“If you wish to pay the ransom and be done with it, that may be wise, sir,” Glenn said calmly. “Yet Mayor Coleman ordered me to follow your orders and support you as needed, so if you’d like me to assist in your daughter’s retrieval, I will certainly try. I know Grassea well. I hunted here for years in my youth. I might have some ideas about where a group of bandits might take Renee, and if I can find out where they’ve taken her, I can arrest the bandits and retrieve her.

Preceptor Fallowpeak’s features turned from dejected to cautiously hopeful. “Really? Where do you think she is now?”

Glenn turned to Natalie first. “Miss Runefall, could you answer some questions about Guilecaster? I’ve read about your Class, but I’ve never met one before. If you’d be kind enough—”

“Of course,” Natalie interrupted, though not unkindly. “What do you need to know?”

“How far would you need to be from the road to make falling tomatoes look like Cliff Spiders?”

Natalie scarcely hesitated. “I’d need line of sight, but little more than that.”

Glenn looked to the Deepscorn Woods, which he could see from the Safe Road. “Then our bandit Guilecaster hid in the woods just over there, where they could see the caravan coming.” Glenn pointed the other way. “Seeing it in retrospect, the illusion of Renee I chased also took off along the flattest portion of the Dewdrop Hills. It must have faded once our Guilecaster lost line of sight.”

He looked again to Natalie. “You’re Level 18. You could do what we’ve established, but could someone of lower Levels? What Level would you need to pull this off?”

Natalie hesitated. Yet she was obviously theorycrafting. “Level 12 minimum, and likely higher. Our Guilecaster used [-Mask Self-], [-Mask Other-], and [-Transpose-], yet I also suspect they know [-Charm-] if they were able to obtain a live Cliff Spider to cast over the tomatoes. And the fact that they were able to do all that suggests they have a lot of Blood.”

“To cast over the tomatoes?” Glenn asked. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Right, of course,” Natalie said patiently. “[-Transpose-] allows we Guilecasters to make one object or person look like another, yet the caster must have both objects nearby. Since Cliff Spiders burst into dust like all Monsters once defeated, a living Cliff Spider must have been present at the time.”

“Hence falling tomatoes that look like Cliff Spiders,” Glenn said, nodding gratefully. “Thank you. We can’t delay if we wish to catch these bandits before they get too far, so here’s what I suggest.”

Glenn looked to Preceptor Fallowpeak. “Your carriage can’t enter the Deepscorn Woods, which is far too narrow and crowded for its bulk, yet I hesitate to leave you alone with bandits about. Safe Stones mean nothing to mortals. Mister Richbrand, could I trouble you to guard Preceptor Fallowpeak?”

“Who put you in charge, Town Guard?” Bruce asked.

Natalie shoved him. “Gods, he’s helping.” She glowered at her partner. “We’re not from Grassea, so we need local help. If you don’t get your head out of your rear right now and start listening to a man who knows this zone backward and forward, I’m leaving you.”

“Fine, fine,” Bruce said, raising both hands. “I realize that was rude. I’m just frustrated.”

“Well stop being frustrated,” Natalie said warningly, with a pause between each word.

Glenn felt it best to distract them from their lover’s quarrel as soon as possible. “Miss Runefall, can you escort me? I’m more a physical fighter, and I doubt I can see through a Guilecaster’s illusions. I don’t know how your Class works, so if we’re going up against an enemy Guilecaster, you’ll be vital.”

“I am that,” Natalie agreed. “Let’s go.”

Bruce didn’t immediately argue. “You’re sure?”

“We’re sure,” Preceptor Fallowpeak said ruefully. “And Town Guard Redwood, since you’ve offered your services on behalf of Mayor Coleman, here is my command. If you can rescue my daughter without risking her safety, do so. Yet if Renee is in any danger, offer the bandits a ransom. Tell them I will pay it myself. I can earn back countless crescents, but my daughter is priceless.”

Fallowpeak didn’t need to explain further. At fourteen years old—common age—Renee was no longer protected by the Gods, like all children less than fourteen years of age. If Monsters killed Renee, she’d die for real, and only Richard Deepscar could save her ... if [-Resurrect-] wasn’t on cooldown.

Glenn thumped a hand to his heart. “I understand your orders and will follow them. One way or the other, we’ll bring Renee back safely.”

Fallowpeak produced a bag of clinking coins. “Miss Runefall, please take this. There’s fifty moons inside, but don’t tell them that. Pay only what they ask.”

Glenn gawked inside his helmet. Fifty moons was more money than he’d seen in his entire life time. A Moon was 100 crescents, so that was ... 5000 crescents. That was more money than Glenn had seen in his lifetime.

Natalie solemnly accepted the coin pouch. “I understand.” She tucked it into the [Unfilled Bag] hanging off her belt and closed the pouch. Not even a Shadower could sneak it out of there.

Glenn wondered why Preceptor Fallowpeak would trust anyone with that kind of money. Yet this was his daughter they were talking about, and also, because Natalie had accepted his Escort Quest, the Gods forbid her from acting against him. This was a reasonable gamble, given the stakes.

Furthermore, Glenn was a Town Guard. No one would suspect a Town Guard of stealing money, at least if he didn’t want to be turned to salt. He was letting himself get hopelessly distracted.

