After having separated from the members of the Protection Agency, Al returns to Trisdia by himself. He reaches the Eastern Forest. Although it was a forest, it is still a major trade route that many merchants take, due to many roads that connect to the path through the forest. As Al was about to exit the forest and come into view of Trisdia, a group of people stepped out of the forest. “Hey kid, if you want to live, better give us all your stuff.” One of them said. He was a big guy, and wielding a large battle ax. Behind him was an archer and a magic caster. The archer had his bow out and aimed at Al, while the magic caster was leaning against one of the three, showing an evil grin.

Bandits Al thought to himself. He couldn’t gauge how strong they were, but knew that the berserker was much stronger than the other two. He could’ve easily escape from them, but due to the injuries he got from the Arachne, escape wasn’t an option. He consider just giving his items, since he was only carrying his camping supplies and the few remaining potions he had left, but knew they weren’t going to be satisfied with them. He place his sack in front of him, and backed away from it. “Smart choice.” The caster said. The berserker walks up and grabs the bag, and searches it. “What the hell is this?!” he shouted. He throws the sack down. “You only have junk?! Where’s all your gold?!” He raises his ax and stomps towards Al, but stops when he notice a wagon heading their way from the direction that Al came from.

The wagon reaches them and comes to a halt. “Is that you Alderick?” A familiar voice called out. Al turns to the driver of the wagon and sees Carn. “Uh, yes sir. It’s me.” Al replied, surprised to run into Carn outside the city. Carn steps down and walks over to Al with a smile on his face, and hugs Al. “Are you returning from a quest? Come, I’ll give you a ride back to the city.” Al just quietly nodded. “Hey! We aren’t done here!” The berserker called out. Carn turns towards him and looked back at Al and asked “Are these your companions?” “No, I think they are bandits.” Al replied. “Bandits? That’s not good. We should report them to the guards when we get back to town. Come.” Carn leads Al to the wagon. “Don’t ignore me!” The berserker yelled.

The Berserker charges Carn and Al as Carn helped Al onto the wagon. He swings his battle ax at them, and Carn stops it with one hand. Carn gave him a crazy cold look. “You should learn some manners young man.” The berserker struggles hard to try and free his ax from Carn’s grip. Carn pulls the ax towards him and punch the berserker straight down to the ground, causing a shockwave and created a small crater around them. The archer shot a few arrows at Carn, but he easily knocked them down. “Flame Lance!” The caster shouted. She launched a flame lance towards Carn. “Watch out!” Al shouted. Carn slammed the ground with one foot, and a huge part of the ground came up and blocked the attack. He then punched the center of the wall he created and broke it in two. Then readies both his hands to his side. “Shove” Both his hands reaches forward at the two pieces of rock in front of him and sent them flying towards the two bandit. One of the rock slams the caster towards the tree she was leaning against earlier and crushed her. The archer however dodge the rock that went his way. He started running into the forest trying to escape. Carn picks up the berserker’s ax, aimed, and then throws it at the archer. The archer ducks and the the ax barely missed him and cuts into the tree behind him. The archer started foaming at the mouth and passed out. Carn turns towards Al. “Let’s be on our way then.”

As the wagon passed the fallen bandits, Al just stare at them. “Guess they didn’t know they were dealing with a Mythril adventurer.” Carn laugh at the statement. “That’s all in the past Al. I’m now just an old man who runs an orphanage.” Al just smiled. Then he heard a cough coming from inside the wagon. He looks inside and saw a small group of kids sitting there and staring back at him expressionless. An expression he knew well and then he was saddened. “Which village?” Al asked. “Riverbank.” Carn answered. “Bandits or monsters?” “Does it matter? They need a home now, and that’s all that I care for.” “It does. So I know what to hunt down later.” There was a moment of silence. “Bandits. But it don’t matter now. They were long gone by the time I reached Sentros near Riverbank.” “You were at the capitol?” “Yes. I went to visit my sister-in-law Ireene. She asked me to take these orphans.” “How is big sis Ireene?” “She’s in good health. Happy and loving as always. Just that her orphanage is full so she couldn’t take these kids in.” “Hmm.” was all Al could say in response as he continued to stare at the kids.

