It didn’t take long for Anastacia and her party to prepare whatever gear they needed for the trip, so by noon they had already been on the road for a while. The day before had been a hot one, and the muddy roads had been dried by the scorching sun. While there was a slight breeze, it only made the heat slightly more bearable. While the city walls were still within sight, Anastacia had given most of her gear to King, who had already been carrying at least as much as Gilbert. But since the extra weight didn’t seem to trouble the simulacrum, Gilbert let it slide for now. Anastacia had also taken off her boots and walked on the grass on the side of the road. Coquelicot, now donning her new set of arms, had tagged along because her route to Mournvalley overlapped with theirs for a bit.

She tapped on Anastacia’s shoulder. “Are you not going to bring up the… incident while I’m still here?”

Anastacia slowed down her pace slightly to get some distance to the rest of the party. “Honestly, I thought about it the whole night, and wasn’t going to say anything to anyone. It’s not like I haven’t killed people before. It’ll go away if I just don’t think about it… Always has…”

Coquelicot sighed. “I know I said that I won’t tell anyone, but I need you in working condition at all times and that really sounds like it could blow up in our faces later. So either you bring it up, or I will.” The high inquisitor shook Anastacia’s shoulder to encourage her.

While she knew that Coquelicot was probably right, she was still afraid of what her party would think of her. Killing allies generally didn’t go over well in Valor, so especially Gilbert might find it unforgivable.

“Fine, I’ll bring it up once we make a camp…” Anastacia promised.

Emilia had noticed that the necromancers has slowed down and stopped. “What are you two talking about?! You’re lagging behind!” she yelled to get their attention.

“Skeletons and stuff!” Anastacia answered and ran for a few steps to catch up.

They stopped by a massive rock that cast a shadow large enough for a small camp. As Emilia started to gather wood for a fire, Gilbert took a look at the map. They were ahead of schedule already, mostly thanks to Anastacia not complaining the whole way this time. So they could either camp there for the night or continue for a while longer after the meal, depending on how the others felt. He had noticed Anastacia’s enthusiasm dying down along the way but assumed it was simply the walking slowly getting to her.

“Hey, should we try to hunt something? I saw a couple of deer earlier.” Emilia asked and placed down whatever firewood she had found.

Coquelicot had been scanning the horizon for a while. “Allow me to hunt for the meal. Consider it a parting gift.” She said and ran off.

Anastacia was sitting next to the rock and stared into the distance. She watched the red robes disappear into a nearby woodline and took a deep breath. “Hey, guys, I killed Alice.”

Both Gilbert and Emilia dropped what they were doing and looked at the small necromancer.

“Did you have a reason?” Gilbert asked and folded away the map. “Was this while you had the bracelet on?”

Anastacia nodded. “She tried to stop me from going further away from the city and I just…”

Gilbert glanced at Emilia. “So this is what Xammy was talking about, huh?” He sat down next to Anastacia. “When you were sleeping away your hangover, she told us to not blame you for anything you did while you had the bracelet on. Didn’t make much sense back then but it sure does now.”

“But didn’t you like her? Aren’t you mad?” Anastacia uttered while trying not to cry.

Gilbert laughed heartily. “Oh Anna, never grow up... Sure, she was a fine lass and we shagged a couple of times, but that’s all it was.” He put his hand on Anastacia’s head. “I would have fought her myself if she tried to hurt you, even if you were being slightly evil at the time. And I’m sure Emilia would have done the same, right?”

“Without a second thought. We are your party, are we not?” Emilia confirmed. “So if the red one knows and isn’t out to kill you for it, how about we get a fire stared?”

They were interrupted by the panicked squeals of five boars that emerged from the woods, running for their lives. Shortly after them a sixth one flew out in an arc, hitting one of the escaping ones and knocking it out. The remaining four kept running as their pursuer stepped out from the forest. Coquelicot was covered in blood and bits of boar. These were clearly the last survivors of a bigger group. The high inquisitor looked at the two unconscious pigs, broke their necks with a couple of swift punches and dragged them to the camp.

“Are these two enough for all of us? I can get more if needed.” She asked and pointed at the forest she came out from.

Emilia started looking for the tools to dismantle the animals. “Could you drag them over to the other edge of the field? Anna doesn’t need to see this and we don’t want anything bigger or meaner to come looking for a meal. That said, please clean your robes before they start to smell.” She instructed the inquisitor.

“Why are you afraid of wild life?” Coquelicot asked looking genuinely puzzled.

“I’m not afraid of it. We normal people avoid having to kill all the wild animals around our camp.” Emilia explained. “The cultural differences aside, we should get started.”

As Coquelicot and Emilia left to butcher the boars, Gilbert lit his pipe and tried to come up with anything to get Anastacia’s mood back up. He looked around the camp for anything, until he noticed King, who was looking for small stones for the campfire.

“I bet I could beat him in arm wrestling.” He said and gestured towards the simulacrum. “He may be made of stone and metal, but many boulders have been moved by these hands.”

Anastacia’s face lit up slightly. “You’re an idiot. I’ve seen him punch out a troll.” She pointed out.

“Who hasn’t. By your age, I had already wrestled most of the local creatures.” The old adventurer smiled and got up.

And so, a contest was declared. Anastacia explained the rules of arm wrestling to King and they gathered around a rock that was of suitable height to serve as a table and prepared for the match.

“No squeezing, using your mass or twisting, and definitely no biting! I want to see a fair fight between a man and some kind of magical stone thingy! I will count down from three and you can begin on the ‘go’. Are we clear?” Anastacia announced. “Alright, let’s do this! 3… 2… 1… GO!”

King immediately took the lead and began pushing down Gilbert’s arm. However, the adventurer didn’t look too worried. He suddenly started pushing back and managed to return their hands to their starting position. For a minute or so it looked like the match could go either way.

Coquelicot returned to the camp, having somehow cleaned her robes and joined in on the circle. “Who is winning?” She asked.

“No one right now, this has been going on for way longer than I expected.” Anastacia explained. She had been sure that King would win immediately.

Gilbert started to slowly gain more ground and the situation began to look dire for the simulacrum. Despite Anastacia cheering for him, King just couldn’t push back with enough power and the back of his wrist touched the stone, marking Gilbert’s victory. The adventurer celebrated his victory by posing to show off his biceps, but immediately regretted this when he could feel a stabbing pain in his arm.

“It’s alright, at least you’re the better looking one.” Anastacia comforted King, who didn’t seem to be bothered in the least.

“Can I have a go?” Coquelicot asked, but found no one willing to go against her.