With a tray full of drinks and a small menu in hand, Cale strode expertly through the crowd toward the four familiar strangers. Tasha's and Lukas' eyes lingered on the black-haired man, who first made a scary statement and then dismissed it as the most mundane thing in the world.

Cale's words echoed trough Lukas' head. Although he felt that the people had probably not come with bad intentions, the presence of these four still gave him the chills. Tasha, on the other hand, had no major concerns about the matter. She already had her fill of difficult costumers in her life, one more or less won't make a difference.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Cale. Would it be all right if I had a little chat with you?"

Cale had now arrived at the table. With one hand he held the tablet at shoulder height, with the other he placed the menu in the center of the table.

"Of course. Why don't you sit down?", the big man, Ben, replied cordially as always, promptly tapping the vacant seat next to him. Cale smiled in relief, then distributed the drinks to his guests and took a seat in the vacant chair.

"Thank you."

Upright by now, he sat in front of his old acquaintances, who had no memories of him. He had crashed the tray vertically on his lap as he glanced around. It was a strange feeling - after all this time - to look again into their young, unblemished faces. His eyes lingered on the black-haired swordsman and he immediately guessed that there was only one question burning on his lips. He had to wonder what Cale wanted from them.

"I'll get right to the point, too. May I inquire who recommended this tavern to you?"

The two women exchanged surprised glances before the youngest of the group, the healer Aletta, answered the question.

"One of the soldiers at the south gate had informed us that none of the inns would be open at this hour. Therefore, we should either wait or give it a try here. If it's a problem, then we'll find something else. We don't want to impose ourselves."

"No, no. It's okay", Cale declared abruptly, interrupting the healer, who was now looking even more confusedly at her friend Philippa. This time William took the lead, among them he was the one who harbors the greatest distrust towards strangers.

"Then may we know what exactly the problem is?"

None of the four guests had touched their drinks yet, let alone the menu. Cale leaned forward a bit, as if he would reveal a big secret with his next words.

"You're not dangerous people, are you?"

Silence reigned for a moment before Philippa let out a loud "Please?". The surrounding tables had noticed her voice and wait a glance at the dark archer. A moment later, Ben and Aletta started laughing loudly.

"No, we're not."

Ben tried to enunciate his words clearly, but the laughter largely prevented him from doing so. William, who so far didn't understand the situation, kept his head down, while the others were amused by Cales serious attitude. While he was more polite and cautious than William had thought, he was still not the great fan of the groups idea to settle down in the tavern. In general, he has a dislike for being surrounded by strangers. He preferred to be alone, which was probably due to his childhood.

Cale straightened up again and let an innocent smile appear on his lips.

"Well, that's good then. You're welcome to spend the night with us. I'll get the room ready for you, in the meantime...", Cale explained, pointing to the menu that lay in the middle of the table. "... order yourselves something to eat. You look famished and tired."

Cale emphasized the word 'famished' deliberately so that it would stick in their minds. He himself stood up, gave a short bow in farewell, and walked back toward the counter. Lukas was in the process of passing the beer to some patrons when their eyes met across the room. With a slight wave of his hand, he signalled to his friend that all was well.

"I'll go up and get the room ready for them, all right?", he explained to Tasha as he handed her the empty tray, which she accepted and tucked under her countertop.

"Yes, thank you very much. Would you also please get some towels ready for them?"

"Will do so", Cale replied before distancing himself from the counter and following up the stairs. There weren't many guests left in the establishment, probably about 20. They, too, should leave in the next hour or two. One last time he caught a glimpse of Lukas before entering the large guest room next to him. Everything else now hinged on his friend.

Cale closed the door of the guest room behind him, leaned against it standing and stared into the dark room. His heart was pounding madly. It had done so since the moment he had first laid eyes on the four of them. He rested his cold hand on his chest and tried to ease his nervousness by consciously breathing in and out.

He exhaled deeply one last time and activated the light crystal with his magic. A small room with four separate beds drew before him, in the center was a round table with fresh linens and some towels. He had prepared these a few hours ago, now it was time. Practiced, he reupholstered the beds and put fresh towels on each of them, as well as some soap. Then he opened the window to combat the stuffy air inside the room. A cold draft flooded the room while he pulled out two more blankets from the shelf and placed them on the beds to his left. Since it was currently quite cold, he didn't want the girls to freeze. Afterwards, he collected the old laundry and transported it to the basket, which was located in the bathroom. Compared to the guest room, the bathroom quite cozy, thanks to a heat crystal. Cale sighed when he caught sight of his face in the mirror. He was used to looking into the face of a young, blonde man. The dark style seemed strange to him despite all these years.

