After the first snow, no merchant would dare travel north. It is time to stop and stay indoors to endure the winter. And this means we had free use of the road. The trip from Colchester to Barnsley takes eight days if one remains on the road the whole time. There are even some suitable and defensible camping locations already prepared at the places where people usually end one day's journey. Of course we could not make use of them.

It took us twelve days to make the trip, but we reached Barnsley without much trouble. During this time we hunted some small game and lower ranked monsters.

We are hiding near a hunter trail north-west of Barnsley about an hour of walking away from town. I changed Helen and Marcy back to their official guild jobs and they went to town to buy supplies and turn in the demon tribe corpses at the local branch of the adventurer's guild. They went in before noon, but it was time for their return already. Something is stalling them.

"You could turn into Beowulf and go check on them," Zahariel tries to calm me. Another thing about his new preteen form is that his voice is breaking. It makes him flustered and it breaks even more.

I glance at the party status screen at the corner of my field of view, "There is no need. They are healthy, conscious and together. They are probably spreading some silver around buying clothes or some fancy accessories." I am tracking them using the tactical map and the party status screen. I'm not nervous. It is just the chill of winter that is getting at my bones and making them shake.

"Zarr, come play with us!" Another change is that most of the flame gorilla kids can speak the human language. Their understanding and proficiency is rudimentary, but they can get most messages across. Kochuraerc rock solid skull haven't allowed the knowledge to seep in yet. I think I will host a teaching session for them to spend time.

I send Zahariel off to play with the gorilla kids and gather the remaining monsters for another language lesson. Mittens, Emory and the rats can understand the language, but they lack the anatomy to speak. The bees are too alien. It is hard to tell if they understood it or not. They only work when Helen commands them anyway. They built some honeycomb cells underneath the wagon for their use as resting quarters. I wonder if they will start to make honey, but I think they will only do that when they settle down.

Our two-hour teaching session ends. Only the elder gorilla and one of the females haven't earned the language skill so far. I think I will spend some SP to improve teaching above the current level 6 if they don't learn the skill next session.

Thankfully, Zahariel can use water magic. Or there would be two or three forest fires already. These kids really blaze when they are excited. "Hey, you can't play 'fireball the flying angel' this close to town. Someone will see us!" I scold the children. There is one in that middle that is older than all the others' ages multiplied then squared but pay no mind. Angels surely are innocent.

I think I'll do some woodwork. Knock down some trees and build something just to kill time. The western sky is painted orange between the heavy clouds and no news about the girls. The adult gorillas and I have already brought down a small clearing in the woods.

Zahariel comes to try raising my spirits, "I can go there if you want. If we adapt a backpack, I can hide my wings inside."

"They might have found a nice tavern with a warm bath and are going to spend the night there. They are grown women, I can't..."

"It is really hard to stand a thousand pounds of sulking troll, you know?"

I didn't even answer. I just lie down on my back using a log as pillow and stare at the cloudy sky. Maybe it is going to snow tonight again. Am I supposed to be one of those larger-than-life fearless protagonists? There is movement in the tactical map. They are returning. Then an arrow comes from above and dives into my thigh. An attack?

The arrow is pulled out naturally by my regenerating body. It is one of Marcy's arrows and there is a piece of parchment tied up. 'Send Zahariel down the trail now,' it says. "Zahariel! Come here!"

He comes in a hurry, "What is it?"

"Marcy sent a message," I show him the arrow and the message. Freaking homing arrow snipe it came from outside my tactical map view, some hundreds of yards blind shot.

"Okay. Should I get some fake gear?"

"Probably a good idea, here," I open the item box, get a backpack with his stuff and send him on the trail. "Hey everyone. Shut your flames and stay silent. Emory, tail Zahariel from a safe distance."

Like hell I am going to stay here and do nothing. Skulking through the woods, I'll also tail Zahariel. It doesn't take long to find the girls and see what is going on.

There are a group of eight people behind the girls and they are holding their weapons. Six men and two women. Weapons drawn and not-so-friendly faces. They are standing some sixty feet from the edge of the woods, in the part of the trail between the tilled fields. Zahariel comes out of the treeline, some guy shouts something and he stops. Too far away to listen. An argument. Zahariel points to the woods. They push Marcy and Helen and everyone follow the trail into the woods.

I want to listen what they are saying. I will move nearer the trail and follow them.

