much, otherwise. Flora went over to tend to the two Battle-Hardened boys. They remained silent since our first meeting and I thought about how to delicately handle their situation. ¡°S-should we bury the villagers?¡± Tasha asked. Just laying it out there huh. Well, I didn¡¯t think any of us are that great at being subtle. ¡°It¡¯s not up to us to decide. You two, those people, True-Bloods, I think they called themselves, they said that most of the women and children ran off. Do you know if that¡¯s true?¡± ¡°Yes, some of us ran away. We were supposed to split up and then meet up again at another nearby village.¡± This time, it was the older one speaking. ¡°Do you know where you need to go?¡± He nodded. ¡°Do you need to stop by your village again?¡± You might think this is a rather brutal conversation to have with a pair of boys even younger than Tasha, but given the circumstances and the prior life-or-death scenario, I could hardly care less about such criticisms. ¡°That can wait,¡± the older boy said after some contemplation. ¡°We should meet up with the others first.¡± I was impressed with how calm he sounded. On the other hand, the younger boy timidly held onto the older one, almost hiding his body behind him. Perhaps a more natural reaction? ¡°Alright. Get there safely and tell them about what¡¯s coming. You¡¯re going to want to move and run away as far as you can from here.¡± He nodded grimly. ¡°Are there a lot of other Battle-Hardened villages in the Nature Clan¡¯s territory, though?¡± I asked, curious. ¡°Not that many. We moved here not too long ago. The Nature Clan just kind of abandoned this area of the forests, I think. I think it had something to do with the war.¡± ¡°What about the war?¡± I asked, curious about this as well. ¡°I don¡¯t know. The elders just mentioned it a few times.¡± Well, I could hardly expect the full details of this area and the reasons for their move would be known to a young boy. ¡°I see. Do you need any supplies to help you get to where you need to go?¡± I didn¡¯t want to be completely heartless about this matter, but he shook his head at my offer. ¡°Okay, take care then.¡± ¡°Wait, we¡¯re just going to leave them now?¡± Tasha asked in surprise. ¡°Yes. They know where they are going. They probably know this part of the forest much better than we do as well.¡± ¡°What if something happens to them?¡± I didn¡¯t have much energy to argue with Tasha¡¯s excessive concern about others. I don¡¯t think I need to explain too deeply why I was simply not in the mood for that. ¡°Then they run or hide.¡± I sheathed my blade and started making my way back into the forest. ¡°What if they can¡¯t get away?¡± I stopped. I turned around to look back at Tasha and Flora. ¡°Then that is unfortunate.¡± I couldn¡¯t make out Tasha¡¯s face all that clearly, but I knew it was probably contorting as she prepared to continue her protest. ¡°But there is nothing we can do about it. Tasha,¡± I let out a sigh of exasperation, ¡°I cannot even fight right now. As much as Flora may try, I don¡¯t think she can really fight either. If those same people show up again and we get in their way, they will kill us. I still don¡¯t understand why that Lieutenant-Colonel let us go this time, but we won¡¯t be so lucky next time. Tasha, you are a Battle-Hardened, and Flora is a Farseer. We already know full well how they see your kind.¡± I could hear Tasha making a random number of short sounds, struggling to put together a rebuttal. ¡°Please, we can go alone. We will make it. Thank you for protecting us so far,¡± the older boy said. Perhaps I should feel a bit of shame about having such a young boy defend me right now, but I was still glad to have any kind of support. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tasha asked, almost insisting for them to change their answer. ¡°Yes.¡± Tasha looked to the ground and silently accepted this. We parted ways and after wandering through the forest a bit to find the luggage we dropped, we decided to just continue and leave the forest. Daybreak was in a few hours anyways. When morning came, we took a short break. I figured now was time to make a few things clear. ¡°Flora, you said that your Farseer powers are normally meant to empower your people?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Flora looked a bit surprised by the sudden question, but her expression showed that she was eager to answer any of my questions if it would help me in some way. ¡°I know you said you don¡¯t really know much about them, but can you at least confirm this for me? The magic that lets you move the earth, does that come from the guardian tree?¡± ¡°Um, I don¡¯t know. Maybe? I know that I¡¯ve never been able to move the earth around like grandpa can.¡± She seemed more disappointed than me about not giving a clearer answer. ¡°Okay, another thing then. When I was fighting with the Nature Clan soldiers and the Druids, I noticed that they were actually quite strong. Physically, that is. Now, I¡¯d expect that from the Battle-Hardened, but why is that the case for the Nature Clan? Are they just superior?¡± ¡°Um, I think that¡¯s because of the guardian tree. At least, that¡¯s what I tried to do when I used the power on myself, but it never worked.¡± ¡°So, the way it works for you is unique, then?¡± Flora put on a pensive expression for a moment. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never thought about it working like that before.¡± I let out a sigh. If only Hiram were here. Actually, no, I should be a bit upset with Hiram. He barely explained anything before pushing Flora onto us and telling us to run. Well, I guess he did provide us with compensation in advance. No, forget it. I should stop trying to think of this as some kind of business transaction. I guess I¡¯ll just have to accept this and acknowledge that Flora¡¯s powers work in a helpful but mysterious way. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Flora. Even if it can work differently, it works just fine for now. Dad and I are plenty strong and you can support us.¡± I almost scoffed at the word ¡°support¡± as I thought about her frightened position with her bow. ¡°I want to be able to do more than just heal, though. I spent years practicing archery, and I just¡­I just want to be able to help like that, too,¡± she said, as if sensing my thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re too scared to shoot because you don¡¯t want to kill anyone?¡± I asked. I took Flora¡¯s silence to be agreement. ¡°Well, Flora doesn¡¯t need to kill anyone. None of us should be killing anyone.¡± I knew this was going to come up again, but I definitely wasn¡¯t going to get riled up the same way. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Tasha,¡± I began calmly, ¡°how many villagers do you think died in that attack?¡± ¡°W-what?¡± she asked, shocked that I would think to ask such a thing. ¡°Just give me a guess. How many?¡± I pressured her to answer my question. ¡°I- I don¡¯t know,¡± she stammered out. ¡°Why does that matter?¡± ¡°Well, it was just the men that stayed behind to fight, but judging by the number of huts, it was probably around twenty or so. Twenty Battle-Hardened killed in one night by a single attack.¡± ¡°Just because they kill people doesn¡¯t mean we can kill them as well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not my entire point.¡± ¡°Then, what is your point?¡± Tasha¡¯s voice was quickly rising. ¡°My point is that despite not wanting to kill them, I know you¡¯re going to tell me that we should stop them. While going easy on them, you want us to try to take down a group that wiped out an entire village of Battle-Hardened with just a small portion of them. We are three people, and one of us can¡¯t even fight.¡± ¡°We are not just three people, though. Flora is a special kind of Farseer, you have a guardian spirit, and I am more than strong enough to handle myself.¡± Tasha was completely correct and by now, it was clear to see that she was much stronger than any ordinary Battle-Hardened, but this was far from persuasive. ¡°Mr. Braith has a guardian spirit?!¡± Oh, right, I never did say that explicitly. However, I thought she would have guessed by now, so I was really thrown off by Flora¡¯s reaction, especially given how quiet she normally was. ¡°Yeah, and it¡¯s a really strong one, too. It¡¯s one that keeps on getting stronger!¡± Tasha replied excitedly. ¡°Tasha, you should have figured out by now that it¡¯s not that simple. It only works for a short time, and has side effects when I overuse it. Also, there will be no getting any stronger if I die.¡± ¡°Tasha,¡± Flora began, cutting back into the conversation, ¡°I think your dad has a point. We shouldn¡¯t be chasing after those people.¡± Woohoo for the pacifist. ¡°But, we can¡¯t just let them get away! Besides, what if we run into them again? We can¡¯t just run away from them!¡± My thoughts briefly went back to the Lieutenant-Colonel, and I noticed my fingers tremble slightly. I made a fist to stop it. ¡°If they attack us, we will defend. But we cannot be reckless if it¡¯s just the two of us fighting. Especially if they go after Flora in the middle of the fight. This is why, Tasha, if this does happen, I will not be light with them. All of my attacks will be aimed to kill.¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t do that!¡± I briefly looked over to Flora to see if she would have anything to add. She had an expectant expression on her face for some reason, but she only silently observed. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to kill them, then fine. I will not force you to, but I will not take such risks. Whenever you don¡¯t aim to kill, any slight misstep has a greater chance of failing to bring them down. At least when you go for the kill, even missing might still deal a serious injury.¡± I then turned to Flora to convince her as well, just in case. ¡°I¡¯m sure you understand as well, Flora. It¡¯s the opposite for you, though. You probably want to be able to take them down with non-lethal force. But, if your aim is even a bit off, you might accidentally hit a vital area. This is why we cannot force battles where we have to desperately fight.¡± I smiled a tiny bit when I saw Flora nod in response. ¡°You¡¯re right, Mr. Braith. I really do believe in my aim, but when I imagine the arrow killing someone, I don¡¯t think I can do it. But, I won¡¯t remain like this.¡± What? ¡°Flora, what are you trying to say?¡± Surely she doesn¡¯t mean she¡¯s actually okay with killing people. In this kind of situation, I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s a bad or good thing. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to try mixing something I¡¯ve never made before, but I¡¯ve seen grandpa make it a couple times before. If I can make a paralyzing poison, I can aim to only barely hit their body. Even a grazing blow should apply enough poison to bring them down quickly.¡± ¡°Are you referring to the poison that was used on me?¡± ¡°Yes, but a much stronger type.¡± I remember Hiram mentioning that. I guess he was talking from personal experience. ¡°I don¡¯t have to worry about killing anyone, and I can actually help fight.¡± She gave us an expression brimming with determination. ¡°Yes, I know you can do it, Flora!¡± Tasha gave her a hug and put on a similar expression. ¡°We will fight them, and we can beat them without sinking to their level.¡± You think this is enough to sway me? ¡°Have you forgotten about that Lieutenant-Colonel? Do you have any plans on how to deal with him?¡± Tasha¡¯s chipper expression dampened a bit, but not to the point of fear I was expecting. ¡°He is really strong. He won¡¯t be easy to beat. But, we¡¯ll think of something.¡± I hate arguing with kids. For now, I figured I¡¯d just avoid giving any explicit agreement or disagreement. If we don¡¯t encounter them again, that would be for the best. Also, even if Tasha wants to track them down, it¡¯s not like any leads are going to come up. And if any do, I will try my best to ignore them. We finished our break and continued our way out of the forest. Early in the afternoon, we finally made it. The sun shone warmly on our skin. We were now stepping into lush and vast grasslands as far as the eye could see. There weren¡¯t any settlements in view, but we continued eastward. It was a bit worrisome camping out in relatively open ground, so whenever we came across any stone outcroppings, we would camp there to have just a bit of cover. We traveled for another couple days without any incident, but we ended up coming across something that renewed Tasha¡¯s fire. It was a village. Emphasis on the ¡°was¡±. Just like the Battle-Hardened one in the forest, this village had been ransacked and burned to the ground. The attack did not happen long ago as there were still bodies littered across the ground yet to fully decompose. The dead village stood in stark contrast to the clear lake it was settled next to. Potentially even more horrifying than this ravaged village was the fact that I could not react the way one would expect. With this scene clearly visible under the light of day, Flora had to step off to the side and throw up. Tasha stared at the scene with cold anger. As for me? I browsed around the village and wondered if anything noteworthy was left behind. I didn¡¯t find anything like that and when I felt Tasha¡¯s questioning gaze fall upon me, I tried to pass off my wandering as searching for clues. Even if there were any, I would have ignored it, of course. When Flora had recovered, we continued. We traveled across the grasslands for another few days and we felt the temperature start to rise. We had left Befson early in the spring, and it was now almost summer. However, it was more than just a changing of the seasons that brought about this heat. As we got further east, the greenery of the lands gradually thinned and the ground started to turn to sun-baked earth. The map didn¡¯t show the exact cut-off, but I figured we had just crossed over from the Northwest Grasslands and into the Lost Wastelands. In this new terrain, there were now far more rock outcroppings. They still weren¡¯t exactly common, but you couldn¡¯t walk more than a mile without coming across a few of them. As we took a break by one of them, I thought about what could have led to these formations. I came up with no theories on that, and not just because of my lack of knowledge of the geological sciences. Flora said she suddenly felt something approaching and although I didn¡¯t see anything in the immediate distance, we still packed up. Just as we finished, I could see clouds of dust starting to build up on the horizon. At this time, I learned that Flora had the keenest eyesight amongst the three of us, although I probably would have guessed that if I asked earlier. She said people riding on horses were coming towards us. It wasn¡¯t clear that they were coming after us, but I had a bad feeling about this. However, trying to hide seemed impossible on this open ground. As they got closer, Flora confirmed that the riders were wearing fur like the True-Bloods wore. I could not imagine natives wearing fur in this environment so I assumed that the riders must be some sort of cavalry brigade of the True-Bloods. I charged up to a total of three bolts in advance. I then sized up the rock outcropping and judged it to be about twelve feet in height. ¡°Flora, do you think you can climb on top of this outcropping here? There isn¡¯t that much room at the top, but there should be enough space for you to set up an archery position.¡± ¡°Great idea, dad!¡± ¡°Um, I can try.¡± She was clearly nervous about this, but I preferred to ignore that. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll hold onto your bow and quiver and throw it up to you.¡± She unequipped herself and tried climbing up the grooves of the outcropping. The riders came in closer and even I could see they were riding black horses now. Alright, we needed to do this quicker. ¡°Tasha, get underneath Flora to push her up, and then, I¡¯ll push you up.¡± We did our strange, three-man tower and Flora got to the top. We tossed up her bow and quiver and I charged up to the fifth bolt. I was a bit wary of trying any more than that, especially under the sun¡¯s scorching rays. The last thing I wanted was to aggravate a sudden heat stroke. The riders stopped about a hundred yards short of our position, perhaps thinking this was just close enough but out of range of our archer. I could make out one of the riders taking something off his saddle and bringing it up just in front of his face. ¡°The three of you!¡± his voice came booming in, apparently amplified by speaking into something like a megaphone. ¡°I am Captain Belloc of the First Cavalry Brigade. If you are not Battle-Hardened or Farseer, drop your weapons immediately so we may peacefully question you.¡± Peacefully question, they say. Obviously, we did not comply. ¡°If you do not throw your weapons to the ground, we will treat your actions as hostile, and we will attack!¡± Tasha rolled her shoulders a bit, as if suggesting she was getting tired of waiting. ¡°Tasha, do not take this battle lightly. We have never fought mounted troops before.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. If I just knock them off the horses it¡¯ll work out.¡± To be honest, as long as these were ¡°ordinary¡± humans, I think that was possible with our strength. However, I would rather not underestimate them. ¡°It¡¯s not that simple.¡± ¡°I can handle it. Just make sure not to kill any of them.¡± ¡°I will try.¡± Tasha gave me a nervous smile. I did not reciprocate. ¡°Last chance!¡± Belloc warned. Upon seeing our continued defiance, he set the voice amplifier back onto the saddle and signalled to the other dozen riders. As they galloped towards us, Flora let fly one of her arrows, but it just barely missed one of the riders in the front. It looked like Flora was still yet to get over her anxiety. I could only hope it wouldn¡¯t take until the end of the battle for that to happen. I split off from Tasha and went to the other side of rock outcropping as I awaited their arrival. The riders closed in, and I saw their scimitars gleaming in the sun. Two of them rode by either side of me, trying to flank me. I moved back to the rock outcropping just as they were about to enter striking distance to prevent that. One of the riders quickly fell back behind the other as they prepared to attack me serially, instead. Feeling like a maverick, I performed a leaping strike on the first rider. My blade clashed with his and I crashed into him as he rode into me. I ended up landing awkwardly onto the horse, now seated directly in front of and facing the unconscious soldier with a bloodied chest. I was somewhat surprised to see he didn¡¯t get knocked off his horse by the momentum, but that was not my greatest concern. The horse continued to gallop forward and the rider who was following behind sped up and was now right next to me. He slashed at me and I blocked the attack. We kept the exchange for another few attacks, appearing even mostly because I lacked maneuverability in my position. Finally, though, I found an opening that wasn¡¯t hindered by my shaky seat and slashed at the rider¡¯s arm. He dropped his scimitar and I swiftly followed up with another slash, but he steered his horse away from me just in time. It was at this point that I had realized I was starting to get kind of far away from Flora and Tasha. Thankfully, she was not being completely surrounded. This was because there were still another six riders coming towards me, though. They split off to either side of me. They rode in closer, flanking me with three riders on each side, one following right behind another. I dug my heels into the sides of the horse, hoping it would cause it to stop. It didn¡¯t. As my next course of action, I reached into the rider¡¯s bag with my left hand, hoping to find something to help my situation. I pulled out the first thing I got my hands on just as the first pair of new riders came in to slash at me. I threw it at the one on my left to distract him as I slashed at the one on my right. Perhaps I had gotten more used to my position, but my attack came in fast and sharp and cut deep into that rider¡¯s arm. I quickly looked to my left and saw that he was drenched in water. I think I threw a canteen at him. I kicked at the horse¡¯s side with my left foot, hoping it would steer it in one direction or the other. The horse steered right into the rider¡¯s horse and the impact was almost enough to unseat me. I slashed at the confused rider and he dropped his weapon as he grasped at his bleeding chest. I did hold back a little bit, but judging by how much blood came out, I wasn¡¯t sure he was going to make it. Over on my right side, the next rider in line had rode up to me and attacked me. I tried to duck as much as I could, but the unconscious rider was kind of in the way. The slash glanced off the back of my hide armour and I quickly shot back up to slash at him. He tried to steer away, but my attack came in just in time to connect with his scimitar, which hit it with enough force to knock it out of his hand. Before I had time for any kind of celebration, though, the second rider to my left and the last rider to my right rode up next to me and attacked me at the same time. I shoved the unconscious rider in front of me to my left while kicking at the horse with my right foot. I blocked the incoming attack on my right as my horse steered into his. The attack on my left was interrupted by both the sudden turn and the fact that the unconscious rider was briefly in the way. He still didn¡¯t fall off the horse though. I slashed at the rider on my right once more as the one on my left got in closer again. I cut deep into the rider¡¯s arm and he rode off as his scimitar clattered to the ground. The one on my left tried to cleave my neck and I ducked just barely in time. I then swung at him as his blade passed over my head, but it was a bad angle and I missed. When he came in to attack again though, I had recovered and I blocked it. I immediately followed up with another attack aimed at his scimitar, hoping it would knock it out of his hand. His arm was brought low and his body was forced to lean downwards by the force of my attack but he held on. I kicked at the horse with my left foot to steer into him and slashed at his shoulder just as he was straightening back up on the saddle. He rode away from me, having lost his weapon and gained a grievous wound. I prepared to face off against the last rider still chasing me, but he actually pulled away from me. The other injured riders fell back with him, and then, I saw them turn around and head back to the rock outcropping. By this time, I noticed that we had actually gotten quite far from Tasha and Flora. I had no idea how to make the horse turn around to follow him, and it would probably take too much time to figure out how to turn around and get seated properly on the saddle. I put my left arm onto the shoulder of the unconscious rider and pushed up while digging my heels at the side of the horse, trying to stand up. It was a reckless idea if I didn¡¯t have high confidence in my strength and dexterity. I was now no longer seated and in an awkward squat-like position on the horse. I lifted up my left foot very quickly and then kicked off the horse with that same foot while pushing off with my left arm at the same time. It did not work out quite as intended. I jumped off a few feet off the horse, but before I could get away completely, my leg collided with the still-seated rider. I spun around in mid-air and then crashed and tumbled across the ground. I picked myself back up quickly and sprinted back to the outcropping, charging up one additional bolt through my legs as I dashed off. As I approached, I saw Flora miss another shot and the riders started scattering. Some were a bit slower at that than others, probably the ones I had seriously injured, but it looked like they were actually retreating. Well, I wasn¡¯t completely satisfied just yet. Chapter 23 ¡°Flora, aim at the horse!¡± I shouted out. Seeing as how none of the riders that were over here were downed, both Tasha and Flora must not have been trying as hard as they could. As they started galloping away, Flora did as I said and shot off an arrow at one of the horses. It whinnied as the arrow stuck into its flank. The horse faltered in its gallop and then tripped and tumbled into the ground. I continued the chase as I saw the rider trying to get his horse back up, but it was useless. The other riders that had gone ahead had now stopped, but the downed rider yelled at the others to get away. After a second of hesitation, the riders continued their retreat. The rider got off his horse just as I arrived, and Tasha was not far behind. He brandished his scimitar as I slowly got in closer now. He looked like he was whispering something to his horse before he suddenly slashed at its neck, killing it. It was easy to see how he expected the fight to go. I knew it would be pretty easy to take him down, but the fatigue from using my ability and doing that all-out sprint was starting to set in. Before I moved in for the attack, Tasha ran past me. She easily disarmed the soldier and knocked him to the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t move or else!¡± Tasha yelled out at the soldier, pointing her sword at the soldier on his back. I wondered if he knew just how big of a bluff that was. ¡°You think you can threaten me? The True-Bloods will rid every last one of you Battle-Hardened!¡± he snarled at her. Well, there¡¯s the confirmation. I walked up next to Tasha. ¡°No, we are going to put a stop to all of your killing!¡± The soldier laughed hysterically at her remark. ¡°You may think you¡¯re some great heroes or something, but you are dreaming of the impossible.¡± ¡°No, we are going to find where you all are hiding and beat you all!¡± Tasha was shouting even louder now, as if that would make her words more persuasive. ¡°You want to come to our base and fight us?¡± he asked, an incredulous look on his face and voice shaking a bit from laughter. ¡°That¡¯s right! Now, tell us where it is!¡± Even I almost laughed. Watching Tasha trying to interrogate someone to have them divulge military information when they had no risk of being killed by her ¡­I mean¡­just wow. He seemed to agree with my thoughts as he continued to laugh. ¡°That would be like walking right to your deaths!¡± I agree, it was a stupid idea and I thank you in advance for being a good soldier and keeping your mouth shut. Now that I think about it, though, even though I want to kick all of your asses for picking a fight with me, I probably should have just let them go if this was how it was going to turn out. ¡°We¡¯re not afraid of you!¡± Tasha declared. I¡¯m not afraid of most of them but¡­no, no, I¡¯m not afraid either. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell you.¡± I stared at him in disbelief. What did he just say? ¡°It¡¯ll save us the trouble of hunting you down later.¡± ¡°Good, so, where is it?¡± Tasha asked, clearly quite pleased with herself. ¡°If you continue going due east, you¡¯ll come across a small canyon. It should be about two days by foot. Stay north of the canyon and you¡¯ll eventually see what looks like ruins. Underneath the ruins is our base.¡± I simply could not believe that he would just tell us all of this so willingly. Just what is waiting for us for him to be so confident? ¡°Alright, then.¡± Tasha stepped back a bit to give the soldier some room. ¡°Leave your weapon behind and get out of here.¡± The man let out another laugh as he got onto his feet. ¡°Doing me the favour of delaying my¡­punishment?¡± he said condescendingly. ¡°No, you¡¯re dying here right now.¡± I stepped forward to attack but Tasha slashed her sword right in front of me. ¡°We¡¯re letting him live, dad.¡± She stared hard into my eyes. ¡°Do you have any idea how much more difficult things will get if he warns them all?¡± I grabbed onto Tasha¡¯s arm to pull it away, but she wouldn¡¯t budge. ¡°What a funny sight,¡± the soldier commented, stifling another laugh. ¡°Hurry up and get out of here. You¡¯ll end up regretting it if you don¡¯t stop what you¡¯ve been doing.¡± I shoved at Tasha hard to push her out of my way. Then, the soldier suddenly dove for his scimitar and I leapt in to cut him down. Tasha knocked me to the side from behind and jumped ahead of me. Just as the soldier was getting back up with his weapon, Tasha attempted to disarm him again, but he kept his grip, both hands clutched to the handle. He pushed back at Tasha, but it didn¡¯t even make her footing falter. Tasha pushed back and easily knocked him to the ground, but he still held onto the scimitar. I came in from the side and slashed at him, but Tasha got in the way again by blocking my attack. In this opening, the soldier tried to slash at Tasha, but she dodged out of the way. I then slashed downwards at the soldier as he performed the attack, and cut deep into the side of his chest. He tumbled to the ground, but quickly got back on one knee, still one hand gripping his scimitar. I went in to finish him off, but Tasha cut me off again. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Tasha, stop getting in the way!¡± ¡°No, we are not going to kill him!¡± I could see how genuinely angry she was at me right now, but I wouldn¡¯t back down. ¡°He probably won¡¯t live through a wound like that anyways,¡± I reasoned. ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t have done that!¡± If Tasha were a Farseer instead, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if her gaze alone could set my entire body on fire. ¡°Bit late for that,¡± I stated coldly. After struggling for a bit, the soldier got back on his feet, most of the left side of his torso soaked in blood. ¡°It¡¯s not too late. We can heal him. We still have those apples!¡± Now, my anger was starting to peak. ¡°We are not using our precious resources to save someone who wanted to kill us!¡± I declared. He came running at us again, but Tasha moved in before I did and knocked the weapon out of his hand, his strength clearly fading. He then tried to throw a punch at Tasha instead of retrieving the scimitar, but Tasha easily evaded and then tripped him. He slammed into the ground with a loud grunt. ¡°Stop fighting! Do you want to die?!¡± Tasha asked, angry and confused. The soldier coughed up some blood as he tried pushing himself back up, only to collapse again from the injury on his left side. ¡°Are you trying to shame me with mercy¡­?¡± he asked as blood trickled through his teeth. ¡°We don¡¯t want to kill you.¡± Speak for yourself, Tasha. ¡°Just lie down there and we can treat your wounds.¡± He gave out a pained laugh in between a couple more bloody coughs. ¡°Are you trying to¡­reform me? I live to fight for the True-Bloods¡­and I shall die with honour.¡± He pushed at the ground again with his hands and got into a push up position, his arms trembling. He willed his legs to move again and stood back up. Honestly, if he wasn¡¯t some genocidal fanatic hell-bent on fighting to the death, it might have actually looked noble. ¡°W-why do you go so far? You attack and kill others without mercy, and even on the verge of death, you don¡¯t stop fighting? Just why do you go so far?!¡± I could see tears in Tasha¡¯s eyes as this situation made her go through the range of the most extreme emotions. With an unsteady hand, he reached into his overcoat and pulled out a small knife. ¡°Because that¡¯s just who we are.¡± He lunged at Tasha, knife aimed at her throat. Tasha evaded the attack and he crashed into the ground, worsening his injury. Just like the last time, in between bloody coughs, he pushed himself back up and onto his feet again with a content grimace on his face. He shakily walked towards Tasha and she backed away from him. This man clearly had the plans to drive himself to the death. There was now little reason for me to intervene. In fact, this might even serve to be a good lesson. ¡°Tasha, do you understand the situation you are in right now? This man has absolutely no intentions of reforming and he will fight you until his dying breath. How do you intend to deal with an army of people like this?¡± Realize this, Tasha. There are times when we must kill, and this is one of those times. ¡°I- I¡­¡± Tasha struggled to think of what to say. The bloodied soldier¡¯s persistence was a terrifying thing, and not because of any kind of perceived personal threat. There was next to no chance of him succeeding in actually injuring Tasha. But the conundrum of trying to resolve this with non-lethal force seemed to be a problem with no possible answer. ¡°Enough¡­of your arguing¡­and running around¡­fight me!¡± He lunged again, but this time, Tasha chose to try to block him. She succeeded in knocking the knife out of his hand, but he bulldozed her into the ground. Panicked, I quickly went over to pull him off. The man lay on top of her, his face right up next to hers, as he grabbed at her with one arm and tried to either claw or punch at her with the other. It was hard to tell since he was neither making a proper fist or a clawing motion. I grabbed him from the neck of his overcoat and tore him off of her. For an instant, I had him dangling from one hand before I finished tossing him over to the side. He collided with the ground noisily, blood droplets making a trail to his landing spot. Tasha was on her back, her face white with horror alongside tears and drops of blood marking her face. The front of her armour was also smeared in some of the soldier¡¯s blood. I went over to the soldier, and sure enough, he was still alive and was in the middle of getting back up. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay for that,¡± I said, seething with anger. ¡°So¡­the man finally shows up¡­to finish the job¡­¡± He got back into a standing position, the entire front and left side of his body now stained in blood. Judging by the blood pooled around his mouth, I couldn¡¯t be certain if it was him choking on blood that was hindering his speech more than all the pain he was clearly in. ¡°I¡¯m going to take out every last one of you True-Bloods.¡± In my rage, I ended up saying something unexpected. He gave me a disgusting smile. ¡°What a cute thing to say¡­be sure to remember it.¡± With difficulty, he bent his knees, and tried to charge in and throw a punch at me. I side stepped him and stuck my blade deep into the non-bleeding side of his chest. His arms immediately dropped, and his knees buckled. I bent down to let his knees touch the ground with my sword still jammed in his chest. Then, I pulled it out while kicking his body away from me. The resultant blood splatter was more than I expected, but I managed to avoid most of it. I then walked over to his body and verified he was finally dead. Then, I went back to Tasha who was still lying on the ground. ¡°Tasha¡­can you get up?¡± I asked, extending one hand towards her. She continued to stare ahead of her, as if lost in her own little world. Having to be up close and personal to a dying, bleeding man trying to kill you would probably have that kind of effect. Eventually, she brought one hand to her face, and felt the mix of blood and tears. She put her hand in front of her face to look at the mixture, and then looked at me. ¡°Where is he?¡± she asked softly. ¡°Over there,¡± I replied, without any emotion, or even pointing. ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll help you up.¡± I shook my hand in front of her, as if the problem was that she simply couldn¡¯t see it. Slowly, she grasped it, and I gently brought her to her feet. She looked around and spotted the dead soldier. ¡°So, you killed him¡­¡± she said, rather absent-mindedly. ¡°Yes. He wasn¡¯t going to quit until he died.¡± She pulled away from my grip and started walking back towards the rock outcropping. Instead of following her, I went over to the dead horse and checked the saddlebag. No use in letting traveling supplies go to waste. We continued traveling eastwards, not necessarily because we wanted to find their base, but because the Dridam Plains were in that direction. A lot had happened since setting off, but I had still not forgotten about that objective. However, if it was going to be along the way anyways, I figured I¡¯d at least want to make sure it was there. Chapter 24 Two days later, we came across an oasis. It was rather strange, though, as there weren¡¯t any settlements around it. For a moment I thought it may have been a mirage, but I didn¡¯t think it was quite hot enough to make me see such an illusion. Sure enough, it actually was real and we took a break there and washed ourselves. Not too far from that oasis was a small canyon. I wasn¡¯t surprised to see it, because when I told Flora about what the soldier brought up, she said it did sound familiar. Hiram travelled around Midgard a fair bit when he was a young man and he mentioned coming across a canyon in the middle of the Lost Wastelands that had several caves at the base of it. He said he found rare and potent herbs inside the caves. The last thing Flora had to say about what she recalled was that the place was also rather dangerous, but she couldn¡¯t remember why he said that. We stayed north of the canyon, but as we continued traveling, I think I did see some caves at the bottom, so this may have been the same canyon. An hour later, we came across what were probably the ruins. Well, it was some kind of ruins. Broken stones, barely reminiscent of the walls, structures, or stones they once were, were strewn all about a space hundreds of yards across. Also, the walls of the canyon sloped into a steep ramp leading down to the base of the canyon. ¡°So, this is the place,¡± I said flatly, still unsure about how I felt now that we were here. ¡°Looks like it,¡± Tasha commented back. She peered across the vast expanse of debris, but saw no kind of monument or structure that particularly stood out. ¡°Um, I really don¡¯t think we should be here,¡± Flora spoke, fear creeping into her voice. Well, that¡¯s an understandable thought. ¡°Well, you can hide out somewhere until we¡¯re finished with this place,¡± I suggested. I was no longer afraid, or maybe it was because I was still somewhat afraid, that I wanted to deal with this directly now. ¡°Yes, Flora, you don¡¯t need to fight with us.¡± I doubt Tasha really meant any offense by that, but she really was quite useless during most of the last fight. ¡°N- no, I¡¯m not talking about those soldiers. There¡¯s¡­something else. It just feels really wrong being here. We should leave.¡± ¡°Are we about to get ambushed again?¡± I scanned all around us but saw nothing. ¡°No, I- I don¡¯t feel anything coming. It¡¯s just¡­this place. This place doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± Tasha walked deeper into the ruins and started randomly pushing aside loose stones. ¡°Is there something else hiding around here?¡± she asked as she continued her haphazard search. ¡°You should stop doing that, Tasha. We should at least come to an agreement before we decide to go any further.¡± I followed her, and with great trepidation, Flora came as well. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tasha asked me after dropping a large stone slab. I am going to assume that her action did not have any threatening connotation. ¡°We haven¡¯t discussed it all that well since¡­since last time, but just what exactly do you plan to do? If necessary, I plan to kill them.¡± She continued her random search among the ruins for another moment without talking or looking back. ¡°I hope it doesn¡¯t become necessary, then,¡± she responded, her tone a bit distant. ¡°Are you saying you also plan to do what I¡¯m going to do?¡± I needed more clarification, and not more of what I considered as pretty much a non-answer. The pause before her next response was even longer than the first. During that time, Flora made a series of uneasy noises. ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone to die,¡± Tasha finally responded. ¡°But if someone had to die, you¡¯d rather kill than let yourself be killed, right?¡± Tasha continued as before, searching through the debris in silence, without glancing back to look at me even once. ¡°Tasha, answer me.¡± She continued to ignore me. I marched up to her and grabbed her by the arm as she was about to push over a large stone. ¡°Tasha.¡± I pulled her towards me, but she hung her head and refused to look at me. ¡°Um, I really, really think we shouldn¡¯t be here¡­¡± Flora spoke up nervously. ¡°Flora, be quiet.¡± I brought my head down to her level, but she continued to cast her gaze down to the ground. ¡°Tasha, we are not here to play nice with these murderers. Either we kill them so they cannot kill anyone else, or we leave and forget all about them. There is no middle ground here. They are not the sort of people who will change from just a show of strength. I believe that was made clear as day from that last soldier.¡± My frustration grew as Tasha still refused to acknowledge me. ¡°If you do not have the resolve to kill, then that¡¯s fine. We can just leave.¡± ¡°Yeah, we really should!¡± ¡°Shut up, Flora!¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°If you can¡¯t kill, then we can leave and forget about this. But, if you really want to fight these people, then I will fight them with you. I will risk my life for you. However, if that¡¯s what you want, then you must be able to fight with your life on the line as well. They will try to kill you during any chance they can get. If you stay focused, and fight seriously, then I doubt they can do anything to you. But, if you plan to go in there, with the intention to spare all of them¡­you will die. No matter what, I will not let you die in such a stupid way. So, tell me! What is your decision?!¡± Finally, Tasha raised her head and looked me right in the eyes. She had on a look of determination, but determination for what? She pulled away from me while still looking directly at me. Then, without a word, she turned around and continued her search. I gritted my teeth in quiet rage. Flora came up behind me and tapped me on the back. I turned around, trying to keep my composure. ¡°Mr. Braith¡­¡± ¡°Yes, Flora,¡± I said, trying not to sound angry. ¡°I think we should leave now¡­¡± I let out a sigh of exasperation. ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t see why not. Tasha clearly doesn¡¯t know what she needs to do.¡± I went over to Tasha just as she pushed over a large boulder. It rolled over and revealed an opening in the ground. What great timing. ¡°Tasha, don¡¯t go down there, we¡¯re leaving.¡± She ignored me and jumped down the hole. I groaned in frustration as I got ready to chase after her. ¡°Flora, wait outside!¡± I jumped down the hole and found myself inside a tunnel that was both low and dark. I didn¡¯t see any magical torches or stones illuminating the entrance and the ceiling was less than a foot over my head. Just barely, I could make out Tasha¡¯s figure as she quickly made her way down the path. I ran after her, but as I did, she sped up as well. ¡°Tasha, stop running away! We are leaving here right now!¡± I charged up a couple bolts through my legs, but as I started gaining on her, she broke into an all-out sprint. This really seemed rather dangerous, as the hallway was now pitch-black and if it weren¡¯t for the path being so straight, I probably would have crashed into the wall a few times already. I could only assume she had yet to get away from me from the sound of her quick steps and breathing. I charged up another bolt through my legs and hoped that the direction of the path wouldn¡¯t suddenly change. I heard her louder and clearer as I raced down the path, and prepared myself to collide with her, as I still could not make her out in the darkness. Suddenly, I tripped over something. I crashed into the wall and hit the ground. I coughed a few times as dust started collecting in my throat. Tasha¡¯s steps got further away from me once more as I brought myself back up. I coughed a couple more times and I started feeling a bit nauseous. I started running after her again, and just as I was about to reach my top speed, I heard something fall up ahead. I continued running, but when I didn¡¯t hear Tasha footsteps anymore, I slowed down and jogged by the wall. As I got further, I could hear coughing. ¡°Tasha, is that you?¡± No response. I slowed down a bit more and tried to focus, but it was futile in this aphotic environment. ¡°Tasha, please, if you¡¯re there, answer me!¡± I heard another cough, this one sounding stifled. As I still continued walking forward, I heard something lean against the wall. Another cough came, louder this time. ¡°Tasha, hurry up and say something!¡± The coughing started up again, and whatever was leaning against the wall sounded like it was now gradually falling back to the ground. A few moments later of intermittent coughs, it now sounded like I was right in front of whoever was coughing. ¡°Tasha¡­¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± It was her voice, but it sounded incredibly strained. ¡°Are you¡­okay?¡± She coughed in the middle of my question. ¡°Y- yeah¡­¡± I heard Tasha pull herself up against the wall, but I also heard her start sliding down again. I took another step forward, and I felt my legs wobble a bit. This was strange. I breathed in some air, and noticed that it felt¡­kind of thick. I slid further forward along the wall, and held out one hand, finally touching something, probably Tasha. ¡°Tasha, that¡¯s you, right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I heard her slide further down the wall at the same time whatever I was touching also went away. I reached down and felt around. ¡°Tasha, we¡¯re getting out of here now,¡± I said as calmly as I could. ¡°B- but¡­¡± she coughed again. ¡°We must¡­stop them¡­¡± Tasha tried to move away from me but I grabbed onto her and pulled her in right up against me. The action left me light-headed for some reason, but it was also pretty easy to do. I found her arm and started dragging her back down the hallway. She continued to cough, and a few times, I felt her trying to resist, but they were rather pathetic attempts. As I continued to drag her along though, I felt my own strength also start to fade away. She still didn¡¯t feel heavy, but I started feeling kind of exhausted from nausea. Then, I started coughing again as well. These coughs hurt my throat more than usual, and my mouth started feeling very dry. ¡°T- Tasha,¡± the raspiness of my voice surprised me, ¡°how are you feeling?¡± ¡°¡­bad¡­¡± she wheezed out in a voice that almost didn¡¯t even sound like hers. I sped up to get out of this dark pathway as I started to feel unnerved by it. I wasn¡¯t particularly afraid of the dark, but being down here without any light for so long was starting to get to me. Eventually, I saw light up ahead shining down from the entrance earlier. The renewed light was almost blinding. I dragged Tasha to the hole and threw her up and out of it. Then, I jumped up and pulled myself out as well. I slumped down over the ground, the sun beating down on me. ¡°You two look terrible, what happened?¡± Flora asked with great concern. ¡°N- nothing¡­we¡¯re getting out of here.¡± I picked myself back up with great difficulty, and had to lean against a large stone to keep myself on my feet. Tasha was sprawled out on the other side of the hole, face-down. ¡°Flora, help Tasha up.¡± Flora went over to her and put one arm under each of Tasha¡¯s armpits. Flora heaved and pulled Tasha up and set her against a different large stone. Her eyes were closed and her face was unmoving. ¡°T- Tasha, are you okay?¡± No response. Flora inspected Tasha for a bit, and checked to see if she was injured somewhere. I suddenly went into a coughing fit before I could ask for the results. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Mr. Braith, are you okay?¡± I was a bit surprised by the question. Clearly, Tasha is the one you should be worried about. ¡°I¡¯m¡­fine. What about Tasha?¡± ¡°Tasha¡­she¡¯s unconscious.¡± ¡°W- what, why?¡± I asked, still coughing. ¡°Mr. Braith, please try and remember, what happened down there?¡± she asked, panic in her voice. ¡°N- Nothing. We just were running. Just running for a while. Then, we both tripped.¡± ¡°Tripped on what?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know; it was too dark to see anything.¡± I really couldn¡¯t make it out at all, but the sensation did seem eerily familiar. ¡°What else, then?¡± Flora asked her follow-up question quickly, her nervousness from before suddenly gone. ¡°Uh,¡± I coughed again and almost keeled over, ¡°I, uh, got some dust in my throat and started coughing. Uh...Tasha also started coughing, a lot more than me though.¡± I coughed again. ¡°Well, kind of like right now.¡± My head started pounding and it was hard to see straight. Flora came over to me and laid her hands over my head. ¡°By my contract with the guardian tree, grant thee nature¡¯s blessing.¡± Instantly, the headache and the coughing fit went away. However, I still felt exhausted. ¡°Did that help?¡± ¡°Yeah, it helped a lot. Quick, please do it for Tasha, too.¡± Flora nodded and repeated the same thing for Tasha, but she didn¡¯t wake up. ¡°Why isn¡¯t it helping?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­Mr. Braith, are you sure there wasn¡¯t something else that happened down there?¡± ¡°Uh,¡± I wracked my brain trying to recall anything else, ¡°the air was¡­I don¡¯t know, kind of thick I guess.¡± ¡°Thick?¡± ¡°Yeah, it was kind of hard to breathe.¡± ¡°So there wasn¡¯t very much air down there?¡± ¡°No, not like that. It was more like¡­there was something else in the air¡­¡± My eyes widened from the sudden realization. It may have been just speculation, but it also seemed obviously true. First off, what we¡¯re we even doing here? We came here because we were told this was the True-Bloods¡¯ base. Well, pretty safe to say that that was clearly a lie. But why would the soldier mention this place in particular? He wanted us dead, even if he could not do it directly. That sickening feeling as we got deeper, the ¡°things¡± that were lying on the ground? Maybe even something to do with Flora¡¯s feeling of unease? ¡°What is it, Mr. Braith? Why did you suddenly go quiet?¡± ¡°Poison gas.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°There¡¯s poison in that underground passage. We¡¯re not the first to figure that out either. There are at least two others who died in that passageway. Tch¡­I can¡¯t believe I was stupid enough to think that soldier actually gave us directions to his base.¡± ¡°Poison? But, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s something my powers can cure. Or, at least, it¡¯s not something I should have been able to help with without knowing about it first.¡± ¡°You only helped with the symptoms, probably.¡± I went over to Tasha and picked her up. ¡°Also, if it really was poison in the air, it explains why it was worse for Tasha. She was sprinting a lot harder and she has a smaller body.¡± I found the nearest remains of a wall and set her down over there for what little shade it provided. ¡°Here, get out your apothecary thing and make an antidote or something.¡± ¡°An antidote?¡± ¡°Yes, for the poison.¡± I then hit myself in the head after saying that. Is this some kind of role-playing game? Real antidotes only apply to specific poisons. Antidotes aren¡¯t just some sort of cure-all. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t have the ingredients for that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t have the ingredients? Wait, you know what kind of poison this is?¡± I frantically grabbed her by the shoulders. ¡°No, but if I have some very potent ingredients to work with, I could make something to fight the poison.¡± She responded quite calmly given my sudden advance, and she looked off to the side for a bit, as if pondering. ¡°Wait! Let me try my powers again. If I know it¡¯s poison, maybe I can do something.¡± She went over to Tasha, who was now visibly starting to break out into some kind of fever. Sweat was running off her brow, her face was flushed, her body was shivering slightly, and her breathing was haggard. She tried using her powers on Tasha again, and the shivering and heavy breathing stopped. However, she still looked like she was burning up. Just then, I felt my throat start to feel a bit dry. As I thought, she was only alleviating the symptoms. Flora looked back to me, her panic and desperation showing. ¡°Flora, you said that if you have the ingredients, you can make an antidote, right?¡± After I asked my question, I felt my forehead start to burn again. ¡°Y- yes, probably. No, I can definitely do it!¡± she announced with determination. I looked over to the direction of the canyon. ¡°You said your grandfather found some rare herbs here, right? Do you think they would do the trick?¡± Flora brightened up a bit. ¡°Yes! In particular, he mentioned finding violet ivy. One bunch of them is already very potent.¡± Flora got up. ¡°Let¡¯s go and find them!¡± Her eyes were suddenly very bright and I almost thought it looked like she was smiling slightly. ¡°No,¡± I said, putting my hand out, signalling her to sit back down. ¡°Watch over Tasha, I¡¯ll go.¡± ¡°What? Are you sure?¡± ¡°Who else is going to look after her?¡± Her wide eyes shrunk back to normal. ¡°Oh, right. Yes, okay, I will look after her.¡± She seated herself once more. ¡°I will wait here and try to keep her from getting any worse. Wait, what about you? I should help you as well right now.¡± She was about to get back up to use her powers on me but I just motioned with my hand again to get her to stay down. ¡°No, I don¡¯t want you to end up using all your energy up. Just stay here and look after Tasha.¡± I felt an itch starting to grow in my throat. ¡°Okay, violet ivy. It looks just like ivy right, but violet?¡± ¡°Um, yeah.¡± ¡°Is there anything I could confuse it with?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be thorough just in case.¡± I pulled out a torch that I took from the True-Bloods and headed off towards the slope that led down to the base of the canyon. Hopefully, I would not have to go very deep into the caves or explore multiple ones, but I was prepared for such unfortunate circumstances nonetheless. Now, seeing as how Flora could just as easily, if not more easily retrieve the ingredient, it seems it would have been better to swap places with her. Especially since Flora probably couldn¡¯t use her powers much more today and the effects were minimal. But Hiram said this place was dangerous, and I don¡¯t think he would neglect leaving out mention of a poisonous tunnel. The steep slope was somewhat difficult to climb down with my body in its increasingly feverish state, but I didn¡¯t slip down or fall off. I arrived at the base of the canyon and saw five or so caves. I walked towards the nearest one and didn¡¯t see anything growing by the entrance. I was about to walk further in to explore deeper, but I noticed something. The canyon was almost dead silent. However, the one sound I could hear faintly was wind. I didn¡¯t feel any wind in the canyon, though. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and concentrated. It definitely did sound like wind, but what else sounds like wind? I couldn¡¯t really think of anything else, but I decided to move towards that sound. The sound seemed to be coming from the cave furthest from the slope that I came down from. I stood at the entrance of the cave, and although I still couldn¡¯t feel any wind moving around me, I thought I could distinctly hear it coming from inside that cave. With a torch held out in front of me to light the way, I entered. I lowered the torch to light the ground before me, making sure to not miss what I was looking for. I also brought the torch back up, just in case there was something on the ceiling as well. There wasn¡¯t, and I had no idea if I would ever encounter anything that would grow like that. After a couple minutes of walking into the cave, I still encountered nothing, and my whole body started feeling weak again. My arm was even starting to shake a bit from just holding the torch. On the bright side, though, I think the wind sound was getting louder. I couldn¡¯t be sure, though, my hearing was starting to get a bit fuzzy as well. When my eyelids started feeling heavy, I slapped myself across the face to keep awake. It worked, but I also ended up dropping the torch at the same time. The torch rolled across the floor, as apparently, the cave had been running deeper underground since I entered. I chased after it until the torch rolled into the cave wall. As I bent down to pick it back up, two things happened. One, a gust of wind blew in from deeper inside the cave, and two, there was a terrifying shadow being cast down beside the torch. I turned my head to see what was casting the shadow right as the powerful gust extinguished the torch. I did get a glimpse of what it was though, and it sent shivers down my spine. It was a giant spider hanging off the cave ceiling, and many, many more behind it. Now, I have encountered many spiders before, and although they scared me terribly as a child, I¡¯m used to them now. Well, mostly. When I see them nowadays, if they¡¯re small enough, I try to just ignore them. As for larger ones, I usually get a prickling sensation, and then I tell myself to just kill them. These ones, though, were huge. I didn¡¯t get a good look, but even tarantulas were small compared to these ones. This also taught me very clearly that my phobia had not been cured like I thought. My body froze as I entered pitch darkness. Above me, and all around me, the relative silence of the cave was broken as I heard the sound of a myriad of enormous spiders shuffling above and all around me. During the brief moment I broke free from the paralyzing fear, I tried to will myself to turn around and run out of the cave. At the same time, though, I also thought about the possibility of the herbs I was looking for being in this cave. Before I could weigh the two against each other, I felt something drop onto my back. Every nerve in my body shook as I felt the thing crawl onto my neck. My fever had now been completely replaced by frozen fear. I heard more dropping onto the ground all around me, and I felt their weight on me as they crawled onto me. Deep inside, I wanted to scream out and run out of the cave, crying like a baby, but no matter how much my insides were violently churning, my body refused to move. More and more got onto me, and their combined weight was gradually forcing me to the ground. As my sense of fear continued to get overloaded, my mind went completely blank. I could not see, hear, or feel anything. I may also have even fallen unconscious, I simply had no way of really knowing. After an unknown amount of time, I regained my senses. I was lying face-down on the ground, but I was no longer in absolute darkness. The sudden influx of light caused me to close my eyes again. I slowly reopened them, as the burning shift from darkness to light eased. With my eyes partially open and adjusted now, I thought that the lighting seemed familiar, and when I looked, I saw light stones in the walls. However, I also saw the immense mass of spiders hanging off the walls and waiting around all across the floor. As my level of fear rapidly shot up, a voice cut in right before my mind began overloading again. ¡°Hello¡­¡± The voice¡­was not an ordinary speaking voice. Maybe it was because I was still scared, but although I cannot describe it well, the voice induced the same kind of hair raising sensation as spiders crawling on my body. As such, I did not immediately respond. ¡°I did not expect another visitor so soon¡­¡± It was a curious comment, but fear kept my mouth shut. However, I was finally able to shift my gaze to the direction of the speaker. He had tangled strands of hair that ran down his face, covering his eyes. He wore some kind of pure white robe, made out of something I could not recognize. Perhaps due to my continued silence, the man walked towards me. His robe went all the way to the ground and covered his feet, but I thought I could hear the sounds of sandals or something similar slapping against the ground as he walked. He stopped right in front of me, and knelt down. He brought his face right up to mine, and I could make out some features through the long mess of hair. His eyes were closed for some reason and his complexion was gaunt and very pale. His face was barely wrinkled, but looked aged at the same time. As my brain tried to take in more details, he suddenly opened his eyes. They had a faded silvery white colour and did not move around at all as I stared at them. ¡°Uh,¡± I found myself grunting out. I had no idea how long I had just been staring into his eyes, but it was probably far longer than any other time I¡¯ve done that. ¡°Uh?¡± I was trying to ask a question, but it seems I forgot how my mouth worked. ¡°You are¡­a lot less talkative than the others¡­¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I said very slowly, while nodding even slower. He then put one hand on the top of my head. ¡°Are you scared¡­?¡± Initially, I thought he was asking out of concern. ¡°¡­You should be¡­¡± My fear which had plateaued suddenly went up a level. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Come on, Braith, you can do better than one word at a time. ¡°Who are you?¡± Awesome, great job. ¡°That¡­does not matter. Knowing that¡­will not help you.¡± Okay, please, tell me what will help me, then. I¡¯m serious. ¡°You¡­have one chance. Spare no details¡­why are you here?¡± Remembering the urgency of why I came here seemed to be just enough to pull me out of my sense of fear and dread, if only enough to talk properly. ¡°I am looking for something. Um, violet ivy¡­yes, I¡¯m looking for violet ivy. I need it to make an antidote. My daughter and I were poisoned just recently.¡± Then, almost on cue, I realized that my throat was completely parched and aching, and I entered a short coughing fit. With my sense of feeling and awareness back, I realized that my entire body had broken out in cold sweat. ¡°A friend told me that I could find the violet ivy in the caves down here.¡± My voice was trembling slightly. ¡°Please, do you know where I might find it?¡± I never thought I would be asking for a favour in this kind of situation, but it seemed like the best idea to be genuine. During this whole time, the man¡¯s expression was impassive. A moment after I finished though, he grinned at me. Then, he got back up and turned his back to me, and I could see and hear the spiders start to move about more energetically. Dread sunk back in. Did I make a mistake? Just now, I mean. I probably made several mistakes leading up to this in just the past¡­hour or so? ¡°You really are different from the last ones¡­¡± Is that bad or good? Please, tell me that¡¯s good! ¡°Well, not that different¡­¡± Am I going to die? Is there any helping it? I still have my sword, but I saw absolutely no chance of victory. I didn¡¯t even know how to use my powers currently due to a variety of factors rendering me impotent. ¡°Is there anything else you would like to say?¡± Yes, tons! ¡°Please, I need to help her.¡± In the instant before my reply, I imagined countless ways of pleading, bargaining, and lying. In the end, though, perhaps believing I wouldn¡¯t be allotted much time, I settled on that. The man turned back around and the spiders stopped moving about. He knelt back down again, and I found myself staring into his blank eyes once more. ¡°You have a very grey soul¡­as is common. You do not believe yourself to be either good or evil¡­also common. You are often just steps away from one or the other though¡­less common. Lastly, you can strongly influence the souls of others¡­rare. Rare in that you do not need to tear apart their lives¡­unlike the others who have moved in. If you wish¡­go northwest and seek out what you came here to find.¡± I very dearly wanted to ask him about what he was going on about, but I felt it was better to remain silent. After another moment of staring into his eyes, he spoke again. ¡°You shall be spared¡­this is my judgement¡­¡± He then gently pressed his thumbs against my top eyelids. ¡°Close your eyes.¡± I obeyed. ¡°And remember to never return.¡± My breathing rapidly quickened and I felt like I was starting to suffocate. However, I kept my eyes closed, fearing worse consequences if I disobeyed. My light-headedness shifted into a complete feeling of detachment and this time I am sure I fainted. Chapter 25 When I awoke, I found myself lying just inside the entrance of the cave. Clutched in my hand, there was also a bag made of some white cloth that was smooth to the touch. I opened it, and although I could not be completely sure, it looked exactly like a bunch of violet ivies. I peered back into the cave and shuddered. I would not dare to check out this cave again for a number of reasons. When I left the cave, the sun was still out, so I let out a sigh of relief, but then I realized I had no way of knowing if it was still the same day. I rushed back up the canyon slope, which was much harder climbing up than down, especially since my body had not recovered in the slightest. It was a very strenuous exercise, but I did it as quickly as I could and ran back to where I had left Flora and Tasha. They were still there and I collapsed onto the ground immediately after passing the bag to Flora. She probably questioned where I even got the bag, but I was too tired to answer and I wasn¡¯t even sure if it was asked anyways. I lay down on the ground next to Tasha without any more sense of the passage of time. Eventually, Flora tried shaking me awake, but my body refused to move and my eyes remained closed. Soon after, I felt my mouth being gently forced open just enough to allow some warm liquid to trickle in. I swallowed it, but nothing seemed to happen. After some time, I felt my body go cold as my fever faded away. Once again, I realized that I was covered in sweat. As I contemplated getting up and removing my armour despite the lingering fatigue, I heard Tasha stir awake. Flora came over excitedly and realized that I was awake as well. After taking some time to recover a bit more, we left the ruins. The sun was starting to set so we decided to go back to the oasis to camp for the night. It was a rather somber dimer. All of us were mentally and physically exhausted and spent a good amount of time terrified about something. Shortly after we finished eating, Tasha turned to us and bowed her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Had it been said any time before now, I would have figured such an apology was long overdue. Now though¡­it just seemed entirely overshadowed by a multitude of other things I was thinking and feeling about. ¡°What are you sorry about?¡± Flora asked, sounding genuinely confused. ¡°I- I was reckless. I almost died today, and dad could have died too. If it weren¡¯t for you two¡­¡± ¡°N-no, don¡¯t say that, Tasha. You couldn¡¯t have known about the poison!¡± Flora reasoned. ¡°I didn¡¯t, but you kept saying how we should have left. And dad, I didn¡¯t even want to listen to you anymore so I just ran ahead.¡± To be honest, I felt this was probably just as much my fault as hers, but I kept quiet. ¡°I- It was just a feeling,¡± Flora said, her voice back to its usual timidness. ¡°And I should have trusted that feeling!¡± Tasha raised her head as she shouted that back at Flora. Yeah, I should have trusted that feeling too. Tasha looked at me. ¡°And I shouldn¡¯t have just ignored you.¡± I felt like something was tugging at my heart. It seemed to me that Tasha was openly voicing what I was also starting to blame myself for. However, I was too much of a coward to say them. ¡°I am so very sorry to both of you. I overestimated myself. I thought I could take on anything and that the two of you just needed to stand by me. Today, it was a poisoned tunnel. But, what if it was their base? I am not confident that I can beat them anymore. I think¡­I would have just lost. And that means it would be my fault that we all lost. I¡­I cannot be so stupid anymore. Neither of you deserve to be hurt because of my mistakes.¡± No, I¡¯m the one with the most responsibility to bear. I acted like I knew the best for everyone and I tried to force you to act accordingly. I¡¯m the one who thought I was invincible. I¡¯m the one who thought the rest of you would get hurt if you didn¡¯t do what I told you to do. I let you get into this situation because I wanted to make you learn. It was a terrible lesson. I hate myself for it. But¡­why can¡¯t I tell them any of this? I just remained silent as the two girls continued to speak. ¡°Tasha¡­you don¡¯t need to apologize to me. If I think you¡¯re wrong, I will tell you that you are wrong. Um, I know that sometimes¡­I have a hard time saying what I want to say, but if I was truly against you, I¡¯d speak up. If something happens, I¡¯m to blame as well.¡± Perhaps it was because of my own guilt, but I found Flora¡¯s apologetic nature to be almost infuriating now. She did speak up. But we didn¡¯t listen. She spoke up multiple times and was ignored every single time. Flora, you were right. Just say ¡®I told you so¡¯. You are being far too nice. ¡°No, Flora, I do need to apologize. This was my fault, not yours. I¡¯m the one who suggested going after the True-Bloods. I refused to change my mind on that, and I¡¯m sure you knew that.¡± Tasha¡¯s expression became pained, and she was clenching her teeth now. Sensing she was on the verge of tears, Flora moved in close to comfort her. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°How can I blame someone for acting honestly? You did what you thought was right, and even if I don¡¯t agree, I¡¯m the one who decided to follow.¡± Damnit, Flora, can¡¯t you see that Tasha wants you to blame her? Tell her she was wrong, that she was stupid and reckless. Tell her that she should have known better and that next time she needs to be more considerate. And then¡­forgive her. That¡¯s what she wants. ¡°T- that¡¯s only because you had no choice! You couldn¡¯t just leave by yourself¡­¡± Tasha¡¯s body was quivering, and Flora wrapped her arms around her. ¡°Tasha,¡± her tone was a bit stricter than before, ¡°I¡¯m not that weak-willed. Do you think I would follow around bloodthirsty bandits rather than be alone?¡± Tasha let out a kind of strange gasp. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t. I am here because you are good people. Even if sometimes you don¡¯t believe it.¡± I instinctively felt that shot was directed more at me than at Tasha. ¡°And that¡¯s why you don¡¯t need to apologize to me for as long as you stay true to yourself. I fully accept you as you are.¡± Tasha broke down into tears, bawling her eyes out onto Flora¡¯s shoulder. I slowly stood up, and Flora peered over at me. She gave me a reassuring smile. I did not return it. I went for a walk along the edge of the oasis as Tasha continued to cry. During my walk, I thought about what I was going to do next. Well, first of all, has anything really changed? Do I feel like we are now traveling on a different path? I kept these kinds of questions to myself because I wasn¡¯t keen to hear what Flora¡¯s or Tasha¡¯s take on them might be. I know that that is probably an immature reason. No, it definitely is. But, I¡¯ve always just wanted to do whatever I wanted, right? So what if I¡¯m forcing us towards my direction? My perspective? Isn¡¯t that a natural thing to do? We all head towards whatever we want, and we compromise along the way. I¡¯ve already compromised plenty, haven¡¯t I? I didn¡¯t want to take the fight to the True-Bloods, yet here we came anyway. I wanted to just kill them all to make sure they don¡¯t become a threat again, yet I spared some of them anyway. That¡¯s enough, right? This is what I believe, but, although I won¡¯t say I¡¯m wrong, I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m right, either. Just what should I do? After returning to our campsite, I immediately got ready to go to sleep. Other than wishing them good night, I didn¡¯t say anything else. I had some difficulty getting to sleep as I silently went over questions in my head. Many of them old, but a couple new ones also proved to be difficult to answer. I thought back on the cave in the canyon. It wasn¡¯t just a dream or some illusion, right? I found myself shuddering. I hope I don¡¯t end up feeling so helpless again when faced with a regular spider. I thought harder on the matter, getting past the spiders, and tried to focus on the man. I couldn¡¯t recall any new details about him, so I tried to remember his words next. Something about souls, and good and evil. All probably metaphorical, I would assume. I couldn¡¯t make sense of spiritual stuff like that, so I tried harder to remember anything else. My encounter may have been entirely incidental, so searching my mind for some kind of answer from this could have been completely pointless, yet I persisted. Although, that was probably because the other questions I was trying to answer earlier proved to be even more difficult. As I continued to think, I eventually did find myself growing tired. My concentration dwindled as sleep started to take over. Just as I was thinking this was for the best, one word surfaced just before I fell asleep: northwest. ***** The man stirred awake. He had that dream again, the one he¡¯s had so many times for so many years. Because of this, it was rare for him to ever have a restful sleep, but in some respects, that may have been a good thing. Or, at least that¡¯s how he sometimes thought. At least he was awake more often, with more time to put his mind to his mission. However, as he blinked his eyes in the darkness, he felt there was another reason he awoke. ¡°Are you there, Mars?¡± he asked into the darkness. There was now the sound of someone lightly shuffling around. ¡°So, you could tell it was me?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t think of anyone else who would just silently stand there in the dark.¡± The man got up from the mat he was sleeping on and stared into the darkness, just making out his visitor¡¯s figure from what little moonlight came in from holes from one wall. ¡°So, what is it you¡¯ve come here to say?¡± ¡°Just here to give you my report,¡± he replied curtly, unperturbed by the lack of pleasantries. ¡°Well, that hardly seems necessary. I¡¯ve already gotten word about what your men have been up to. I¡¯ve also already received some local reports recently. So, I hope that your report comes with a proper explanation.¡± ¡°Explanation for what?¡± The man let out a heavy sigh as he got onto his feet. He made his way over to a shelf by the wall and lit up one of the candles that rested there. The flame partly lit up the open, stone room. The room was bare of almost any furnishings, only a mat and some boxes and barrels lying on the floor. There wasn¡¯t even a proper table. The man then walked over towards Mars, who was being just barely illuminated as he stood just on the edge of the lighted area. He wore a fur hat and was draped in a fur coat that was open, revealing a set of bronze armour underneath. ¡°The soldier you reprimanded also gave me a report in line with the rest of his unit. He said that after chasing some people out of a Battle-Hardened village they attacked, you arrived with reinforcements, but allowed them to escape. Now, your stated reason was that they were humans. Of course, if that is true, then there is no issue. However, the cavalry brigade that returned to base reported a group of individuals matching the description of the ones who you let escape. They are fully confident that those individuals were definitely not human. So, Mars, I hope you are ready to explain yourself.¡± ¡°Are you sure this is not all just some coincidence?¡± Mars asked unconvincingly. ¡°Mars, I¡¯ve always known that your investment into our cause is unlike the others. However, you have proven to be very useful. This is why I made you my Lieutenant-Colonel. If you¡¯ve just been playing around with us all along, though, do not think I will take this lying down.¡± Despite the shadow covering his face, he thought he saw Mars smirk. ¡°I assure you, I will play no part in directly interfering with your mission. In fact, I would more than love it if you could become even more successful. And that is the other reason I have come here tonight.¡± Mars stepped closer towards the other man. ¡°Something crucial is going to happen soon, and I want to know the level of your conviction.¡± ¡°My conviction?¡± he asked, before scoffing. ¡°If I was not determined to see my mission out until the end, would I have done all of this? Would I have raised such a strict code of conduct? Would I have deserted my own homeland if I did not have such conviction?¡± Mars continued to walk closer, stopping when they were just a few feet apart. ¡°That is reassuring to hear. In that case, I have a wonderful reward for you. I will take that conviction you¡¯ve invested your life into, and turn it into power.¡± Bright sparks of red started to fly off his right hand like an exposed cable. ¡°Do you accept?¡± Mars put his hand out right in front of him. The man had a rather grim expression that was briefly marred by surprise. However, his stoic expression quickly returned, and eventually, he nodded. Chapter 26 The first thing I did when I woke up the next morning was to announce that we would head north. Tasha and Flora were surprised, and Tasha¡¯s surprise turned to outrage when I explained my reason. ¡°What?! You want us to go to the True-Bloods¡¯ base? Are you crazy?!¡± It was really funny hearing this from the other side. ¡°Mr. Braith, do you really think it¡¯s located to the north?¡± Flora asked. Her words were not in direct opposition, but her face clearly showed her apprehension. ¡°Well, it might not. If it¡¯s not, then fine, we can just move on and head east towards the Dridam Plains.¡± I responded casually. ¡°But what if the base is there? Do you plan to fight them?!¡± Wow, now this is just weird. I guess part of me should be glad that Tasha has¡­matured since yesterday? I looked back at Flora and although her face showed concern, she did not argue. I guess she¡¯s sticking with what she said yesterday as well. ¡°Well, I thought about this long and hard last night, and that¡¯s what I have decided on. These people are very dangerous, and I don¡¯t think I can just ignore knowing about them. If they go around killing more Battle-Hardened and Farseers, it would really weigh on my conscience.¡± I thought I really meant this, and I tried to put on the proper tone to express this, but in my mind, it sounded like I was lying to myself. ¡°But, if both of you disagree, then I can understand that as well. This is not something I would do alone if neither of you thought the same way.¡± From their expressions, I already knew my simple argument had already won. ¡°Y- yeah, I know what you mean, dad. I mean, we can¡¯t just let them be, but¡­¡± ¡°Mr. Braith, I understand what you are saying and if this is something you are committed to, I will support you as best as I can.¡± ¡°Flora¡­¡± Tasha looked upon Flora with surprise, and Flora took a moment before explaining herself. ¡°Tasha, I understand that this is kind of strange. Almost like a reversal of yesterday. But, as I said, I think you two are good people and I will support you both as long as you do what you think is right. It will be dangerous, I might even just be a burden, but, I don¡¯t want either of you to act differently just because I am with you. I don¡¯t want to be someone who hinders you or makes you decide on things you normally wouldn¡¯t choose.¡± Tasha looked back at me with a pained expression that gradually turned into one of determination. ¡°Alright, dad, I¡¯m with you. We will show that we won¡¯t stand for what they are doing!¡± Tasha¡¯s expression quickly changed back into one of concern. ¡°But¡­you do plan to¡­let them live, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can, but know that my priority will be to keep you all safe.¡± Tasha seemed to be dissatisfied with my answer, but I had no intention of revising it. After a moment, she begrudgingly accepted it, keeping any further dissenting arguments to herself. We set off towards the north, all of us probably thinking about something different as we traveled. The environment going north was more or less the same as when we were going east. There were vast stretches of deserted wastelands as far as the eye can see, occasionally broken by stray rock outcroppings. Hours went by and there was no dramatic change at all. Now that it had gotten to this point, it was time to start thinking about just how far I was planning to go before giving up on this search that, as far as Tasha and Flora knew, was completely blind. I was going off of some vague words I might have heard while frozen with fear in an underground cave. It said to go northwest, and since we started off at the oasis that was west of where the cave was, I assumed it would be somewhere due north, but distance was key. Would I wander these dry plains for another week? Two weeks? It was incredibly important that if that base is somewhere around here, that I find it, so maybe I would go to those lengths. Yes, I think I would delay my obligations to find clues to Tasha¡¯s parents or a new place for Flora. Wait, what am I even saying? No, as much as I feel the need to change and take on this challenge, I won¡¯t embark on a possible wild goose chase. Well, I mean, finding Tasha¡¯s parents could be a fruitless endeavour as well, but¡­that one is just a lot more important. I decided that if we didn¡¯t find the base by nightfall, we would turn back. If it really is out here in this region, this is probably very premature, but the True-Bloods are not my responsibility. They would only serve as a means of proving something to myself. Proving that I am not the same kind of man who cowers in fear, believing his struggles to be hopeless. The me back in the cave of spiders, the me standing before that Lieutenant-Colonel. No, I want to be the me that can bring out the most of my potential in spite of a rapidly dwindling possibility of success. Some may call it optimistic idiocy, and in the past, I would be one of those people. I guess I wanted to make this my next major step in becoming someone else. I want here to be my next Befson. As I mulled over these thoughts to myself, I took a good look at the sky above and I knew that the sun would probably set in only a couple more hours. I contemplated whether to tell Flora and Tasha my plans to turn back now or later as we started climbing a small hill. As we reached the top, though, I became distracted by rock peaking out just beyond my gaze. When we finally reached the summit, I saw a massive wall of stone. Well, upon closer inspection, it looked more like a building. This was a giant rock outcropping that looked to be at least a hundred feet tall and dotted across were what looked to be holes. As I looked to the base of this stone structure, I saw very large openings, reminding me of open garage doors. ¡°Is¡­Is this it?¡± Tasha asked, even more surprised than I was to find it so suddenly. ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t see any people around, though.¡± I futilely stared at the holes in the structure, trying to spot someone, but it was simply too far away and the light outside was also starting to fade away. ¡°Um,¡± Flora began, also trying to focus her eyes, ¡°I- I think I just saw someone through one of the, uh, windows.¡± I don¡¯t think I could call an opening without glass a window, but I suppose she lacked a better word. I¡¯m not even sure why such a pointless thought crossed my mind, actually. ¡°You saw someone?¡± I asked, with a bit of doubt. Flora¡¯s vision was the best among the three of us, but the structure was still nearly a mile away. ¡°Um, yes, I think so. It kind of looked like a man wearing fur. Um, but I might be wrong on that. I only saw for a second.¡± Well, if there really was a man wearing fur, there is no way it¡¯s not them. These plains certainly didn¡¯t feel as hot as I would normally expect from an area of cracked and dry earth, but wearing fur is just something that nobody else would do. Speaking of which, why did they all wear fur anyways. Once again, such a thought is actually pointless at the moment. ¡°Alright, Flora, I¡¯ll take your word on that.¡± Flora seemed to be a tiny bit panicked by this onus of responsibility. ¡°You and Tasha stay here, and I will go down there and check it out. If it¡¯s more than I think I can handle, I¡¯ll come right back. Otherwise, I¡¯m going in.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re going in, we¡¯re coming with you!¡± Tasha declared. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Tasha was clearly confused by my quick acceptance. I wasn¡¯t finished talking, though. ¡°However, that¡¯s only after I go inside. Until then, stay up here just in case they are lying in wait nearby. Also, Flora, have your bow out just in case.¡± I still had my doubts on whether Flora was capable of shooting a person, but I guess I was hoping my words would have at least a tiny effect. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Okay, I got it,¡± Flora responded. ¡°Good.¡± I turned back to face the stone structure and took my next step towards it. ¡°W-wait!¡± Flora called out. I turned around, a little annoyed. ¡°Um, before you go, I want to cast a blessing on you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright, Flora. I¡¯m not injured and the poison¡¯s already cured.¡± ¡°Ah, no, I mean I want to cast the blessing of power for you.¡± ¡°Can you even do that?¡± And would that even work on me? Would the same kind of strengthening of the Nature Clan Farseers have any effect on my body which is already a vessel to the Thousand Bolts? ¡°Dad!¡± Tasha snapped at me. My question apparently came off more insulting than I had intended. ¡°Um, I think I can.¡± ¡°Does that mean you can cast it on yourself now?¡± Tasha shot another look at me. What? I¡¯m just curious. ¡°Um, I don¡¯t know, but I want to try it on you because I think it would be more useful that way.