A set of loud thumps wakes me up. The light under the door is the only thing I can see by, so I stretch and get up to light the candle. The silhouette of the person banging on the door moves on and I hear somewhat quieter thumps on the door the next room down. Guess that would be the morning wake up call. I gather enough money for breakfast, as well as to prepay for another night. A somewhat relaxed day about the place would probably be for the best. The rest of my things stay where they are, and I gather Bella from where she had been stretching and yawning on the bed. Absolutely adorable, though I can smell the puppy breath from here.

She seems to be on the mend, though I am no doctor. Nor do I really know what I am doing in that regard. My own wounds seem to be mostly healed by now, and thankfully no infection had set in, though I did make sure to rinse and wash the area every day. It would have been bad if I had torn the gash in my arm open yesterday in that fight, but aside from a bit of soreness, I seem to be doing just fine. Probably can’t say the same about the two that were dragged to the guard station. It really was luck that got me through that encounter, though I should probably work towards making that not happen again, because that shit was terrifying.

Though I hadn’t felt it in the moment, my sleep had been plagued with anxiety and fear. I had woken a couple times in the middle of the night, but the weight of Bella laying on my chest, and intermittently licking my face did a great job at calming me down. I don’t exactly know what I was thinking when I brought her with me, but I don’t think I can turn down an orphan in need. Especially not when it parallels my own situation so perfectly. Would I take the same course of actions again? Probably. Would I continue to collect strays? Also probably. I have the means to help them, and I don’t really have any good reasons to not help. Plus, I wanted to help anyway.

As I leave my room, wolf tucked under one arm, people seem to be groggily making their way downstairs, and those I pass in the hall seem hungover and grumpy. Not all that surprising, considering the locale. Bella makes sure to let me know of her displeasure by biting at my hand and whining a bit, and I suppose it is my good luck that she hadn’t already relieved herself on the floor or even on the bed. I make sure to rush her outside first thing, find a similar situation as I had at the last inn, with an outhouse or three round the back, in a little courtyard. It was in a relatively out of the way position, and I hadn’t even known it had existed until I stumbled my way there behind some others who looked to know where they were going.

A quick pitstop for me, and a small wait for Bella to find a suitable position to do her own business later, we are ready to head back inside. As soon as I step back in the door, I can smell the breakfast. Simple fair, eggs, bread, a couple slices of bacon. Though there also seemed to be a cheaper pot of gruel or porridge, though I suspect that it wouldn’t be all that tasty.

The common room seems to be filling up by the minute. I sit down at one of the tables close to the stairs and signal a server, who had just finished putting down some food on another table. They come over and I order two of the better breakfast meals, as well as some water. The subpar cider from the night before made me rethink my decision of getting some this morning. They come back soon enough, the food smelling better with every step they took. The server was plainer, for lack of a better word. Someone that had average features and would be hard pressed to stand out of a crowd of their peers, though I could say for certain they were a dude. Probably. He just seemed to want to do his job, so I paid him for the meals as soon as he sat them down, with an extra copper as a tip, he gave a small smile at that, and went off to help the next person that flagged him down.

I mixed up one of the meals into a sort of mash and sat it close to the edge of the table, while I had Bella barely restrained from jumping up there to devour the food. She ate her food quickly and greedily, though her contented sigh gave away her true feelings. One thing that I had realized as I ate breakfast was that I hadn’t heard any good music in a long while. It was a small thing, but you never do realize how much you take those things for granted when you must go without. The internet was something I was worried about not having, but it seems silly now to think that this was my first recollection of it. My parents were probably expecting something, but…

What could probably be called a migraine set in, searing through my mind, making me question what I had previously known about pain. It was worse than anything that I had been through before, and it was absolutely debilitating. I knocked over my cup, spilling water across the table and onto the floor, but not many even looked towards me. Bella had gone from near comatose to up and worried in a split second, but by the time that I registered she was licking my face and was worried for me, I was already coming out the other end of it. It faded nearly as quickly as it came on, and I had no idea what caused it. What was I even thinking about before? I kept my mind steady, not allowing it to think of anything else, lest I cause another such event, though I do come to the conclusion that it was something to do with my parents, though I dare not think on it farther now. Shaking the strangeness of it all away, I pick up my cup, and soothe the pup, though it is not a hundred percent effective, as she is still showing some concern.

