In the end, their stop at Fayfell lasted five days instead of the two initially planned. In that time, they managed to hire four new guards and repair or buy new carts to replace the ones that had been destroyed. They weren’t back to their conditions before meeting the goblins, but Edwin gauged they had already wasted enough time in the city and ordered the departure, anyway.

Edwin also renegotiated with Mahon and Jorik, and they agreed they wouldn’t act as guards for the rest of the trip unless their talents were needed. For Edwin, he was afraid of provoking them after witnessing what they were capable of, and even though both Mahon and Jorik had endured guard’s chores in the first part of the trip, Edwin had outright refused to let them do a single more.

From Mahon and Jorik’s point of view, it didn’t change things a lot, anyway. People were already viewing them as impossible existences, and they wouldn’t let them do anything by themselves. Anytime Mahon queued to eat, people would move out of his way so he wouldn’t have to wait. The cooks were even giving him a double portion every time he showed up.

In most situations, Mahon felt uncomfortable to be around the merchants, and he had gladly accepted Edwin’s proposal just so he could avoid them. Although Jorik was less affected, he was suffering from the people’s too caring attitude as well, and he didn’t mind.

As they thought more about it, they realized they had tried to blend in the caravan to learn more about Finem, and their initial fear had been to be rejected because they were different or weird. And now, they had accomplished the complete opposite, being accepted and worshiped by the whole camp, but they felt even worse about it.

In the following days, the caravan paced slowly from a forest village to another, and either they had exhausted their bad luck or the surroundings were less prone to danger, but they didn’t even meet a single problematic monster. At first, Mahon spent his time with Elas, the only person he thought wouldn’t react too strongly to his new status, but after a heated argument where Mahon had refused to explain to him how he had trained or from which kingdom he came from, they had stopped talking.

So, Mahon ended up hanging with Jorik in Siraye's cart. She was the only person left who cared more about their weapons than their exploits, and she didn’t even change her behavior when being with them, which was exactly what the duo needed at the moment. In fact, Mahon was even starting to like her more as time passed and he started to know her better.

“This sword, for example,” she picked a sword without any ornament, but it was still emitting a strong aura when she swung it uncaringly, “had been used by a seven star warrior.”

“Really?” Mahon looked at the sword with renewed interest.

“Yes. I was just a little child at the time, but I remembered it very well. A duel was happening right in front of our store in the capital. They were both seven star warriors fighting for some random nobles for a futile matter. They were caught in an intense battle until one of them broke his sword, right in the middle of the fight. Can you imagine?”

She caressed the sword in her hands as she seemed to be lost in her memories.

“The fight stopped, but the noble who had lost insisted the fight must continue because they had agreed until blood was drawn and there was none. The other seven star warrior flatly refused to injure someone without a weapon and didn’t want to continue the fight. In the end, the second seven star warrior saw us, came to our stand and asked my dad about his best sword. My dad gave him this sword, and the man went on to win the duel. In the end, he gave us back the sword, thanked my dad and just left.”

“Isn’t a seven star warrior an incredible existence even in Finem’s capital?” Mahon tried to understand what it implied. “Wouldn’t you be able to sell the sword for an exorbitant price, then?”

“Yes, we could. But this sword became my father’s favorite. He kept it hanging in some place where everyone could see it, and he told this story to every customer that entered his store. He never agreed to sell it. Deep inside, it was his greatest source of pride that he had managed to forge a sword that suited a seven star warrior and make him win a duel. I thought I would sell it as soon as I inherited my father's business, but in the end…” Her voice wavered a bit, but she continued. “I kept it and here it is.”

“That’s a nice story.” Jorik said from the side.

The woman stayed silent as she gazed at the horizon. From their previous discussions, Mahon had quickly understood the woman had lost her dad a couple years ago, and she became quite nostalgic every time she mentioned him.

“Which sword is your favorite one?” Jorik asked in an attempt to change the topic.

“This one.” The woman pointed to the sword hanging at Jorik’s hips.

“That’s my sword.” The noble commented with a frown.

“So what? That’s still my favorite.” Siraye retorted without missing a beat.

“I meant among the ones you forged yourself.”

“Oh. They aren’t really up to your standard. Compared to your sword they could as well be just a cooking knife. But I like this one…”

The conversation continued leisurely until Edwin called for the whole caravan to stop. They had reached their camping site, and they would stop there for the night before reaching yet another city in the morning. They had started to head straight to the west and away from the forbidden forest.

From what Mahon had understood, the villages would turn into bigger and bigger cities and with each day getting them closer to the capital, they would meet more people on the road as well as stop more often. It also meant they had passed the more dangerous area of the journey, and the guards would now be more useful to prevent thieves from stealing anything in the market than to defend against monsters.

The night slowly fell on the caravan, and Mahon and Jorik went to eat with Siraye as late as they could so they would avoid meeting too many people. Sometimes Mahon felt like an outlaw hiding from his fellows when he was in fact a hero fearing the looks of adoration of the other people.

They were halfway through their meals when suddenly Mahon heard the sound of muffled but heavy footsteps rushing towards them. Mahon picked up the sound just before Jorik, but the two men stood up almost at the same time, drawing some curious looks from the nearby merchants.