¡± That statement really seemed to showcase a warped sense of confidence. She doesn¡¯t think using her powers on herself would matter, but she thinks her powers could have a major impact on others. Oh wait, maybe that¡¯s just a regular case of low self-esteem? ¡°Sure, give it a shot,¡± I agreed. She held out her hands out wide around me and said the words. I did feel more refreshed after she was done, but I didn¡¯t feel any kind of surge of strength I would normally feel from using my powers. I just thanked her anyway and made my approach. Initially, I went forward at a brisk walking pace. There was absolutely no cover on the way towards the stone building, dashing any ideas of a sneak attack. As I got closer, the thought then occurred to me that the best course of action was probably to run as quickly as possible, in case a soldier spots me through one of those many holes. At this, I turned my gaze upwards and focused, wondering if I was finally close enough to make out some finer details. The face of the stone building was flat and the ¡®windows¡¯ looked to be just small enough that a full-grown man wouldn¡¯t be able to fit through. I approximate, of course. As I continued looking at these windows, I thought I saw some light reflecting off of something metallic and a closer look gave me a pretty good idea of what it was. Someone had a crossbow pointed at me. I sent a couple bolts through my legs and bolted towards the building. I wasn¡¯t going to let some sniper fire force me back. A bolt flew right past me as I rapidly closed the distance. As I neared the openings on the bottom floor, giant doorways I suppose, I saw soldiers starting to gather. I guess they¡¯re on high alert now. Instead of running right into the building, I stopped just short of the entrances, knowing that the crossbowmen on the upper floors wouldn¡¯t be able to shoot at me from this angle. I took a look inside the building, noticing the dozens of troops standing by. Also on this floor were many crates and barrels in the back, as well as a makeshift stable that housed several black horses. I also noted that much of the stable did appear to be vacant. Having seen enough, I drew my sword and put on a taunting pose. Several of them took the bait and came running outside to fight me. With only a few of them coming at me at a time, and lacking long range support, the battle was extremely easy. In my opinion, these soldiers, at least as far as fighting were concerned, were well-trained, but against such a difference in strength and speed, none of them could handle any of my attacks or counters. Without worrying about my back, I fought with little reservation, even throwing in a few kicks when more than three of them tried to surround me at a time. Lars had given me a few lessons in hand-to-hand combat, but it was probably just because of my overwhelming power that I could execute these attacks so effectively. After taking down nearly twenty of them, the rest of them remained inside the ground floor of the building, either waiting for me to come in so they could have a better surround or me, or also perhaps waiting on even more reinforcements. Well, that was fine. My body hardly even felt warmed up. I charged up to a total of five bolts and rushed inside. I charged right towards a pair of soldiers on the far right of the floor. I slashed at the one closest to me and then easily flowed into a second attack to cut down the next one. The sudden increase in my speed must have been somewhat of a shock as the ones still standing around the two I brought down had delayed reactions. One couldn¡¯t even take a full step forward before I slashed his chest. As he started toppling over to the side, I instantly began stepping past him to attack the other soldiers standing by him. The next one I also cut down right as he attempted to swing his blade at me. I blocked the attack from the next one with my sword and pushed him back, the strength from that one arm alone knocked him into another soldier, causing both of them to crash into the wall. The soldiers from the left side of the floor were now running towards me. I cut down one more soldier by the right wall and then grabbed him by the collar of his coat. I turned around and threw him into the line of incoming troops. It managed to knock down one of those troops and I quickly ran towards that opening. The soldiers tried to encircle me as I made my way to the gap, but I just cut down the nearest soldier as I ran past much quicker than them. There was something a little disturbing though. Reinforcements were coming down from a stairwell on the right side of the floor and they were crossbowmen. I sprinted towards them, reaching them before they had a chance to set up position. I slashed at one of them and then another. I had intended to just keep cutting them down until there were none left, but the rest of the troops on the ground floor finally had me cornered and there were crossbowmen in the back taking aim at me. I ducked down a bit and put my left hand on the side of my blade as I held it horizontal in an attempt to shield some of my vital areas. I shoved into one of the crossbowmen, knocking him into those behind him, causing the others to fall over. However, the pile of soldiers collapsing on the stairwell then started to fall towards me as a few of them lost their footing and slid off the steps. I jumped back to avoid them and I quickly spun around to block a pair of attacks from soldiers behind me. The crossbowmen would be up in a moment and the group of soldiers were too thick to run past. As I contemplated whether desperate actions would be necessary, one of those soldiers was suddenly struck by an arrow from behind and I saw Tasha charge into the building. I immediately slashed at one of the soldiers and then kicked him hard in the gut, driving him into at least four other soldiers around him. As the nearest soldiers looked at that scene, they also noticed Tasha coming from behind, who was already in the midst of engaging the back line. Their attention was divided and I took that opportunity to go back to taking out the crossbowmen on the stairwell. Right as they were getting back up, I cut them down. Several soldiers came after me on the stairwell and I threw one of the crossbowmen down towards them, impeding their pursuit. I took out the last crossbowman on the stairwell as the soldiers came up the stairwell again in even greater numbers and threw that crossbowman down at them as well. This time, they actually caught him and put him aside and quickly continued their chase. I actually preferred not to fight in such a space so I ran up the stairs for about twenty feet and reached the second floor. The second floor seemed to be just one wide corridor that went to the other side, which also had a stairwell. I ran down the corridor and went past over a dozen open, stone entrances that lined along one side of the corridor. The other side, which faced the direction we came into the ground floor from, was just a stone wall with those ¡®windows¡¯ spaced along it. It was only just passing glances as I ran, but all the rooms seemed to be the same in that they all lacked furnishing and just had mats on the floors, usually by a crate or a barrel, perhaps to be used as substitutes for tables as chairs. There were more than a dozen troops chasing after me, which did give me some feeling of relief. I felt there was no way Tasha would lose to the troops that remained behind. I ran to the opposite stairwell and then went up to the third floor, which was basically the same as the second. I then went to the fourth, and upon seeing this was the same as well, I decided I should just take out the soldiers following me before going any further. I turned around, still full of vigour, and engaged my pursuers who looked to be noticeably fatigued. In this corridor, only three or four of them could fight me at a time, and when they tried to rush in to get behind me to box me in, I just slash at one of them as they try to run past me and jump back. Then I follow up by cutting down the one trying to run past me on the other side. I made short work of these troops, but at the very least, despite my overwhelming display, none of them showed any loss of spirit in their eyes. If I were a soldier, perhaps I would find that commendable. Given who I am and what I know about them, though, I didn¡¯t really think of them in that way at all. After taking down the last soldier, I decided to examine the rooms on the fourth floor more carefully, but that was pointless. There was almost nothing to even look at. The crates and barrels in the first three rooms I checked were empty. I decided to not waste any more time and went up to the fifth floor and just saw even more of the same. Despite the bareness and simplicity, I did think this place was also quite impressive as it seemed these rooms and floors were actually carved into this massive stone formation. Before going up to the next floor, Tasha came running up the stairwell. ¡°Dad!¡± Her face had a mix of both concern and, well, anger, I think. ¡°Yes?¡± I asked innocently. ¡°You haven¡¯t been holding back against them at all, have you?!¡± I blinked a couple times and then looked past her as I heard another pair of footsteps racing up. ¡°Tasha¡­please¡­don¡¯t run so far ahead¡­¡± Flora pleaded out, nearly breathless. Her gaze was a bit out of a focus, but when she finally saw me, she suddenly straightened up. ¡°Oh, um¡­¡± I don¡¯t know if it was because she was still tired or not, but she was at a loss for words now. ¡°Dad!¡± Tasha shouted out again. I looked into Tasha¡¯s eyes and thought for a moment. ¡°Well, they¡¯re not all dead, right?¡± In all honesty, whether the True-Blood soldiers died was still not a great concern for me. However, seeing as how I did not do anything to make absolutely certain they died like I did with that cavalier, I believe I did make some improvement. ¡°Flora says most of them are in serious condition!¡± I looked over at Flora, and she shied away nervously. Tasha grabbed my face and brought it back to look only at her. ¡°Dad, you promised that you wouldn¡¯t go so far.¡± That had me raising an eyebrow. When did I do that? Even if I did say anything along those lines, I¡¯m sure Tasha was just exaggerating. ¡°They¡¯ve done much worse. I mean, I didn¡¯t kill them, right?¡± Tasha scrunched up her face and looked just about ready to continue shouting at me, but Flora placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be fighting amongst ourselves like this.¡± ¡°Are you taking his side!¡± Tasha shouted at her. Immediately afterwards though, she softened her expression, silently apologizing to Flora about her outburst. Flora looked over to me and then back at Tasha. ¡°I just don¡¯t think now is a good time for this. But,¡± she took a few steps forward to stand beside me, ¡°I think it is something we should talk more about later.¡± Tasha cast her gaze over to the side. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s just keep going.¡± Chapter 27 We went up to the sixth floor, but immediately ducked back down the staircase at the sight of half a dozen crossbowmen waiting on the floor. They were waiting for us and one of them shot off a bolt right as we backed off. If I acted now, I would only have to deal with five possible shots. As I tried to quickly calculate the chances of success, Flora brought out her bow and nocked an arrow. I looked at that with a bit of bemusement. As good of a shot she was, and now knowing that she was actually capable of shooting people, I still doubted she could get a shot off faster than them. I told them to standby just a bit away from the top of the stairwell while I went back downstairs to get something. They agreed despite being a bit confused. When I returned, I was carrying two of the soldiers I took down on the fourth floor. Before they could get a full question out, I dashed past them and threw one of the soldiers down the middle of the corridor. The other one I held out in front of me. Because I was holding both of them earlier, my sword was sheathed, but that didn¡¯t matter. My tactic had succeeded in catching them off guard and although two of the crossbowmen still fired at me, one missed and the other bolt went into the soldier I was carrying instead. The shots were clearly made in panic. I quickly closed the distance and bashed the soldier I was carrying into one of the crossbowmen at such an angle that he would be knocked into another adjacent crossbowmen. As for the other four, I quickly went low to the ground and executed a sweeping kick, tripping another one. Of the remaining three, only two of them still had bolts in their crossbows and both of them were to one side of me. I quickly kicked off the ground to go wide of their shots. After that, I kicked off again to immediately get in close and punched the nearest one in the side of the head. I then went behind the other one and shoved him hard over to the other crossbowmen. He crashed into the ones trying to get back up from the ground and they all fell over. The last standing crossbowman dropped his crossbow and took out a dagger. He charged over to me and I easily evaded his attack and grabbed his wrist. I squeezed it tight, breaking it, and the dagger fell from his hand. I grabbed the dagger as it dropped and shanked him in the side with it. He gasped and went limp. I unsheathed the dagger from his body and advanced on the group of crossbowmen who were getting up off the ground again. They abandoned their crossbows as well and took out their daggers. I threw the dagger at the closest one. I didn¡¯t have the skill to intentionally stick the blade into them even at this short thrown distance, but the impact from the dagger smacking him in the head knocked him out. The other two got up to attack me simultaneously. I dodged to my left and grabbed the nearest soldier by his wrist, breaking it and causing him to drop his dagger. Instead of stealing the dagger though, I then shoved him into the other soldier, knocking them both down again. That would be the last thing I would do to the soldiers on this floor though, as Tasha finally came over and knocked them out. I fully expected Tasha to blow up at me again about my less than honourable tactic, especially since she was glaring at me so much, but she said nothing. I looked over to Flora and instead of an upset look of anger or disgust, she seemed to just carry an expression of concern. For whom though, I wasn¡¯t sure. I didn¡¯t bother checking out the rooms on this floor either and we went up another stairwell. This floor was a bit different from the rest. It had a corridor going forward with ¡®windows¡¯ in the wall, but there were no open doorways to other rooms. Instead, the corridor led to a single, open room. This room was rather dark, with little light coming in from the holes in the wall, as well as a narrow pillow of light that seemed to shine down from the ceiling of the open room. As we slowly approached the open room, light began emanating from the hidden side of the room and when we finally entered the room, we saw a single man with his back turned to us, lighting candles on a shelf against the wall. I took a quick glance around the room, once again noting a lack of any chairs and tables, and verifying that there was a small hole in the ceiling where dying sunlight was coming in through. So this is the top floor. The man turned around to face us. He wore simple pants and had an open, buttoned shirt that revealed his chest and abdomen. Judging by the man¡¯s face, he looked to be well into his forties, but his body looked to still be in great condition. He blew out the match he was holding in one of his gloved hands and casually moved diagonally towards the center of the room. The whole scene seemed so surreal that I didn¡¯t even think to move or act as he slowly got into position and then seemed to just pose in front of us, his muscular chest exposed and a blade that looked to be a rapier sheathed at his hip. ¡°Well,¡± he began, ¡°I hope this is enough lighting for you. I could light a lantern too, if you so desire.¡± I said nothing. ¡°Also, you¡¯ll have to excuse my appearance, I was napping when you showed up here and I didn¡¯t have time to get properly dressed.¡± ¡°Are you the leader?¡± I asked, finally recomposing myself. ¡°The leader, you ask? I am the commander of this fort, Colonel Truth. I hope that answers your question.¡± Truth? Well, I guess I know where their name comes from now. However, although my question was answered a slew of other questions started building up. I had no intention of making any kind of compromises or negotiations with the leader of the True-Bloods, but this guy was just so different from who I expected to find. I really wanted to know a bit more about him now. ¡°So¡­are you the only left? Here, that is.¡± Colonel Truth put on a bemused expression. ¡°Well, do you think you missed any of my men on the way up here? Or, perhaps you are wondering if there are more of us somewhere else. Well, I think the answer to both of those questions are fairly obvious.¡± For just an instant, I glanced over at Tasha, wondering what she was thinking about the situation as well. Judging from her expression, she seemed to be just as dumbfounded as I was to find someone here who didn¡¯t immediately attack us on sight. After an extended silence, Truth continued to speak. ¡°Despite the speed at which you made your way through this fort, I am curious as to why you haven¡¯t initiated the next attack yet. Are you perhaps put off by my unpreparedness? Well, I must say the possibility of such a small group of people storming their way into here was not really considered. Being enemies though, I do not expect a sudden act of mercy.¡± The mention of mercy was what finally had me snap back to my fighting mood. ¡°Well, sorry for the delay. I guess I was expecting a bit more from the leader of a genocidal army.¡± ¡°Well, sorry that we were unable to accommodate you today. Normally, we have at least twice as many soldiers stationed here, but we have been fairly busy recently.¡± ¡°Yeah, innocent people aren¡¯t just going to go off and kill themselves.¡± Truth¡¯s expression changed slightly from nonchalant to one of slight irritation, but only briefly. ¡°So, that¡¯s the kind of people you are. I was wondering what kind of people would come all the way here to do what you have done, but you are a lot simpler than I expected.¡± ¡°Oh? Are you trying to imply that your justifications are something grand compared to us wanting to put an end to your madness?¡± I took a step forward. ¡°You want to know?¡± ¡°Yeah, lay it on me. What is the great motivation behind your murder spree?¡± ¡°Hmmm, do you mind if I get dressed while telling you this?¡± It was an odd request, but I nodded. He began buttoning up his shirt rather slowly, as he was only using his right hand. ¡°Before I begin, I would like to verify something. Did the three of you happen to encounter some of my soldiers in the northeastern region of the Nature Clan¡¯s forest recently?¡± I knew exactly what he was referring to, and although I didn¡¯t feel any incentive to lie about it, I didn¡¯t want to tell the truth either. However, Truth read my silence to be a ¡®yes¡¯. ¡°I see. Well, to go further then, are you actually human?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Yeah, I am.¡± ¡°Hmmm, more and more surprises, today. The Lieutenant-Colonel was actually telling the truth about your group.¡± Truth finished buttoning his shirt and then actually turned his back to us as he walked over to the end of the room to pick up and put on a vest. I could have crossed the distance and impaled him from behind, but his defenselessness was setting off alarms in my head. He turned around again and began buttoning up the vest now. ¡°To think my men would be subdued by a group of three humans, two of them young women, even.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m the only human. We also have one Battle-Hardened and one Farseer.¡± I had no good reason to say this, but I was curious about what his reaction would be. Truth paused in his buttoning for just a second. ¡°I see. Well, this makes a bit more sense then.¡± He said casually before he resumed dressing himself. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, though, I¡¯d come here and take you down even if they weren¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh, I have my doubts about that.¡± ¡°Do you have no shame at all about what you and your men have done?¡± He finished buttoning up the vest and then turned around again to pick up and put on a fur coat. When he turned around again, though, he left it open. He walked back towards the center of the room. ¡°You seem a bit young, but tell me, do you remember much about the war?¡± Truth asked, ignoring my question. ¡°It was a big war where a lot of people fought. What about it?¡± I decided to answer in a way that wouldn¡¯t give away that I wasn''t around during that time at all. ¡°A rather crude description, but not an inaccurate one. Do you remember the time before the war?¡± Of course I didn¡¯t. My moment of silence gave him his answer. Truth began pacing across his side of the room, from one wall to the other. ¡°It was a peaceful time. All the various kingdoms went about the normal course of their days, progressing in their own ways and living in relative modesty.¡± He stopped pacing. ¡°But that was just us being ignorant to the truth. In the hearts of many, there was a great distaste towards this peace. Whether for power or wealth, honour or glory, or just a love of fighting, countless people had a burning desire to destroy that peace.¡± ¡°And the True-Bloods are one of those people.¡± Truth stared at me for a couple seconds before shaking his head. ¡°You are mistaken. I¡­we¡­truly love and desire peace. It is how we lived before the war, and it is what we fought for.¡± Oh, this is starting to sound like some familiar bullshit. ¡°But, we continue the fight because the current peace is only temporary. As long as the barbarous Battle-Hardened and Farseer exist, there can be no peace.¡± Yeah, I¡¯ve definitely heard of such twisted reasoning before. ¡°What makes you think they¡¯re the problem? Maybe the humans are the true problem. I mean, here we have an army of humans slaughtering the other races just because they still blame them for a war that has already ended.¡± I continued to argue with the man even though I didn¡¯t expect us to reach any kind of accord. ¡°The war has not ended!¡± For the first time, Truth raised his voice. However, he quickly put on a nonchalant expression again and also started pacing once more. ¡°Do you know how it all began for me? North of here is the mountainous kingdom of Cruxe. At the foothills of these mountains were many towns and villages that bordered the outlands. I was charged with defending one of those towns. My home town, Arinisk. I say defend, but there was never much trouble to deal with. We experienced more attacks from wild animals than from bandits. The small prison we had was also almost always empty. Whenever there was someone held there, it was usually just some drunk who got into a fight. They¡¯d be released the next day after sobering up. Well, that¡¯s how it used to be.¡± ¡°And then the outlanders attacked.¡± I could have phrased it more like a question, but it was obvious where he was going. Also, I really felt like interrupting what was sure to be a long, drawn-out speech. Truth didn¡¯t really seem perturbed by my interjection though. He simply nodded and continued. ¡°There were hundreds of them. The number of attackers may have even exceeded our small town¡¯s population. Whatever could have prompted such a large and sudden attack¡­well, they weren¡¯t the kind to put much thought into such things. Brutal Battle-Hardened barbarians, the entire lot of them. Stormed the town in the dead of night, slaughtering everyone in sight. They lit houses on fire and very quickly, the few survivors had been driven into a corner.¡± Truth¡¯s lips started twitching as he took a longer pause. ¡°We could hear screams everywhere. Many of the houses that were lit on fire were not even broken into. When the people tried to run out of their burning homes, they were greeted by spears, arrows and blades. Terrified by the massacre, I¡¯m sure some died in their own homes. Well, it¡¯s not like everyone got up in time to even run away. We had been cornered. By the time I could group up with any of my soldiers, we were almost completely wiped out. With no other choice, I threw down my weapon and begged for the lives of those who remained, however few that was. The few other soldiers still with me did the same. Their first response to that was to behead one of us. One of them, probably the leader, spat on me and kicked my weapon back over to me. Panicked, and still wanting to save whoever was left, I pleaded once more. Another of my soldiers was killed. The surviving townspeople behind us, most of them women and children sobbed and pleaded as well.¡± Truth brought his right hand up to his brow and closed his eyes. When he opened them, I saw what was unmistakably rage. ¡°They killed some of them, too.¡± The increase in clarity and evenness in his voice was only slight, but had an almost chilling feel. ¡°So, I fought. And I lost.¡± Truth said the last sentence with a tiny smile. ¡°Well, I can see that they didn¡¯t kill you.¡± I suppose this was my way of getting him to continue. Although, maybe I shouldn¡¯t have done that. The bad vibe I was getting from him was growing worse, which made me tighten my grip on my sword. ¡°Knocked me out good. When I woke up, there were only about a dozen of us left.¡± Truth¡¯s smile grew wider and he started casually glancing around the room, almost as if he was in a daze. ¡°And you know what? Seeing that also brought me some small measure of joy. I thought that finally, we managed to convince them to spare at least some of us!¡± His expression then instantly turned cold, his tone matching his face. ¡°It would have been better if they hadn¡¯t. None of the brutes could even speak properly. Well, not in a way I could understand, but their intentions with us were made clear on the first day. We were objects for cruel amusement. They smashed my left hand with a rock and struck nails into my forearm.¡± Truth then laughed. ¡°I got off easy.¡± Truth briefly covered his face with his right hand. ¡°I¡­will not say what happened with the others. At the least, they others only had to endure it for a month or two. Only I lived past that. At some point, I even started getting used to the pain. But¡­that was probably because my left arm was permanently crippled by then. Seven months. That¡¯s how long I was subjected to such things. And then the Cruxean army came. Wiped them out. Completely. And then hunted down their neighbours.¡± Truth made a fist with his right hand and let out a few chuckles. Then, he suddenly started laughing much harder, until he was almost cackling like a madman. I waited for the next pause before guessing where his story continued. ¡°And then began the War of the Nines. A major territory fought against outlanders, and soon enough, all the other major powers got involved as well for their own reasons.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± I let out a derisive snort after hearing Truth¡¯s response. ¡°So, that¡¯s it? A bunch of terrible outlanders come and attack your town and then capture and torture you, and you think that makes it okay to commit genocide against all non-humans?¡± ¡°Non-humans are non-human. They do not understand human law, human rationality, nor human morality. They are just beasts masquerading as humans.¡± I saw his gaze look right past me and towards Flora and Tasha. ¡°Even if some are cleverer than others, that does not change what they really are.¡± ¡°And you think one incident is enough to justify that conclusion?!¡± I had already suspected what the leader of the True-Bloods must be like, but hearing it in person just really set me off. ¡°One incident? The war lasted nine years! And during it, more than a hundred thousand Cruxeans perished! Thousands of them civilians! All of them killed by either Battle-Hardened or Farseers. They are both the same! Whether they are illiterate outlanders, the Nature Clan, or the Rain Clan! The Luster Clan, too! They were our major trading partner but they just stood by and watched as our soldiers fought with the neighbouring Rain Clan. Over seventy-thousand Cruxean soldiers in that one battle alone in the Dridam Plains. Tch, to rename it to the Plains of War after that¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s what happens in a war. People kill each other for some reason that the other side finds inane. Then, the war ends and the killing stops. It¡¯s supposed to stop. If you had kept up your actions during the war, I might have been hard-pressed to question them. Heck, I bet you¡¯d even be lauded as a hero for how effectively you killed your enemies.¡± I glanced behind me for an instant and caught the forlorn expressions on both Flora and Tasha. ¡°But the war¡¯s over. It¡¯s been over for more than thirteen years. You¡¯re nothing more than a war criminal. That¡¯s why you call yourselves True-Bloods now, right? Cruxe isn¡¯t on your side.¡± Truth shook his head. ¡°Even if you are human like me, I didn¡¯t expect you to be so easily convinced. The two behind you have clearly already infected your mind. However, I was hoping you¡¯d be at least a bit skeptical of why you¡¯ve come this far.¡± I agree that what was unfolding here was certainly far from the developments of an ordinary adventure. ¡°Yeah, I think we are both too far-gone to be persuaded now. Truly a shame.¡± Surprisingly, I think I actually meant that last part. Regardless of everything I had done and said so far, I did feel sorry for him. However, I had zero expectation of him turning his life around no matter what I did, and thus I had no intention of showing mercy. ¡°Yes, that is something that I can agree with.¡± Truth went over to the barrel and moved it to the center of the room and raised up one foot onto its lid. ¡°I think the roof will make a good venue for our final battle.¡± He suddenly jumped up off the barrel and through the hole in the ceiling. It was a bit shocking to see a human jump high enough to completely clear the height of the ceiling, even if this room was a bit lower than the others. I recovered rather quickly though and chased after him, jumping up off the barrel as well. Not to be outdone, I jumped high enough to completely clear the ceiling as well. Right as I shot through the hole though, I saw Truth holding some kind of pouch in his hand. I thought he was throwing it towards me as I landed on a large mat beside the hole, so I immediately jumped to the side, but it turned out he was throwing it down the hole. As I saw the smoking pouch fall through the hole, the gears in my head clicked. Chapter 28 ¡°Back away!¡± I shouted down the hole a second before hearing the sound of an explosion. I heard the roaring sound of fire as a thick plume of dark grey smoke billowed upwards. Much more smoke than I expected to see. ¡°I see that the oil down there is burning quite well,¡± he commented casually. I looked over to see Truth taking off his fur coat with a surprising level of dexterity from his one arm. ¡°T- Tasha! Flora! Are you okay?!¡± I screamed. I thought I could hear some kind of response coming from below, but I couldn¡¯t make out any words. That¡¯ll have to be good enough for now. ¡°Pardon me, but I figured fighting against three of you at once may have proved problematic. Although, as soldiers on the battlefield, I¡¯m sure you can understand me leveraging whatever advantages I can.¡± I side-stepped away from the smoke to get a clearer look at Truth. It was faint, but I thought I could see a new, red glint in his eyes. They gave off a fiery look, like sparks about to fly. At the same time, I got a bad, familiar feeling coming off of him now. I backed away from the hole to be on more open ground. I quickly took in the surroundings. It was starting to get quite dark, and the glow of the flames below was almost as bright as the remaining light from the sun as it sank towards the horizon. The roof was bare stone save for the large mat by the hole and something else small and metallic over by one edge of the roof. I guess the mat is used to cover the hole at times, maybe for the rare occasion it rains? Truth began pacing towards me, his foreboding presence causing my skin to tingle slightly. Instinctively, I charged up to six bolts. Suddenly, he threw his fur coat at me, obstructing my vision. Not wanting to get closer to him just yet, I jumped back from the coat. Then, the point of his rapier pierced right through the coat, missing one of my hands by only a few inches. Right as I swung my sword at the rapier in an attempt to break it, it instantly pulled back. As the fur coat fell towards the ground, Truth had already shifted to the side. He thrusted at me and I barely had enough time to kick off the ground to avoid him striking me in the side. He apparently correctly guessed which direction I was even going to slash at. Without a moment¡¯s rest, though, Truth continued his barrage of thrusts. With a surge of adrenaline, I charged up to seven bolts to gain enough speed to just barely avoid the attacks as he pressured me back. Sweat was starting to build up on my brow and my muscles were starting to heat up, but I wasn¡¯t going to beat Truth if I didn¡¯t go all out. With a howl that even I didn¡¯t expect to make, I charged up to eight bolts. I slashed back at Truth, fast enough to finally cause him to back off, if only for a moment. He was clearly working out in his mind how I kept getting faster and was clearly wondering what my limitations were. Well, he wasn¡¯t the only one. There¡¯s just no way a regular human could move as quickly as he could. ¡°Truth, you¡¯re hiding something awfully important, aren¡¯t you?¡± I almost blushed upon realizing how breathless I sounded at the end of my question. ¡°I could say the same to you. Although, I expected as much. Those demi-humans wouldn¡¯t want to use an ordinary human as their key piece.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I like being called something like a pawn.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m saying you¡¯re more like a rook or a knight. Hmmm, yes, definitely like a knight.¡± On the one hand, it was still clearly an insult, on the other, completely unrelated hand, I found someone who actually plays chess. Wasn¡¯t even sure chess was a game here. ¡°Well, I find it rather unfair that the enemy king isn¡¯t so limited in his moves,¡± I retorted. ¡°Truly, it is a shame. To think a human such as yourself is on their side. I had no doubt in the strength of my conviction, but to think you may actually be on par with me¡­truly, a shame.¡± ¡°You can stop pitying me any time now.¡± I struggled to keep my body calm and stay focused as the blood rushed to my head and heart beat continued to rise. I have to find out his weakness soon, my body was quickly becoming unstable under the rising strain. ¡°Although, if your pity inclines you to share the secret to your power, then I don¡¯t mind.¡± I didn¡¯t think I could trick him into leaking any secrets, so the direct route seemed most effective. ¡°Well¡­I may be willing to tell you if you tell me the secret to your strength as well.¡± I thought about it. What were the various risks associated with telling him? ¡°Just a bonus from being the vessel to a guardian spirit.¡± I¡¯m not sure if I was in the right state of mind to be saying this, but most of my thoughts were focused on monitoring his movements. Truth opened his mouth, and then slowly closed it. After an extended bit of silence, he must have finally found the right words. ¡°Once again, I find it regrettable to fight someone like you. Regardless, to reciprocate, I shall tell you how I gained my powers. I command an army of humans, but there is one among them that is drastically different from the rest. My Lieutenant-Colonel is different in a number of regards. Although, the most pertinent difference is that he has the power to imbue strength upon others. Well, I could have only ascertained that very recently, though.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me you were powered up by someone else¡¯s guardian spirit?¡± That could explain this power. It also doesn¡¯t sound too out there, especially since I did meet the Lieutenant-Colonel before and it was probably the reason behind this familiar aura that was coming off of Truth. But, that also seemed¡­strangely convenient. ¡°Why only you, though? Couldn¡¯t he have strengthened all of you troops?¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°I am unaware of all the details and limitations of his powers. Whether it is even due to a guardian spirit and not some kind of spell or work of alchemy is something I am also uncertain about. However, he did make clear something very important about it. The strength of my conviction is what is necessary to draw upon this power. Which is why¡­I will not lose!¡± Suddenly, Truth charged at me again, thrusting his rapier straight at my neck. I tried to circle around him to dodge and get an opening, but he was too quick on his feet and always made just enough space to avoid my counter attacks. We continued this exchange of attacks as we circled each other, both of us gradually getting closer with our strikes as we both slowly advanced our offensives. One clean hit, that¡¯s all I needed to take him down. As quick as Truth was, I could tell that his attacks lacked weight behind them. His actual level of strength probably was not increased by that much. A single slash from my sword would cut straight through bone. However, Truth clearly figured this out as well and was also fully intent on ending it with just one hit. If it weren¡¯t for all the hot blood rushing through my body, I¡¯d probably feel a tingling of the nerves on my neck each time his thrusts just barely avoid piercing it. Around and around, we got in as close as we dared to make our attacks before backing off just in time to avoid the return, which would come in ever so slightly faster and sharper than before despite our breathing becoming increasingly haggard. My mind raced, drowning out my surroundings as I concentrated only on Truth and his exact movements and distance relative to myself. As we continued to dance around each other¡¯s attacks, finally, I thought I saw an opening just big enough for me to dodge one last attack and get in a good hit. The dodging part was mostly successful. The rapier grazed the side of my neck, nicking it like a tiny razor. The second countering part was an absolute failure. As I stepped to the side, I felt a shortage of roof beneath my foot. I was trying so hard to stay focused on Truth as we continued to circle around each other, I had not noticed that I was at the very edge of the roof. I stumbled and tried to quickly regain my footing, but Truth did not miss a beat. He attacked me again in such a way that it would have been impossible to dodge by moving forward. My reflexes forced me to move back and I slipped off the roof. Even as gravity started pulling me down, I desperately blocked Truth¡¯s final attack. Then, I fell. With all the senses of my body working overtime, the falling seemed to occur rather slowly, but my reaction was just as unbearably slow. I just looked back at Truth as he stood on the edge of the roof, his rapier still thrusted outwards. I had both of my hands holding my sword during that last block and my knees were bent as if I was about to just dash off the air and continue the battle. It was not until my eye level had sunk down to Truth¡¯s feet that I could finally feel my muscles getting ready to move again. With my left hand, I desperately reached for the stone wall as my descent continued to accelerate. Finding only a sheer wall, this did nothing. I brought my feet forward as well in an attempt to slow my fall. Shortly into the fall, one of my feet slid off the wall. I realized just in time that I was falling next to one of the windows on the top floor. I kicked my right foot hard into the wall while stamping my left foot onto the base of the window. The sudden stop made my body arch back but I used the momentum to spin around as I scrambled with my left hand to grab onto the wall. By some miracle, I was now fixed in place, my back against the wall, both feet now on the window and my left hand against the wall. ¡°Your tenacity is nothing short of impressive,¡± Truth remarked as he stared down at me from the edge of the roof. ¡°You even managed to hold onto your sword during all of that.¡± I gave an awkward smile. I think I did deserve to be at least a bit proud of how I had persevered just then. However, my smile quickly disappeared, replaced with a stone-faced glare, recognizing that I wouldn¡¯t be in such a position if I didn¡¯t fall off the roof to begin with. I tried to point my sword threateningly at him without compromising the careful balance I had made for myself. The smoke coming out of the window also did not serve to help me in any way. ¡°You just wait right there, I¡¯ll be right back up to kick your ass.¡± It was hard to make out his expression from the encroaching shadows, but I think I saw him furrow his brow. ¡°That¡¯s¡­some interesting bravado.¡± I grimaced. That¡¯s what I used to describe the Nature Clan¡¯s king. ¡°However, I do not think it is entirely baseless. I think it truly is far too much of a shame to have to kill you.¡± ¡°Well, whatever you think about me, I¡¯m definitely not going to become one of you if that¡¯s what you¡¯re getting at.¡± Alright, we¡¯re talking again. Come on, how do I get out of this one? These windows are too small to fit though so that¡¯s a no-go. Try fighting him from here? He¡¯s too far away. Jump up and resume the fight? Have you seen how fast he is? I¡¯d be dead before I realized it. ¡°I am well aware that you hold preference towards your companions. Hmmm, if you can bring them to heel, I may be able to make an exception for you.¡± Alright, then, I just need to wait on an opening. I felt my sweating begin to intensify. If that¡¯s the best plan I have, it definitely has a very short time limit. What kind of opening am I even looking for? What¡¯s the best way to make use of it? How do I go from a zero percent chance of survival to any number above that? ¡°They¡¯re not my pets.¡± Truth took in a deep breath. He tried to take it calmly, but I could tell, his breathing was still ragged. Of course it was. We¡¯re both just humans, right? Our bodies weren¡¯t meant to continually use this level of power. ¡°On second thought, never mind. This is something I can never make an exception for. It is what I and all of the True-Bloods are committed to. No matter the sacrifice. Go on, make your next move. Or, are you planning to just hang on there forever?¡± He¡¯s talking like he¡¯s already won, but he¡¯s tired. Not tired enough to miss skewering me from point blank, but tired enough for me to take on if we were on even footing. My entire body started to write in painful convulsions. Damn, I¡¯m starting to reach my limit, too though. ¡°Hmmm, now that I think about it. Although I heard you call out to your two companions, I haven¡¯t heard your name yet. Do you wish to share it with me?¡± My mind continued to race, trying to find the best way to get back up as I looked at him dead in his blazing red eyes. ¡°My name is Braith.¡± ¡°Braith, huh? Now that¡¯s a name I¡¯ve never heard-¡± Truth suddenly let out a loud cough. Immediately, I threw my shortsword at him. He overreacted to the sudden attack by backing far away from the roof. Right as he jumped out of view, I jumped to the side to get to the next window. I just barely made it over there, bruising my right wrist slightly to get into a position stable enough for one last jump. I jumped up and landed back on the roof. Truth was still standing in front of the other window. I quickly started running towards the center of the roof where I saw my sword had landed. However, Truth quickly intercepted my path. Well, I expected this to happen. I tried my best to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to do. Instead of backing off or trying to get around him, I lowered my stance and continued charging. Truth was unperturbed and thrust his rapier towards my neck. I quickly dropped down to almost one knee (I kept it just barely above the ground), and used my left hand to grasp onto the rapier. I braced myself for the incoming pain, and surprisingly, felt a strange shock going through my hand right before the rapier made contact. The blade easily tore through the material of my glove and scraped through my flesh. I clamped down my fingers on the blade to try to pull on it, or at least keep it somewhat in place as I got back up and continued the last bit of my charge. Panicked, Truth tried to pull back and even with the bones in my hand making contact with metal as I squeezed down on it, he was mostly successful. However, all that mattered was that the rapier was still in my hand and he was in striking range as I rose back up. I delivered a clumsy uppercut, but its explosive power was still more than enough. Truth let go of the rapier and his whole body rose up almost two feet off the ground as my fist smashed into the side of his chin. His body flew off and eventually landed several feet away. I stood fully upright, finally triumphant. Chapter 29 I let go and after a second, the very air blowing at my torn hand greatly increased the stinging pain. I tried balling up my hand into a fist, but I stopped halfway as the pain of building pressure also started to become overwhelming. I howled out in intense pain and confusion. This was probably the most pain I had ever experienced in my whole life and no matter what I did, the pain would just oscillate between extreme and almost unbearable. I saw Truth shuffle around a bit, and a portion of my pain transformed into anger. Really?! You¡¯re still not finished? I picked up the blood-soaked rapier with my right hand and made my way over to him, gritting my teeth in a weak attempt to stifle my screams. He turned his body around to face forward and he started to push himself back up off the ground with his one arm. His eyes still had a red glint to them and through the blood around his mouth, I thought I saw a smirk. No, he must have been laughing. Laughing at me as I cry out from what happened to my left hand. He was probably thinking about how maybe I understood his pain a little bit better now. Son of a bitch. I got closer to him and he was just about to get onto his feet when the red glint from his eyes vanished. He immediately fell back down to the ground with a thud and I saw him cough out a lot of blood. Oh? Run out of time? I stood over him and looked at his completely drained expression as he continued coughing up blood, wheezing hard in between the coughs. ¡°Checkmate!¡± I said, much louder than I planned to. He coughed one more time before laying silent on his back. His right hand and the front of his vest was covered with the coughed-up blood. He tried to raise his head up off the ground, but it was futile. The red sparks were gone, but there was still some fire in his eyes, which only served to make me even more angry and annoyed. ¡°Indeed. I¡­am greatly disappointed with myself. I could not afford to lose¡­no matter what.¡± I had the feeling he was about to say some deep and meaningful last words. I didn¡¯t want to hear them. I kicked him hard in the side. I kicked him as hard as I could in my agonizing, weakened, and exhausted state. It was enough to roll him over. ¡°Save your high and mighty words!¡± I was screaming because it was impossible to speak in a normal voice. I stuck his rapier straight into his back. There was no way I was going to let the defeated suffer less pain than I was experiencing. ¡°This was a fight to the death and you lost!¡± I grabbed him from behind his collar and started dragging him over to the edge of the roof. It was a struggle, but Truth had no strength left to resist. I dropped him just short of the very edge of the roof, close enough so that he could easily look out across the horizon without having to lift his head. However, I wasn¡¯t hearing any screams of pain or bloody coughs. I pulled the rapier back out of his back and he grunted. Good, still not dead. ¡°Am I to take this¡­as the last sight before¡­my execution?¡± Truth managed to wheeze out. Oh, we¡¯ll get to that. I took his right arm and splayed it out on the ground. Then, I slashed at his wrist with the rapier. However, my aim was off and the tip of the blade clattered against the stone roof, part of the blade slicing through only a bit of flesh. Still it did make Truth let out a scream. Sort of, it was still very soft. I wiped some tears out of my eyes with the back of my hand and slashed again, more accurately this time. It cut deeper, but still did not sever. The scream was definitely louder this time, but still nowhere near what my earlier volume was at. I stomped one foot onto his back, and crouched over him. ¡°You¡¯re the one to say it,¡± I finally managed to calm down my voice somewhat, speaking in between pained gasps. ¡°There should be no mercy between enemies. After everything you¡¯ve done, all the death you¡¯ve caused¡­ don¡¯t think I will give you an easy death. This is the least you deserve.¡± I put the rapier down and grabbed his head, turning it so I could get a good look at his face. His pain was evident, but he was devoid of any fear. ¡°As it should be¡­¡± I slammed his face into the ground, but not hard enough to knock him unconscious. I looked back over to my left hand, completely drenched in my own blood, still bleeding, and still hurting like hell. I heard Truth let out a short groan. I looked out across the horizon at the now-setting sun. Perhaps I could have taken in this sight as something beautiful if it weren¡¯t for everything else that was going on. ¡°Enjoying it, Truth?¡± I asked, with a sadistic lilt to my voice. ¡°If you mean the view¡­sorry to say, but I¡¯ve seen it¡­a thousand times. A lot¡­blurrier than usual though¡­¡± I grabbed his head again and saw that his forehead was bleeding, and although he still didn¡¯t look scared, his eyes were a bit disoriented. The lack of their usual flare did make me feel a bit better. ¡°Well, this is as good as it¡¯s gonna get.¡± I picked his rapier back up and started to stand up again. ¡°Anyways, that right hand of yours¡­well, maybe it matches more with your left now.¡± ¡°I guess¡­it looks better through my spyglass.¡± I would blink in confusion if it weren¡¯t for the pain making my blood too hot for such actions. ¡°Should be around here¡­somewhere¡­¡± Hmph, all the blood loss and damage must have finally piled up enough to mess with his senses. He¡¯s probably not even listening anymore. I looked out across the roof and spotted the metallic object again. I guess that¡¯s the spyglass. Alright, I know it won¡¯t actually help, but I¡¯ll bring it over to this bastard before I continue. I¡¯m not completely merciless. I walked over towards the spyglass, and when I got close enough, I saw that it was lying on top of some kind of paper. When I got close enough to pick it up, I noticed that it was a map. I didn¡¯t really care about the map, and I assumed it was just for this area, but after taking the spyglass, I noticed something about the map. It wasn¡¯t a map of this area. It looked to be a map of¡­the area around Holtzan. Over there¡­in the forest part¡­some writing that didn¡¯t match the rest of the map¡­ I grabbed both of them, without even realizing I had grabbed the map with my bloody left hand, and stormed back over to Truth. It sounded like he was still rambling about something so I smacked him over the head with the spyglass. He stopped muttering, and I put the spyglass down so that I could grab his head with one hand while holding the map with the other, momentarily able to ignore the pain. ¡°Where did you get this map?!¡± Truth just looked back, dazed and tired. I squeezed his head. ¡°I asked you, where did you get this map?!¡± I said it louder this time. His eyes seemed to perk up. It was what I wanted, but I also hated it at the same time, because his eyes suddenly livened up close to their usual flare. ¡°Why? Are you lost?¡± I smacked his head into the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t play with me?! Answer me! Where did you get this map?!¡± My agitation caused the pain in my hand to increase again. However, I managed to keep the screaming internalized out of sheer willpower and the need to hear him clearly. He let out a dry laugh. ¡°Just kill me already.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll do a hell of a lot worse than just kill you if you don¡¯t hurry up and answer me!¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t that the plan?¡± My muscles seized up as my rage continued to grow, which, of course, just made my pain worse again. After recovering slightly, I was about to smack his head into the ground again when I suddenly heard Tasha¡¯s voice. ¡°Dad! W- what¡¯s going on?!¡± I let go of Truth¡¯s head and turned around. Tasha was standing by the edge of the hole in the roof and I thought I could make out Flora¡¯s arms, struggling to get her up onto the roof. Tasha turned back to assist her as I tried to think up a good answer. Well, turns out my mouth didn¡¯t feel like giving me enough time to come up with one. ¡°This bastard has one of Dennis¡¯ maps!¡± I grabbed Truth¡¯s head again. ¡°Where did you get it?! Wait! Were you the ones who killed him?!¡± Tasha ran over to me and grabbed my right arm. ¡°Dad, stop!¡± I tried to shrug her off, but I didn¡¯t have the strength anymore. ¡°W- what¡¯s going on?¡± Flora asked as she came running over as well. ¡°This! This map! It belonged to Dennis! It¡¯s one of the ones he wrote on back when we were at the forest village!¡± Tasha, still intent on wrestling me away from Truth, did seem to understand what I was saying. Flora had no clue at all, but her eyes widened with horror. ¡°B- Mr. Braith! Your hand! Oh my gosh, what happened to it?!¡± I took a closer look at my hand and saw a fair amount of my blood smeared onto the map as well, which was far more important at the moment. I let go of the map and picked it up with my other hand, shaking it a bit to try and get some of the blood off of it, some drops falling onto Truth. ¡°D- Damn!¡± I shouted out, for fear of having ruined it. ¡°Mr. Braith, doesn¡¯t your hand hurt! It looks horrible!¡± Well, yes, it hurts a shit ton, but- my train of thought was cut off as she took my hand into both of hers. The pressure did hurt, but I was marginally more concerned with how quickly my blood ended up staining both of her hands. She did her chant and the pain was instantly halved. That was still actually a lot of pain, but then the wounds started closing up and the pain receded more alongside the regeneration. After about fifteen seconds, I felt that the hole in my hand had finally fully closed. The rapidly diminishing pain helped to alleviate my rage a bit. ¡°Better now?¡± she asked, still wearing a very heavy expression of concern. ¡°Yeah.¡± I suddenly felt myself being brought to my feet and pulled away by Tasha. ¡°Dad, what was that about killing?! The stuff you were screaming about?¡± Even if I may have been riled up due to my injury, I was going to stick with my decision. I tried to pull free from her grasp again, but I was just too drained, both mentally and physically. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°We need to kill him. Otherwise, all our efforts would have been for nothing. There would be no justice for all that he¡¯s killed.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t kill him. We just can¡¯t.¡± I was not in a well-enough state to force things my way. But, after thinking on it a bit, I realized that Truth¡¯s injuries were too severe anyways. ¡°Alright, fine. We¡¯re done here,¡± I said with a bit of irritation as I still wanted to deal a finishing blow. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Tasha was taken aback by my sudden compliance, but I hoped that she¡¯d just let it go anyways. Flora let go of my hand and went over to Truth. ¡°Come on, you too, Flora. We should get out of here now.¡± ¡°He¡¯s in terrible shape,¡± Flora commented. She turned her head back around to face us. ¡°He¡¯ll die if he doesn¡¯t receive treatment.¡± I think I preferred just having her cowering behind us. Her occasional assertiveness was often annoying. Tasha moved around so that we were looking directly at each other. ¡°Hey, what?! I fought with my life on the line up here! If I didn¡¯t fight hard enough, I¡¯d be the one lying on the ground!¡± I spoke with genuine emotion, but my words were partly covering up the truth. Tasha¡¯s upset expression softened greatly, proving the effectiveness of my statement. Her grip slackened too, and I finally pulled away from her. I walked over to Flora in order to get her away from Truth. It seemed that Tasha and Flora weren¡¯t aware of the details, and it wasn¡¯t something I planned to get into. ¡°Come on, Flora.¡± She didn¡¯t budge. ¡°If I heal him-¡± I instantly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away. I was still weakened, but I regained enough vigour to at least overpower Flora. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare finish that sentence! We are not going to save the lives of our enemies!¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°But nothing!¡± I stared hard into Flora¡¯s eyes, or at least tried to. She shied away quickly. ¡°I know that you and I may have differing ideas of right and wrong, but this is unacceptable! We came here to give these bastards some hell for what they¡¯ve been doing!¡± I grinded my teeth. ¡°If I had things my way, I¡¯d execute every last one of them in this fort. You can say that¡¯s going too far, but if you then try and tell me that you will waste your energy to help these people, then that¡¯s just plain idiocy! They will not thank you, they will not redeem themselves! If anything, you will only embolden them when they launch future attacks. Being a good person is the worst thing you can be right now!¡± She still did not turn back around to face me after I ended my rant. ¡°Look at me, Flora,¡± I commanded. ¡°Is¡­Is that¡­?¡± Flora, still facing away from me, leaned further to the side and gazed out over the roof. ¡°What? What are you looking at?¡± I tried peering as well, but saw nothing. Then, I realized I still had the spyglass in my right hand, along with the map. I brought it to one eye and looked again. In the distance, I thought I could make something out just barely. It looked like clouds of dust being kicked up, but I couldn¡¯t make out what was causing it. I tapped Flora on her shoulder and handed her the spyglass. ¡°Use this and tell me what you are looking at.¡± She complied. ¡°It¡­looks like cavalry¡­a lot of them.¡± ¡°How many is a lot?¡± ¡°Um, a hundred? No, more than that. Definitely more than a hundred.¡± I was on high alert once more. ¡°What?! Describe them! What do they look like? Are they more True-Bloods?!¡± ¡°Um, they¡­I think they are wearing fur as well¡­I guess they might be.¡± Oh, great. Hundreds of reinforcements. Wait, maybe this will convince them to hurry up at least? I turned around to walk past Tasha and then over to where my sword was. ¡°Enemy reinforcements are coming. I¡¯m sure we can at least agree that we are not in a position to continue this fight anymore today.¡± I didn¡¯t hear audible agreement, but even Tasha wouldn¡¯t be stubborn enough to stick around for this. I retrieved my sword, sheathed it, and then jumped down the hole. The floor I landed on was draped in wet and burnt fur coats. Most of the crates and barrels burned up, leaving behind just charred pieces of wood. Upon one last glance, it looked like some of the liquid on the floor was actually water and not just oil. Well, I won¡¯t blame them for making such a mistake. Well, thinking more about it, I guess this means at least one of the floors did have barrels of water and other gear and supplies. Enough time was already wasted on idle thoughts, though. As quickly as I could, which really wasn¡¯t too fast, I made my way back to the bottom floor. I was nearly breathless when I finally made it back down to the bottom floor. I took a couple moments to catch my breath and to try and think clearly. It was a struggle to just make it back down here, so running away on foot wasn¡¯t feasible. Fortunately, one of the first things I saw down here was there were still a few horses. Alright, steal some horses. Now, where to run? I slowly walked over to the horses and noticed the many crates and barrels lined against the wall. Well, they don¡¯t really catch your eye when you¡¯re fighting about sixty troops at once. I stumbled before reaching the horses and fell on top of a crate, the map clutched in my hand also falling to the floor. This feeling of weakness was almost infuriating. As I picked myself back up, I noticed two things. One, the crate actually contained rations. Two, Flora and Tasha weren¡¯t here. Oh, you¡¯ve got be kidding me! I began thinking about how I had to run back up to get them when they suddenly came down the stairs. ¡°You two! Why are you only just now getting here?!¡± ¡°Oh¡­um, I had a lot of trouble getting back down,¡± Flora answered. ¡°Y- yeah, and I had to help her!¡± I found Tasha¡¯s statement oddly energetic. Although, she is almost always energetic. ¡°Alright, fine. We can take these horses and make our escape. Heading back to that oasis for now might be good.¡± I picked the map back up again and went to get over to the horses but stumbled again, my feet feeling like blocks of lead. This time, I had great difficulty trying to pick myself back up again, the world around me also startting to spin. ¡°Mr. Braith!¡± Flora came over to help me back up. It was somewhat embarrassing but I didn¡¯t bother to argue. ¡°You¡¯re in no shape to ride a horse.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­I just¡­need to sit on it¡­¡± I said in between breaths. Flora reached into her satchel and took out a potion apple. I hated having to use up any more of them, but it looked like I didn¡¯t have much choice. I took it from her and took a bite of it. I chewed very little in order to get it down as quickly as possible. Almost immediately, I felt my fatigue begin to fade away and my vision steadied. Flora had explained to me already that potion apples quickly lose their magical effects after the first bite so there was no point in asking her to store away the rest. I did ask her to put the map away though. We then went to pick out some horses. Initially I was unsure of how many horses we needed to take. I have been on one of them before, but those were quite extraordinary circumstances. I know Tasha definitely hasn¡¯t been on one before, but Flora I wasn¡¯t sure about. When I got close to them, they put up an intimidating front, but that was quickly dispelled when Flora tried calling out to them. Well, only for her. She easily took one of the horses out from the makeshift stable, but when I tried getting a different horse, they put on that menacing front again. ¡°Tasha, get on Flora¡¯s horse and wait outside for me.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°Just move on ahead. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure to bring over one of these horses.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± The two of them went outside and I waited for them to get a bit further away from the base. Then, instead of trying to get closer to one of the horses again, I went back to the crates and barrels. Alongside them were a pair of lit lanterns. I took one of the lanterns and started looking through the barrels until I found one with oil. I knocked that barrel over and oil quickly poured out across the floor and splashed up against many of the other barrels and crates. I took a few steps away from the pooling oil and threw down the lantern. The oil instantly caught fire and the floor lit up. The horses began panicking, but their reins were still tied to posts. ¡°Alright, which one of you would like to get out of here?¡± *********************************************************************************************************************************************** Atop the stone structure, Colonel Truth lay by the edge of the roof as his not-so-welcome visitors continued to argue. He stared out with clouded vision as his body ached with pain, and at the same time, began to chill as the blood loss grew worse. His men were defeated and his enemies were just debating amongst themselves about who knows what. These moments before inevitable death were far from ideal. He accepted power and advice from a stranger years ago and had long renounced some of the morals and principles he once held. If he could, he would cry in misery. Was it pride or something else that prevented that, though? Truth did not have enough left in him to even ponder it deeply. Regardless, he wanted them to kill him before he succumbed to his injuries, in order to preserve what little honour there may have been in his final duel. Despite his opponent¡¯s after-battle actions, it really was quite the exhilarating battle. It had been so long since he had last taken part in one, now that he thought about it. Truly, though, it was a shame and he was filled with many regrets, but when he embarked upon this path, he knew such an outcome was more than likely. If not this rogue group of adventurers, the Cruxean army itself probably would have come to crush them. Well, they would try to. At the very least, Truth could rely on the many other True-Bloods spread across Midgard. His death would change nothing. Most of his officers were even more resentful of the Battle-Hardened and Farseers than he. He finally closed his eyes. The volume of the argument suddenly spiked, although he could not make out why. Well, given that he wasn¡¯t dead yet, were they actually debating on how he was to be dealt with? The last thing he actually wanted was mercy. Not because he wanted to die, but because of how disrespectful it would be to his subordinates. It may even be more disrespectful to all that the True-Bloods had killed thus far. The group had only begun actively hunting down people recently, but they thoroughly eliminated all non-human groups and settlements they encountered throughout these wastelands and the plains to the east of the Nature Clan¡¯s forests. There were far fewer encounters than they had expected, though. Truth¡¯s attempts to continue recalling this was hindered by the onset of overbearing numbness. No point in thinking about this anymore, he won¡¯t be around to lead anyone soon enough. There was now a persistent silence. Were they finished arguing? He heard and felt someone coming closer to contact him. Then, there was a soft whisper. Well, his hearing was probably impaired so whether or not it was a whisper he did not know. What he could tell, though, is that it was definitely not Braith¡¯s voice. Ah, so it¡¯s one of those girls, then. The clever non-humans that found a way to manipulate such a strong fighter. Although, given their last exchange, Truth found Braith¡¯s character to be something that probably could be easily influenced with the right provocations. As he continued to think about Braith, he remembered the last thing he heard him say. It was a question about the map. He only had it up here to plan future movements of his army. As for how he got it? Well, it was just from some merchants headed to Brennan. He did not meet them personally and the troops that encountered them did not mention anything special about them. The pain began to dull as the numbness overrode it. Well, it looks like death from blood loss was going to be how he went out. He then realized that he had actually been muttering for a little while now. There was a bit more energy left in him than he expected. Not that it mattered, though. Soon enough, his mind began to empty out all of these useless thoughts as he prepared to embrace permanent sleep. Just as his consciousness was ready to fade away, one last memory remained. Surprising to him, though, it was neither the memory of his torture nor the massacre of his town. It was of the time he visited one of Cruxe¡¯s villages at the foothills of the mountains. It was the last one standing among all the fringe villages when he visited. His battalion had just finished making a sweep across the northern Dridam Plains. Most of his men did not bother meeting with the people there, and were far more concerned with honing themselves to kill more enemies. It was just him and his former second-in-command. They went to an orphanage that housed the surviving children from the other fringe villagers that had been raided. Why was this his last memory? Truth tried to stave off the end long enough to figure this out. No realization would matter in death, but his curiosity was fighting strong. The orphanage was also a church. He remembered that his second-in-command spoke highly of them and spoke at length with the priest. But, what did Truth do? He spoke with someone there as well. What did they talk about? The war, it had to be about the war. The war had been going for six years and Truth had been in dozens of battles thus far. The number of outlander tribes numbered in the hundreds. But what about that? Why are those numbers¡­important? Truth continued to struggle to recall in his final moments. He needed to know. Then, it came to him in a soft voice like the one he heard earlier. It was an emotional voice that conveyed both hope and despair. It was a voice that sought reassurance but expected rejection. It was a voice that planted something inside of him that would bloom towards the end of that long and bloody war. Truth could hardly believe that he had even forgotten it. He let out a sigh of relief, or at least felt like he did. He felt truly at peace now as his body no longer resisted the grip of sleep. He remembered the reason why he started this crusade. ¡°When will the war end? Will we finally be safe when it does?¡± the child asked. Truth tried his best to put on his most comforting smile. ¡°The war will end when there¡¯s nobody left to hurt innocent people like you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, I promise.¡± Chapter 30 After a couple hours of riding, we reached the oasis, and fortunately, we were not pursued. At the oasis, Flora and Tasha got off their horse and I followed suit. It had gotten quite dark so we brought out the moonlight lantern before delving into what we were going to do next. I then took the time to finally toss away my torn glove and wash off the dried blood. I took a second to marvel at how cleanly the wound had healed, with only a faint scar remaining from such a gash. I¡¯m not sure this would have even been possible if I was rushed to surgery and had weeks to recover. As I finished washing my hands, my focus returned to the present and I readied myself for another round of chastisement. ¡°Dad¡­¡± Tasha slowly made her way over to me. From the lantern light, I could tell she was upset, but to what degree, I was unsure about. Well, it didn¡¯t matter, I figured myself to be prepared for just anything she was about to do or say, and I was already starting to think I might have taken things too far. But then, the unexpected happened. She suddenly hugged me tight and buried her face into my chest. ¡°T- that was way too dangerous,¡± she spoke with difficulty. Surprised, I just looked over at Flora. She stared at me impassively before putting on some kind of resigned expression. ¡°Really, Mr. Braith, that was¡­really something we just went through. Especially the fire.¡± Flora took a few steps closer. ¡°Tasha was panicking about you being attacked by fire magic up on the roof.¡± ¡°W- well, it really did seem like magic fire! Besides, you were even more scared! It just came out of nowhere, and when we found water downstairs to use on it, it just spread out!¡± Tasha turned around to shout at Flora before burying her face into my chest again. Flora¡¯s expression quickly changed to that of embarrassment. I was over my surprise now and I found myself letting out a chuckle. I wrapped my arms around Tasha. I was well aware of how often I found myself at odds with her, but in the end, she is still my precious daughter. She is the reason I pushed myself to such lengths. I also knew that this moment did not mean she had changed her attitude towards my actions, but it reaffirmed to me how such matters were secondary. We are in this together until the very end, and perhaps, even Flora has similar thoughts? ¡°Flora, Tasha, I know that you have a lot on your minds and I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a lot you want to say, but let me speak first, please.¡± I paused before continuing. I nodded to myself upon seeing no objections. ¡°Today was something I brought upon myself. It was also more dangerous than I expected. However, I fully expected that it would be neither simple nor easy.¡± I gently tried to force a bit of space between me and Tasha. ¡°Does that mean I plan to do something like that again, though? Well, it depends. I do not know for how long, but the three of us will be traveling together. As you¡¯ve already said, Tasha, we do need to be mindful about how our actions affect each other. But, I also think we should do away with the notion that we owe something to each other. Within limits, we should be able to do whatever we want regardless of how someone else feels. So, I¡¯m not going to say it is stupid to act like a hero anymore. I also will not call it cowardly to flee from danger. Of course, though, as we continue to travel, we do need to act together. So, I will try to stop controlling our direction. We should be open about our thoughts and decide things as a group.¡± I paused again, trying to sort through what I just said. Was there something I was missing? It was hard to tell, since what I was saying was quite different from how I had acted up until now. I¡¯m sure there have been a number of factors that prompted such a change, but those were not important right now. ¡°So, let me tell you what I want to do. I want to get Tasha to the Dridam Plains, or the Plains of War as it is also known as.¡± I looked at Flora and saw that the name was registering with her. ¡°Did Tasha tell you anything about this?¡± ¡°Um, yes, she mentioned it to me before,¡± she replied, just a bit more timidly than usual. Perhaps she thought it was supposed to be some kind of secret. ¡°In that case, I won¡¯t explain further.¡± I then took a few steps back and let out a deep breath. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s my part. So, go ahead, tell me what you two are thinking now. And feel free to ask me questions.¡± Tasha looked to be struggling to find the words to say, but Flora¡¯s expression was resolute as she spoke up first. ¡°Mr. Braith, there is something I want to know. What was the real reason you wanted to attack the True-Bloods?¡± I raised an eyebrow. Was she really doubting my true intentions, or did she just want some kind of reassurance? Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°I attacked them to prove myself.¡± It was Flora¡¯s turn to act surprised. ¡°Prove yourself? In what way?¡± ¡°To prove that I wasn¡¯t a coward. To prove that I was strong.¡± I took a longer pause before the next statement. ¡°To prove¡­that I wasn¡¯t a bad man.¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t understand. Did you think that you were a bad man to other people?¡± Flora asked. ¡°No, I just- I mean¡­ I wanted to make sure I wasn¡¯t as bad as them.¡± ¡°What are you saying, dad? There¡¯s no way you¡¯re as bad as them!¡± I smiled, but only for a second, as I quickly put on a hardened expression. ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s a pretty bad comparison. There is a world of difference between heroes and the True-bloods after all. I don¡¯t plan to ever be as vile as them, but I also don¡¯t expect to ever come close to being some pure-hearted hero. The two of you have a much better chance at that, but I would still advise you to not go down that road. Being naively innocent and merciful can be even more dangerous and catastrophic than being heartless.¡± Tasha¡¯s gaze remained fiery while Flora¡¯s face showed concern. ¡°I will never be evil, and I won¡¯t let you do anything evil, either!¡± Tasha shouted at me. ¡°Well, I did say we should do anything we want, so if you want to keep pushing at me like that, then so be it. But, I am willing to do anything as long as I think it¡¯s necessary.¡± Tasha stared at me for a few more seconds before looking to Flora, perhaps for support. ¡°Then you should have no problem if Tasha or I stick to what we believe in as well,¡± she stated strongly. ¡°Yes, I have no problem with that. I don¡¯t want to force either of you to do something you don¡¯t want to do, but that doesn¡¯t mean I will let myself be bound either.¡± Flora nodded to herself. ¡°I understand.¡± There was a moment of silence before she continued, back in her usual timid tone. ¡°So, um, should we talk about what to do next?¡± She looked over at Tasha, probably waiting for her to relax her expression. Eventually, she did, but she still looked a bit unhappy with the situation. It was good enough for now. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s time to go over what to do next, now. So, despite that attack we made back there, there are still plenty of True-Bloods around this area. The Dridam Plains are directly east of this desert, though, so it might be something worth risking. ¡°Um, I really don¡¯t think it¡¯s worth the risk,¡± Flora said. ¡°There¡¯s¡­a lot more of them, and¡­they could be looking for us.¡± It was a simple but sound argument. ¡°Well, if we want to get somewhere safe, we would probably have to leave the outlands,¡± I suggested. ¡°Um, there¡¯s Brennan to the south.¡± ¡°Hmmm, maybe we could head there first. Eventually, the True-bloods might give up on the search and we could head back towards the plains. What do you think?¡± I asked both of them. Tasha did not seem to like the idea. ¡°Do you have a different idea, Tasha?¡± I asked her after another brief period of silence. ¡°Huh? Oh, well¡­¡± Tasha shifted her gaze upwards as she contemplated something, ¡°Maybe, we could¡­go somewhere else after Brennan.¡± I blinked a few times at Tasha¡¯s vague suggestion. ¡°Like where?¡± ¡°Just¡­somewhere else¡­¡± Feeling a bit annoyed, I decided to just bring out Lars¡¯ map. ¡°Which place in particular?¡± I asked after splaying the map onto the ground. Tasha looked at it rather absent-mindedly. When she still did not give a response, I started scanning the map in order to give out random suggestions. ¡°The Plains are north of Brennan, so if we¡¯re not headed there afterwards, we¡¯d probably go south. So¡­¡± I stopped myself. In fact, I almost wanted to hit myself for forgetting about it. Southeast of Brennan was Deimos, the place that Dennis told me to go to during his dying moments. Then, my anger started to simmer once more. I still needed to get revenge on the ones who murdered him. But, who did kill him? Was it the True-Bloods after all? But, the other reports I heard about his murder suspects indicated that they appeared to be merchants. I suppose it was possible that the map the True-Bloods had was just acquired from some merchants. Human merchants to be specific, assuming that they survived meeting them. ¡°Where would merchants go next?¡± I pondered aloud. ¡°Probably to Brennan,¡± Flora answered. I shot a confused look at her, just realizing that I did not keep the question to myself. ¡°Um, well, merchants would prefer to travel to cities and towns that have merchant guild houses. All the capital cities have them¡­well, except for the Nature Clan.¡± I looked at the map again. ¡°Where would merchants go after Brennan? Holtzan? Or, maybe the kingdoms of the Fields or Harvest Clan?¡± ¡°Um, not really sure about that.¡± I sighed. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry.¡± ¡°Ah, no, it¡¯s fine.¡± Just knowing that Brennan was a good stopping point would do for now. I could sort out the rest after gathering some more information. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll decide on what to do next after getting to Brenna¡¯s capital. For now, let¡¯s just keep riding since the True-Bloods might be looking for us right now.¡± Flora and Tasha nodded, although Tasha did it with no enthusiasm or energy. We got back on our horses and rode south. Chapter 31 Less than a week later, we arrived at the northern border of Brennan. Here, I let my horse free as per the tacit agreement I made with it back at the True-Bloods¡¯ base. Maybe it will go and look for the other horses I released in the end. Flora also decided to let her horse go. It was not nearly as willing to leave and I told her that she could keep it, but she said it would be for the better if it was free. I don¡¯t know how free it will really be in the outlands, but I also didn¡¯t care enough for the horses to argue further. At the northern border was a massive stone wall. Traveling alongside the wall, we eventually reached a portcullis. On top of the wall around here were parapets with crossbowmen. Behind the portcullis were two guards wearing chainmail. I don¡¯t know how I would have gone about proving that we were not the kind of people to be screened out from entering, but the passage actually went rather smoothly. To most people, we probably did look like a rather harmless group if you look past our weapons, and thankfully, people knew enough about the outlands to do just that. Beyond the wall, which I later found out stretched out from one mountain range to the other, were a series of forts. The portcullis we entered led into one of these many forts that stretched across the north. I also learned that it was much the same on the southern border as well. With a mountain range on both the east and west, Brennan seemed to be a very defensive-minded kingdom. Past the forts were large stretches of farmland and many small towns. Obviously, we did not go around visiting all of them as the priority was getting to the capital. As we neared the capital, we also passed by a few small rivers that originated from the mountains. I heard from some townspeople that there were also some rather beautiful lakes by the mountains as well. Finally, we arrived at the capital. It was, by far, the largest city in Midgard I have seen thus far. Rows upon rows of stone houses spanned across the city, divided by scores of winding cobblestone streets. We stayed by the larger main roads to avoid getting lost and after passing by hundreds of people milling about, we eventually arrived just outside the center of the city. In the very center of Brenna¡¯s capital of Ironshield was the walled-off palace of the king. Encircling this was a massive plaza filled with tons of businesses and finer-looking residences. Perhaps it was because we arrived early in the afternoon, but the plaza was nearly overflowing with people, which made me quite glad that we didn¡¯t bring the horses with us. After an hour of slowly navigating our way through the throngs of people, we eventually reached a much less crowded area. This area had a simple fountain and several shops with boarded-up windows. Either the owners were out of town or they were out of business. Looking around the rest of the area, I saw shoppers hurriedly making their way past, perhaps fearing they had come to the wrong part of the city. In fact, other than the three of us, the only other people not actively trying to leave were two people seated on the ground next to the fountain. When I got closer, I found that one of those people was a passed out man, an empty bottle tightly clutched in one hand. I looked up to see the sun still fairly high in the sky. The other person appeared to be a woman. She wore a cap titled low to cover her face. Her long hair flowed down just past her shoulders and she held a loot in her hands. There was a small clay bowl right in front of her. When I was just a few steps away from her, she spoke to me. ¡°Hello there,¡± she said in a rather monotone voice. ¡°Uh, hello.¡± ¡°Pleasant day we are having, isn¡¯t it?¡± Her voice remained expressionless. ¡°I guess so.¡± I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ve brought it up before, but I¡¯m not a fan of small talk, especially when it seems like the other person would rather be doing anything else other than chat. I figured this to be the case, but when I was about to walk away from the strange woman, she started speaking again, still devoid of emotion. ¡°Would you like to hear a song?¡± Upon hearing that question, I looked at the clay bowl and noticed that it was empty. I then looked back at Tasha and Flora, who, at the very least, seemed to be more curious about her than I. I sighed internally. ¡°Sure.¡± She shifted her loot around a bit and began to play something. She played for about ten seconds before singing with the music. In contrast to her monotone voice earlier, her singing was full of emotion to such a degree that I found myself quickly becoming entranced. Her song was a ballad about a lone hero from a faraway land on a journey of self-discovery. Or, at least I think it was. A lot of metaphors were used, some of which I was not sure of the meaning of and as she seemed to be nearing the end of singing about the beginning of the hero¡¯s journey, she abruptly stopped. She stopped singing and playing and it took a moment before I even realized it. As I regained my wits, I scanned around the area again, remembering the last time I was so distracted by a woman. Nothing seemed out of place and the minstrel was still seated by the fountain. While I was scanning, I also saw Tasha and Flora also shaking their heads a bit, perhaps trying to straighten themselves out as well. ¡°Did you like it?¡± the minstrel asked in her monotone voice. ¡°The song? Oh, right, yes, it was quite good. Um, is there another part to it? It ended¡­kind of suddenly.¡± It didn¡¯t seem it was even close to reaching the climax of the story. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she replied, slightly shrugging her shoulders. That kind of response annoyed me, but I wouldn¡¯t let it get to me. This song wasn¡¯t important, anyways. ¡°I see.¡± I took out a copper coin and placed it into her bowl. ¡°Well, do you know where I might be able to find some merchants?¡± This was the real reason I was here, after all. ¡°The merchants¡¯ guild house is just past the smithies.¡± Without getting up, she pointed past the fountain. ¡°Just keep going that way.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I put a second copper coin into her bowl. She was a bit of a strange one, but not in any kind of a bad way. The three of us left this deserted area and continued onwards. Just a minute later, the plaza was bustling with people again and another few minutes after that, we arrived at what was probably the smithies. There were over a dozen buildings with smoke billowing out of their chimneys. Most of these buildings also had storefronts with several types of weapons on display alongside sellers with well-worn leather smocks. There were quite a few people in this area, but most seemed uninterested in the wares. In fact, there only seemed to be one person actively perusing the various goods shown on display. However, that wasn¡¯t the most striking thing to note. This single shopper wore a full set of plate armour. It came with a helmet that completely covered their face, but strangely, I did not see any weapons or even a shield on their person. Regardless of this somewhat unusual sight, I had still planned to simply keep on walking. I was headed for the merchants¡¯ guild house past this area and I did not need any new weapons. I did not account for Tasha, though. She excitedly rushed over to the nearest shop that had anything on display. Well, I guess a few minutes couldn¡¯t hurt. Just as I walked over to Tasha, she moved onto the next store. When I caught up to her again, she then moved on again. When this happened for the third time, I was starting to get a bad feeling. Was she just not interested in what those stores were selling, or did she just not want me nearby while she looked around? Uncertain, and wondering if I had recently done something wrong, I stayed back with Flora as Tasha proceeded to the store with the plate armour shopper. ¡°Tasha sure seems excited,¡± Flora commented. ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡± ¡°Um, is she always like that around weapon shops?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe,¡± I responded, not really paying attention. ¡°Oh, um, okay. So¡­are you looking to buy anything here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe.¡± Just what could it be? Tasha is still over there, but if I go over there, too, will she move again? I should just test it, right? Wait, she¡¯s already been there longer than all the other shops, so this might not prove anything. Maybe that shop does just have more interesting items on display? ¡°So, um, that person over there¡­seems interesting? Do you think they might be a soldier?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe.¡± I looked back at the past displays. Is there something in common about them that I¡¯m missing here? What is it about that shop? What are they selling? I saw the person wearing plate armour examining a sword. They lightly swung it a bit, and then turned around, perhaps checking its sharpness. Tasha looked at it too. ¡°Um, did I do something wrong?¡± Flora asked concernedly. ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe.¡± Alright, no more of this analysis. I walked to the next store and arrived just as the shopkeeper started speaking. ¡°It¡¯s a very fine piece, that one. Made with some of the best iron ore mined from the Eastern Iron Wall. Should be perfect for someone like you, sir.¡± The plate armour shopper turned the sword around in their hands one more time before setting it onto the table. Out of curiosity, I tried taking a close look at the sword as well without touching it. I wasn¡¯t a blacksmith, but it didn¡¯t seem all that impressive. More importantly, though, Tasha was still here. I guess it wasn¡¯t about me, then. ¡°Is this the best sword you have?¡± Tasha asked, pointing at it. The shopkeeper smiled in a weird way. ¡°It¡¯s the best one in stock that we are currently selling.¡± The shopkeeper quickly turned his attention back to the one in plate armour after answering the question. ¡°So, what do you think, sir? I see that you don¡¯t have a sword on you at the moment, so I assume you are looking for a replacement?¡± The plate armour shopper said nothing and made no indication to answer the question. ¡°This is the best one you¡¯re selling? Does that mean you have better ones you are not selling?¡± Tasha asked again. ¡°You certainly seem interested in swords, young miss,¡± the shopkeeper began, with a wide smile, ¡°Is your father perhaps a blacksmith?¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°No,¡± she answered simply. The shopkeeper glanced over to me, and perhaps wanting to just ignore Tasha, spoke to me instead. ¡°And you, sir, is there anything I can help you with today?¡± He looked between the two of us, but if he had made any sort of connection he didn¡¯t bring it up. ¡°Oh, just browsing for now.¡± ¡°Well, if there¡¯s anything you are interested in buying, please let me know.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± I replied. The person in plate armour pointed at another weapon on display, a halberd this time. ¡°Oh, not interested in the sword?¡± The man put the sword back before bringing over the halberd. I wondered if it would have been a better design if the shop was something you walked into and all the weapons on display could just be picked up and tested out without having to ask. Maybe that¡¯s how the other buildings are like? I guess it¡¯s safer for the shopkeeper, though. ¡°So, do you have any better swords?¡± Tasha asked, not giving up. I was kind of surprised by her persistence. Does she really want a new weapon that badly? The shopkeeper looked at me again before answering her. ¡°If it¡¯s just for practice or training, we have plenty of suitable swords.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want a sword for just that.¡± ¡°Well, if your father promised you something better,¡± he looked at me again, still seeming unsure, ¡°it would probably be best if he brings this up with me instead.¡± For the sake of doing away with the uncertainty, I really should have just spoken up and settled it, but I didn¡¯t feel like it. It was amusing. Tasha also was not helping the situation as she continued speaking without even looking at me. ¡°So, you do have better swords after all then, right? Here, do you have a sword at least better than this one?¡± Tasha unsheathed her sword and presented it to him. Initially, he glanced at it with a smirk on his face, but that quickly disappeared. ¡°That¡¯s¡­not such a bad sword you have there. Uh, a bit worn, though, could use some maintenance,¡± he hurriedly added, being careful to not praise its quality. ¡°Well, do you have better ones?¡± ¡°Um, yes¡­and no.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Tasha asked with confusion. ¡°Well, we do have better weapons, but I can¡¯t sell them to you.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Probably because you are a child, Tasha. At that moment, the plate armour shopper set the halberd onto the table. ¡°Not interested in this one, either?¡± The shopkeeper was quickly losing his glibness. ¡°I asked you why you can¡¯t sell it?¡± Tasha asked again. ¡°Is it because it¡¯s too expensive?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t mean to say that you cannot afford it, but the price is not the main issue.¡± The shopkeeper picked up the halberd to put it away. ¡°We have a small number of branded weapons, but we cannot sell them to anyone without permission from His Majesty.¡± ¡°Branded weapons?¡± I asked, finally speaking up. ¡°Yes,¡± he began, a bit surprised to see me suddenly chiming in, ¡°Master blacksmiths who craft weapons and armour with the best quality materials have a right, well, a duty, to brand them. They are also known as masterwork weapons and armour.¡± ¡°What are they branded with? The symbol of their race?¡± I asked, wanting to confirm what I suspected about the sword I took from Jack Free. ¡°Yes, in most cases. Equipment directly commissioned by a clan could also be branded with the symbol of that clan if they wish to, as well. Assuming that those items are still of masterwork quality, of course. ¡°So you have some weapons like that? A sword with a brand? A brand with crossed swords?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°Crossed swords? Are you referring to the brand of the Battle-Hardened? Why would a masterwork weapon made in Brennan have that?¡± My eyes widened a bit. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mind her! I told her about the different races and she got really excited when I told her about the Battle-Hardened.¡± ¡°Ah, so the two of you are together,¡± the shopkeeper said with a tiny bit of relief. ¡°Ah, yes, she is my daughter. Sorry if she was pestering you a bit too much.¡± I picked up Tasha¡¯s sword and handed it back to her. ¡°Oh, no, not to worry. So, was there actually something in particular you wanted to get for her?¡± ¡°Sorry, she just really wanted to take a closer look. We¡¯ll just leave you be now, sorry if we¡¯ve been an inconvenience.¡± Before the shopkeeper could say anything else, I grabbed Tasha¡¯s arm and pulled her away. Flora came over after we left the storefront. ¡°Um, is everything okay?¡± Flora asked. I ignored her question. ¡°Tasha, I know it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve brought it up, but you should be more careful when talking about the Battle-Hardened around humans.¡± ¡°What? I didn¡¯t say I was Battle-Hardened.¡± ¡°Well, most people don¡¯t go around asking to buy rare Battle-Hardened equipment.¡± ¡°B- but¡­okay, I¡¯m sorry, but I had a good reason.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter; just avoid saying anything like that while we¡¯re in a human kingdom.¡± I then turned to Flora. ¡°It would also be best if you don¡¯t tell anyone you¡¯re a Farseer, as well.¡± ¡°I understand that much.¡± ¡°Good. Alright, let¡¯s hurry on past here.¡± We started walking again, and ended up behind the person wearing plate armour who had since then left the store as well. As we were about to pass them, they suddenly tripped and stumbled. Before crashing into the ground, Tasha quickly dashed over in time to stop their fall. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°Oh, yes, thank you very much for your help,¡± she replied. As she steadied herself back onto her two feet, she suddenly brought up one hand to her helmet. I cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Well, someone seems to have a secret. Not that I care, though. ¡°Come on, Tasha, Flora, let¡¯s keep moving.¡± I tried to take a step past the woman in plate armour, but she blocked me off. Then, she silently gestured for us to follow her. ¡°We kind of need to get somewhere.¡± She gestured more vigorously. I scanned around again and did not see anything amiss. ¡°Alright, fine.¡± We followed her out of the plaza and into the nearest alley back in the residential areas. I whispered over to Flora to alert me immediately if she felt something seemed off. We got far out of earshot of anyone passing by the streets before she finally stopped to lean up against the wall. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Tasha asked, as she also started scanning the alley. The woman fiddled around with her hands, which looked especially awkward given all the armour. ¡°Please do not tell anyone you saw me here,¡± she said. Lady, I don¡¯t even know who you are. I wouldn¡¯t have even thought twice about you if you hadn¡¯t dragged us over here. But, if this is how it¡¯s going to be¡­ ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t want my father to find out.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± I asked again. ¡°¡­what do you mean?¡± With the helmet there, I could not read any facial expressions, but it seems the absurdity of this situation was starting to dawn on her. ¡°It would obviously trouble him greatly, you know?¡± Or maybe not. Tasha gave me a very confused look. Alright, let¡¯s just put this to an end now. ¡°Listen, we have no idea who you are. There is no one we would even tell, even if we wanted to tell someone.¡± She stood silently for a moment. ¡°Oh, I see. Yes, you have no idea who I am and you won¡¯t tell anyone that you saw me. Thank you.¡± That string of words really came out kind of awkwardly, especially as she seemed to be trying to curtsey at the end. Although, since she didn¡¯t have any dress to hold onto, it could have been some other strange gesturing. ¡°Right¡­you¡¯re welcome. Well, we¡¯ll just be off now¡­¡± As I began to turn around to exit the alley, Flora touched my arm. I was about to ask her about it but her expression made things evident. Tasha also seemed to be alert now and I scanned around the alley again. Except for us, it was empty and quiet. I took a couple steps over to our new acquaintance. ¡°W- what?¡± she asked, sounding oblivious. Flora took out her bow and Tasha unsheathed her sword. ¡°W-wait! I thought you were all just going to leave now!¡± Her voice contained clear panic and her hands were held out defensively. Further down the alley, a figure finally came into my view. There was the glint of metal and I quickly ducked down low to the ground, pushing down the woman in plate armour as well just as a crossbow bolt flew by where her head was only a second earlier. I quickly got back up and rushed down the alley, charging up a bolt throughout my body with an extra one for just my legs as I did. From behind me, I could hear people charging in as well, alongside the sound of a man yelling out as if he was just hit by something. Before I reached the end of the alley, another pair of people charged inside, probably to cover the crossbowman as he reloaded. One of them was carrying a club and the other one had a dagger. They clearly had no idea who they were dealing with. The one with the club came at me first, taking a swing at my head. I ducked and I stepped in quickly to deliver a swift punch to the throat. The man flew off his feet as the man with the dagger came in to stab me. I grabbed the hand holding the dagger and held it in a crushing grip; he yelped in pain. At the same time, I used my other hand to grab him by the shoulder. I quickly and easily lifted him off his feet and threw him at the crossbowman just as he was finished reloading. The crossbowman was knocked onto his back, but did not let go of the crossbow. As the two men tried to separate themselves, I smacked the one formerly holding the dagger on the side of his head. With the obstacle knocked out of the way, the crossbowman tried to take aim at me and prepared to fire at my gut. I charged up two bolts into my arm and pushed down at the crossbow right as he pulled the trigger. The bolt shot out between my legs. A tiny bit of panic came and went at this realization as I followed up with a punch to his face. A quick scan showed me there were no other enemies on this side of the alley and as I turned around, I saw Tasha already running towards me, three men on the ground behind her. I went back into the alley and Tasha stopped running towards me. Flora was kneeling by the one wearing plate armour, who was still splayed out on the ground. ¡°Is she okay?¡± I asked Flora. ¡°I- I¡¯m fine,¡± the woman answered for herself. Seeing as she was making no attempt to pick herself back up, I knelt down on the ground beside her. ¡°So, I still don¡¯t know who you are, but am I right in guessing that there are some people after you?¡± ¡°No, I mean, yes, maybe? Well, there might be people¡­after me- but not like that!¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Before she could give an answer, someone else showed up at the end of the valley. Unlike the previous assailants who were very plainly dressed, this one wore plate armour like the woman, but seemed no less hostile. Immediately upon seeing us, the newcomer came charging in at us with a howl, with chains gripped in either hand. Tasha stepped in before me to receive the attacker while Flora quickly tried to notch another arrow. From a distance, the armoured fighter attacked by swinging one of the chains and Tasha dodged it, but as the chain struck the ground, it danced up off the ground and chased after her. Stuck in this narrow alley, Tasha was forced to block the chain with her sword. However, the chain wrapped around the blade. The attacker suddenly pulled the chain back and dragged the surprised Tasha towards him. I leapt into the fray to assist. As I did, the attacker whipped at me with his other chain. Seeing what happened earlier, I did not have the confidence in perfectly dodging the attack in such a narrow space, so I charged up another bolt into my legs to dash straight towards the attacker. As expected, when the chain seemed to just barely fly past me, it quickly slinked towards me and started to wrap around my left arm. I didn¡¯t let it bother me as I closed the distance to the attacker. Using my free right hand, I hammered at the face of his helmet. I could feel the helmet reverberate but he barely even flinched. He let go of the chain on my arm and tried to grab at my throat. I managed to evade just in time and tried to put some more distance between us but one end of the chain was actually attached to his armour. I attempted to pull the chain off my arm, but it proved more difficult than I expected and he came at me again, striking at my chest. I stepped back to avoid that attack, but ended up hitting a wall. His gauntlet struck me hard in the chest, but my hide armour did well in softening the impact. I was briefly winded, but even before fully recovering, Tasha came up behind him, having left behind her sword in order to pounce on him while he was distracted. She jumped up and brought her hands together to hammer him in the back of the head. Just as the blow was about to connect though, he flicked the chain in his other hand and it whipped her at the side of her head. As I saw Tasha getting knocked away mid-air, my blood instantly boiled. I charged up to my maximum of eight bolts and punched him in the side of the helmet. This time, I knew he felt it for sure. Striking the metal helmet cut up my knuckles a bit, but I felt great satisfaction in seeing him losing his footing as he tried to prevent himself from falling over to the side. I punched him again in front of his helmet and more of my blood splashed onto him as his whole body rocked back. With the increased space, I then kicked him hard in the abdomen. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that my left arm was still chained up, he probably would have fallen over. Regardless, the fact that he was still standing served to only aggravate me further. You think you can go against me? Well, the fight ends here. I unsheathed my sword as the disoriented man in armour was still in the middle of steadying himself. ¡°Wait! Stop fighting!¡± the woman in armour shouted as she ran over to us. I wasn¡¯t one to just let some stranger tell me what to do, but she forced her way in between us. ¡°Move!¡± I ordered. She was in the way of me running my blade through that man¡¯s neck. Actually, why was she even in the way to begin with? Isn¡¯t he with the ones who were attacking her earlier? Then, from the end of the alley, more armoured warriors arrived. Well, this party just doesn¡¯t stop, now does it? ¡°L- Leonora?¡± the armoured man gasped out in confusion, still slightly staggered. ¡°Father, there¡¯s been a huge mistake!¡± the armoured woman said in response. Wait, what? ¡°Your Majesty!¡± the armoured warriors at the end of the alley called out as they came running. My body and mind were still burning, but the confusion made me ease up. Leonora then turned to me. ¡°Please, this has been a huge mistake. Everyone, please, don¡¯t fight!¡± Chapter 32 Due to Leonora¡¯s intervention, the fight came to an abrupt end. The first group of attackers were real assassins, but that was not the case for the ones wearing plate armour. The ones that came later were actually knights of Brennan, and the first one was the king himself. I rushed over to Tasha when the fight was over and thankfully, she seemed mostly okay. I already knew she was clearly much stronger than a typical Battle-Hardened, but her durability was still surprising. Even after getting hit by the chain, there were only a few small scratches on her. In fact, her pride seemed more hurt than anything due to being knocked down to the ground. The next greatest injury on our side would be my bloodied knuckles. Flora was about to instinctively heal my hand when she saw it, but I stopped her as I saw the king start walking towards us, with his visor now lifted, revealing his face around his eyes. ¡°I very much would like to apologize for this misunderstanding and to extend my deepest gratitude to you all for protecting my daughter.¡± His body language did not seem very apologetic, but from the tone of his voice, and the look in his eyes, I felt his sincerity. Nonetheless, I had multiple reasons for remaining on guard and thinking carefully before speaking my next words. However, Brennan¡¯s king seemed to guess an incorrect reason for my silence. ¡°Of course, I know my words alone are insufficient given the situation. Please, I invite you to my palace so that you can all be treated. I will also prepare an appropriate reward for you as well.¡± Still, I remained quiet. Should I accept this? If I do, will I need to pretend that we are all human? No, would that really be necessary? After my unarmed fight against him, who was wearing plate armour, wouldn¡¯t he already suspect that I may be Battle-Hardened? The fact that he hasn¡¯t said anything about that¡­ ¡°Thank you for the invitation¡­but I am unsure if one with an origin such as myself would feel welcome there.¡± I did my best to respond in a way to elicit the information I was searching for, but in a way that didn¡¯t clearly state who we were. If he interpreted negatively in one way, I could try bluffing in a different direction, such as saying that the origin I was referring to was in regard to me being an Outlander, a mercenary, or a commoner, and distinguishing me from the other two. Still, I know my wording wasn¡¯t the best but I could only hope that I didn¡¯t make the worst out of this situation as I awaited the king¡¯s response. After a few seconds, the king seemed to make some kind of sigh or grunt. ¡°It appears that you are still being wary, but I assure you, on my honor and name as Henrik von Brennan, King of Brennan, that I only mean to express my goodwill for you having defended my daughter, regardless of your status, whether you be a subject of my nation, any other nation, or an Outlander.¡± His answer was such an ideal response for what I wanted to hear, that I struggled to answer in a way that I thought was appropriate. ¡°So, that means you are okay with the Battle-Hardened and Farseers?¡± I could not see it due to the rest of his helmet, but I thought he smiled. ¡°Of course!¡± Then, I thought I could hear his tone get a bit more serious. ¡°I understand that there are some humans, even within my own kingdom, who hold prejudices against them, but I have always believed that those are misguided beliefs.¡± Then, he suddenly brought his arms out. ¡°This is Ironshield, the city where the nations of Midgard signed the treaty to mark the end of the War of the Nines! The treaty¡¯s spirit of peaceful cohabitation is the greatest ideal that I have committed myself towards.¡± I was left speechless by his sudden exuberance. Noting my renewed silence, he brought his arms back to his sides, and said, ¡°I do not know what your past experiences were, but believe me when I say that I will show no different treatment to you or anyone else merely because of their place of birth.¡± ¡°I believe him,¡± Flora said to me as she suddenly grabbed my injured hand. She did her chant and healed it right in front of the king. I looked at him intently as the injury magically healed. I thought I saw him shift a bit, but he did nothing else. Then, Flora went to heal Tasha¡¯s little scratches. ¡°You know, I would prefer if you did say something right now.¡± I said, breaking the silence with what I realized later was probably a very rude thing to say to a king. The look in the king¡¯s eyes, however, seemed to instead show that he thought he was acting rudely instead. ¡°I did not expect to see such rare magic, so my surprise took away my words momentarily. Well, I¡¯m sure you have your circumstances that I have no need to know, and I still hope you will accept my invitation. Even if you do not require treatment, I still wish to accommodate you all while I prepare a suitable reward.¡± Part of me really did not want to get any more involved, especially given how it went with the last king I met, but I was inclined to give this one the benefit of the doubt, and I did want to receive a reward for my troubles. However, for once, I did not want to make a unilateral decision. I looked over at Flora and Tasha, and the king, understanding my intent, walked over to apologize to Tasha directly for injuring her and thanked the both of them for helping Leonora. Flora, unexpectedly, was receptive, although also clearly nervous about being directly addressed. Her actions just a moment earlier was clearly a rare instance of boldness. Tasha, in contrast to her usual flare, looked away briefly before demurely accepting the king¡¯s words. I took this to mean we collectively agreed to the invitation. As we travelled to the palace gates, I took closer note of the armour of our royal knight escorts. Just as was always the case, I could not really tell how high quality the armour actually was, but I did spot the crests emblazoned in the center of the chest piece. It was that of a shield with a pair of chains diagonally wrapped around it. The crest was also on the king¡¯s armour as well. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that I was in the heat of battle, I guess I may have noticed it then. I also took a closer look at the chains the king was using. The chain on his left side was attached by the waist of his armour and the chain on the right was attached to a large cuff worn around his right wrist. I could not be sure of the reason for this arrangement, but it was clear to see from the crest that chains did have some symbolic importance. After passing through the gates, we were led to a room overlooking the gardens to wait while the king went to go and change out of his armour. The room was the most lavish I had seen thus far. The floors and the furniture seemed to shine, there were many gilded ornaments, and there was even a maid in the room to serve us tea. Flora and Tasha fidgeted around nervously, not even touching their cups as I casually sipped the tea, which was pretty good. I rarely drank tea, but since I thought this was close to the ones I had back home, does this mean I usually had good tea? Home, eh? I felt something almost akin to nostalgia but then bitter memories started to creep their way in through the edges of my mind. I needed to distract myself immediately. ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you two?¡± I asked, turning my attention to the evident uncomfortableness of the two girls. Flora, I could kind of understand, since she almost always appeared to be a bit shy. Tasha, though, was not the kind of person to get so worked up by a sudden environment change, or, at least that¡¯s what I thought. ¡°What? Oh, no¡­is it showing that badly?¡± Flora asked with a bit of a stutter. ¡°A bit more than usual,¡± I replied. ¡°And you, Tasha?¡± She looked at me and then the maid, but said nothing. I tapped my tea cup to draw the maid¡¯s attention. ¡°Excuse me, do you mind waiting outside for a moment?¡± She curtly nodded and stepped outside the room. ¡°Well?¡± I asked after she shut the door behind her. ¡°Um, are you upset?¡± she asked. Am I upset? ¡°What do you mean?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, in that fight, I got knocked down and I¡­was¡­¡± It took me a moment to realize she stopped speaking because my expression grew intense. I opened my mouth and tried to relax my facial features. ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s nothing to get angry about. It happens. Just forget about it.¡± I smiled and Tasha let out a sigh of relief. I guess that was the reason for Tasha¡¯s timidity back there. Well, I¡¯m not sure I am actually completely over the king whipping his chain at her, but I¡¯ll try not to let it bother me. I then turned my attention back to Flora. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose this was what was on your mind?¡± ¡°What? Oh, no, I mean¡­it¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t thinking about that at all¡­¡± I motioned for her to just get to the point. ¡°Well, I mean, we are in Brennan¡¯s royal palace. We were invited by the king, and we saved the life of the princess. Isn¡¯t that¡­just¡­¡± Incredible? Amazing? ¡°um¡­too much to handle¡­¡± I blinked a few times. ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe?¡± I answered nonchalantly. My dispassionate response seemed to only serve to further frazzle her. I sure hope that king shows up soon. In the end, Flora was forced to panic by herself for another half hour before someone came to fetch us. However, it was not the king. Instead, it was a young woman with short, dark blonde hair, probably still in her teens, wearing a deep blue dress. She stood in the doorway as an awkward silence dragged on for much longer than it should have. ¡°Hello to you all, I am Leonora von Brennan, Princess of the kingdom of Brennan.¡± Leonora curtsied. ¡°We¡¯ve met earlier, but, uh¡­¡± Her eyes showed panic as she came to that awkward pause. ¡°It is an honour to meet you, Princess Leonora. My name is Braith.¡± I stepped towards her and looked askance past her to see if there was anyone else waiting in the hall. Surprisingly, there was not; even the maids were gone. ¡°Has something changed since we parted?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, is it usual for the princess to come greet guests on her own?¡± At first, she just looked a bit confused, but then I could tell that she took offense to my question from her change in expression. Her eyes narrowed and her lips scrunched a bit, but she eased her expression just before responding. ¡°Our palace is patrolled by scores of guards and knights and there are multiple watchmen at every entrance to and from the courtyard. I do not believe there is an issue with me coming to meet you without an escort.¡± I was extremely tempted to look at either Tasha or Flora to see their reactions, but I got the feeling that my wandering gaze could only be a greater offense. ¡°My apologies,¡± I began in a calm but strong voice, ¡°I did not mean to suggest anything rude by my earlier question.¡± Suddenly, a light smile spread across my face. Ah, I think I¡¯m starting to get what she was doing outside the castle now. It would probably be a bad idea to bring that up right now, though. ¡°However, if our presence is no longer warranted here, then we shall immediately excuse ourselves.¡± I had intended my last sentence to be somewhat of a test, but I regretted it almost instantly. If this princess was even more impulsive than I thought she was, this would only be the beginning of greater troubles. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°No longer warranted?¡± Her expression seemed to tense up once more, but thankfully, she lightened up again right away. ¡°Oh, no, no! I apologize as well. It seems I still have some ways to go when it comes to conversations. Of course, I don¡¯t want you to leave yet. You saved my life today and both I and my father are extremely grateful!¡± ¡°It was no trouble, Princess,¡± I said, after giving a mental sigh of relief. Good, the number of royals offended so far remain at one. Finally, I turned back to Flora and Tasha and motioned for them to introduce themselves as well, as delayed as it may have been.¡± ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Tasha.¡± I almost chuckled at the simplicity. ¡°G-greetings, Princess! It is an honour to meet you! I am Flora Tree!¡± Oh, so she can speak up. Flora blushed heavily, but did not turn away or lower her head. Honestly, though, I did not think this was something to be so concerned about. Given how the princess came to meet us, a lack of formalities was unlikely to pose a problem. Part of me even wanted to tease her on how she could act more like she did in front of the king when she healed us. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you all as well,¡± Leonora said, beaming. ¡°Really, it is great to see young girls such as yourselves!¡± She walked over to Tasha and suddenly put her hands on her shoulders. ¡°Armour clearly worn for practicality. Oh, and the way you stand so dignified, it¡¯s magnificent!¡± She let go of my puzzled daughter and then turned to Flora. She grasped at Flora¡¯s hands and brought them closer to her gaze. ¡°And you, your hands are the tools of a master, perfectly utilizing your bow for deadly precision!¡± Well, I wouldn¡¯t say ¡®deadly¡¯. Flora stood petrified, stupefied by Leonora¡¯s interaction. ¡°You give quite the high praise, Princess,¡± I finally said, seeing that neither of the two girls were planning to speak up. ¡°And it is well deserved!¡± Leonora let go of Flora and walked further into the room. ¡°Tell me, Sir Braith, are you the one who taught them how to fight?¡± ¡°I suppose I taught Tasha initially, but she has far more talent than me. As for Flora, no, I¡¯ve never shot a single arrow in my life. Also, Sir Braith?¡± ¡°Hmmm, I am very curious to know how the three of you came to travel together, but it would not do to keep my father waiting.¡± She ignored my last question, but she was right, that was the reason we were here after all. ¡°As such, though it may have been more proper to provide you with better clothing to wear for your banquet, what you have on shall do for now.¡± I could tell from her smiling face that this was exactly what she wanted anyways. ¡°You¡¯re right, we should not keep the king waiting any longer than this. May I entrust you to lead the way?¡± ¡°Of course. Oh, and bring your weapons, too.¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°It¡­um¡­is very fitting given the rest of your attire.¡± I almost raised my other eyebrow. Leonora sighed. ¡°Well, as I¡¯m sure you may have already guessed, I have¡­something of a penchant for the appearance of a warrior.¡± That was one way of putting it. ¡°It is for good reason, though!¡± ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t mind sharing¡­¡± ¡°Oh, I do not intend to hide any great secrets from you, but let us set out on our way first.¡± She patiently waited for us to gather our weapons and we continued our conversation as we walked through the halls. ¡°My father, he has¡­already discussed the matter in detail with me, but I do not wish to give up so simply. If possible, I was hoping you could help me. You see, the one thing our kingdom is best known for is iron. Unsurprisingly, this has led to a culture deeply involved with weapons and armour. As Princess of Brennan, I think it is of great importance that I learn all I can about this, as well as that which is heavily related.¡± ¡°Meaning, battle and war?¡± ¡°So, you do understand my desires, then?¡± ¡°Well, I get why you are so enthused about it, but what exactly is your problem?¡± ¡°Well, the true root of the problem is likely to do with the fact that I am my father¡¯s daughter, and not my father¡¯s son.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not something I can really help with.¡± ¡°I am aware. I have tried to take my own initiatives, such as building up enough strength to wear plate armour, but alas, my father remains unconvinced. My next goal was to gain enough muscle to march in it, but I still don¡¯t know if he would be convinced. However, I am hoping that your companions could influence my father¡¯s opinions to some degree.¡± ¡°You are hoping that seeing some young girls who know how to fight will make him let you get involved with fighting as well?¡± ¡°It would be grand if the results really could happen so simply and immediately. I understand how unlikely that is, though, so I only intend for this to be the first part and I continue to work on whatever other aspects I can. Tell me, Sir Braith, compared to you, how strong are Tasha and Flora? I must admit, I was not in the best state to observe them very well during that ambush.¡± Okay, Sir is fine for now, I guess. ¡°Compared to me, you ask? Well, that¡¯s not that simple to answer.¡± ¡°Why is that? Is it because you cannot fight them with all your strength? In that case, how about compared to my father? I am positive he fought you with everything he had in that alleyway. So, compared to that, how do they compare?¡± ¡°If your father is willing, I am sure that Tasha, at the very least, would be more than willing to spar with him.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t say no to that,¡± Tasha agreed, her usual confidence having returned. ¡°I would be more than willing to have it arranged somehow, but I would need to know how well she would fare. I do want this to be very convincing, after all.¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± I started thinking back on that fight with the king. It was a bit hard to focus on the details considering the amount of rage I was feeling at the time, but after a moment, I came up with a rough analysis. ¡°When it comes to a close-quarters fight, I would say that Tasha is even more mobile than I. As far as strength goes, she might have some difficulty dealing with someone much heavier and heavily armoured, but I still would not say she is weaker.¡± ¡°So, she would be at no disadvantage should she spar with my father?¡± ¡°Yeah, I would say Tasha is at least slightly favoured.¡± I did believe in that appraisal. Yes, Tasha got knocked down by him, but it only barely injured her in the end, and Tasha¡¯s impressive ability to learn from combat was something I witnessed multiple times. ¡°Only slightly?¡± Tasha asked. Leonora gave a hearty laugh. ¡°My, you must really be overflowing with talent to be displeased at that appraisal. My father is far from an amateur, even the average Iron Knight would lose to him. If you, a girl barely on the cusp of maturing, could prove to be an even match, I have little doubt that my father would reconsider his opinions.¡± ¡°What¡¯s an Iron Knight?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°Are they strong?¡± Leonora paused in the middle of the empty corridor for a moment, wearing a slightly shocked expression. ¡°They were the knights who escorted us back to the palace. Also, yes, they are very strong.¡± ¡°How strong?¡± Tasha pressed. Leonora glanced over at me for a second before turning her attention back to Tasha. ¡°Well, their strength varies from one another, but, at a minimum¡­they are simply much stronger than the average soldier. Believe me.¡± Leonora ended, apparently giving up on a good measurement. The amusing answer did force me to suppress a chuckle. ¡°In any case, we have been stopped here for too long, let¡¯s carry on our way now.¡± She started walking again and we continued to follow. ¡°So, stronger than a bear?¡± Tasha asked, her curiosity still not sated. ¡°A bear?¡± ¡°Yeah, you know, the big, brown animal. It kind of goes rrrrrrr!¡± I could not stop myself from laughing this time. ¡°No, I mean, yes, I know what a bear is. I- Is that something you normally train against?¡± I could tell that the question was directed to all three of us. ¡°No, it¡¯s just this one bear back in Holtzan. Well, just for Tasha, I never tried fighting it.¡± Leonora then turned her gaze to Flora. ¡°M- Me? Oh, no, no, I, uh, no, never, never a bear. N- Never any animals, r-really!¡± she stammered out in a panic. ¡°Hmmm, the three of you are actually quite different.¡± ¡°Well, coming together was almost incidental,¡± I responded. ¡°Is that so? It appears I was mistakenly under the assumption that the two of them were long-time disciples of yours. May I inquire what the full extent of your relationships are?¡± ¡°Tasha is my daughter, and Flora is the granddaughter of a friend of mine.¡± Saying that much should be fine, right? ¡°Your daughter? Oh my, I would not have guessed that. Oh, not that I¡¯m saying you look nothing alike. Hmmm,¡± Leonora began intently gazing at the two of us, ¡°yes, I think I¡¯m starting to see it now. It¡¯s¡­the lips?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯re not actually related. I adopted her when she was very young.¡± ¡°O- Oh! Yes, of course,¡± she scrunched up her face in embarrassment. ¡°I hope I did not offend you¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s alright.¡± Leonora let out a sigh of relief. She really is quite the interesting princess. Although, I suppose she¡¯s the first one I¡¯ve yet to meet. ¡°Sir Braith, I must say it has been quite a treat to converse with you thus far. I am sure my father will find your company equally entertaining.¡± ¡°That would be nice.¡± For some reason, I feel like a hint of sarcasm found its way into my response. Maybe it¡¯s because we already had a somewhat awkward talk earlier. ¡°Before the main course, I would like it if you could support me when I bring up the matter of the spar. Assuming nothing has soured the mood up until then, of course.¡± ¡°Well, if it does not take up too much time.¡± ¡°Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?¡± ¡°¡­Yes.¡± I hope my pause did not make my answer seem too suspicious. ¡°I see. Then, I must apologize in advance for inconveniencing you. Well, if you really do need to get there quickly, I suppose we can forget about my plan¡­¡± I was honestly surprised by how quickly she was relenting. ¡°No, we¡¯ll do it. I mean, I¡¯ll do it. Right, we can spend some more time here, right, dad?¡± I was less surprised by Tasha chiming in. ¡°Yes, as I said, if it does not take too much time.¡± Leonora positively beamed at us. ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Her enthusiasm was as clear as day, but I had my own reservations about the outcome of her plan. ¡°Although we agreed to your plan, may I ask why exactly you think your plan will work?¡± ¡°Do you not think a young girl besting a powerful warrior in combat would leave an impact.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doubting whether it is something that people will talk about, but why do you think it will make your father immediately change his mind? You have talked to him about your situation multiple times before, and he has refused each time.¡± ¡°He has, but I realize now that it is because he thinks I am some girl who is better off being coddled than trained. As one of the credos of our kingdom goes, actions speak louder than words!¡± Oh, they have that here as well. ¡°I may not possess the strength and skill to beat a trained soldier, but I believe your daughter will prove to be a good proxy. She is young enough that even the fact that she is Battle-Hardened should not matter!¡± I stopped in my tracks. ¡°What did you say?¡± It took a second for her determined expression to loosen. She tilted her head a bit in confusion. ¡°Which part?¡± ¡°The last part.¡± ¡°Hmmm, oh yes! Even though she is Battle-Hardened, she is young enough for that to not matter. That is what I believe!¡± I paused instinctively. ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡± ¡°Why do you say that Tasha is Battle-Hardened? Did you hear that from your father?¡± ¡°No, not all. But, is she not? I figured that all of you were since you clearly are.¡± ¡°Is that what you think?¡± I know that I should not be acting like this at all, but it was proving a little difficult to change my initial response, especially given the extremism of the True-Bloods. ¡°I mean, you overpowered my father in enchanted plate mail, and you were only using your bare hands. I¡¯ve heard about the strength of the Battle-Hardened, but I did not think such a difference could exist! Oh, wait, I¡¯m sorry. Your level of strength is clearly a rarity, right? I did not mean to belittle your years of training and experience!¡± ¡°You¡­ certainly seem to have a pretty positive opinion of us. Is that how you generally feel about the Battle-Hardened?¡± ¡°Hmmmm, no, I¡¯d say I like you all better than what I think about them generally. I know that they are stronger than humans, but the stereotypes that some have about them being monstrous beings is absurd. At least, from what I have learned, most are not actually much stronger than humans, which makes you quite extraordinary. Ah, but I also like you all personally! You seem like such nice people, so it is such a shame that some are so unwilling to get to know you all better. Quite a few of our own citizens view them with contempt, but it is certainly far from a majority view. At the very least, my father and I harbour no ill will towards the other races. ¡°I see.¡± I mentally relented. ¡°Thanks for saying that.¡± ¡°¡­Okay, then.¡± Leonora¡¯s clear expression suddenly turned gloomy. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry about what?¡± ¡°I realize now that you reacted like that because of some terrible experiences you must have had beforehand. This is something I should have taken into consideration, yet all I could think of was selfishly demanding you to work to my benefit. Truly, I am sorry.¡± Leonora bowed her head to us and Flora began panicking again, but couldn¡¯t even string together any words this time. ¡°Oh, no, it¡¯s fine. Really. Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s just set all of that aside and focus on the present. Come on, we shouldn¡¯t keep the king waiting.¡± Now that I think about it, this palace is quite large, isn¡¯t it? All this talking and we¡¯re still not there? ¡°Oh yes, most of the palace isn¡¯t so elaborate, but it is certainly very large. Let us continue on. Also, thank you for your words, Sir Braith, you really are a very kind and understanding gentleman.¡± That has got to be the first time someone has said that line to me. As I thought about whether anything similar has been to me in the past, I noticed Flora seemed to be smiling. Well, at least she didn¡¯t look nervous anymore. Leonora continued to chat with us until we finally arrived at our destination. Chapter 33 A couple minutes later, we arrived at a pair of doors with a guard on either side. Seeing as how they wore chainmail, I could tell that they were just ordinary guards and not Iron Knights. They bowed towards Princess Leonora before opening the doors for us. The inside of the room was quite vast, but aside from the size, was rather plain. It had a single, long rectangular table with at least a dozen chairs on either side. The stone walls lacked any furnishings and the only sources of lighting were a set of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and a fireplace in the middle of the wall opposite the door we came in from. Already seated at the far end of the table was the king, dressed in fine linen with a fur mantle draped over his shoulders, and a gold crown atop his head. It was not a particularly special kind of look, but given my first impression of him when we fought, it was a striking contrast. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve finally arrived! Welcome, welcome! Come now, take up your seats over here!¡± he called out to us in a booming voice. ¡°Tasha, Flora, follow me. Sir Braith, please seat yourself to my father¡¯s left side.¡± We did as Leonora said and walked towards the far end of the table, with the three girls going along the other side of the table. As I drew nearer, the king got up from his seat and came over to greet me. It was not something I had really expected, and further contributed to differentiating this encounter from my last run-in with a monarch. ¡°Thank you once again for saving my daughter. It is not terribly elaborate, but I hope you will enjoy yourselves while dining with us.¡± ¡°The pleasure is ours, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Excellent¡­hmmm, oh dear, in all my haste, it appears I had forgotten to ask for your name! To re-introduce myself, I am Henrik von Brennan, king of this humble nation.¡± ¡°My name is Braith. The girl with the bow is Flora, and the other one is Tasha, my daughter.¡± ¡°I see. It is a pleasure to have your acquaintances.¡± ¡°Y- yes, it is a pleasure to meet with you as well, Your Majesty!¡± ¡°Same here,¡± Tasha said simply. As with Leonora, the king also did not seem to mind this curtness. We sat down and before we could go on to a new line of conversation, the second set of doors in this room opened. These ones were essentially diagonally opposite the first set, and were near this end of the table, but over to the king¡¯s right. A middle-aged man servant came through with a serving trolley. ¡°Mikhael? Emil is not coming to bring out his dishes?¡± ¡°My apologies, Your Majesty, but there was a slight issue in the kitchen. He needs more time to finish up and told me to come and bring out the soup first.¡± ¡°Oh, I see, then. Tell Emil not to worry, his cooking is worth waiting a bit longer for.¡± ¡°I will tell him so.¡± He kept his words professional, but he seemed rather nervous. Judging by the way his eyes kept glancing over towards Flora and Tasha even when setting the bowls down for everyone else, I could guess that he didn¡¯t know what kind of guests the king would be having. Well, I would probably be surprised too at this sudden arrangement. The servant set down my bowl last and then started to make his leave when Flora asked a question. ¡°Um, excuse me, but what is in this soup?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re curious about that?¡± King Henrik replied with a hearty laugh. ¡°Mikhael, please!¡± ¡°M- me, Your Majesty? Right, of course. Well, it is a bread soup with ham, chives, cheese, and cream.¡± ¡°Ham?¡± I should have expected this issue to come up. ¡°Yes.¡± Flora shifted a bit uncomfortably at the answer. ¡°Is something the matter?¡± the king asked. ¡°Well,¡± I spoke up, ¡°Flora does not eat any meat.¡± ¡°Really? Does she have a rare allergy to it?¡± ¡°No, she doesn¡¯t eat meat because¡­she doesn¡¯t like hunting¡­I mean¡­it¡¯s just her values. I¡¯m not sure how to describe it well, but it is something she has chosen for herself.¡± The king nodded slowly to himself, but said nothing. Flora¡¯s face noticeably reddened. ¡°Oh, now that I think about it¡­I think I might have heard that some from the Na- there are some who do have that sort of dietary practice.¡± I knew what the king was about to say, but given his whole performance earlier about not delving more into our personal circumstances from our earlier talk, he clearly knew to avoid saying anything more. ¡°If the young miss does not wish to eat meat, then there will be no issue,¡± the servant spoke up unexpectedly, ¡°I will just bring it back in and I¡¯m sure we can bring her something else.¡± He sounded strangely excited for someone who just agreed to do extra work. ¡°How about the other young miss, does she also require a different dish?¡± ¡°No, this sounds good,¡± Tasha answered, picking up her spoon and swirling it around the soup for a bit. ¡°A- are you sure?¡± That was a rather strange question to ask, but more than that, I noticed that Flora¡¯s cheeks were no longer flushed. In fact, they seemed rather pale. ¡°So, can we eat now?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°Wait!¡± Everyone except for Flora looked at me with a bit of alarm. ¡°Flora, what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I- I think something dangerous is coming.¡± Remembering the run-in with the True-Blood cavaliers, I knew that this could be serious. I immediately began glancing around the room. ¡°Flora, can you tell from which side?¡± ¡°What is this about danger?¡± the king asked. ¡°We are in the middle of the royal palace.¡± The king had a point. Aside from literal fortresses, this should be the most well-guarded place in the kingdom. Guards and knights are on patrol everywhere as Leonora said. They should be on patrol everywhere! We didn¡¯t pass by anyone else up until we got here! I stood up from my seat and reached for my sword. At that exact same time, the servant got behind the king and pulled a knife out from his pocket. He stabbed at the king¡¯s throat and I knew I would be just a bit too late. However, the king grabbed at Mikhael¡¯s wrist just as the knife began to draw blood. Using his other hand, he grabbed at Mikhael¡¯s collar and pulled him down onto the oak table. The impact caused the servant to drop the knife and the king rose up from his seat, his hands still gripped tightly onto the man¡¯s wrist and collar. ¡°Father, you''re bleeding!¡± It seemed like just a nick, but the blood flow began staining the entire right side of his neck. Instead of interrogating his assailant, the king let go of his collar and pounded him once on the forehead, knocking him out. Then, the king slumped back in his seat and clamped down on his wound. Flora quickly went over to assist, hurriedly chanting. As I was thinking about how to assess the situation and calm everyone down, we heard shouting form outside the room. A few seconds later, the double doors on the other side flew open and eight men wearing black cloaks over chainmail armour came barging in. I drew my sword and charged two bolts through my whole body. ¡°Tasha, watch the back in case more come from the other door!¡± As I shouted out my command, one more man walked in behind the first eight. He towered over the rest of them and appeared to be the leader. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is the king already dead?¡± he asked in a deep voice. ¡°No, he¡¯s still alive,¡± one of them answered. ¡°Then go kill him,¡± he ordered. At his command, the eight of them came rushing in, and strangely, all of them came down my side of the table. The space from the table to the wall was about as narrow as the alley I fought in earlier, so the attackers came in almost one by one. I delivered a powerful horizontal slash at the first one, slicing through the links of his armour and knocking him into a chair. However, this was less than I expected. I needed to take these guys down as quickly possible so I charged up to a total of six bolts as the second one came in. He swung at me with a battle-axe and I nimbly stepped out of the way and followed through with quick, deep cuts through both his legs, causing him to crash down to the ground. The third came at me with a mace, which I quickly relieved him of by attacking his hands. I then ran my sword through the left side of his abdomen. I was trying to avoid outright killing him, but I was going to make damn sure they would be out of the fight. The fourth and fifth paused for a bit. After seeing how I dispatched their comrades, it seemed they were thinking of making a more coordinated attack. I pulled my sword out of the man and shoved him to the side, taunting them. It looked like it was going to work in causing them to make another reckless attempt at me, but their leader shouted. ¡°Stop! You guys don¡¯t stand a chance against that one!¡± The remaining five began falling back as their leader began making his way over. Unlike the rest, he wore a breastplate over his chainmail and he wore a gauntlet on only his left hand. He had a leather glove on his right hand like the rest of them. He deftly reached behind his waist and I heard something click. In one fluid motion, he took out what appeared to be a hybrid of a cleaver and an axe. The blade was something fit for an oversized cleaver, but the long, ebony shaft looked more like that of a lumberjack¡¯s axe. Something else I took note of was how despite being clearly meant as a two-handed weapon, he wielded it with only his right hand. Well, it¡¯s not something to be too surprised about. By now, I had already concluded that all these attackers were probably Battle-Hardened, unlike the first set of assailants. The first person I knocked aside earlier suddenly tried to attack me from behind, but I evaded it and sliced at both of his legs, causing him to fall like the second. I took a brief look at the three downed men around me as the leader with the cleaver continued to stand there, a good twenty feet away. I didn¡¯t know how fast or strong this one was so I wasn¡¯t sure what kind of risk I was willing to take. Going up to my current maximum of eight bolts would exhaust me quickly, which means I would have to go on the offensive right away. However, is that what this one is expecting? He was massive, almost a foot taller than me, and it might just be the armour, but the shape of his body suggested hulking muscles underneath. Given that, what was his most likely fighting style? ¡°What are you doing?¡± he suddenly shouted at the five behind him. ¡°Go around the other side!¡± They nodded and began circling around the table. ¡°Tasha, hold them off!¡± Alright, forget waiting around. Let¡¯s just deal with this. Right as I thought that though, the leader was right in front of me, his cleaver already high up, ready to swing down on my head. Instinctively, I dodged, and the weapon came down on the stone floor, crushing the area into pieces. Before I had much time to analyze how much strength that would take, he twisted his wrist and followed through with a swing over to where I dodged. Once again, I got out of the way just in time and the blade tore into the stone wall, kicking up dust and loose debris as it screeched across the wall. One direct hit from that, and I knew I¡¯d be dead. I quickly shot up to my maximum number of bolts and tried to make a counter attack on his left side as he ripped his weapon out of the wall. I immediately made the decision that this was not someone I could risk taking out alive so I aimed for his neck. With far greater speed than someone of his size should have, though, he blocked my attack with his left gauntlet before my attack could reach optimal speed, and then swung his weapon at me again. I pulled back, but he pressed on without a moment¡¯s hesitation. Instead of swinging at me again, he kicked off the ground and charged straight at me. I was too close to the table by now so the chairs on either side could have impeded my escape. Therefore, I took a gamble and stepped in, preparing a fatal thrust once more. Yet again, he blocked my attack by batting my blade away with his gauntlet just after I initiated the attack. Even more amazing was how just his deflection almost had enough power to disarm me. As I stumbled a bit, trying to maintain my grip on my sword, he swung horizontally at me. I dodged by jumping backwards, and although I evaded the attack, I ended up right up against the table. He followed up by swinging down on me from overhead but I managed to dodge it this time by rolling along the table. The weapon sliced right through the table and I heard the stone ground crack yet again. At around the same time, though, I also heard a man yelp out from the other side of the table. It¡¯s good to know that Tasha, at least, was having a better time than me. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I quickly got off the table just as my opponent prised his weapon out of the floor. My body was starting to burn up, the back of my neck was already damp with sweat, and it was getting harder to catch my breath. From here on out, things were likely to just get even worse for I knew better than anyone that my stamina was soon to be on a rapid decline. However, despite the desperation of the situation, I found myself smiling. It almost hurt to breathe, yet I had the will to maintain my composure despite my body growing ever more feverish. He was strong enough to cleave me in two with a single slash, and he was frighteningly fast on top of that. But, I am still alive. He caught me off guard, and bullied me around while I was just trying to get into proper form or position, but I survived. That means I actually have an advantage, don¡¯t I? As my thoughts searched for the next course of action, he suddenly appeared right in front of me again, his weapon already coming in from a full swing. I still hadn¡¯t figured out how he could cover so much distance without me noticing, but it didn¡¯t matter. I wasn¡¯t going to get caught up in the same routine this time. I was in range of him? Well, then he¡¯s in range of me. Instead of trying to dodge, I immediately stepped in and thrust at his throat. He used his gauntlet to grab at my sword, but I knew my attack would be too fast to simply stop. Instead of restraining the attack, though, he pushed the trajectory of my attack as far to his right as he could. My attack ended up just grazing his neck, but this would only delay the inevitable. Using both hands, I used all my strength to follow through with a slash to decapitate him. Or, I was about to do that. Instead of completing his slash, he pulled his weapon in to bash me on the top of my head. There was far less momentum in this strike, but it was still enough to make me lose my focus. In that instant, he tightly gripped my sword and pulled it away from his neck. I found myself stumbling in the process as I still had both hands on it. He reared his weapon back and then jabbed me in the chest with the head of it, which was thankfully blunt. As the attack came in, I tried jumping back to soften the impact, which it probably did. In addition, my armour cushioned against the thrust, but I was still left winded. Right before the impact, he let go of my sword, perhaps to avoid it cutting his hand because the blow knocked me several feet back. I barely managed to land back on my feet as my body sailed through the air. The attack didn¡¯t go as I planned, but here I am, still standing. He came charging at me again, his weapon already wound up and ready to swing once more. His strength was so great that I didn¡¯t want to try this earlier, but if my step-in wasn¡¯t good enough, this was one of my only options left. I thrust out my sword just in time to meet the blade of his weapon. Metal grinded against metal and putting forth all my remaining concentration, I flicked my blade at just the right moment as the blades began sliding past another. I did. In a do-or-die situation, I got the right timing against a stronger opponent using a much larger weapon that I have never experienced before. This movement knocked his weapon out of the way, but failed to disarm as it should have if I did it perfectly. I¡¯m still a long ways away from reaching Lars¡¯ skill with the sword. Still, it was much better than the worst-case scenario where I completely miss the timing and the force of his attack simply overpowers my own and slashes straight into my body. After knocking his weapon away, I followed through with a swift slash at his neck. Yet again, he stopped it with left gauntlet. This time, though, I felt the blade finally cut through metal and into his palm. Drops of blood splattered out from his hand and blood started trickling down his arm. Unfortunately, that was the extent of my small victory. As stated earlier, I failed to disarm him, and during the second my movements were halted, he thrust the head of his weapon hard into my ribs. I simply lacked the stamina and focus to try and dodge it and took on the brunt of the impact. The armour did whatever it could, but I was knocked hard into the wall. My right shoulder smashed against the wall, the shock finally causing me to drop my sword, but it did not end there. The momentum continued and my body practically bounced off the wall and did a complete 360 degree turn before I finally crashed onto the floor on my back, just where my optimism lay. I let out a loud series of coughs and reflexively grabbed at my ribs. I couldn¡¯t feel anything underneath the armour, but at the very least, I didn¡¯t feel like anything broke, but that might have just been the adrenaline numbing my senses, which is not to say I felt nothing at all. My heart rate continued to soar and my muscles started screaming. It was through sheer force of will that I could maintain the circulation of bolts throughout my body. But even that could not help me forget the fact that I was on my back and unarmed. Alright, one step at a time. As quickly as I could, I got my ass off the floor and stood back up. Right as I did, though, I fell to one knee. Partly because of the difficulty in forcing my body to move, but mostly because that man was right in front of me. I let out something of a mix of a cough and a gasp, but said nothing. My brain was just about ready to give up, just what every other part of my body wanted. He picked up my sword off the floor with his free hand and my already grounded optimism fell even lower. From the other end of the room, Tasha hurried over to get behind my opponent, having just finished knocking out her own. Would she make it? Just as I finished that thought, he tossed my sword over to me, and I reflexively caught it, which was only the second most surprising thing about this. Being as surprised as I was, Tasha stopped in her tracks about fifteen feet away from him. ¡°One minute is over,¡± he told me. One minute? Did that much time really pass? Shouldn¡¯t it be more? Or less? No, wait, wait! What does that have to do with anything?! My mind raced, but my mouth remained closed. He took a couple steps back from me, and I ended up stepping away as well. It felt like we were a pair of fighters preparing for a second round. ¡°What?¡± was the only thing I could finally muster asking. ¡°You are not Battle-Hardened¡­right?¡± And he ignores it anyways. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡± I answered slowly. I wouldn¡¯t normally consider this a grueling and serious interrogation, but given my body felt like it was being roasted over an open fire, I might as well treat it as such. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Are you sure you have time¡­for something like that?¡± Despite the fact that I wanted to just keel over any moment now, I couldn¡¯t help myself. ¡°What is your name?¡± I¡¯d sigh in response, if I could. ¡°My name is Braith.¡± ¡°¡­Okay,¡± he finally said when he figured I had nothing more to add to that. Well, that kind of response I have heard before, but probably for a different reason. ¡°Moon Clan?¡± ¡°What? No.¡± ¡°...Okay.¡± During this conversation, I finally got a decent look at his face. He had black bangs that went down to his eyebrows and his hair was relatively long for a man as I saw a fair amount peeking out from his cowl. He had bloodshot eyes, wore a relatively passive expression, and numerous tiny scars adorned the left side of his face and seemed to continue even down his neck. ¡°Why have you come here?¡± I figured now was the time for me to get one of my own questions in. The answer would have been obvious earlier, but this development made me a little doubtful. ¡°To kill the King of Brennan.¡± Okay, so I did hear him correctly earlier. ¡°But why?¡± Did I really care about that? Not really. My body was not in the condition to care about a lot of things right now. So, did I ask just to buy time, then? Time for what? ¡°They want him dead.¡± ¡°Who is they?¡± ¡°Ragnarok.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯ve never heard of them before. Who are they?¡± ¡°No more questions. We will fight again now.¡± I guess my time-buying strategy is a bust. He turned around for a second to look at Tasha. ¡°Little girl, do not interfere.¡± As if she would take orders from him. ¡°Why would I listen to you?!¡± she shouted back at him. Right, just as I figured. I may be weak and tired, but with Tasha¡­ ¡°We are finishing our duel here. The first part was a draw because I ran out of time.¡± Hearing him spout out these arbitrary rules was irritating me a lot for some reason. ¡°I will win this time.¡± He turned to face me again. ¡°Ready?¡± His tone had not changed much throughout this entire conversation, but this time, it seemed to explode with condescension. My pride, my hubris. Something which I thought I had cast aside, grown out, matured away from¡­it all came surging back. What, you feel confident going on about this because you actually won earlier? I grinded my teeth. Did I come this far to just lose to some muscle-bound simpleton like him? I felt my body temperature rise again. ¡°I don¡¯t care about your rules!¡± Tasha shouted. ¡°Come on, dad, we¡¯ll take him on together!¡± ¡°Tasha!¡± as the name left my mouth, another bolt surged throughout my whole body. As it did, my entire field of vision flashed bright white for a fraction of a second. ¡°Stay out of this!¡± I shouted even louder this time as another bolt surged forth. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest and my entire mouth had gone dry and numb. Finally, I felt like smiling again. ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t happen to mention your name to me yet,¡± I spoke calmly. ¡°I am Tarras.¡± I tossed my head from side to side as I sent a third bolt throughout my body, making it eleven. I sometimes felt like each sequential bolt added a bit more power than the previous one, but the eleventh was definitely on another level. My legs were wading through a sea of fire as needles drilled their way into all of my joints, but I also felt like I was invincible. ¡°Tarras¡­I¡¯m ready.¡± At that instant, he surged forth towards and with my enhanced concentration I could finally see it. Without any extra exertion, he made impossibly long strides, as if he were skipping with ostrich legs. I don¡¯t know if this is some kind of Battle-Hardened movement technique or not, but it was rather boring to just watch. I stepped in with enough force to crack the ground beneath my foot and slashed at him. He barely defended just in time with his weapon. As we clashed, just barely, I could feel his body get pushed just slightly back. My smile widened. I navigated to his left side and slashed at him again, making sure to avoid his vitals. He tried to defend with his armoured left arm before my blade could pick up momentum. My sword noisily cut against his armour, slicing through it and drawing blood. Tarras grunted. I applied more force to press my blade deeper, but he backed off just in time. I gave myself a second to appreciate his new look. His normally passive face was showing signs of being flustered and streaks of red ran across his left forearm. For the first time, Tarras held his weapon with both hands. I laughed internally. Throughout most of my fights, this one included, I wielded my sword with only one hand. It was the main way Lars had taught me how to fight, and using two limited my mobility a bit and was generally unnecessary since most opponents were much weaker ever since gaining the power of the Thousand Bolts. This time did not need to be any different. Limitations of power? Different in experience and skill? I have already proven to myself that those things hardly mattered. I just needed to will it. He charged at me and prepared to swing his weapon at me. I moved in as well and decided to thrust my sword into his right arm as well. Just then, though, he changed into a full-on tackle and bashed against my body. It was¡­a solid blow, but that was it. I hardly even felt it. He tried to press my body into the wall, but with my newfound dexterity, I kicked off the wall and literally jumped over his body, even doing a flip in mid-air before landing behind him. Unamused by my show, he quickly turned around and swung at me again. Well, I was no longer amused either. I had intended to make him suffer a bit more, but I had to remember there were others watching this. I thrust my sword at his incoming swing and attempted to disarm him successfully this time. I knocked his weapon out of the way once more, but he still held on. That annoyed me, but I couldn¡¯t let it distract me from finishing this. I thrust my blade straight into his chest piece as the ultimate sign of superiority in penetrating his greatest defense. My sword penetrated the armour, but before I could run him through, he suddenly disappeared. In the time it took to blink, he was already on the other side of the room. But how? I didn''t even see him move! It¡¯s true I wasn¡¯t looking at his legs this time, but the only way he could have done this was if he moved even faster this time. I grinded my teeth in frustration. So, he was still just playing around?! That¡¯s just fine! He can¡¯t run forever! I got ready to pursue right as two women armed with bows came into the room. ¡°Tarras, we have to retreat now! The Iron Knights will be here any second!¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Wait, the King is still alive?¡± She swiftly nocked an arrow and shot it. As I thought of intercepting it, the other woman also fired an arrow right after her, this one aimed at my head. I tilted my head out of the way and glared at her as I heard the arrow get knocked out of the air. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Tasha running down the table. ¡°No time for this, we¡¯ll just have to leave.¡± Without another word the two women climbed onto his shoulders. ¡°We will finish this next time,¡± Tarras said to me just before bolting out of the room with lightning speed. No, there will be no next time! I kicked off hard from the ground to begin my pursuit, and even tried to focus to charge another bolt through my legs for extra speed. The instant my foot hit the ground again, though, my entire body broke down. It felt as if I had just been caught in a series of vises with boulders pummeling every inch of me, while also being submerged in boiling water. I went blind and my legs became paralyzed. I fell over and I could not even brace myself. My face smashed into the stone floor, but this extra bit of pain was irrelevant. No, even more than that, my brain still refused to quit. I could not let it end like this! Even with my legs failing me, I pushed myself back up with my arms, but entered an insanely dizzying state. It felt like being struck with an extreme case of vertigo, ironic for someone who was still blind. I vomited, and although I could not see it, a tearing sensation in my throat made me feel that there was blood mixed in it all. I wiped my mouth and tried once more to pick myself up, but to no avail. The dizziness got even worse with a cacophony of illusory sounds in my ears and I screamed out in pain. Or at least I started to before I ended up vomiting again. My arms gave way and I fell back onto the floor, finally losing consciousness immediately after my head smashed into the ground again. ****************************************************************************************************************** In the outskirts of the capital, in a deserted alleyway, Tarras finally stopped to rest. The two women got off his shoulders and started scanning around. As they did, Tarras pressed up against a wall and tried to catch his breath. One of the women went to check up on him. ¡°Tarras¡­¡± ¡°It is nothing. Just¡­more tired than expected.¡± The woman put on an inquisitive expression. The other woman came back as well, and under moonlight, one can see that they had identical faces. The second one looked him up and down and then prodded him on the left side of his torso. Tarras¡¯s expression showed the ever-slightest bit of change. ¡°Leyka, we¡¯re taking off his chest piece,¡± the second one said. Tarras did not resist and after removing that piece of armour, they saw that beneath his chainmail, the cloth of his shirt was soaked with blood. Tarras maintained an expressionless face. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve been overexerting yourself! And after it looked like we could finally heal up those old scars of yours,¡± Leyka said. ¡°Was it really such a tough situation for you?¡± the second woman asked. ¡°It was an unexpected one.¡± The two women looked at each other. ¡°How so?¡± the second woman asked. ¡°My opponent reminded me of someone. Someone I fought long ago.¡± ¡°From during the War of the Nines?¡± ¡°No¡­even before that.¡± Leyka went over to the edge of the alley and peered outside. ¡°Leyla, it looks like it really has been a complete failure. I don¡¯t see any of our troops coming to meet up with us.¡± Leyla sighed. ¡°Regrettable. That makes it¡­forty-eight casualties then?¡± Leyla reached for a small pouch tied to her waist and pulled out something that looked like a white marble. ¡°Does that include the ones that went rogue earlier today?¡± ¡°Oh, those ones? They were all just recruits that I hadn¡¯t bothered remembering yet.¡± Leyla plopped the marble into Tarras¡¯ mouth. ¡°This is our last one, Tarras. You have to make sure to control yourself until we get more.¡± Leyka came back to the two of them. ¡°Yes, Tarras, you¡¯ll probably¡­die, I guess, if you don¡¯t.¡± Her expression suddenly shifted from nonchalant to shocked. ¡°That would be terrible!¡± Anyone spectating the scene may have found it difficult to discern whether that was sarcasm or bluntness. ¡°Take a minute to digest that medicine for a bit and then we¡¯ll finish escaping the capital. We need to make sure to get far away from here before they call for the Harbingers.¡± ¡°Are those Harbingers really that scary, Leyla?¡± she asked as she went to put the chest piece back on Tarras. ¡°Would you want to fight an Iron Knight one-on-one?¡± Leyka thought on that for a moment. ¡°Maybe if there was a lot of distance between us. It would be really hard in close-quarters.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s exactly how the Iron Knights would think about them, except double it.¡± ¡°Um¡­what does that mean?¡± Leyla sighed. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s my fault for trying to make it too complicated. Yes, they are that scary.¡± ¡°So¡­do we run away from them? Or do we close in on them?¡± Leyla¡¯s eyebrow raised in mild annoyance. ¡°What would you do if you got in close to them? Smack them with your bow?¡± Leyka blinked a couple times. ¡°So¡­I¡¯m like an Iron Knight?¡± ¡°What? How did you get that?¡± ¡°I mean¡­I said I want distance from an Iron Knight¡­you said Iron Knights think like that about Harbingers...so¡­I¡¯m like an Iron Knight, right?¡± Leyla quickly brought her hand to Leyka¡¯s face, as if ready to smack her, but then, she just caressed her cheek instead. ¡°If you weren¡¯t my little sister¡­¡± she muttered. ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°Nothing! Nothing¡­alright, one minute is up. Let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 34 It was the middle of the day on the day following the assassination attempt on King Henrik. After Braith collapsed, Flora rushed to heal him, and although his body¡¯s injuries were healed and his condition stabilized, he was still yet to regain consciousness. Flora, exhausted from using so much magic, also had to rest. As for Tasha, she stayed alone with Braith in a guest bedroom all night and into the morning. Leonora, voicing her concern with Tasha¡¯s condition, had arranged for the three girls to eat tea and snacks together in the same room where Braith and the others had rested the previous day. Thanks to some coaxing from Flora as well, Tasha reluctantly left Braith¡¯s bedside and the three of them were now seated around a table together. There was also the same maid from yesterday, in addition to a pair of Iron Knights that stood off to the side. Another pair of Iron Knights were also standing guard just outside the room. ¡°What would you like to try first?¡± Leonora asked Tasha, waving a hand over the variety of sweets, pastries and small basket of berries. Tasha did not even acknowledge the question. ¡°Um, this looks good,¡± Flora responded on Tasha¡¯s behalf, pointing at what looked like some sort of chocolate cake. ¡°Oh, and this one, too.¡± Flora then pointed at a plate of stollen. ¡°How about one of these, Tasha?¡± Tasha absent-mindedly looked at the food on the table, and then glanced over at the door. ¡°Oh, maybe I should try one of them first, and let you know what it tastes like?¡± Flora took Tasha¡¯s silence as passive agreement and sampled the chocolate cake. ¡°Oh!¡± ¡°What do you think, Flora?¡± Leonora asked. ¡°It¡¯s- it¡¯s very sweet.¡± Flora responded genuinely. ¡°Really? I¡¯ve tried all of these before and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s really that much sweeter than the rest.¡± Leonora¡¯s tone seemed to suggest a bit of disappointment, which Flora immediately picked up on. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t mean that in a bad way, or anything, Princess. I just- well, I haven¡¯t really had anything this sweet in a long time. That¡¯s all. It is actually really good, though! Honestly!¡± Leonora laughed and smiled. ¡°Relax, Flora. I don¡¯t want you to be so nervous around me. Also, you don¡¯t have to call me ¡®Princess¡¯. Just Leonora is fine. Or, if that¡¯s too much for you, maybe even a nickname. Oh, how about Nora? Doesn¡¯t that rhyme better with your name, Flora?¡± Leonora laughed again. ¡°It¡¯ll be like we''re sisters.¡± Flora blushed at Leonora¡¯s teasing whereas Tasha looked like she wasn¡¯t paying any attention at all. ¡°Come to think of it, is Tasha a nickname?¡± Tasha finally looked up at Leonora. ¡°It¡¯s my name.¡± It was hard to tell if it was intentional or not, but Tasha¡¯s response seemed to have a tiny bit of anger in it. ¡°I see,¡± Leonora began, her voice just as friendly as before, ¡°well, it¡¯s a lovely name. Did Sir Braith name you?¡± Tasha¡¯s expression twitched slightly, and then she briefly looked away, almost as if she was embarrassed. ¡°Yes¡­¡± Leonora looked on in silence for a moment before tapping her fingers against the table and turning towards the rest of the room. ¡°Excuse me, could you leave the three of us alone?¡± Unlike Braith¡¯s request from yesterday, no one left. ¡°His Majesty insists that we keep guard,¡± one of the Iron Knights responded. ¡°Oh, and you are doing such a great job, unlike yesterday.¡± You couldn¡¯t see it on either of their faces, but the Iron Knights were likely hurt by the comment. ¡°However, I think you could be doing an even greater job if you join the other two keeping watch outside. Unless, you have some sort of reason for thinking that it would be dangerous to leave me alone with them?¡± Neither of the Iron Knights has a good response, but they also didn¡¯t want to just leave, either. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t really mind-¡± Flora was about to do her usual mediation or de-escalation, but Leonora cut her off. ¡°Hannah, could you bring us some more dishes? Or, maybe some more fruits?¡± The maid hesitated briefly before nodding, and turning to leave. ¡°Oh, and I would hate for something to happen to you along the way. Would the two of you please escort her?¡± It looked like one of the Iron Knights was about to protest, but the other one looked at him and he relented. The two nodded and followed the maid out of the room. There was a small commotion outside, but in the end, they closed the door behind them and no one else entered. ¡°I should go, too.¡± Tasha prepared to get up, but Leonora got up quicker and put her hand on her shoulder, attempting to ease her back into her seat. ¡°Come now, Tasha, you haven¡¯t even had a single bite to eat yet.¡± That was true, and because of what happened yesterday, Tasha hadn¡¯t eaten anything since arriving in Ironshield. The only thing missing was a cliched stomach rumbling, which did occur, but by Flora. Flora blushed harder and quietly ate more cake. ¡°Okay¡­¡± Tasha decided to sit back down and ate one of the cake slices. Her expression gave no indication of whether or not she enjoyed it, but she did have another slice immediately afterwards. Leonora continued to quietly wear her smile for a bit longer as she watched Flora and Tasha quietly, However, she didn¡¯t let the silence linger for much longer. ¡°Tasha, I know that you are concerned about your father not waking up yet, but please have some trust. Please trust not just those who¡¯ve checked his condition, but trust in Sir Braith as well. He will wake up. He just needs more time to recover, and it¡¯s only been a day, after all.¡± Tasha paused for a bit before mumbling to herself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, could you speak up a bit?¡± Tasha mouthed something else as she continued to look down. ¡°...Y-yeah, Tasha. Mister Braith will be fine. Come on, let¡¯s finish eating and we will go back. If I use my blessing on him again, maybe he¡¯ll wake up faster?¡± Tasha grimaced. ¡°I- I¡¯m sorry, Flora.¡± ¡°Huh? W-what are you apologizing for?¡± ¡°You worked so hard to heal dad, that you even collapsed yourself.¡± ¡°Collapsed? Oh no, I- I just got really tired. It really wasn¡¯t that bad. I¡¯m already feeling so much better!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t even thank you for, yet, either.¡± ¡°Oh, Tasha, I- Of course, I don¡¯t need any thanks for something like that. You have both helped me so much.¡± Flora raised her hands in protest. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. It was dad. Dad was the one who did all the work.¡± ¡°What are you saying? Without you-¡± Flora attempted to reassure Tasha again, but she was quickly cut off. ¡°All I¡¯ve done was cause trouble.¡± ¡°What? No, you-¡± ¡°All I¡¯ve done is drag my dad down.¡± ¡°N- no, that¡¯s not true! Mr. Braith-¡± Flora¡¯s tone was filled with desperation, trying to do whatever she could to ease Tasha¡¯s concerns, but it was to no avail. ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to do anything!¡± Tasha slammed a fist down on the table, which caused the table to violently shudder as a couple plates fell off and shattered, the pastries now smooshed on the ground. Flora looked at Tasha in shock as Tasha took in a few quick breaths. While the two remained seated, Leonora got up and went over to Tasha before kneeling on one knee. She gently placed her hands on Tasha¡¯s fist. After a moment, she used her fingers to slowly pry open her fist. Tasha allowed it. With Tasha¡¯s hand now open, Leonora rested one hand on it and then brought her other hand to Tasha¡¯s cheek, where she gently wiped away a bit of water that had pooled beneath her eyes. Leonora then tried to turn Tasha¡¯s face to make eye contact with her, but Tasha turned her head away. Leonora let go of Tasha¡¯s face and leaned in closer to her instead, making no further attempts to make eye contact. ¡°Tasha, I can see you must love your father very much.¡± Leonora could not see Tasha¡¯s face, but she knew Tasha must have been confused by her sudden words. ¡°Tasha, you know your father loves you as well, right?¡± Tasha said nothing. ¡°Of course, he does.¡± Leonora responded on Tasha¡¯s behalf. ¡°He also trusts you very much. And, you trust him as well, don¡¯t you?¡± Leonora could feel Tasha nod. ¡°That¡¯s right, Tasha,¡± Flora said, suddenly speaking up. ¡°Remember what we talked about before coming to Brennan? If- if you still have any doubts, then you just need to talk with him about it.¡± Leonora still had some more things she wanted to say, but Tasha was ready to talk again. ¡°Right¡­you¡¯re right. Thanks, Flora¡­thanks, Leonora.¡± Leonora pulled back from Tasha and smiled. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± Tasha then looked down at the mess on the floor. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that,¡± Leonora said preemptively. ¡°Sorry,¡± Tasha said anyway. ¡°I- I should leave now. I want to be there when dad wakes up.¡± ¡°Alright, but at least take some food with you. Especially the berries. I¡¯m sure Sir Braith will love them.¡± Tasha still looked a bit disoriented, but she nodded and took the berries before leaving the room. ¡°I should probably go, too,¡± Flora said awkwardly, missing the ideal timing. ¡°Oh, and you¡¯ll just leave me alone with this mess?¡± Flora panicked a bit as she struggled to find her words. ¡°I¡¯m kidding. Flora, you really need to be better at telling when someone is joking. You act as if you think people are constantly thinking poorly of you.¡± Flora looked shocked. ¡°Well, let¡¯s not dwell on something like that.¡± ¡°R-right.¡± A new moment of silence dragged on as Leonora could tell Flora wanted to say something else. ¡°A- anyways, I¡¯m glad that Tasha is feeling better now.¡± Leonora felt that this was not really what Flora wanted to say, but she decided to not press on that directly. ¡°Hmmm, well, I¡¯m not completely sure about that. She might change her mind again when tomorrow comes.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, I think Tasha is a lot like you,¡± Leonora began, seemingly avoiding the question. Although you differ in how confidently you act, you both seem well-versed in playing straightforward characters.¡± ¡°W- what do you mean?¡± Flora repeated, even more confused now. ¡°The both of you think it¡¯s easier to act the way people expect you to act. Even when someone tells you that you can truly be yourselves, you still can¡¯t trust that. Although, I think your motivations for keeping your secrets may differ.¡± Leonora could see Flora¡¯s panicked face dip into fear. Leonora beamed a smile at her and laughed. ¡°Relax, Flora. Please don¡¯t take this to mean I am suggesting that either of you have some wicked side of you that you keep hidden. I¡¯m just saying¡­it¡¯s not that unusual for children to want to live up to certain expectations, especially when it comes to a parent.¡± Flora¡¯s fear faded back to confusion. ¡°Is- is that the case for you, too?¡± Flora asked. Leonora smiled in response. She then took a piece of stollen and started eating. Flora interpreted that to mean that the conversation was now over, so she also picked up something else to eat, as she was still feeling quite hungry. ¡°So, how long have you been traveling with Sir Braith?¡± Leonora casually asked less than a minute later. ¡°Uh, um¡­not that long.¡± Flora answered as she quickly finished chewing. ¡°I see.¡± Leonora picked up another piece of stollen. ¡°Who were you living with before you started traveling?¡± ¡°Oh, I lived with my grandpa.¡± ¡°Your grandpa, was it? I see.¡± Flora nervously waited for the next question. ¡°How was that?¡± ¡°Oh, it was great. Grandpa took very good care of me.¡± Leonora put down the piece of stollen she was about to eat. ¡°You must miss him, then.¡± ¡°Y-yeah. I miss him sometimes.¡± ¡°He must miss you as well,¡± ¡°Yeah, I mean, probably. Right?¡± Leonora raised an eyebrow. ¡°Did something happen to your grandpa?¡± ¡°What? No- not at all. I mean- yeah, there¡¯s no way.¡± Flora frantically fidgeted in her seat as Leonora continued to look at her, perplexed. Flora took a few deep breaths. ¡°Yes, of course, grandpa misses me and he is perfectly fine.¡± Neither of the two seemed too satisfied with this being the final line of that topic, but that would have to be the end of it. The maid and the Iron Knights returned at that moment, and they also had some news to deliver. ********************************************** During the night Braith, Tasha, and Flora infiltrated the Nature Clan¡¯s capital of Eden. After that solider informed the Druids of the escaping prisoners, Dristan and the rest of the Druids went with him to deal with the situation. However, they did not immediately attempt to pursue the prisoners. Due to the many fires that the escaping prisoners started, and the ensuing panic of the citizens living within the tunnels, Dristan ordered for the Druids to prioritize putting out the fires. Many of the fires were started where blacksmith workshops were located, so the Druids also needed to take care in putting out the fires without destroying all the workshop equipment. At least, Dristan rationalized this for his men by insisting the King would have been very upset at such a loss. As such, due to allocating the Druids to deal with the fires, and prioritizing the safety of the citizens and treating the wounded, no more soldiers went after the prisoners, all of whom had already left the city. As the emergency response was fully underway and the order was given for any pursuing soldiers to return to the city, Dristan noticed something. ¡°Where is Sir Boris and the rest of his men?¡± Dristan asked his second-in-command. ¡°They weren¡¯t with us when he first went to the palace. Perhaps they went there to attend to the situation in the courtyard?¡± ¡°Maybe¡­but then why haven¡¯t they come here, yet?¡± ¡°Maybe they were ordered to pursue the trespassers?¡± ¡°That¡¯s possible.¡± Yes, either the King or General Garden might have given such a stupid order instead of prioritizing the safety of the underground. Well, if that was the order, Dristan was confident that it would not succeed. The trespassers would have left the city quite some time ago now, and they obviously wouldn¡¯t just stick around. Especially given the identity of one of the ¡®trespassers¡¯. Wait. Instead of the trespassers¡­maybe they wanted to go after someone who did have a known location? ¡°Could they have?¡± Dristan asked aloud. ¡°Could they have what, Captain?¡± Dristan quickly finished putting out the fire in the workshop he was in and turned to leave, with his second-in-command and four other Druids following him. ¡°I have somewhere I need to go. You stay here and take command.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean? Where are you going?¡± ¡°Could they have really done that?¡± Dristan mumbled under his breath. Dristan ran off towards the nearest exit to the surface. ¡°Just stay here and take care of things!