He looked to Natalie. “Follow me.”

She nodded, then glanced at Bruce. “Keep our Escort target safe.”

Bruce grumbled. “Don’t get killed.”

“When has that ever happened?”

Bruce snorted. “Do you want me to make you a list?

Glenn was already moving away toward the Deepscorn Woods, to a raised portion that would offer a sightline both to the Safe Road and to much of the Dewdrop Hills. He sensed Natalie close at his side, yet she moved more quietly than he did. He headed straight for the location he’d decided had been occupied by the enemy Guilecaster.

As he tromped into the woods, it didn’t take long to find a portion of the ground that had obviously been occupied recently. Someone in boots had paced here, and the honey smell of sweetleaf remained. The Guilecaster had likely used it to calm their nerves before the abduction.

Also, there was the small pile of purple ash still present in the space. It was about the right size to be the remains of a recently defeated Cliff Spider, killed when it was no longer needed. They were not long behind their quarry, yet when dealing with a Guilecaster, even a short head start might be enough.

“One moment,” Natalie said.

A shimmer erupted ahead of Glenn, yet he didn’t react strongly. He suspected this was Natalie’s doing. Before him, faint outlines appeared and disappeared, both a ghostly image of a passive Cliff Spider and the outline of someone else, a man. Yet it was only his silhouette.

“He was here,” Natalie said grimly. “[-Detect Magic-] can sniff out recent casting and the caster themselves, if they cast recently enough. You were right about the Guilecaster’s location.”

“And you were right about this being an abduction,” Glenn said with a nod. “Will you be able to detect future illusions if we encounter them?”

“I think so,” Natalie said. “So long as the Guilecaster isn’t significantly higher Level than me, I should be able to pierce their illusions while maintaining my own. We may have the upper hand.”

“Are you sure?”

After a moment’s thought, Natalie nodded. “If I’d handled this abduction, I’d simply have cast [-Create Fog-]. We’d still all be wandering around on the Safe Road trying to find our way out.”

“Rare Skill?” Glenn asked.

“Rare Skill,” Natalie agreed grimly. “I literally just acquired it a month ago, when I reached 18.”

“Grats,” Glenn said, meaning it. “So with luck, you’re the highest Level Guilecaster in these woods right now, which gives us the advantage in regards to illusion Skills.”

“With luck,” Natalie agreed. “Yet where do we search now? You said you have an idea?”

Glenn turned his gaze toward the woods. “The cliffs on the western edge of the woods. We’ve already seen that the bandits [-Charm-]ed a Cliff Spider, and that’s where they nest. It’s also difficult to make a large camp in the Deepscorn Woods. The terrain out here is rarely open, and Gloamwolves constantly roam. Worse, all it takes is one wrong turn to anger a concealed Moss Beast.”

As Glenn set off at a vigorous but steady pace, Natalie hurried after him. “And the cliffs are better for camping?”

“If you don’t mind the spiders,” Glenn agreed. “The Anger radius of a Cliff Spider is smaller than that of a Gloamwolf, and they tend to stick to their nests instead of wandering everywhere, like Gloamwolves do. Yet when they do come, they come in swarms.”

“Yuck,” Natalie said softly.

“Yuck,” Glenn agreed. “Yet they’re only Level 3. Shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

“Nor you,” she pointed out. “Unless you’re not a fan of spiders?”

Glenn grinned inside his helmet to hide his innate revulsion at the thought of one of those skittering eight-legged freaks hopping on his back. “I’m a fan of crushing them.”

From ahead, a twig snapped. Glenn immediately fell into a ready stance and raised his mace. He heard Natalie shift beside him as well, likely ready to cast [-Charm-] or [-Shadow Blast-]. Glenn would gladly accept the aid of either.

Guilecasters primarily dealt in trickery and illusions that attacked targets indirectly, yet Glenn still wouldn’t want to take a [-Shadow Blast-] to the face. There was always the chance he could end up blind afterward, and stumbling around blind was never fun. And [-Charm-], when it worked, allowed a Guilecaster to trick an enemy in fighting for them, like the enemy had done to that Cliff Spider.

Zack shimmered into being from [-Shadow Walk-] straight ahead, hands raised. “It’s just me! The returning hero. But Gods, sorry about the twig. Snapping that was just embarrassing.”

Glenn lowered his mace. With Natalie present, he was hesitant to sound unprofessional, yet he decided he didn’t care. “What are you doing here?”

“Tracking the people who stole your young lady.” Zack grinned like he’d just uncovered a new loophole. “I told you I needed your help.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Bandits camped on the cliffs,” Zack said. “There’s a full Party up there, two Shadowers and two casters of some sort. I found them yesterday morning, hence why I invited you to come arrest them.”

Glenn resisted the urge to grind his teeth. “And had they done anything illegal at the time, other than camping on the cliffs? Which isn’t a crime?”

“Right, fair,” Zack agreed. “Which is why I watched them until they did so something illegal. Do you know they have an actual ballista in their camp? Who carries those around?”

Glenn took a moment. “People with far too many tomatoes.”

“And then I came right over to find you, my favorite Town Guard, so you could arrest them and credit Zack Silverstone as the hero who tracked them down and saved ... what’s her name again?”

Glenn would have slapped a hand to his face if it wasn’t covered by a helmet.