“So, what happened to your arm? It looks like it’s in really bad shape.” Carn asked, staring at Al’s left arm. “It’s broken, but it should recover in a couple of months.” Al replied, now turning away from the kids. “What caused it? If you don’t mind me asking.” Al thought for a bit, wondering if it was ok to tell Carn. Considering that Carn was the one who took care of him when he was a kid, and that he was also a high ranking member of the guild adventurer’s guild and apparently a member of Luna’s Protection Agency. “I fought against an Arachne with the Protection Agency. It slammed me against a wall and that’s what broke my arm.” “What?!” Carn shouted in surprised. “The Protection Agency? How did you meet them?!” Carn asked, unconcerned about the Arachne for some reason, and instead was more interested on the Protection Agency.

Al was surprised by Carn’s question being more focus on the Protection Agency. “Uh, yeah. I met them at the guildhall and we went on a quest together. But due to something, we split up after completing the quest.” Carn had a worried look on his face. “Did… did they tell you who they were?” he asked. “Uh. They told me they were a group of adventurer composing of mostly Iron and Silver ranks.” “Oh… Ok…” Carn replied, and sigh. “Did they tell you I am a member of their group?” Al nodded. “I met them when I was a still a gold rank adventurer. I saved them from a group of ogres and we have been friends since.” Al was surprised, but was also happy to hear more of Carn’s exploits from the past. The stories that Carn told him was always something he looked forwards to. “Ogres? What happened?” Al asked hoping to hear more. Carn smiled and pat Al’s head. “That’s a story for another time. For now we have to go into inspection.” They had reached the gate into Trisdia before Al had realised, to his disappointment.

“Hold!” One of the guard called out. “Can I see some identifications please.” Carn got off the wagon, and gave the guard his guild card. “Oh! Excuse me sir. I’m so sorry for not recognising you sir!” The guard exclaimed, bowing apologetically to Carn. “It is quite alright. You are merely doing your job.” Carn smiled. “May I ask what is in the wagon sir?” “They are orphans from Riverbank. I’m taking them to my orphanage.” “Ok sir. Sounds good to me. You may pass. I’m sorry for stopping you sir.” The guard moved out of the way and let them pass. “Wow. Must be nice to be a Mythril rank adventurer.” Al said with envy and staring at the guards as they pass. Carn smiled. “Someday you will be remember too Al. Don’t worry about it too much.”

They rode through town without much talk afterwards, and Carn drops Al off at the guildhall. “I’ll see you again Al.” “Thanks for the lift Carn. I’ll visit the orphanage soon.” Just as Al was about to turn to head into the guildhall, Carn called out. “Oh, by the way. Did something happened between you and Natalie?” Al looked at Carn in confusion. Then recalls what had happened at The Withering Tree magic shop. He blushed and turn his head away from Carn. Carn laugh at Al’s attempt to hide his embarrassment. “Did… did she tell you anything?” Carn smiled and replied. “No. She came home from work one day and her face was as bright as yours. So I asked if you did something to her again. Her face turned brighter and she ran upstairs to her room.” Al covered his face in embarrassment from the teasing tone of Carn’s voice. “You can tell me about it over dinner when you decided to come visit. For now I have to get these kids to the orphanage.” Carn waved bye to Al, but with a huge grin on his face. Al took a moment to calm himself before heading inside the guildhall.

Once inside, Al walks over to the counter where Maria was busy working at. She turns her head up and sees Al walking to her and smiled. “Welcome back. How did your quest go?” she asked. “It went well. I think. We manage to destroy the spider’s nest.” Al replied. “Ok that’s good.” She reached for some paper and hands them over to Al. “Please fill out your report and then hand them in please.” Al took the papers, but stood there. “Is there something else I can help you with?” “Uh yeah. Is Kreyg or the guildmaster here?” “I’ll go get Kreyg for you. Wait one moment please.” She walks to the back room. A few seconds later, she and Kreyg comes back out. “Did you need me for something?” Kreyg asked. He then looked around, and then looks at Al. “Where’s the Protection Agency?” he asked in a serious tone.

“About that… Um… Can I talk to you in private? And preferably with the guildmaster present too.” Al stated. “Master Hudsonus is out of town for some business and will be back later today. For now let's go talk in my office.” Kreyg lead Al upstairs and then into his office. “So what did you want to talk about?” Al told Kreyg about the Arachne and how the Protection Agency and AL wanted to keep it a secret for now. “Is that what happened?” Kreyg asked. Al nodded. “I will be sure to report this to Master Hudsonus when he returns. I will also send a team to go investigate about this demon activity. Thank you for reporting this to me Al.” Al bowed and was about to leave the office when Kreyg stopped him. “Did the Protection Agency tell you who they were?” Al was surprised by this exact same question that Carn had asked him earlier. “They told me they were a group of mostly Iron and Silver rank adventurers.” Al gave the same answered he gave Carn. Kreyg nodded. “Then… Did you tell them who you were?” Al again was surprised by this question. “No. I did not.” “Good. But I think you should tell people who you can trust about it. So if you were to continued to quest with them, I implore you to tell them. So that they at least know what you are capable of.” Al nodded and left the office.