¡± Dristan ordered just before leaving earshot. Dristan got to the surface and immediately ran towards Eden¡¯s wall. Using his blessing, he could sprint all-out without tiring. As he neared the wall, he veered off a bit, noticing the giant mound of earth that was left behind from the escape earlier that night. He ran up the mound and left the city. From there, he sprinted straight towards a certain cottage located atop a certain hill. Dristan ran as fast as he could, but as he neared the hill, he feared that he may already be too late. He couldn¡¯t sense any disturbances from the base of the hill, and even as he neared the cottage, it was eerily quiet. Then, when he finally arrived at his destination, he stopped in his tracks for just a second. Dristan saw a wall of earth raised around the cottage¡¯s garden, and near the middle of it, he saw it was partially broken down. By that opening was a Druid, lying face-down on the ground, and partially covered in soil. Dristan quickly got over his surprise and continued to advance. When he reached the opening of the wall, he peered inside, and under the moonlight, he could see four more Druids sprawled out around the area, also covered in soil. ¡°Ah, so it was you. I was wondering who else was coming.¡± Dristan instantly looked towards the direction of the voice. Hiram was standing casually by the front door of his cottage, just barely visible through the darkness. Dristan, sensing a lack of any friendliness, neither moved nor spoke. ¡°Well, are you just going to keep standing there?¡± After another moment of hesitation, Dristan finally spoke. ¡°I did not order them to come here.¡± Hiram made a clicking noise with his tongue, but said nothing else, so Dristan continued. ¡°However, I noticed they did not come to the underground so I thought they might have done something reckless.¡± Hiram made no response. Considering this as a favourable response, Dristan relaxed a bit and started walking towards Hiram. As he did, he scanned around the area again. ¡°Is this everyone? I only see five Druids.¡± ¡°Over there.¡± Dristan could see Hirma motioning to the side. Dristan looked over and saw what appeared to be someone¡¯s head barely sticking out of the ground, the rest of their body buried in the ground. However, it was too dark to see his face. ¡°Are they¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re still alive.¡± Hiram¡¯s voice remained cold. ¡°I see.¡± Just as Dristan was almost close enough to see Hiram¡¯s face, Hiram turned around and went into the cottage. Dristan paused for a moment when he did. When Hiram still said nothing, Dristan followed after him into the cottage, which was illuminated by a few candles and a lantern. Hiram was sitting down by the table. ¡°May I take a seat?¡± Dristan asked as he approached. Hiram ignored his question and poured a single cup of tea for himself. Dristan patiently waited, and as he did, he noticed that despite having fought six Druids, Hiram didn¡¯t even look injured. ¡°Flora¡¯s not here,¡± Hiram said, his voice still lacking in emotion. ¡°Is that so? Are you planning to follow after her soon?¡± Hiram lifted up his cup of tea and appreciated the aroma. ¡°No.¡± ¡°I- if you are concerned about any other pursuers tonight, I don¡¯t think that will be an issue.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t change my answer.¡± ¡°What about the others? Where did they go?¡± Hiram put down his teacup. ¡°Are you interrogating me?¡± ¡°N- no, of course not! I- I was just wondering what your plans were going forward. I mean, are you waiting for the right timing?¡± ¡°I already said I¡¯m not going.¡± ¡°...Grand-uncle, the issue in the city is quite serious. It might be a problem if you remain here for too long. Flora, she-¡± ¡°I know what she did. I already heard the story.¡± Dristan could distinctly hear anger in Hiram¡¯s voice now. ¡°I heard about what you were doing there, too.¡± ¡°Grand-uncle, I had no idea they were Flora¡¯s companions when I arrived! If I knew-¡± ¡°It would be okay?! If they were just some strangers, then what you might have done would have been fine? Is that what you want to say?¡± Hiram barely raised his voice, but it was still more than enough to make Dristan rethink his words. ¡°...Grand-uncle-¡± ¡°Stop that.¡± Hiram¡¯s authoritative voice made Dristan physically recoil. ¡°Only referring to me as family whenever it¡¯s convenient to you¡­¡± Hiram clicked his tongue again. ¡°I remember¡­a young man mocking a little girl who lost her parents in the war, calling her things such as weak, spoiled, and shameless.¡± ¡°T- that¡­ it wasn¡¯t like that. I never said those words.¡± ¡°You sure didn¡¯t speak out against them when your friend said them.¡± ¡°I- I regret that and I have long since reflected on it.¡± ¡°Based on tonight, it seems you could still use some more reflection.¡± Dristan instinctively wanted to deny that, but seeing the way Hiram was looking at him, he didn¡¯t dare to risk provoking him. ¡°Yes¡­ you are right.¡± Hiram stared at Dristan for another few seconds before finally looking away and picking up his tea to drink. Dristan breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°If you have any remaining concerns, I will do whatever I can to help you escape, Grand- um¡­.I will do whatever you need me to do to help you leave.¡± ¡°How many times do I have to say I¡¯m not leaving? If I was going to do that, would I just be sitting here sipping tea?¡± ¡°I¡­I thought you were just concerned about more pursuers. I am willing to do what I can to prevent that.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have full confidence in you. But, even if I did, that¡¯s not the reason I¡¯m still here. I have some business I need to attend to in Eden.¡± ¡°Business?¡± Dristan¡¯s confusion came across clearly. ¡°Do you mean¡­ could you mean-¡± There was a feeling of anticipation that began to build up in Dristan¡¯s voice right before he was cut off. ¡°It¡¯s definitely not whatever you are thinking right now. I just need to go to Eden to deal with something. That¡¯s it.¡± ¡°But, if you go into the city, they¡¯ll arrest you.¡± Dristan felt stupid right after saying something so obvious. ¡°That¡¯s not an issue.¡± Dristan wasn¡¯t sure if he should stop feeling stupid, or feel even more stupid for not understanding Hiram¡¯s plan. ¡°...how is that not an issue?¡± ¡°For starters, I will already be arrested.¡± Hiram drank some more tea. ¡°...what?¡± ¡°You¡¯re already here, aren¡¯t you? You¡¯ll be the one to take me to Eden.¡± Dristan finally stopped wracking his brain trying to understand Hiram¡¯s intentions and just decided to go along with everything Hiram was saying. ¡°Okay, I will do that. Is there anything else you need me to do?¡± Hiram drank again. ¡°Take the other Druids with you along the way. I don¡¯t want them waking up later and making a bigger mess out of my garden.¡± ¡°Yes, I will also bring them back as well.¡± Dragging back six people, even with his Nature Clan¡¯s blessing, would be difficult, but he would rather do that than ask Hiram to help. Hiram finished his tea and then got up. Dristan waited for Hiram to get to the front door before following after him. As Dristan went over to start gathering the Druids, Hiram suddenly spoke up. ¡°Actually, Dristan, I¡¯ve changed my mind.¡± Dristan turned around with a mix of shock and excitement, wearing a somewhat confused smile on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t you think you look too unscathed to be bringing me back? We should fix that.¡± Dristan¡¯s smile disappeared. Chapter 35 I opened my eyes and found myself in a familiar white space. Oh, great. How long has it been since last time? Well, given how things ended up, I expected some measure of chastisement. I waited silently for a moment. Nothing happened. I waited another half a minute. Still nothing. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the big idea?! If you¡¯re going to pull me in here again, at least say something!¡± I shouted out into the void. ¡°I thought perhaps you wanted to start this time,¡± the voice of the Thousand Bolts resounded throughout the space. ¡°You say this as if I wanted to see you again. You know, I was really hoping last time was the end of it.¡± ¡°I too thought that this would not happen again.¡± ¡°You speak as if you have no control over this.¡± ¡°I have no more control than you do.¡± ¡°Bullshit! I know we only ever do this when you think I screwed up somehow! Well, you know maybe I think so, too, but that doesn¡¯t mean you have to hammer me over the head with it!¡± ¡°Is that how you see it?¡± ¡°How else would I see it?! Have you ever talked to me about anything else?!¡± I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm myself. I¡¯m better than this. Just let him say what he wants to say and I can wake up. Whatever he says is irrelevant anyways, I¡¯m the one in charge, after all. ¡°Well, go on. Say your piece.¡± ¡°Very well. Braith, I want to start by saying that your rate of progress and level of adaptability have been rather impressive, regardless of the circumstances.¡± Just had to put in that snippet about my circumstances. ¡°As your body became more used to my power, a bit of it could even continue to empower you without any additional exertion.¡± I assume he was talking about that power I felt when I first woke up after my battle in Eden. ¡°That power would have continued to grow as the upper limit of the power you could actively use also increased.¡± I feel as if this was something that should have been explained to me in the beginning. ¡°However, you have ruined some of that progression.¡± ¡°What? Ruined?¡± ¡°You at least remember what happened before you fell unconscious, correct?¡± I shifted my gaze slightly, as if trying to look away from the phantom speaker. ¡°I suffered some rebound. But, it¡¯s happened before. I just need to recover for a bit, don¡¯t I?¡± ¡°No, this is not the same. Those times, you merely exhausted your stamina. This time, you went far past the limits of your body. Had you not been treated immediately, the damage would have been permanent, leaving you crippled, or even comatose.¡± ¡°But how was this time different? When I felt I couldn¡¯t fight any harder, I mustered up even more power in Eden and broke out of the Druids¡¯ pit! I was already feeling better from just eating a potion apple then.¡± ¡°As I said, you were not exceeding the limits of your body then.¡± ¡°Are you saying that I was just holding back all this time?! My life was on the line, then! Tasha¡¯s life was on the line!¡± ¡°Perhaps the actualization of those thoughts at the time let you truly reach your limits.¡± ¡°Then why was it not the case this time?! I could have died in that battle, and I felt that very strongly during every second of that battle!¡± The Thousand Bolts was silent for a moment. ¡°It must not have been the same kind of motivation, then.¡± ¡°How?! I fought for my life both of those times! And what about against Truth? I fought with my life on the line then as well, and it didn¡¯t leave me with such a crushing rebound either! In fact, I fought even longer that time than I did this time!¡± ¡°State of mind aside, your stamina in that battle was aided thanks to your companion¡¯s blessing. Also, you having used the limit of my power twice in one day also played a part.¡± Wait, that¡¯s what happened? Flora¡¯s blessing that time actually did something? I didn¡¯t even feel any different¡­Hold on, Braith, don¡¯t get distracted. ¡°Answer my other questions! What was so different that I ended up suffering so much backlash?¡± ¡°That is something that you may wish to further reflect on.¡± ¡°You¡¯re acting as if this doesn¡¯t concern you.¡± ¡°It does not. As I said in the beginning, although you are my vessel, I will not directly interfere with how you live your life.¡± ¡°We wouldn¡¯t be speaking if you didn¡¯t care at all.¡± ¡°I never said I didn¡¯t care. In fact, I care quite a bit.¡± Well, should I take this as finally being honest with me? ¡°I want my vessel to live strongly and to make a mark on this world. That is my pride as the guardian spirit of the Thousand Bolts.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s what you truly want, then shouldn¡¯t you be helping me instead of just wasting my time.¡± ¡°Do you really think this is a waste of time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s redundant. You say the same kind of things every time.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± ¡°Finally feel like telling me something useful.¡± ¡°Just this once.¡± I didn¡¯t know whether to feel relieved or annoyed about his relent. ¡°Alright, no more roundabout sayings. What did I really do wrong? How do I become more powerful?¡± ¡°That is something you must learn for yourself. What motivates us to do anything¡­ are unique to the individual, and rarely effectively when they are explicit.¡± Yeah, should have just kept feeling annoyed. ¡°You said you would help me.¡± ¡°And I will, but not directly.¡± I blinked a few times. ¡°You are a spirit living inside my mind. How else are you going to be able to help me?!¡± ¡°Motivation is the most important thing in driving yourself to new heights.¡± I was about to yell at him again, but I felt like my predictability would just give him greater satisfaction. Yeah, go ahead, ignore me anyways and say whatever you want. ¡°Having the proper mindset and motivation allows us to achieve different and greater things.¡± I was obviously dissatisfied with his so-called advice. ¡°Even if my words are lost on you for now, there may be others around you who could benefit from some guidance. Especially if they think it is coming from you.¡± I stared blankly ahead of me as the white space darkened. Good, I can wake up now. ¡°Look past yourself, Braith. You are not the only one who can make yourself stronger.¡± I waved my hands out dismissively at his final words as the world came to an end. ********************************************************************************************** My body shifted uncomfortably. Not because of where I lay, but because of how stiff my muscles felt. I would try to stretch out my limbs if not for both my utter lack of energy and the fear I could pull a muscle doing so. I made several mumbling sounds as I stirred away, but even my eyelids felt too heavy to move. There were sounds to my right, but I could not differentiate any of them. Everything sounded like they were being filtered through thick sheets of wool. My body writhed ever so slightly underneath the blanket that covered me and with the greatest amount of exertion, I finally opened a single eye. My vision was blurry, but I could make out two figures coming through a door on the right side of the room. One of them closed the door behind them and just as my hearing fully adjusted, I heard them lock the door. That sound seemed to trigger something in me as my other eye immediately opened and I tried to sit up in bed. That second part was an absolute failure though. I remained on my back, shackled by my exhaustion. My vision cleared up and I saw the two figures looking directly at me. They wore black-dyed leather armour and had black cloaks with cowls on top. They also both had black cloth covering their mouth and nose and one of them had a rather large weapon on their back. Although, I could be mistaken about that detail as I could not think of a person wearing a scythe on their back. ¡°Did you have a pleasant rest?¡± the one with the scythe asked. His voice was a little bit muffled from the cloth over his mouth, but he sounded like a young man. ¡°Lovely weather today. It is a beautiful afternoon you¡¯ve awoken to.¡± He spoke while looking through the window on the left side of the room. ¡°Where am I?¡± I asked. My voice was raspy and the moment the words left my mouth, I had the strong desire to down several glasses of water. ¡°You are in Brennan¡¯s royal palace,¡± the second man replied. ¡°And before you get any ideas to escape through that window, know that I¡¯ll cut you down before you ever even touch the glass.¡± He spoke harshly, but sounded even younger than the other man. ¡°Easy there, Marco. There¡¯s no reason to think that he¡¯s about to do anything like that.¡± The man with the scythe started walking over to my bedside. I had the strong urge to move away, or at the very least, sit up, but the strength was simply not there. As he neared the head of the bed, I saw that he was walking to a table by my bedside. On it was a pitcher of water, an empty glass, and a plate of berries with a spoon. ¡°Your voice sounds quite awful. Not surprising, though, you have been asleep for nearly two days now.¡± He poured a glass of water. He looked at me, and even though I could only see his eyes, I knew what question he was silently asking. I nodded. ¡°Do you need some help sitting up, too?¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Yes,¡± I barely choked out. He propped me up, but I felt slight repulsion as he touched me. It wasn¡¯t as if I felt something disgusting or evil, but it was just uncomfortable. It was especially strange because although Marco made a bad first impression, I inherently felt greater danger from this one with the scythe. He brought the glass of water to my lips, and slowly tilted it, giving me a few sips. After that, he put the glass back on the table. ¡°Feeling better now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± My throat was still parched, but it probably wasn¡¯t something I could hurriedly alleviate if he was telling the truth about how long I was out for. ¡°Want a berry as well?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Alright. Just some more water before we continue then?¡± ¡°How long are we going to keep this up for?! We¡¯re supposed to be interrogating him!¡± Marco bellowed out. Interrogation? ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing too bad,¡± the man with the scythe said, reading the slight panic on my face. ¡°It¡¯s just you were part of something very important, and we wanted to hear your take on it as well.¡± I could only see his eyes, but I felt as if he was smiling at me. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked. So, this is probably about the assassination attempt. Wait, my part as well? ¡°Where¡¯s Tasha?! Where¡¯s Flora?! Did you do anything to them?!¡± As upset as I was, my voice was hardly capable of fully expressing that. ¡°We¡¯re the ones asking the questions here!¡± Marco said. The other man raised up one hand and Marco seemed to recoil a bit. ¡°Here, some more water.¡± He tried to bring the glass to my lips again but I just glared at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have done nothing to your two traveling companions. Princess Leonora was quite adamant about that and His Majesty voiced a similar opinion after recovering.¡± So, everyone¡¯s fine? He brought the glass over again and he smiled at me with his eyes. I didn¡¯t like it, but at the same time I didn¡¯t think he was lying. I opened my mouth and he let a bit more water flow into my mouth this time. His level of consideration was disturbing in his own right. Is he used to dealing with people in my condition? ¡°Do you want a bit more time before we continue?¡± I shuddered internally. ¡°No, let¡¯s talk. And when we¡¯re done, I want to see them.¡± Marco made no interjection. ¡°Of course. Now, to be fair, I¡¯ll start by answering your first question. I am Sir Decius, captain of the Tenth Harbinger squad. Over there is my squire, Marco, my second-in-command.¡± ¡°Harbingers?¡± ¡°You make your way to the king¡¯s palace and you don¡¯t even know how we are?!¡± Looks like he couldn¡¯t hold himself back for long. Decius looked at me for a second longer before slowly turning around. Marco cast his gaze downwards. Then, Decius turned back to me. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve never heard of the Harbingers before?¡± He acted as if nothing had just happened. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t say I¡¯m very familiar with Brennan in general.¡± ¡°Nothing to apologize for. In fact, I don¡¯t necessarily think it is a bad thing at all that you don¡¯t know about us.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± I asked, truly curious. ¡°Well, unlike the Iron Knights, we tend to keep the peace in the kingdom in different ways. We collect information and when we find out about trouble that¡¯s brewing, we try to take care of it before it gets out of hand. So, most of our work is done outside of the public eye.¡± ¡°¡­I understand.¡± I did not want to ask for more details about that. ¡°Do you have any more questions?¡± I did, but as nice as he was acting, I knew that many of them were pointless to ask. ¡°Not at the moment. Just ask me what you want so that I can get out of here.¡± ¡°Excellent. Well then, first off, do you clearly remember the day you fell unconscious?¡± ¡°Are you asking me to recount the events of that day?¡± ¡°If you can.¡± ¡°Do you want me to start from the beginning?¡± ¡°Start from wherever you think is important to know.¡± He had an accommodating tone, but I had to wonder if this was his way of telling me to be careful with what I say. If I omit something, is it going to be used against me? Preferring to not take any risks, I told Decius everything I remembered about that day, starting from when I first entered the capital. Marco stood motionless throughout the story while Decius would occasionally nod and give me more water to drink. By the end of the story, although my body still felt like lead, my throat was no longer parched and I could eat a berry. ¡°I see. That does seem to agree with our other recounts. Now, I just need to clarify a few more things. You have never met the lead assailant before and you have no idea why he suddenly paused in the middle of your fight?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t recognize him and although I know he paused to impose some sort of re-match with me, I don¡¯t know what motivated him to do so.¡± ¡°Well, we did some digging and we believe we have identified him.¡± Decius turned to Marco, who then took out a rolled-up piece of paper. Marco walked over to the other side of my bed and unfurled it, revealing a sketch of the top-half of a man holding a weapon resembling that of a giant, long-handled cleaver. ¡°His name is Tarras, no known family name. He is supposedly descended from the Spring Clan, but as far as we know, he did not carry on their name or legacy. He was a general in a massive Outlander army in the north. Most of his kills were unconfirmed, but his total kill count supposedly exceeds seven hundred, and among them is the former King of the Moon Clan.¡± He paused after that bit of exposition, possibly reading my reaction. ¡°During one of the largest battles against the Moon Clan, a bystander who witnessed it made this recount: Hundreds of battered and broken bodies lay across this bloody battle ground. However, even among this carnage, there was a veritable mountain of corpses stacked up high by a war-crazed giant. In the midst of battle, he seemed to methodically stack up the bodies of those who fell to him one by one. Soon enough, he was literally fighting atop a mountain of corpses that he had personally cleaved to death. Similar to how a bricklayer would make a wall, his weapon was the trowel that crafted this grotesque monument.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked, genuinely surprised by such a description. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure there was at least a bit of embellishment. That person apparently did sell his writings. In any case, because of that, he became known as the Mountain Cleaver by many during the war. He went missing at the end of the war and there were no activities associated with him until now.¡± ¡°Well, as interesting as all of that is, why are you telling me all of this?¡± ¡°Oh, just doing you a favour.¡± I cocked an eyebrow. ¡°He was apparently keenly interested in you, so I thought you would like to know more about him.¡± Just how much of that was a lie? Now that I think about it, I now believe that he was just saying all that to see if my reaction would give away whether I actually knew anything about him. ¡°I guess I should thank you for that then. Is there anything else you want to tell me?¡± ¡°Is there something else you want to know about?¡± ¡°About Ragnarok maybe? Tarras did say that was who he was working for.¡± ¡°I cannot say.¡± I did not know whether he meant he couldn¡¯t tell me or had nothing to tell me. Either way, pressing the matter was probably pointless. ¡°Alright.¡± Decius refilled my cup with water, but this time, I brought out my hand so that he could pass it to me. My grip was somewhat shaky, the cup feeling as heavy as iron, but I didn¡¯t want him feeding me anymore. ¡°It would be safe to assume that everything checks out now. In that case, on behalf of the kingdom, I thank you for your heroism that day and apologize if you have felt unduly inconvenienced so far.¡± Decius bowed his head slightly to me and Marco followed suit. ¡°So, is that all?¡± It may have been a mistake to ask, but I could not help but think he could have been far more aggressive in his line of questioning. I knew I definitely would not have relented so easily if I really wanted to know something from someone. Did they just already have a good idea that I wouldn¡¯t have any valuable information? ¡°I think what you have said has been more than satisfactory so we¡¯ll be taking our leave now.¡± From outside of the room, I could hear the sounds of yelling. ¡°Ah, just in time, too.¡± Decius opened the door and Tasha¡¯s voice came through loud and clear. ¡°I said to get out of my-¡± Less than a second after her voice cut off, Tasha came storming into the room, rushing past the two Harbingers. She looked at me with fierce eyes. I smiled at her and her expression softened up as she continued running over to me. For a second, I thought she was coming in to hug me, but she seemed to stop herself midway. Instead, she awkwardly stood at my bedside as she fiddled with her hands. As I was about to speak up, Flora and Leonora entered the room in a more reserved fashion. The Harbingers bowed to the princess and then quietly exited the room. ¡°I am glad to see you are finally awake, Sir Braith,¡± Leonora said. ¡°And I¡¯m glad to see all of you here,¡± I replied. ¡°I do hope the Harbingers haven¡¯t been rough with you in any way. I thought things were made quite clear with them, but¡­¡± Her tone grew much more serious as she began to trail off. ¡°No, it was no issue.¡± I was thinking about elaborating on Decius¡¯ actions, but decided not to. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Leonora asked. ¡°Tired.¡± I tried lifting my arm and clenching a fist, and although it was not a very smooth motion, there was little strain. ¡°It¡¯s getting a lot better, though.¡± ¡°Um, do you want one of the potion apples, Mr. Braith?¡± Flora asked, her voice at around the average level of timidity. ¡°I think I can do without it. Unless¡­do I need to be up and about right now?¡± I directed my question towards Leonora. ¡°Oh no, you should focus on resting for as long as you need.¡± Leonora then looked from Flora to Tasha. ¡°I just wanted to come here to personally thank you for all you have done for my father and I.¡± Leonora bowed her head towards me. Sometimes, I wonder if Flora is the most normal one out of the three of us with her panicking and fussing about when someone like Leonora does these things. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± I tried to put in a bit more kindness than usual, but my voice cracked a bit. I coughed, a bit from my sore throat and a bit from embarrassment, and then I drank some more water. ¡°Well, I have done what I came here to do, so I shall be taking my leave now. Rest here for as long as you need.¡± Leonora left the room. I turned my attention to Tasha, but she seemed to be avoiding my gaze. I looked over to Flora and although she looked a bit embarrassed, she maintained eye contact with me. Just for fun, I decided to not say anything first. Finally, she looked away for a second before speaking up. ¡°Um, is there something wrong?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good question, Flora. Is there something wrong?¡± I looked over at Tasha while asking the question. ¡°No, nothing¡¯s wrong, no, I mean, nothing is wrong with you- wait, I mean¡­it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± That was some masterful convincing. ¡°Well, as long as nothing¡¯s wrong.¡± I tried rolling out of my bed, but my legs still felt dead tired. ¡°Alright, I think I¡¯ll just rest for a bit longer then.¡± ¡°Oh, I see. Well, I¡¯ll just leave you to that, then.¡± Flora bowed her head to me, for no apparent reason, and walked out of the room. Tasha made ready to leave too but I grabbed her hand. If she wanted to, breaking free would have been extremely easy. Seeing as how she did not, I assumed she wanted to talk despite her initial reluctance. ¡°Tasha¡­what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing really¡­¡± she replied without turning around. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. Please, tell me what¡¯s on your mind.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± she said after finally turning around to face me directly. With that distraught look on her face, I would have instantly forgiven her, but that¡¯s probably not what this was about. ¡°Sorry about what?¡± ¡°If I could have been a bigger help¡­you probably wouldn¡¯t have gotten so hurt.¡± Those words resonated with me on a different level than usual. It made me remember the Thousand Bolts, and I hated how it made me think he was right. I was the one who turned down Tasha¡¯s assistance and overloaded myself that time. ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to apologize for something like that. I don¡¯t blame you for what happened at all.¡± ¡°But, it seems like whenever we end up fighting, you always end up pushing yourself. You can¡¯t keep this up! I know you can¡¯t! That¡¯s why I need to be stronger!¡± It¡¯s been awhile since I¡¯ve heard her sound this upset. ¡°But, even though I want to get stronger¡­I just can¡¯t do it¡­¡± she said a bit woefully. ¡°As I just said, that¡¯s not something you need to feel sorry about. No one is going to blame you for lacking strength-¡± Shit! Tasha¡¯s eyes turned fierce. ¡°That¡¯s the problem! When it comes to the past few fights we¡¯ve had, I¡¯ve been weak! It makes me feel even worse if you don¡¯t blame me!¡± Tasha suddenly climbed onto my bed and grabbed me by the shoulders. Due to my surprise, my cup slipped from my hand and shattered against the ground. ¡°C- calm down, Tasha-¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t make any sense! Why do we even go through all these dangerous things and risk our lives!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we always choose them.¡± ¡°But sometimes we do!¡± Would this be a bad time to mention that it was her idea more than once? ¡°Why? Why do I think it¡¯s okay?!¡± Okay, nothing to worry about; she brought it up for me. ¡°We all make mistakes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the other problem!¡± She tightened her grip and began leaning into me. I could barely remain sitting up as I could feel my body begin to noticeably slant to the side. ¡°I don¡¯t think I was wrong.¡± Her voice evened out at the last statement. ¡°A lot of people could have suffered, there were those in need, and justice needed to be done. I- we did the right thing. I know it.¡± She leaned into me just a bit more, and it was enough to finally knock me back down onto the bed, with Tasha lying on top of me. ¡°And I know¡­that you don¡¯t always think the same way.¡± Her eyes which were so fiery so early now looked like they belonged to a brooding cat. ¡°Tasha¡­¡± I don¡¯t know if it was just due to confusion or a side effect of my exhaustion, but I just couldn¡¯t process her words properly. I had no idea how to react and what to say. For as long as she remained on top of me, I kept trying to think of a proper response, but nothing good came to mind. In fact, I wasn¡¯t even entirely sure how I felt about her words. In the end, a bit of clarity returned to her eyes, and she got off me. She stood by my bedside, her back turned to me. When she began to turn back around, I heard her step on the broken shards of my cup, which caused her to stop. ¡°Oh¡­I knocked your cup over,¡± she sounded almost lifeless. ¡°That¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°I¡­didn¡¯t make any of your injuries worse¡­did I?¡± ¡°N- no, I¡¯m just fine.¡± I sprung back up as quickly as I could. ¡°See! Just fine¡­¡± This was even dumber than it sounded, as she was still yet to face me again. But, I guess it still worked, because she suddenly laughed. It was a weak one at first, but it was soon followed by a few more. Anyone in the world could tell it was forced, but if she was at least willing to make that effort, she had to have recovered at least a little bit. After laughing for about five seconds, she turned around and smiled brightly at me. ¡°I guess I¡¯ve been pretty stressed out lately, huh?¡± I had no response. ¡°Well, Flora said it¡¯s good to just speak up when you think you really need to, so I did.¡± That was not the kind of advice I would have expected from Flora. Although, maybe that does explain her bouts of assertiveness. ¡°Well, you know how I am, dad, I just always have so much energy so sometimes I just say things without thinking about it. Like just now.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yup! Well, you need to rest up, so I¡¯ll leave now. Remember, rest is very important! Don¡¯t waste your energy thinking about some random things I said, alright?¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Okay, good. See you later, dad!¡± She exited the room with that bright smile maintained on her face.¡± It was¡­an odd day today. I met with the Thousand Bolts, then the Harbingers, and then dealt with that outburst from Tasha. It was also probably a very important day as well, but how important, that was something I could not think about at that moment. Extreme levels of weariness returned to my body, and I could barely even stay awake for another minute before falling back asleep. Chapter 36 I awoke a few hours later, this time feeling truly refreshed. Well, mostly refreshed. My throat was still a bit sore, but my arms and legs felt like arms and legs again. I got out of the bed, and finally realized that I was just in a shirt and boxers. I poked my head out the doorway and beckoned to a guard standing outside my door, who then called for a servant to resolve my situation. After getting a fresh change of clothes, I was ready for the rest of the day. First up next, according to the servant, was dinner with the royal family if I was feeling well enough to join. I was wondering if there would be other guests this time, but no, it was the exact same party as last time. There were still no guards in the room with us, but I passed by several patrols on the way, which was probably a sign of increased security. In regards to the food, it was also equally unextravagant, not that I¡¯m saying that¡¯s bad. We also sat in the same positions in the same room, and started with soup first as well. As far as noticeable differences went in the room, I counted only three. One, the table was new, which was unsurprising considering what happened to the old one. Two, Flora¡¯s hair was braided on her left side. Leonora said she did it because it seemed fun and she thought it would look good on her. When I asked why it was just for Flora, Leonora said that her hair was too short and Tasha simply refused. In my opinion, it did look nice. Three, there were no assassination attempts to interrupt the dinner. After the dinner finished, the king invited me to join him in the bath. It took me a moment to realize that the king¡¯s bath would clearly be different from a traditional one. But, how different? The palace was spacious, and did have a fair number of servants, but still fewer than one might expect given its sheer size. The space was filled up a bit by the great number of guards, which I was unsure if that was the norm. The food, although delicious, was modest in portions that were just enough to fill you up. The bath, when I finally entered it, was a surprise, but not so surprising at the same time. The walls and floors, unlike the rest of the palace, were made of marble and were clearly maintained on a regular basis. The water for the bath flowed from statues of plate armour knights holding vases. I was not sure what to think about that part. It was strangely fitting for the Iron Kingdom, but it didn¡¯t seem to properly glorify these knights. Moving on to the bathing area itself, though, it had rows of steps going into the water to allow those to sit at different heights. Its size was big enough for a couple dozen people to comfortably position themselves around the perimeter. The two of us sat about two feet apart on the same side. The king was fully naked whereas I elected to have a towel wrapped around my waist. Being naked around other men was just something I never got used to, which made things awkward for me on more than one occasion during P.E. in high school. Unlike in high school, though, this bath had one more surprising feature. There was actually a servant there with us. Out of all the places in the palace, there was one in the bath. I don¡¯t want to speculate too much on it, so I¡¯ll just say it seems the servant¡¯s only purpose is to serve drinks to the people bathing. There were even little trays to balance our drinks on. I would have preferred to not have any drinks for both sanitary and atmospheric reasons, but I relented to have just one cup. After nursing my drink for about ten minutes, the king asked the servant to leave. Finally, we can get to what this is really about. ¡°Have you been enjoying your stay so far, Braith?¡± That was a surprisingly hard question considering the many different levels there were to consider. ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s a bit of a complex question,¡± he said with a laugh, correctly reading my hesitation. ¡°Well, there have been a lot of things that have happened. At the very least, I can say it¡¯s not bad anymore.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I was still hoping to hear about more optimism.¡± I ended up giving him a funny look. ¡°I jest. I can perfectly understand your answer. Ah¡­we may have only met a couple days ago, but I already think that we could become good friends.¡± ¡°I am honoured to hear that.¡± ¡°Are you really?¡± My lips fumbled around for a bit before answering. ¡°Sorry, I was just saying something to fit the mood.¡± The king laughed. ¡°That¡¯s exactly another reason why I like you, Braith! You know how to act humble, but you¡¯re not. A lot of the people I tend to deal with are always so focused on maintaining a certain image. It¡¯s part of the reason why I don¡¯t keep close advisors.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have any advisors?¡± I asked with genuine surprise. ¡°I didn¡¯t say I had none. I just have no close ones. When there are issues that require specialized knowledge, I know who to ask, but I don¡¯t want to put too much trust into someone who only shows me one side of them.¡± ¡°I suppose that makes sense,¡± I agreed. An example from my past was also beginning to resurface in my mind but I pushed it back down. ¡°You know, Braith, for saving my daughter¡¯s life, I had planned to reward you with some jewels.¡± So, there was a monetary reward. ¡°But, that is just so lackluster now. Tell me, Braith, what do you think is a sufficient reward for saving a king¡¯s life, as well as his daughter¡¯s twice?¡± ¡°I¡­would not think sufficient would be the correct word. That would mean to quantify your lives, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± I tried to choose my words carefully, but to be honest, all I wanted was some coin in the beginning. However, I guess now I was taking my own words seriously, as I was not sure I really cared about that anymore. Would a reward of gold make Tasha or Flora happy? The king smiled at me. ¡°I knew I was right about you. If you were like most adventurers or treasure seekers, you would have demanded vast sums of coin or tracts of land.¡± ¡°What would you have done if I did ask for that?¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°I would have given it to you. I am no ingrate, Braith; I have no qualms giving out such rewards to someone who has done as much as you have. However, I do not think I would ever invite such a person inside the palace again.¡± ¡°I see. Well, after saying that to me, I¡¯m not sure what I should even be asking for now.¡± ¡°Do you have nothing you desire?¡± ¡°To be honest with you, I¡¯m not sure you could fulfill my greatest desires.¡± Even with all his power and wealth, there were limits to what he could do for me and Tasha. ¡°Ah, I can tell how serious you are about that. That¡¯s a bit of a shame, then. I really was hoping to give you a special reward. After everything I said, it does not feel right to simply give you gold or land.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose I can ask Flora or Tasha if there¡¯s anything specific they want.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve actually already done that.¡± ¡°You did? What did they say?¡± That sounds like I missed out on something pretty important. ¡°They were both rather adamant about refusing my rewards. I especially wanted to reward miss Flora since she healed my neck after that attack. When a doctor came to check on my condition, he noticed the small scar just over an artery. I likely would have bled to death if not for her immediate aid.¡± ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s a real lifesaver.¡± I unconsciously smiled, pleased that Flora was getting some deserved praise. ¡°I could not agree more. She was also the one who tended to you first after you collapsed.¡± I already knew about that because of the Thousand Bolts, but I was unsure if I should have acted a bit surprised anyways. No, it was something I would have expected from her anyways. I just smiled again in response. ¡°I haven¡¯t said it yet, but I want to tell you I am very glad to see how well you have recovered.¡± ¡°Thanks. Also, I¡¯m sorry about how awkward it has gotten for you to try to give something to someone.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯d say! I relented to their refusal in the end because they said they were fine with just rewarding you instead. That was why I felt like I needed to provide you with something truly special.¡± ¡°Well, I mean, there are a lot of things I want, but they are things you can buy with gold, and it¡¯s not like I really need them. I¡¯d feel awkward about leaving the kingdom with a load of gold.¡± ¡°Hmmm, Braith, you keep mentioning leaving the kingdom, so may I inquire where you are in a hurry to go to?¡± ¡°Somewhere in the Dridam Plains. Well, that was the initial plan. I mean, no, that¡¯s definitely where I need to go.¡± After everything I¡¯ve gone through, now was not the time to waver. ¡°That is not very far from here. Did you enter through the kingdom¡¯s southern border?¡± ¡°No, I came in from the north.¡± ¡°But, that would mean you were headed in the opposite direction.¡± I paused to think. I basically came to Brennan to flee from the True-Bloods and to rest for a while. Well, I also had thoughts about tracking down Dennis¡¯ killer as well as going to Deimos. Now that I think about it, have I already been in Brennan for too long? ¡°You can ignore that last comment of mine, Braith,¡± the king said to me while I was still lost in thought. ¡°Huh? Uh, sorry, the reason-¡± ¡°The reason is unimportant.¡± The king smiled at me reassuringly. ¡°Braith, I have just thought of something that may be very suitable for you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Hmmm, it¡¯s actually something I thought of earlier. It was something I was somewhat hoping you would ask for but I will just say it now. Braith, are you a true Outlander? Are you not a citizen of any kingdom?¡± I guess the king felt it was time to confirm what I meant by my words when we first met. ¡°A true Outlander? Well, I lived in Holtzan with Tasha for eight years, but I was not born there.¡± If I were to elaborate, I was not born anywhere in Midgard which would probably make me even more of an Outlander than anyone else. That was obviously something better left unsaid, though. ¡°In that case, I would like to make you an official citizen of Brennan and knight you.¡± ¡°A knight?¡± Huh, how did I forget such a common reward in hero stories? Oh, right¡­hero stories. ¡°Yes. Hmmm, of course, I cannot make you a knight right away. You must begin as a squire, but that shall be no real obstacle. I will have you become a squire to the Captain of the Iron Knights and expedite the process as much as possible. You don¡¯t require physical training and we can skip most of the lengthy political training. I am sure I can officially knight you in only a few months instead of several years. In the meantime, I will arrange a residence to be given to you. Something with more than ample space for you and the two girls. A nice place within the capital, of course, as well.¡± The king was looking cheerful about his idea, which made it a bit difficult to refuse my reward. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I cannot accept that.¡± The king looked confused for a few seconds. ¡°Why? Does it have to do with this kingdom? Is there something you dislike here?¡± I was about to give my response when he cut me off. ¡°Is it because of the Harbingers?¡± That last question was a surprise. Both because I wasn¡¯t thinking about them at all and that the king¡¯s tone darkened. ¡°No, it has nothing to do with any of that. It¡¯s just that I have to leave soon.¡± ¡°It is only a few months. Surely you could continue your travels after that.¡± ¡°No, I can¡¯t.¡± True-Bloods be damned, I will not allow another detour. I am going back to the north and going to the Dridam Plains. ¡°I understand,¡± the king began, after a period of silence. ¡°In that case, perhaps when you are finished then?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t do that either.¡± The king paused for another moment. ¡°Is that because there is somewhere else you have to go afterwards? Or are there other reasons as well?¡± I mulled over my words for a moment. ¡°Your Majesty¡­I would not make a suitable knight.¡± I didn¡¯t want to be anything that would make me representative of any nation. The things I have done, and probably also the things I was going to do¡­I wanted that to be mine alone. I did not expect to accumulate such a burden when I first set out, but it was something I had to own up to. The king finally let out a sigh after studying my expression. ¡°I can tell your mind''s made up on that matter.¡± ¡°It is, but I now know exactly what to ask of you.¡± ¡°Really? What is it?¡± The king¡¯s mood improved almost instantly. ¡°You don¡¯t have to make her an official citizen, but I want you to allow Flora to live here and make sure she is safe and well-protected.¡± It was time for me to live up to one of the responsibilities I had nearly forgotten about. ¡°That would be no problem at all. Is there anything else?¡± ¡°No, as long as she can safely live here.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t really need anything else.¡± ¡°Very well, I swear to you that I will fulfill that wish of yours and give her permanent residence in the palace. I am even especially glad to do this for you; I believe my daughter has taken a liking to her and I think they can become good friends.¡± I had no idea about how close the two had gotten, but I took him at his word. That should also mean that this was logically the correct decision. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± The king let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I believe I have soaked long enough for now. How about you?¡± ¡°Just about the same for me. I¡¯ll probably leave in another couple of minutes.¡± The king nodded and left before me. I remained in the bath to dwell on my thoughts and decisions for a little longer. I felt like I had made a very important resolution, and even though it made sense in my head, it didn¡¯t make me feel glad at all. In fact, it felt more like I had made a huge mistake. But, that couldn¡¯t be right. I was being faithful towards my true objective. This was the optimal decision. Only a foolish, cowardly, indecisive, and selfish person would be regretting this. Chapter 37 I had some difficulty sleeping later that night, but I awoke feeling fine the next morning. I didn¡¯t feel any strain or pain in my muscles and my exhaustion was gone. Despite that, I still didn¡¯t feel quite right. I felt like I could move normally, but I also felt somewhat sluggish. After moving about my room for a bit, I finally realized what was up; that extra bit of power I used to wake up with was gone now. Fearing that the problem ran deeper than just that, I focused and ran a bolt through my body. It worked just fine. To be sure, I charged up a second one and that worked out too. On the third bolt, I felt my body begin to heat up and sweat was already starting to drip off my forehead. I charged a fourth bolt and it felt like getting stabbed in the sides, causing me to keel over. I brought out my hands to break my fall but my right hand was still a fist. I ended up smashing it against the floor, scraping some flesh off my knuckles. I tried to maintain my power for a little longer, but it started to feel suffocating after about twenty seconds. I ended the use of the bolts and slowly made my way back to the bed to lie down on it. After a few deep breaths, I got back up and looked around for something to bandage my hand. Before I could find bandages, I ran into Flora instead. She healed my hand and asked me what happened. I told her it was just an accident and there was nothing to worry about. I was the only one who needed to worry about this, I reasoned internally. Given the recent development, though, I was beginning to think my decision to quickly head off to the Dridam Plains was a reckless one. I reasoned that it would be a good idea to at least rest for another few days, but I had no intention of changing my destination. In the meantime, I guess I could head out to do some shopping. I was still yet to buy a new pair of gloves after all. After eating breakfast in the palace, I was ready to head out. The king offered to loan me a few guards as escorts but I turned him down. I told him I could take care of myself and I didn¡¯t want to stand out. I wondered if Tasha or Flora wanted to join me, but I didn¡¯t ask either of them. Flora came with me anyway, though, as she found me right as I was getting ready to leave the palace. I decided not to ask her if she knew why Tasha wasn¡¯t also with her. It felt nice stepping out of the gates all geared up in my hide armour with my sword at my hip. I didn¡¯t find a good time to ask for all my equipment back yesterday so I just dealt with that nagging feeling of defenselessness. Today, though, I felt I should be feeling even better than usual. The king had my equipment maintained so now my armour was looking nice and polished. My sword was also sharpened and it looked even sleeker than when Jack Free still had it. Oh, remembering that, though, I wonder if it¡¯s a bad thing to have forgotten the former owner of this weapon. I ignored those worries in the end after sheathing the sword. The one who owned this sword has done far worse things than I have, so I should think of that as a good point. As we neared the marketplace, I realized another concern. This shopping trip was probably going to get awkward quickly. I wanted to restock on traveling supplies, but Flora¡­when would be a good time to mention that talk I had with the king? ¡°So, how have you been enjoying your time in the palace so far?¡± I asked, deciding to not bring up my decision quite yet. It would be a good idea to bring it up sooner than later, but I wanted to gradually ease into it first. ¡°It¡¯s great. The people are nice and it¡¯s peaceful. Well, excluding the first day¡­¡± ¡°Just think of it as a very rare exception.¡± ¡°Mmm,¡± she muttered in approval. ¡°Is there anything you are looking to buy?¡± ¡°Um, nothing really.¡± ¡°That so?¡± ¡°Yes, I just thought I should come and help pay for things. That is what my grandfather left me those funds for¡­¡± Flora¡¯s quiet voice trailed off as she clearly began to worry about his situation. Given my own situation though, I wasn¡¯t sure whether to address her concerns over her grandfather or money first. ¡°Cheer up, Flora,¡± I said brightly, disregarding any preamble. My directness did seem to surprise Flora and her brooding expression lifted. ¡°Thanks,¡± she said, as if I dispensed legitimate advice. We went to a tailor¡¯s shop and browsed around for some leather gloves to fit me; a true custom fit was unnecessary. Before trying on the first pair, I noted the thin scar on my left palm, a reminder of my fight with Truth. If it hasn¡¯t disappeared after all this time, it was probably never going to fully heal. It wasn¡¯t something that really bothered me, but I must have spent too long looking at it as I noticed Flora staring at it as well. In the end, I decided to not bring it up and just finish doing what I came to do. I bought two pairs of leather gloves in case I needed a spare and then went to buy some more traveling rations. I was about to stock up for about a month¡¯s worth for me and Tasha, but decided I could not hold this off any longer. I left the shop and brought Flora to an empty alleyway to talk privately. ¡°Flora, there¡¯s something I need to say.¡± I could tell from her eyes that she was thinking hard about what it could be. At the very least, she didn¡¯t seem to think it would be anything good. ¡°Do you remember why your grandfather left you with me?¡± She did not reply. That¡¯s fine, it was more or less rhetorical. ¡°He wanted me to take you somewhere safe. That was clearly an initial failure on my part. Our journey so far has clearly been nothing if not dangerous.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, Mr. Braith, I don¡¯t think any of those problems were your fault.¡± I only mostly agreed with her on that. ¡°It¡¯s been hard to change, but I really think I can be more useful in the future. I can be more helpful so things aren¡¯t always so dangerous.¡± Her words held a mix of both determination and apprehension. ¡°In my opinion, it¡¯s not something you should have been concerned with from the beginning. You never wanted to set out like this into unknown lands. Getting into situations where your life is on the line¡­that¡¯s just not something you should have ever had to deal with.¡± ¡°W- what are you trying to say, Mr. Braith?¡± Flora already seemed to be picking up on something in my tone. ¡°Traveling together with us is too dangerous. You are going to remain here in Brennan. I¡¯ve already spoken to the king about this and he¡¯s agreed to let you live in the palace.¡± She looked at me as if I was abandoning her. ¡°This is for your own good, Flora.¡± I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d end up using such a clich¨¦ line. ¡°Is it because I¡¯ve only been getting in the way, Mr. Braith?¡± she asked with a needlessly guilty expression. ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand. This is for your own safety.¡± ¡°But what about you?¡± she now asked with concern. ¡°What about me?¡± I was genuinely puzzled by what she meant. ¡°Don¡¯t you want help?¡± That response was such a good reflection of what she was like. It reminded me of one of our first talks with each other. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me, Flora. I¡¯ll be just fine.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said flatly, her eyes lit up, not quite as much as Tasha¡¯s, but it was a significant difference from usual. ¡°Excuse me?¡± I had little idea on how to react to such a response from her. ¡°Even if you say you don¡¯t want help, I still want to help you. I¡¯m not staying here; I¡¯m coming with you.¡± I blew out a puff of air. ¡°Flora,¡± I began with a bit of a lecturing tone, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be making such reckless decisions. Bear in mind the words of your grandfather. He wanted you to get somewhere safe and I have basically been a danger magnet.¡± I know it was a bit low to use that argument, but this wasn¡¯t something that should even be debated. However, Flora was undeterred. ¡°Can we even say if this place is safer?¡± she argued, retorting with an unusual level of energy. ¡°That attack was clearly a rare occurrence. There are even more guards now so it is perfectly safe now!¡± ¡°If multiple people like Tarras came by again, could you guarantee this place would still be safe?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I lied. A group of people each as fast and strong as Tarras could possibly eliminate a target in the palace, especially if they got lucky in moving between weaker areas of defense. However, this was only a small possibility, and what were the odds that a pack of people like him would just attack this place? Unfortunately, my slight doubt must have shown on my face. ¡°Mr. Braith, what would you do if something did happen to me?¡± That was the kind of question I never would have expected her to ask. Almost without exception, she has always acted by placing others before herself. ¡°I¡­¡± I don¡¯t know why I even bothered trying to start a sentence. I had no clear idea how to answer her. I had simply never thought that far before. ¡°If you really want to do as my grandfather said, you have a responsibility to keep me safe.¡± She looked full of confidence and uncharacteristically seemed to even be smirking at me. I wonder who she was taking after? ¡°You¡¯re right about that, Flora. I don¡¯t want anything bad to happen to you.¡± She nodded in agreement, assured of her victory. ¡°And that¡¯s why you have to stay here.¡± Flabbergasted. Not a word I would normally ever use, but it was an apt description of Flora¡¯s face. ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­¡± ¡°I cannot perfectly guarantee your safety no matter what, I am no god or invincible hero. What I can say for sure though is that the guards and knights will do a much better job protecting you then I could while traveling across the land.¡± Flora¡¯s unexpected arguments had thrown me off for a bit, but it was hardly something to even be debated. If it comes down to who would be a better bodyguard, the answer was obvious. I took her extended silence for reluctant agreement and motioned for her to leave the alley with me. ¡°That¡¯s just how it is, Flora. Come on, let¡¯s finish what we came here for and head back to the palace.¡± ¡°Mr. Braith¡­¡± she began, still rooted in place, but her eyes now looking down at the ground, ¡°How do you see me?¡± I froze for a second before responding. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°From when we first met, and up until now, what kind of person do you see me as?¡± she asked, her voice somewhat shaky. Maybe it would have been better to go with a generic, positive appraisal, but I felt the obligation to give a proper answer. ¡°When I first met you, well¡­I don¡¯t quite remember it too well since I was poisoned and all¡­but a few words do come to mind. Panicky, clumsy, and strange.¡± Her body gave no reaction. ¡°I¡¯d say that¡¯s mostly down to the circumstances, though. I didn¡¯t expect to run into someone else also in the midst of fleeing from a bunch of guards. At the very least, not someone with the kind of reactions you had. Well, you were just a child¡­still a child, so I did not think about you too seriously.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Is that still the way you see me?¡± she asked, still keeping her eyes to the ground. ¡°No, my impressions changed pretty quickly. At the very least, I didn¡¯t think you were clumsy after seeing you with the bow. The other two still kind of stuck, though, but not necessarily in a bad way. If anything, part of me was hoping you¡¯d be even more panicky, cowardly even. In that case, you wouldn¡¯t have had the guts to head off to Eden because of some prophetic dream. Although, if you weren¡¯t so strange, maybe that option would have never come up to begin with.¡± ¡°Do you¡­regret it?¡± ¡°Regret what?¡± ¡°Meeting me?¡± I contemplated just how deep that question really was. If I wanted to be cheeky, I would have said I didn¡¯t regret it because otherwise I would have had no way to cure my poison. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± She lifted her gaze a bit, but just before our eyes met, she looked down again. ¡°I mean it. We have been through a lot of trouble together, and I¡¯m guessing you ask that question because you blame yourself. Well, to some degree it was your fault.¡± I had intended for that prelude to get more of a reaction from her but she did not move at all. ¡°But, it¡¯s not like I could entirely blame you for any one thing nor could I say you had ever intended for it to turn out like that. Given the circumstances, I¡¯d say you have been a big help.¡± I walked closer to her, closing in so there was only a foot of space between us, but she still did not look at me. ¡°Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t thanked you for healing me after that battle in the dining room.¡± Still no movement. ¡°Thank you for that¡­and everything else.¡± Finally, she began to noticeably tremble and she looked up again. ¡°Why, Mr. Braith¡­why?¡± Her voice was shaking more than earlier. ¡°If you really think that way then why are you just going on ahead without me?¡± ¡°Flora, just why are you so intent on this? Why are you so invested in coming along?¡± I already thought that she was taking the news worse than expected, but it had now gotten to the point that I had to ask. ¡°I have to come with you! I must!¡± Her voice was hardly at the level of a shout, but by her standards, she may as well be screaming hysterically. She gesticulated madly and shuffled about almost drunkenly. ¡°If I don¡¯t come along, then what was the point of it all?! What about that dream I had that guided me to the guardian tree?! ¡°Sometimes dreams are just dreams, Flora.¡± ¡°I made a contract with the guardian spirit of the Nature Clan!¡± ¡°Could have been just a coincidence.¡± Okay, even I didn¡¯t really believe that. ¡°And then, giving up that power and leaving my home behind!¡± she continued, probably ignoring my words for a little bit now. ¡°Did all of that happen just so I could run off to Brennan!¡± She took in several quick breaths and then leaned forward against a wall. So, this timid, little girl had all of that bottled up inside of her this whole time. I stood behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to look at me, her eyes on the verge of tears. ¡°Flora¡­¡± Well, now what? I already started so do I just say the first things that come to mind? ¡°Sometimes¡­¡± you just have a lot of bad luck, it¡¯s something that, ¡°I feel quite often¡­¡± If there needs to be a purpose to things and things still turn out poorly, then I say, ¡°we should just forget about purpose, or fate, or destiny, or whatever you want to call it.¡± All that you should care about is just doing what you want to do. ¡°Don¡¯t become obsessed with what you think you have to do.¡± Just¡­live freely. Accept the things that have happened and carry on however you want. ¡°Your life is yours to live,¡± don¡¯t make it dependent on others. Wow, that came out so awkward. ¡°I really didn¡¯t say that very well.¡± I probably should have at least kept that last bit to myself. She stared at me with a distressed and confused look. I did not think my words could have ever failed this much. ¡°B- Mr. Braith¡­¡± she wiped her eyes with one hand and leaned her back against the wall, letting out an exhausted sigh as she did. ¡°I think I understand what you mean.¡± Really? Thank goodness, I could use some clarification myself. ¡°You think it¡¯s wrong to live while being shackled by the past or to live without placing great importance on yourself.¡± Sounds good so far. ¡°But I just can¡¯t agree with that. I want to help people. That¡¯s just the way I¡¯ve felt since¡­since I was young.¡± Well, I think you are still young. ¡°But, grandpa was just too amazing. I tried learning all sorts of skills, but in the end, he never needed my help with anything. He was wiser than I could ever hope to be and was a master at making potions. Even though I was good at archery, I couldn¡¯t hunt, so I was no help there either. I also tried to help with gardening, but without Farseer magic, there was no way I could do nearly as good of a job as he could. There was nothing I could do for him, so I wanted to help others, but I never really had the opportunity. Not until¡­¡± ¡°Not until we met?¡± Flora nodded, a bit shamefully. ¡°You know how poorly my first attempt at getting into Eden went. But, I believed in the meaning behind my dream so I was prepared to go again, even if I thought I would fail. I didn¡¯t want to just give up. That¡¯s why¡­I was very happy when you and Tasha wanted to help. Well¡­I suppose it was mostly Tasha who wanted to help¡­¡± ¡°Regardless of that, we did help you, but it was a bust in the end, wasn¡¯t it? There was a chaotic battle at the end there, but no world-changing event occurred.¡± ¡°No, I think that¡¯s wrong. That day really did change my life.¡± ¡°I mean, yeah, but only because we had to go on the run. I don¡¯t think becoming fugitives should count as a turning point in the world. Anyone can become an outlaw at any time. ¡°By itself, it might not seem like anything, but to me, it was a new beginning.¡± Flora¡¯s eyes were almost trance-like while speaking her words. ¡°Okay, I get why you think it¡¯s so important now. It personally affected you more than anything else, and to be honest, it¡¯s right up there for major events in my life as well. However, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that it was just causing a problem and then running away from it.¡± ¡°But, think about what came next. It has been less than two months, but the things you have done have impacted so many people! It started with just those two children, but then we went up against the True-Bloods! Imagine how many people were saved by getting in their way? And then, here in Brennan? You protected the royal family! The consequences of your actions are enormous and I played a part in all of that by healing you.¡± Her eyes were lit up as she finished her ecstatic rant. ¡°You are a true hero that will change the world, Mr. Braith!¡± I resisted the urge to grimace. ¡°I already told you that I¡¯m not a hero. These things just seem to happen when I¡¯m around and I can¡¯t help but get involved sometimes.¡± ¡°Yes, I know you¡¯ve said that, but you must see how amazing your actions have been, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it has been a rather absurd and spectacular series of coincidences. But, do you also realize the number of times I almost died?¡± ¡°But, you made it through each time. And whenever you needed me to, I healed you. That¡¯s something I can keep doing for you. No matter what, when you need me, I will be there for you. I think I¡¯m also getting better with my bow.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily a good thing that you are getting better at shooting.¡± Flora put on a conflicted expression. ¡°Yeah, I know I wanted you to get better at it to help in fights, but those should have been exceptional cases. It seems that we¡¯ll be in life or death fights at least every other week at this rate.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll be there to help! I promise I will keep trying to be more useful! I won¡¯t let you down!¡± she pleaded with me energetically. Another callback to her safety was clearly going to be a useless argument. At the moment, that only left me with two options: giving up on arguments completely and just refusing; or convincing her that she would be of no help. I knew they were both terrible options. ¡°Flora, I appreciate everything you¡¯ve done so far and your willingness to change yourself for my benefit.¡± I let out a sigh. ¡°However, you are too much of a liability. You can say you will improve yourself, but there just isn¡¯t that much time to waste. What are we going to do if you ever get separated or attacked on your own?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stick by you as much as I can, and if I ever need to keep some distance, I will. It¡¯ll work out, I won¡¯t be a burden!¡± ¡°Words only mean so much, Flora. As it stands, without the ability to strengthen your body, you are just a child. An ordinary adult could easily overpower you, and there may be many opportunities for that to happen. If you cannot even handle yourself in such a simple situation now, then you know that you¡¯re just going to drag us down.¡± I may not have done a good job up to this point, but I really was trying to spare her feelings. However, my decision was made and I had to make Flora give up. ¡°If it¡¯s just one adult, even I can handle myself. I have my bow, they won¡¯t even get close!¡± Her spirit was far from broken. ¡°What if you run out of arrows? What if you get surrounded and one of them manages to close the distance? What if you get ambushed? There are a lot of situations where they can come in close, and as I said, it only needs to be one. If you can¡¯t even handle one by yourself in that situation, you would just be dead weight.¡± Flora didn¡¯t falter in the slightest. In fact, she seemed to be even more determined. ¡°Trust me, I can handle it on my own if that ever happens. Other than that, we¡¯ll be together and I can help you as much as possible. You¡¯d be able to keep fighting to the best of your abilities, that way, too.¡± ¡°You are awfully confident about close-quarters combat, especially for someone who has difficulty making eye contact with strangers for the first time.¡± ¡°I- I¡¯ve gotten better at that. When you were unconscious, I talked to Princess Leonora and the palace maids a lot!¡± That was a bit surprising. I knew Flora wouldn¡¯t blatantly lie to me just to prove a point. Alright, that¡¯s it. It¡¯s time to take this to the final step. ¡°Alright, Flora, that sounds good, and I really do want to trust in you, but I need proof.¡± ¡°Proof?¡± ¡°A test. I¡¯ll give you a test, Flora. If you pass, then I won¡¯t doubt you on this point anymore. I won¡¯t argue against you coming along anymore.¡± ¡°D- do you mean it?¡± she said excitedly, with a bit of surprise mixed in. ¡°Yes, I do.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do it! What do I have to do?¡± ¡°First off, take your arms and put one wrist over the other like so.¡± I crossed my wrists over each other and Flora did as I instructed. ¡°Raise them just a bit more, so that they are level with your eyes. ¡°Like this?¡± she asked, clearly confused over what this was meant to accomplish. I then put my hand under her wrists, my palm lightly pressing against the bottom wrist. I stared into her eyes for a moment and watched as she gradually started blushing. ¡°Um, w- what comes next?¡± She looked away for just a second after asking the question. Right at that moment, I pushed against her wrists and forced them against the wall, still crossed over each other. I forced them far enough above her head that she was nearly on tip toes. Her expression instantly shifted to a panicked one. ¡°I have two things to say right now,¡± I began calmly. ¡°One, you should learn to not trust people so easily.¡± She tried to wrestle her arms free but the difference in strength was evident. ¡°Two, this is your test. Break free from this and I¡¯ll believe that I won¡¯t have to always protect you.¡± She kept trying to free her arms to no avail, but as she parsed through what I had to say, her fear dissipated. ¡°T- this isn¡¯t fair, Mr. Braith! You have the power of a guardian spirit!¡± ¡°Things aren¡¯t always fair, Flora.¡± She tried to muster up some strength in her arms futilely again before using her right leg to try and kick me. She had more fight than I expected but I managed to catch her leg with my free hand. ¡°But, I wouldn¡¯t want you to think I gave you an impossible test. Right now, I am not using my powers at all.¡± That could be a bit dangerous for me given my current state anyways. ¡°So, if you can force me to use them, I will consider that a pass as well.¡± She now tried to free her caught leg but that wasn¡¯t going any better than her arms were earlier. I said the test wasn¡¯t impossible, but part of the reason I said so was actually a trick. After struggling for a little longer, she should realize she can never overpower me. Even without using my powers, that is just the natural difference between an adult male and a fourteen-year-old girl. If she was Battle-Hardened, or could enhance her body like some other Nature Clan Farseers could, this may not have been much of an issue, and I¡¯m hoping she sees that soon as well. She just doesn¡¯t have the right kind of body to be traveling this continent. Although, this realization isn¡¯t part of the trick. If she stubbornly refuses to give up, then I know her other option would be to call for help. I never said she couldn¡¯t do that, but that would be an immediate fail. The whole point of this test is to prove she could handle herself alone. Now, what will you do, Flora? Will you graciously or shamelessly acknowledge your weakness? Flora stopped struggling. She took a moment to stabilize her breathing after exerting all that energy and looked at me. However, it was not an expression I expected. It was not one of defeat nor one that showed the realization of some sly triumph she was about to achieve. It was such an unexpected expression, that I think that I must be mistaken about it. There was simply no way she would be looking at me right now with gratitude. I don¡¯t understand¡­no, wait, I know now. She¡¯s trying to fake me out! Make me let my guard down! I tightened my hold against her wrists and her leg as much as I could without accidentally using my powers. I didn¡¯t want to hurt you, but you are being just too stubborn about this. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She opened her eyes and stared directly at me. This time, though, she didn¡¯t show an ounce of embarrassment. She breathed out and raised her other leg as quickly and as high as she could. I was so intent in not loosening my grip on her wrists that I made no attempt to move my arm as her foot got over my arm and then pressed down on it. Very quickly, she tried to wrap her leg around my arm as much as she could. It was squeezing tight enough that I almost charged a bolt by mistake. In that instant where I had to mentally stop myself from doing so, my hold on her other leg loosened and she wasted no time in freeing it. I wanted to catch it again right away, but with that leg free now, I was essentially holding up her entire body against the wall with just one arm. I instinctively prioritized keeping my balance while still making an effort to not use my powers. Next, though, Flora used her free leg and kicked the side of my head. Wow, I didn¡¯t think she had it in her. My hold against her wrists finally broke and in my unstable position, I fell over backwards. I hit the ground with Flora on top of me and thankfully, I managed to charge a bolt in time through my arm so that I could put it behind my head to prevent my head from smashing against a wall. I lay on the ground for a moment, looking up at the cloudy sky above me, at the time completely oblivious to what others would think if they stumbled upon this scene in the middle of an alley. ¡°S- so¡­did I pass?¡± Flora gasped out, her hat askew, but otherwise unharmed from the fall, having my body act as her cushion. I blinked a couple times as the cloud moved out of the way and the sun shone down brightly. I smiled for a second and laughed. ¡°Yeah, you pass.¡± I guess I didn¡¯t know Flora nearly as well as I thought I did. I thought I said that a bit too happily so I tried to sober up my tone as I continued. ¡°It might be even harder than this for you. I really can¡¯t always be around.¡± ¡°I understand, Mr. Braith, but that¡¯s the kind of a risk I am willing¡­it¡¯s the kind of risk I must take. Absolutely!¡± ¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll leave it at that for now. In any case, do you mind getting off me now?¡± ¡°O-oh! S-sorry! Right away!¡± She got back up in a panic and I suppressed a chuckle. Guess she couldn¡¯t maintain her confident demeanor for long. I got up as well and touched the side of my head, as there was still a bit of a stinging pain from where Flora kicked me. I winced slightly as I did and saw drops of blood on my glove. ¡°Not bad,¡± I muttered to myself as Flora readjusted her hat. The number of people who¡¯ve made me bleed in Midgard, well, there haven¡¯t been all too many. ¡°Oh no, are you all right?!¡± Flora said frantically. ¡°I really didn¡¯t mean to hurt you!¡± ¡°Hey now, that was sort of the point of all that,¡± I said, somewhat laughing it off. ¡°Besides, you are going to have to do worse than that to others.¡± It took a second for me to realize just how grim that really sounded. I stood in awkward silence as I tried to think of something else to get over that statement. ¡°Here, lean towards me a bit so I can heal it,¡± Flora finally said. Good, good, it¡¯s just better to ignore what I said¡­for now. She recited her chant and healed my cut in just a few seconds. I probably would sorely miss such a convenient ability now that I really think about it. Oh, especially since I learned from the Thousand Bolts that she can more than just heal me as well. Or at least, this is the way I¡¯m going to have to think to justify having her traveling along. Well, either that or start getting a lot more optimistic. Surely, the worst has already come and gone? All these useless thoughts¡­ ¡°Alright, Flora, let¡¯s finish our shopping and head back to the palace.¡± Never thought I¡¯d ever say that in my life. Chapter 38 After we finished buying everything we needed, we walked back to the palace. It was so calm and peaceful after that hectic bout between the two of us, that it took me until we finished passing through the gates before one of my main worries resurfaced in my mind. Something more distressing to me than Flora and my promise to Hiram. It was about Tasha. As we made our way past the front courtyard, my pace noticeably slowed and Flora called me out on that right away. ¡°Is something wrong, Mr. Braith?¡± ¡°No,¡± I lied. I sped up my pace but that didn¡¯t last more than a few steps. Tasha and I haven¡¯t spoken a word since yesterday. Not even a good morning. How? I mean, that¡¯s so simple to say, how could I not say it? Why didn¡¯t she say it? She must still be worrying about something. But, even when she was worried about things, she¡¯d still talk to me at least? Am I reading too much into this? Let me think, have there been days where we never exchanged such simple pleasantries before? Oh, yes, there have been! Of course there have been. It¡¯s such a bothersome thing, isn¡¯t it? Always having to greet someone? That is simply an overexaggerated level of politeness and formality. Why is it even necessary? It¡¯s not! Simple as that. Wew, that¡¯s a load off my mind! ¡°Um¡­are you sure?¡± ¡°Of course I am. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°You¡­haven¡¯t moved at all for a little while now.¡± I looked down at my feet pointlessly. What, was I expecting to find my boots stuck in glue so as to make a proper excuse? ¡°Just a bit tired. Ah, nothing to worry about, though. Let¡¯s get back inside.¡± ¡°I- is it about Tasha?¡± Where¡¯d she get that idea? And what¡¯s with this nosiness? I praise her a bit and she starts thinking she can diagnose my problems? No, stop thinking like that. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about this inside.¡± We entered the palace and started walking down some random hallways. I was thinking about going to my room to talk about this, but that would mean I want to have a long talk, wouldn¡¯t it? No, this is just a slight issue that can be easily addressed while walking. ¡°Where are we going, Mr. Braith?¡± Flora asked after a minute of silent walking. ¡°Nowhere in particular,¡± I said truthfully. ¡°Anyways, why do you think I might have a problem with Tasha?¡± ¡°Well, the two of you didn¡¯t say anything to each other during breakfast.¡± ¡°It happens sometimes. Could just be a bit of absent-mindedness on both our parts today.¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t want to read too much into it either, but then it was just the two of us who went out today.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± my voice was raised a couple levels in defensiveness. ¡°Um, it¡¯s one of the first times that has happened. The other time¡­well, Tasha wasn¡¯t feeling well, so, I thought maybe she wasn¡¯t feeling well today as well?¡± It took a moment to recall these past circumstances. When I did, I ended up coughing a bit. ¡°W- well, I wouldn¡¯t know too much about that. But, yeah, maybe she just needed a bit more rest. In any case, if that is what you think is a problem, it¡¯ll pass soon enough. Nothing to worry about.¡± The more I went down this route, the more I started to believe it as well. Could yesterday¡¯s outburst really be a hormonal issue? That seemed a bit too convenient. Yeah, I can¡¯t just chalk it up so simply. ¡°Flora, do you know where Tasha might be right now? I need to talk to her.¡± ¡°Well, she might be with Princess Leonora in the inner courtyard. They were going to organize a practice session, but that might not be today.¡± ¡°Practice?¡± ¡°Practice fighting against the Iron Knights.¡± ¡°Oh, that thing she was going on about on the first day.¡± She¡¯s still serious about that? Also, it just seems so pointless now. The king has seen firsthand how well she can fight. ¡°I¡¯m surprised she managed to pull off that plan of hers.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not quite the same as her original plan. I think she said she would find some squires who were willing to spar with Tasha, but I¡¯m not sure if she managed to do that yet. It just sounded like she was on the verge of it yesterday, though.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go check it out, just in case. Um¡­lead the way.¡± We went to the inner courtyard and to my surprise, she really was there. In one corner of the inner courtyard, past the flower gardens and shrubbery, where the ground was soft dirt and sand, was Tasha in the middle of a fight with someone wearing chainmail armour. Off to the side of their battlegrounds were two more men in chainmail, both seated on the ground and looking very exhausted. On another side were Princess Leonora and someone who was almost definitely an Iron Knight going by his plate mail. The two combatants were fighting with wooden swords, which could have been seen as a disadvantage on Tasha¡¯s part considering the difference in their armour. Well, if this guy is just a squire, it¡¯s not like it matters either way. Sure enough, before we even finished crossing the courtyard, Tasha landed a multitude of strikes against her opponent and he finally went down to one knee and conceded. Leonora and the Iron Knight both applauded and Tasha did a bit of showmanship and bowed to them. She must have been quite into it all for it was Leonora who noticed me first. ¡°Sir Braith, you¡¯ve returned! Did you find everything you were looking for?¡± Before I could answer her, Tasha whipped back around and came racing towards me, her expression positively elated. ¡°Dad, you¡¯re back!¡± she exclaimed as she brought her arms around me. When was the last time Tasha initiated such an excited hug with me? ¡°Ah, yes¡­¡± I said with a bit of shock. ¡°You¡¯ve been sparring against some squires?¡± ¡°Yup, and I beat them all easily!¡± Cool down with the pride just a bit¡­I mean, they¡¯re right there. ¡°Ah, yes, of course.¡± The Iron Knight strode towards me and patiently stood just off to the side. I eased Tasha off me and turned my attention to the Iron Knight. ¡°May I help you with something?¡± He took off his helmet and bowed to me. ¡°I am Sir Emmerick, Captain of the Iron Knights. Please allow me to thank you for your heroic deeds in saving the lives of both His Majesty King Henrik and Her Highness Princess Leonora. Please also forgive my delay in expressing my gratitude. I have been very busy with my duties for the past couple days.¡± ¡°¡­No problem.¡± I extended out my hand and he shook it. ¡°I must say that I am very impressed with the skill of your daughter. She has done a very thorough job of beating my squires.¡± Oh, they¡¯re his squires. Wait¡­the squires to the knight captain? ¡°Looks like they all still have much to learn.¡± The three squires all cast their gaze towards the ground. ¡°Well, no need to be too harsh on them.¡± I haven¡¯t beaten Tasha in a spar in years. ¡°Your daughter¡¯s abilities may be above theirs, but that is no reason for them to not train as hard as they can to better themselves. Perhaps we should extend it to a best four out of seven for each of them now, Your Highness?¡± he asked towards Leonora. Wait, it wasn¡¯t just one match each? ¡°As long as Miss Tasha is willing to continue to cooperate.¡± I was a little surprised by the modifier before Tasha¡¯s name. Was the princess trying to keep up appearances in front of Sir Emmerick? ¡°If you¡¯d please?¡± Emmerick asked towards Tasha. Tasha smiled in response and the squires looked down in despair. ¡°Thank you very much. Alright, another two-minute break before we begin the next series.¡± ¡°Oh, wait,¡± Tasha began, her smile disappearing for just a second, ¡°Dad, maybe you want to spar instead?¡± she asked happily with an even bigger smile. Emmerick¡¯s expression perked up with piqued curiosity. ¡°I would not be opposed to such a substitution,¡± he stated. ¡°Ah, no, it¡¯s quite alright. I came here just to check on something else. Tasha, come with me for a bit.¡± We went behind some shrubbery as Emmerick suggested that his squires do some image training before their next match. Tasha seemed a bit confused but other than that, she did not seem upset or worried at all. ¡°Um, Tasha, how are you feeling?¡± I asked awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯m feeling great, dad! I got to move around a lot so far! Although, it¡¯d be better if they had better stamina.¡± ¡°Um, that¡¯s not quite what I meant. I mean, are you still¡­feeling concerned?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked with a clueless expression. ¡°About yesterday¡­¡± For about half a second, her expression was shaken, but she quickly smiled at me. ¡°Oh, I already told you not to worry about that, dad!¡± ¡°You did, but I thought that maybe it was still troubling you.¡± ¡°No, no, not at all! I don¡¯t even know what I was talking about back then!¡± ¡°Really?¡± I was still skeptical about it. ¡°Look, I¡¯m fine, dad! Please, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± She smiled even more brightly at me. My resistance finally broke down and I let her convince me. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great then. Well, that¡¯s all I wanted to check up on. Oh, and great work, Tasha.¡± I patted her head. ¡°Teach those squires a lesson.¡± Sorry, guys, but if kicking your asses makes her happy, then you¡¯re just gonna have to deal with it. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Will do, dad.¡± I stayed to watch her thoroughly overwhelm her opponents one more time. However, Emmerick seemed to not think the squires put in enough effort and forced them all to fight again. I figured that by this point, it would do them good to have one fewer spectator for their impending defeats so I took my leave. Flora looked ready to leave with me as well, but I told her I wanted some time to wander alone. At first, as I began walking about the palace, my thoughts turned back to Tasha but I quickly pushed it out of my mind. Instead, I got to thinking about what to do about the king. Should I ask for something else now? What if he already made preparations? Perhaps it would just be better to set aside getting a reward after all? As my concerns started to grow more serious, an Iron Knight called out to me. ¡°Sir Braith! I have finally found you!¡± Was this my first time seeing a knight in the halls? Strangely enough, this was my initial thought upon seeing this man in full body plate mail. Yet again I thought about how empty this palace seemed to be given its size. ¡°His Majesty has sent me to find you! Please, follow me to the throne room!