With that, Graves had Jon ushered out the door. Jon’s new gun was holstered in the new strap that hung around Jon’s chest. The handle was exposed for easy access. He would only need to reach over his shoulder to pull it down and be ready to shoot.

However, that didn’t explain where he would keep the ammo. It also didn’t explain why Jon would need to carry the blunderbuss anywhere outside of the perimeter of his house.

“Take care of yourself,” Graves said, “And take care not to shoot yourself in the ass!”

He laughed as he shut the door. Jon was bewildered by the whole experience.

I have a blunderbuss… It was a weird thought for Jon. Oftentimes, most families got a new blunderbuss whenever someone had passed the Farmer’s test. It was seen as a sign for a farmer, but it was also impractical to have more than one for a household.

Jon had given up waiting for his blunderbuss since he didn’t know when he would pass the test. But now, he had one strapped to his back.

How would his father feel? Even now, Jon felt a bit guilty.

He looked down the hill towards the town ahead of him. He would be carrying the blunderbuss into public.

Jon tried to calm himself down. He would just need to make it back to Farmer Dan at the other end of town, and he would relax them. He would certainly know what to do.

Jon carried Dan’s hand wagon behind him as he made his way down the hill. Soon, he was in a crowd of people.

Jon was so nervous about being noticed by other people, he began to notice them more. He saw all the colors of hair, the number of wrinkles on their face, their expressions, and the way they seemed focused on either their destination or the conversation they were having.

Soon, his eyes came upon a tall man wearing a golden suit of armor with no helmet. His hair was red, and he had a permanent scowl on his face that scared Jon.

He and Jon had caught each other’s eyes. The man’s head turned as he walked along with his partner, someone Jon had just barely missed out of the corner of his eye.

Jon quickly turned away, hoping not to have caught his attention.

“He’s a farmer…” Jon heard the whisper from behind him.

Oh no… Jon was afraid. He didn’t want to have to talk to anyone.

“Hey!”

Jon stopped and quickly about-faced.

The red-haired man stomped his way towards him.

“I have a question for you!” he said.

“...Yes…” Jon was worried. The man had a sword on his back. He must have been a mercenary like Dan had mentioned. Would he cut him down if he couldn’t give a good answer?

“Have you seen a person… like this?” He pulled out a piece of curled-up paper and held it up to Jon.

Jon looked at it. It was the drawing of a blond girl with amber eyes. Well, at least the one that could be seen. The other eye was covered with the rest of her long hair. She also had black clothes that Jon could barely make out.

“...No,” Jon said.

“Well, be careful.” The man rolled up the paper. In fact, now that Jon could properly observe his face, he realized that they may have been the same age.

Jon looked behind the man. His partner, who Jon had just missed before, was watching from behind. He had tanned skin and wore a large white robe.

The partner waved meekly. “I think you’re scaring the kid, Hector.”

“How am I scaring him?” The red-haired man turned around. “I’m not threatening him. I’m being nice.”

“You’re scary, Hector. Look at him. He’s about to pee his pants.”

Hector turned back to Jon, who was still jittery from anticipation.

This man was scary. But maybe he was trying to be nice, and failing, like how Jon failed at being a farmer.

“...Hi, I’m Jon…” Jon held his hand out.

Hector shook the hand. “I’m Hector. This is my partner, Mallory.”

Mallory waved with a big grin. Jon didn’t know what could make anyone so happy.

“We’re here from the King’s Guard,” Hector said. “I’m sure you’ve heard of us.”

Jon shook his head from left to right.

“Because nobody’s heard of us here.” Hector turned back to Mallory, still shaking Jon’s hand.

“Why hasn’t anyone heard of us!” Hector asked.

“Same reason you haven’t met a farmer before,” Mallory said.

Jon wanted to pull his hand away, but Hector’s grip was super strong.

Eventually, Jon ripped his hand out of Hector’s grasp and shook it as it regained feeling.

Hector returned his attention to Jon. “Well, Jon, if you see this woman, give us a call, will you?”

“How is he supposed to know where to find us?” Mallory called.

“...I’m sure he’ll figure it out.” Hector patted Jon on the shoulder. “Good man, Jon.”

He made his way back to Mallory.

“Aw, look at that, you made a new friend.”