"Where is the gold, monster bride?" One male voice says with a scornful tone. Like some drunk mobster.

"I bet that bird-kin kid's feathers will sell for a lot of coin, let's pluck them!" A woman says.

"I wanna taste the redhead first! Shove my face right in the middle of those jugs!" Another man says.

They are making a lot of noise and their voices are loud. The hunter trail forces them to walk in a single file. Good. I skulk behind the one at the back and crush its larynx and spine before it can yelp. I drag it back and deposit the dead corpse in the item box.

"It is cold here in the woods," One of the women complain. Good idea.

"Flash Freeze!" The next one at the back is encased in ice. I pick the block and store it, hiding behind some tall grass right after.

"What is this noise?" Try sneaking weighing the same as a rhino in this winter forest full of dry branches.

"Where is Paul?" They notice their companions is not there. I use water and fire magic to create a dripping stream of hot water and shake the tall grass.

"It is taking a piss now of all times! That lazy ass."

They resume walking, but steal glances behind their shoulders every now and then. The third kill of the afternoon is down with a spear-through-brain problem.

Skill Assassinate level 1 awakened. Skill Stealth level 4 acquired.

I doubt I can kill any more before they sound an alarm. They can't be this moronic.

"HALT!" I send a stunning shout at the line of thugs, and just trample the paralyzed humans backhanding them left and right out of the way as I move up the line. Before I could get the one at the lead Emory jumped out of a bush and sunk its fangs in his throat.

I stop before a crying Helen and an angry Marcy, "I'm sorry I am late baby," and drag the two of them to me. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

Something moves behind me and I hear Mittens' scythes cutting... something squishy.

Helen has gained 2 levels. Marcy has gained 1 levels. Zahariel has gained 0+1 level. Grendel has gained 0+2 levels. +13 SP

What the? These guys had so little HP I thought they were made of paper. How the heck they still give 2 levels? Do people give more exp than monsters?"

"They are gone now. I am here, you are safe. Were these guys from Mirfield?" Helen nods. It is a logical conclusion. There is no other reason for random people to call her a monster bride, "Tell me the whole story."

Marcy begins, "We went to town and visited the adventurer's guild to report about the demon tribe. Some of the guys in the guild were deserters that ran away from town when the orcs attacked and they recognized us."

Helen continues, "They followed us when we left to buy things but we ran into this accessory shop that had lots of beautiful things and we got distracted. We went inside and lost track of time as we tried several things on."

"They caught me off guard," Marcy confesses.

"After that they held us with a knife and threatened to reveal my story to the entire town if we didn't comply."

"We decided to drag them out of town to ambush them, but only half of them came out. Our weapons and other stuff are still there in town."

Helen tries to justify their choice, "We could have beaten the crap out of them, but it would cause even more trouble."

"You two did well. You even warned me of the danger. I would cause a mess if I were in there and it would delay our trip. Now we only need sneak in town and retrieve our things. We can move out during the night."

The surveillance of human settlements at night is restricted to the clear area about one hundred feet around the walls. They don't give a rat's ass about what happens outside. There is also a little problem called 'dark of the night'. Human eyes and dark ages lighting don't allow them to patrol further.

Until nigh falls we are going to just relax in the clearing. There are lots of spare equipment in my item box, resupplying them is no problem. I'll also store a few more logs in the item box.

"Marcy how did you manage to fire that arrow if they took your bow?"

"I borrowed a bow from a thug that coincidentally had fancied one of my troll nail arrows, to show how far they could fly."

I gathered everyone outside once it got dark. "Here is the plan. Mittens will remain behind and protect the gorilla kids. Stay in that clearing. Kochurearc and the others will light up their flames and run to the left, drawing the attention of the humans. Remember to fall back into the woods if you hear arrows. If the humans come out to attack during the night you also retreat. Do not fight the humans. Zahariel, you will give air support. Fly above town and help us. The girls and I will jump over the wall after the gorillas caused a distraction." I hand my staff to Helen and a spare composite bow to Marcy, "Once inside we will look for the stolen gear. The rats will infiltrate town and keep a watch on our escape route." Helen has trained them for stealth.

The flame fist tribe adults go to cause a distraction and we sneak next to the wall. Even if someone sees Zahariel flying way above town, they will mistake him for a bird. There is no moon tonight. There is also no wind, so the snow might be delayed.

We cross the frosted fields under the cover of the night and my second raid of a human town begins.