¡± What an energetic knight I thought to myself as I quietly let him guide me. The throne room, like most other rooms save for the baths, had hardly any decorations or adornments. The massive room had several shields with the royal crest mounted on the left and right walls and a long red carpet divided the room as it led straight from the entrance to a wooden throne right before the far wall. The seated king dismissed the knight as the door closed behind us, I noticed that it was just the two of us. It has already happened so many times before, but he really does not seem to care much for security. Either that, or he just values privacy so much more. ¡°You wanted to see me?¡± I asked, as I made my way towards him. He smiled at me and gave a hearty chuckle. I looked at him bemusedly. ¡°My apologies. I have had many meetings with various officials and nobles over the past few days, and the stark contrast in attitude fills me with relief.¡± ¡°Relief?¡± ¡°I feared the casualness you had about you was only a result of the shock of being in your situation. I see more definitely than ever now though that this is just how you truly are.¡± ¡°Should I be taking that as a compliment?¡± I stopped about five feet away from him. ¡°From me, yes. Although, I imagine most others would mean so otherwise.¡± ¡°Thank you for your kind and generous understanding, then.¡± He laughed again. ¡°It is always a delight conversing with you. Now then, on to why I summoned you. I immediately wished to begin preparations on fulfilling your reward, but I fear I may have overlooked a few things.¡± ¡°Oh, that,¡± right as I said that, I realized that I might have to cut him off, ¡°you don¡¯t need to worry about that anymore,¡± might as well finish what I was saying, ¡°I did not properly consider Flora¡¯s thoughts at the time and after speaking with her, I have decided against it.¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°I hope I did not waste your time or resources.¡± The king looked to be processing this sudden change. ¡°Ah, no. I summoned you here to go over some of the finer details, but I have yet to begin any other preparations. There has been nothing unnecessary done whatsoever, do not worry about that. But¡­I see¡­yes, no problem at all.¡± He finally seemed to finish sorting through his thoughts and returned to his usual demeanor. ¡°In that case, please, tell me what else you would prefer as a reward.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not sure that would be right to suddenly change it so I¡¯m fine with not receiving one.¡± Well, not really, but I felt like asking for a reward that was either too small or large now would not go over well. I would rather not risk it. ¡°Is that so?¡± Just like in the baths, the question pierced straight through my lie. It was in these rare moments that I felt I was truly in the presence of a king. ¡°At the moment¡­I am unsure of what to ask of you.¡± ¡°I do not mind if you take some time to think it over.¡± I¡¯m not sure if it was his intention, but that line made me feel that I had to come up with something soon. Judging by his expression, he seemed quite expectant. ¡°Well,¡± I began, ¡°I am not presently troubled by a need for anything¡­¡± No matter how many times I say it, it was clear that this would be unacceptable. I was not sure if it was because of his pride, sense of obligation, or whatever else, but I knew that I could not simply leave without receiving something. This would be a blessing for many; a guaranteed reward from a king. I knew that accepting knighthood would please him the most and it would be desirable for so many others, but my thoughts from before had still not changed. I want to dive no deeper into the politics of any nation. This was part of the reason I did not bother even asking about the details of the assassination attempt. ¡°Braith,¡± the king began, after a moment of strained silence, ¡°are you perhaps an agent of another nation?¡± That question threw me off guard. All of a sudden, after all the trust the king seemed to have in me, he basically just asked me if I was¡­ a spy? ¡°No!¡± I replied a little too suddenly and loudly. The king looked at me with unchanging composure. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t think I am quite sure what you meant by that question,¡± I said, doubling back. ¡°Your skill and strength is undeniable. A man with your capabilities would normally either be a knight or a mercenary. A mercenary with renown, to be specific.¡± Confusion remained on my face for another couple seconds before realizing what he was getting at. He thought my refusal of knighthood was due to either an important mission or personal duty. Well, that was not exactly wrong. It also was not even much of a speculation. I already told him I needed to leave soon. I just never told him why. ¡°There is something that I must do. I apologize but I can go no further into what that is.¡± The king¡¯s expression remained the same, but he was likely mulling over his thoughts. ¡°Is there nothing I can do to support your task?¡± ¡°This may not be my place to say this, but should a king offer to support an unknown mission?¡± The king¡¯s composure cracked, just for an instant. Did I go too far? ¡°A king¡¯s affairs should be left to a king.¡± Was this the first time he pulled his rank over me? ¡°When a king decides to reward someone for their services, then a reward shall be given. Beyond what you may consider petty or complicated politics, an obligation to repay a debt owed supersedes all.¡± Wow, he knew more about my thoughts than he seemed to let on. Now that I think about it, though, during those days I was passed out, those Harbingers also probably found out more about me than they let on...but, how much did they find out. I pulled away from those thoughts and looked directly into the king¡¯s eyes. If anyone else had been watching, they might have thought I had just silently challenged him in some way. I tried probing the king¡¯s expression but I garnered nothing. If he truly knew even more about me, I had no way of knowing from simply looking. ¡°The Harbingers¡­¡± I said, testing to see if the king would let something slip. Nothing happened. No, I¡¯m thinking too much about this. If the Harbingers really knew everything about me, I definitely would not be in this situation right now. The king was just good at guessing some of my private thoughts. It was not that hard of a guess, either, was it? I did not stand on ceremony with him and I rarely changed my tone of speaking. But still...how much did the Harbingers know? And why exactly am I assuming they are so skilled? Could they really find out so much information on a traveler who came to this kingdom for the first time only weeks ago? ¡°You require the services of the Harbingers?¡± the king asked. I was taken aback by the sudden question. However, I quickly realized he said that in an attempt to complete what I was trying to say earlier with that little test. Perhaps he thought the continued silence was me having difficulty asking for such a thing. ¡°The Harbingers are meant to serve the interests of the crown, without even taking on requests from any of the nobility.¡± Oh, so this was something difficult to ask for. ¡°But, if they can be of some use to you, please feel free to speak what is on your mind.¡± I am actually being lent royal agents? How bad would it be to tell him that this was not what I had in mind? I mean, what would I even do with them? ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± do I just say it? That¡¯s not what I meant. What if I just roll with it and ask for them to do something for me? Something that seems important but isn¡¯t. They deal with gathering intelligence, right? I can just ask to learn about something? No, it¡¯s not that simple. It would have to be something I couldn¡¯t just learn from having access to a library. ¡°It seems you are still struggling to say what you want. I give you my word, Braith. what you say shall be kept confidential. Only the two of us and whomever else you want to know will know.¡± But, there isn¡¯t something that I want to know that...well, I mean, of course there is. Hey, you know what? Here¡¯s the thing; I found my daughter randomly in the snow one day and I am trying to find her original home and parents right now based on a dream she had. Do you think you could gather any relevant information on this? ¡°Um¡­¡± No! Of course I¡¯m not going to just ask for that! But, why not? I think King Henrik seems trustworthy enough. I mean, I was willing to let him watch over Flora. That¡¯s different though! This is Tasha we are talking about here! What¡¯s the big deal? Yeah, it sounds ridiculous...really ridiculous...what am I even- ¡°Shut up!¡± I suddenly shouted to end my internal argument. A quick look at the king told me that the last bit was definitely not kept inside my head. ¡°Braith?¡± he spoke with concern. ¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± I apologized hurriedly. ¡°My mind was...it was...anyways, about my, uh, request...¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°...yeah¡­¡± I tried to muster up something more cogent, but my mind was still a bit rattled over both my inner turmoil and outburst. ¡°Did you recall some painful memory?¡± No, it wasn¡¯t quite like that. Not that I am lacking in any of those from the past. Even more recently, there was the incident with- ¡°Yes, I¡¯m truly sorry about shouting like that out of nowhere. You see, something terrible happened before I arrived in Brennan.¡± ¡°Oh, what happened?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t right before coming here, but initially, my daughter and I were traveling with a merchant. He...he was a good man. But, when I wasn¡¯t around...he was killed.¡± ¡°Oh, I am sorry to hear that.¡± ¡°It...it wasn¡¯t an easy death. He was mortally wounded by stab wounds, but what ended his life was poison. I must confess that vengeance had been on my mind. I want to find those who robbed and murdered him.¡± This was not quite a lie, but there was an initial tinge of guilt over using Dennis¡¯ murder to settle my matter with the king. However, as I recalled Dennis¡¯ final moments, my seething feelings of vengeance started to boil once more. ¡°I see. You want to use Harbingers to help you track these murderers down. To kill and rob a merchant, these people must be either very bold or very reckless. They are exactly the sort that should not escape punishment.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly!¡± No, this is not just some cover up. I swore that I would avenge Dennis. If I can get my hands on the info I need then I will finish this. ¡°Unfortunately, the Harbingers are limited to acting within Brennan.¡± When I looked at him with sudden confusion, he elaborated. ¡°Following the War of the Nines, the nations came together and signed a treaty. In that treaty we agreed to a number of things including restrictions over the use of military force in the Outlands. If these fiends were in Brennan, there would be no issue over using the Harbingers. However, they can only be deployed beyond our borders under exceptional conditions.¡± ¡°Oh, well, that might not be an issue.¡± For the first time, King Brennan was the one to look confused. ¡°I¡¯ve been tracking them somewhat. Not too closely, but there is a good chance they came to Brennan.¡± This was just a guess, but it was as if I suddenly had an epiphany. Judging by the route they had taken so far, they were going to major nations, probably to sell off their stolen goods. Well, they were last seen in the wastelands north of Brennan so it was possible they continued towards the Dridam Plains instead, but that would not be the end of it. If the Harbingers search for them in Brennan and find no trace of them, then I will know where they headed towards instead. Yes, it would be harder to find them in that case, but my initial destination is the Dridam Plains anyways. ¡°Is that so? How confident are you in that?¡± ¡°I believe there is a decent chance. Although, if that¡¯s not good enough, I suppose we can forget about this.¡± I would not be too pleased with letting it end like this, and King Brennan thought the same. ¡°No, I did not mean to suggest something like that. However, is there at least some other clues that would help the Harbingers find these people?¡± Clues? I¡¯m not the tracker here. I don¡¯t know what they really looked like or much else about them, so I decided to just say whatever I could recall. After saying what I could remember, it was clear that neither of us were convinced this would work too well. No matter what, after what I resolved myself to, I did not want to just give up on finding them. Then, I remembered one last thing I had that could be used. But, it could pose problems to bring it up. No, this time, I will take the risk. ¡°There is one last thing that I have. It is a map that once belonged to the merchant. I retrieved it from someone that purchased it.¡± ¡°Is there something special about this map?¡± ¡°It contains his own writing. If someone else has purchased a map from the bandits, it may also have his writing on it.¡± ¡°Ah, I see. Yes, if that really did happen, it may be possible to find them.¡± ¡°So, you agree, then?¡± The king smiled briefly. ¡°Yes, I believe this is a suitable reward for your actions. I will call on Harbingers in this city and relay my order.¡± ¡°Great, thanks.¡± ¡°May you pass me the map now or do you need to fetch it from your baggage?¡± ¡°I...have to get it first.¡± ¡°Very well. I will direct one of the Harbingers to retrieve the map from you later.¡± I nodded and made ready to leave. The king said nothing else and I exited the throne room. After finding the map, I waited in my room. Less than half an hour later, I hear a knock on my door. ¡°Who is it?¡± I asked. ¡°It is Sir Decius,¡± the familiar voice seeped past the door. ¡°His Majesty has given his orders for a new mission and informed me that you are currently in possession of something crucial.¡± Did he really have to say it like that? I opened the door with the map in hand. As expected, there he was standing outside, but despite the obviousness, I still felt somewhat surprised. No, that¡¯s not quite right. Shaken? Unsettled? Maybe I just didn¡¯t want to see him at all. ¡°Yeah, I have this map with writing on it.¡± I passed the map over and he gingerly took it from me. He carefully looked it over and although his mouth was still covered, it felt like he was smiling at me. ¡°Is this your blood?¡± His voice lacked any hint of accusation or genuine curiosity. It was as if this was just small talk. ¡°The bloodstains on the map,¡± he continued when I did not immediately answer. Briefly, I wondered if a joking response could make this go over smoother. Another look at his eyes told me no. It¡¯s not like there was any malice or any other discernible negative sentiment coming from him, but I just did not want to kid around with him. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s mine.¡± I could sense his unseen smile widening slightly. ¡°Must have been a rather troublesome retrieval.¡± ¡°It was,¡± I responded curtly. Decius seemed to take the hint and stopped asking any more questions. ¡°Well, I shall excuse myself. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, sir Braith.¡± He gave a small bow and stepped away from the doorway in a manner as to not expose his back to me as he left. Was that being cautious or respectful? I guess I shall take it as a compliment in either case. After he left, I spent some time organizing my thoughts on everything that happened today. It only took a moment to realize that a lot has changed since the day began. Whatever mastery of the Thousand Bolts I had has been mostly reset, and I¡¯ve changed my mind on two major things I had resolved to never go back on: going to the Dridam Plains and leaving Flora in Brennan. Is it fine to live such a fickle life? Probably not. Does that mean I¡¯m going to change my mind yet again? Well...at the very least, I should consult Flora and Tasha about our future plans. As for my powers...if I can help it I would rather not let anyone else know. I can only hope I will have recovered by the time we leave. Which we definitely will. Definitely. I let out an audible sigh and lay down on my bed. Just another few moments of rest, please. Chapter 39 Later in the day, I brought Tasha and Flora to my room and explained to them what I had done. As far as I could tell, they had no problems, neither with the delayed stay nor the possible change in destination and its reason. I feared that their tacit approval of the latter may have been due to a misunderstanding so I did my best to clarify. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill them. Every last one of them. When I find them, I will kill them.¡± Flora wore a concerned expression and said nothing. ¡°I don¡¯t think you should,¡± Tasha said with a strangely calm demeanour. ¡°Tasha, I¡¯m not going to get into the same pointless moral argument with you.¡± ¡°I know, but I¡¯m not talking about morals this time.¡± ¡°Oh? Then why not?¡± ¡°Because it would be a crime.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t that a reason to not do a lot of other things I¡¯ve already done?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think the King and the Princess would want you to do this.¡± I stared hard into Tasha¡¯s eyes. ¡°I mean...what if killing them creates a bigger problem.¡± ¡°A bigger problem than letting them go? A bigger problem than letting them rob and kill someone else?¡± It was clear to see Tasha was already faltering. I took no pleasure in seeing this. I know she makes these pleas with me because of her sense of justice and ethics, and as a parent, I never want her to stop. If there¡¯s one thing I don¡¯t want her to blindly copy about me, it¡¯s my personality. ¡°But, what if they are already caught?¡± she finally managed to argue. ¡°You won¡¯t break into their cells and kill them,¡± she said more as a demand than a question. As far as my want for revenge went, maybe that would be going too far. ¡°No, I wouldn¡¯t do something like that,¡± I relented. Thinking on it a bit further, if the Harbingers actually find them in Brennan, it really would just end like that, wouldn¡¯t it? Interfering with this kingdom¡¯s laws goes way beyond what I am willing to do. But, that doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t at least be making an appeal. ¡°One way or another, though, they will die.¡± Flora¡¯s expression fluctuated between mild and great concern throughout the entire conversation and Tasha ended this discussion with a solemn nod. A notion of her reluctant acceptance of what I¡¯ve become in only three months. Or maybe, that¡¯s just what I¡¯ve always been like and it only took killing a single person to realize this. It was somewhat awkward to immediately carry on with a new conversation after that, so I took my leave. I still didn¡¯t tell either of them about the reversion of my guardian spirit powers, so I went to find somewhere to privately use them. Unfortunately, there was almost no improvement from yesterday as I found myself reeling over in pain and panting breathlessly after less than thirty seconds of four bolts. After picking myself back up and still feeling a bit unsteady, I decided to not push myself any further that day. However, what should I do for the rest of the day? I aimlessly wandered around the palace for a while before suddenly encountering Decius in the hallway. ¡°Ah, good morning, Sir Braith. Are you having a pleasant day so far?¡± Yeah, no matter what he says, it just never sounds sincere. ¡°Didn¡¯t the king task you with a mission?¡± I asked, ignoring his greeting. ¡°Indeed, and I have already sent out the missives to other Harbingers.¡± ¡°So, what are you doing here, then? Are you too important to go yourself?¡± ¡°Important?¡± Decius asked as he brought a hand to his masked cheek. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just a matter of priorities. I have other duties to attend to here in the capital. Rest assured, though, Sir Braith, very capable Harbingers from multiple divisions are presently undertaking the mission.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...good to hear,¡± I said, wanting to put an end to my complaints. Decius gave me his usual invisible smile. ¡°Is there anything else you¡¯d like to ask?¡± ¡°No, not really¡­¡± ¡°Hmmmm?¡± I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his inquisitiveness. ¡°Nothing that I think you can really help with.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so sure about that. What¡¯s on your mind?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just¡­¡± I considered my words very carefully, ¡°wondering what to do for the rest of the day.¡± Maybe I should have thought a bit longer. ¡°Looking for ways to relieve your boredom, is that it?¡± That wasn¡¯t quite it, but I didn¡¯t want him to know what was really on my mind. ¡°You could say that.¡± ¡°Well, as plain as it is in some respects, this palace has a fair number of amenities available. Is there perhaps a particular desire you wish to sate?¡± I did not like the way he put that. Not one bit. ¡°If this palace really has so much, I¡¯d like to hear about all available options, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± I thought I could see just the tiniest hint of a smirk. ¡°Truth be told, as much as I¡¯d love to give you a personal tour, I¡¯m actually on the way to somewhere right now.¡± Good, he¡¯s finally going to leave. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Well, sorry to have taken up your time,¡± I said, forcibly making it sound as insincere yet unsarcastic as possible. ¡°Not at all. Also, if you are in need of it, there is a servant just around the corner. If you ask, I¡¯m sure she would be more than willing to attend to your needs.¡± Decius bowed slightly and left. I didn¡¯t like how Decius got in the last word like that but I would leave it at that. As I turned the corner, there was indeed a servant sweeping the floor. She instantly made a big berth between the two of us and bowed low when she saw me. Well, do I find someone else? After a brief moment in thought, I made my decision. ¡°Do you know if there is someone who can show me around the palace?¡± **** ¡°I must say, I did not expect this,¡± I said, voicing my opinion to the one guiding me. ¡°Oh, think nothing of it, Braith. If anything, it was an oversight on my part to not have provided you with a tour until now,¡± the king said. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure a servant would suffice.¡± ¡°Only if I had properly instructed them to begin with. However, with me, you can be certain that you shall see any part of the palace you wish to visit.¡± Well, couldn¡¯t you just relay that to the one servant who will guide me around? ¡°I understand. In that case, thank you in advance.¡± Yeah, let¡¯s not get into an argument like that. He¡¯s already here anyways. ¡°Such gratitude is unwarranted for something such as this. Now, where to first? You¡¯ve already visited the gardens, but perhaps you¡¯d like to visit its overlooking balcony?¡± ¡°I would prefer to remain indoors, if possible.¡± ¡°Of course. Tell me, do you smoke? We have a parlour with quite the selection.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t smoke.¡± ¡°I see. How about swimming? We also have a large pool for such leisure.¡± ¡°I can swim, but I think I¡¯m more in the mood for something else.¡± I can already tell this isn¡¯t going to be much of a tour. ¡°Well then, maybe the lounge? It also duals as an art gallery of sorts.¡± ¡°What sort of art?¡± I asked, my interest piqued. ¡°Paintings, sculptures, and other such artisan works.¡± Oh, right. Yeah, that would be the typical art. Besides, what would be the point in seeing that other kind of art¡­ ¡°Ah...maybe another time.¡± The king gave me a look as if to ask me to just outright tell him what I was looking for already. Maybe this really was just pointless. Should I just find a quiet place again and torture myself until I can regain my powers? ¡°Is there a nice, quiet place where I can seclude myself?¡± Might as well just ask for this. It would be more than awkward if someone finally walks in on me during the next time. ¡°Well, I have a private study.¡± That¡¯s too much. Just imagining myself doing that in the king¡¯s private room...let¡¯s avoid that. ¡°That¡¯s not quite what I had in mind¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­.¡± As patient as the king has been so far, am I perhaps starting to push at its limits? ¡°The royal library, then?¡± ¡°The library?¡± It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve come across written books, I had nearly forgotten about the existence of libraries. ¡°Yes, we have a modest collection of books kept in the palace. Have you ever been to a library before?¡± The king appears to have misinterpreted my apparent bewilderment. ¡°I have¡­¡± in my old world, many times in the past, ¡°not been to any libraries.¡± If the king went on to ask me which ones I had been to, the discrepancies of my past would likely have been impossible to explain. ¡°I have heard of them, but I have never had the pleasure of visiting any of them.¡± ¡°In that case, I would be more than happy to invite you to ours, assuming you are willing of course.¡± ¡°I¡¯d love to see your library.¡± Amazingly, this was not a lie. Despite living in Midgard for the past eight years, I knew precious little about this world, its culture, histories, and many other manner of details. What I learned from Lars in Befson sufficed for living out my daily life and avoiding extreme misunderstandings, but it went little more than that. Other than some sparse details about the War of the Nines, Lars told me little about the various countries of Midgard. I assumed it was because he simply did not know much about them, but from time to time, I thought maybe he just didn¡¯t want to recall certain things. With all of this mind, I shall show no restraint in learning all I can during my time in the capital. When we arrived, I saw a couple of guards posted right outside the library¡¯s doors. Based on that, it was clear that these books were quite important. For a moment, I was concerned that this visit was more of a token gesture, but these doubts were assuaged when he introduced me to a man named Boris seated at a desk inside the library. He was the royal librarian and the king gave him express orders to show me around the room and help me find any resource that I wished to peruse. Boris nodded in acknowledgement, but I could tell from the way he glanced at me that he did not exactly think I was suited to being in such a place. As if to directly address this, the king asked me a question. ¡°Braith, you can read, right?¡± I blinked a couple of times at him. He then pointed at a book located on the nearest shelf. ¡°Do you know what the title of that book is?¡± I tried reading the king¡¯s expression to verify whether or not this was a joke. ¡°An Early History of Enchanting Masterwork Arms and Armours...by Lord Addison Vaughn.¡± The king cast his gaze over to the royal librarian, but he still did not seem too approving of me. At the very least, based on the king¡¯s reaction, he had no real doubts over my literacy. ¡°Have you ever read anything on this subject?¡± ¡°I have not.¡± ¡°How about on enchanting or smithing in general?¡± ¡°I am not well-informed on either topic.¡± ¡°Are they things that you are interested in?¡± ¡°To some degree.¡± The royal librarian coughed. ¡°Ah, it is probably time for me to return to my duties now. Well then, farewell, Braith. I hope you find whatever you are looking for here.¡± ¡°Thank you, your Majesty.¡± I restrained the reflex to bow as Boris did when the king took his leave. He scowled at me before seating himself once more. Well, as long as he doesn¡¯t get in my way, I was fine with this. I scanned the various volumes before eventually coming across a book that clearly looked to be newer than most of the other ones. The Treaty of Ironshield: Aftermath of the Nines¡¯ War. I guess this looks promising. ********************** During the following ten days, I spent most of my time reading books in the library. In addition to the first two books from the first day, I read over a dozen other books. This was not because I was an exceptionally fast reader, though. Most of the books, although some of which were quite thick, were printed with a larger font size and on thicker paper than the books I was used to reading. Well, I guess they had the size and feel more similar to children¡¯s books, although their length and the topics they covered were much different. During this time, I was frequently invited to more training or sparring sessions, which I declined, as well as tea parties with Leonora, Flora and Tasha, which I accepted one time. Honestly, it wasn¡¯t that bad, and I did enjoy the food, but I just felt so out of place. You could say that three girls at once was more than I could handle alone, but I would say it was just better if the three of them spent time together without me instead. In the end, I politely declined further invitations, insisting that I had found some books in the library that I just had to finish reading. Spending so much time reading first started off as a way to kill time, and then an excuse to avoid others, but after a while, I found it to be a rather relaxing quotidian. I was a great student¡­initially, but even back then, it wasn¡¯t like I was like that because I really enjoyed it. I just wanted to live up to my expectations. But, having the time to peacefully do something, learn something interesting that might actually be useful, and knowing that I didn¡¯t have to do more for someone to¡­knowing that it was fine just doing what I was doing so far put my mind at ease as the days went by. On the tenth day, I even briefly forgot about what I was waiting for as I took out another book to begin my day in the library once more. Before I even finished reading the first few pages, though, the doors to the library opened. ¡°You, what are you doing here?¡± Albert, the royal librarian asked. I looked up from my book to see what was going on. Then, I saw Decius casually enter and immediately look in my direction, completely ignoring Albert. Initially perplexed, I just looked back in confusion. ¡°Answer me,¡± Albert demanded in a strong voice, but restraining himself from shouting. ¡°We have received all of the reports,¡± Decius began, looking straight at me as Albert got up from his desk. ¡°Would you like to hear them now?¡± I could sense Decius¡¯ invisible smile as he asked me that question. It took a couple seconds for things to finally click in my head. ¡°Y- you found them?¡± I spluttered out as Albert walked right up to Decius. Decius continued to ignore Albert as he walked past him and went right up to the table where I was seated. ¡°Follow me,¡± he said, symbolically extending out one hand to me. Chapter 40 I followed Decius without another word. Not because I was able to glean any answers from him, but because I felt it was pointless to ask again. He was going to make the report in the throne room, so at most, I would only need to wait for another five to ten minutes. However, after less than a minute of quietly following him, my heart rate quickly started rising. For the first time in a long time, my heart was racing not due to physical exhaustion, but anxiety. Is this it? Have the Harbingers really located the people who killed Dennis? Where are they now? Are they being held captive by the Harbingers right now? Maybe they are being tortured for more information, or maybe that¡¯s already occurred? I let out a weird mix of an exasperated sigh and a laugh. Serves them right¡­but it also feels somewhat hollow. I always felt like these people were some of my first real enemies. The kind that I could never accept just living free. Yet, they were also the only enemies I have that I¡¯ve never met. No, from their perspective, I guess I wouldn¡¯t be their enemy at all. To them, I don¡¯t even exist. As these jumbled thoughts rolled around in my mind, though, I recalled that fateful day. That unnerving feeling when I first came across the wreckage in Reapers¡¯ Pass, and then those final words Dennis spoke to me. And then, his lifeless body that we had to bury despite my desperate attempt to find him aid. My mind also briefly drifted over towards Jack Free and Destiny as well, since they happened so close together, but I quickly shook my head to reorganize myself. Where was I getting at again? ¡°You are quiet today,¡± Decius spoke up, to my surprise. I hesitated before replying. ¡°I don¡¯t think I am usually talkative.¡± Decius laughed. Was what I said really that funny to him? ¡°I suppose that might be true. I think I¡¯m the one who usually talks.¡± I don¡¯t disagree with that. ¡°Still, though, surely you must want to say something?¡± ¡°I already asked my question, and you didn¡¯t answer.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Well, about that¡­hmmmm¡­technically, I really should not have gone to you at all.¡± I paused, but when I saw Decius continuing to walk without looking back, I ran over to him, this time matching his pace right next to him so that we could look at each other, during which I think I finally cared to notice that I was quite a bit taller than him. For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw a tinge of surprise before sensing his usual invisible smile. ¡°Oh, well, isn¡¯t this a welcome surprise? Are you starting to warm up to me?¡± I ignored his question. ¡°What do you mean you shouldn¡¯t have gone to me?¡± ¡°Well, although the investigation was for your benefit, His Majesty was the one who commissioned it. Technically, the full report should be made to him first, and then you would be informed later.¡± I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but that answer¡­actually made a lot of sense. For people specialized in information gathering, this does not seem a deviation from standard protocol. ¡°Then¡­should I just wait outside?¡± I asked. Decius laughed again. ¡°Well, what¡¯s the difference at this point? Better to just continue with what we¡¯re doing.¡± ¡°Are you not one to care much for professionalism?¡± Decius laughed harder this time. What is going on here? Decius has always felt like he wanted to come across as a very amicable person, but it often felt fake. But now? If I didn¡¯t know any better, he seemed to genuinely be in an extremely good mood. Or at least, he was putting a lot more effort into acting like that was the case. ¡°Professionalism, eh? Well, for a knight making a report to their nation¡¯s king, yes, I suppose I am overstepping my bounds.¡± I didn¡¯t think he would openly admit to that. ¡°Yes, I wouldn¡¯t normally ever do something like that¡­¡± I then heard something that almost sounded like a giggle. ¡°Tell me, sir Braith, after having made such a mistake, what do you think I should do?¡± After a moment of silence, I felt like he was actually asking the question seriously. ¡°Um, you really want my advice?¡± ¡°I would love to hear it.¡± ¡°Um¡­we could still pretend like you haven¡¯t told me anything yet. Just go on ahead without me, and I will wait in my room to be called in later.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that annoy you, though? Having to wait like that? You¡¯d even have to act surprised when I bring you in later, too.¡± ¡°...Yeah, that would be annoying,¡± I answered bluntly. ¡°Well, we can¡¯t have that, then. How about a second option?¡± ¡°Really?¡± Decius¡¯ eyes seemed to look at me expectantly as he continued to walk at the same pace. ¡°He- His Majesty doesn¡¯t seem like¡­someone to care too much about following strict rules? I mean, maybe he normally is, but¡­I mean, if I say I want to be there when you first give the report¡­he¡¯d probably let it slide, I think.¡± Decius kept looking at me, as if expecting me to say even more. When I didn¡¯t, he seemed to tilt his head just a little bit. ¡°You could apologize, too. I mean, I guess I could also apologize?¡± I don¡¯t even know why I felt compelled to add more. Also, apologize? Why should I apologize? I¡¯m the one who is suddenly being caught up in this inconvenience. ¡°Oh, would you do that with me?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Despite my annoyance, I found myself almost reflexively acceding. Decius¡¯ actions and mannerisms have often left me feeling a bit unnerved, but today, I felt especially overwhelmed. Decius then brought his hands together, as if clapping once. ¡°Wonderful. Then, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem, after all.¡± I know I saved the king¡¯s life and this whole report is about him owing me a favour, but still, I feel like he is strangely putting in way too much trust in me. If I could, I wanted to probe more into this, but Decius continued talking. ¡°In that case, since you¡¯re doing me a favour, perhaps I should do one for you as well?¡± ¡°A favour?¡± Is he serious? I still barely know anything about the Harbingers, but if one of their Captains is offering to do me a favour, that should be a pretty big deal. ¡°Yes. One that would be an appropriate level of reciprocation?¡± What does that mean? I mean, I don¡¯t think I would really be doing anything big for him, so does he mean a small favour? Also, this is just moving way too fast. ¡°No, don¡¯t do that.¡± Decius is just coming across way too positive towards me right now. He must be up to something. And even if he isn¡¯t¡­well, that¡¯s kind of scarier. ¡°You don¡¯t owe me anything. In fact, just forget about everything we were talking about earlier. We are just going to go in there together, and whatever happens happens.¡± Decius gave a delayed and exaggerated reaction of surprise. I knew it was fake because his eyes were smiling at me before he did it. ¡°Oh, dear! You will really hang me out to dry like this, sir Braith! Please, sir Braith, I implore you to come to my aid!¡± Strangely, I like this over-the-top acting much better. ¡°No, you¡¯ll just have to reap what you sow,¡± I said, kind of fake glaring at him. Honestly, what¡¯s the big deal? Yeah, this will probably be a bit outside of standard procedure, but this information was ultimately intended for me anyways. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Well, if that¡¯s how you feel,¡± Decius said, looking at me with bright eyes. ¡°I guess there¡¯s no helping it then. I hope you¡¯ll think of me if I end up as a fugitive.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± I replied, playing along, and not really caring to engage any further. Soon afterwards, we arrived at the throne room. This was my last chance to turn back around, but Decius immediately opened the doors and motioned for me to follow him. Well, obviously, I can¡¯t just go back now. Also, once I saw those doors opened, any thoughts of being patient completely disappeared. I walked in after him, and I saw the king seated on his throne. He was a bit far away, so even if he was surprised, he didn¡¯t give any obvious enough indication for me to notice. Decius kept walking towards the king and I followed after him. When he was about fifteen steps away, he smoothly knelt down on one knee. ¡°Your Majesty, your loyal subject has come to make his report.¡± I stood awkwardly behind him, not sure if I should be kneeling as well. King Henrik looked from Decius and then to me. Is this actually bad? As I started to think about that, he smiled at me. ¡°I am impressed with your speed. Braith, you must be waiting with great anticipation, so let us hear it without any further delay.¡± I nodded at the king and Decius got back up. ¡°During the past ten days, the Harbingers have investigated the records of any individual or group that has entered and exited Brennan with trading cargo in the past two months. In addition to that, we followed up with tracking down any individuals or groups claiming to be merchants who dealt with adventuring gear such as maps, compasses and camping equipment. From there, we secured a total of eleven maps that were sold in the past two months.¡± Decius then seemed to produce a map from beneath his cloak. He unfurled it, revealing it as the map I gave him earlier. ¡°We compared the writing on those maps with the map that sir Braith provided to us. Based on our analysis, there was only a single map that contained similar writing. Based on all of the above, our findings strongly suggest that the group that sir Braith is looking for entered Brennan from the north a month ago and left from the south a week ago.¡± ¡°Left?¡± I blurted out my question. Decius looked at me calmly. ¡°Yes, unfortunately, it appears they had already left Brennan¡¯s borders by the time a Harbinger reached the particular southern checkpoint that they exited from.¡± I stared ahead blankly as Decius continued his report. ¡°The group was composed of ten individuals, traveling with three carriages in total. In addition to adventuring gear, they also sold various luxury goods. When we tried to identify their members based on the permits they received based on their Merchants¡¯ Guild membership, we found that it belonged to a merchant by the name of Dennis Loharn.¡± Decius looked at me but I didn¡¯t notice what kind of look he was giving me, as I was seething with anger. To think those bastards used Dennis¡¯ guild membership to trade their stolen goods. ¡°It appears Mr. Loharn¡¯s death was yet to be reported to the Merchants¡¯ Guild. In the interests of keeping this investigation confidential, we have chosen to not report it, either.¡± That last comment briefly shook me up. Wait, is this my fault? Could they have gotten this far if I had done something earlier? But, what could I have done? There were no guildhouses in the Outlands that I traveled through, and it¡¯s not like I was in a position to make a report to the Merchants¡¯ Guild in the Nature Clan. The earliest I could have done this was when I reached Brennan, but the first place to actually have a guildhouse was Ironshield. I smacked myself hard in the face at that realization. I was going to do that! I even asked for directions to it! But, on the way¡­ ¡°Braith!¡± the king¡¯s shout cut through my train of thought. I looked at him as he stared back at me with a piercing gaze. When our eyes met for long enough, he turned to Decius with an even sharper gaze. ¡°Sir Decius, exactly when did these people last receive a trading permit in Brennan?¡± Decius wasn¡¯t the least bit perturbed by the king¡¯s gaze, and continued with a light-hearted tone. ¡°That would be fifteen days ago, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°And what would have been the procedure to report a merchant¡¯s death?¡± ¡°Most commonly, outside of a representative of the guildhouse physically seeing the body, you can also produce a death certificate. Other than that, you would need to report the death and produce some sort of evidence and usually at least one valuable possession that belonged to the merchant, which is usually their membership token.¡± ¡°Assuming you could produce any kind of evidence with the report, how long would it take for the death to actually be processed by the Merchants¡¯ Guild.¡± ¡°If it was done by the specific guildhouse where the merchant first received their membership, it could be done as quickly as a day or two. Otherwise, it could range anywhere from a week to more than two months, since the originating guildhouse would need to verify the report. Regardless, for every guildhouse to have that information at hand, it would take up to two months or more.¡± My distraught expression quickly turned to anger again. Decius smiled at me. Are you messing with me right now?! ¡°I see. Moving on,¡± the king began, having already gotten the information I most needed to hear at the moment, ¡°what else have you learned about them?¡± ¡°There weren¡¯t many reports of what these people looked like, which suggested that they were not dressed out of the ordinary. Out of what was notable and consistent, though, was that the one who took the lead in doing the trades wore a green hat.¡± That instantly triggered my memories of Dennis¡¯ last words. ¡°That''s them! That¡¯s definitely them!¡± ¡°Ah, hold on, just one more thing, sir Braith.¡± Decius produced one more map from underneath his cloak and unfurled it for me. ¡°This is the particular map with similar writing. Could you please verify the similarity?¡± I didn¡¯t even need to look closely. It looked exactly the same. I glared at Decius again. After the way he was acting earlier, why was he doing this now? Decius smiled at me, seemingly bemused by how silently upset I was with him. Believe me, normally I wouldn¡¯t hold myself back after being toyed like this, but the king was also in the room. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the same writing.¡± ¡°Well, since you agree, that concludes the report of our findings,¡± Decius said with a warm tone as he rolled up the maps and returned the first map back to me. I took the map back and begrudgingly thanked him. King Henrik thanked him as well and then looked at me with concern. ¡°Unfortunately, we couldn¡¯t track them down quickly enough, but I promise to help you in whatever way I can to make sure they are eventually captured,¡± the king said, attempting to reassure me. ¡°Also, since they are masquerading as merchants, that greatly narrows down the next possible destinations,¡± Decius chimed in. I thought your report was done? ¡°If they are confident enough to use their victim¡¯s membership, they might even be bold enough to eventually make their way to Deimos. Or, even if they aren¡¯t willing to do that, they clearly would still like to offload more of their goods.¡± Decius laughed. ¡°Honestly, they might be a little trapped.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, they can¡¯t expect to make much profit in small villages, so they need to go to the largest towns or cities. If they come back up north to Brennan, then unbeknownst to them, they will be walking straight to their doom.¡± Yes, of course the Harbingers would catch them if they were to return. ¡°Next, they could choose to go east instead. Deimos is the largest city in the Outlands and is a major trading hub, but that¡¯s actually a huge risk, because that is where Mr. Loharn registered. Undoubtedly, even as a newer merchant, there would be a fair number of people who would know who he is.¡± ¡°Okay, but what about going south to Holtzan or west to the Nature Clan? How is that bad for them?¡± ¡°It is easy to leave Holtzan, but significantly more difficult to enter without notice. As for the Nature Clan¡­¡± Decius seemed to suppress a giggle, ¡°...that is not even worth considering at the moment.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I asked again. ¡°Sir Decius, I believe you said the findings of your report were concluded,¡± the king interjected, to my surprise. ¡°Does this mean what you are saying now is just conjecture on your part?¡± ¡°Well, I suppose you could say that.¡± ¡°I do not find such things very helpful at the moment, then.¡± The king turned to me once more. ¡°I assure you, Braith, we will help however we can, based on what we actually know. If necessary, we could even have a bounty issued for their capture with the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild. For now, please do not worry and relax. Do whatever you can at the moment to put you at ease. Something like this need not be rushed.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± I took this as my cue to leave so I gave a small bow and left. It probably was for the best for me to not engage any further with Decius, anyways. When I left the throne room, the guards outside closed the door behind me, but I took one last glance behind me and saw Decius looking right at me. The doors closed and I imagined Decius¡¯ smiling eyes. I shook my head and walked away. Yeah, I really hope I don¡¯t have to meet with him anymore. ******* After the doors closed on them once more, King Henrik glared at Decius. ¡°What exactly was the meaning of this?¡± ¡°Whatever do you mean, Your Majesty?¡± Decius asked innocently. ¡°I was informed that I would be receiving the report, but I suddenly see Braith following you here.¡± ¡°I mean, did I say anything you wouldn¡¯t have relayed to him anyways?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point. Why did you, a Harbinger Captain, do something so out of place? Also, the way you were acting with him¡­just what exactly is going on?¡± ¡°Oh, you see, recently, I¡¯ve been wanting to get a lot closer to sir Braith, so I tried to be friendlier with him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what it looked like to me.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I tried first, but he seemed to not really like that. So, I wondered if taking an opposite approach might work better. Well, I don¡¯t think either really worked, but I did get to see some nice reactions out of him.¡± ¡°And why exactly were you trying to do all of that?¡± Decius laughed. ¡°Sir Decius, do not try my patience,¡± the king said in a sterner voice than Braith has ever heard from him. ¡°Actually, there¡¯s a bit more to our findings. This bit is just for you, though.¡± ¡°You were only supposed to look into the people Braith was looking for. Why exactly did you think you had the luxury to do anything else, even if you thought it was on my behalf?¡± There were probably only a handful of people in the kingdom who could stand being in that room right now without fearing the threat of execution or some other heavy punishment. Sir Decius was only someone who didn¡¯t fear the threat, and not someone who thought it to be an impossibility. ¡°This is something for your eyes first, Your Majesty.¡± Decius took out some rolled up paper from underneath his cloak. ¡°Another map?¡± ¡°No, something much better.¡± Decius unfurled it before the king. At first, the king looked at it with mild confusion, but as he continued to read the words on the paper in front of him, Decius smiled when he saw the king unable to completely suppress his shocked reaction. Chapter 41 Shortly after I received the report from Decius, I went to privately meet with Tasha and Flora to share the information. At that time, I was prepared to have to come up with a series of arguments to convince them of my plan, but to my surprise, they had no objections. My plan was to go to Deimos in order to personally report Dennis¡¯ murder and the information I had about the impostor merchants who killed him and his guards. I was also planning to turn down King Henrik¡¯s offer to issue a bounty for them. I didn¡¯t want to risk the chance that Dennis¡¯ murderers would learn about the bounty in advance and there was no point in relaying this to Ironshield¡¯s merchants¡¯ guildhouse since the Harbingers were already monitoring the situation. Also, and this was something I kept to myself, I still wanted to be the one to personally apprehend them. Of course, I am no expert tracker, so the odds of that seemed unlikely, but I still held onto the idea secretly. Flora was entirely open to whatever plan I had for the next step of our journey and Tasha also seemed pleased with our next destination. Although, that may have been because the way I explained it to them made it seem like hunting down the murderers was not the priority. From their perspective, perhaps they just thought I only wanted to act pragmatically to ensure their capture. Of course, that was still important to me, and, after having calmed down, I understood in my head that I definitely did not want to do anything that would actively hinder someone else from bringing them to justice. I informed the king of my decision and he readily agreed to it. He insisted on providing an escort for me to ensure that I can quickly and smoothly exit Brennan. Of course, they would only take me to the border because of the restrictions on sending soldiers and knights into the Outlands. Well, not that I would have accepted if that wasn''t the case. As another piece of good news, the next day, I finally made a breakthrough, or should I say I made a partial recovery. I was able to maintain circulating five bolts throughout my body for over three minutes. Now, my body was at around the level I was at just before fighting against the king of the Nature Clan. I had to have confidence that I would get back to my prior peak soon enough as I couldn¡¯t simply wait around here any longer. Two days after the report, after having a small farewell banquet and having everything prepared for our send-off and escort, we were ready to leave. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t have any further awkward encounters with Decius during this time, but unfortunately, he was present when the king and Leonora saw us off that morning. I wanted to just ignore him, but I couldn¡¯t help notice that Flora and Tasha were looking at him with strange expressions. I wanted to ask the two of them if something happened, but as King Henrik walked over to shake my hand a final time, I couldn¡¯t find a good opportunity for it. ¡°Braith, it has been a great pleasure to have you all here these past two weeks,¡± the king said to me as we shook hands. ¡°We feel the same, Your Majesty.¡± The king smiled as he continued to shake my hand. ¡°Are you sure you do not need me to provide you with any gold for your travels?¡± At this point, I was very tempted to agree to it, but at this point, I felt like I should stick by the character I had established with him. ¡°I don¡¯t need any gold, Your Majesty. The information and escort are already sufficient.¡± The king still did not let go of my hand. ¡°I hope you can understand that I feel that I still haven¡¯t done enough for you.¡± ¡°I understand and appreciate your feelings, Your Majesty, but I did not do what I did in order to receive further rewards.¡± The king finally let go of my hand. ¡°Well, I won¡¯t try to convince you anymore today, then. However, I want you to know that should the opportunity arise, do not hesitate to let others know that the King of Brennan is indebted to you.¡± I had to take a moment to carefully consider my response. As I mulled over the right words, I saw Leonora hugging Flora in the corner of my eye. However, I did not let any thoughts of regret cloud my thoughts. ¡°...I will try not to take advantage of your favour, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Well, if it¡¯s you, I think it should be fine even if you do.¡± ¡°Thank you. I will do my best to live up to the trust you have in me.¡± Finally, it looked like King Henrik was done with what he wanted to say. However, Decius seemed to sense this and chose this moment to step forward. ¡°I wish you safe travels, sir Braith! Although, it would be even safer if I was also tasked to be an escort.¡± Seriously, why are you even here, Decius? I turned away from him, not wanting to speak with him. ¡°Sir Decius, as I understand it, your tasks and duties in the capital should be coming to an end today. Feel free to have yourself and the rest of your squad prepped and ready to leave without having to engage in any formalities.¡± Does this mean that even the king doesn¡¯t know why Decius is here? As I thought this, in the distance, I saw another Harbinger standing off to the side. He was pretty far away, but was that Decius¡¯ squire, Marco? ¡°Oh, there is no need to worry about anything, Your Majesty. The tenth squad is already ready to leave at a moment¡¯s notice. I just wanted to say goodbye to my good friend, sir Braith.¡± Decius seemed to beam a smile at me underneath his mask. ¡°We¡¯re not friends,¡± I stated coldly. If he was going to continue being this annoying, then I felt the need to just make something very clear. ¡°Sir Braith is rather shy. It¡¯s an endearing quality of his,¡± Decius responded without missing a beat. I was surprised to hear such a quick retort, but even more surprised by how well the king was tolerating what I assumed was incredibly rude behaviour. I guess he¡¯s just that good-natured. At that moment, Tasha returned to my side after saying goodbye to Leonora. She held onto my arm and then glared directly at Decius. ¡°He and his daughter are very alike, especially in that aspect.¡± Wait, did something happen between the two of them after all? I didn¡¯t understand it, but I felt the need to glare at Decius as well, but not too fiercely, since the king was watching. ¡°I wish I could speak with you longer, Braith, but I understand you are in a hurry,¡± the king said, bringing an abrupt end to the growing tension. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right,¡± I replied simply. Flora also returned to my side and then the three of us left for the carriage that the king provided to us. From outside, Decius was still trying to catch my attention by enthusiastically waving at me. I immediately looked away, and then I noticed that Flora seemed to be looking at him. ¡°Just ignore him, Flora,¡± Tasha said, also seeming to notice the direction of her gaze. Flora was a bit startled by Tasha''s sudden words, but she tried to quickly recompose herself and gave a small, nervous smile. ¡°Oh¡­um, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s that bad¡­¡± Both Tasha and I looked at her incredulously. Seeing our reactions, Flora looked panicked as she also held up her hands defensively. ¡°I mean- you know¡­¡± Tasha and I continued to stare at her, waiting for her to continue. Her face instantly became flushed and she turned her gaze to the floor. After seeing her start to tremble, I sighed and then pulled Tasha closer to me in order to stop her from staring. ¡°I know that you are kind to a fault, Flora¡­to the extent that you are willing to think that someone like that is a good guy.¡± Well, I won¡¯t deny that he is probably really talented at his work, but that doesn''t excuse all those red flags I¡¯ve noticed about him. ¡°You can even keep thinking that if you want, since, at the very least, he is someone useful to Brennan¡¯s king, but please don¡¯t just blindly believe in other strangers in the future.¡± Flora¡¯s face seemed to scrunch up a bit, as if she wanted to argue, but it was only for a second. In the end, she didn¡¯t say anything in response, and we left the palace grounds. The journey towards the southern border of Brennan was relatively uneventful. We had to set up camp several times due to the length of the journey, but no problems arose. Our escort was composed of a dozen guards, with one of Sir Emmerick¡¯s squires as the leader. Each breakfast, lunch and dinner (when it was just the three of us, we usually only ate twice a day) was more luxurious than the usual rations and dried goods we were used to, and from the look of the guards, it was something that was especially prepared. Flora wanted to help with setting up camp or cleaning up, but our escorts insisted on taking care of everything. From the way we were traveling so far, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if someone mistook me as a dignitary of Brennan. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. With so little to do, I had a lot of time to observe and think. And with all that free time, I noticed one morning that Flora¡¯s hair was undone. Everyday I saw her in the palace, except for the first day, her hair was braided on her left side. I didn¡¯t really think much of it, but with nothing else to do, I asked her about that. Leonora did tell me that it was something that she did for Flora, but I thought she would have learned how to do it herself at some point. ¡°Hey, Flora, how come your hair isn¡¯t braided today?¡± I meant to use a very casual, non-confrontational tone, but the way she looked at me made it feel like I must have failed to do so. Was my tiredness making it sound harsher than I intended? ¡°I mean, not like I think that you need to do your hair in any particular kind of fashion.¡± Flora fidgeted nervously, as if she was in trouble. ¡°No, seriously, it¡¯s just a simple question. You don¡¯t even have to answer it if you don¡¯t want to. I just thought you did it since it looked nice.¡± Flora looked up at me with a bit of confusion. ¡°You think it looked nice?¡¯ she asked. Wait, did she not actually like it? Did she just put up with it because of Leonora? ¡°Did you not like it?¡± I asked with a hint of concern. ¡°...I liked it.¡± I did not have full confidence in her muttered response. ¡°You really liked it? You¡¯re not just saying this because of Princess Leonora?¡± Flora hesitated to respond for a bit, and then shook her head. ¡°No, I liked it. You also thought it looked nice?¡± I took a second to think about her response. ¡°Yes, I also thought it looked nice. Do you just not know how to do it yourself?¡± I noticed Flora¡¯s cheeks blushing a little bit, and took that as her answer. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I can braid it for you. If that¡¯s what you want, that is.¡± Flora looked at me in surprise, so I continued speaking. ¡°Believe me, I know it sounds surprising, but I do know how to braid hair.¡± I then paused to consider whether or not to elaborate on the reason why. ¡°Okay, if you don¡¯t mind,¡± Flora responded shyly. Tasha, who had just been quietly observing the whole time, suddenly spoke up. ¡°Dad, you know how to braid hair? How come I¡¯ve never seen you do that before?¡± Tasha asked me with a tone of voice indicating that she felt slighted by this sudden revelation. ¡°Just because I can do something, doesn¡¯t mean I will. I mean, the only person I could have braided hair for would have been you.¡± She stared at me with some intensity, as if questioning why I never even thought to offer before. ¡°And I¡¯ve never felt like I needed to do something like that.¡± I gently ran my fingers through several strands of Tasha¡¯s blonde hair, which felt incredibly soft. Shampoo did exist in this world, but it wasn¡¯t something that I could have afforded for everyday use (it may be worth noting that the supplies Hiram gave us included shampoo and ingredients to make more). In Ironshield¡¯s palace, we got to use it regularly, and although the more frequent usage had some noticeable effect on my own hair, it made little little difference to the natural feel of Tasha¡¯s hair. ¡°I think you look perfectly beautiful as you are.¡± I didn¡¯t intend for my words to be uncharacteristically over-the-top or cheesy, but they left Tasha momentarily speechless. Then, she recomposed herself and smiled smugly at me. ¡°Well, of course!¡± Tasha was her usual confident self again, but now Flora looked very embarrassed. Oh, did she misinterpret what I meant. ¡°Flora, I just think Tasha looks great no matter what because I¡¯m her father. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m saying there¡¯s anything wrong with the way you look. I only asked you earlier because I thought you had taken a liking to that particular hairstyle.¡± Judging by Flora¡¯s flushed cheeks, her embarrassment did not abate in the slightest. I decided to just stop talking to her for the moment, and to wait for a later time to re-offer to braid her hair if she still wanted that. When I asked her later, although she responded shyly, she agreed. Fortunately, there weren¡¯t any more awkward moments between us during the carriage ride, and even though it had been many years, I did not have any issues recalling how to braid Flora¡¯s hair similar to how I had done for my cousin in the past. When we finally arrived at the southern border, the commander of that particular fort personally came out to greet us. Seeing the royal crest prominently displayed on our carriages, he must have expected someone of very high rank to show up instead of just me. I figured he would be surprised to see who the escort was for, but he looked perfectly composed, almost as if he was expecting me specifically. We had a brief introduction, and then, because it was already getting close to evening, we rested there for the night. The following morning, after breakfast, the escorts separated out three horses for us to take with us outside of Brennan. I thought three was too many so we only took two instead, with Flora and Tasha sharing one between them. Then, as I was about to get on the horse, the leader of our escorts called out to me. ¡°Sir Braith, before you go, there is one last thing I must present to you.¡± He took out a rather hefty pouch and held it out to me with both hands. ¡°Is this from His Majesty?¡± I asked. ¡°Indeed,¡± the squire responded. ¡°Does he think I would be more inclined to accept his gold if he wasn¡¯t present?¡± ¡°Not at all, Sir Braith. This is not gold.¡± I looked at him quizzically upon hearing his response. I took the pouch from his hands, and from its weight, shape, and the sound of clinking, it certainly seemed like gold. ¡°Please open it.¡± I did as he told and saw a mass of silver coins. After being taken aback for a second, I chuckled. ¡°Gold is no good, but silver should be fine?¡± I asked it quietly to myself, but apparently not quietly enough. ¡°That is indeed His Majesty¡¯s thoughts.¡± I looked back at the squire and saw him wryly smiling at me. I closed the pouch. ¡°Alright, since he¡¯s been so insistent, I will accept it. Relay my thanks to His Majesty.¡± ¡°I shall, Sir Braith!¡± I chuckled to myself again as I casually threw the pouch into the air before catching it. ¡°Also, Sir Braith, I look forward to your future visit.¡± I looked back at him with bemusement. ¡°I will also aim to prove myself as an excellent knight.¡± ¡°Is that comment intended for my daughter?¡± I asked after thinking over the strange remark. He lightly nodded. ¡°Well, give it your best.¡± I doubted he would even be able to land a single hit on Tasha, but I didn¡¯t want to say something that sounded so soul-crushing after seeing the squire¡¯s optimistic expression. I got on the horse and rode over towards Tasha and Flora. As I did, I reflected on how nice it was to have a well-trained and compliant mount. I guess part of the escort preparation was getting tame horses that could be easily given away. Our two horses rode side by side and then we exited Brennan¡¯s Southern Wall. ****************************************************************************************** Shortly after Braith and his escorts left the palace grounds, Marco approached his captain. ¡°Captain, the tenth squad is ready to leave at your command,¡± he reported with a salute. ¡°I already know that, Marco,¡± Decius responded, turning to look at him with the same hidden smile he had on earlier. ¡°If we stay any longer, the nobles in the capital are likely to file their complaints about our prolonged presence,¡± Marco commented, clearly displeased with the current situation. ¡°I guess the big, scary Harbingers will finally need to take their leave.¡± Decius continued to wear a hidden smile, but his tone was much colder now. Marco noticed the difference, but assumed it was because his captain was empathizing with how the Harbingers were treated in Ironshield. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s time for us to leave these ungrateful people behind.¡± Decius said nothing in response, so Marco took that to mean cold agreement. ¡°To think that the other squads even needed to be lap dogs for some outlander.¡± Marco immediately felt an ominous aura overwhelm him. He knew where the source must have come from, but not only was he unsure of what he could have said that was so problematic, but he didn¡¯t sense the slightest change in expression or appearance from his captain. As he was about to stammer out a question, his legs barely able to remain steady, the ominous aura instantly disappeared. ¡°Oh, yes, that was quite a troublesome task,¡± Decius said in a jovial tone, as if nothing had happened. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s at least a good thing that the rest of the tenth squad didn¡¯t have much to do with it since you were busy investigating the capital.¡± Indeed, it was various Harbingers from sixth, seventh, and ninth squads that handled Braith¡¯s investigation, and it was then relayed to Decius for him to make the official report, as it was up to Decius¡¯ discretion to decide how much he was to divulge. Even as the main intelligence force for Brennan, those at the top knew, or at least had the sense that it was not the king that they ultimately served. ¡°Yes, it is unbelievable that multiple Harbinger squads were tasked with something so trivial,¡± Marco said, entirely unaware of Decius¡¯ current thoughts. ¡°We can only hope that we won¡¯t be tasked with something so wasteful for a man like that.¡± Decius looked at his squire and sighed internally. Marco had all the physical ability and potential necessary to be an elite Harbinger, but he was probably too simple-minded to ever be a captain. It would have been so much interesting having someone like Braith as a subordinate. Decius thought a bit more to himself on that thought. Actually, would a subordinate position suit him? Maybe it would have been better if Braith was a captain. The position for ninth squad captain would be opening up soon¡­ah forget it. Decius already had his fun poking and prodding Braith and his two traveling companions. It would have been nice to observe them further, but it was time for him to continue carrying on his professional obligations as a Harbinger captain. ¡°Gather the squad at the rendez-vous point. We depart within the hour,¡± Decius commanded. ¡°At once, Captain!¡± Marco saluted and left to relay the command to the rest of the squad that was waiting on standby. Decius then left for the rendez-vous point by himself. Shortly after exiting the palace gates, though, he noticed a black bird circling around in the sky. Stealthily, Decius nimbly climbed onto the top of a building and did a series of flashes of light using a silver pendant that he wore underneath his shirt. The bird noticed and flew towards Decius. Decius held out a gloved hand, and the raven perched itself upon it. Decius reached for a small, rolled-up piece of paper tied to the raven¡¯s leg and carefully unfurled it. It was written in code, but Decius quickly finished reading it as if it were written plainly. ¡°Oh, Lord-Commander, what a pleasure it is to receive this order.¡± Decius had somewhat begrudgingly accepted the natural order of things, but with this new command, his suppressed desires ignited again. Most of the Harbingers came from common backgrounds, and many of them ended up joining either due to desperate circumstances, or through the belief that they were sincerely repaying either their homeland or their master. However, most of the captains weren¡¯t like that, and among them, Decius became a Harbinger because it seemed interesting. And due to the recent events, currently, no one interested Decius more than Braith. Decius laughed. And laughed. And then laughed again. It was a genuine, uncontrollable laugh that sounded very different in pitch from the fake laughs he let out before. Finally, Decius regained his composure, and prepared a response letter for the raven to carry back. He wrote a coded letter, tied it to the raven¡¯s leg, and then fed it a round pill. After swallowing the pill, the raven took flight to deliver Decius¡¯ letter. After the raven flew off, Decius couldn¡¯t help but laugh one last time. Chapter 42 After the comfortable traveling with the escort earlier, a part of me was worried that it would feel especially rough having to¡­well, rough it again. As it turned out, only I seemed to be missing it, although I never verbalized such complaints. Flora and Tasha easily transitioned back to our previous standard of traveling, and we peacefully made our way closer to Deimos. Deimos was located on the southern side of the Meridiem River, Midgard¡¯s longest river that cuts from the southeast of Midgard and mostly horizontally westward. To get there after leaving Brennan, the shortest and most direct route was to cross through some marshlands around the river. In those marshlands, a stone bridge was constructed over the narrowest part of the river. Fortunately, the direct route was the most common route, and there was a noticeable path leading from Deimos towards the marshlands, having been worn away through frequent travel over more than a century. That, and there were also occasional signposts indicating the estimated distance to either Brennan, the Meridiem Bridge, or the Bronze Territory. From that, it seems the signposts must not have been replaced in a long time. Upon seeing the signs, I also briefly thought back on what happened with the prisoner escape, but honestly, even after everything that happened, I just didn¡¯t have much attachment to that matter. It was Tasha who really wanted to get involved, and she didn¡¯t even say anything when we saw the signs. Less than a week later, we arrived at the Meridiem Marshes, and the Meridiem Bridge would be in sight just a few hours later. When we neared the bridge, I could finally see the Meridiem River. It was an unexpected sight, but upon seeing it, I know realize why crossing by boat was not a viable option. The Meridiem River didn¡¯t just look like it was flowing quickly, but it looked as if it was literally frothing, and further down the river on the eastern side, I could faintly see a mix of white and yellow mist spraying out of the river. Was this the calmer part of the river? I cautiously brought my horse over to the bridge. Giant blocks were set into the ground to serve as the foundation on either side of the bridge, and the stone bridge arced up high above the river, being at least thirty feet above the water level at center of the bridge. I looked back down on the rapidly flowing, frothing river. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tasha asked as I continued to stay rooted. ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to cross the bridge, dad?¡± I looked at her with a bit of confusion. You really do not have an ounce of concern about this river? You don¡¯t even know how to swim! ¡°Are you sensing something?¡± Flora asked with a bit of concern, as she scanned the surroundings around us. Really, you think this is perfectly normal as well? ¡°Oh¡­is that the issue?¡± she asked while looking across the river. Better late than never, I guess. ¡°Yes, I can see them now. There must be at least twenty people on the other side.¡± ¡°What?¡± I blurted out. I strained my eyes and looked across the river, but couldn¡¯t make anyone out, especially with the bridge and the tall grasses of the marshlands obstructing much of my vision. However, if Flora says she sees someone on the other side, I believe her. ¡°What do the people look like? Are they armed?¡± ¡°Um¡­I think they might be. Not sure about the weapons, but I think they are wearing armour. Do you see the same thing?¡± Flora asked, as if there was a chance I could see something she couldn¡¯t. ¡°I can¡¯t see a thing, Flora,¡± I responded bluntly. She turned to face me, looking as if she had made a mistake. ¡°No, Flora, I believe in what you are seeing. Just continue to describe what you see.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Flora looked across the river again. ¡°I think¡­probably leather armour.¡± Flora guided the horse over to another vantage point. ¡°Oh, yes, I think I do see the weapons.¡± ¡°What kind of weapons?¡± ¡°I think I see bows and spears¡­blades as well. They also have wagons and horses.¡± I became much more alert after hearing that description. ¡°And carriages? Do they have any carriages?¡± I asked, barely able to contain my excitement. ¡°...I don¡¯t see any.¡± ¡°Are you sure, Flora? Look again!¡± No, it must be there. These people must be those bastards that were probably stuck here trying to figure out what do next. ¡°...I don¡¯t see any¡­¡± Flora, use your eyes! Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Are you absolutely sure, Flora?! Can you really not see any carriages? W- what about hats? Do you see anyone wearing a green hat?!¡± ¡°Dad!¡± Tasha suddenly shouted at me. ¡°Stop yelling at Flora!¡± Tasha¡¯s words cut through my obsession and I was able to take a second to calm myself down. I was now composed enough to even consider lecturing Tasha about yelling at someone to stop yelling, but after seeing Flora still desperately scanning across the river, I knew this was not the time. ¡°Flora¡­¡± I began in my apologetic tone. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry, I still don¡¯t see anything else.¡± I can¡¯t even apologize properly. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s probably some other group.¡± Flora continued to look across the river. I rode my horse next to hers. ¡°Flora, stop looking. Let¡¯s discuss our next plan.¡± I tried to gently grab her shoulder to get her to stop, but Tasha beat me to it. Flora turned back around and Tasha smiled at her. ¡°Good work spotting them, Flora! What do you think we should do next?¡± Tasha asked energetically. Despite being younger, it¡¯s times like this where Tasha seems more like an older sister. ¡°Yes, good work, Flora. Let¡¯s discuss what we should do now.¡± All I did was parrot Tasha, yet that resulted in an expression of much greater relief from Flora. It made me feel somewhat guilty about how much Flora seems to care about what I think and say. We discussed whether or not we should still cross the bridge, and although I still had some concerns about the river, that wasn¡¯t considered a factor for Flora or Tasha at all. Tasha reasoned that we weren¡¯t going to be in the water at all, and Flora said she didn¡¯t sense there was any risk of danger from crossing the bridge. On the topic of danger, I also asked if she got any sense of that from the group of people on the other side. She said she did not, however, that didn¡¯t mean they were friendly, either. It just meant that she didn¡¯t think they were currently hostile. If we were not willing to take the risk, the next shortest route to get to Deimos would be to head west to go around the river. Attempting to swim or cross the river otherwise was something that we all agreed was not a feasible option. In the end, we voted on what to do. Tasha immediately voted to cross the bridge and fight them all if we needed to. Flora said she would vote for whatever I wanted to do. Tasha didn¡¯t seem very happy about that, and to be honest, I would have liked it if Flora would vote for herself. I decided to just treat it as abstaining instead, and I thought about how much extra time the detour would add. I couldn¡¯t be sure about the exact time, but it would probably add on at least another week. In the end, I agreed with Tasha that we should cross the bridge, but that we should not just automatically fight them even if they are hostile. I told Flora that I trusted her senses and that if she gets a very dangerous vibe or she notices that the group has a lot of masterwork weapons and armour, that she should tell us all to retreat immediately. They agreed (a bit begrudgingly so for Tasha), and we rode slowly across the bridge. I looked back and forth from Flora and to the road ahead of us, ready to react at any moment. Flora kept looking ahead but said nothing, even as we reached the other side of the bridge. Now that we were on the other side, I could now see that further ahead on the road, that a lot of grass was cleared away and there was a fairly large clearing. In that clearing were several wagons and horses, as well as at least twenty men wearing leather armour. A couple of them had spears, but most of them had various kinds of blades or swords sheathed in a scabbard either on their waist, or just lying on the ground beside them, as many of them were seated. It was only when one of the men near the front of the clearing noticed us and called out to the others, that some of them got up and started moving towards us. I looked over to Flora, but she still said nothing. Does that mean they are not hostile, or just that she doesn¡¯t think they are that dangerous? We stopped our horses outside the clearing as the one who first called out to the others walked over towards us. Behind him, I saw a couple men pick up their bows and each nock an arrow, but they didn¡¯t point them at us. The man walking towards us had a spear, and he stopped in front of us without leaving the clearing. Since Flora still didn¡¯t give me a signal, I decided to dismount from my horse. ¡°Who are you?¡± he asked. ¡°My name is Braith.¡± I was a bit surprised by the initial question, and ended up answering reflexively. ¡°What? Braith?¡± The man looked genuinely confused by my response. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard that name before.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot.¡± The man looked even more confused now. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± I asked. The spearman seemed to snap out of it now. ¡°Are you a mercenary?¡± he asked. I thought for a bit if I wanted to lie. ¡°No.¡± He looked from me over to Flora and Tasha, and then back to me. ¡°Are you three together?¡± ¡° Yeah.¡± ¡°Okay, if you are looking to pass through here, you must pay a toll.¡± ¡°A toll?¡± Nobody mentioned that there was a toll to using the bridge. Then again, maybe that¡¯s just common sense here? ¡°How much is the toll?¡± ¡°It is three silver per person, five silver per horse, and ten silver per wagon or carriage. So, for all three of you and your two horses¡­nineteen silver.¡± I looked at him as if he was joking. Upon seeing my expression, he furrowed his brow. ¡°Three, six, nine¡­fourteen, nineteen¡­yes, it is nineteen silver. Do you think I counted wrong?¡± ¡°No, but¡­are you sure the toll is that high? Nineteen silver is about how much a labourer can earn in a year.¡± ¡°Do you not have enough to pay?¡± he asked loudly. The archers in the back aimed their arrows at me. Oh, I see. Despite all the fights I have been through, I have yet to actually fight against a group of actual bandits. Well, I guess the True-Bloods were like bandits, even if they didn¡¯t think of themselves as such. I took a quick glance over at Flora and saw that she also just drew her bow and had already nocked an arrow. This surprised me in two ways. First, I¡¯m surprised the enemy archers didn¡¯t already shoot, and two, I¡¯m surprised Flora still hasn¡¯t said anything. Is this her way of saying that the three of us could easily take on the whole group? Are they all just regular human bandits? I started looking over the positions of all the other bandits, preparing what my attack route would be after charging up my bolts, but then, a man with blonde hair suddenly staggered out from behind one of the wagons. ¡°Ah, what¡¯s going on?¡± His speech was slightly slurred, and he walked with a slightly unsteady gait. From behind him, I thought I saw a bottle rolling on the ground. He wore leather armour like the rest of them, but he didn¡¯t seem to have any weapons on him. He also looked to be fidgeting with something in his hands. Half of the bandits turned their attention towards the drunken-looking man as he continued to walk forwards. He looked over in our direction, and then he seemed to straighten up a bit more before continuing his walk. As he got closer, he took what he was fidgeting with and placed it neatly on his head. It was a greenish felt cap. Chapter 43 After he donned his green cap, I reached for my shortsword and was just about to draw it, but I managed to stop myself just in time. I placed a lot of trust in Flora¡¯s keen senses and there was still no signal from her. Also, as Flora said earlier, there were no carriages in sight. Does it really make sense that this is the one I was looking for? Would they just be setting up camp here like this? A few of the guards twitched at my sudden movement, but upon seeing my hand freeze and the continued casualness of their leader, they relaxed, and just continued to observe. I did the same. The man who was likely their leader looked to be somewhere between his mid to late thirties. Peeking out from his cap was shaggy, dark blonde hair. He had a very relaxed expression and his somewhat hazy blue eyes and slanted smile seemed to suggest that he was yet to fully sober up. As if to confirm my suspicions, he suddenly let out a hiccup. He lazily motioned to someone else in the camp, who promptly walked over with a bucket of water. He handed it over to the green-capped man, who seemed to struggle slightly to lift it up over his head. Then, he put the bucket back down and called the other person over again. He handed him his cap, and before he walked away, the now capless man lifted the bucket up again and flipped the bucket over head, splashing water over his head and shoulders. Almost entranced, I continued to watch the unusual scene as the green-capped man blew out a long stream of air that suddenly turned into a high-pitched whistle. I instinctively thought that might have been a secret signal, but nobody at the camp made any sudden movements. He shook his head from side to side, letting out a short laugh when he was finished, also motioning for the return of his cap. ¡°Sorry, you must have been bored waiting on me, huh?¡± The green-capped man spoke clearly, both his tone and demeanour now very confident, in spite of his drenched face. ¡°It might mean nothing to you, but I shall still introduce myself. My name is Timber Gain, and I am the leader of this merry band.¡± He casually stepped closer towards me and held out one hand. After scanning around me again, I decided to step forward as well and shake his hand. ¡°My name is Braith.¡± ¡°Braith? Well, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a name I¡¯ve ever heard before.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot.¡± ¡°Ah, sorry if I hit a sore spot for you.¡± I¡¯ve heard that before as well, but I decided to not comment aloud. Timber looked around the campsite and noticed that there were still a few archers pointing their arrows at me. He motioned to them, and they lowered their bows. ¡°I hope you and your companions didn¡¯t feel too uncomfortable.¡± I looked him up and down again, wondering what this man was up to. ¡°I wasn¡¯t concerned.¡± ¡°Oh, is that so? Well, you do seem to be a well-traveled man.¡± I did not respond. ¡°Are you a mercenary?¡± ¡°No,¡± I replied curtly. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose either of your companions are mercenaries?¡± He asked with a slight laugh. ¡°They are not.¡± ¡°Right, I see, I see. Well, that means, if you want to cross through here, that¡¯ll be nineteen silvers then. Of course, you can exchange other valuables if you don¡¯t have that amount in coin.¡± Right, what was I expecting? ¡°Just to confirm, who exactly are you, Timber Gain. Are you some sort of officer or administrator?¡± ¡°Oh, no, not at all,¡± Timber responded with another laugh. ¡°No, definitely not. I shall not attempt to deceive you at all, Braith. My compatriots and I are all bandits. This is indeed an attempt to rob you of some of your possessions.¡± As if waiting for the explicit confirmation, Tasha finally spoke up from behind. ¡°Bandits! How dare you attempt to rob us!¡± She dismounted from her horse and unsheathed her sword. The archers in the back raised their bows again. I reached for my sword as well. Well, this man was a strange one, but if these are bandits we are dealing with, there was only way this was going to end. ¡°Ah, hold on just a minute! I am not finished yet!¡± Tasha continued moving towards us, but the archers in the back lowered their bows again. Do they all place that much faith in their leader, or are they just underestimating us far too much? ¡°Yes, if you wish to pass through here, we will demand a toll. But, there are other alternatives.¡± Out of a feeling of obligation to minimally reciprocate Timber¡¯s sunny disposition, I decided to hear him out. ¡°Tasha, just hold on a minute. Let¡¯s see what this bandit has to say first.¡± Tasha looked at me a bit incredulously, but seeing that the other bandits were not in attacking positions, she decided to stay put for now. ¡°Thank you, Braith. Now, as I was saying, one option is to pay us nineteen silver for you all to pass through here with your horses.¡± I stared at him coldly while Tasha sneered at his words. ¡°Or you could also choose to not pay the toll and go back the way you came.¡± Neither my expression nor Tasha¡¯s changed. ¡°Another option, and this is one I would strongly recommend against, but you could attempt to pass through here without paying by fighting through all of us here.¡± Tasha started approaching us again. ¡°The choice is obvious! Dad, let¡¯s just fight them all!¡± With the options before me, that was also certainly the most attractive. But, just to be safe, I glanced over towards Flora. She was still on her horse, but she still had her bow out and it seemed clear to me that she was also up for that option. Out of a minimum level of courtesy, I was going to declare our choice, but Timber quickly spoke up. ¡°And for the final option, we could resolve this with a duel. Braith, you seem to be a strong fighter. Would you also say so?