Edwin, on the other hand, read their expression and posture, and he quickly stood up as well, gesturing for his men to be at the ready. As he was turning to a sentry to ask what was going on, a shout came from outside their round of carts.

“Hola, merchants! We’re three warriors, tired after a long day on the road. Would you mind sharing a meal tonight and exchanging some information?”

Although the sentence was phrased like a question, the tone of the warrior seemed to indicate he wouldn’t take no as an answer. Edwin frowned at the weird situation, but after a silent exchange with a sentry that confirmed they were only three, he agreed to let them in.

The Frontaliers moved a cart to create a passage in their defense and let the warriors in. Two men and one woman entered slowly, each mounted on a giant green lizard with its sides full of purses and bags. Their tongues snapped out of their mouth multiple times each second to taste the air, and they waddled forward with agile motions.

Mahon observed the newcomers attentively as they tied their mounts to a nearby cart and walked to the group of merchants and soldiers eyeing them with curiosity. The man leading the group was at least two meters tall and sported an impressive musculature. He only wore two daggers strapped on his chest, but an immense ax hung from his lizard’s saddle.

He walked with the control and agility only a seasoned warrior could master, and his eyes scanned the whole camp in an instant. The woman followed right behind him. She showed the same experienced motions as she walked, but she was dressed more lightly with red flowers in her hair and a long red decorated dress. Although the apparel looked impractical at first, there were two long slits on the side that had been obviously made to allow her to fight and a sword was laced on her back.

The last man was the complete opposite of the first, as he was thin and small. His face was hiding in the shadows of his hood, and he only wore a black gown concealing everything else. He didn’t walk with any visible weapons, but who knew what he hid behind his clothes? His lizard was the weirdest one as he transported a wide variety of vials, flasks, herbs and instruments.

“Thanks for your hospitality. My name is Virion.” The muscular man walked directly to Edwin and shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Edwin, leader of the Frontaliers. I’m the one responsible for this caravan.”

“The Frontaliers? I’ve heard of you. Efficient team and all.” The man commented with a smile, while the woman stayed completely silent at his side.

The thin man, however, completely ignored them all and walked to the cooking pot and poured himself three portions of the food. He went back to the table, placed two plates to the side for his companions, sat down and started to eat. Edwin frowned at the sight, but before he couldn’t say anything Virion laughed out loud.

“Ah, don’t mind my companions. They're exhausted after a day traveling, and they aren’t that social, anyway.”

Edwin nodded and gestured for the man and the woman to sit down and eat as well while he sat near them.

“So, what are you doing on the road? It’s not often we see three heavily armored warriors mounted on acrosaurus.”

Virrion nodded while he started eating. “We were just dispatched recently to deal with a problem. You can probably help us on this, actually. You travelled along the forbidden forest?”

“Yes, exactly. We moved through most of the forest villages on our way to the capital.” Edwin confirmed.

“It’s our luck then! A fortuitous encounter!” Although Virrion said it nonchalantly, his face and tone betrayed he didn’t believe it wasn’t fortuitous at all. “I imagine you’re familiar with the problem of goblin tribes getting excited between Jongvale and Drulens, then? Although, the rumors might not amount to that much if you managed to pass without too much problem.” Virrion added after looking around the camp.

“Oh, no. It was much worse than what we had expected.” Edwin shook his head with a grimace. “If not for a miraculous providence, we would have all died at their hands.”

Virrion looked intensely at Edwin. “Really? A miraculous providence? What happened?”

Edwin hesitated for half a second and sent a glance at Jorik and Mahon who sat a dozen meters away. His motion didn’t escape Virrion’s senses though, and he turned his head to look at them. He stared right in Mahon’s eyes, but Mahon looked back at him without blinking.

Strange how I feel better facing someone mysterious and dangerous than while hanging out with the merchants.

“And who are you?”

“They are our saviors.” Edwin answered first. “They managed to kill and repel the goblins when we thought every hope was gone.”

Virrion barely spared a look to Edwin, but a twitch in his expression betrayed he didn’t like that he answered instead of Mahon.

“And did you notice anything weird?” This time he turned away from Edwin and sent a prolonged look to Mahon to make sure he was the one to answer.

“Weird how?” Mahon asked unhurriedly.

“Oh, you would know what I mean if you had witnessed anything weird.” Virrion chuckled and smiled, but the tension grew instead.

“Well, it was just goblins. Nothing weird.” Mahon shrugged, his eyes still holding Virrion’s look, unwavering.

“He lies.” The woman suddenly spoke for the first time. She didn’t even raise her head, and simply continued eating, as if it wasn’t her concern.

“Hohoho! Come on Vivian, that’s not something to say in front of our hosts.” Virrion said to defuse the tension that was slowly getting intolerable. He then observed Mahon again. “You know, she still has some talents for this. You sure you didn’t see anything… special?” Seeing Mahon’s lack of reaction, he turned to Edwin, but the Frontalier shook his head.

“Since we already said it, there is no need to push the subject further.” Jorik intervened in a tone that would suffer no objections. “If there isn’t anything else, you can go.”

Virrion’s face darkened at Jorik’s words. “Why the haste to chase us? We’re also looking for a place for the night.” He then faced Edwin with a wide smile. “You wouldn’t refuse three exhausted warriors a safe place to rest, right?”