An inevitable feeling of anticipation at the reunion spurred Cale on before he left the bathroom, walked past Lukas', Marv's and Tasha's room and headed for Marv's study. Often, when Marv was transacting business or receiving visitors from far above, they would converse in this room. Cale opened the door, looked down into the tavern over his shoulder for a moment, and then disappeared into the room.

William had been watching him the whole time. Every time he came out of one of the rooms and walked down the hall, he could see what Cale was doing from downstairs.

In the dark room, he used his fire magic to navigate his way to the cabinet where Marv kept his magic crystals. Practiced, he pulled out a heating crystal from the cabinet, then locked it again and reached for one of the crystal stands located behind him. Carefully, he positioned the crystal in the center of the stand and let some of his mana flow into it to activate it. Immediately, the crystal began to glow slightly, warming its surroundings.

William watched as the strange host stepped out of the room, carefully locked it and walked down the hallway back to the first room. He himself had also realized that Cale had taken a heating crystal from the room. It did seem to be a normal family, his initial concerns having subsided since Cale's strange question.

"Here you go", the young waiter, who had introduced himself as Lukas, spoke up and served them their food, so William unconsciously moved away from the table to make it easier for him. He glanced at the delicious smelling dinner before looking up at Lukas. To his surprise, however, the latter was not looking down, but up. Therefore, William couldn't help but ask.

"Is that your brother?"

Surprised, Lukas averted his gaze from Cale and looked down at the dark-clad swordsman.

"Ah, Cale? No. He is a friend of the family", the latter quickly replied, but William could perceive the trace of sadness in that statement. As Lukas had served everyone the supper and stopped for a moment to wish them a good appetite and then leave, but the brown-haired woman interrupted him in his intention.

"Did you quarrel?", Philippa inquired carelessly. Just like William, she had noticed the strange tension and had become curious. Lukas winced at the statement and had to remember the conversation yesterday. A sad smile appeared on his face. Silence reigned for a moment before he remembered why he was actually working so late today. All at once his expression changed from embarrassment to horror and he shot ahead with his answer accordingly.

"Are you possibly on your way to Altona?"

Surprised that Philippas question was ignored and instead met with a counter-question, everyone looked over at the small, blonde-haired healer.

"Yes, indeed we are. We plan to leave tomorrow for our mission to the north."

Aletta answered his question politely, as if she were part of the group, but in reality she was the mission. She wanted to get to Frignez by the end of the winter season and on their way they would stop in Exarion, the capital of Altona. However, due to her own situation and the increasing activity of the creatures in the mountains, the way had become far too dangerous for her alone, so she had bought the two swordsmen as escorts - from her fathers money.

"Uh would you...", began Lukas, who could hardly believe his luck. While still thinking about his question, the tray almost fell out of his hand and just barely caught it. Ben, who was sitting next to him, had already reached out his hand to catch the falling tray, which was no longer necessary. "Would you be able to take Cale with you?"

"What?"

The only one who responded to this question with sheer horror was the black-haired man. Even if Aletta was the reason for their small group, William was the de facto leader of the group. The decisions always depended on him in the end, whether he was happy about that or not, he didn't really know himself. Actually, he had tried not to attract attention, but Ben had indirectly ruined his plan. The tension in the air was clearly noticeable, so Lukas spoke up excitedly, but as clearly as possible.

"Ah, he's a good man. He wouldn't be a burden to you! He can cook really well and is good with people too. AND he can defend himself at the worst, too, so you don't have to worry about that. Cale is stronger than he looks and he helped me a lot."

William did understand what the young waiter was trying to tell them. He was trying to turn them on to a stranger who would become additional ballast for the safety of the group. But at that moment, Cale's question echoed in his head. You're not bad people, are you?

"Hmm, maybe having a cook with us wouldn't be so bad", Ben interjected thoughtfully, causing William to turn jerkily to his friend and cut him off sharply. He already had enough trouble trusting Aletta and Philippa, but adding another complete stranger to the group? That was too much for him. The more people joined his group, the more conspicuous they became and that was exactly what he wanted to avoid. Besides, he didn't trust Cale one bit.

"Liam, think about it. We haven't had a decent meal in weeks. The farther north we go, the harder it's going to be for us. Don't you think it's worth considering?"

William paused. He didn't want to entertain the thought, but his friend had a point. And also the looks of the girls told him that they thought similarly.