With a sigh, I retire back up towards my room, but not before leaving another copper, for having to clean up after me. Though that was probably not necessary. By the time I had stumbled back up to my room, the pain was simply a memory, though a tremor in my hand remained. I managed to lay down, before the worst of the aftershock hit, making my whole body feel numb. It wasn’t painful, but I don’t really know how to describe it, other than a similar sensation to when a limb falls asleep. I don’t know how long that lasted, just that it had seemingly become the new normal, before I managed to slip away into unconsciousness for a while.

I awoke some time later, the sun seems to have risen a good deal, now looking to be only a couple of hours before noon. It was probably a good idea to take a full inventory of what I had, and to make a plan of action for what to do, because I couldn’t stay in an inn forever, and it wasn’t like I had all that many marketable skills to use in a city.

Setting it all out on the table and bed, the food in particular as far away from Bella as it could get- I don’t know how she could be so hungry even though she ate a meal fit for an adult not too long ago. First are the tools: saxe knife, draw knife, dagger, chisel, hammer, and axe. About fifty feet of rope as well. A copper pan was about the totality of my cooking tools, I did have plenty of spices now: salt, rosemary, thyme, as well as the newer blend I have a few packets of. The bow was my only real weapon, and it looked like it could use a bit of work. It had started to show a bit of wear, and it would probably be a good idea to get another string for it, as my current one was wearing even faster than the bow itself. I probably needed to take better care of it, and all of my tools in general, as they should last a good while before they needed to be replaced. I did need to get some more arrows, as I was running low with only eight of my original sixteen still in top condition.

As for my clothes, I still had two sets, though they were both slowly accumulating more patches as time went on. The cloak was probably the least worn, as I had used it more as a blanket than anything else thus far. The backpack had accumulated a bit of wear as well, mostly on the straps, though it seemed like it could hold for a long while yet. The tome as well as the writing supplies were set out next to the clothes, being mostly untouched so far. I should probably learn how to write with a quill, as well as begin documenting my journey thus far, a written record better than memory would likely ever be. Soaps came next, a good bit of the harsher soap I got at Jack’s still remained, but the softer lavender soap I got yesterday was better in almost every way.

Next came the valuables, the money and the trinkets. The gold coin sat by itself, seemingly perfect, and unblemished. Next came the pile of silver, though it was a rather modest pile, totaling about sixteen silver, most of that having been gained from the pouches of the two thieves. The copper pile was by far the largest, though of course it was still the least valuable pile. I had the set out in stacks of tens, to make the counting easier, and it was over two hundred, two hundred and thirty-four, to be exact, which would equal around four silver and some change. I still wasn’t exactly sure on the exchange rate for a gold coin, though it would probably be even more than the silver, if the previous exchange rate was anything to go by. The two silver rings, and a silver earring sat by themselves, though I didn’t really know what to do with those. They looked rather plain, no real identifying marks. I could probably get away with selling them anywhere, but it was probably better to be careful. Of course, my most valuable thing was probably Bella, and she sat a bit huffily on the bed, having given up trying to get the food while I was counting out the coins.

As soon as I turned my attention towards her, she perked up quite a bit. It soon devolved into my playing with her for a while, until she tuckered herself out again, her little yawns adorable to behold. She was a balm to the soul, and the repetitive counting tasks and the play time helped calm me down considerably. It would probably be best to continue heading east, into the frontier. Not many people would come out there, and it would hopefully be peaceful enough. A nice little woodland home situated at the base of the mountains in the distance. Idyllic even. With that in mind, it would probably be a good idea to get a horse, as well as a cart, to carry all of the supplies that I would need, as well as bring any goods that I managed to get back here to trade. Though the guard had called it Two Rivers, I had heard a few people call it Lyion, which was probably the proper name for the city.