¡± ¡°Of course he¡¯s strong. You bandits wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against him!¡± Tasha responded on my behalf. I felt the need to add nothing more to it. ¡°In that case, in order to avoid the risk of either side getting unnecessarily injured, we can have a one-on-one duel.¡± ¡°Between who?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, me and you, of course. Ahem, unless you would rather send out one of your companions to fight for your side, instead.¡± These words further incensed Tasha, and she came right up to us. She pointed her sword at Timber. The archers were about to raise their bows again, but Timber waved them off. How is this man still acting so confidently? Even if he didn¡¯t think either of us were Battle-Hardened, does he really think neither of us can kill him from this distance? Or, does he just believe we wouldn¡¯t do that? Ah, I guess he has us there. Tasha certainly wouldn¡¯t just do that, and I also wouldn¡¯t want to do something like that in front of her. ¡°Is there any merit to me accepting this duel?¡± I asked, not bothering to tell Tasha to stand down or sheathe her sword. ¡°Well, if you win, you can pass without having to pay the toll.¡± ¡°That would be the case if we just defeat you all, anyways,¡± I responded. ¡°Even if you have a lot of confidence in your strength, do you really want to risk injuries from having to take on so many bandits all at once?¡± ¡°Why should I believe the other bandits wouldn¡¯t simply attack during the duel?¡± ¡°I give you my word that they will not. And, of course, that extends to them not attacking you after the duel as well.¡± ¡°Why should I put any faith in your words?¡± ¡°Braith, you should know by now that I am not aiming to deceive you. Have I not been forthright with you?¡± ¡°Even if so, people can change on a dime.¡± Timber seemed confused by my words. Perhaps this was not a commonly used expression here. ¡°This could all just be an act, for all I know.¡± I was just about 100% there to telling everyone else to start fighting. I had confidence that Flora could easily support us from the back, and there is no chance at all that human bandits could hope to injure either me or Tasha. Even if they happened to be Battle-Hardened or Farseer, it wouldn¡¯t make a significant difference unless they were exceptionally skilled or talented. The men who attacked Brennan¡¯s palace with Tarras were a cut above the typical Battle-Hardened, but even if we had to fight twenty of them, I still wasn¡¯t concerned. ¡°So, you would truly rather just have one great fight, instead?¡± Timber asked, correctly reading my thoughts. ¡°If you are so concerned about injuries, perhaps you all should just get out of our way.¡± It was not a particularly subtle threat. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Alright, how about something else? Let¡¯s make a wager, instead. We will have a one-on-one duel, and if you win, not only can you pass through without paying, but we will also give you any one thing that we can give to you. If I win, you can still pass through, but you will have to pay double the toll. How does that sound?¡± Personally, it sounded like a shitty deal to me. If I really wanted something from them, couldn¡¯t I just take it from them after beating them down? ¡°What do you have?¡± Tasha asked, Timber managing to entice her somehow. ¡°We possess a great variety of valuable items. Many of which I am sure would be very useful to travelers such as yourselves.¡± Tasha¡¯s brief curiosity was just about to turn back a thirst for a battle, so Timber quickly continued, ¡°Allow me to show you what you could win.¡± He turned around and started to walk back towards the campsite. ¡°You know, Tasha, we can just take what we want after fighting them all, anyways,¡± I said, wanting to make sure we were on the same page on this matter as we followed him. ¡°We¡¯re not bandits, dad,¡± she responded. ¡°The things they have don¡¯t truly belong to them, anyways. They¡¯re stolen goods.¡± As Tasha started to mull that over, Timber spoke up again as he neared the wagon he came out from behind earlier. ¡°Although we are bandits, we do possess a great many things that we acquired fairly.¡± ¡°And why should we believe that?¡± I responded. ¡°Besides, is there any reason for us to think you haven¡¯t done more than just robbery?¡± I admit I was a bit caught up in Timber¡¯s pace earlier, but when you think about it, even if these people were not my targets of revenge, I should not just let these bandits go no matter what. ¡°I give you my word that I have never killed another in cold blood,¡± Timber said as he pulled back the covering of the wagon, his voice and tone suddenly very serious. Inside the wagon were a variety of different weapons, as well as several different types of boxes. ¡°These weapons are each of masterwork quality and these boxes contain rare or precious luxury items.¡± His voice was now back to the friendly tone from earlier. However, what I took special note to was what he said about the weapons. ¡°Masterwork quality? All of them?¡± There were different swords in their sheaths, in addition to various polearms and even a shield. I could see what looked to be the outline of an egg on the shield, which should be the symbol shared between the Human clans and nations. However, how could these bandits have so many masterwork items? ¡°I assure you, none of these are forgeries.¡± Again, why should I believe that? ¡°If they are all real, then why do you have them all in this wagon? Why don¡¯t the rest of you have them personally equipped?¡± ¡°Would you believe that these are just the leftovers and the rest of my men are already using masterwork weapons?¡± I was just about to say I didn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not the reason. It¡¯s because using masterwork weapons have their own issues, with one of these problems being that not everyone can have one. Also, not everyone can use one properly.¡± ¡°Properly?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, maybe properly isn¡¯t the right word. Not everyone can use one as well as they should, and that¡¯s just wasteful.¡± I still wasn¡¯t completely sure what Timber meant. ¡°Hmmm, it seems you aren¡¯t all too interested in these.¡± Timber seemed to have slightly misread my thoughts this time. ¡°I am guessing you already consider yourself well-equipped. Well, perhaps some luxury goods may interest you, instead? Something like a gift for your daughter?¡± Tasha looked at Timber disdainfully, as if truly insulted by the suggestion for whatever reason. ¡°Are you doubting that I would have anything you¡¯d like? These items are the sort of things merchants would sell at a high price.¡± Timber then picked up a small velvet box. ¡°This is something we got very recently.¡± He opened the box and revealed a pair of sapphire earrings. I looked over at Tasha and saw that she didn¡¯t seem the least bit tempted. I can¡¯t claim to be an expert of jewellery, but I didn¡¯t care for the earrings either, and, strangely enough, it was the velvet box that seemed more interesting. ¡°If you are done with your pitch and joking around, perhaps we can just fight it out now? As a courtesy to you, I can give you a moment to equip yourself with one of these weapons,¡± I said with utmost confidence in the end result. ¡°And by fight it out now, do you mean you still do not wish to duel me one-on-one?¡± Why is this guy so obsessed about dueling? If we¡¯re so confident that we can take on all of them at once, why does he think he would stand a better chance in a duel against me? Do I look like I¡¯m actually the weakest in our group? ¡°I must admit, I didn¡¯t think you would be so intimidated by me. I suppose I do exude quite the powerful aura, after all.¡± Who would fall for such a cheap attempt at provocation? ¡°Ha, as if! Even Flora could probably fight you one on one.¡± That¡¯s a bit mean to Flora, don¡¯t you think? ¡°Pick up any weapon you want and I¡¯ll still easily beat you,¡± Tasha declared. ¡°Oh, I would be more than happy to do so if you wish to duel me. What do you say, Braith, shall you have your daughter fight against me, instead?¡± It wasn¡¯t a mocking tone, but I felt disrespected all the same. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you are so obsessed about trying to duel one of us, but since you¡¯re all bandits, we are still going to take you all down.¡± ¡°Well, if the end result will be the same no matter what, why don¡¯t you humour us with a duel first? I don¡¯t know if you are familiar with war, but sending out a knight or some other fighter from each side is occasionally done before the start of a battle.¡± I thought I might have been vaguely aware of such a thing being a custom, but I didn¡¯t see any reason to follow it. Tasha, however, had different thoughts. ¡°Hmph, although you are all bandits, we can follow through with this duel. Not that there is any chance we will lose, of course.¡± I believed Tasha had all the necessary strength and chivalry to be an outstanding knight in the future. And, although this is just her role playing for the moment, with the continued absence of any sense of danger, maybe I should play along with that. Despite them claiming to be bandits, these guys have been the least aggressive attackers we¡¯ve encountered thus far. ¡°Dad, show them!¡± Wait, me? ¡°If they send out their leader, we should send out ours as well.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to show off, Tasha?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t mind whichever one of you fights me. Although, I would advise you to send out your strongest,¡± Timber spoke up before Tasha. Tasha looked at me expectantly. I stared at Timber for a moment, sizing him up. From what I could tell, he just looked like a normal human. Although, as the leader of this group of bandits, I assume he must have some decent fighting abilities. Also, the way he continually insisted on having a duel made me think that this was a trap somehow. ¡°If you want to have a duel with me, you are going to need to wager more than a single item.¡± ¡°Well¡­we could wager for more than that, but you would need to stake more on your side as well, then.¡± My earlier statement was intended to probe more into Timber¡¯s intention. If he had readily agreed, it meant that this was more likely to just be some sort of trap. From this sort of response, though, it seemed as if Timber considered the possibility of losing. Was this really just a duel? I stared at him more intently. Was he secretly a powerful Battle-Hardened or Farseer? That could explain how he could walk about so confidently while unarmed. ¡°There will be no tricks, Braith. It will really be a one-on-one duel between me and you, only using the equipment and abilities we each personally possess.¡± ¡°What are the rules for the duel?¡± This was not me implicitly agreeing. I was trying to figure out if this was still a trap. ¡°The two of us will fight in this clearing. The duel will end when one surrenders to the other. It will just be the two of us fighting, nobody else will intervene. If there is any intervention, there will be an immediate loss for the intervening side.¡± ¡°What counts as intervention?¡± I asked. ¡°Obviously, if anyone other than the two of us attacks anyone else.¡± ¡°What counts as an attack?¡± Timber seemed a bit surprised by my question. ¡°Braith, I really am not trying to trick you there. This rule is to prevent anyone from my side fighting anyone from your side during the duel. If you think that I would attempt to unfairly gain a victory by claiming one of your companions attacked us when they did not, I won¡¯t. In fact, I will declare now that if either of your companions does attack, I will not argue that to be an intervention, on the condition that my men are allowed to defend themselves.¡± Oh, is this the trick? ¡°But, of course, I trust that neither of them will do such a thing.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just keep the simple rule of nobody else making an attack.¡± I could go through the effort of making a specific definition, but I honestly didn¡¯t think it mattered if Timber tried to cheat me with that rule. This was not a courtroom. This was a fight in an open field against bandits. ¡°Alright, then. As for the wager, what would you like if you win?¡± I was a bit surprised he asked this. Was this another ploy to make this all seem more genuine? ¡°May I inspect all of your items before we begin?¡± I asked, half-expecting to be denied to some degree. ¡°Of course.¡± I went up to the wagon and picked up one of the sheathed swords. I looked around me, and I didn¡¯t see any of the bandits do anything unusual. I unsheathed it and saw the egg-like symbol again. ¡°Are these all human-made?¡± I asked. ¡°No, there are also Farseer and Battle-Hardened weapons.¡± To my surprise, I easily believed that, and didn¡¯t bother to check the other weapons. I then picked up a box and opened it, revealing a pearl necklace. ¡°Is this all just jewellery?¡± ¡°Not all of it. We also have several fine outfits.¡± I put the box back and then saw the velvet box from earlier. I picked it up and opened it, revealing the sapphire earrings again. It didn¡¯t seem any more enticing on closer inspection. I closed the box and was about to put it away, but then I thought I noticed something. I turned the box around in my hands. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­.¡± What is it about this box? ¡°Is something wrong?¡± This time it was Tasha asking the question. I turned around and showed her the box. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t really want them.¡± ¡°No, not the earrings. This box. Does it seem¡­familiar to you?¡± ¡°The box?¡± Tasha stared intently at the box. ¡°Maybe?¡± From her expression, I could see that she didn¡¯t really seem to recognize it. However, as I turned it around in my hands once more, it suddenly dawned on me. I reached into my pocket for my compass. As always, I kept it in the box it was originally in. A small velvet box. I compared the two. They were not completely identical since they differed a bit in size, but it was similar enough for me to suspect the two were related. ¡°Timber, did you get this recently?¡± ¡°The earrings? Yes, we got them only two weeks ago.¡± ¡°From merchants?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Can you describe them for me?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I cannot.¡± I looked at him silently for a moment. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°...I would be more than happy to tell you what I know if you manage to defeat me in the duel.¡± I put down the box and put away my compass. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this over with. I want these earrings and anything else you got from those same merchants. For my side, I will wager quadruple the toll.¡± I unsheathed my sword. ¡°If you don¡¯t like that, I can just fight you all.¡± ¡°No, I can agree to those terms.¡± ¡°Are you planning to fight me unarmed?¡± ¡°Oh, of course not.¡± Timber walked by me, glancing at my shortsword. ¡°Masterwork, Battle-Hardened. I see. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t think I have one just like it.¡± Timber reached for one of the sheathed swords and picked it up. He unsheathed it, revealing it to be a shortsword with the brand of the Farseers. ¡°This should do fine, though.¡± ¡°Is that your preferred weapon, or are you trying to mock me?¡± Timber gave a light laugh before responding. ¡°I believe this is the best weapon in this situation.¡± The two of us stepped away from the wagon and moved to another spot in the clearing. We stood about fifteen paces apart from each other. He smoothly slashed the sword around a few times. ¡°Any other rules you suddenly want to impose?¡± I asked. ¡°No, let¡¯s just have a fair fight. Just count down from three when you are ready, Braith.¡± I looked around the campsite again, and I still didn¡¯t see anything unusual. Well, nothing unusual outside of the relaxed bandits who were gathered around, most of them not even holding their weapons at the ready. I looked straight at Timber, who was now in a defensive stance. However, he looked just as relaxed as ever. At this point, I could only conclude I was being greatly underestimated. I charged up to two bolts. ¡°Three.¡± I charged up a third bolt. ¡°Two.¡± A fourth bolt. ¡°One.¡± I charged up to five bolts, and charged at Timber. I attacked with superhuman speed, but to my surprise, Timber managed to just barely block my attack. However, I couldn¡¯t let my surprise get to me. I expected him to be highly skilled, but my speed and power should win out easily. I quickly followed with another attack, which Timber also blocked, but I could see that he could only do so barely once more. I continued my quick assault, but despite how close I was to possibly breaking his stance earlier, he was suddenly blocking more cleanly. And then, suddenly, he parried my attack and countered. I barely evaded the attack, his sword almost grazing me. I instinctively backed off, creating more distance between the two of us. A bead of sweat dripped from my forehead. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was because I was starting to worry or if it was from the rising strain of using five bolts. Neither was good. ¡°Oh, impressive!¡± Timber said cheerily. ¡°You really are strong!¡± Timber smiled at me as he deftly returned to his defensive stance. Was I the one who underestimated my opponent too much? Chapter 44 Timber grinned at me, as if he was fully enjoying himself even as the water on his shoulders and hair continued to slowly dry. However, I could also see the focus in his eyes, almost shining while clearly watching my moves. Alright, so this guy is stronger than I figured. Fine, let¡¯s just go with an all-out attack. I executed a flurry of attacks that flowed into one another, already anticipating that Timber would defend against them. However, even if his strength was matching mine, I should still have greater speed. I suddenly moved to his side after the initial series of attacks. I expected him to react to this, and he did seem to start to turn, but this was a feint. I quickly switched up my attack again, and aimed at his hand, attempting to disarm him. My attack was just about to connect, but he suddenly shifted his hand, and we crossed swords. In a split second, I had to decide whether to attempt to overpower him here or correctly predict where he would move his sword next, so that I could pre-empt the move and attempt to knock his sword away. I chose to use my strength to push his sword back, but he also chose to push against me as well, causing us both to stay where we were as our blades began to grind against one another. Okay, let¡¯s slide my sword against his then to break free and knock his sword to the side. Again, Timber matched my movements with equal strength, and our swords separated. I quickly went back on the attack and our swords crossed again. I used my strength again, and again, we found ourselves evenly matched. This time, though, I intended to go all-out with my power. I couldn¡¯t charge up any more bolts, but I tried to make even the slightest changes to my posture and footing to overpower Timber. He matched me again, and our swords remained locked as we both dug into the ground. I¡¯m not sure how he was matching me so well, but if it was someone who knew my movements perfectly, they should actually have an advantage here. At the very least, Timber wasn¡¯t reading my thoughts, so doing something unexpected here could still give me the win. As I continued to match my strength with Timber, I considered adjusting my position and using my other hand to hold my sword. However, that wasn¡¯t really my style. I shifted my position slightly, almost leaning in too much, which caused me to begin losing the face-off. But, I quickly brought my other hand forward and grabbed at Timber¡¯s sword arm. Using that hand, I started to twist Timber¡¯s arm, causing his sword to tilt lower, now starting to give me the advantage. As I did this though, Timber suddenly spread out his legs and drastically lowered his stance. I could now easily bring his sword down with mine, but it was to a far greater degree than I expected. However, it still wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. I still had one hand on his sword arm, and with the sword even lower and away from protecting him, all I had to do was quickly slash or thrust. It only took a fraction of a second to quickly process the sudden move and decide on the optimal course of action, but it was an even smaller fraction of a second too slow. I attacked, but just as my sword was going to make contact, he grabbed the wrist of my sword arm with his free hand and then kicked off the ground. With my level of strength, the weight of his body pulling me down wasn¡¯t massive, but it was enough to slow me down to the point where I was unable to properly defend myself against him kneeing me in the leg. Now, it was far from a clean hit given his position and the way we were grabbing at each other, but due to the great strength behind it, it caused me to buckle slightly. This gave Timber the opportunity to try to wrench his sword arm free from my hold and slash at me. I still held on tight, but he was able to rotate his arm just enough to attempt the attack. The sword connected against the side of my hide armour, but it was a weak attack that didn¡¯t manage to cut through anything as I was still mostly restraining his arm. However, it was still very dangerous for me to have his sword in that sort of position. My next move was to try and take advantage of having a higher position. I leaned in more with my feet while also pulling down on his sword arm. I attempted to utilize gravity as I tried to also push down with my sword arm that Timber was still holding onto, my sword still almost making contact with Timber¡¯s shoulder. I could feel Timber start to tremble against my weight as he continued to tightly hold onto my wrist. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t the only one. I was also starting to sweat a lot more as my heart rate began accelerating. It couldn¡¯t have been more than a couple minutes since we started the duel, but I was already starting to reach my limit. Was I wrong about how different my endurance would have been in an actual fight? Should I have had Flora bless me before the fight? Ah, useless thoughts! I just need to finish this now before I really do hit my limit. In my briefest moment of distractedness, Timber suddenly dropped to one knee. His shoulder accordingly also dropped lower, getting further away from my sword. As I was realizing what was going on, I initially thought this was Timber¡¯s desperate attempt to hold as having one knee on the ground would also help him somewhat in holding me back. But, just as I was adjusting my position to lean harder into him to take advantage of the increased height difference, he pushed off with his other leg while also pulling my sword arm. My sword made contact with his shoulder, but it did so at an awkward angle as he simultaneously rocketed forwards to headbutt me in the face. The both of us must have been equally dazed by the impact, as we both ended up letting go of each other. I stumbled several steps backwards as Timber fell onto the ground, his cap also falling off. However, we both quickly regained our senses and got back into our ready positions. I looked at his shoulder and saw that my sword cut through the cloth on his shoulder, but because of the angle it cut at and the leather armour he wore, it didn¡¯t even look like I managed to injure him. Panting somewhat heavily, I launched myself at him again. I could not afford to slack off even a little bit, and I executed a furious flurry of attacks that Timber seemed to only barely defend against. However, when Timber finally found his opportunity, he countered, and now I was put on the defensive. I defended against the onslaught. In fact, I thought I was defending better than he was earlier. If we kept up this kind of exchange a few more times, I think I would win. However, just as I was thinking that, an electrifying pain surged throughout my body. I barely blocked an attack while suppressing the reflex that would reveal the sudden pain. Timber did not let up, and as I blocked again, the pain shot throughout my body again, even more violently this time. And then on the third, as I blocked again, this time, I couldn¡¯t fully suppress my reaction. I let out a mix of a shout and a scream as I blocked, and then, something even worse happened. I felt the power of five bolts drop down to only four. Timber continued his attack, and although the pain didn¡¯t come up again, my movements were noticeably more sluggish and I was finally pushed back. Timber¡¯s next attack pushed me back even further, and I could barely stay on both my feet as he followed up with another attack. However, this time, the attack was lighter than the other ones and I was able to deflect it. At first, I was thinking this was lucky but if I was still at full strength, that would have led to the perfect opportunity to counter attack. I let out several haggard breaths as Timber got back into a proper stance, letting out a few pants of his own. However, he soon stabilized his breathing and from the look in his eyes, I knew he could tell that I was in much worse shape than him now. ¡°Braith, you really are something! I haven¡¯t had such an exhilarating exchange in a while.¡± I desperately tried to catch my breath as he spoke. ¡°However, although we both may have lost ourselves a bit in this heated exchange, this is not a duel to the death.¡± Right, I almost forgot that as well. All the other intense fights I¡¯ve had recently were not proper duels. ¡°At this rate, I fear that either one of us could get seriously injured. So, how about we end this duel now and call it a draw?¡± ¡°A draw?¡± What does that even mean? ¡°Yes. I do believe we have both seen that we are evenly matched. For both of our sakes, let¡¯s call it a draw. You may pass through here, and although you haven¡¯t won, I can discount the toll. How does half the regular price sound?¡± I stared at him with confusion. ¡°No, half price does not seem to properly reflect a draw. How about one quarter the regular price then? So, with nineteen silver being the regular price, one quarter would be¡­four and three quarters¡­oh, that¡¯s not a very nice number. Okay, we can settle this with just four silver, instead.¡± There was just too much happening for me to stay completely focused at the moment. My heart rate wasn¡¯t slowing down at all, my body temperature was still near feverish, and sweat continued to trickle down my body. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. However, the state of my body also told me how difficult it would be to keep fighting. I just couldn¡¯t see how I could win like this. If it was back then, I don¡¯t think I would have considered his proposal at all and would have tried every last thing possible to win, but why should I do that now? I am already facing the consequences of my bloated pride. There was no reason to consider this anything like a fight with a mortal enemy. In fact, one could even say Timber was trying to salvage some of my pride. I was clearly at a huge disadvantage right now, but he was still suggesting a draw instead of simply defeating me. I let out a sigh. Then, I stopped using the power of the Thousand Bolts and my body finally started to recover. After a couple seconds, Timber seemed to smile, as if realizing my decision. ¡°You¡¯re still trying to rob us?!¡± Tasha angrily shouted. ¡°Dad, I¡¯ve had enough! Let me fight now!¡± I looked over at Tasha, slowly reconfiguring my thoughts. ¡°Child, please do not tarnish your father¡¯s honour by interfering with the duel.¡± Tasha looked at Timber with outrage that slowly mellowed out. ¡°I wasn¡¯t interfering with the duel. I meant that I will fight through all the rest of you bandits.¡± Tasha was still clearly angry, but Timber¡¯s words did have somewhat of an impact. ¡°No, that would still be interfering. Your father and I agreed to let this duel decide matters. However, I can understand if you still feel this result may not adequately reflect a draw. How about a further discount? You only need to pay three silver.¡± Tasha just stared back at him. ¡°How about it, Braith? I think I am being very reasonable here.¡± ¡°Shut up! Why should we pay you anything?!¡± Tasha¡­yeah, if I were her, I¡¯d be upset, too. I sighed to myself. I briefly considered if it would have been better to let Tasha fight Timber instead. As I was now, with my reduced strength and limited stamina, I think Tasha was probably better in a fight than me right now. I shook my head. No, that¡¯s a stupid thought to be having. I fought and wasn¡¯t able to win. I shouldn¡¯t be thinking of alternatives. I grimaced. It still sucks, though. ¡°This was a fair duel between your father and I. We both made a wager, and had I lost, I would have held up my end of the bet. I understand that you must be very upset that your father did not win, but believe me when I say he is indeed very strong. I acknowledge this, and that is why I think we should end this with a draw. Do you really want to risk your father getting severely hurt just to win a few items?¡± All the lengths Timber was going through right now was actually starting to rub me the wrong way now. Also, what about the merchant goods? I still want to know. ¡°Don¡¯t talk like you know exactly how strong my dad is! If he was being completely serious, you wouldn¡¯t be talking so much right now!¡± Tasha walked right up to Timber. Timber maintained his sunny expression, in contrast to Tasha¡¯s clearly indignant expression. ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say I said quite that much. However, even if he was not fighting at his full strength, this was still a fair duel. Perhaps, on a different day he would have won like you said, but this is how it is.¡± ¡°Stop talking as if he lost! You say you want to call it a draw, but you¡¯re the only one who would be winning anything!¡± Tasha called it exactly how it was. I am being treated like I lost. I was ready to accept the draw that was essentially surrendering to Timber¡¯s terms. But why? Because I thought that was the most rational and mature decision? Yeah, I still think it is, but seeing Tasha this fired up makes this so much harder. ¡°Again, I am not at all saying your father lost. If even this amount of a discount isn¡¯t enough, then you can simply turn around. As I said, I give you my word that we won¡¯t pursue you if you decide to do that instead.¡± No, we definitely cannot do that. ¡°What gives you the right to force us to pick one of your choices?¡± Tasha¡¯s voice was finally close to her usual volume, but I could still hear the rage underneath. ¡°Why should we let bandits boss us around?¡± I thought I saw Timber¡¯s jovial face crack for just a second. ¡°We are bandits, but we are honourable. We have done things as openly and fairly as possible. Do you intend to be dishonourable instead, and go back on your words?¡± Go back on our words? Wait, what did I really agree to? This was only for that wager. As for whether we would leave the bandits alone afterwards, I never agreed to such a thing. Although, it certainly would hurt my pride to fight them all just because I wasn¡¯t strong enough to beat their leader. But, should I do that anyway? ¡°If you were so fair and honourable, you wouldn¡¯t be in our way to begin with! You wouldn¡¯t be bandits, either!¡± Yes, Tasha is definitely making sense to me here. Timber¡¯s face darkened slightly, before shifting back to a more cherry look. ¡°There are many different ways one can live fairly and honourably, even for a bandit. And even for those with more supposedly honourable lifestyles, there are many ways to live dishonourably. I can tell you are a very well-spoken child for your young age, so perhaps you could calm down and explain to me clearly what you think is the fairest outcome, here?¡± Tasha continued to glare at Timber for a moment, before finally relaxing. Then, she spoke her words calmly. ¡°The duel should continue so that my dad can defeat you.¡± Timber looked honestly surprised for a second. I was surprised as well, but looking back on it, it really shouldn¡¯t have surprised me at all. I tightened the grip on my sword. From what Tasha knew about me, she should have no doubt about my victory. She wasn¡¯t aware of current weakness, but why was I so certain that this fight was hopeless? ¡°Well, yes, I can certainly agree to continuing this duel if your father wishes to, but surely you saw how fiercely we fought earlier. As I already said, although you may not care for my wellbeing, surely you wouldn¡¯t want your father to risk serious injury over a bit of silver?¡± ¡°You are still so full of yourself,¡± Tasha replied. ¡°...Don¡¯t you think you may be overestimating your father?¡± I clenched my fists at that comment. Tasha put her hand on her currently sheathed sword. A few of the other bandits who were simply spectating started to stir, but they still made no attempt to attack or intervene. ¡°Child, take your hand off your sword. I am sure your father trained you well, but this is no place-¡± Timber¡¯s words were suddenly cut short at the sudden realization that Tasha¡¯s sword was already pointed at his throat. Timber¡¯s mouth was left agape as the other bandits quickly reached for their weapons. As they did, though, Tasha swiftly withdrew her sword and sheathed it again. ¡°Don¡¯t act like you¡¯re so tough if you can''t even react to that.¡± Tasha then turned around, leaving herself completely open to Timber. Timber did nothing other than signaling for the other bandits to relax as Tasha walked towards me. For many of the bandits, I¡¯m sure they thought Tasha only managed to do what she did because Timber was completely unguarded, but I didn¡¯t think so. As I watched them, despite Timber¡¯s changing expressions, his eyes always remained focused on her. As Tasha neared my side, I stood upright, and pretended that I wasn¡¯t the least bit exhausted. ¡°I guess I shouldn¡¯t be taking it so easy, anymore.¡± I said, bluffing. Tasha smiled at me. ¡°Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t want anyone to think that my father is some dainty little thing.¡± I laughed as I recalled those words I spoke to her in Rettiff. I laughed. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d hate that.¡± I patted Tasha on the head before walking towards Timber. ¡°Do you need a moment before we continue?¡± I asked with renewed, and arguably, baseless confidence. ¡°Are you sure about this, Braith?¡± It seemed like Timber was genuinely concerned. He had every right to think he would win this fight, so all I would be doing here would just be embarrassing myself. However, maybe I really did have a good chance. Is it possible that Timber was insisting on a draw because he was also bluffing? He couldn''t react to Tasha earlier and his last attack on me was also weaker. Maybe he was just pretending he was still in great shape. ¡°Of course, feel free to count down from three when you¡¯re ready,¡± I responded. Well, whatever the case, I just need to win. Timber hesitated before responding. ¡°I am ready.¡± ¡°Alright, count down then.¡± ¡°...are you sure you¡¯re ready?¡± Timber asked again. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ready, just count.¡± ¡°Three¡­two¡­¡± Timber refrained from saying ¡®one¡¯ at the expected time. ¡°Braith, you are really sure you¡¯re ready?¡± ¡°Just say one!¡± ¡°...one¡± I charged up a bolt through each leg as I charged at Timber. In mid-charge, I forced myself to go back up to a total of five bolts as I aimed to strike at Timber¡¯s sword at full power. The fifth bolt surged through my body alongside a bolt of pain, but even if I end up losing, I was going to make damn sure I give it my all. I slashed at Timber¡¯s sword, not even bothering to predict how he might defend. I was just going to react as things unfolded. However, what happened next was completely outside of my expectations. With hardly any real resistance, my sword connected with his and I easily knocked it out of his hand. Then, I immediately pressed the sword against his neck, just barely stopping in time from cutting it. I was dumbfounded, but with the rising heat and pain, I also needed to quickly conclude this. ¡°I win,¡± I declared, slightly unsure. Timber¡¯s eyes remained trained on me for a couple seconds. Then, it looked like his eyes lit up right before he let out a small laugh, causing his neck to dangerously jiggle against my sword. ¡°Indeed, it is my loss.¡± Chapter 45 The unusual encounter ended in an equally unusual manner. Timber Gain accepted his loss, and I retracted my charged bolts. As I walked back over to my cheering daughter, I saw Flora as well, who was awkwardly clapping. I could see that all of Timber¡¯s subordinates were surprised to see their leader lose and a few were not so accepting. One of them even tried to argue that I should have lost, stating that Tasha had interfered earlier. However, Timber Gain shut that down quickly. Timber was the one who had suddenly made a proposal in the middle of our duel and he didn¡¯t consider what Tasha had done to be an attack. Surprisingly, that was all it took, and the rest of the bandits had no complaints. Timber motioned for me to follow him back to the wagon so that he could give me my prize and I told Tasha and Flora to stay where they were. On the way there, a couple of Timber¡¯s men even congratulated me for winning. ¡°Other than those sapphire earrings, do you recall what else those same merchants had?¡± Timber asked his subordinate, the guard with the spear who first called out to us. The guard took a closer look, and then pointed to a couple other boxes in the wagon. One was much larger than the other, and although they looked relatively nice, the boxes were wooden, and not velvet. Timber took the boxes out of the wagon. ¡°Can you tell me more about those merchants?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, you can ask me whatever you want about them, but there isn¡¯t much I can tell you, Braith,¡± Timber responded. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Well¡­ahem, I wasn¡¯t exactly present when they came through here.¡± I raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. ¡°I had a bit too much to drink the day before. Ah, but, Alder here should know more.¡± Timber motioned to the guard with the spear. Alder gave a nod. ¡°How many were there, and how were they traveling?¡± Alder paused to recall. ¡°They had two carriages, three wagons and eight horses.¡± ¡°And how many people? Also, did any of them wear a green hat?¡± ¡°...I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t remember?¡± I asked. ¡°...I don¡¯t really know because we didn¡¯t check how many people were in each carriage.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t?¡± Timber asked. I was surprised to see that Timber was surprised. ¡°No, boss. We wanted to make sure of the number because of the toll, but they didn¡¯t want that.¡± I thought that hardly seemed sufficient for them to just give up on. ¡°So, they offered to pay the toll as if there were eight people in each carriage. There was no way they could have fit that many people in each one, so after asking to make sure they wanted to pay that much, we just let it go.¡± I looked at Timber to see how we would react. ¡°It appears quite the suspicious group may have come on through. Do you at least recall how many people you did see?¡± Timber asked. ¡°...I think it was eight people, excluding any people who may have been inside the carriages.¡± ¡°I see. Is there anything you want to ask, Braith?¡± Timber asked me. I thought for a moment. ¡°Do you remember exactly when they came through here?¡± ¡°I think it was about two weeks ago.¡± I then went to open the larger of the two boxes. It contained scarves. I then opened the smaller box, which contained a silver necklace. ¡°Is there a particular reason why you bought these from them?¡± I asked. ¡°No, they gave us those items instead of paying the toll. The necklace is good quality silver and the scarves were made of silk. Including the sapphire earrings, it definitely should have covered the toll.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m an expert appraiser, but I believe those items are authentic,¡± Timber added on. I didn¡¯t doubt the authenticity. I closed up the boxes. ¡°And this is all you got from them?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Alder replied. ¡°Isn¡¯t there anything else unusual or specific you remember about them?¡± I asked. Alder pondered for a moment. ¡°They didn¡¯t seem to be merchants with the Merchants¡¯ Guild.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°They told us they were merchants but when we asked them to show their memberships, they didn¡¯t.¡± Was this a different group altogether? Or, is it them, but they thought it would be too risky to show the stolen membership to these bandits? ¡°You seem a bit confused, Braith,¡± Timber said, interjecting my train of thought. ¡°Not all merchants are with the Merchants¡¯ Guild. For example, they may have come from Quidic.¡± I didn¡¯t know what or where Quidic was, but that wasn¡¯t the most important thing at the moment. ¡°Do merchants from the Merchants¡¯ Guild come by here frequently?¡± I asked Timber. ¡°Relatively frequently. I¡¯d say probably at least two or three different merchant caravans come by every month.¡± ¡°And merchants that are not from the Merchants¡¯ Guild?¡± ¡°Maybe once every two months or so.¡± ¡°Is it usually the same merchants, in either case?¡± ¡°Usually.¡± ¡°And you didn¡¯t recognize the group that came through at all?¡± I asked, looking at Alder. ¡°No. Also¡­I asked if any of them were mercenaries, and they said they were just guards.¡± ¡°That is very rare for merchants with the Merchants¡¯ Guild, but not so for merchants from Quidic,¡± Timber explained to me. ¡°I see¡­¡± I spoke slowly as I carefully collected all the information in my head. After a few moments of silence, Timber finally spoke up. ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Timber asked. I didn¡¯t really have anything else to ask about this mystery group, but, there was still one more thing that was bothering me. ¡°Timber, may I speak to you alone?¡± At first, Timber seemed to want to ask why, but then he just waved away at Alder. ¡°...Alder, please leave us for a moment.¡± Alder obeyed and walked away to rejoin some of the rest of the bandits. When he was out of earshot, I continued speaking to Timber, almost whispering my words. ¡°Timber, could you explain to me what was up with that duel?¡± Timber looked back at me casually. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You lost really easily.¡± ¡°...it did look like that in the end.¡± I tried very hard to read Timber¡¯s expression. Was it just a fluke? Did I catch him off guard? Did he let me win? How did things just end up like that? I wanted to know without asking him outright, but I couldn¡¯t glean the answer from his face. ¡°Are you upset with the outcome?¡± I tried to ask somewhat provocatively, hoping that this might give me a better idea of what was going on Timber¡¯s mind. ¡°I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t expect to win. However, a loss is a loss. I simply need to accept that and move on.¡± ¡°Is that all you have to say?¡± I pressed further. We stared at each other intently. ¡°Is there something that you are expecting me to say?¡± Timber did not break his gaze. ¡°Oh, well¡­I just thought you might have had something to say about the sudden turnaround.¡± We continued to stare at each other. Silence continued to drag on. Suddenly, Timber smiled. ¡°You aren¡¯t Battle-Hardened, are you, Braith?¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting the question, but I tried to not let that show on my face. ¡°I would say¡­I¡¯m probably about as Battle-Hardened as you, Timber.¡± Timber let out a small, knowing laugh. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you managed to figure me out, Braith, but I¡¯m even more impressed at how you pulled off that last move.¡± I pretended to look like I knew what Timber was talking about. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that my observations told me what I needed to know,¡± I responded vaguely. Timber nodded. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yes, I thought I was the one paying close attention, but you still managed to do me one better.¡± ¡°Well, I would also say I got quite lucky.¡± I was still trying to figure out what Timber thought I figured out, but this statement of mine was completely honest. ¡°No, whatever you want to call it, you beat me fair and square. Although, I do hope you don¡¯t go spreading around what you figured out to others. Not that I can hold you to that or anything.¡± I still had no idea what he was talking about. ¡°Do you really think I would just promise you something like that?¡± ¡°Well, like I said, it¡¯s just a hope. Anyways, even if others know, I don¡¯t think they could do exactly what you did. Do you think you could tell me what exactly you did?¡± I changed my expression to that of bemusement. ¡°Right, of course not.¡± ¡°Alright, enough about all of that,¡± I began, not sure I could keep pretending about whatever the heck he was going on about. ¡°Timber, my daughter is still going to want to turn all of you guys over to the authorities.¡± I still whispered, but my tone was serious now. I saw Tasha seemed to be controlling herself at the moment, but I knew what her personality was like. Timber also looked at me seriously now. ¡°From the way you say that¡­are you implying that you would be willing to seek an alternative?¡± ¡°Well, first of all, do you think you could beat us?¡± I asked. Timber¡¯s eyes seemed to flash, as if simulating the battle in his head. ¡°Honestly, I would probably just give the order to retreat.¡± ¡°You¡¯d have to abandon all of your supplies if you do that. I also doubt most of you would actually get away.¡± I responded matter-of-factly. ¡°Braith¡­I hope you do not force me to take drastic action.¡± ¡°...You and your men are completely different from a lot of the other¡­armed men we have faced before. However, I don¡¯t really know anything about you all. I don¡¯t personally feel the need to protect strangers from getting robbed, but at the same time, I don¡¯t want to leave a dangerous group around if I have the opportunity to stop them.¡± ¡°Yes, we rob people. If you leave us alone, we will continue to rob people.¡± Not really a strong start, Timber. ¡°But, we are only after some of their possessions. We never leave them stripped or completely without any money, and we do not kill. I cannot be completely sure of what sort of other groups you have encountered in your travels, but I- we are honourable bandits.¡± ¡°Something like that¡­probably won¡¯t be enough to convince Tasha. Also, that toll you charge¡­that doesn¡¯t seem very reasonable to me.¡± ¡°About that¡­that¡¯s mainly because we rob people transporting goods. If it was just someone traveling by foot we would probably just let them by. Also, we give discounts to members of the Merchants¡¯ Guild or Mercenaries¡¯ Guild.¡± ¡°Are you saying those guilds know you¡¯re here and they just leave you be?¡± I asked, starting to more seriously doubt Timber¡¯s words. ¡°I¡¯m not saying we have any kind of official agreement with either of them. However, try to see it like this. The Outlands, especially this area, have been constantly plagued by bandits. Even back when I was a mercenary, for a lot of travelers, you wouldn¡¯t necessarily hire enough guards to fight off all the bandits, especially if you were traveling a long distance. You would hire just enough to prevent bandits from robbing you blind. And the guards you have on hand were used for negotiating with bandits, since most of them are just after money. Most of them don¡¯t want to take huge risks for a bit more coin. Especially since bounties would be issued against them if they ended up killing the wrong target.¡± Timber¡¯s words¡­they made some sense to me. Actually, they were quite convincing arguments, but that also made me start to doubt him even more. ¡°That¡¯s quite the explanation to hear from a bandit.¡± ¡°As I said, I wasn¡¯t always a bandit.¡± ¡°It¡¯s also quite the explanation to hear from a former mercenary.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly have the typical upbringing for mercenaries. Unlike most, my family was¡­relatively well off and I had the opportunity to receive quite a bit of schooling.¡± Timber definitely seemed far cleverer than the stereotypical bandit, but that still didn¡¯t mean I automatically believed his explanation. ¡°I understand that you are probably not as dangerous as other criminals, but I still don¡¯t see why we don¡¯t just take you all down when the opportunity arises.¡± Timber let out a slightly annoyed sigh. ¡°...Braith, even if you could do that, I don¡¯t think you would. Or, at least, even if you defeat us all, I don¡¯t think you would drag all of us away to be arrested.¡± ¡°Oh, why do you say that?¡± I asked, wondering about Timber¡¯s sudden shift. ¡°There are simply too many of us. How would you transport all of us with just the three of you?¡± To be honest, I knew that would be an issue and I hadn¡¯t bothered to think of a good solution. Just like Timber said, I didn¡¯t really plan to do something as troublesome as that. ¡°Also, even if you could drag all of us to Deimos, I don¡¯t think they would even imprison all of us.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°It¡¯s bothersome for them as well. Deimos is the largest city in the Outlands, but it¡¯s not like they have a huge prison with a ton of empty prison cells. From what I recall, parts of Deimos are hardly any less lawless than the outside of the city. Also, would it even be worth turning in bandits without bounties?¡± ¡°Without bounties? None of you?¡± ¡°As I said, banditry is tolerated up to a certain point. We have not crossed that point, and if we had, believe me, we wouldn¡¯t still be here. Do you think bounty hunters wouldn¡¯t come by here?¡± At this point, I was about 95% convinced. However, that was only as far as thinking that I would be willing to move on without bothering with them any further. There was still the matter with Tasha¡¯s sense of justice. ¡°Alright, I hear you. However, Tasha is still going to want to beat up some bandits today. So¡­do you mind just fighting us anyways? We can leave you here after the fight and we¡¯ll continue traveling after that.¡± Timber¡¯s expression remained stable despite my seemingly ridiculous suggestion. ¡°That¡­is a rather outlandish request.¡± ¡°I am willing to listen to your alternatives,¡± I responded honestly. ¡°Well, you want me to offer an alternative that may placate your righteous daughter? Something that would convince her that it is better to leave us alone, at least for now?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m all ears if you have one.¡± Timber thought for a moment. ¡°I would like to confirm something. That group of merchants you were asking about, from everything that has been said, I can tell that they seem highly suspicious. If you do not mind me asking, what kind of people are you looking for? What did they do?¡± I was surprised to hear this as Timber¡¯s response, but thinking more on it, I also didn¡¯t think it took much to piece together my earlier intentions. ¡°I am looking for a group of people posing as merchants. They killed my friend,¡± I stated simply. Timber nodded in understanding. ¡°I see. Well, I cannot say for certain that that was the group you are looking for, especially since I didn¡¯t meet them myself. However, I believe you have other reasons for thinking that this is them.¡± I nodded, but did not elaborate. ¡°If we come by them again, I will make sure to investigate them more thoroughly. And, if I think it is them, I will personally apprehend them. How does that sound?¡± ¡°This is your alternative?¡± Could this work? ¡°Ah, I know I said they are murderers, but there isn¡¯t a bounty for them. Not yet, that is.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not offering to help because I also expect to gain a reward.¡± I looked Timber over, and I thought he seemed slightly upset. ¡°I cannot just allow such a dangerous group to roam freely.¡± ¡°What an unusual bandit, you are.¡± Timber smiled at me. ¡°Well, we are honourable bandits. What can you tell me about them? This will let me know if we find them. Who knows, it could still be a different group.¡± ¡°Their leader wears a green hat. Well, no guarantee he would keep wearing it though.¡± ¡°Ah, were you perhaps thinking that we were them?¡± ¡°That would be another reasonable explanation for why you have items that I have reason to believe may have belonged to my friend.¡± Timber didn¡¯t seem the least bit shaken by the insinuation. Well, by now, I could probably count at least half a dozen reasons for why Timber couldn¡¯t be who I was looking for. ¡°So, your friend was a merchant.¡± ¡°He was. His name was Dennis Loharn. They also stole his membership token.¡± ¡°Alright, I will keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Is there anything else you want to tell me or ask about?¡± ¡°They also used poison,¡± I said, more as a warning for Timber to be on guard. ¡°Alright, thanks for that information.¡± ¡°Okay, I trust that you will act accordingly.¡± I considered adding a threat if they break this agreement, but it seemed unnecessary. ¡°I am going back to explain this to them now.¡± ¡°I hope for a peaceful resolution.¡± I left and went back to Tasha and Flora, who surprisingly, were talking with some of the bandits. Seeing as how I didn¡¯t see any of them lying on the ground, it looked like the situation was still under control. I told the bandits to go away so I could speak to them alone and they left. I still expected quite a bit of resistance from Tasha, but she quietly listened to everything I had to say, and then said that she would go along with it if Flora agreed. Of course, Flora did agree to it, also saying that she didn¡¯t think the bandits were dangerous. I could sense that Tasha wasn¡¯t fully on board, and that she was compromising with us for various reasons. The main one, I assume, was because I was in a hurry to find Dennis¡¯ murderers. In an attempt to improve Tasha¡¯s mood, I promised her that I would ask more about Timber and his bandits once we get to Deimos, and that if anything they told me turned out to be a lie, I would make sure they pay for that. That seemed to help a bit, but Tasha still didn¡¯t seem too happy. That would just be something I would have to deal with later. We took the boxes from Timber and then continued on our travels. ******************* Later in the day, after Braith¡¯s encounter with Timber and his bandits, another person crossed the bridge, riding on a black horse. It appeared to be an attractive, young woman with brown hair, with the left side of her hair tied into a braid. She was dressed for traveling, wearing clothes that would be easy and comfortable to move around with, and she also had boots, gloves, a leather vest, and a black, hooded cloak to protect her from the elements. After crossing the Meridiem Bridge, the spear-wielding bandit, Alder, approached her. ¡°Who are you?¡± The woman stopped her horse and gave a small smile. ¡°Celia, a traveler,¡± she responded, her voice light and innocent sounding. ¡°Are you a mercenary?¡± Alder asked. ¡°No, just an ordinary traveler,¡± he responded, maintaining her smile. ¡°You will need to pay a toll if you want to pass through here.¡± ¡°How much?¡± she asked. ¡°It is three silver per person and five silver per horse. So, that will be eight silver in total.¡± Alder fully expected her to argue and was prepared to continue the next part of the dialogue chain. Much to Alder¡¯s surprise, she did not. ¡°Alright, just let me take that out for you,¡± Celia responded, still smiling as she reached into a saddlebag on the side of her horse. ¡°Um, miss, are you traveling alone?¡± Alder asked, honestly a bit perturbed by her compliance. ¡°Yes, it is just me,¡± she replied as she took a purse out of the saddlebag. ¡°Were you traveling with anyone earlier?¡± ¡°No, it is just me,¡± she repeated as she took out a couple silver coins. ¡°Are you sure you can afford to pay the toll? There are other alternatives.¡± ¡°Oh, I am fine with this,¡± she replied as Timber started running over. ¡°Okay, well if you are sure you have enough left to get to where you are headed. Are you headed somewhere far?¡± ¡°Hmmm, I don¡¯t think my destination is too far ahead of me,¡± she said as she pooled together the last few silver coins. ¡°Well, if you are not headed too far, we can have a couple people escort you part of the way there,¡± Alder said, genuinely offering help to this strange woman traveling alone. ¡°Oh, thank you for the offer, but that won¡¯t be necessary.¡± Celia stacked together eight silver coins and held them out for Alder to collect. However, as he was about to reach out for them, Timber called out to him. ¡°Stop.¡± Alder froze and looked over. ¡°What is it, boss?¡± he asked. Timber grabbed Alder¡¯s arm and put it back down. ¡°Hello, miss, there seems to be a misunderstanding.¡± ¡°A misunderstanding?¡± she asked, still smiling for some reason. ¡°Yes, you don¡¯t need to pay a toll,¡± Timber responded. Alder looked back at Timber with confusion but did not dispute him. ¡°Oh, but since you are doing such a good job, I¡¯d like to pay you, anyways.¡± Alder seemed to finally pick up on how wrong the situation seemed. ¡°No, no, we appreciate the sentiment, but there is no need.¡± Timber, still holding onto Alder, started to pull him back. ¡°Please, just go on your way.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± Timber responded, still backing away. ¡°Well, alright then.¡± Celia put the silver coins back into her purse and then put the purse back into her saddlebag. ¡°Ah, now that I think about it, maybe I wouldn¡¯t mind a couple escorts.¡± ¡°So sorry, but we are actually going to be very busy with something very soon,¡± Timber said in response. Celia continued to smile, and that¡¯s when Alder noticed that her eyes had never changed this whole time. It was as if only her mouth was moving. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a shame. Well, I wish you good luck in your endeavour.¡± Celia finally started to move forward on her horse. However, she suddenly stopped again after entering the clearing. ¡°Oh, I actually have something to ask you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Timber asked calmly. ¡°Has anyone else been through here earlier today?¡± she asked, turning her head around to face them again. ¡°No, you are the first.¡± Celia said nothing for a moment, but briefly, her eyes seemed to smile. ¡°Alright, thank you.¡± Celia¡¯s horse trotted off again. When she was finally out of view, Alder turned to Timber. The rest of the bandits who had also seen the woman pass through also gathered together. ¡°Who was that?¡± Alder asked, with a hint of fear in his voice. ¡°Don¡¯t ask that again. Also, if any of you ever see that woman again, ignore her. Pretend she isn¡¯t there and turn away. Do not approach her no matter what.¡± Most of the other bandits were confused by the extreme level of caution he was advising, but they trusted him more than anyone else, so they simply nodded. Timber nodded to himself, thankful that his men trusted him so much. Honestly, Timber didn¡¯t actually know who Celia was either. However, his years of experience told him that she was incredibly dangerous. A lone woman traveling through the outlands without any weapons in sight, and not only having the funds on hand to pay the expensive toll, but the seeming willingness to do so without any fuss. A completely unchanging smile that she wore without any fluctuations on the rest of her face. And, finally, that familiar ominous aura he felt right as she was trying to hand over the toll. It was only for an instant, but having been around a similar source of that kind of aura, he wanted nothing more than to stay as far clear away from that as possible. Timber let out a sigh as he strolled around the clearing, hoping to never see that woman again. As he walked though, he noticed the trail of fresh hoof prints left behind. There were the ones left behind by Celia¡¯s horse, but there were also those from Braith and his companions. Timber silently hoped that the two sides wouldn''t end up meeting each other. Chapter 46 About ten minutes after we left Timber¡¯s camp, Tasha asked if I was injured and also volunteered for Flora to heal me. I think she could have worded it better, but of course, Flora didn¡¯t mind it and agreed. However, I declined. Despite how intense the fight got between me and Timber at one point, I didn¡¯t have any significant injuries. In fact, I was feeling more sore and tired from exerting the power of the Thousand Bolts than anything else. Tasha still insisted that I be healed though. ¡°Dad, please just let Flora heal you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really unnecessary. I¡¯m barely hurt at all.¡± Other than some light bruising, and the aforementioned soreness, I was feeling just fine. I don¡¯t know if I would call it a realization or increased appreciation, but I came to the conclusion that Flora shouldn¡¯t be wasting her energy on superficial healing. I don¡¯t plan for it to happen again, but I definitely don¡¯t want Flora collapsing from overexerting herself. ¡°Are you really not injured, dad?¡± I could hear in Tasha¡¯s tone that she clearly thought I was lying to her. ¡°It¡¯s barely anything, Tasha. Do you want me to take my clothes off right here to show you?¡± ¡°...Yes, prove it to me.¡± I was shocked by Tasha¡¯s response to my suggestion. ¡°I was joking, Tasha.¡± Tasha glared at me, while also tugging on Flora in front of her, as if to encourage her to speak up on her behalf. ¡°Um, Mr. Braith, maybe you could at least let us have a look. Maybe you just don¡¯t realize how bad of a shape your body might be in.¡± I must have looked offended by the slight insinuation of ignorance, as she ended up wincing almost immediately. ¡°I mean, Mr. Braith, sometimes you push your body very hard, and it is also possible that you are feeling too numb in certain areas to notice the pain you could be in.¡± Despite Flora¡¯s initial facial reaction, she stuck to her opinion and brought forth cogent reasoning. I was impressed by Flora¡¯s increased confidence. ¡°Fine, I understand,¡± I sighed. We stopped for a bit so that both Flora and Tasha could take a closer look. As I said, physically, there were no significant issues, which caused Flora to apologize to me, presumably for having doubted me. That was more like her usual self, but what I was more interested in seeing was Tasha¡¯s reaction. She asked Flora again if there was anything serious, but she confirmed that I was fine. As doubtful as she was about me for whatever reason, Tasha finally believed Flora. I changed and got back on the horse again, but before leaving to get on the horse with Flora, Tasha asked me another question. ¡°Why did you go so easy on him, then?¡± ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°That bandit, Timber. Compared to how you fought in Brennan, you were barely even using half of your strength.¡± I froze up for a second. ¡°Do I need to go all out in every fight, Tasha?¡± I countered. ¡°That¡¯s how you fought almost every other time, though.¡± ¡°Well, almost every other time, I was risking my life, so of course, I would have gone all out.¡± I responded with my excuse quickly, and in my opinion, very convincingly. ¡°But, it almost looked like you were losing.¡± This was exactly the reason why I avoided any sparring in Brennan. I had no confidence in trying to fool Tasha¡¯s eyes when it came to fighting. However, I thought that five bolts would have looked good enough. ¡°Well¡­I admit it certainly was looking difficult to beat him using only five bolts.¡± Both Tasha and Flora looked at me with some mixed confusion. ¡°However, as you saw, I still won in the end.¡± ¡°...Why were you limiting your strength?¡± Tasha asked. Yeah, I still didn¡¯t really answer that question. ¡°...Does there need to be a reason?¡± Tasha clearly looked like she still expected me to provide one. Well, of course there¡¯s a reason. It¡¯s because that was my limit. But, I cannot tell her that. I almost died fighting against Tarras in Brennan. If I tell her that my strength is at barely half of what it was before, then I just know that both Flora and Tasha would insist on staying somewhere safe for me to recover. After having just encountered bandits, I just know they are going to say it¡¯s too dangerous to continue. And, on top of not wanting to worry them, I just don¡¯t want to waste any more time. ¡°Mr. Braith, is there actually something wrong?¡± Flora asked, uncharacteristically breaking the silence. ¡°No,¡± I responded immediately. The swiftness of my response did nothing to reassure them. I sighed. ¡°Well, you see¡­I intentionally limited myself,¡± I lied. ¡°After that fight in Brennan, I did some self-reflection, and I realized that my movements are not as sharp as they used to be.¡± This was actually the truth. I wasn''t able to notice before, but although my strength allowed me to act much faster than ordinary, my technique was a bit sloppier. I ran through the last part of my fight with Tarras in my mind again, and it was only with the added bolts and increased concentration that I felt I was able to smoothly deflect and parry his axe. In my time alone in Brennan, when I tried to really focus on just my movements while using one or two bolts, I felt there was a somewhat noticeable difference. ¡°I see,¡± Flora said, apparently believing my reasoning. Well, it was true, after all, it just wasn¡¯t the real reason. However, there was still a tinge of doubt in Tasha¡¯s eyes. ¡°Tasha, you¡¯ve seen my practiced moves before. Remember back in Befson. And then that time in Rettif. Can you really say that I was fighting as well as I did back then, if you only look at my movements or techniques, and not my strength and speed. Tasha stared ahead pensively. After some deep contemplation, I could see a little nod. ¡°But, that was still too close. You should beat them quickly and easily. If you want to practice, you can do it alone, or you could spar with me.¡± I smiled at having successfully deceived these two young girls. ¡°Yes, I think I will try to avoid that in the future.¡± I decided to not respond to her sparring suggestion. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s stop standing around now.¡± I got back on my horse and started to trot forwards. ****** A week later, late in the afternoon, we were almost at our destination. As we neared it, an unbelievable sight started to come into view. In the distance, thick plumes of grey and black smoke rose up into the area, mixing with the darkening sky. As we got closer still, I saw something I had never seen before. Massive columns rose up into the sky. Each column looked to be at least as thick as the guardian tree of the Nature Clan, but each one was even taller. At first, it looked like there was no limit as it appeared that the columns poked through even the dark smog. However, as we got even closer still, I could see wisps of the dark smog spread out to the sides. These massive columns actually supported a massive platform. This was not the city of Deimos. This was the wondrous structure that the city of Deimos was built below. The plumes of smoke were thickest on the northern side of Deimos. Likely because the industrial facilities were built alongside the Meridiem River to easily dispose of wastes. Considering the condition of the river, I can see why it wouldn¡¯t be considered wasteful to use the river just for waste disposal. Or, maybe the river only ended up like that due to years of wastes? Well, it would have to be magical wastes in that case. Or, maybe it was a combination of the two factors. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t know much about the history of Deimos other than it being a trade and industrial city. Other than that, I was only given directions to reach the Merchants¡¯ Guild located there. I wrapped some cloth around my mouth to act as a face mask and I told Flora and Tasha to do the same. The Merchants¡¯ Guild wasn¡¯t located in the industrial area, and Flora also probably could have helped treat poisons or damage from the smog, but there was just no reason to not put in at least this minimal level of protection. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Walls did not surround the entirety of Deimos, and there were several well-worn paths that led into the city. There was a checkpoint at each of those roads, but it was a relatively quick and informal process. There wasn¡¯t a toll to pay either. From there, we headed straight for the Merchants¡¯ Guild. As we got closer to the major shopping district where it was located, the roads and buildings looked noticeably cleaner. It was also brighter than I expected since Deimos was built under a massive platform. There were various lamp posts and it also looked like there were some kind of lights embedded into the massive columns. When we finally reached our destination, if it weren¡¯t for the few flecks of burnt materials that floated above us, I would say this looked even nicer than Ironshield¡¯s city square. There were sidewalks alongside the store fronts and other buildings, which were noticeably distinguished from the paved roads where carriages rode through. The guildhouse itself looked neither too extravagant nor too plain for its location in this clean district. It was a three story stone building that prominently displayed the signage: [Merchants¡¯ Guild: Deimos Branch]. There was also a symbol resembling antique scales on the signage. Standing by the front steps of the guildhouse were a pair of guards dressed in simple blue uniforms. On the left side of the guildhouse, there was also a massive fenced off section with a roof, which seemed to resemble either a large garage or a parking lot. I couldn¡¯t see all of it, but it looked like it extended much further than the guildhouse did. There were also more uniformed guards on either side of that fence. As we brought our horses over to the guildhouse, one of the guards waved at us. ¡°Greetings, sir. Are you here to visit the Merchants¡¯ Guild?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I responded simply. ¡°Understood. Would you like us to take in your horses while you¡¯re inside?¡± ¡°...Excuse me?¡± I was having difficulty understanding what the guard was asking. Was he¡­acting as a valet? ¡°If you will not be inside for long, you can leave your horses with one of your companions or unattended, but we make no promises as to their security.¡± Okay, so that is what he was asking about. ¡°How much?¡± I asked, partly expecting some ridiculous fee. ¡°If it is only until the end of the day, it is free. However, we will charge you for feed and other expenses if you do not reclaim your horses. Also, we have a policy to confiscate any unclaimed property left with us for more than thirty days. If you want to avoid such confiscation, but you foresee your inability to retrieve your property within that time, you may pay in advance for storage keeping. Also-¡± ¡°Okay, okay, I get it!¡± I dismount from my horse, and then hand him the reins. ¡°I don¡¯t expect to be here for long.¡± Flora and Tasha also dismounted. I prepared to walk away, but the guard stopped me. ¡°Just a minute, sir. We need to provide you with tags for your horses.¡± ¡°Tags?¡± I asked. The guard nodded. ¡°Yes, tags. After we take the horses in, we will leave them in an available stall in the stable, and then give you a tag that matches that stall number.¡± I looked past the fence again, and I thought I could see what was a sable in the back. Then, I looked back at the guildhouse. No, the guildhouse definitely isn¡¯t that long of a building. ¡°How long will that take?¡± ¡°It should only take a few minutes. If your companions wish to wait outside or in the front lobby, though, we can give them both tags later.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Very well, sir.¡± He tipped his cap to me. ¡°Tasha, Flora, wait out here for now. Come in after they give you the tags.¡± Flora nodded and Tasha looked like she wanted to argue. ¡°Act with your own discretion if there is an issue,¡± I added, hoping that might help. It did not. ¡°Okay, fine, I will wait with you both.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you only need to go inside and make a report? Why do we need to do all this?¡± she replied, eyeing Flora, as if telling her to not hand over the reins to the other guard. ¡°Even if you think it sounds simple, there¡¯s probably a bunch of processes and bureaucracy to deal with.¡± Tasha looked at me in confusion. I¡¯ve taught Tasha a lot of things, but I certainly didn¡¯t dedicate much time going over the complexities and intricacies of business and politics. ¡°It could take a long time to finish what I need to do here, and I don¡¯t want the horses just waiting here unattended for hours. And I know you don¡¯t want to stand around doing nothing for that long either.¡± Tasha relented, and Flora handed the horse¡¯s reins over to the other guard as the guards behind the fence opened it. Several minutes later, the guards returned with a couple tags and they handed them to us. I looked at Tasha with a bit of annoyance when I took them. She looked back at me with a similar expression. Whatever. We finally entered the guildhouse. The inside of the guildhouse did not look too dissimilar from the layout of the front of an office building. I went straight to the reception desk and was about to confidently state my business, but the receptionist spoke first. ¡°Hello, sir, how may I help you today?¡± ¡°Uh, yes, I am here to¡­report a murder.¡± True, but obviously not the best way to phrase it. ¡°Um, sir, do you need directions to Deimos¡¯ guard headquarters?¡± ¡°No, no, this is the place I need to be.¡± The receptionist silently maintained her professional smile. ¡°I am here to report the murder of a merchant.¡± Her smile instantly disappeared. ¡°You witnessed the murder of a merchant today?¡± she asked, very seriously. ¡°No, not today.¡± ¡°How recently did the murder occur?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh¡­about two months ago.¡± The receptionist¡¯s face twitched slightly, possibly suspecting that I may not be entirely there. ¡°About two months ago¡­you witnessed the murder of a merchant¡­in Deimos?¡± ¡°No, no, it wasn¡¯t in Deimos. It was in Reapers¡¯ Pass. Also, technically, I didn¡¯t witness the murder.¡± My rambling wasn¡¯t helping. The receptionist¡¯s face started to slacken a bit, but then Tasha suddenly appeared right beside me. ¡°Dad, is there an issue?¡± ¡°Not now, Tasha. I¡¯m in the middle of something.¡± A slightly confused smile was now fixed on the receptionist¡¯s face. Thankfully, Flora did not add further to confusion, as she quietly sat in a chair by the entrance instead. ¡°Sir, do you require any assistance in getting back home?¡± she asked me, but mostly looking at Tasha, as if expecting Tasha to back her up. ¡°Oh, right, where are we staying tonight?¡± Tasha asked. ¡°We¡¯ll go to an inn after we¡¯re done here, Tasha,¡± I answered. ¡°Sir, may I recommend some affordable locations for you to stay the night?¡± the receptionist offered. ¡°Ma¡¯am, I am trying to report a murder here.¡± Her fake smile left her face again. I felt like I could see her visibly suppress a sigh. ¡°Okay, sir, Please continue.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± I started unnecessarily. ¡°It is a merchant by the name of Dennis Loharn.¡± Judging by the instant shift in her expression, I should have led with that. ¡°Someone killed Dennis?¡± I thought I could hear in her voice the hope that I really was just some drunk or crazy guy. ¡°Yes. It happened in Reapers¡¯ Pass two months ago.¡± She stared at me for a few seconds. ¡°B- but you said you did not witness it? What do you mean?¡± ¡°W- When I got there, he was already dying. He told me to tell Zalae that it was a man wearing a green hat.¡± I could see the receptionist trying very hard to stay focused on listening. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to track down his killers, and I¡¯ve narrowed it down to a group of people pretending to be merchants. They also stole his token and used it in Brennan.¡± It was at this point that the receptionist¡¯s expression changed again. ¡°You¡¯ve been tracking down Dennis¡¯ killers for the past two months and investigated their activities?¡± she asked, only thinly covering up her obvious skepticism. ¡°...I¡¯ve come across some reliable information.¡± I was well aware of how that sounded, but I couldn¡¯t just say that I had the Harbingers, Brennan¡¯s intelligence agents, investigate the matter on my behalf. That would sound even more ridiculous. And that¡¯s assuming I even thought it would be a good idea to divulge that kind of information. ¡°Please, this is the truth. I really just want to relay this information for Dennis¡¯ sake.¡± I could see the doubt in the receptionist¡¯s eyes. ¡°I will send word to Master Zalae. Please wait in the lobby for now.¡± I believed that despite her doubts, she still thought there was some truth to my words, so I simply nodded and went to wait beside Flora, dragging Tasha along. ¡°What are we doing next?¡± Flora asked, assuming that things were not going according to plan. ¡°We wait, for now.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± After about five minutes, a man walked over to us, but he was not alone. He looked to be in his mid twenties, wore a vest and was relatively sharply dressed overall. He was also escorted by two uniformed guards. The other pair of uniformed guards standing by in the lobby also saw this, and tensed up slightly. I waited for someone to speak before deciding my next action. ¡°Sir, Master Zalae would like to see you. Would you please follow me?¡± I got up from my seat. ¡°Also, please leave any weapons on your person here. They are not allowed beyond the lobby.¡± I thought it a bit strange that they didn¡¯t make it a rule to take my weapons before I entered the building, but maybe stripping someone of their weapons is only done in the most extreme cases. ¡°Okay.¡± I took the scabbard off my belt and handed it over to Tasha. ¡°Hold onto that for me.¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m coming too!¡± Tasha also got up from her seat. ¡°Master Zalae has only requested to see you, sir. Nobody else.¡± ¡°I can leave my weapon behind, too,¡± Tasha argued, as if that was the reason. She began removing her scabbard as well, but I stopped her. ¡°Just wait, here.¡± I could see Tasha was about to argue some more, so I leaned in close and put a finger to her lips. ¡°They are doing this to keep an eye on you in case I do something. Don¡¯t make this a big deal.¡± Tasha seemed to understand, but she was obviously still upset. ¡°Look after Flora. I leave it to your discretion if an issue comes up.¡± After a moment, Tasha finally agreed. ¡°Are you ready now, sir¡­¡± ¡°My name is Braith.¡± ¡°Braith?¡± he asked a bit incredulously. ¡°Yes, my name is Braith,¡± I repeated. ¡°...it is very unique.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot. Well, lead the way.¡± ¡°Follow me.¡± I followed behind the man and the two guards. We went up two flights of stairs to arrive at the third floor. Then, I was led down the hallway to a door at the very end. The man knocked on the door. ¡°Come in,¡± a somewhat deep and aged voice responded from inside the room, without even waiting for the man to announce himself. The man opened the door, and motioned for the two guards and me to enter. ¡°No, just send him in alone.¡± The man in the vest hesitated. ¡°But, Master Zalae-¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough, Pascal. Just send him in alone.¡± Pascal eventually pointed at the two guards to leave. They walked past me without looking back. ¡°Master Zalae will see you now,¡± Pascal said to me. I looked at him and then back at the guards, who were still walking away. Well, alright then. I entered Zalae¡¯s office. Chapter 47 The office floor was covered in green carpet and there were glass cabinets on either side. One contained various bottles, probably alcohol, and the other had a variety of different, expensive-looking items and antiques. The back of the office had a large window that overlooked the streets below, which looked both dark and bright at the same time due to the shadow casted down by the massive platform above us and the various lights outside which also illuminated much of the view. The inside of the office also had its own lighting in the form of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and something that resembled a reading lamp on a dark wooden desk. Both appeared to be magical. In front of the desk were two leather chairs, and behind the desk was the man I was here to see. Zalae was a fairly rotund man who looked to be in his late forties to fifties and his head was shaved bald. His face also was shaven, but it looked clear to me that he either didn¡¯t shave very regularly or his moustache and beard hair grew very quickly. He wore a vest over a clean white shirt and I saw that he also had a jacket draped over the back of his chair. After looking me up and down for a second, he pointed to the door behind me. I closed it, and when I turned back around, he motioned for me to take a seat. I decided to sit on the chair on the right. When I did, he looked away for a moment, seeming to examine some papers on his desk. He let out a bit of grunt, and then pushed them aside before looking at me again. I silently stared back at him. ¡°You are quite patient. Either that, or you don¡¯t like to speak much.¡± I interpreted his words to mean that he expected me to have already said something. ¡°I guess.¡± Zalae seemed to take a few seconds to analyze my first words. ¡°May I ask for your name? I am Zalae, the guildmaster of Deimos¡¯ Merchants¡¯ Guild.¡± ¡°My name is Braith.¡± ¡°Braith? Is that right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a rather unique name.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot.¡± To be fair, though, I¡¯ve never heard of his name before either. ¡°Have you ever been to Deimos before?¡± ¡°No,¡± I responded quickly, accidentally revealing some annoyance in my tone. I mean, shouldn¡¯t he be treating this more seriously? ¡°Okay, I think I can stop there,¡± Zalae began, his expression now looking much more serious. I guess I got what I asked for? ¡°Alright, tell me, how do you know Dennis?¡± I paused for a moment, and then I explained to Zalae our coincidental meeting and arrangement. I further explained how we parted ways in the forest just before reaching Reapers¡¯ Pass, but omitting any details as to why and what I did there. I expected him to press me for more details about that, but he let me continue without interruption. I told him about how I found Dennis after he was attacked, and the words he wanted me to pass on. Then, I told him about how I discovered his murderers were passing off as merchants using his stolen membership token. ¡°And then¡­well, here I am now,¡± I concluded. ¡°...I see. That¡­does sound like something Dennis might have done.¡± Zalae leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he stared at me intensely. ¡°Braith, why have you come to report this to me?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I blurted out confusion. Was he not listening at all? ¡°Dennis was murdered and he told me to tell you.¡± ¡°And that is the only reason?¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t understand what you are getting at?¡± ¡°Even if the primary reason was to honour Dennis¡¯ last request, surely there are other reasons. Such as seeking favour from the Merchants¡¯ Guild? Or maybe reducing the risk of being suspected yourself?¡± I was honestly upset with those words. ¡°No! I didn¡¯t come here for such reasons!¡± Zalae didn¡¯t seem the least bit perturbed by my outrage. ¡°Then, perhaps to alleviate your sense of guilt?¡± ¡°Guilt?! What are you talking about? You think I had something to do with Dennis¡¯ death?!¡± Why on earth would I even come here to make such a report in that case?! ¡°...well, you were supposed to be guarding him, were you not?¡± My anger deflated. Those thoughts that I thought I had since gotten over were coming back to me. My apology to Dennis as he was dying and the multiple regrets I had during my time in that forest. ¡°When you parted ways in that forest¡­what really happened?¡± I swallowed some saliva. I was still trying to regain my composure from my distraught thoughts, so I knew I had to just remain silent until I did. I could not possibly risk revealing any of mine or Tasha¡¯s secrets here. ¡°Perhaps, you encountered some dangers even before reaching Reapers¡¯ Pass?¡± I continued to try to not give anything away, but I could feel my eyes shift slightly in nervousness. ¡°Perhaps¡­you fled to save your own life.¡± I froze at his words. I looked at him with a slightly shocked expression. ¡°Running away from danger is an obviously cowardly and unprofessional thing to do as an escort. However, I am fully aware that money is rarely an acceptable substitute for one¡¯s own life. Especially when you have your own family to look after. If it were truly a life or death situation¡­¡± Zalae looked at me with a mix of disappointment and understanding, ¡°then it would be difficult to lay the blame on you.¡± ¡°W- what?¡± I spluttered out. ¡°At the very least, though, I would like to hear the full and honest truth now.¡± ¡°...I didn¡¯t run away,¡± I finally said, my voice a bit shaken. Zalae raised an eyebrow at me. Then he stared back at me with even greater intensity. ¡°Yes, I parted ways with him, but it wasn¡¯t because I was running away from danger. That had nothing to do with it.¡± My voice was stronger now. ¡°Braith¡­it would be far worse for you and your livelihood to deny your cowardice here than it is to accept it.¡± Zalae¡¯s words were almost seething with rage. ¡°I admit I do feel some guilt about it all. However, it¡¯s not because I ran from danger. It¡¯s because¡­I think I could have done something for him otherwise. And¡­because of what the other escort said before he died.¡± I had omitted that part earlier, probably because of this exact reason of feeling guilty, but I felt the need to explain it now. ¡°He told me¡­that Dennis waited for me.¡± Those words still hurt to repeat, and no matter how I rationalized that Dennis likely would have still been attacked even if he left earlier, I couldn¡¯t know that for sure. ¡°...I see,¡± Zalae responded, his voice much softer now. In the dark spot of the window behind him, I thought I could faintly make out my own contorted face. I quickly looked away and covered my face. ¡°It seems you gave me a rather abbreviated version of events.¡± I could tell by his tone that he didn¡¯t mean it in an accusatory way this time. ¡°Is there more you wish to add now?¡± There was so much I could elaborate on, but¡­ah, there is also just so much I also feel like shouldn¡¯t be said for various reasons. ¡°If you have any other doubts about what I¡¯ve told you¡­just ask me.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Alright¡­well, I would like to know more about why you suddenly parted ways in the forest¡­but it looks like you won¡¯t be telling me that. Can you at least assure me that it had absolutely nothing to do with Dennis?¡± I nodded. ¡°Alright¡­then, my next question would be about how you found out the other information about Dennis¡¯ murderers.¡± Yeah, that was an obvious question. ¡°...I got it from¡­a reliable source.¡± ¡°...Did you commission someone? Some mercenaries or experienced trackers?¡± I thought for a few seconds before shaking my head. ¡°Can you please tell me why you believe the information to be reliable?¡± ¡°...I¡¯m not sure I can. I¡¯m also aware it would be very difficult to simply trust me on this.¡± ¡°Indeed, it is difficult. Technically, we haven¡¯t even verified if you truly ever met or knew Dennis. Even if that bare minimum was met, I know nothing about you or your credibility.