The bandits had worked quickly to get their little campsite set up. Given the warm temperatures of the day, a fire sounded terrible, but I figured they needed it to cook food and would likely extinguish it afterwards.

I had briefly considered the possibility that someone might have come along the road and rescued the carriage, but the bandits didn’t seem particularly worried about an altercation with another traveling party. We were still blocking the road, and the bandits were setting up camp around the carriage, having tied me up and positioned me next to one of the wheels. It was a good setup, since I wouldn’t be able to just get up and leave even if I did want to. Moreover, though I hadn’t noticed it while traveling since the carriage seemed to magically smooth out the journey, the road was pretty broken up this far away from the summoning facility. I wasn’t sure where the nearest village was, but by my estimate, we had to be pretty close to whatever destination Aastor had in mind. He’d said it was a day long journey, and we’d been nearing the end of the day when…unexpected complications had arisen.

Perhaps unexpected is the wrong word. A hallmark of the Isekai world: Traveling is never boring. It’s always a bandit attack or some side quest, or an ancient forest spirit that needs help. Something or the other. The longer the travel, the more eventful it is. Seriously, how did people ever get from place to place?

On the bright side, I hadn’t yet failed the Quest, so whatever I was doing, I still had time to see it through. There were a few things that were bothering me though.

I could tell that the bandits weren’t experienced. They seemed unsure of themselves, and Baldric had the look of someone trying to hold his team together through sheer force of will and showmanship. Clearly, they hadn’t been at the banditry thing for long. It showed, because they took extraordinary care when doing things that didn’t require it, but seemed completely clueless when it came to the more…subtle nuances of highwayman-ship.

For example, the ropes were well-tied and tight, but not particularly strong. I couldn’t just break through them, but I’d probably be able to cut them open on a sharp rock or something of the sort. Maybe Kel could chew through them? Either way, the rope was definitely old and a little bit ragged. Always use fresh ropes when tying someone up!

They had done a good job at portioning out watches equally. But a lesson that any experienced Bandit or traveler learns quickly is that the second watch is the weakest one. Being woken up after just two hours of sleep tends to make people irritable and cranky, biological conditions notwithstanding. It was completely possible that I was mistaken, of course, and that whoever would be on second watch had some physical augmentation or evolutionary trait that made this is a non-issue. But if not, it was fairly likely that second watch would be when I made my move. Whatever my move was going to be.

Another minor thing that no experienced Party would do? They all ate the same food, from the same pot. Experienced travelers didn’t do that, because the risk of having the entire Party come down with something was far too great. Water borne diseases, spoiled meat, being poisoned by an enemy…Too many things could go wrong. You had to use at least two separate cooking stations, something that I’d gotten so accustomed to setting up that I didn’t even really think about it when I was journeying with someone else.

All in all, a new Party that was inexperienced at banditry. Very, very curious. I was trying to figure out exactly how they got together, and why they’d been driven to banditry. Excelsia had an incredible amount of magical energy, if the summoning facility was anything to go by. Surely they were using some of it for more mundane things like farming?

***

The bandits sat by the fire, and ate in near silence. Baldric was trying to get conversation going, but even his prodigious skill of being able to run his mouth without pause wasn’t helping.

“Chanak, it’s your turn tonight! Regale us with a tale from your previous life!” If Baldric hadn’t been so pompous, I would have admired the fact that he was trying to get some sort of bond going between his companions. As it was, I found him to be grating.

“…No.” The gruff voice could only be Chanak. Clearly, whatever respect the others had for Baldric didn’t extend to post-work hours. Mentally, I could imagine Baldric deflating.

“Come now, where did you say you were from? Salading? Something like that?”

“…Sal Ad-Din.”

“Sounds lovely! Utopian, even!”

“I was a farmer.”

“A good, noble profession! Not as glorious as being a Buccaneer, of course, but-” Baldric, please, for love or money, shut up.

“Baldric, he doesn’t want to talk. Leave him be.” Was that Ilyana? Ellem? I hadn’t heard either of them speak, so it could be either.

“Oho, a volunteer! Well then, why don’t you tell us about your past? I went yesterday, it seems only fair that someone else go today, don’t you think?”

“Sigh. Fine. What is it you wish to know?” Ilyana/Ellem asked resignedly. Just how new was this Party, that they didn’t even know where each member hailed from?

“Where are you from? What’s it like? Why are you-wait, no, I guess we all know the answer to that one.”

I don’t! Give me the exposition! I NEED IT!

“Fine, but then we sleep. The longer we talk, the more you annoy me.”

I heard a shuffling. Was someone getting up?

“On my honor as a Buccaneer!” Oh, Baldric was swearing an oath. And of course, he’d gotten up to do it.