With everything I had been thinking about in mind, I gathered up everything, repacking it until it was all fit as snugly as possible. I would be coming back here for the night, but I didn’t want to leave anything just in case. With everything packed, I head out the door, but not before stopping by downstairs to pay for another night. I had been planning to do that this morning, but I didn’t get the chance.

Walking up to the proprietor, and I said, “I would like another night.” He just held out his hand, and I dropped in the coins into it. He glanced at them, and gave me a satisfied nod and grunt, not saying a word. Alright then. I suppose it was time to be on my way, so that I could get everything together as swiftly as possible.

I wander around the city and at about noon I find a place that looks to be selling wagons and horses. Or at the very least, maintaining a good number of both. The outside is moderately clean, but it looks to just be a wall around a courtyard, with a few buildings scattered about the perimeter. I enter and see some people taking harnesses off the horses and detaching them from the wagons. It had been quite a long time since I had seen a horse up close, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The things were huge, easily my height if not a bit over, and at around five foot ten, that was fairly tall, I think. For a horse anyway.

“Hey there!” I said with a wave. They nod back at me and continue to work. Though they barely even glance away from it in the first place. One of them does give Bella an odd look, but they swiftly turn back to what they were doing before. “Do you know where I could find the foreman of this place?” I continue, though the one that had given Bella the look is a bit annoyed at my question. The closest one to me points to a small office looking building in one of the corners. Giving them and the horses a wide berth, I walk towards the office. I knock on the door and when I hear someone call “Enter” I open the door and step in.

The room is bland, as far as offices go. A desk in the center, with a shelf full of logbooks off to the side. As I glanced about, I said, “Hello, I am looking for a horse and wagon, if you have any to part with.” The foreman looked a bit older than the workers outside, I would probably put him at about forty, though he looked to be quite gray in the hair already.

He took a breath before saying, “I do have a few carts available, though not as many horses. I don’t suppose that you can prove how much you have though before we get down to business. No offense son, it just isn’t every day that people walk onto my lot with money in hand.” His tone was conciliatory, though it did have a small air of indifference in it.

I of course had no reason not to oblige him, and for all I knew this was the only place in town to get the wagon, though I suspect that I could get a horse elsewhere. I pulled out most of my silver, ten of the sixteen that I had, before showing him. He was a bit surprised at that, though he didn’t voice it, his eyebrows gave it away as they rose towards his receding hair line.

He gave a small chuckle, before saying, “I suppose that should show me to judge. The carts I have are all fairly cheap, though sturdily built. None of them are fancy carriages, but they get the job done. The best we have would run about six silver, and a pair of horses would be another three silver. Though I suppose you could get away with getting one of the other carts.” He paused, thinking a little bit. I was rejoicing a little, because I won’t even need to use the gold at this rate! He continued, “Have you ever driven a wagon before?”

“Well, no. I was hoping I could learn, though.” I said with a small chuckle of my own, more out of embarrassment, than anything else. He shook his head a little at that, but he had his own wry smile.

“Don’t worry lad, I will get one of my apprentices to show you how to, but I suppose we should finalize our deal before we get you some lessons.” He said, before standing, and making his way outside. He led me to a few different wagons, and they all looked fairly similar to me. They all had four wheels, with a slightly raised driver’s seat. The bed of the wagons were all walled, except out the back, and the usual setup looked to be a rope tied between what looked to be two eye bolts, driven into the wall of the cart. It looked like it could hold a good deal, and I did end up going with one of the less expensive ones, though it wasn’t by all that much, five silver instead of six.