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± And that also made me question why he was willing to meet with me alone. Is he actually a lot stronger than he looks? Or, is he also just underestimating me? ¡°Is there someone you know who can vouch for you? As far as your reputation goes?¡± This kind of topic actually did come up in Brennan after I told the king about my plan. To smooth things over for me since I wanted to personally report the matter, King Henrik offered to write me a letter of reference, but I declined for what I thought were rather obvious reasons. Just like when I refused the knighthood, I certainly didn¡¯t want to be tied back to the King of Brennan since that seemed to have a whole host of other serious implications. As a compromise, Sir Emmerick, the Captain of the Iron Knights, wrote me a letter of reference instead. I forgot about it when I spoke with the receptionist, but I¡¯m still not sure I should use it. ¡°If I say there is no one¡­does that mean you will disregard my report?¡± ¡°No, we would still definitely look into the matter. However, it also means we would need to investigate you as well.¡± ¡°...that¡¯s fine. As long as you still look into everything else seriously as well.¡± I doubt they¡¯ll find anything about me anyways. If no issues came up while in Brennan, I didn¡¯t foresee any issues coming up now. ¡°Does that mean you will cooperate with us until the investigations have concluded?¡± Zalae asked, clearly wondering what exactly I was still hiding from him. ¡°As much as is reasonable,¡± I responded. ¡°Reasonable, huh?¡± Zalae leaned in a bit closer, as if trying to peer into my thoughts, and then he slumped back down in his chair with a sigh. ¡°Alright. In that case, I will have you and your companions remain in Deimos for now. I can provide you with rooms for you to stay at an inn that I own.¡± Zalae reached for something under his desk, and a second later Pascal walked in, looking a bit panicked at first as he analyzed the current situation. ¡°Pascal, please escort Mister Braith and his companions to the Yellow Rose. Prepare rooms for them all.¡± ¡°Ah, rooms for all of them, of course!¡± Pascal confirmed the order instantly, but then his cheeks started to redden. ¡°Um, I believe we may only have two available rooms tonight.¡± Zalae seemed a bit confused by that, but I understood why. When the receptionist delivered my report, she probably only mentioned me and Tasha, but Pascal would have noted Flora when he came to fetch me. ¡°I am traveling with two others, but I think two rooms should be fine,¡± I said, clarifying the matter. ¡°Oh, are you sure?¡± Zalae asked me, which I assumed was more out of courtesy than anything else. I mean, he was having me stay at his inn so that he could keep better watch over me. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine, as long as you are not planning to overcharge me.¡± ¡°Of course not, we will accommodate all of you free of charge. Consider this my hospitality to you in exchange for your cooperation.¡± Zalae meant his words in the moment, but I could tell he would probably flip in an instant if he found any problems with me during the investigation. ¡°In that case, thank you.¡± I got up from my seat and I followed Pascal out of the office. ¡°Oh, and Pascal, please guide them personally.¡± Pascal paused very briefly in the middle of taking a step outside. ¡°Of course, Master Zalae,¡± Pascal responded, turning around quickly to speak. Pascal continued to exit the office and I followed after him. When I did, I could see that a couple of the armed guards outside looked a bit nervous. However, their expressions slackened when they saw Pascal leading me down the hall without a word to them. We went back down to the first floor and after briefly explaining the situation to Tasha and Flora, Pascal led the three of us outside. I explained to Pascal about our horses, but he said we could keep them there and that we didn¡¯t need to worry about any fees. We still got our luggage, though. We got inside of a carriage that was on standby outside of the Merchants¡¯ Guild and it took us to the inn. The whole time, there were no other armed guards accompanying us during the trip. Is this their way of showing that they trust me at least a little bit? There were a few guards outside of the inn, but they didn¡¯t pay us much attention. Pascal led us inside and we followed him to the top floor of the inn. He handed me a pair of keys that he got from the receptionist downstairs. Then, he pointed to two different doors and told us we were free to use both rooms however we wished. I asked about food and he said that he would have the staff bring us something to eat shortly. ¡°Is there anything else you require?¡± Pascal asked. ¡°Not at the moment,¡± I replied. ¡°If there is anything else, I¡¯ll be downstairs. If you don¡¯t see me, then please let the receptionist know, instead.¡± ¡°You? You¡¯re also staying here?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked without thinking. ¡°In order to accommodate you during your stay.¡± Is this what Zalae meant he told him to personally guide us? Hmmm, I think there should be more to it than just that. Does Pascal have some kind of secret ability or is there some other reason why he has to stay here? Maybe Pascal has some special authority as well? ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to inconvenience you any further.¡± ¡°It is no inconvenience at all.¡± ¡°Well¡­alright. I¡¯ll seek you out if I need anything else. I assume we can just wait in our rooms now?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Could you send all the food to just that room?¡± I asked, pointing to the nearest room. ¡°No problem.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I turned to Flora and Tasha and signalled for them to follow me. We entered the room together and I quickly started looking around. Other than it being a clean and very well furnished room, nothing seemed suspicious about it. To be sure though, I asked Flora if she noticed anything off about the room. ¡°No,¡± Flora replied, shaking her head, ¡°I don¡¯t sense anything dangerous about this room or the rest of the building.¡± Tasha walked past her and sat down on a sofa. She also looked around the room with a look of mild interest. ¡°I guess it looks nice.¡± After hearing Tasha¡¯s appraisal, I took a seat on the sofa next to her. As it was a two-seater, Flora chose to simply remain standing. ¡°Tasha, move over a bit so that Flora can sit down here as well.¡± Flora looked like she was about to protest, but Tasha quickly moved to the edge. I also moved over and patted my empty side, urging Flora to sit. Flora put her bow by the side of the sofa and squeezed next to me. As she did, I started wondering if this was the best way to sit together. I mean, there was a small dining table with some chairs on the other side of the room. ¡°Okay, now what?¡± Tasha asked, taking the lead. ¡°Well, do you two understand what is really going on?¡± I asked. ¡°They don¡¯t trust us,¡± Tasha answered. I looked over to Flora. She seemed to be carefully considering her words. ¡°I think¡­they just want to be careful.¡± Tasha shot a look at Flora, as if to say she had just said the same thing but in different words. I was inclined to agree with my daughter. ¡°Well, it seems you both get it. I told you that they want us to stay here while they investigate my report, but a part of it is so that they can look into me as well.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we just leave? If they are already going to investigate Dennis¡¯s death, then we can just go.¡± Initially, there seemed to be some sense to Tasha¡¯s suggestion. As seemingly reckless as it sounded, I only came to Deimos because of Dennis. Even if leaving would have a negative impact on my reputation, what would that really mean? I never planned to associate myself with Deimos, anyways. However, at the same time, as unlikely as the possibility was, if I could personally avenge Dennis¡¯ murder, I would want that even more. At the very least, maybe that could finally help me rid myself of my feeling of guilt. If I could use the power I obtained to avenge him, and then continue to go on doing something good, I think I could truly move on. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good idea, Tasha,¡± Flora began. ¡°Mister Braith, you said you already promised to cooperate. If we leave, this would break the Merchants¡¯ Guild¡¯s trust. They might even report you to the other branches.¡± Hearing Flora speak, I found myself agreeing and quickly realizing that there were more logical reasons other than my personal motivations. ¡°Yes, Flora has a good point. And, if we just leave, they also might split their efforts into investigating the murderers as well as tracking us down. They might even prioritize us, instead.¡± I could see Tasha pouting a bit at how badly we shot down her suggestion. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t see your point at all, though. Certainly, if they would find out everything about us, I wouldn¡¯t want to stay here, either. But, it¡¯s very unlikely that these guys are going to find out anything incriminating about me.¡± During my time in Midgard, I think I lived the life of a relatively upstanding, law abiding citizen. Or, er, Outlander. As for the other stuff¡­well, I don¡¯t know how they would find out about that. Honestly, the more likely result is that they can¡¯t find anything about me and are suspicious because of that. I guess, at that point, I can provide them with the letter from Sir Emmerick. Hmmm, actually, maybe I should just do that preemptively? ¡°But, what if they make us stay here for a very long time?¡± Tasha asked. That was also a good point. Even the Harbingers took ten days. ¡°We can deal with that later if it comes to that,¡± I replied. ¡°Obviously, I have no intention of staying here indefinitely.¡± Flora looked a bit worried about my answer. ¡°But, even then, I would prefer to resolve things civilly. I don¡¯t have anything against the Merchants¡¯ Guild, and I can appreciate that they will want to look into this thoroughly.¡± Yeah, to try and smooth things out some more, maybe I should just give them that letter. Although, how do I explain how I got it? Tasha and Flora both had a couple other things to mention to me, but overall, I think we were on the same page. We would quietly remain here for a few days for now, and see how things start to play out. As our discussions were about to come to an end, the inn staff knocked on our door to bring us our food. I will just say it was delicious. After eating, I left the room to go to the other one, as I figured it made the most sense for Tasha and Flora to share one room. Before walking into the other room, I thought about giving Pascal the letter, but explaining how I got it would be so hard to believe. I mean, once verified, it would presumably be great for me, but I didn¡¯t want to rely on it. After standing in the middle of the hallway for another minute, considering the pros and cons or either revealing or covering up the extent of my relationship with the King of Brennan, I figured it was simpler to just hope that things work out. After making my decision, I walked into my room. The other room looked the same as the first and when I looked around the rest of the suite, there was also warm water to use to wash myself. For the first time since Brennan, I went to sleep early in an actual bed. As I lay there, in a comfortable bed after having a hearty meal instead of rations, I figured that staying here on Zalae¡¯s dime might actually be a good thing. Chapter 48 For the next two days, we enjoyed delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner at the inn. We were also allowed to roam about in the shopping district, but although we were not directly tailed or escorted, I could tell we were being watched from time to time. I expected this, and although Flora acted like she didn¡¯t mind it, Tasha was starting to feel annoyed on the second day. At first, Tasha would just grumble slightly about doing nothing again for another day. As the day went on, though, she started to complain to me a bit more loudly. In fact, it was almost at the point where I thought she even wanted the people monitoring us to hear her complain. I asked her to be quiet and she complied at the moment, but it seemed obvious she would complain again soon enough. Perhaps foolishly, I also offered to buy her a gift which seemed to upset her, although she didn¡¯t say anything other than ¡®no¡¯. As we ate dinner together in the same room on the second day, Tasha finally vented. I understood her complaints, and although I thought we could afford to be a bit more patient, I would have at least liked if Zalae or Pascal had given me an update on their investigation. Or, at least some sort of a time frame on when we could expect to hear an update would have been nice. ¡°Okay, I will talk with Pascal tomorrow.¡± I didn¡¯t know what would come of such a talk, but I felt I needed to say at least this much to appease Tasha. The next morning, when they came to deliver us our breakfast, I went to seek out Pascal. I convinced Tasha and Flora (mostly Tasha) to eat first while I talked to him alone. At my request, the two of us spoke privately in a staff room. ¡°How may I help you, Mister Braith?¡± Pascal asked, wearing a poker face. ¡°Well, there are a lot of ways you could help me, but first of all, do you think you can provide me with any updates as to your investigations?¡± I asked. Pascal paused for a moment. ¡°I am afraid there are no updates I can relay to you at this time.¡± I stared at him to see if there was something more to his words. ¡°Is that so?¡± I asked. ¡°Unfortunately so.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea on when there may be an update?¡± Pascal stroked his chin a bit before answering. ¡°I don¡¯t want to give you an inaccurate estimate.¡± ¡°A range or time frame would do for now,¡± I responded. ¡°Is there¡­perhaps a certain time frame that you need to be meeting?¡± Pascal asked. At first, I was just going to say ¡®no¡¯, but then I stopped myself. ¡°I have certain¡­tasks that I intend to fulfill. I don¡¯t think they would conflict with complying with your investigations, but I wanted to make sure of what to expect.¡± Pascal took some time to mull over the words that I just strung together. ¡°We do not wish to cause you undue delay, and in the unfortunate situation where that occurs, the Merchants¡¯ Guild will be sure to provide you with reasonable compensation.¡± ¡°I thank you for that, but I would prefer to know now whether such undue delays could arise.¡± ¡°Of course, we understand you have your own circumstances. Unfortunately, I do not believe I can provide you with a very reliable estimate for a time frame.¡± ¡°Perhaps you could provide a partly reliable estimate, then?¡± ¡°Well, if you are concerned about missing a deadline, I can provide you with some forewarning. Provided you tell me about when this deadline is.¡± What the heck is even going on in this conversation anymore. How did this become such a difficult subject? ¡°I¡­feel that I cannot share the specific details of my tasks with you. Do you think you can just tell me how long this may take, assuming things do not progress smoothly?¡± ¡°Unfortunately,¡± Pascal began, ¡°it is too soon for me to give you a reliable estimate on how long it will take for the investigations to be completed.¡± I suppressed a sigh of frustration as I stared intently at him. ¡°Is there anything else that I can help you with?¡± Again, I was about to just say ¡®no¡¯, but I stopped myself. I needed to get at least something out of this. Maybe I can provide Sir Emmerick¡¯s letter now? That should at least give us a wider range of movement. Oh, hold on¡­ ¡°Pascal, I understand that we need to remain in Deimos until you conclude your investigations. However, does that mean we need to remain in this area, near the Merchants¡¯ Guild?¡± ¡°No, of course not.¡± Ah, well, at least if there are other places to go to, maybe we can find somewhere to keep ourselves preoccupied. ¡°However, the shopping district is probably the safest area in Deimos. In particular, I would say there are various parts of the city that I would not recommend taking children to.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I think Timber Gain also mentioned something to that effect. Something about there being very dangerous parts in Deimos, I think? ¡°Yes. Although many of the mercenaries in the city can behave themselves for the most part, I would still advise steering clear of the area where the Mercenaries'' Guild is located. Also, there are some more unsavoury sorts both inside and outside of the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild in which you would be better off not associating with.¡± ¡°Are you talking about bandits and the like?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes, that would be one group.¡± ¡°I see. Actually, there is something else I wanted to ask you. Do you happen to know a bandit by the name of Timber Gain?¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°...I do,¡± Pascal answered after a long pause. ¡°I suppose you happened to come across him on your way to Deimos?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I answered simply, not wanting to elaborate for now. ¡°I see. Well, I believe I know the intention behind that question, so please allow me to clarify something. Yes, both the Merchants¡¯ Guild and the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild are aware of Timber Gain and his group of bandits. Now, this does not mean either guild condones banditry. Although that man and his group are bandits, they serve an important role. They regularly patrol the outlands to the west of Deimos and drive out most other bandits. They also assist in capturing other criminals and they do not collect tolls during the winter months nor do they rob the outlanders that live in small villages in that area. There is also a bit more that I do not feel is appropriate to say here, but the Merchants¡¯ Guild feels it is overall more beneficial to simply observe them for now. At this time, we feel it is unnecessary to expend resources and manpower in apprehending them or more likely completely driving them out of the area since they would be sure to flee instead.¡± I did not expect to hear such a lengthy explanation, so it took me some time to fully comprehend everything Pascal had just said. However, before I could respond, Pascal continued speaking. ¡°However, as we have stated, they are certainly not official agents or employees of either the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild nor the Merchants¡¯ Guild, and therefore their acts are ostensibly criminal. May I ask how much the toll was? The one they requested from you?¡± ¡°The toll¡­yeah, I think they were asking for¡­nineteen silvers.¡± ¡°Did they explain how they came to such a number?¡± Pascal asked. ¡°I think it was¡­three for each person and five for each horse,¡± I answered. Pascal nodded. Did that mean the amount was something they implicitly agreed on? ¡°Alright. I will be sure to relay this information. Even before the conclusion of the investigations, I believe we can process a request to have that amount reimbursed for you.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I responded quickly. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Is something the matter?¡± Pascal asked. ¡°No, I mean¡­well, technically I didn¡¯t pay the toll.¡± Some people may have suggested staying quiet here and getting a bit of free money, but I wanted to try and be as honest with the Merchants¡¯ Guild as I could, especially as it did seem that there was a real connection between Timber and them. ¡°You didn¡¯t pay the toll?¡± I nodded in response to Pascal¡¯s question. Upon seeing that, his expression shifted slightly. But, only for a second. ¡°That is some very capable riding on the part of you and your companions.¡± I shot him a confused look, and I saw his expression shift a bit more. ¡°I am referring to how you managed to ride past Timber¡¯s bandits without paying the toll.¡± ¡°Ah, no, that¡¯s not what happened,¡± I began, ¡°Timber kept challenging me to a duel, and I eventually accepted it. We just passed through after I won.¡± Pascal finally revealed a bewildered expression. ¡°Was I¡­not supposed to do that?¡± I asked, genuinely confused by his reaction. With the way Timber acted, it sounded like he challenged people to duels all the time. I mean, he was stronger than a lot of people I¡¯ve fought, but there were also several people I encountered that I would say were stronger than him. Silence dragged on for another moment before Pascal recomposed himself and let out a small cough. ¡°Excuse me, Mister Braith, that was¡­sorry. As to your question, there are certainly no issues with accepting one of Timber¡¯s duels. He does that quite often. I was just¡­he just rarely loses. Did he perhaps modify the duel in any way?¡± ¡°What do you mean by that? It was a one-on-one fight. Does he normally duel differently?¡± ¡°They are normally one-on-one. However, did he impose any special rules?¡± ¡°Special rules?¡± Am I not understanding how dueling works in Midgard? Well, that wouldn¡¯t exactly be a big surprise. As far as challenge requests go, that would have been my first duel. The other fights were generally just people coming to kill me or the people around me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t think I fully understand the question.¡± ¡°Ah, my apologies. Then, allow me to be more specific with my questions. Did you both fight with weapons?¡± ¡°Yeah, he used a shortsword to match mine.¡± Pascal nodded after a short pause. ¡°And what were the conditions to winning the duel?¡± ¡°Until one person surrendered.¡± ¡°...and Timber surrendered?¡± I didn¡¯t verbally answer, but my expression made it quite obvious how stupid of a question I thought that was. ¡°My apologies. I simply did not know that you were such an adept fighter. Most of the veteran mercenaries have never even won once against him.¡± Really? Although¡­ah, thinking about it again, did I really beat him? We seemed pretty even at the start until I started having difficulty maintaining my power. And then, I just completely outsped him in the last attack. Timber was going on about how I had figured him out, but I still didn¡¯t know what he meant. ¡°Is there something more that happened?¡± Pascal asked, possibly getting a glimpse into some of my doubts. ¡°No¡­I mean¡­no.¡± I¡¯m still not sure what exactly happened, but I did win, and Timber, at least, seemed to think it was because of some special reason, and not just because he gave up the win. Well, if it had to be for any other reason, the only thing I could think of would be a guardian spirit power. Maybe something tied to dueling? ¡°You can ask him if you have any doubts,¡± I said, doubling down confidently. Pascal finally seemed satisfied. ¡°You are right. I apologize for doubting you, Mister Braith. It is just rare for a traveler to have your level of strength despite being neither a mercenary nor a knight. Although, we also have the clear exception in Timber Gain, as well. Although his situation is- ahem, in any case, thank you for the information. This may aid us in our investigations.¡± I thought that was a rather abrupt change, but I decided not to question it. ¡°Well, is there anything else you can think of that I can do to help with the investigation?¡± I asked, grabbing onto the last thing Pascal said. He might have only said that to change the subject, but I will hold him to it if I can. ¡°Anything else to help? Ah, well¡­that depends, I suppose.¡± ¡°Depends on what?¡± ¡°On how much you feel free to tell us,¡± Pascal spoke his words rather slowly. ¡°I understand that there are some things you feel you cannot share, and it would be difficult for me to say whether or not such things are completely unrelated to helping our investigations.¡± ¡°...I see. Well, I would just say again that everything that I told you about Dennis and his killers is the truth.¡± If they could put some trust into Timber Gain, I hoped they could put at least as much trust into me. Of course, I feared saying something like that could make things worse. ¡°We will just carry on dutifully, then.¡± I said nothing in response. ¡°In any case, I believe we went a bit off-track. You were asking about visiting the rest of Deimos, correct?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± ¡°Knowing of your capability now, perhaps you could consider visiting some places that the mercenaries frequent. Although, I still would not think they would be good places to bring children.¡± ¡°Just tell me about those places.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m assuming that you do not intend on joining the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild, but you may wish to go there anyways. They post bounties and commissions that non-members can also take. Perhaps, you can consider one of them after the investigations are done. Also, we would most likely submit a commission to them regarding Dennis¡¯ assailants in the future, so it may be worth getting to meet some of their members. Well, some of them would be better off avoided, but overall, we can usually rely on them to quickly complete our commissions.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Yeah, that makes sense. Obviously, if everything proceeds smoothly, the Merchants¡¯ Guild would put out a bounty and it would be the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild that would probably go on a manhunt to claim it. I guess the odds of me getting a hand in this any further are even lower than I thought. ¡°There is also an establishment where patrons go to drink and gamble on fights. Ah, I know you are not familiar with duels, but I would say such fights are¡­well, I suppose you could still say they are duels. I¡¯m not sure how fond you would be of such entertainment.¡± ¡°What kind of fights are they?¡± I asked. ¡°They have several fights throughout the day, which include both armed and unarmed combat. The rules for winning also vary from fight to fight. They also sometimes have rounds where patrons can fight as well.¡± ¡°Do you mean that random people can just go and fight there?¡± ¡°Yes. It is sometimes used for the pugilistic sort to quickly settle arguments.¡± ¡°...To be clear, are these fights ever to the death?¡± ¡°An accidental death can occur, but fights to the death are strictly prohibited throughout Deimos,¡± Pascal responded with a hint of distaste in his voice. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good,¡± I responded, wanting to make it clear that I was not looking for such a fight. ¡°Um, any other suggestions for places I can visit?¡± ¡°...Is there perhaps something specific you are looking for?¡± ¡°Ah, no, not really. Just any other places that you think would be¡­fun or interesting.¡± Tasha might like going to that bar he mentioned, but I would prefer to go to a place that Flora might also like. ¡°Well, outside of drinking, gambling, and fighting, there are a couple other areas that mercenaries and their kind frequent.¡± ¡°Oh, what are they?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I would say they would be fun or interesting for you.¡± ¡°Why not? What are they?¡± I repeated my question. ¡°One would be where the blacksmiths are located, as they need to regularly maintain or replace their equipment.¡± I wouldn¡¯t find it particularly interesting, but maybe Tasha would like it? ¡°And the other area?¡± I asked. Pascal looked at me for a few seconds before answering. ¡°The brothels,¡± Pascal responded flatly. We stared at each other for several seconds. ¡°Tell me more about that fighting establishment.¡± Chapter 49 After speaking with Pascal, I returned to my room to eat with Tasha and Flora. I brought up visiting other parts of Deimos to them, and it might be that Tasha was just so bored of everything so far, but she was very eager to go to the fighting bar. I made it clear that if we were to go, none of us would be fighting, but she still really wanted to go. I didn¡¯t think Flora would like it as much, but I expected she would still want to tag along. Unexpectedly, she said that she would rather stay behind. She reasoned that she didn¡¯t think she would find it to be a very pleasant place for her to go to, and I completely understood her. Honestly, I was even a bit impressed. It almost always felt like she was being dragged along, but for her to suggest that we split up, if only for just this one thing, seemed to be a big step for her. Maybe that time in Brennan actually did some real good for her mentality, as opposed to only shaking her up? ¡°But, Flora, you¡¯d just be here all by yourself?¡± Tasha began, ¡°I mean¡­we can go somewhere else if you want.¡± And now Tasha is offering to be accommodating despite her earlier excitement? Are my two girls growing up now? Wait, I mean, no, just the one, and when I say growing up¡­forget it, I think everyone knows what I mean. ¡°No, you don¡¯t need to do something like that,¡± Flora said, waving her hands defensively like usual. ¡°Please, you should go and have some fun.¡± Tasha glanced over at me, but I said nothing. ¡°But, what are you going to do here by yourself?¡± Tasha asked. Personally, I thought Tasha¡¯s tone and expression was showing too much concern. Yes, physically, and, not to be too rude, but maybe mentally as well, Flora was a lot weaker, but it¡¯s not like she is a puppy or something. Heck, Flora is older than Tasha, something that Tasha seems to never recognize or acknowledge. ¡°Oh, I thought I would just, um, do some training- um, I mean studying. You know, reading through my grandpa¡¯s books.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you already read through them a lot?¡± Tasha asked. I have definitely seen Flora reading the things that Hiram left her, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯d say she did it a lot. Well, I¡¯m sure it would be fine to reread them anyways. Well, I guess now¡¯s a good time to finally interject. ¡°Tasha, if Flora wants to do something else, just leave her be,¡± I said, giving Flora a small nod of affirmation. ¡°Besides, we might be here for another several days, so I¡¯m sure we can do something else with Flora another day.¡± Tasha didn¡¯t look too pleased about being outnumbered, as was the usual case whenever the three of us debated, but she relented easily enough. ¡°Alright, fine. Is there anything we can bring back for you, though, Flora? Oh, maybe some poisonous ingredients? I¡¯m sure this city has plenty of that.¡± ¡°Tasha, that¡¯s just¡­well, maybe. What do you think, Flora? I know we bought some stuff back in Ironshield, but their apothecaries didn¡¯t have that wide of a selection. Is there something we can get for you now?¡± ¡°Um¡­thanks, but you don¡¯t need to do that. I still have plenty of ingredients.¡± Alright, I think that¡¯s enough pestering now. ¡°Okay, if you say so. But, we can all go together on another day if you want to check out any shops.¡± Flora nodded after thinking for a moment. When Tasha and I finally left the inn, we saw Pascal waiting outside next to a carriage. He told us that if we plan to travel outside of the shopping district, it would be better to take a carriage instead of walking. He also told us it was free for us to use before I could ask. Tasha and I got inside and the driver took us to the fighting bar, or Blake¡¯s Bar, as it is called. Even if we would only briefly outside, I still had cloth over my face to avoid breathing in smoke and I told Tasha to do the same. When we exited the carriage, I was somewhat glad about my precautions. This part of Deimos was a complete contrast to the shopping district. The environment itself seemed to have a darker tint, most likely owing to its close proximity to the industrial area, and I could faintly see flakes of soot or ash floating about. The streets and buildings all appeared to have a thin layer of soot or grime and there wasn¡¯t a cleanly dressed person anywhere in sight. As for the people who were walking about, they were all either armed (and mostly wearing leather armour or padded cloth), or were in ragged clothing as dirty as the sky above. Based on the smog that was visible even from outside of Deimos, it was obvious there would be places like this, but it was still a shocking sight. However, Tasha didn¡¯t seem to care as much about that as I did, and just walked right to the bar, which was almost directly in front of the carriage. The bar was made of brick and looked neither cleaner nor dirtier than the buildings around it, but it was a fair bit larger. ¡®Blake¡¯s Bar¡¯ was displayed on a nameplate right above its front door. On the sides of the doors were windows with iron bars over them. As I walked over to Tasha who was waiting by the front door, I thought about how there would be no way I would ever willingly enter such a place back home, and even here, I am only doing it because Tasha still wanted to go inside. It was almost as if she was taking some delight in how much worse this place looked than the shopping district. When I got closer to Tasha, she tried to open the door. There was no doorknob, so she tried to push it open, but that didn¡¯t work. She then tried pushing harder, but it still didn¡¯t budge. Without risking her trying a third time, possibly thinking that the door itself was some test of strength, I grabbed her arm and then knocked on the door. A couple seconds later, a slit on the door that was around my eye level opened up. I could see the brown eyes of a person on the other side. The eyes looked straight at me and then looked around, noticing Tasha to the side. ¡°You looking to come inside?¡± a man¡¯s gravelly voice asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Tasha answered as I hesitated. The eyes looked between the both of us. ¡°Are you two together?¡± he asked with some distaste in his tone. ¡°Yes,¡± Tasha answered for us again. The eyes seemed to glare at me for a moment. ¡°Yes, I am here with my daughter,¡± I replied, feeling the need to speak up. The eyes seemed to silently question me. ¡°Two coppers. Each.¡± ¡°There¡¯s an entrance fee?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes,¡± he replied with no elaboration. ¡°...Alright.¡± I counted out four copper coins and showed them, but the eyes just continued to stare at me. ¡°Where do I pay?¡± The eyes stared at me for a moment, before finally pulling away. A few seconds later, I saw a hand wave from the slit before settling somewhere out of sight. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Put the money through the door,¡± the disembodied voice demanded. I did as I was told and put the coins through the slit. I heard the coins clink together as they dropped onto his palm. Is he holding up his hand at eye level like me right now? ¡°So¡­can we come in now?¡± I asked since the man said nothing after receiving the coins. In the corner of my eye, I could see Tasha looking at me with a somewhat befuddled expression. ¡°Yes, but you can¡¯t have any weapons on you inside.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Oh, there¡¯s no way that can be true, right? I could even keep my weapons on me when I was at the inn. ¡°It¡¯s one more copper for each armed person.¡± I was about to start arguing with the hidden man, but I stopped myself. That wasn¡¯t going to help at all. ¡°Okay, fine.¡± I took out two more copper coins and put them through the slit. ¡°Well?¡± I asked, a bit impatient when I didn¡¯t receive an immediate response. ¡°Both of you?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes, both of us.¡± The eyes appeared again to look at the two of us again. Then, they disappeared again and after a moment, the door finally swung open. The two of us went inside and I immediately looked for the guy on the other side. He was a bald man around my height, but probably about thirty pounds heavier. His clothes were well-worn, but were otherwise relatively clean. By his side, there was also a stool, and next to the stool were a few wooden boxes. On top of one of the boxes, there was also a sheet of paper. As I tried to take a closer look, though, the man took a step in my direction. Not wanting to make matters any worse, I walked away, pulling Tasha along with me, as she looked eager to break my rule about not fighting. The bar was more spacious than I thought it would be, and was definitely the largest bar I have been inside so far. The bar was relatively dimly lit (with the natural light from the windows, candles on tables, and a few light stones acting as the light sources). lt was also unlike any bar I had ever seen before. In the center of the bar was a round pit with a few layers of steps that encircled it, similar to stands for a stadium, but on a much smaller scale. On the base level, there were about twenty wooden tables with wooden chairs, and at the other end of the bar was a large counter. Behind that counter was a person who I assumed was a bartender, based on the shelves of bottles behind the counter. Elsewhere in the bar, there were a handful of other patrons at the tables as well as a couple barmaids. Well, it at least looked like we were in the right place. But, if I want some more information, I should probably ask the staff. I walked towards the counter, but was intercepted by a barmaid halfway there. ¡°Hello, are you new here?¡± she asked with a professional smile. She had dark blonde hair and wore a large white apron over her clothes. However, what really stood out to me was how young she was. I couldn¡¯t really tell from a distance, but after hearing her and seeing her up close, it was clear she was very young. She was a few inches shorter than Tasha, and the reason the apron looked so large was just because of how small she was. ¡°Yes, we are new here. Is this the fighting place?¡± Tasha responded on my behalf when I didn¡¯t immediately answer. ¡°Yup, this is the place,¡± she answered. She tried to maintain her smile, but I could see it waver a bit for some reason. ¡°Where is the fighting, then?¡± Tasha asked. It was a fair question. The pit in the center was clearly intended to be the arena, but it was absent of both fighters and spectators sitting in the stands waiting for one. ¡°The fights don¡¯t start until later in the day,¡± she answered. ¡°The first fight will be in about two hours.¡± Two hours? I guess that explains how relatively empty the bar was at the moment. It also made sense since it was still relatively early in the day, but I could see Tasha wasn¡¯t happy to receive this news. ¡°What are we supposed to do for two hours, then? Is there anyone I could fight until then?¡± Tasha asked. Wow, already going back on me? Tasha shot me a quick look, which seemed to say, ¡®Did you really think we would come to a fighting arena to only watch?¡¯ Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fight? You?¡± the little barmaid asked, unsurprisingly surprised to hear Tasha¡¯s words. ¡°Well, my dad could fight, too, if he wants,¡± Tasha replied, casually pointing her thumb at me. ¡°Tasha, you know what I said earlier,¡± I finally spoke in front of the little barmaid. The barmaid pointed at us back and forth with mounting excitement on her face. ¡°Really? The two of you are a father and child mercenary pair?! Wow!¡± Tasha noticeably puffed up from the praise, her arms at her side. ¡°Technically, we are not mercenaries,¡± I corrected. ¡°But, we¡¯re way stronger than mercenaries,¡± Tasha remarked. ¡°That¡¯s not entirely the case. It¡¯s not as if we have fought every mercenary in Midgard.¡± Well, I¡¯d like to downplay things, but I also wouldn¡¯t want to arbitrarily lie. The little barmaid seemed to interpret my words in another way, though. ¡°But, that means you have fought a lot of mercenaries, then?¡± she asked with intensifying curiosity. Tasha thought for a few seconds, her expression looking just a smidge bit haughty when she was ready to respond. ¡°Mercenaries? Hmph! Forget about that! Bandits, soldiers, and even knights! We¡¯ve beaten tons of them!¡± Tasha proudly declared. The little barmaid¡¯s innocent face lit up even more, fully believing Tasha¡¯s words. Well, not that they were lies, but I guess only a child even younger than Tasha would blindly believe them. ¡°Oooh, what kind? Where? Were any of them famous?¡± ¡°We fought some really strong people, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if some of them were famous!¡± Tasha replied, giving a wide grin. I coughed in order to catch Tasha¡¯s intention. I understood she was very happy to finally get the sort of attention that she probably felt she should have been receiving more often, but I needed to put a stop to it now. Some of the people we fought could be considered famous, but if word got out, there could be serious trouble. ¡°Who?!¡± the little barmaid asked, positively brimming with anticipation. I coughed again, making sure Tasha looked at me this time. She narrowed her eyes a bit at me. ¡°Well¡­¡± I wanted to believe Tasha knew to stay quiet, but just in case, I was going to cut her off. However, before I did, the other barmaid in the back called out. ¡°Whitney! What¡¯s going on?! Why are you just standing there with those two?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, ah right. No, nothing¡¯s going on. Everything is fine, Clara,¡± Whitney explained to the other barmaid. She then turned back to face us, looking slightly embarrassed. Sorry, um, please take a seat wherever you like.¡± ¡°Over here should be fine,¡± I said, drawing Tasha over to me. ¡°What would you like to order?¡± Whitney asked after we seated ourselves. ¡°Honestly, we are not too hungry at the moment,¡± I answered for the both of us. ¡°Okay. How about some drinks, then?¡± she asked. ¡°We¡¯re not looking to order any alcohol, either,¡± I replied. ¡°...Um, so something without alcohol, then? We have lemonade. How about that?¡± I wasn¡¯t really planning to order anything, but when was the last time I had some lemonade? Oh, but would it be the same as I would expect it to be? ¡°What¡¯s lemonade?¡± Tasha asked. Okay, now we have to get it. Besides, the Merchants¡¯ Guild will reimburse us. ¡°Yes, two lemonades, please.¡± Tasha looked at me, waiting for me to give an explanation. ¡°You¡¯ll find out when it comes.¡± ¡°And is that all?¡± Whitney asked. ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± ¡°Alright, two lemonades.¡± Whitney left, and then I turned towards Tasha and leaned in closer. ¡°Tasha, I get that you¡¯re feeling pretty excited right now, but you need to remember that some of those fights¡­aren¡¯t things that should be discussed with strangers,¡± I whispered to her. ¡°Yes, I know, dad. And just to be clear, I wasn¡¯t going to say anything to get us into trouble. Obviously.¡± I had some small doubts, but I let them go. ¡°Alright, as long as you know. Now, what do you want to do? Do you want to stay and actually wait for the fights? And to be clear again, I don¡¯t want you fighting in that arena. Also, in case you are actually wondering, it¡¯s not because I¡¯m worried you¡¯re going to lose. It¡¯s because I would rather stay low profile while we¡¯re in this city. Meeting with the Merchants¡¯ Guild was unavoidable, but after that matter is settled, we are going to move on from here.¡± Tasha made no attempt at hiding her annoyance. ¡°I could make it look close,¡± Tasha suggested. ¡°I know how to go easy on people, you know.¡± ¡°Would that even be any fun for you?¡± I asked. Perhaps because of her Battle-Hardened lineage, she was always excited to fight and spar, but I would think that after realizing how strong she was compared to most people, she would start getting bored of¡­well, weaklings. Based on Tasha¡¯s shift in expression, my thinking may have been correct. ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t know for sure without fighting them first. It¡¯s¡­not very nice to think that way when fighting someone who¡¯s taking it seriously. Also, there could be some really strong people coming here to fight.¡± I agreed with her in my head, but I obviously wasn¡¯t just going to verbalize that. ¡°Well, that would be all the more reason to not fight them. Remember, keep it low profile. If you want to keep bragging to that little girl, fine. But no actual demonstrations, and you should know better what details to leave out.¡± Tasha let out a long sigh, apparently finally relenting. I was going to say some, but Whitney came back just then with our two glasses of lemonade. I examined the yellow liquid, and it did look similar to what I remembered. I swilled it around and I thought I noticed it having a stronger lemon scent than I expected. Then, I took a sip. There was a slightly different, but at the same time strongly familiar sweet and citrus taste. For a second, I recalled a moment from my childhood, drinking my aunt¡¯s homemade lemonade with my cousin. ¡°Is it that good?¡± Tasha asked me, giving me a weird look. I looked back at her, a bit confused, and when I did, I felt my mouth move. Was I smiling? Just from sipping lemonade? I put my hand over my mouth, and straightened my expression. ¡°I think it¡¯s good. Try it.¡± Tasha looked at her glass, and then swilled it like me before taking a sip. Tasha¡¯s lips sucked in slightly, probably never having drunk anything this sour before. I also thought the ratio of lemons and sugar may have favoured lemons more than what I expected. ¡°Is everything fine?¡± Whitney asked, still standing right by our table. I looked at Tasha before answering. ¡°Ah, yeah it''s fine. It¡¯s¡­good,¡± Tasha replied. I took another sip. ¡°That¡¯s great. I like it a lot, too,¡± Whitney remarked. I had been neglecting to bring it up before, but I really felt the need to question the child now. ¡°So, Whitney, was it?¡± Whitney looked at me, briefly confused by how I knew her name without her introducing herself. However, she seemed to remember soon enough that the other barmaid called out to her. ¡°Ah, yes, I¡¯m Whitney.¡± ¡°My name is Braith, and this is my daughter Tasha,¡± I introduced the two of us. Tasha smiled and nodded at Whitney. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nice to meet you. Um, Tasha and¡­Braith?¡± she responded, pointing to each of us in turn. ¡°I said that back, right? I¡¯ve never heard of names like that before.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Yeah, we¡¯ll see if you¡¯ll still be saying that a year from now, Tasha. ¡°Anyways, Whitney, have you been working in this bar for a long time?¡± I asked. ¡°Um, just a bit under a year now.¡± Really? ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how old are you Whitney?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m eleven. But, I¡¯ll be turning twelve soon.¡± So, she¡¯s been working since she was ten, then? Also, she turned out to be a bit older than I expected given her size. Although, I think Tasha is also a bit smaller than an average girl her age. ¡°That makes me two years older than you, then,¡± Tasha remarked, looking more proud than she should be for doing such simple math. ¡°Oh, how long have you been¡­uh, fighting? Sorry, you said you weren¡¯t mercenaries, but what do the two of you do?¡± Whitney asked. ¡°We are, uh-¡± ¡°We¡¯re travelers,¡± I interrupted Tasha. ¡°It¡¯s just that our travels have been a bit more engaging than is usual.¡± ¡°Oh, and how long have you been traveling for? Is it just you two?¡± ¡°Not for too long. Only a few months now. And we set it out just the two of us.¡± ¡°What about Flora?¡± Tasha asked me. I didn¡¯t feel it necessary to bring her up. ¡°Flora?¡± Whitney asked. ¡°Yeah, there is another girl who is traveling with us. Um, she didn¡¯t want to come here with us, but we¡¯re still together.¡± I considered whether I should cut in. ¡°Yes, she is another companion of ours. However, Tasha, I don¡¯t think she would want you to talk about her with people she has never met before.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry!¡± Whitney suddenly apologized. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to pry.¡± I gave Tasha a look as if to say that she could learn some manners from Whitney. ¡°Um, I should just go now. I was just really excited to hear some stories about someone who has been fighting at such a young age.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± I began, seeing that both girls looked a bit disappointed now. ¡°I just want to make sure my daughter can respect some boundaries. If she wants to tell you about herself, it¡¯s fine. Although, I can also understand if you should be getting back to work as well.¡± ¡°Oh, really? Then, can I ask you more questions?¡± Whitney asked, reinvigorated. ¡°If you¡¯re not busy,¡± I replied. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s almost empty right now, and, uh, I can make it up to Clara later.¡± She looked back at the other barmaid who was talking to the bartender at the moment. ¡°It should be fine,¡± Whitney re-emphasized. ¡°Oh, you should take a seat then,¡± Tasha suggested, riding the momentum shift. Surprisingly, Whitney quickly did so. Personally, I did like to see Tasha interacting more with children around her age. There was Flora, and the two of them did get along well, but the dynamic was quite different from this. ¡°So, how did you learn how to fight, Tasha?¡± ¡°Well¡­you could say I learned from my dad.¡± I understood the ambiguity to her reply. ¡°I learned sword fighting from a friend, and Tasha learned from me.¡± ¡°So, do you both use the same weapon?¡± ¡°Yeah, we both use a shortsword,¡± Tasha answered. ¡°Is it heavy for you,¡± Whitney asked. ¡°Heavy? No, not at all,¡± Tasha replied, genuinely confused. Of course, I could understand how a (presumably human) child would wonder about the weight of a real weapon. ¡°Tasha is stronger than most others her age.¡± I hoped that Tasha would not feel the need to elaborate that she was simply just a lot stronger than most people, in general. ¡°Really? You must train a lot, then.¡± ¡°Ah, well¡­yeah, I train plenty.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how serious Tasha was being. Did she really think her amount of training was ¡®plenty¡¯. Maybe it was, since it was enough to make her more skilled than me. ¡°When did you start? I wanted to learn how to fight too, but they all say I am still too young.¡± ¡°I think I was nine.¡± ¡°What, nine?!¡± Whitney then looked at me. ¡°To be fair, even at nine¡­I would say she was probably a lot stronger than you. No offense.¡± I don¡¯t think my final words had the effect I had intended. ¡°That¡¯s not fair at all,¡± Whitney grumbled. ¡°Anyways, Whitney,¡± I began, ¡°Why are you so interested in fighting anyways? Is it because you work at this bar?¡± ¡°Oh, no, I¡¯ve admired fighters even before I started working here.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Whitney looked incredulous, as if such a thing was common sense. ¡°Because if you can fight well, that means you are strong! The kind of strong that really matters! I¡¯ve seen a lot of big guys with a lot of muscle on them, but it takes a real fighter to be really strong! When you¡¯re really strong, even if you are much smaller, you can win, and that¡¯s what matters!¡± As enthusiastic as Whitney was, I didn¡¯t really feel like my question was sufficiently answered. ¡°Yeah, I know exactly what you mean!¡± Tasha exclaimed. Well, maybe it¡¯s just me. ¡°Right?! Especially when you hear about some of the incredible fights and battles from the past. Do you know about the mercenaries from the War of the Nines, Tasha?¡± Whitney asked. ¡°Oh¡­uh, not really.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I can tell you about them!¡± Whitney began, not disheartened at all about the response. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of them, but if we¡¯re talking about the most famous ones, it has to be the Reapers!¡± My face stiffened slightly. The Reapers again. I barely knew anything about them, but if they¡¯re all like Jack Free¡­ ¡°Oh, Whitney! Did you make some new friends?¡± A voice called out from behind us. I turned around and saw a young man wearing a black cloak over his leather armour walking towards us, probably having just entered the bar. ¡°Brian! You¡¯re here really early today.¡± ¡°Ah, well, I was supposed to escort someone outside the city today, but they suddenly cancelled. I still got paid a bit though, so I figured I¡¯d come here to look at the fighters list early. Maybe I¡¯ll actually win some more bets that way!¡± Brian spoke jovially and clearly seemed to be a regular at this bar. ¡°Clara, could you show me the list?¡± Brian called out to the barmaid at the back who just dismissively waved at him. ¡°Okay, maybe later.¡± He walked up to our table and looked at me and Tasha, still wearing a friendly smile. ¡°Newcomers?¡± he asked. ¡°Oh, or maybe new hires?¡± ¡°We¡¯re just customers,¡± I answered for the both of us. Brian examined our drinks, and then smiled a bit wider. ¡°Alright. Well, you¡¯ve already heard, but the name¡¯s Brian. I¡¯m a regular mercenary from Deimos.¡± He offered me his hand. ¡°My name is Braith.¡± I shook his hand. ¡°And my name is Tasha,¡± Tasha introduced herself while I shook Brian¡¯s hand. ¡°Nice to meet you both,¡± Brian responded, offering his hand to Tasha as well. ¡°Hmmm, those are quite the names, though. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of names like that before,¡± he remarked as Tasha shook his hand. ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot,¡± I said. Tasha made no comment. He looked at me a bit longer, and then his smile slowly started to shrink. ¡°Actually, I think¡­I think you look familiar.¡± He looked back and forth between me and Tasha as his expression became more pensive. ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ve seen you before.¡± I stared back, seeing if I recognized him from somewhere. He had black hair and looked to be either around my age or a bit younger. I also noticed that he didn¡¯t have a weapon on him, but other than that, he didn¡¯t register in my memories at all. ¡°I think you might be mistaken. I don¡¯t recognize you at all.¡± ¡°No, no, I think I¡¯ve almost got it. I¡¯ve definitely seen you before.¡± ¡°Maybe you just saw someone who looks like me? I imagine there¡¯s a lot of men out there who look similar.¡± ¡°Well, that could be it¡­but, no. I recognize you and your daughter.¡± I almost reflexively reached for my weapon when he emphasized that last part. Calm down, Braith. He could be mistaken. And even if he isn¡¯t, just because a mercenary knows you and Tasha from somewhere, this doesn¡¯t mean this is trouble. ¡°Well, perhaps we crossed paths once in our travels.¡± I wasn¡¯t about to suggest that he mistakenly saw another armed pair of father and daughter traveling together. He stared at the two of us for another moment, silence building up in the air. ¡°Oh, I remember now,¡± he said with actual seriousness in his tone. Any semblance of his former smile was also now gone. Chapter 50 Shortly after Braith and Tasha left for Blake¡¯s Bar, Flora left her room. Although she saw their carriage leave through her window, she still cautiously crept her way downstairs. She made her way down as stealthily as she could, and if a third party were to observe her, it would be like watching a child pretending they were in a spy movie. Which is to say, she was not moving particularly sneakily, she was just being quiet and slow. Eventually, she reached the bottom floor, which, due to the staff and other people coming and going, would have made it impossible to escape the inn without being seen. However, that wasn¡¯t her intent. She went through the front doors rather normally and looked around her. Yes, these were the same clean and lively streets she had seen before, but being alone did give it a different air to it. It was almost as if it were a bit chillier than usual, and her vision also seemed to be slightly obscured, as if a light fog was rolling in. However, she tightly shut her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, the cool breeze wisping across her cheeks felt a bit warmer and she could clearly see around her. She then turned to begin heading in the direction of her destination, but before she took two steps away from the inn, the front doors opened and Pascal came striding outside. He immediately spotted Flora and called out to her. ¡°Miss Flora! Was there perhaps a change of plans? Mister Braith said he would only be traveling with Miss Tasha.¡± However, despite being caught so soon, this was of no concern to her. In truth, her attempt at leaving stealthily had nothing to do with fearing getting caught. She was just feeling nervous earlier, and subconsciously moved in that way to calm herself. ¡°Oh, um, no, it¡¯s not like that. I actually wanted to go somewhere else,¡± Flora explained. ¡°Is that so? Where would you like to go? If it¡¯s some distance away, I will summon another carriage.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that far away. Do you remember the training grounds you mentioned the other day? I just wanted to go there.¡± Pascal reflected for a second to remember the exact conversation. Then, he nodded. ¡°Yes, I recall.¡± Pascal then looked at Flora a bit closer. He had noticed her bow and quiver the first time they met, but he clearly didn¡¯t think that meant she was some trained warrior. However, after the conversation he had with Braith earlier that day, he was starting to doubt whether his initial appraisals of the three of them were way off. ¡°It won¡¯t take long to walk there, but it would still be more convenient to take a carriage.¡± The truth was that Pascal wanted them to go together because this could provide a valuable opportunity to obtain more information about these three travelers. ¡°Oh, no, that¡¯s alright. I¡¯m fine with going on foot. Um, it¡¯s good exercise.¡± Flora did not refuse Pascal¡¯s offer because she knew his true intentions, but merely not to impose upon him as she only understood the offer to be Pascal wanting to be polite and accommodating. Of course, Pascal could not know that, and assumed that he was refused because she was treating interactions with him with caution, as was clearly the case with Braith. However, Pascal quickly thought of something else. ¡°Oh, well, I can understand that. Then, let me walk with you. After all, although I did say you were free to use them, I still need to let them know.¡± This was true, but Pascal could have just as easily sent anyone else or even taken a carriage by himself. ¡°Oh, um, okay.¡± Pascal quietly smiled to himself. Flora, oblivious to Pascal¡¯s hidden intentions, faced towards the direction of the training grounds owned by the Merchants¡¯ Guild. Although, in this case, her obliviousness was not due to a completely trusting nature, but because she simply perceived Pascal as harmless. ¡°Um, just so you know, I was planning to jog there,¡± she said after quickly turning around again. ¡°Oh, yes, of course. You did say you wanted the exercise. Let¡¯s jog there, together.¡± Pascal had the build of a stereotypical office manager, but he figured he could at least keep pace with a fourteen year old well enough to still hold a conversation with her. He was wrong. Flora was very weak compared to either Braith or Tasha, but was much more fit than the average girl her age, having trained for years now. Even in her armour, and while carrying her equipment, Pascal could barely keep pace with her, with his own attire giving him no significant advantage either. Throughout the run, he was simply unable to catch his breath long enough to attempt a probing conversation. After their short jog, they arrived at the training grounds owned by the Merchants¡¯ Guild. As Pascal took a few moments to recover from his exhaustion, he saw Flora calmly catching her breath a few paces away. As Pascal continued to pant heavily as Flora paced around slowly, he felt a bit of admiration. It wasn¡¯t admiration for their difference in fitness, as he would probably start feeling depressed if he thought on that for too long, but in how expertly she managed to avoid a conversation with him, or so he thought was Flora¡¯s intent. Yes, Braith and his companions are clearly a secretive and professional bunch. They were clearly not some ordinary rogues or bandits, Pascal thought. After fully recovering, Pascal led the way and let the staff know that Flora would be using the training grounds and that Braith and Tasha would also be allowed to use them. Now, despite what one would think, Tasha didn¡¯t care much for the training grounds, because when Pascal had brought them up before, he mentioned they were exclusively for training use of weapons. They were not used for sparring or training guards how to fight in live combat. As such, although they were generally called training grounds, it was really just an enclosed field with training dummies and targets that could be placed at varying ranges. Pascal briefly considered trying to stay longer to try and get information again, but although he was not a fighting man, he knew it was taboo for someone other than a mentor, student or practice partner to observe someone else¡¯s training. Pascal took his leave, and to Flora¡¯s surprise, she had the space all to herself. Flora started by firing three arrows at each target at the archery range, hitting consecutive bull¡¯s eyes. Clearly, Flora¡¯s skills had not dulled in the least bit despite the lack of any training in the past month. However, she felt no great satisfaction at this realization. She sat down on the grass, alone, like she had done many times in the past back when she practiced at her grandfather¡¯s cottage. She took out an arrow and started fiddling with it, vaguely recalling the time when Braith and Tasha promised to help her enter Eden. That had been the one of the most significant moments in Flora¡¯s life, and at the time, as nerve wracking as the premise was, a small part of her truly believed there was a chance that she- no, they were going to do something amazing. Well, something amazing did happen, but in the end, did anything really change for Flora? Flora shook her head at her own thoughts. No, of course things have changed for her. Even though she did not fully become Gaia¡¯s vessel, she still gained the magic of the Nature Clan Farseers. And it was no ordinary magic either. Despite her initial disappointment in not having the more common body enhancing magic or the rarer earth manipulation magic, she gained the very rare healing type of Nature Clan magic. Something that made her special and unique even when compared next to the powerhouses of Braith and Tasha. Flora stopped fiddling with her arrow, and then reached for the small braid of hair that Braith tied for her that morning. The same kind of braid that he had been tying for her ever since he promised to when they were leaving Brennan. Flora took solace in how seriously Braith took his promises, and it was the reason she wasn¡¯t that bothered by what Braith did to her in Ironshield. Even though there was no actual risk to her life, she fought as if her very life was at stake during Braith¡¯s test in the alleyway. Most people would have been very upset about being tested in such a manner, and not unreasonably so, either. However, Flora, ended up rationalizing to herself that such a trial was necessary, and truly ended up feeling a mix of relief and gratitude. She consistently felt inferior to Braith and Tasha, and she reasoned to herself that such a trial was necessary to prove her worth. Her spirits were actually lifted quite a bit after somehow overcoming that test, and though she still felt inferior to them, she also felt much more deserving of being treated like a true companion. That was, however, until the morning they left the capital. ****************************************************************************************************************************** It was early in the morning in Ironshield¡¯s palace. Dawn was at least an hour away, and naturally, except for guards on the night shift, almost everyone was asleep. Flora was soundly sleeping in her guestroom when a shadowy figure silently stopped outside the door to her room. At first, the figure just stood there for a moment, completely motionless. In the dead silence, Flora continued to sleep. But then, Flora suddenly awoke. The figure outside made no movements, and neither it nor anything else made any noises to disturb her slumber. However, Flora had her eyes wide open, panic in her face. She tried to focus on her surroundings, but couldn¡¯t make out anything in the darkness. Multiple thoughts raced through her mind as she quickly considered what she needed to do. This was bad, very bad, she thought. There was something dangerous nearby, possibly very close by. However, just as quickly as the sudden sense of danger came, it went away just as quickly. This was unlike the other times when she had sensed something was wrong. She had accurately warned Braith and Tasha of some impending threat before, and that ongoing sense of danger had always lingered up until the point it came face to face with them. But, this time, it just disappeared. As Flora continued to lie in bed, still trying to come to terms with whether or not what she sensed was real or not, she heard a knock on her door. Flora unconsciously swallowed. She lay still, waiting for any other cue to come. Another knock came, and this time, there was a voice. ¡°Miss Flora, if you are currently awake, would you mind please coming to the door?¡± It was a slightly muffled voice that seemed to belong to a young man. Flora recognized that voice as belonging to Sir Decius, and that realization did little to make her feel reassured. On the surface, he seemed quite friendly, and Flora knew it was wrong to judge someone on the way they dressed or what their occupation was, but she just felt there was something different about him. Even his voice seemed a bit uncanny to her. However, after getting over her trepidation, she responded nonetheless. ¡°Sir Decius? Um, just a moment, please.¡± Flora pushed her blanket off and sat up on the bed. Her eyes were more accustomed to the darkness now, and she could now see the candle on its saucer on the table by her bed. She struck a match, lit the handle, and then carried it with her over to the door. When she opened her door a crack, she was surprised to see that Sir Decius did not have his own lightsource. In fact, he was quite hard to make out, as he was dressed in his usual black-dyed armour, black cloak and black cowl. ¡°Oh, I think you could have taken a bit more time to get ready,¡± Sir Decius commented, his eyes showing some slight bemusement at Flora, who was only wearing pajamas, which Leonora had personally provided to her. Flora read his line of sight, and clumsily moved behind her door in embarrassment. Or, at least, she felt that there must be some embarrassment mixed somewhere in her nervousness and apprehension. Following through with norms, Flora asked for some time to change and Decius obliged. She put on some robes to cover herself and then invited Decius into her room. Well, that last part wasn¡¯t exactly within social norms, but Flora was not experienced in most manners of etiquette. Decius closed the door behind him and then took a seat at the small table in her room. Flora sat opposite him and then set the candle down on the table. It was only after taking a seat, that Flora had finally started realizing just how strange and potentially dangerous of a situation this was. However, Decius spoke before she could do anything else. ¡°Did my knocking wake you up?¡± ¡°Um, no, it didn¡¯t¡­I was already awake.¡± Decius smiled at Flora with his eyes. ¡°Is that so? Nevertheless, I apologize for disturbing you at this time. However, as you are to leave today, I feared that this may be the last time we meet for quite some time.¡± ¡°Um, I see.¡± It was rare for Flora, but she felt it might not be the worst thing if this truly was the last time they met. ¡°So, what is it that you want to say¡­or do?¡± Flora¡¯s nervousness was starting to mount again. ¡°Oh, miss Flora, I assure you, it¡¯s not something that you should be feeling so concerned about.¡± Flora did not immediately believe his words. ¡°You see, I just wanted to present you with a gift before you leave.¡± ¡°A gift?¡± Flora asked. Nothing in Decius¡¯ eyes gave away any hint of what he meant by that. ¡°Yes, consider it an early birthday present.¡± Flora froze up. Decius¡¯ eyes just smiled at her. Flora seemed to be trying to concentrate on something, and eventually, her stiffness faded away, apparently being content with whatever results she obtained. ¡°I appreciate it, but, um, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary.¡± ¡°Well, of course, I am not doing it out of necessity,¡± Decius began, his tone much lighter now, ¡°Please also think of it as a token of friendship.¡± Flora was clearly confused by Decius¡¯ reasoning. ¡°I¡¯m quite fond of you, and I would very much like to meet you and Sir Braith again.¡± Flora tried to make sense of the following words, but when she couldn¡¯t come to a definite conclusion, she decided to be a bit more blunt with her words than usual. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t really know what you mean. Um¡­I guess I could see why you would be fond of Mr. Braith, but¡­we¡¯ve only spoken with each other once before.¡± ¡°That is true. And, I would like to apologize again for my squire¡¯s rudeness. If it helps, you could also consider the gift as compensation for that as well. Oh, actually, maybe I could even give you something extra on top of that.¡± ¡°Oh, no, no, please don¡¯t do that,¡± Flora waved her hands defensively, now completely caught up in Decius¡¯ pace. ¡°If you have to give me something, just whatever you had in mind is enough. Ah, but, maybe it would be better if you gave it to Mr. Braith, instead? You, um¡­I think you¡¯re more interested in him, after all.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°No, miss Flora. This particular gift is meant for you, and you alone. Although, since it is to be yours, I wouldn¡¯t mind if you would like to give it to one of your companions, instead. Although, I wouldn¡¯t recommend it.¡± Flora waited for Decius to elaborate, but he said nothing. The candle¡¯s flame suddenly flickered in such a way that the scythe on his back casted just a slightly more prominent shadow, which briefly distracted Flora from watching Decius¡¯ eyes. In that instant, Decius¡¯ arm was outstretched over the table, holding a dagger pointed directly at Flora. Despite the swiftness of his movement, the candle¡¯s flame hardly flickered at all. Flora, still processing the situation, noted an egg-shaped brand at the base of the dagger, indicating it was a masterwork human weapon. ¡°...Sir Decius?¡± Flora finally asked with great hesitation, seemingly realizing the apparent danger she was in. ¡°My gift to you, miss Flora,¡± Decius said calmly. He pulled back his arm and took out a small sheath for the dagger with his other hand. After sheathing it, he presented the dagger to her with both of his hands. ¡°Um¡­ thank you, Sir Decius, but I don¡¯t need it. I¡­ can see it must be very valuable, and I don¡¯t think I deserve such a gift from you.¡± Decius remained motionless, the dagger still presented to her in his outstretched hands. After a moment, Decius set the sheathed dagger down on the table, and left one hand on top of it. ¡°Miss Flora, a good archer would also have an offhand weapon.¡± Decius slid the sheathed dagger across the table. ¡°If you need another reason¡­I think Sir Braith would also like it if you had more means to protect yourself.¡± Flora found herself agreeing with Decius¡¯ last point, but she also thought it a bit strange that he would bring that up. Although, maybe this was Decius¡¯ angle this whole time. As Flora pondered on her response, she thought she saw Decius smiling at her underneath his mask. ¡°W- were you watching us?¡± Flora asked hesitantly, heavily questioning Decius¡¯ supposed gesture of good will. ¡°Let¡¯s just say I am aware of certain things.¡± Decius then let out a strange laugh. ¡°Certain things that are worth remembering for a lot of reasons. And not just because it¡¯s not the sort of thing you¡¯d expect to happen in an alleyway.¡± Decius¡¯ words eliminated any doubt about whether he was only making guesses. For the first time, Decius thought Flora actually seemed upset. Her expression was somewhat scrunched up, and she put her hand down on the dagger that he slid over. It wasn¡¯t quite a slam, but it was very different from the way she would gently handle most things. She slid the dagger back over towards Decius. ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough, Sir Decius. I think you should leave now¡­please.¡± Decius let out another strange laugh. ¡°Now, that¡¯s funny. Is that you actually being angry? Well, not much to see, but at least I know it¡¯s possible for you now.¡± Decius¡¯ eyes smiled at her, clearly showing no intention to get up from his seat. Flora stared at him, but it still fell short of a full-on glare. ¡°Please leave, Sir Decius.¡± Flora probably meant it as a demand, but her tone still made it sound more like a request. Decius was bemused with the situation. Based on what he had observed so far, this was definitely outside the normal range of her reactions. Decius quickly went over the multitude of reasons for it, and settled on the one that would be most likely to provoke a greater reaction from her, regardless if it was true. ¡°So, I take it that I¡¯m not the sort who¡¯s worth keeping up appearances with?¡± Unexpectedly for Decius, any vigour shown in Flora¡¯s face immediately disappeared. Now, it was replaced with a sullen look. ¡°Um¡­I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m, um¡­I¡¯m sure you were only doing your job. I think I misunderstood you there. Please, just take back your gift.¡± Flora picked up the sheathed dagger and presented it back to Decius in both hands like he did earlier. Through his extensive experience in reading expressions, Decius believed she was being genuinely apologetic. This amused him even further. ¡°Oh, no worries at all!¡± Decius responded cheerfully, which was still quite off putting. He pushed Tasha¡¯s hands away from him. ¡°Truth be told, I do think I may have gone a bit too far with my provocations as well.¡± Flora, perhaps back to her usual self, seemed to take his words at face value. She set the dagger back down on the table. ¡°Perhaps, like our mutual friend, Sir Braith, I wanted to test you as well. After all, I never thought I would have the opportunity to meet with Sir Hiram¡¯s only granddaughter.¡± Decius¡¯ reveal was so shocking, that the comment about Braith was completely missed by Flora. ¡°H- how¡­um¡­I mean, did someone tell you?¡± The constant surprises so far were starting to take a toll on Flora¡¯s mentality, and her heart rate was spiking along with her rising nervousness. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve obviously received the news from someone,¡± Decius responded, his tone still uncomfortably cherry. ¡°Anyways, that¡¯s not important. What is important is your confirmation. To be honest, there was still a tiny part of me that was not sure about that. After all, if that were true¡­well, that just makes Sir Braith and his daughter even more interesting.¡± ¡°Um, you- uh, do you know if he¡¯s okay?!¡± Flora¡¯s question, which was almost akin to an outburst, surprised Decius again. Who told you? Who else knows? Why are you bringing this up to me now? Those were the sort of questions he expected. Is this girl really not putting on a facade? To ask me a question like that in this kind of situation, does she really care that much more about others than herself? ¡°...I don¡¯t know what you mean,¡± Decius responded after an unusual pause. ¡°I take it that something has happened to him that prompted you to travel with the others. Something very different than your desire for adventure and travel.¡± Flora¡¯s pleading eyes just stared at him in confusion. ¡°My information only confirmed, well, led to the confirmation of your identity. I was going to personally ask for the reasons for it from you myself, but I suppose that would be inappropriate now.¡± Decius actually sounded suddenly empathetic, but those who knew him well would question if it was just his usual quick acting. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Flora looked down, and slowly and clumsily slumped into her chair. As Braith had already figured out before when they were out in the city, this was something that had been on her mind, but she had bottled up her feelings on the matter so as not to cause any troubles or worries for anyone else. But, Leonora¡¯s talk, Braith¡¯s test, and Decius¡¯ provocations finally unsealed them, at least for a moment. Flora put her hands into her face, futilely attempting to hide her vulnerability, and Decius just sat there, possibly in respectful silence. However, eventually, either out of impatience or as an attempt of reassurance, Decius spoke up. ¡°I can tell you that out of the information I have received, there wasn''t any news about any problems concerning him. Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t any problems, since information gathering takes time. Although, given when you departed, that may at least indicate that there is nothing significant to report, at least as far as the Nature Clan is concerned.¡± Flora perked up slightly, and rubbed her eyes a bit before straightening up in her seat. ¡°I see¡­um, yeah, I guess no news is better than bad news¡­ thanks.¡± Flora gave Decius a small awkward smile, showing some appreciation for what she believed was a genuine attempt to comfort her. ¡°Oh,¡± Flora¡¯s eyes suddenly had more clarity, ¡°um, please don¡¯t tell Mr. Braith or Tasha about this.¡± ¡°About what, exactly?¡± Decius was confused again, which both annoyed and amused him. ¡°That¡­ um, that I¡¯m still really worried about him¡­ and um, yeah. I don¡¯t want to burden them with anything.¡± Decius took a moment to confirm for himself that Flora was being genuine. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s alright. We all have feelings we want to keep to ourselves.¡± Flora nodded appreciatively. ¡°For a second, I was actually doubting if you were talking about your grandfather¡¯s identity. Sir Hiram would have told them who he was if he was going to entrust you with them, and as skilled as sir Braith is, there¡¯s no way he could defeat or successfully deceive the Fae Knight and kidnap you or something like that.¡± ¡°Oh, no, I definitely wasn¡¯t taken away! Grandpa was the one who wanted me to escape with them,¡± Flora answered in a hurry, disregarding everything else Decius said. ¡°Escape?¡± Decius asked. Flora hesitated. Flora didn¡¯t know how much Decius knew, but it seemed like he wasn¡¯t aware of any of the details of what happened in the Nature Clan. ¡°Um¡­ it¡¯s nothing. Please forget I said that.¡± Flora¡¯s puppy-like eyes shone clearly even in the dimly lit room. Decius knew that there was probably some very juicy information if he continued to prod, and if he really wanted to know¡­ ¡°Alright.¡± Decius reined in his own desires, perhaps feeling sorry for this young girl. Or, more realistically, he did so after calculating the potential costs and benefits. ¡°I won¡¯t ask you anything else about that.¡± Flora let out a sigh of relief from Decius¡¯ reassurance. ¡°Thank you, Sir Decius.¡± Flora opened up her mouth again, seeming to want to continue, but then she closed it again, perhaps thinking better of what to say. ¡°Was there something you wanted to say to me? Or ask me?¡± ¡°Um, no, nothing.¡± ¡°Are you sure? There are some limits to what I can share with you, but I can assure you that I have access to quite a lot of information. I can¡¯t search up anything for you before you leave, but you can ask me about anything else.¡± Flora shook her head. Decius pretended to look disappointed. Then, he picked up the dagger. ¡°You could even ask me to show you the proper way to handle this.¡± Flora¡¯s immediate thought was to protest again, but she stopped herself. Flora slowly reached for the dagger, but then suddenly stopped again. ¡°Um¡­ are you sure you still want to give this to me?¡± ¡°Of course. If you were worried about me giving this up, know that I have spares.¡± Flora remained still. ¡°Do you question whether you can use it well?¡± Flora didn¡¯t respond nor move. Decius unsheathed the dagger and held it in one hand, showing the way he gripped clearly next to the candle. Then, he quickly cut through the candle. The top half separated from the bottom, but he nimbly put the dagger underneath the top half, holding it steady, the flame only slightly flickering. He then lined up the separated halves with the dagger still holding up the top half, and suddenly withdrew the dagger, resulting in the two halves cleanly stacked on top of each other again. He then smoothly rotated the dagger around in his hand in various ways. Then, he dropped the sheath, and showed the different grips with his other hand. Decius quietly smirked to himself, noticing that Flora was paying close attention, her eyes almost mesmerized with his display. Then, he held the dagger in a reverse grip, and quickly stabbed into the table, or at least it would have if he did not stop the very instant the tip of the dagger made contact with the wood, not even leaving a scratch on the table¡¯s surface. Then, he threw the dagger straight up in the air, but very lightly so. He caught it midair with this other hand, and repeated the motion, almost as if he were juggling it. Then, after catching the dagger repeatedly in different ways, he did the same thrust that he did before, but much slower now so that Flora could see it. Finally, he retracted his arm, and made a slight wind up motion. He followed through with his motion, as if he were going to throw the dagger, and then repeated it with his other arm. ¡°It might take you a bit longer to learn how to throw it.¡± Decius said while sheathing the dagger again. He had intended that to be a joke since despite his performance, he didn¡¯t think it was possible to master his moves just from watching. He just wanted her to have more confidence in the weapon. ¡°But, it will at least be easier than learning to use a scythe, and the threat alone is sometimes sufficient.¡± Once more, Decius presented the dagger to Flora. After another moment of hesitation, Flora took the dagger from him. ¡°Thanks¡­ um, I¡¯ll practice with it when I¡¯m alone.¡± Decius took that to mean that he should keep quiet about this exchange. He was planning to do so anyways, so that wasn¡¯t an issue. What Flora really meant by it, though, was that she didn¡¯t want Braith or Flora to see her practicing and constantly failing. ¡°Good. I hope it serves you well in the future. You might need it if you ever run into some troublesome folks again.¡± ¡°Well¡­ yeah. Um, not that I think I will end up making a huge difference or anything,¡± Flora spoke up as if she had to suddenly retract an insulting statement. ¡°Mr. Braith and Tasha will still definitely be the heroes.¡± There was such a thing as being too humble, and Decius thought that Flora had passed that point a mile ago. However, he also thought there was no point in putting any time into arguing with her. ¡°Well, there are many useful ways to help. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do fine.¡± ¡°Yes, I need to stay out of their way, support them when I can, and make sure I¡¯m not a burden when we¡¯re attacked.¡± Decius didn¡¯t think Flora really understood what he meant, but he decided to just let it go. Besides, he needed to leave soon, anyways. ¡°Well, just always remember to pay attention to your surroundings.¡± Decius was just about ready to leave now after giving this generic piece of advice, but stopped just as he got up from his seat and was about to turn around. ¡°Oh, I really should give you something a little extra. I did promise to, after all.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s alright, Sir Decius. This dagger is already plenty.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s a birthday present for my little friend. I also need to make things right on my squire¡¯s account.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Sir Decius. You were both only doing your job.¡± Flora got up from her seat as well and was now right next to him, gesturing that it was okay for him to just leave now. Suddenly, Decius leaned in close, his face now right next to the left side of Flora¡¯s face. ¡°Now, please don¡¯t refuse me again, miss Flora,¡± Decius said, his voice the same as it was at the beginning now. ¡°How about some information? If you can¡¯t think of what to ask, that¡¯s fine. I can tell you something that may be very relevant to you and Sir Braith.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, um, th- then you should tell it to Mr. Braith,¡± Flora stammered out as she moved away from Decius. Decius grabbed her by the arm and leaned in close again. ¡°Oh, I wouldn¡¯t mind telling him if he asked, but I don¡¯t think he will. Nor do I think he will care to want to know.¡± Flora tried to pull away, but Decius held firm. ¡°Th- then, I don¡¯t need to hear it either.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about Ragnarok. The assailants that attacked the palace.¡± Flora stopped struggling. Without moving her head, she glanced at Decius. Decius let go of Flora¡¯s arm, and now stood a slightly more comfortable distance away from her. ¡°You can tell Sir Braith later if you want, but try to keep this a secret. It¡¯s not the sort of information we want flying around since it also concerns affairs in the palace.¡± Upon hearing those words, Flora was about to protest again, but then Decius suddenly covered up her mouth with one hand. However, he did not do so in an overtly aggressive way. If Flora really wanted to, she could have pulled away. She did not do so, and just stared at Decius. ¡°We don¡¯t know what their motivation was, but we know they are extremely committed to whatever their cause or goals are. The Harbingers were meant to interrogate them, but by the time we arrived, they were all already dead. We investigated the bodies and found out that almost all of them died from poison. Specifically, it was a poison made using black mountain lilies, also known as Warrior¡¯s Resolve. It has the effect of greatly reducing one¡¯s sense of pain and fear, as well stimulating the body to reduce the feeling of exhaustion. However, it becomes fatal if it is not treated with an antidote in a timely manner, depending on its purity. It was something that was sometimes used in the past when warriors were prepared to fight to the very last man with no thought of retreat. However, its production has been banned in every nation for a long time now because it was also used to force slaves and prisoners to fight.¡± Flora¡¯s eyes widened before speaking muffled words into Decius¡¯ hand. Decius pulled his hand back. ¡°Uh, um, does that mean that they attacked the palace because they were forced to?¡± Flora asked, a bit out of breath. ¡°Unlikely. At least one of them would have said something to that effect if that were the case, but none of the guards heard anything like that from them while they were imprisoned. Anyways, there¡¯s something else important about that. Warrior¡¯s Resolve kills you faster if the purity is higher, although it would come with the benefit of slightly increased fighting performance. We had our apothecary look into it, and he determined it was very high purity, to the point in which it would kill you after a single day. However, creating a large quantity of such high purity Warrior¡¯s Resolve means they have a very highly skilled apothecary, or maybe even an alchemist. They also most likely have a laboratory since even an alchemist could not feasibly produce such a large quantity using only basic tools. Well, not unless they had at least a dozen of them working year-round.¡± ¡°Wait, you keep saying there was so much poison. How many assassins were there?¡± ¡°Including their apparent leader, Tarras the Mountain Cleaver, a total of forty-seven armed assailants infiltrated the palace. Forty-four of them were captured, and all forty-four of them are now dead.¡± Flora was stunned by that revelation. Only seven people had initially entered the dining room they were in. ¡°Also, do call them assailants, or some other word instead of assassin. Assassins wouldn¡¯t have so heavily relied on brute force like they did, and if they were trained assassins, they would have killed themselves using a much faster-acting poison, instead of Warrior¡¯s Resolve.