Marching along with a banner of soldiers was a new and interesting experience for Edwin, quite different than walking with just his party or traveling by cart. They didn’t even try to conceal their presence like a regular traveler would, instead relying on a quick and concerted response to threats to keep them safe. Thankfully, the comparatively heavier armor and kit didn’t slow the soldiers down much, and they made good time to their destination, the village of Helwick.

Being led by fifty soldiers marching in a formation that took up the entire road wearing resplendent blue over shiny steel, let alone the actual banner flapping in the wind over the so-called one, their arrival caused a lot of turned heads and wide-eyed children.

“Is it always like this?” Edwin quietly asked captain Vellis as they passed an open-mouthed boy whose eyes were practically glowing.

“Pretty much.” the officer replied just as quietly. “It was a bit of a surprise for me as well. I hail from Pel Mahavir, where soldiers are part of everyday life as much as adventurers are here in the north. There, few people look twice at a formation marching by. Many of these people, however, have probably never seen a soldier before. Add to that the fact that everybody knows someone who got drafted, I suppose this is to be expected. I take it you are not from around here, either?”

“I’m not.” Edwin said but was saved from further explanations when a voice called to them from a side street.

“Doren! I see you find yourself in even stranger company than usual!”

The man in question, who was walking ahead of Edwin, spotted the speaker with a bright smile.

“Gerrit!”

Having never met the man, Edwin only knew Gerrit from their briefing at the Guild. Apparently, he was an experienced adventurer, and from the way the others spoke of him, Edwin could tell that he enjoyed a high degree of trust. Edwin had expected someone like Bordan, maybe with more scars and an eyepatch. As it turned out, that expectation was quite far off.

With a full head of shock-white hair casually bound back into a ponytail, kind eyes and a face wrinkled by years filled with harsh weather and plenty of smiling, at first glance Gerrit looked like everyone’s favorite grandfather. Only at second glance did Edwin realize that grandpa wasn’t leaning on a walking stick but a short boar spear with a crossbar, and the cloak he wore was actually an adventurer’s coat, a long leather garment with metal plates sewn in that protected from more than just the elements. He had a bow on his back and a small, round target shield on his left arm, and the sword on his belt was joined not just by his quiver, but also a small assortment of different daggers and other tools of his trade. While his face was all smiles and friendliness, the rest of the man radiated calm competence and danger.

Doren and his party approached Gerrit, greeting him like an old friend. Edwin and his teammates joined them, as well as the officers, and what followed were a few minutes of introductions and handshakes. What Edwin had missed at first was that Gerrit was accompanied by his party as well: Four young women, the oldest of whom probably barely in her late twenties. Women weren’t rare in the Guild, but seeing an almost all-female party was strange, nevertheless.

After welcoming them, Gerrit directed them to the tavern, lieutenant Elm excusing himself to oversee establishment of the camp. The rest of them, now a sizeable group, followed Gerrit to find a place to sit down and rest their feet.

--- ----- ---

“So, they asked the army for help.” Gerrit said slowly. “Can’t say I saw that coming.”

The adventurers and captain Vellis were seated in the tavern, taking up almost the entire space as they waited for their dinner, and Doren had just brought the old adventurer up to speed on their unusual traveling companions.

“I guess it makes sense if they couldn’t muster more than two parties. Not that I mind either way, of course, it’ll be great to have you boys along.” Gerrit nodded at Vellis, who inclined his head, and turned towards Bordan. “And then there’s you four. I heard interesting things about you last time I was in the city. I take it you made it through your first journey without too much trouble?”

“There was trouble, but we made it.” Bordan replied diplomatically. “And just in time for this, too. You stepped into a real hornets’ nest out here, huh?”

Gerrit laughed. “You could say that, and thank the gods we did. Now, I assume your presence here means you didn’t find anything at the northern villages?”

When the others voiced their agreement, Gerrit nodded thoughtfully. “I’m not surprised. It took two days for us to find the camp of the goblins when we came to town, it’s quite a distance south of here. After we sent the message, we came back, and we’ve spent the last few days combing through the surrounding area. We didn’t find any trace of more goblins, or tracks leading north.”

Doren laid his map out on the table, pushing it over to Gerrit.

“So we’ve basically cleared the northern half of the circle, right?”

Gerrit took the paper and studied it for a few seconds, then he nodded.

“Almost, yes, and now that you’re here, we can move on south. Next up is Maff, a hamlet that we passed through on our way to the messaging station. It’s tiny, so they don’t have a lot of people out and about that could spot the goblins passing by. I give it good chances that the nest is around there, so we’ll have to be especially careful. If it isn’t, next up is heading west, to Newmark. That’s a decently sized town, plenty of people and good defences, but if we don’t find it there, either, we’ll have to get creative. There are small parts of the circle, in the very south and west, that are too far from a settlement to search in a day’s march, so we’d have to split up and camp out. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get to that.”

He turned to the captain and regarded him for a few seconds.

“I’ll just go ahead and ask: How good are your men? I don’t mean to be rude, but this is a critical mission, and two seasons ago most of them had probably never held a weapon.”

Vellis’ eyes narrowed a little, but after a moment he relaxed and chuckled ruefully.

“You are correct, of course, but let me reassure you that the general has taken the severity of the situation into account when sending us. The recruits under lieutenant Elm’s command are among the first volunteers to join up and have therefore had the most time to train. If they perform as well as we expect on this mission, they will probably all be promoted to full soldiers afterwards. Additionally, all the bannermen are old hands, veterans that transferred here from the first three divisions, so leadership will not be an issue either.”

He glanced over to Doren and Bordan. “Still, as I explained to your compatriots earlier today, I am unwilling to divide them into smaller groups than the four squads they are used to.”

The old adventurer lightly slapped the table and smiled.

“I think we’ll work together just fine, captain. Glad to have you on board.”

The conversation ended when the food arrived, which gave Edwin some time to consider the situation. When they left Pel Darni with just nine adventurers, he’d been quite worried about their chance of success, and the danger they would be in. Now, with five more adventurers and a compliment of soldiers to back them up, let alone the calming effect Gerrit’s obvious experience had on everyone, things were looking much less bleak.