“Shut up, Mal.”

The two of them continued towards where Jon had just walked from.

Just happy that he hadn't been skewered, Jon continued towards his destination.

Dan expects me to be a mercenary? Jon didn’t get it. The guy was scary.

The other guy didn’t seem that scary. But if they were working together, then maybe he was scary because the other guy didn’t scare him.

What did Dan see in Jon that could match up with that?

Jon felt a huge sense of relief once he saw Farmer Dan standing behind the finished stand.

“How was it?” Dan asked.

Jon grimaced.

Dan chuckled. “I figured it be a big shock to you. He’s not like other farmers, right?”

Jon nodded.

“I’m glad you guys finally met. And it seems like you brought yourself a new souvenir too!”

Dan must have meant the blunderbuss. Jon looked at its handle peeking from behind his shoulder. How long would he wear it for?

“Did you enjoy your time there?” Dan asked

Jon shook his head.

Dan exploded into laughter. “As expected. Don’t worry, he’ll get better as you get to know him.”

Dan knocked on the table. “I’m gonna get us some rooms for the night. So, watch the stand for me, will ya’?”

Jon wanted to protest, but Dan had already walked away.

Jon sighed, but he took a seat at one of the empty chairs behind the stand.

He could see the other stands set up with customers at them. Jon prayed that no one would come while he was watching the table.

After a few minutes of heavy anticipation, the table was still empty. Jon felt more at ease because of this. He decided to reach behind him and pull out his blunderbuss.

“Hmm…” It was his. His own. What did that mean?

Jon flipped it over. He traced his finger over the barrel. It seemed to be made out of metal, and yet, the dull blue reminded him of a stone.

“That’s a cool weapon.”

“Ahh!” Jon quickly stood up. It was a girl wearing a brown tattered woolen cloak, or at least, Jon had to assume it was a girl from the voice since he couldn’t see her face.

He did see that her cloak was patched up with different materials in several places.

“I’m sorry, did I scare you?” she asked.

Jon wanted to nod, but he thought that would be rude, so he put the gun back into his holster.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi…” she responded softly. She hid her face away from him.

They stood for a while. Jon was worried that he had done something wrong.

“Do you need help?” he asked.

“...Yeah, actually. I came here before, and the farmer… he told me that you could help me.”

Me? Farmer Dan had sent her to him? What could he help with?

She reached inside her cloak and pulled out a small blue lantern.

“I found this a while ago. I wanted to know how it works,” she said.

Jon recognized it. His sister had one when he was younger.

“It’s supposed to be special,” she continued.

Jon held out his hand.

She handed it to him.

He looked under the table and saw some of the bounded crops under the table.

Dan, won’t mind, right?

Jon would usually be more hesitant, but Dan did trust him with helping her out.

He picked up the bundle of what he assumed to be was tuffleweed.

“...Knife?” He asked. Dan must have kept it on him, since it wasn't near the stand.

“I can take care of it…” She held out her hand.

Jon handed her the big bundle. She quickly made a flick of the hand and cut off a small tuff.

“Here you go.”

Whoa. Jon put the bundle back under the stand and twisted open the top of the lantern.

“In here,” he said.

She followed Jon’s instructions and put the tuffleweed into the jar.

“...Fire?” Jon asked.

The girl held her hand over the open lantern and snapped her fingers.

The tuffleweed set aflame.

“Whoa…” Jon hadn’t realized he spoke out loud before he heard a giggle.

“You don’t see mana used very often, do you?” she asked.

Jon shook his head side to side. He then screwed back on the cap of the lantern.

As he tightened it, plumes of blue and yellow began to seep out from it and cloud the glass.

“Cool…” the girl picked up the lantern and held it close to her face. “What does it do?”

Jon only knew the answer to the extent that he and his sister played with it.

“It makes colors… when you burn stuff,” was all he could say.

“So, do you want to try another one? She asked.

Jon shrugged again. “Okay.”

His sister used to do this with him when they were younger. They would try different crops that their mom had in her cabinet and light them on fire. Jassiter threw a fit after Velvet kept making him get more replacements.

Jon reached underneath and picked up another bunch of burgundy crops.

Scratchweed… or… Jeffwood….

Jon could never remember. He had lots of names floating in his head, but he didn’t remember which crop was which. Especially when they spent more of the time growing underground.