Once Al finish writing his report, he gave it to Maria. “Ok, as for the reward, here you go.” She hands him a bag of gold. “The reward is 25 gold coins for each member that took part.” She then looks around for the other members. “Oh, the other members had an emergency and left for Hashut I believe. They told me to tell you guys to have Kreyg hold it for them.” “Oh ok. I will hand it over the Kreyg when he comes back down then.” Al the leaves the building. He looks at his broken arm. With this injury, I doubt I can take on most quests. Guess I will just rest easy for awhile. Al then pulls out his dagger to give it an inspection. It could use some repairs. I guess I’ll go visit Gendrol, and maybe buy some other equipment while I’m there. I also need to go back to the Withering Tree to pick up my cloak.

Al walks over to the forge that was run by Gendrol. “Hey boy! You’re back!” Gendrol called out. “Yes I’m back.” “What do you need today? A new weapon? Some repairs? Whatever it is, I can do it.” Gendrol said with a smile. Upon seeing Gendrol face, Al recalls the little incident that happened at the magic shop, and showed a sour expression. “Eh? What’s wrong lad?” “You could’ve told me about Evistin old man.” Gendrol laugh. “Had a hard time with the old lady eh?” “Old lady?” “Oh, don’t let her looks fool you lad. She’s over 3000 years old.” Al showed a shocked expression. Evistin was also part of the first wave of elves?! “Hehe, surprised lad?” “Uh, yeah. How’d do you guys… get over this age difference if you don’t mind me asking.” Gendrol let out a loud laughter. “Elves aren’t the only one that lives a long life lad. I’m also over 3000 years old.” Al just stare blankly at Gendrol, doubting the dwarves words. “You don’t believe me? We dwarves have the blessing of Senpai. We also get to live long lives. Although most of us do drink ourselves to an early graves so I understand that people would think we don’t live as long.” Gendrol laugh once again.

“So what can I do for you lad?” Gendrol asked. Al pulls out his dagger and hands it over to him. “Hmm. It’s in pretty rough shape. But I can repair it. It’ll take a day or two.” “Ok that sounds good. I’m planning to rest for awhile so no real rush.” Al then takes off his breastplate and hands it over to Gendrol as well. “This isn’t in as bad a shape, but could use some repair.” “Not in as bad a shape? This has a bloody hole in it! It’s far worst. I’ll repair it as good as new. Give me a few days though.” “Ok.” Al then went to look at the stuff Gendrol had lying around, but nothing caught his eyes. “Oh lad. Do you want to help me test something?” Gendrol called out. “What do you need?” “I have these leg guards, and I want to see if they hinder movements. It’d be bad if it does. Just use them for awhile and let me know what you think.” Gendrol hands Al some leg guards. It looks like some pieces of metal that was stitched to a leather piece. Al took it and then said he’ll come back in a few days. “Send Evistin my love if you happen to go see her at her shop.” Again, Al showed a sour face to Gendrol, and left.

Once at the Withering Tree, Al peeks his head inside and looked around. “If you are looking for Natalie, she has the day off today.” A voice called out from the back. “Come inside.” Al walked inside, and Evistin walked out from the back. “Here to pick up your cloak?” Al nodded, looking a little embarrassed about being seen. “How cute. To be young again.” She smiled and stare at Al. “Did she tell you?” Al asked meekly. “No… but I got a nice view of the scene from inside the store.” Al covered his face in his hand again, and let out a muffled scream. Evistin giggle to herself. “Well, here’s your cloak. I’ve finish enchanting it a day ago, but you never showed up to pick it up, so I was about to put it up to sell.” Al takes the cloak, and he could feel magic oozing from it. “Thank you.” “My pleasure. Come back again. I’ll always be up to making any enchants to your gear. Or to hear how your love story progress.” She showed a teasing smiled. Al blushed and walked out. Once outside, Al just thought about how long a day he had, and made his way back to his inn.