¡± ¡°Oh, um, okay¡­¡± ¡°Ah, but I suppose at least someone had a good idea since they were able to infiltrate the palace guards. Ah, and to be clear, I tell you all of this so that, if nothing else, you are aware of how determined and dangerous these people may be. After all, their leader, as well as two others, managed to escape the capital before we arrived. It¡¯s not a certainty, but Sir Braith may be a potential target in the future.¡± Flora looked positively horrified. ¡°Th- then, we have to tell Mr. Braith about this right away!¡± Decius kept his expression still, but it almost felt like he cocked an eyebrow at her. ¡°I believe Sir Braith, more than anyone else, is aware of the kind of person he fought against and the risk of encountering them again.¡± Based on his first meeting with Braith, Decius assumed that Braith would have clearly considered this already and made at least some preparations, even if he didn¡¯t care to know all the details about what happened in the palace. ¡°Oh, um¡­ oh, of course,¡± Flora responded, his tone clearly showing that she also thought it was dumb thought. Braith put his life on the line fighting against Tarras, so of course he would think about him. Also, given that he got in their way, if not outright retaliation, he would at least be noticed by them. This is what both Decius and Flora confidently believed. ¡°Yes, of course Braith knows to be careful. Yes, I see¡­¡± Flora clutched at the dagger tightly. ¡°I see why you really came here now. I¡¯m the weakest of the group, so, of course, I¡¯m the one who needs to work the hardest as we continue to travel together.¡± Decius gave a slight nod, as if that actually was his main motivation. ¡°Thank you again, Sir Decius! I will do my best!¡± Flora opened and closed her mouth again, considering whether or not to continue speaking. ¡°Yes?¡± Decius asked, when she still said nothing more. Flora thought for a moment before making her decision. ¡°I don¡¯t want to speak badly about others, but, um, I think they were just mistaken. Um, P- I mean, people have been saying some¡­ things about you and the Harbingers, but, I can see that you are a good person, Sir Decius.¡± Flora gave a little bow. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I was also thinking less of you until now.¡± Flora couldn¡¯t see it while bowing, but there was a slight twitch from Decius. When Flora raised her head again, Decius laughed. ¡°Oh, miss Flora,¡± he began with putting his arms on Flora¡¯s shoulders, ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t say such things. You might end up causing some serious misunderstandings.¡± Flora just looked back at him without saying anything. ¡°But, I guess that¡¯s okay, you should be able to get away with it.¡± Decius patted her on the head, and Flora, confused by the sudden act, did not respond. Decius then quickly glanced behind him towards the closed door. ¡°Hmmm, unfortunately, I¡¯ll be needing to leave now.¡± Decius turned around and strode towards the door. ¡°Hopefully I shall be seeing you again, my little friend. Oh, and when you see your grandfather again, please don¡¯t let him know about today.¡± Decius gave one last laugh. ¡°Or, at least make sure to put in a good word for me first.¡± Then, he finally left. After Decius left, Flora put away the dagger and then looked between the curtains to her window. It was still the middle of the night, and she finally felt exhausted. The strange meeting kept her awake, but now that it was just her, she could barely keep her eyes open. She tiredly went over to lock her dock and then returned to her bed after taking off her robe and setting the candle saucer back onto her bedside table. She blew out the flame and then lay in bed and thought about what she would do in the future. Yes, there will be a lot of work to do. She now felt like the confidence she had felt after Braith¡¯s test was overblown now, and the reality was that there was actually a lot more that needed to be done before she could be a true companion to him and Tasha. However, she only felt it right that she needed to put in even more work and effort than before. Of course that needed to be so. How could a lowly girl like her¡­who only¡­ Flora fell asleep amidst her incomplete thoughts. Chapter 51 ¡°Oh, I remember now,¡± Brian said, the levity in his voice now absent. I stared at the mercenary, my hand on the handle of my sword. In the corner of my eye, I thought I could see Tasha also realizing my tension. Just as I was thinking about drawing my sword preemptively when Brian¡¯s words trailed off, his expression relaxed again. ¡°Yeah, you were the ones in that bar back in Rettif.¡± Rettif? I stopped my hand and started to recall my memories. ¡°Rettif¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°Yeah, it was you two who were there when that old man Jim kept ragging on about the glory days. Uh¡­ not a pleasant time. I only stopped by to meet with him because the guildmaster wanted me to check up on him¡­¡± Brian¡¯s expression started to drift away again. ¡°Wait¡­ were you the one who was talking to that older man about mercenaries?¡± I asked, vaguely recalling the moment. That seemed to fit, and maybe it was because I just didn¡¯t think it was that important that I couldn¡¯t really remember many of the details about the two men other than one looking a lot older than the other. ¡°Ah, you remember me now!¡± Brian exclaimed, fully swinging back into his jovial tone. Well, not really. ¡°Ah, yeah¡­ um¡­ I don¡¯t think we really spoke to each other at the time, though?¡± Even if I think I remembered meeting him, why would this random mercenary remember me? ¡°We did. I asked you if you knew about any of those random mercenary names and you backed me up. Managed to shut him up for at least a few minutes.¡± I saw Brian roll his eyes a bit. ¡°Unfortunately, I actually had to talk to him some more after that. The guildmaster insisted that I report back to him in detail about how that old man was doing.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I see,¡± I responded, barely paying attention to Brian¡¯s complaints. I finally relaxed a bit and turned to look at the two girls at the table. Tasha seemed a bit confused and Whitney was looking between the three of us excitedly, as if she were eagerly awaiting more details about Brian¡¯s fascinating story. ¡°Anyways, enough of that,¡± Brian said, taking a chair from another table and coming to sit with us without any invitation, ¡°How has it been going for you two?¡± Brian asked, as if we were good friends that were catching up with one another. ¡°Oh, and in case you were wondering, Andal¡¯s still an annoying prick.¡± Who the heck is Andal? I saw Whitney¡¯s eyes narrow. ¡°Who¡¯s Andal?¡± Tasha asked, with even greater confusion on her face now. Brian turned to face Tasha and beamed a smile at her. ¡°Just some rookie mercenary. On his first commission to Rettif, apparently he got into a fight with some guy traveling with his daughter. Apparently, heh, he got his ass handed to him and got his armour busted up too.¡± I could see the realization dawn on Tasha the same time it did for me. ¡°Huh, so his name was Andal,¡± I said, confirming without really meaning to do so. ¡°Wait¡­¡± Hold on, if that guy is a member of the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild, is this going to be a big problem for me, then? ¡°Ah, don¡¯t look so worried there, Braith! The Guild wouldn¡¯t get involved with fights like that, and from what I heard, he was the one who started it,¡± Brian reassured me, seemingly having read my thoughts. ¡°Well, some guys with a lot of pride might want to take revenge. And some of those guys might even rope in some of their buddies to help, but I still wouldn¡¯t worry about it. Andal¡¯s just some rookie who¡¯s been a member for less than a year. His father was a somewhat respectable veteran mercenary, but he¡¯s been retired for a few years now.¡± Well, honestly, as long as I know the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild won¡¯t get involved, there shouldn¡¯t be anything to worry about. If it¡¯s just a bunch of mercenaries at Andal¡¯s level, it wouldn¡¯t be an issue even in my weakened state. ¡°Hmph, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem even if a hundred of those losers came after us,¡± Tasha proudly announced. Well¡­ that would probably be a bit too much. Whitney seemed to completely believe her though, and Brian just laughed. ¡°Wow, didn¡¯t know you were that strong, Braith!¡± Brian said, smiling even wider now. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to bet big on you if you¡¯re planning to fight here!¡± Tasha looked at me expectantly. I just shook my head. ¡°Sorry to disappoint you, but I¡¯m not here to fight. Just here to watch.¡± All three of my tablemates looked at me with varying degrees of disappointment, with Whitney somehow looking the most disappointed. ¡°You¡¯re not going to fight?¡± Whitney asked. ¡°Is that because you need to leave soon?¡± she asked. I suppose I could understand her disappointment after how much Tasha had been gassing both of us up. All three of them stared at me, awaiting my response. ¡°I¡¯m just here to pass some time. Fighting¡¯s not really a hobby of mine.¡± ¡°What about you, Tasha?¡± Whitney asked, now turning to face my daughter. ¡°She won¡¯t be fighting, either,¡± I answered for her, not wanting to risk what Tasha may wish to say. ¡°Am I allowed to fight?¡± Tasha asked Whitney, disregarding me. ¡°Are there any rules?¡± ¡°Uh, well, outside of the scheduled fights, there is also time between rounds for anyone else to fight, as long as they have a willing opponent. The rules would be whatever they agree to, but since they could be amateurs, the rules are usually to stop the fight at the sight of first blood.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s all very interesting, but we will not be participating,¡± I declared. ¡°Aw, really?¡± Brian asked. Judging by his tone, I suspected he was only faking disappointment, unlike Tasha and Whiteny. ¡°Really,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Even if Andal wanted a rematch?¡± he asked. In the past, I may have taken the bait, but I just didn¡¯t think I cared about someone as insignificant as him anymore. ¡°As if he deserves one,¡± I answered dismissively. I could see Whitney¡¯s eyes narrow again. ¡°Alright, alright, I can see your mind''s made up on this,¡± Brian said. ¡°Don¡¯t want to talk about that guy anymore, anyways. It upsets Whitney and reminds me of Jim again, too.¡± I was a little curious about Brian¡¯s words, but I also didn¡¯t really want to converse with him any longer. ¡°Let¡¯s move onto something more interesting, instead,¡± he suggested in direct opposition to my private thoughts. Brian eagerly looked around the table for suggestions. I was about to suggest ending things here, but Tasha spoke up first. ¡°You were one of the people who talked about the Reapers. Do you know a lot about them?¡± ¡°Oh, you want to hear about the Reapers?¡± Even in Brian¡¯s friendly voice I could hear an extra hint of excitement. I could see similar levels of excitement on Whitney¡¯s face as well. ¡°Yeah, I do,¡± Tasha replied simply. For the first time today, I felt like I couldn¡¯t read what Tasha was thinking about. Yes, now that I think about it, I would like to know more about the group as well as well, especially given what happened with Jack Free. However, I didn¡¯t get the impression that that was Tasha¡¯s reason for asking. Was it just curiosity about this legendary group of mercenaries? Her expression, at least, didn¡¯t give me any clear indications. ¡°Well,¡± Brian began, taking some effort to properly clear his throat, ¡°you are in luck, my little lady. Except for some of the veterans in this city, I dare say I know more than anyone else about them in all of Deimos.¡± I reflexively raised an eyebrow in skepticism. ¡°Oh, do you have a new story to tell?¡± Whitney asked, her face and voice clearly showing that she, at least, believed his claim. ¡°Now, now, Whitney, all in good time. First, Tasha, how much do you already know about them?¡± This time, I spoke before Tasha. ¡°All we know about them is that they were a mercenary group that was active during the War of the Nines. As far as what they¡¯ve done, we¡¯ve only heard that Repear¡¯s Pass is named after them.¡± I didn¡¯t expect her to directly talk about Jack Free, but I also didn¡¯t even want to risk her talking about knowing about any of their individual characteristics. ¡°Really? That¡¯s all you know?¡± Brian asked slightly incredulously. ¡°Yeah, we first heard about them from your conversation back in Rettif. After that, we only heard about the other thing before we went through Reapers¡¯ Pass.¡± ¡°Well then, it looks like the two of you are in for quite the lesson today. My, I¡¯m not sure my throat can hold up.¡± Brian looked over at the other barmaid who was still sitting at the bar counter. ¡°Clara! Can you get me a glass of the usual?!¡± Clara stared at him for a couple seconds, confused. ¡°Ah, right, sorry Clara!¡± Whitney suddenly blurted out. Apparently, Brian had also forgotten that she was supposed to be working when his eyes turned in the direction of our little barmaid after her sudden exclamation. ¡°Um, right, I¡¯ll be right back. Just one glass for you, Brian?¡± she asked, blushing a deep red. ¡°Ah, heh, yeah, just one for starters. Oh, maybe two? Can I offer you something to drink, Braith?¡± ¡°Me?¡± He¡¯s the one offering to tell us something, though. ¡°Uh, no¡­ I mean¡­ I should buy it for you?¡± This would be normal practice, right? ¡°Ah, come on. I¡¯m not going to be demanding a treat from a newcomer, especially not from someone interested in learning more about the Reapers!¡± My curiosity about this group was starting to grow quite a lot now. ¡°Well, okay. Uh, thank you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Braith.¡± Brian turned to the now-standing Whitney. ¡°You got that?¡± Whitney hurriedly nodded and ran off. Brian laughed as she did. ¡°Maybe I should wait until she gets back, eh?¡± I guess that would be polite. ¡°Well, since I need to start from the beginning, I should just start without her. She¡¯s heard this from me tons of times already.¡± Oh, I guess his question was rhetorical. He looked over at Tasha. ¡°Is that alright, or was there some specific burning question you had for me?¡± I was also curious to know the answer. ¡°... no, you can just tell me everything you know about each of them.¡± Tasha answered after a moment. Her words seemed to be spoken deliberately. Brian suddenly clapped his hands together. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll start then. As you know, they were mercenaries during the War of the Nines, and, well, at least as far as I¡¯m concerned, they are the most famous mercenaries from that time as well, despite the fact that almost none of their true identities are public knowledge. Oh, but how is that so? Well, they each had an alias and none of them were officially registered as members of the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild. Instead, it was one of them, the Hunter, who acted as their representative or their de facto leader when it came to accepting and negotiating commissions.¡± Brian looked between me and Tasha, possibly gauging what our current reactions were to his storytelling thus far. Brian looked to be slightly disappointed with my lack of a reaction, but just then, Whitney came back with two mugs of some kind of golden-beige drink. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± Whitney shouted out as she quickly placed one glass in front of Brian. When he looked away to pick up the drink, I tried to pretend to look more pleased since I did want to know more about the Reapers, assuming that Brian was telling the truth. Then, Whitney placed the other mug in front of me. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my usual,¡± Brian answered. ¡°You thanked me for it earlier, didn¡¯t you?¡± What? No, I mean, I did say thanks, but I meant thanks as in- why am I arguing in my own head again. ¡°That wasn¡¯t what I- I meant¡­¡± I stopped myself when I saw Whitney starting to get embarrassed again, as if it was her fault the order was screwed up. Well, I mean, in a way it kinda was, but, oh, forget it. ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll try it after I finish my lemonade,¡± I lied before taking a sip of my lemonade. Tasha mimicked my sip, but her reaction showed that she still thought it was very sour. It was, but I still thought it was quite decent. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Hey, come on, now!¡± Brian raised his mug and I stared at him blankly for a few seconds. Oh, right. ¡°Ah, yeah¡­¡± I raised the mug as well, and then he clinked his mug with mine. He took a big gulp and let out a burp before setting it back onto the table. I put down my mug and stuck with the lemonade. ¡°So, where was I again?¡± Brian asked. ¡°You were talking about aliases. You just mentioned the Hunter,¡± I replied. ¡°Ah, right. Okay, let¡¯s talk about the others. So, other than the Hunter, there were six other aliases: the Captain; the Knight; the Cyclops; the Wyvern; the Gorgon; and the Hydra. However, that does not mean there were exactly seven members of the Reapers!¡± Brian stared at us with great expectation after suddenly pausing. I decided to play along after a couple of seconds. ¡°Oh, what do you mean by that?¡± Brian and Whitney both nodded and smiled. ¡°Great question, Braith! You see, although these are the only known aliases, there is no great certainty on the exact number of members. For example, Captain was an alias that was apparently heard before, but only very rarely, and there are no publicly agreed upon descriptions of who this Captain was. Some say it wasn¡¯t really an alias, and it just referred to whomever was leading the group. Oh, but why wouldn¡¯t the leader just always be the Captain? Well, I¡¯ve heard some suggest that was because the different members would take turns leading. Personally, I think that theory makes the most sense. After all, each member was known to be individually very powerful, so the idea that all the rest of them would always take orders from only one of them seemed unlikely to me. Another theory, somewhat related to this one, is that although they rotated through leadership, the Hunter most likely became the de facto leader of the group because he was the one who handled commissions and was the expert when it came to gathering information.¡± Brian paused to take a breath and drink a bit. As he did, I could see him looking at Tasha and I again, mostly expecting our continued engagement. Tasha looked rather stoic, seemingly only focused on absorbing the given information. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s an interesting theory, Brian,¡± I began, ¡°So, in your opinion, you don¡¯t think any one of the Reapers was capable of being the permanent leader?¡± I saw Brian eye my mostly full glass of lemonade. I drank some more before he answered. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I think, Braith. Overall, based on all the stories I¡¯ve heard, it¡¯s hard to say that any of them was definitely stronger than all of the others. However, that did not mean they were similar as far as fighting went. They each had their own specialty. Let¡¯s take the Hunter, for example. They say he is very skilled with daggers and knives. They say he also used a crossbow later on, which was probably smuggled out of Brennan. Overall, he fought more with speed, dexterity, and close combat skills over power, which is not to say he was physically weak, of course.¡± ¡°Really, they say all that about him?¡± I asked, half doubting the veracity of this. I mean, he just told me that even their true names are mostly unknown, but this sort of description is known? ¡°Well, I¡¯m mixing together various stories I¡¯ve heard. The general description of him paints him similar to an assassin. Well, he really may well have been one, but I don¡¯t know that for sure.¡± ¡°Uh huh,¡± I said, before drinking some more lemonade. ¡°Well¡­¡± I could see Brian really seem to concentrate on something, as if searching for a way to make up for a lacking explanation. ¡°Uh, do you know about the Harbingers?¡± I nearly choked on my lemonade. At the same time, Tasha spat out hers, drinking at the same time I was. ¡°Ah¡­ uh, sorry, I drank too quickly,¡± Tasha said, slightly embarrassed about having to suddenly make up such a lie. ¡°Ah, so sorry,¡± I also apologized, ¡°Whitney, could you please bring something for us to wipe the table with?¡± ¡°Oh, um, I can take care of that right now.¡± Whitney got up and took out a handcloth from some pocket in her apron. She went over to Tasha¡¯s side to wipe the small mess. As she did, Brian continued to speak. ¡°So, do you know about the Harbingers?¡± Brian asked again. ¡°Ah¡­ hmmm, not sure,¡± I answered, feigning my lack of knowledge. ¡°Well, they are sort of similar to the Hunter. I mean, technically, I can¡¯t say either are true assassins, but the way they fight is sort of similar. Well, based on what I¡¯ve heard about both of them. It¡¯s, uh, well, it¡¯s not like the sort of fights you expect to see here at Blake¡¯s. Their fighting is a lot stealthier and more focused on efficient movements. It would be pretty cool to ever see a fight with a Harbinger, but, heh, I don¡¯t expect that¡¯ll ever happen. Their captains are technically knights, so I wouldn¡¯t expect to see them down here in Deimos.¡± ¡°Yeah, that makes sense,¡± I responded, nodding as I did. As unpleasant as I found Sir Decius, he was still a knight of Brennan, so he wouldn¡¯t just drop by some place like this. Well, maybe if it was for some intelligence gathering mission. ¡°Okay, I think I know what you mean about the Hunter now. What about the others?¡± ¡°Ah right, who should I talk about next?¡± Whitney finished cleaning the mess and returned to her seat. I glanced around the bar again as she did and everything seemed the same. This place really is still quite empty. ¡°How about the Knight? Yes, that¡¯s someone who¡¯s basically the complete opposite of the Hunter. A pure, physical fighter. A man in a full set of scale armor and who always wore a closed helm that covered his face. A tall warrior who wielded a greatsword, oftentimes wielding it with only one hand.¡± That last comment made me scrunch my face slightly. After knowing about the existence of the Battle-Hardened, one may have a differing opinion about such a description. However, having trained in the shortsword myself (albeit a much smaller weapon) and having also heard things from Lars, it is not the absolute weight of the sword that is always the largest factor when it comes to using them. I was also first mistaken, thinking that Lars used the shortsword primarily because it was lighter. The weight difference does have some effect on one¡¯s stamina, but when it comes to one on one fights or small scale battles, it does not actually take significantly more strength to wield a shortsword compared to a longsword, nor to take it a step up from that, because even a greatsword weighed fewer than ten pounds, and for larger weapons, you would fight in a way where you use momentum more to conserve your own energy. However, actually wielding them effectively would take very different styles of fighting. And that is what I found particularly surprising. With enough strength you can hold a greatsword with one hand, but given its length, it would be much less efficient and certainly not optimal to swing it around with one arm, even if one was incredibly strong. Hmmm, and on the opposite end, it probably isn¡¯t optimal to wield a shortsword in only one hand and no offhand weapon or shield in the other. Lars¡¯ skills never led me to doubt his reasons for why, but there should be other uses for the free hand other than just for grabbing and punching. I think Sir Emmerick said something similar to me as well. Did Lars used to use something else? Maybe, before he lost his eye? ¡°You really look like you have some burning questions there, Braith.¡± Brian spoke to interrupt my internal musings. I drank some more lemonade in silence before answering. Despite the earlier mishap, Tasha mimicked me again. ¡°Oh, I was probably just overthinking. You say the Knight used a greatsword with only one hand?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Brian confirmed with a smile. ¡°Ah, and to be clear, he did primarily fight with it using both hands. However, there are many stories depicting him fighting with only hand.¡± Was this Knight really that much of a showoff? ¡°And it wasn¡¯t just to show off,¡± Brian continued, seemingly reading my thoughts again. ¡°Other than the Hunter, the Knight was the one who would wander off or travel by himself most often. In the beginning, he was often attacked by bandits and others looking to rob him. You see, his scale armour was seen as very valuable, and he also wore a purple mantle that was also supposedly made of rare and valuable material. He became known as the Knight because of how he looked, and despite the lack of any crests or brands on his equipment to denote his affiliation or identity, he must have come from some wealthy or renowned lineage, assuming he did not simply acquire his equipment through robbery. Many assumed he was some young knight who forsook his oath or the son of some fallen noble household. Well, tons of knights and noble houses disappeared around that time, so it wasn¡¯t the most unreasonable theory.¡± Okay, I get it. Yeah, the alias makes sense. ¡°Right, and about the one-handed fighting. Well, sometimes he would be carrying something or someone when he got attacked, so he fought using only one arm. I¡¯ve heard more than one story of him saving some damsel in distress during his solitary outings. Although, well, there may also have been stories suggesting that he also fought like that in the midst of snatching up maidens. I don¡¯t think those ones are as credible, though.¡± I could hear Brian¡¯s exuberance drain away saying the last couple sentences. ¡°Jealous people can make up all sorts of lies.¡± Whitney suddenly spoke. ¡°Ah, yes. That, they do, Whitney.¡± Brian was easily re-invigorated and I pondered about this spectacle. Whitney was one thing, probably being a naive and impressionable child, but why is Brian so seemingly fanatical about this. ¡°Say, Brian¡­¡± I decided to probe the matter. ¡°Have you, or anyone you know ever met any of the Reapers before?¡± Brian¡¯s face froze for a second before answering. ¡°Ah, unfortunately, I¡¯ve never had the opportunity. From what I know, the guildmaster has seen some of them in person before, but he doesn¡¯t like to go into details about them for whatever reason. Well¡­ I mean, he says that we¡¯re all better off just avoiding them entirely. And, well, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t understand. I don¡¯t think it would be wrong to call them ¡®dangerous¡¯... generally speaking. And, well, the Hunter, in particular, I really do get it, but I think if I had the chance, I would still want to talk to them.¡± ¡°What would you want to talk to them about?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, so many things! I would want to confirm as many of their stories as I could. I would want to confirm how many of them there really were, and who each of them were. I would want to ask how they all met and why they decided to form a group. I would ask how they became so strong, and I would ask why they disbanded.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah, I get the picture now.¡± I raised a hand as I interrupted Brian who was listing one thing after another at twice the speed he was talking at earlier. ¡°You really seem to be interested in them more than I expected. It¡¯s like being a fan of some celebrity. Although, I still think your guildmaster¡­ yeah, your guildmaster probably has the right idea. It could be really dangerous to meet them personally¡­ and even if they weren¡¯t, I doubt they¡¯d be keen on answering many of your questions.¡± ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t know that for certain! Nobody knows where any of them have been for years, so at the very least, we know they haven¡¯t been up to anything bad¡­ well, not anything in recent news anyways.¡± I was about to keep up my side of the argument, but I decided to drop the matter. I wanted to warn to be more cautious given what Jack Free, the supposed Wyvern, was like, but Brian didn¡¯t look like he could be convinced with just a few words. Besides, maybe, just maybe, I should still give the other members the benefit of the doubt. ¡°I guess we can¡¯t know for certain either way.¡± Let¡¯s just agree to disagree, I guess. ¡°Anyways, is there some kind of theming for the aliases? Three seem to be jobs or ranks, whereas the rest are named after monsters, right?¡± I could see Brian thinking about whether my descriptions were apt. ¡°Well, I guess you could break up like that, assuming the Captain was even a real alias for a distinct member. The Hunter¡¯s alias was one that he made up for himself and it stuck. The Knight¡¯s alias¡­ the stories seemed to suggest it was made for him, and he was probably just some nameless warrior before that. As for the others¡­ hmmm, I think they just fit what we know about them. I¡¯m not sure if it was intentional that they were named after monsters. Well, from what I know most of them were also Farseers, so maybe that had something to do with it. For example, the Wyvern was a wind Farseer, but I guess maybe you could argue that other flying creatures could have fit better?¡± I drank some more lemonade in an attempt to cover up my reaction, but my glass was finally empty. Tasha was still working on hers. Seeing this, Brian chugged the last of his own mug. ¡°Are you ready to try my drink now, Braith? I could use another cider myself. Whitney, please get me another one.¡± Whitney looked over at me, and at first I thought she was also pressing me to drink, but she just wanted to know if she could take away my empty glass. I motioned for her to do so, and she took the glass and Brian¡¯s mug and left. ¡°Wait, this is cider?¡± I finally asked. I guess the golden-beige hue did somewhat remind me of apple juice, but I thought apple cider was darker in colour. ¡°You don¡¯t recognize cider?¡± Brian asked. ¡°Ah, no, I just didn¡¯t really think about it.¡± Come to think of it, the lemonade also does have a slightly different colour to it than I¡¯m familiar with. Well, it still looked and tasted more or less like lemonade, though. ¡°Have you never had cider before?¡± Brian asked. ¡°Ah¡­ not in a long time.¡± ¡°So, not a fan, then?¡± Brian asked, probably probing as to why I still haven¡¯t drank any of what he bought me. I didn¡¯t want to tell him that I just assumed he bought me alcohol and I didn¡¯t want to drink any. ¡°... ah, no, I really did just want to finish my lemonade.¡± I guess it¡¯s fine to drink this if it¡¯s just apple cider. I can drink it with him when Whitney comes back with his second mug. ¡°Anyways, Brian, what kind of stories have you heard about the Wyvern?¡± ¡°Oh, is this the one you¡¯re most interested in?¡± ¡°Ah, no, I¡¯m fine with whatever order you want to tell me things in.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Well, they say he was a wind Farseer who was so adept with magic that he could fly in the air and use blasts of wind at the same time.¡± The Jack Free I knew could fly in the air and use wind blasts, but he didn¡¯t do that simultaneously. Well, he probably didn¡¯t think he needed to. ¡°Also, he was also the fastest in terms of speed. They say he could overtake anyone on foot while he was in flight. As for his offensive wind magic, there have even been stories of him picking a person up and tossing them into the air.¡± Okay, no, Jack Free definitely wasn¡¯t someone powerful enough to do that. ¡°Ah, is that so?¡± Stories, huh? I see. So, it really is just that. I don¡¯t deny Jack Free was strong and I could definitely believe a group of seven mercenaries as strong as him would have been a very formidable force. With the right preparations, I could definitely see how they could fight against over a hundred soldiers, but many of those stories were probably exaggerated accounts. Right, even Decius mentioned something like that when he told me about that account describing Tarras as the Mountain Cleaver. ¡°Yes, and since he was a wind Farseer, he must have been an Outlander since none of the existing major clans have wind Farseers. Well, not unless you count certain Luster Clan Farseers, but that wouldn¡¯t really match up. It¡¯s even less likely that he was that powerful because he was an Artifact user.¡± Artifacts? I remembered that word from An Early History of Enchanting Masterwork Arms and Armours, from Brennan''s royal library. It referred to certain enchanted equipment that could allow people to use magic. But they were very expensive and difficult to create, difficult to use for most, and were usually limited in their power. ¡°Oh, you started talking about the Wyvern without me!¡± Whitney cried out as she returned with another mug of cider for Brian. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it wasn¡¯t anything new,¡± he said while picking up the mug. Then, he looked over at me. Ah, right. I raised my mug and we clinked them together. This time, we both drank. Initially, the taste of apple was familiar, but the cider didn¡¯t taste quite like I expected. My expression gave away how it didn¡¯t quite meet my expectations. ¡°Well, that¡¯s why you should have started drinking it right away! It¡¯s best when it¡¯s fresh and chilled!¡± Well, it was not as cold as I expected, but it wasn¡¯t exactly lukewarm either. Is the temperature the reason for this somewhat off putting after taste? ¡°Drink it up quickly and I¡¯ll order us both another round! Come on!¡± Brian raised his mug again next to me and started gulping it down. Okay, fine. I did as Brian did and started to quickly down the cider. It¡¯s not like it tasted bad. In fact, I would almost say it tasted good. But, I don¡¯t know, maybe remembering how fresh apples or even those potion apples tasted like, it just seemed kind of disappointing. The aftertaste was a bit stronger now and it wasn¡¯t any more pleasant than before. However, I finished it off. Brian smiled and laughed before ordering more cider. Brian and I clinked our mugs together again when the next round came and drinking it when it was still cold did actually make a big difference. It definitely did taste better that way, and the after taste was also less noticeable now. Yes, I can kind of see why this is Brian¡¯s favourite. Personally, I still kind of preferred the sourness of the lemonade, but this cider was also unexpectedly good. I wonder if this is Brian¡¯s favourite drink overall, or just his favourite non-alcoholic drink. ¡°You know what, Brian. Let me buy you a round as well.¡± Yeah, you know, I could use some more myself. I¡¯m starting to feel a bit warm now, after all. ¡°Ah, well, I won¡¯t say no to that!¡± ¡°Whitney!¡± I said, much louder than I intended. ¡°Two- no, four more ciders!¡± Brian whistled. ¡°Getting it all out at once now?¡± Brian asked. Well, I mean, Tasha¡¯s gotta catch up with us too, now. I saw that Tasha almost finished her lemonade now. I laughed, or at least I intended to, but it came out more like a giggle. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s all good¡­ the Merchants¡¯ Guild will cover it anyways. Ah, maybe I should order some other things too?¡± ¡°The Merchants¡¯ Guild? Oh, looks like you have something nice lined up for you?¡± ¡°Dad?¡± Tasha suddenly spoke up with a hint of concern. ¡°Are you¡­ okay?¡± I strangely found myself laughing at her question. ¡°Ah, Tasha, thanks for asking! I¡¯m great! But, thank you for worrying about me, dear.¡± I leaned over towards her and draped an arm over her shoulder. Tasha shifted a bit in her seat when I did. ¡°I¡­ am so lucky to have such a lovely and caring daughter like you¡­¡± ¡°Uh¡­ um, thank you, dad¡­¡± she responded somewhat meekly, but looked more confused than embarrassed. ¡°Ah, what a sight! I wish I had family like that!¡± Brian said cheerfully. ¡°Ah, Brian, it¡¯s the best!¡± I said back to him. ¡°You know what kind of life I was living before her? It sucked. It was just awful. Ah, I mean¡­¡± I was starting to get my memories a bit jumbled up. ¡°Well, I mean, right before wasn¡¯t that bad, but before that¡­ terrible! I was sad and lonely all the time.¡± ¡°Really, Braith? I guess having a kid can really change the world for some people.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s just¡­ so nice having a family again¡­¡± I almost ended up wrapping myself around Tasha, but sensing what was happening, Tasha broke free and shot me a very concerned look. ¡°Dad¡­ are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± Oh, she¡¯s so nice to ask twice! ¡°I feel great, Tasha. I¡¯m fine!¡± Tasha did not seem convinced. Ah, I know what¡¯s wrong. ¡°Tasha, you know¡­ I¡¯ve been too hard on you. I haven¡¯t been treating you like you deserve.¡± Tasha still looked apprehensive. ¡°So, you know what. Let¡¯s do it!¡± Greater apprehension detected. ¡°This is a fighting bar, so just go wild. Yeah, let¡¯s fight! Show these guys that you are the strongest little girl in all of Deimos!¡± Yeah, who cares about hiding and holding back? She¡¯s a Battle-Hardened, and I¡¯m not hiding that ever again. I could finally see Tasha¡¯s concern disappear. ¡°Really?!¡± she asked excitedly. Just then, Whitney returned with our drinks. ¡°Yeah!¡± I had to suppress a hiccup in between my words. ¡°Kick their asses!¡± Chapter 52 The following morning, back at the inn, Flora was the first of the group to awake, as was often the case. She stirred from her rest and slowly turned around in the bed to check the other side. Tasha was soundly asleep next to her. Flora gingerly slipped out from under the blankets to avoid waking her and began her day. She washed up, changed out of her pajamas and checked her equipment. Tasha woke up as Flora was in the midst of quietly examining her bowstring. The two girls exchanged morning pleasantries as Tasha also got up to start her day. After putting on her clothes over her undershirt and shorts, Flora helped Tasha put on her armour. Of course, Tasha could have done it by herself, but she didn¡¯t want to refuse the offer to help and by this point, the three of them (Braith included) had helped one another put on their armour many times. It was something akin to a convenient bonding habit by now. After Tasha geared up, the two of them left their room together and Tasha knocked on the door to Braith¡¯s room. No response. Tasha knocked again and called out to her father. Still nothing. ¡°Is he really still just asleep?¡± Tasha asked Flora, her voice containing a mix of both curiosity and concern. ¡°Um, do you remember exactly how much he had to drink yesterday?¡± Flora asked in response. ¡°Hmmm, I think he had six mugs of that cider. Oh, and one glass of¡­lemonade.¡± Flora noted the slight pause Tasha made at the end, but she didn¡¯t know why. ¡°Um, did the lemonade also have alcohol?¡± ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t know. Probably not? I drank a glass of it as well. Uh, I mean, is there some way I can tell?¡± ¡°Um, did you feel any different after drinking it?¡± Tasha¡¯s face showed some discomfort at the question. ¡°It was really sour.¡± Tasha stared off for a couple seconds. ¡°Is alcohol sour?¡± ¡°Um, no, it isn¡¯t. Um, I mean, I don¡¯t think so¡­ I¡¯ve never drunk any of it before, so¡­ but, no, I¡¯ve never heard that it tastes sour.¡± Flora¡¯s hands moved around wildly as she gave her uncertain response. ¡°But, you know what it is?¡± Tasha asked directly. She was used to her flailings by now and knew that they were not always an indication of ignorance on a matter. ¡°Yes, I do. Um, I mean, I¡¯ve heard about it. But, um¡­ I guess someone else would know about it better.¡± ¡°Someone like Pascal, you mean?¡± Tasha asked. Flora wordlessly opened her mouth before nodding. Tasha narrowed her eyes slightly. ¡°Pascal said that dad collapsed because he drank too much alcohol. But, he also said he should be fine by tomorrow and that it wasn¡¯t poison.¡± ¡°Um, yes, that sounds about right.¡± Tasha did not seem entirely satisfied with Flora¡¯s confirmation. ¡°I think that¡¯s right. I don''t think Mr. Braith was poisoned or drugged with anything. Um, well, excluding alcohol¡­¡± Tasha¡¯s eyes lit up a bit, her mind clearly latching onto the last few words. ¡°So, alcohol is something bad! Dad taught me about so many things, but he never mentioned that to me before. Is someone tricking us?¡± Tasha then banged on the door again. Flora grabbed both of Tasha¡¯s wrists from behind, apparently attempting to restrain her lest she consider breaking down the door altogether. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not like that, Tasha! I mean, um, what I mean is, this is- this is normal, I mean, it¡¯s not unusual. Um, don¡¯t you remember? I checked him when you came back last night. I even used my magic, and I didn¡¯t notice anything like poison.¡± ¡°Could it be something else?! I have never seen dad stumble around like that before, not even before he got that guardian spirit power.¡± Rather than simply breaking free, Tasha awkwardly tried to crane her neck around to face Flora who was still holding onto her from behind. ¡°Yes! I mean- um, it should be fine. I- I don¡¯t know how it looked to you, but that¡¯s just something that can happen when you drink too much of it.¡± ¡°And people just drink it? Why? Why would they do that to themselves?¡± Tasha was incredulous at such an unbelievable norm. ¡°Um, there¡¯s a lot of reasons, but, um, I guess they just like it. Most of them anyways.¡± Still unconvinced, Tasha decided to finally break free from Flora¡¯s grip, which was not very difficult at all. Her body failing her, Flora decided to pacify Tasha one last time with words. ¡°Even my grandpa drinks alcohol!¡± This was finally enough to cause Tasha to freeze. After a few seconds, Tasha turned around to look at Flora. ¡°Really?¡± she asked with slightly narrowed eyes. ¡°Yes! Um, well, very rarely, but yes. Once a year.¡± Tasha had only known Hiram for a few days, but those interactions were enough for Tasha to build up a fairly high opinion of him that was only built up further from later testimonials from Flora. ¡°Why?¡± Tasha asked out of genuine curiosity. ¡°Um¡­ it¡¯s¡­ grandpa, he said adults drink it to put themselves in a better mood.¡± Tasha blinked a couple times as she processed the response. ¡°Adults?¡± ¡°Um, yeah¡­ grandpa said only adults should drink it. Um¡­ he says it¡¯s bad for children.¡± That comment surprised Tasha. ¡°Um, well, he says it¡¯s not that good for adults either.¡± This surprised Tasha further. ¡°Anyways, he told me about the sort of stuff that happens when you drink too much of it, and it matches with what happened with Mr. Braith. But, it¡¯s only temporary.¡± Tasha silently continued to log and analyze all of this new information. ¡°Mr. Braith might not wake up soon, but he should be fine later today. Um, that¡¯s how it always was for grandpa.¡± ¡°...Your grandpa told you all of this?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Flora responded immediately with a reassuring nod. ¡°...If he knows all of this¡­ and he says it¡¯s not good for you¡­ why does he still drink it?¡± ¡°Um, like I said, it¡¯s something that makes adults feel better.¡± ¡°So, it heals them?¡± Tasha asked, trying to make sense of this fact. ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s only how they feel¡­ um, it cheers them up a bit. Um¡­ helps them forget some sad things¡­¡± Flora¡¯s voice started to falter as she recalled when her grandfather told her these things. ¡°... I don¡¯t think you should drink it, even after you grow up, Flora.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Flora was taken aback by Tasha¡¯s unexpected words. But, she was even more taken aback by Tasha¡¯s sudden hug. ¡°W- what?¡± ¡°Cheer up, Flora,¡± Tasha spoke in her usual vibrant voice. ¡°If you are sure there¡¯s nothing to worry about, then I¡¯ll believe you.¡± Tasha ended the hug and then held Flora by the hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go eat for now.¡± ************************************************************** I woke up feeling groggy and hungry. I reached for my head to massage away the pounding pain in my head, and as I did, I realized I was on the floor, with my blanket half draped over me. I blinked a few times, got a bit dizzy, groaned as I closed my eyes, and then slowly opened them again. Still holding onto the side of my head, I slowly turned my head around to confirm that I was at least in my room at the inn. The curtains were drawn over the window, so there was barely enough light coming through to know for sure, but it seemed like I was in the right place. I tried to get up, but apparently I went up too quickly and got dizzy again, causing my knees to buckle. I fell onto my hands and knees, and I felt a very uncomfortable sensation in my throat. I just stayed in place for a moment until the retching sensation went away. I slowly breathed a sigh of relief as I slowly got up, my headache feeling just the tiniest bit better as well. As I got onto my feet, I finally realized I was still fully clothed, although my armour was taken off. I went over to the curtains to let in some light to help me locate it, but I regretted it instantly. The sudden flash of light blinded me instantly and I stumbled. I tried to grab onto something to stop myself from falling completely, but my body ended up spinning around more than I expected and I got too dizzy to keep myself on my feet. I fell hard onto the floor, which thankfully, at least overrode the feeling of wanting to throw up. I groaned much louder this time as I finally started to try to recall how I ended up like this. Yesterday was mostly a blur, but I did remember going to the bar with Tasha. But, I don¡¯t remember getting drunk. All I did was drink lemonade and apple cider. A lot of apple cider, if I recall correctly. Although¡­ no, I would feel like even more of an idiot to vocalize that thought, even if it¡¯s only in my own head. I slowly got back onto my feet and went over to the curtain again, carefully avoiding the light that was seeping through. Come to think of it, was this even natural light? Maybe it was nighttime, and this was light coming from those lights on the pillars holding up the massive platform over the center of Deimos. Honestly, what even is that? I¡¯ve been curious about it the whole time, but with the way all the residents seem to just completely ignore it as if it¡¯s the most normal thing ever, I didn¡¯t want to just directly ask about it. This would have been an instance in which I would have been very glad for Tasha to ask Pascal about it, but for some reason she hasn¡¯t. Am I the crazy one for thinking how completely out of place this seemed to be? My headache eased up a bit more as I continued ranting in my own head. Finally, I drew the curtains back slowly and let the light pour into the room. Okay, good, even with my unsteady vision, I could see that this was my room, and I could also see my armour in a heap in the corner. My stomach growled as my tension lowered. I made my way towards the door to my room to get something to eat, but as I did, my head started to hurt more again, as if my increased movement was putting pressure behind my eyes. After pausing again for the pain to die down a bit again, I slowly left my room. As I did, I saw both Tasha and Flora waiting right outside. ¡°Mr. Braith, are you alright? I thought I heard something coming from your room.¡± I wanted to reassure Flora that I was alright, but my headache flared up again at that moment and I let out a pained groan. Flora quickly moved in closer to check on me and placed one hand on my forehead. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I knew she was hardly raising her voice, but my hearing was sensitive enough for me to reflexively try to cover my ears as I groaned. I could see the concern in Flora¡¯s face, but I could only assume it was so for Tasha as well, with my peripheral vision too blurry to make her out clearly. ¡°It¡¯s fine, just a headache. And please, not so loud.¡± ¡°Do you feel pain anywhere else?¡± Flora asked, speaking at less than half the previous volume. ¡°No. Just that. Hungry too.¡± I found myself speaking very shortly, as speaking too long was also making me feel uncomfortable. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Oh, come to our room. We had barely started eating. Oh, I will go ask for more food, too.¡± Flora let go of my head and turned around, but then turned back around. ¡°Um, is that alright with you?¡± Why are you asking me that? ¡°Just go, Flora,¡± Tasha answered on my behalf. Flora still hesitated for a second before turning around once more to head downstairs. I put one hand against the wall and started to walk over towards their room. Tasha walked in front of me and gave me a dubious look. ¡°Flora and Pascal both say you drank too much alcohol.¡± I continued to move forward and Tasha backed up as I did. ¡°Did you?¡± She asked me in what I assumed was a judging tone. ¡°... I guess I did.¡± I made my way to the opened door to the other room. Tasha went next to me and offered me her arm. After a moment of consideration, I decided to take it. She helped me to the table in their room where a few plates of food and a couple glasses of water were already waiting. She helped me to my seat and then sat next to me. ¡°Why?¡± Tasha¡¯s question was simple, yet complicated. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked for clarification as I reached for one of the glasses. ¡°Can I drink from this one?¡± Tasha looked at me a bit dubiously, perhaps thinking I was trying to change the subject. ¡°You can drink it. It¡¯s safe.¡± I thought I heard her emphasize the last statement. ¡°Did you want to drink that much yesterday?¡± I picked up the glass and took a few sips. It was definitely water, but man, it tasted way better than usual. I guess I was also a lot thirstier than I thought. ¡°...No,¡± I finally answered after several sips. I could see Tasha harden her gaze. ¡°Did that mercenary trick you somehow?¡± I could hear how seriously Tasha was taking this, which only made me feel more embarrassed about the fact of the matter. ¡°...No,¡± I answered simply after drinking some more. I set the glass down and started to pick out some of the food to eat. I think I should start with fruits. ¡°Why did you drink so much, then?¡± Tasha was clearly not satisfied with my response. Even in normal situations, I wouldn¡¯t really want to get into all the details, but I was even more reluctant with my body feeling the way it did right now. ¡°...It just happened. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I started to chew on an apple slice. It¡¯s nice that this one was already cut up. Did Flora do that? Tasha silently waited for me to finish eating my apple slice before speaking again. ¡°Were you in a bad mood?¡± I paused for a second, confused by the change in questioning. ¡°No¡­ why would you ask that?¡± Tasha looked away briefly before responding. ¡°I- I heard from Flora. She said adults drink alcohol to feel better.¡± She quickly glanced back at me before looking away again. ¡°I thought¡­ maybe you were really upset about how I was acting. Maybe you drank so much so that you could go along with what I wanted.¡± My initial embarrassment in the situation instantly turned into shame. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it at all!¡± I stopped to grimace, as my own raised voice was causing me pain. ¡°I- listen, I just messed up. I didn¡¯t know there was alcohol in the cider. But¡­ that guy wasn¡¯t tricking me either.¡± I couldn¡¯t even recall his name quickly enough as my head was still hurting and my memories were still hazy. ¡°I just assumed it was regular apple cider.¡± From Tasha¡¯s expression, I could tell she didn¡¯t fully believe my explanation. ¡°I¡¯m serious, Tasha. That¡¯s all. I wasn¡¯t so mad at you that I wanted to get drunk.¡± Would it have been possible to avoid this situation if I taught Tasha about alcohol? A useless thought to be having right now. ¡°...Really?¡± Tasha asked, a heavy bit of doubt still in her voice. ¡°Really.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Tasha¡¯s repeated question had much less doubt and held a bit of relief. ¡°Really!¡± I repeated emphatically. ¡°Does that mean¡­ you were happy to be there with me?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I answered instantly. Tasha smiled at me, and in a much cuter way than usual. It looked different from the smiles I saw so much more often after being embroiled in so much fighting, violence and drama. Not that I think any less of her as I did before. It¡¯s just¡­ it¡¯s just nice. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Tasha suddenly got up from her seat excitedly as I grimaced at her loud voice. ¡°Oh! Uh, sorry.¡± Tasha started to whisper now. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said happily. ¡°Oh, but that really is great!¡± She whispered with jubilance. ¡°I am so happy that we don¡¯t have to keep pretending we¡¯re weak.¡± Wait, what? ¡°Oh, it was so much fun yesterday, getting to fight all those people yesterday.¡± Huh? ¡°It was nice having you cheer me on the whole time, too!¡± Wait, hold up. ¡°Oh, and then that loser Andal and his friends showed up.¡± And then?! ¡°And you beat them all up! Ah¡­ but then you tripped over yourself and fell down after that.¡± ¡°... Is that so?¡± I barely squeaked out, having zero recollection of any of those events. ¡°But, that¡¯s okay. Just don¡¯t drink any alcohol next time.¡± Tasha went right up next to me and put her hands on my shoulders reassuringly. ¡°I¡¯m really looking forward to next time!¡± Her eyes seemed to be intensely sparkling as they locked with mine. ¡°... Tasha-¡± ¡°I¡¯ve brought more food,¡± Flora interrupted me as she entered the room. ¡°Tasha-¡± ¡°You¡¯re back, Flora! Oh, dad just explained what happened yesterday. You were right, everything¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great,¡± Flora said as she carried a tray with more food over. ¡°Tasha-¡± ¡°Flora, how come they didn¡¯t send someone up this time?¡± ¡°Oh, um, they seemed really busy and it¡¯s only for one person, so I thought it was fine to just bring it up myself. Um, it¡¯s fine, they didn¡¯t make me, I offered to do it.¡± ¡°Well, okay then.¡± ¡°Tasha-¡± ¡°Oh, Flora, you should come with us next time. It¡¯ll be fun. Oh, there¡¯s a kid there too that you can meet.¡± ¡°Oh, um, I don¡¯t know about that¡­¡± Flora responded hesitantly as she set down the tray on the table. ¡°You don¡¯t think you¡¯d like Whitney?¡± ¡°Oh, no, I¡¯m sure this Whitney is a good child if you like them. I meant, um, I don¡¯t know about me going to a place like that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Flora. Dad, tell her how much fun it was.¡± Tasha finally looked directly at me again and gave me the opportunity to speak. ¡°Tasha-¡± I was interrupted yet again, but this time by my own stomach loudly growling. ¡°Oh, you have to eat up first!¡± I looked down at the food and then back at Tasha who was positively radiating joy. ¡°That¡¯s right, let¡¯s all eat first,¡± Flora chimed in, clearly wanting to end the current topic. When I didn¡¯t answer right away, the two girls started to look a bit uneasy. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m just so hungry right now. Couldn¡¯t think for a second.¡± I smiled at them and resumed eating. I¡¯ll deal with my problems later. After eating, I was still feeling very tired, and since I didn¡¯t have anything planned that day, I decided to take a nap. I think I was asleep for about a couple hours, and after waking up, I felt much better. I washed up and put on all of my gear, but right as I left my room, I saw Pascal walking down the hallway. ¡°Mister Braith, how are you feeling?¡± He asked while giving a quick wave. I took a second to think about my answer. ¡°Okay, I guess. Uh, I didn¡¯t¡­ cause any problems yesterday, did I?¡± ¡°Oh, no, no problems. I believe that establishment is very used to such actions by their patrons.¡± ¡°Okay then.¡± I looked around the hallway, but it was just the two of us. Are Tasha and Flora in their room right now, or did they go somewhere else? ¡°Mister Braith, I have come today to relay some important information.¡± I turned to face him again. ¡°We have completed our preliminary investigations, and we have determined that your report is credible.¡± Pascal then gave a small bow. ¡°Please accept my apologies on behalf of the Merchants¡¯ Guild for restricting your movements thus far. We will reimburse you for your incurred expenses and we will also compensate you for each day you have been in Deimos. A full accounting will be done by the end of the day, and should you so desire, your rooms and all other amenities of the inn will still be freely available to you for the next five days.¡± My expression went from dumbfounded to mild relief. Yeah, of course this is what I¡¯ve been wanting this whole time. I don¡¯t want to just waste my time here. However, I still didn¡¯t feel as happy as I expected to from hearing the good news. Why is that? ¡°I see. Well, okay then.¡± I didn¡¯t really feel like standing around any longer and started to walk away to look for Tasha and Flora. ¡°Wait, Mister Braith, I have more news.¡± I stopped and narrowed my eyes at him slightly. ¡°It isn¡¯t anything bad,¡± Pascal hurriedly spoke. ¡°The Merchants¡¯ Guild has sent an open commission to the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild in order to hunt down the culprits behind Dennis¡¯ murder.¡± My gaze hardened as I felt a jolt go through my brain. Of course! This is what I was forgetting! Am I still dazed from all of that alcohol after all? ¡°Do you need my help?¡± My tone was more akin to a demand than a suggestion. ¡°No, you do not need to participate in the commission.¡± I felt somewhat slighted by the instant rejection. ¡°However, when we sent our commission to the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild, their guildmaster, Milo Varis, made a specific request to see you personally.¡± I cocked an eyebrow at him. ¡°To be clear, you are not being forced to participate in the commission. In fact, you do not even need to meet with him. Just tell me so, and I will relay your message to him.¡± I brought a hand under my chin and thought for a couple seconds. ¡°Are you saying that it would be better that I don¡¯t meet him?¡± Pascal shifted his body slightly, but his expression remained neutral. ¡°No, whether you wish to meet him or not is completely up to you. The reason I bring this up with you is only out of respect for the relationship between our two guilds.¡± I stared at Pascal to see if I could get a better read on his intentions. I failed to do so. ¡°Did he mention why he wanted to meet with me?¡± ¡°Not specifically, but he assured us it would have nothing to do with you participating in the commission.¡± I didn¡¯t like that Pascal kept bringing this up. ¡°What if I do want to participate in the commission?¡± ¡°It is a completely open commission, so you could participate. However, you may not be paid as much since you are not a member of the Mercenaries'' Guild.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care about the money.¡± ¡°Then, you may participate after providing notice to the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild.¡± ¡°How do I do that?¡± ¡°You just need to go to the guildhouse and let them know.¡± ¡°Well, in that case, I might as well meet with this Milo Varis.¡± Pascal was motionless and silent for a moment before responding. ¡°Understood. When do you wish to meet with him?¡± ¡°Now is fine.¡± ¡°Understood. I will arrange a carriage for you.¡± Pascal¡¯s expression remained the same, but I thought he exhaled out of his nose a bit harder than usual before speaking. Pascal called a carriage for me and it took me to the guildhouse of the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild, which, surprisingly, was only a few blocks away from Blake¡¯s Bar. I stepped into a similar, dirtied and ashened environment as yesterday, or at least, I expected to. It was by no means anywhere as clean as the shopping district, but the buildings around here at least looked like they were cleaned some time in the past year, despite the similar grey air. In particular, the guildhouse looked like it was maintained at least somewhat regularly. It was a large, two-storey building with large windows across its front on the first floor. As I walked closer, although the glass was flecked with bits of ash or soot from the regular pollution outside, I could also clearly see it was wiped down recently. Peering through the glass, I could see many chairs and tables on the inside. Save for the fighting pit, it didn¡¯t look all too different from Blake¡¯s or the bar from Rettif. I entered the guildhouse, and despite having already taken a look from outside, I was still surprised to see how empty it was inside. There were at least a couple dozen tables, but there was only a single table that had a person sitting down. Well, not that I planned to speak with random mercenaries anyways. I walked over towards the large counter in the guildhouse where I saw two women. One had red hair and the other had blonde hair, and they were each wearing a vest over a white blouse and black pants. As I walked over, I noticed that posted all along the front of the counter and on the wall behind the counter, were many sheets of paper. As I got to the counter, I could see that these sheets of paper along the counter were bounty posters. ¡°Hey, what are you here for?¡± the redhead among the two asked in a somewhat abrasive voice. I was a bit taken aback by the lack of professionalism from whom I presumed was a receptionist, but I quickly got over it. I shouldn¡¯t be comparing them to the Merchants¡¯ Guild. ¡°I¡¯m here to see the guildmaster.¡± I could hear the blonde woman in the back audibly scoff. ¡°He requested to meet with me,¡± I continued. The two of them clearly doubted me. ¡°And who are you?¡± the redhead asked. ¡°My name is Braith.¡± The two receptionists looked at me incredulously. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of that name before,¡± said the redhead. ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot.¡± The redhead seemed confused by my reflexive response. ¡°If you want to get a meeting with the guildmaster, you could at least pretend to be someone notable.¡± It was the blonde one speaking this time with a somewhat exasperated tone. ¡°Alright, if he¡¯s not here right now, then just tell me when he¡¯ll be back. He¡¯s the one who wanted me to see him.¡± I was not enjoying the reception, but I felt I should just be calm and mature about this. However, the two of them clearly did not seem any more motivated to assist me. ¡°Listen, Braith,¡± the redhead began, putting clear emphasis on my name while the blonde one gave a short laugh, ¡°I get that you probably think you¡¯re real special.¡± I could see the redhead looking me up and down, analyzing my equipment. ¡°But, the guildmaster doesn¡¯t have the time to meet with every mercenary and bounty hunter.¡± Okay, I can understand where they are coming from. There clearly must have been many people in the past that came to bother them for all sorts of reasons, but I wasn¡¯t any less annoyed. ¡°Again, it was your guildmaster who wanted to meet with me. I got the message from Pascal.¡± ¡°Pascal? Zalae¡¯s guy?¡± the redhead asked. ¡°That¡¯s who you are pretending you know?¡± ¡°I am not pretending,¡± I said, finally putting some seriousness into my voice. ¡°Pascal told me that when he made the open commission for Dennis¡¯ murderers, your guildmaster specifically asked to meet with me.¡± I could tell from the redhead¡¯s face that she was finally starting to believe me. The blonde one, however, still remained skeptical. ¡°Where¡¯d you hear about all of that? Have you been stalking around here?¡± the blonde one asked in a clearly accusatory tone. ¡°Just tell your guildmaster that Braith is here to meet with him. I will wait right here. And, if I don¡¯t hear anything back from you in the next five minutes, I¡¯ll just leave and I won¡¯t bother coming back again.¡± The blonde woman glared at me but the redhead seemed to take my words seriously. Although, to be honest, I was not sure if I would follow through. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth to just let the matter with Dennis end without proper closure. ¡°I¡¯ll go and check,¡± the redhead said before turning away from me to walk towards a doorway behind the counter. ¡°Shirley, you don¡¯t actually believe this guy, do you?¡± the blonde asked. ¡°I¡¯m just going to check.¡± Shirley paused for a second. ¡°Keep an eye on him.¡± Then, she left. The blonde one proceeded to glare at me. I ignored her and just started looking at the bounty posters posted outside the counter. They all had roughly similar designs. Most of them had WANTED printed in bold font at the top, a sketch of the person in the center, the bounty amount in bold font underneath the sketch, and then details about the person and their crimes below that. In my peripheral vision, I could still see the blonde woman continue to glare at me, so I just continued to ignore and started to read some of the bounty posters. In particular, I paid attention to the bounty amounts. Most of them seemed to range between 10 to 50 silver, which I had some difficulty determining whether or not that was a good amount. 50 silver was around the amount the average labourer earned in two and a half years. Was that worth it for effort and risk in tracking down and capturing a criminal who¡­ let¡¯s see, committed assault, robbery, and murder? Hmmm, I feel like it could use some more context. Still feeling the blonde woman¡¯s gaze, I kept reading more bounties. 20 SILVER. 25 SILVER. 40 SILVER. 50 SILVER. Wait. I blinked and then read it again. 50 GOLD (100 GOLD, ALIVE). Wow, what the heck did this guy do? I started to read underneath the bounty amount to see the person¡¯s crimes. Trespassing, assault, destruction of property, terrorism, inciting revolt, kidnapping, and attempted regicide. Okay, that bounty amount is starting to make a lot more sense. Let¡¯s see¡­ issued by the Nature Clan¡­ What¡¯s this guy¡¯s name? Master Wraith. That¡¯s a weird name. Have I ever heard of a name like that before? An alias, perhaps? Hmmm¡­ wait¡­ oh no¡­ Chapter 53 In a large, ornate room, a rather distinguished looking old man with white hair sat on a sofa. Beside him was an old, leatherbound book, and in front of him was a table with a pot of tea, a teacup on its saucer, and a plate of biscuits. In stark contrast to the richly adorned walls, carpeting and curtains, the man himself was simply dressed. For a final noticeable bit of contrast, the fine glass windows also had iron bars over them. After a moment of silence, the old man picked up the teacup, and as he did, a silver shackle peeked out from the cuff of his shirt sleeve. The shackle had a simple design save for a pair of emeralds that were set in the metal. The old man completely ignored the sudden reveal of the shackle and was about to drink his tea, but then suddenly stopped. There was no other noise or movement in the room, but he knew there was another presence. The man stared hard ahead of him for a moment before setting the teacup back down. The old man was visibly displeased now, but nothing in the room seemed to have changed. He tapped his finger on the table, amplifying the sound of his impatience. After a short break, he let out a sigh and then turned towards the book beside him. He opened it up to where he left off, which was marked by a pressed flower that he used as a bookmark. The page he opened up had pictures that seemed to show people doing something adventurous. However, they were rather crude drawings that lacked much detail, so it could have just as easily been something else. The old man silently read the words underneath the pictures, and then turned to the next page. ¡°What are you reading there?¡± The question was asked by a voice that was sweet like honey. The old man did not answer the question, but as he looked ahead of him in the direction of the voice, he saw the figure of a woman with otherworldly beauty. She had fair skin and slender arms and legs, and she laid on the sofa that was by the other side of the table. She had long, flowing hair that was the colour of early autumn, long pointed ears, and the top of her head was adorned with a crown made of flowers of several different colours. Her eyes were emerald and she had a matching one-piece dress with ornate and gilded floral patterns along the hem. After the man looked away to continue reading his book, the woman pushed herself off her side and leaned forward towards him, putting her hands straight on either side of her and swinging her bare feet onto the floor. The man continued to ignore her. The woman got up off of the sofa and walked over to his side. ¡°I did not think a man of your age would still be reading stories.¡± The man continued to read in silence. ¡°Not that I think there¡¯s anything wrong with it, though. I am personally quite fond of a number of them.¡± The old man turned to the next page, which seemed to have different kinds of drawings, although still somewhat crude. ¡°What is your favourite story, Oberon?¡± The man paused his reading, and finally looked directly into the woman¡¯s eyes. His fierce expression contrasted with her playful one as she brought one hand up to her face, slightly covering her mouth. ¡°My name is Hiram.¡± The woman smiled at him. ¡°Well, for now.¡± Hiram sighed with repressed anger and closed the book. ¡°I¡¯ve read every story in this book to my daughter and granddaughter.¡± ¡°How sweet of you.¡± The smile she gave seemed genuine, but her eyes didn¡¯t seem to quite match. ¡°But, I regret doing that.¡± ¡°Oh, why is that? Do you think you should have raised them stricter?¡± They both knew that was not the reason. ¡°No, it¡¯s because I think a lot of them have a problem with the amount of praise that they have for you.¡± Hiram spoke calmly, but one could easily detect the contempt that lay behind his words. The woman responded to his hate with a bemused expression. Then, she dramatically spun around and then brought both of her hands to rest on her hips while slightly puffing out her chest. ¡°You know, I think you are right!¡± She spoke while smiling widely. ¡°They should be praising me more.¡± Hiram¡¯s anger quickly turned to disappointment as wondered why he even bothered with someone like this. ¡°Speaking of good ideas, though, I think this is the first one you¡¯ve had in a while.¡± Hiram went back to ignoring her and went to pick up his teacup again. ¡°When I saw that you were returning to Eden, I figured you had some grand plan in mind.¡± Hiram drank his tea. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would simply turn yourself over and let yourself be imprisoned.¡± She laughed in the way a child might laugh while playing outside. ¡°Well, I suppose it is still an improvement to staying cooped up in that old cottage of yours.¡± Hiram did not fall for such obvious provocations. The woman then went behind Hiram¡¯s sofa and leaned over by his left, resting her crossed arms on the top of the sofa. ¡°Was this really all you had in mind?¡± The woman leaned over more until her face was only a foot away from Hiram¡¯s. ¡°Are you planning to just wait this out? Do you think they will simply give up on the matter? Or, are you seriously trying to gather enough magic again to deal with this situation by force? You haven¡¯t renewed your contract with the guardian tree, so you can barely recover it anymore. It¡¯ll take you months just to recover enough magic to fight as you did last time.¡± The woman reached out with one arm and brought her hand over Hiram¡¯s hand, but did not touch him. ¡°But, that¡¯s only if you were to be free of these shackles.¡± ¡°Any plan I choose will at least be better than any of yours.¡± Hiram apparently had enough of the woman¡¯s ramblings. The woman smiled brightly at him, seemingly caring far more about the fact of any interaction at all, regardless of the intent or content. ¡°Oh, Oberon, if you would only be mine, there would be no need for you to bother with anything so pointless.¡± The woman brought her hand closer to Hiram¡¯s hand, and the emeralds began to glow. Then, she pulled her hand back a bit and the glowing stopped. ¡°Those dragonkin are quite inventive, but if they wanted to suppress the magic of Nature¡¯s blessing more effectively, they would use jade instead of emerald. Not that it would matter at all to me, though.¡± Hiram looked back at her with great annoyance and was about to speak up some more, but suddenly stopped himself to turn around. Just as he did, he heard the lock to his room click open. The door opened, and a proud-looking middle-aged man walked in. He was wearing a heavy cloak made of some kind of fur as well as a golden crown atop his head. After he walked in, a young man wearing a hooded cloak and leather armour followed closely behind him, carrying something rolled up in one of his hands. The young man closed the door behind them, and then the two of them walked over towards Hiram. Hiram and the king looked at one another, but said nothing to each other. Eventually, with a voice that barely hid his annoyance, he spoke to the young man beside him. ¡°Sir Dristan, what are you waiting for? Announce my presence.¡± Dristan nodded, and then looked at Hiram a bit apprehensively. ¡°His Majesty, King Saul of the Nature Clan has arrived.¡± The king looked at Dristan with some dissatisfaction. After a bit of contemplation, Dristan continued. ¡°Bow before his presence¡­¡± Hiram remained seated on the sofa. Dristan then proceeded to take a step back to bow to the king, as if acting in Hiram¡¯s stead. ¡°Good, you may remain seated, Sir Hiram,¡± the king said, pretending that Hiram acted appropriately. ¡°As uncooperative as you have been, at least you have the tact to know your place.¡± Hiram considered engaging with such foolishness, but decided to ignore the king and to drink the rest of his tea in silence. ¡°Sir Hiram, I have come here today to inform you that any cooperation from you is no longer required.¡± Hiram ignored the words and finished the last bit of tea in his cup. ¡°Sir Dristan, show him what you have in your hand.¡± Dristan walked over to Hiram and handed him the rolled up paper. Hiram glanced at it, and based on the king¡¯s expression, it seemed clear that he wanted Dristan to just show it to him instead of actually handing it over. However, the king kept quiet as Hiram took the paper. Instead of asking about its contents, Hiram simply unrolled it to take a look. It appeared to be a bounty poster. At first, Hiram was a bit confused, and then amused, and then very quickly he became visibly upset. This last reaction seemed to be exactly what the king wanted to see. ¡°I gave you multiple chances over the last month, but you continued to be uncooperative. Had you provided information as to their whereabouts, this would have been avoidable. Alas, you have forced my hand, and I had the need to summon a representative of the Mercenaries¡¯ Guild to draw up and issue this bounty.¡± Hiram slammed the bounty poster onto the table and got to his feet. Hiram was clearly the oldest in this room, and physically, he looked to be much weaker than Dristan. However, with his first step forward, both Dristan and the king instinctively recoiled. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What is this nonsense?¡± Hiram¡¯s voice was filled with anger, but he spoke with an even tone. ¡°Recall this immediately.¡± ¡°It is too late for that,¡± the king said, barely hiding his nervousness as he mentally fought to keep himself from stepping backwards. ¡°The guild¡¯s representative has already accepted it. It will be in circulation throughout Midgard soon enough.¡± Then, with bravado, the king stepped forward to meet Hiram¡¯s advance. ¡°General Garden has informed me that such a bounty will be more than enough to entice bounty hunters throughout the entire continent.¡± The king then smirked as he puffed himself out to look taller and bigger. ¡°Within a month, that damned rogue will be caught!¡± ¡°You think you can deceive me, Saul?¡± Hiram stepped right up to the king, and Dristan, his bodyguard, gave them both a wide berth. ¡°There is no Mercenary¡¯s Guild branch in the Nature Clan. Send them a message to recall this before it circulates!¡± ¡°No, I will not!¡± The king stood his ground, his hands clenched. ¡°Do not be an even bigger fool than I already thought you were. I know there¡¯s no way the council would have approved of this decision.¡± The king¡¯s eyes gave away the truth. ¡°The council is only meant to advise. The ultimate decision has and will always be whatever I, the king, decide.¡± ¡°So you will simply disregard their reasoning?¡± ¡°I have weighed them, and determined that dealing with the matter this way would better serve the Nature Clan.¡± Hiram gave a strange laugh, something between a mix of an exasperated sigh and an angry snarl. ¡°I¡¯ll bet you didn¡¯t even go over the details of the bounty when you proposed this idea.¡± Again, Hiram could read the truth in the king¡¯s eyes. ¡°Kidnapping?¡± ¡°Would it not be better for everyone else involved that your granddaughter¡¯s aiding and abetting of his crimes be kept secret?¡± ¡°If you really cared about something like that, you would not even consider this.¡± ¡°Again, you were the one who forced my hand when you refused to cooperate.¡± Hiram shook his head derisively. ¡°And attempted regicide?¡± Hiram continued to lecture the king. ¡°I would say that is a truthful allegation.¡± ¡°If he really wanted to kill you, you¡¯d already be dead!¡± Hiram angrily shouted at the king as he pointed a finger at him. ¡°Seeing as how you were not even a witness, I think you could hardly make such a claim with any certainty.¡± Hiram shook his head some more. He took a deep breath, and he looked to have slightly calmed down, but when he spoke again, it was clear he had not. ¡°If you are going to make up some lies, at least follow through with it.¡± The king was confused by Hiram¡¯s words. ¡°You really are just that foolish.¡± The king was incensed, but Hiram gave no opportunity for him to speak up yet. ¡°Do you think there is any other king on Midgard that would put the value of their head at a mere one hundred gold? Where does such frugality come from? Were you not the one who once paid thousands to the Reapers to help you conquer the Bronze Territory? Has the treasury since then been so depleted under your rule? Or, are you admitting now that you have no more worth than the name of your title on paper, and that one hundred gold is a suitable reward for a would-be kingslayer at large? Did you really not think even once about any of that?! Well, surely the council has at least told you the obvious. You drag the reputation of the Nature Clan through the mud with this bounty! Prisoners mistreated and abused to work your forges, and now nothing to show for it all, as if it would have ever been justified anyways. All these new changes and investments, yet a single outlander breaches the capital¡¯s defenses, infiltrates the palace, makes a mockery of our army and knights, and then easily flees while freeing over a hundred prisoners that same night?!¡± After finishing his tirade, Hiram pushed the king and he easily fell over, only barely bracing against the fall with his hands. ¡°Y- You! You!¡± The king could only shout, barely taking in half of what Hiram had shouted at him as he bellowed back from the floor. ¡°Sir Dristan, what are you doing?!¡± Dristan moved in between the two of them, but made no attempts to apprehend Hiram. ¡°Sir Hiram, please calm yourself and take a seat.¡± The king angrily scrambled back onto his feet. ¡°Y- you speak as if this has nothing to do with you! I know your granddaughter went to the Spirit Altar! If it weren¡¯t for her, none of this would have happened!¡± Hiram looked away from the king and back to behind the sofa he was seated on earlier, but nothing was there. The king took this to mean an admittance of guilt. ¡°And don¡¯t you dare speak to me as you would scold a child! You have no right, especially with how you¡¯ve lived! An old man who hides away from the capital dares to lecture me about the responsibilities and obligations of being a king?!¡± The king took a step forward and looked like he was about to strike Hiram in retaliation, but suddenly thought better of it. ¡°You assaulted your king. I could have you charged with treason. Even if it¡¯s you, I could still have you executed.¡± Hiram stared at him, not the least bit concerned with such a threat, and even seemingly daring him to try to do so. ¡°But, I am a magnanimous king. In light of your past merits, I will forgive your transgressions today.¡± Dristan nervously looked between the two of them, wondering if the king¡¯s words had incensed another escalation. Hiram walked right up in front of the king and looked down at him, being almost an entire head taller. When Hiram spoke again, this time he finally spoke closer to the calm and cool voice that Braith and Tasha would be more familiar with. ¡°Go and cancel the bounty. The council would advise you to do the same. Even Garden wouldn¡¯t be opposed to it, I¡¯m sure.¡± Hiram had little hope, and he read the answer in the king¡¯s eyes even before he spoke. ¡°Absolutely not! That criminal outlander will be captured, or killed, whatever be the case. And then your granddaughter will be forced to return here. When that happens, we shall proceed from there. As for you¡­ in the meantime, you shall remain here. If you choose to be more cooperative before that detestable man with the unusual name is captured, perhaps that shall bode better for you and your granddaughter.¡± Hiram remained silent. ¡°I shall take my leave now. Sir Dristan!¡± Dristan observed Hiram cautiously for another second before escorting the king out of the room. After the two left and Hiram heard the door being locked again, he sat back down on the sofa and looked at the bounty poster again. Hiram was about to start gnashing his teeth but stopped himself. He took another couple deep breaths and leaned back on the sofa. He brought his hands to his face for a moment, and when he put his hands back down, he looked as cool and calm as he did in the beginning. Nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened, he poured himself another cup of tea. However, his mood quickly soured again after filling up the cup and setting the teapot back down. ¡°I take it this does not bode well for your plans?¡± Hiram turned towards the direction of the honey-like voice and saw the mystical beauty seated on the sofa next to him. She waved at him happily when he looked towards her. ¡°... Was this your idea? Did you put him up to this?¡± For the first time, the beautiful woman¡¯s face twisted into a look of disgust. ¡°Uggh¡­ no, as if I would debase myself to the point of conversing with such a man.¡± As distrustful as Hiram was, he easily believed her this time. ¡°And this is not a mere bluff? He really did issue this bounty?¡± The woman¡¯s face returned to normal, and she leaned in a bit closer to Hiram. ¡°Oh, you think I saw what happened?¡± she said, in almost a whisper. ¡°Shall I share with you some other secrets, too?¡± This time, she was barely audible, causing Hiram to lean in a bit closer as well. However, he caught onto what she was doing and moved all the way back to the other end of the sofa away from her. ¡°Just tell me what happened, and don¡¯t be so quiet about it. I know nobody else can hear what you¡¯re saying anyways.¡± The woman slowly moved closer to Hiram again, but kept a more modest distance between the two of them this time. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell. That oaf of a king really did summon someone from outside of the Nature Clan. The two of them, together with an artist, made two copies of that bounty poster. The man received some gold and a written guarantee of further payment, and then he left the capital with the other copy of the bounty poster.¡± ¡°When did this all occur?¡± ¡°The transaction occurred yesterday, and the man departed on his horse this morning.¡± Hiram was about to slam a fist onto the table, but he controlled himself. ¡°It¡¯s still not too late for him to take back his decision,¡± Hiram said, mostly to himself. ¡°Oh, but you know it is, Oberon. If there¡¯s one thing you should know better than anyone, the more someone calls out the foolishness of his decisions, the more he abides by them. I wonder where in his family he gets such stubbornness from?¡± ¡°Shut your mouth.¡± The woman smiled and made a show of covering up her mouth with both hands. She looked at Hiram with glee, knowing that he wasn¡¯t done talking to her. Hiram got up and pulled up both of his shirtsleeves to take a closer look at the shackles on his wrists. He concentrated for a bit, and the emeralds on both shackles started to glow. Hiram grunted a bit, and then let his hands fall to the sides, the emeralds no longer glowing. Then, he looked over at the expectant woman nearby, her mouth still covered up by her hands. ¡°You think you¡¯re very clever, don¡¯t you? All of this set in motion by your brilliant idea to deceive a little girl.¡± ¡°It was no deception.¡± Her hands were still covering her mouth, but her voice rang clearly in Hiram¡¯s ears. ¡°Oh, then that must mean the world is saved now? Catastrophe averted? She did do as you told her to, after all.¡± Hiram¡¯s words were dripping with sarcasm. ¡°Well, we are at least on the right track, now.¡± The woman pulled her hands away from her mouth as she stood up from the sofa. Her face was rather smug now. ¡°The right track, huh? So, it all comes down to this again?¡± ¡°I know what you mean, Oberon, but I truly did give her a chance. She was the one who chose to save those two instead of taking the time to fully contract with me. She was unwilling to make necessary sacrifices.¡± The woman extended one outstretched hand towards him. ¡°Alas, here we are now. It¡¯s almost as if this is fate.¡± She brought her hand even closer to Hiram. ¡°Take my hand, Oberon. It¡¯s still not too late if you act right now. Overthrow that fool. Become king¡­ or not. It doesn¡¯t matter, the title alone means nothing.¡± The woman smiled at him expectantly. Hiram turned away from her and walked over to the other side of the table. ¡°Time is running out if you want to put a stop to that bounty, Oberon,¡± she urged. Hiram reached over the table for his teacup and picked it up. He brought it up to his lips while glaring at the woman. He swirled it around slightly and stared as the steam rose up from the cup. He looked back at the woman who simply smiled wider at him. Hiram suddenly splashed the tea onto the woman. However, the tea passed through her body completely, only making a mess on the sofa and the floor around it. She looked around at the mess with bemusement. ¡°My name is Hiram. And I swear upon that name that I shall never become your Oberon.¡± ¡°Are you really so attached to your current name?¡± she asked, seemingly oblivious to the real issue. ¡°Blackbriar wasn¡¯t so fond of it either, but that was only for the first year. For the rest of his hundred years, I think he liked it quite a bit. You¡¯ll come around to it eventually, as well.¡± Hiram put the teacup back down and refilled it. ¡°Or, are you worried that you won¡¯t rule for as long as he did? Not to worry, Oberon, after contracting with me, your youth will be restored. You¡¯ll be in the prime of your life again, just as you were when the humans invaded.¡± Hiram picked up the teacup again. ¡°Out of this entire situation, there is still one thing that I am glad to know.¡± ¡°Oh, do tell.¡± ¡°I am glad to know that, in the end, Flora chose not to live up to your expectations.¡± The woman seemed to understand the underlying intent of his words, and stayed silent for a moment. ¡°I see that you are still unwilling. Very well, I shall take my leave now. When you do change your mind, call for me, Oberon.¡± The two stared at each other, and the instant Hiram blinked, she suddenly vanished without a trace. Hiram looked at the empty sofa for some time, and eventually set the cup down and took a seat on the clean sofa. He picked up the bounty and looked over it again. After a couple more rereads, he put it back down and sighed. Hiram thought to himself: well, at least the description doesn¡¯t match.