He looked up to ask the girl but lost his breath when she took off her hood to get a closer look at the lantern.

It’s her… The girl on the poster.

Now, Jon was of two minds.

Run away, he heard in his head.

She’s not scary… the other voice said.

Well, you should run away anyway…

She looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“...I saw you in a picture,” he said.

“Picture? What picture?” She seemed concerned.

“Hey!”

Jon knew that voice. He could already see Hector the mercenary stomping his way towards them.

“Stop right there! You’re coming with us!” he cried.

The girl got a serious look on her face. “One moment.”

She turned swiftly. Hector had stopped when he was within distance.

“Mercy Ninja Shark Killer Highlander of the Highlander Clan, Your father-l”

“Stop that!” she answered. “Don’t patronize me.”

“...The King’s Guard has been hired by your father to take you in.” Hector had impressed Jon with the sense of authority that he spoke with, and with the amount of memorization, he must have practiced.

“So, you will have to come with us.” he finished.

The girl wasn’t as impressed.

“Uh.. no…”

“What!” Hector seemed flustered. “Do you know how hard it was to come here and find you?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. Now leave!”

She turned back to Jon. “I’m sorry, where were we?”

Jon saw past Mercy’s shoulder that Hector looked as if he was actually going to explode.

Hector reached for his sword.

Jon’s stomach shook with queasiness. Thankfully, Hector only took a hold of the handle without drawing it.

Even if she hadn't seen the action, Mercy's face darkened with disappointment.

“You’re coming… now.” Hector’s annoyed scowl had become a full face of scorn. "You had your fun.”

“You don’t want to do that.” She turned around, bending her knees and lowering her position. Jon could see her elbow poking through the back of her cloak.

She has a sword too...

Jon had never seen an actual fight between two people before.

His first instinct was to reach for his blunderbuss, but what would he do? Shoot the girl? Shoot Hector?

Jon reached behind his back and drew the blunderbuss, despite never having shot anyone before.

Both Mercy and Hector turned to Jon.

Mercy’s face quickly became sorrowful. Hector raised an eyebrow.

Jon put the gun on the table. “Stop fighting please.”

He didn’t want to choose sides. He didn’t even want to be here. For once, he wanted to be back in his room, on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Mercy and Hector looked around. Other people had stopped what they were doing and were watching with fear and anticipation.

There was suddenly a loud wallop. Mercy and Jon’s attention was drawn to Mallory, who was now standing next to Hector.

“Why are you starting a fight in the middle of a town?" Mallory asked. "Where do you think we are? This ain’t the castle.”

Hector was rubbing the top of his head in annoyance.

“But, Mallory-” The robed man hit Hector on the head again before he could finish his answer.

“I don’t care. You’re about to destroy the man’s livelihood. Apologize!”

Hector clearly didn’t want to apologize according to the look on his face, but he did so anyway.

“I’m sorry… Farmer Jon. I hope to resolve this issue… peacefully…” Hector said the last words after he got a dirty look from Mallory.

“...I can’t go back.” Mercy said. “You don’t understand…”

“I don’t understand?” Hector crossed his arms. “What do you know about me? You think you’re special? You think you’re the only one with the responsibility. I don’t think you know how far we traveled to find you. Lives are at stake, and I’m here trying to hunt down a runaway princess.”

“I’m not a princess!” Mercy yelled suddenly.

“...Lives are not in danger,” Mallory added.

“Technically, they are,” Hector said in his rebuttal.

“I mean, yeah, but… when you start saying technically, that’s a sign you’re being a little dramatic.”

Hector lost his stern posture and began talking in a low voice with Mallory.

“You know who her father is.”

“I don’t, do you?”

“He’s a client. All our clients are important. They own something.”

“Maybe he owns a chair, Hector. We don’t know.”

“Then why did my sister make us travel all the way out here?”

The voices got lower.

Mercy turned to Jon.

“I should get going,” she said.

She held her hand out to Jon.

“My name's… Mercy… forget the other stuff.”

“Hi, I’m Jon.” Jon held out his hand and they shook.

“I hope I see you again, Jon,” she said.

She hopped on the table and jumped away.

Hector noticed what happened.

“Hey!” He quickly charged after her.