There was a slight groan, before Ilyana/Ellem began to talk. “My home is Vos Cairn. I never left my village, not before coming here, so I do not know much about what lies outside the borders. Even so, it was nice. My birthers, like me, are Craftspeople.” She pauses. I think Ilyana/Ellem is hoping that Baldric won’t have more questions. It’s a vain hope, that much I know.

“Come, surely you can do better than ‘nice’! Was it cold? Hot? Dangerous? Plenty of opportunities for glory?”

“Baldric…”

“Come on! Okay, tell me anything. Anything at all. One more thing, and we’ll call it a night.”

Incredible. Even though Baldric and his gang had been trying to rob me, had tied me up, and clearly had plans to leave me here in the middle of nowhere, nothing had made me hate Baldric as much as the forced team bonding exercise he was trying to run with companions who clearly wanted silence and sleep.

“Ugh…Fine. There is an ominous flying beast. Drakkar, as we call it. It is black, with a single, sharp tooth that juts out of a cunning face. It has dark, vicious eyes. We know the Drakkar as the one who provides passage to the afterlife, for it lands upon the bodies of the dead to ferry their spirits.”

Her voice was low, respectful. Clearly, this was a matter of faith for her, a precious memory from her home.

“Incredible! A vicious foe indeed! We shall go to Vos Cairn, and engage in glorious battle with it, winning and proving the strength of our bonds!”

Well so much for respecting the ferrybeast of the dead.

“Baldric... the beast is small. It would fit in my hand.”

“….Size does not equate to danger, my dear friend!”

Ilyana/Ellem mumbled something that I couldn’t quite hear, before clearing her throat. “Now, kindly clear this up, sleep and remain quiet for the night. I have the watch.”

Aha, so it was Ellem after all. Somehow, the image of the tall, green-skinned lady essentially telling the silk dressed Buccaneer a bedtime story was strangely humorous to me. I chuckled to myself, as there was a flurry of movement on the other side of the carriage. The light provided by the fire died down, and soon, only the moon and stars were keeping the area from being plunged into pitch black darkness.

Ellem dragged her sleeping bag a few feet away from me, and sat down on top of it. She didn’t seem particularly sleepy. Deep in thought, perhaps, but not sleepy. She propped herself up, knees to her chin, and began keeping watch. Near enough to me that I couldn't escape or she'd hear it, but far enough away that I couldn't lunge at her and knife her or something. Clever.

—————————————————————————————————————

Class Ability Unlocked: Conversations After Midnight (Lvl. 1) (Activated Ability)

A lack of sleep, a little too much wine after dinner, a midnight moment of despair…The Butler is much like a therapist in these situations. The calm, dignified attitude of the Butler makes them far more likely to be a confidant after dusk.

- 200% CHA increase against targets who are suffering from the Sleep Deprivation, Drunkenness or Despair Status Effects.

- 200% Penalty increase on all failed CHA checks

- May only be activated after nightfall.

—————————————————————————————————————

A new skill! Exactly what I needed, something to help even the odds. As I read through it though, I grew even more confused. What an odd ability. I mean, a 200% Charisma buff was enough to buff up even a really weak CHA stat, even with the specific conditions attached to it, but the class abilities were raising more questions than they answered. What exactly was the Butler class all about? Was it actually a support class? Was it some kind of bard-based hybrid?

Still, I had a new skill. It couldn’t hurt to try it out.

I instinctively knew how to activate the Skill. It was odd, but as soon as it became available for activation, I felt like I had always known how to use it. Like flexing a muscle that you don’t use too often. It was always there, I just hadn’t needed it until now.

“Pardon me, Ma’am.”

“Hmm?” Ellem looked at me. I took the lack of annoyance on her face as a positive sign. “Yes?”

“Well, I was just wondering, having never been there myself. Where, exactly is Vos Cairn?”

“Ah. You would like directions? Perhaps to go there on vacation, with your Employer?” She seemed amused, and a little bit angry. Her features were delicate, but even in the low light I could tell that she was crinkling her nose in disgust.

“Ah, no, not at all Ma’am. I would never disturb your home in that way. Merely curious.” I wasn’t really concentrating on my words, as much as the intent behind them. Conversations After Midnight seemed to be doing it’s part in helping with the phrasing, I just needed to direct it towards a particular goal.

“Hah! Curiosity.” She snorted a little and then looked at me again. “Well, Excelsian, if you’re so curious?” She said "Excelsian" like a curse, as though she was spitting something foul out of her mouth.

Ellem looked back down the way we came, and pointed. “The people that kidnapped me are two days that way. Maybe they take travel reservations.”

Vos Cairn wasn't nearby. It wasn't even anywhere she could go back to.

She was a Summon. Perhaps they all were? Freed Summons, running about?

What exactly was going on in Excelsia?