In the end, I shelled out eight silver to him, and the cart with a pair of good-looking horses were mine. He had one of his men show me how to properly drive the cart, as well as saddle the horses, as they had thrown one of those in with the purchase. Just one though, so I would have to move it between the two if I had reason to switch between them. It was relatively easy to get the hang of, the horses smart and well trained enough to listen to verbal commands, though only a small handful of them. The reins were easy enough to manipulate, just pulling side to side as you would when riding them, though gently, and not harsh pulling.

After a few hours of the lessons, they deemed me good enough to go on, so after getting my stuff situated in the back, as well as Bella comfortable enough on the bench next to me, we set out onto the street. It was still a few hours before sundown, so I had time to collect a good deal of what I thought I needed. I was led this way and that, mostly by helpful shopkeepers after I paid for their goods. And it wasn’t too long before I had loaded down a good deal of the wagon.

I had bought a sack of nails, a barrel of ingredients to make mortar, enough oats to feed the horses for a few weeks, a saw, a pickaxe and a backup, as well as a backup axe, a shovel and a backup, a barrel of clean water, some empty crates, and some empty barrels. Of course, I had also made sure that I was stocked up on food and as much of anything that I could think of for the foreseeable future, such as bandages, a pot, and other cooking utensils and other miscellaneous goods. I had also gotten a canvas tarp, big enough to cover the whole bed of the wagon, to keep the rain out, and I had put that on almost as soon as I had gotten it. I also got a few dozen more arrows, as I didn’t know how long it would be before I came back to get more supplies. I had spent most of the silver I had, and about one hundred fifty coppers. I was now down to one gold, two silver, and around a hundred coppers.

I pulled back into the inn I was staying at, and a kid that I hadn’t seen before helped direct my cart into the courtyard, before helping me walk the horses to a neighboring stable. I had to pay a small fee, two coppers each, to board the horses for the night, but it was well worth it. I was given a chit for each horse, had the stall number embossed upon them, and told I could pick them up anytime, though the fee accrued per day. I gave my thanks to the young man, giving him a copper for a tip, and he seemed happy enough at that. With Bella under one arm, and my usual supplies under the other, I headed back towards the Inn. After settling back into my room there, I did enjoyed the dinner, which had been a beef stew of some kind, though it was light on the meat. Bella loved it though, eating every scrap that she could. After a quick bathroom break, we retired back to the room, and I once again propped the door with the chair.

I fell asleep once again with Bella situated on my chest, a reassuring weight like you wouldn’t believe.

We rose with the sun, and the wake-up knocks, and set off quickly enough. This morning they had sausages instead of bacon, but neither Bella nor myself had any complaints about that. The horses were obtained easily enough, and the cart was undisturbed. Harnessing went quick enough, and it wasn’t long before we were rolling towards the gates on the east side of the city. They didn’t check the outbound travelers, but I did have to pay an exit fee, though it was only five coppers. The journey to the mountains was soon underway.

The first few days were uneventful, with the mountains growing larger by the day. Though Bella had begun regaining her mobility. She liked to walk around a bit, though I did have to take it slower when she did, to not leave her behind. The sixth day was the day I entered the forest at the base of the mountains. It was thick woods, though the underbrush could probably be considered middling, as it looked to be mostly old growth woods. From there, I started leading the wagon from the ground, stopping every few feet to clear out what underbrush was in the way. Three days, and a lot of elbow grease, later, I had a barely traversable path through the forest to a clearing that looked to be perfect. The road I had taken was originally headed east and taken a turn south, far around the woods for some reason, though it was probably a combination of them. There was a small pond on one side of the clearing, with a stream leading into it from the direction of the mountains and out into the woods near the opposite end. The pond itself looked to be sitting in a slight depression, but for the most part the clearing was flat. It sloped up towards the mountains in the north, and the grassland faded back into forest on the other three sides. I couldn’t see any discernable reason that the forest had the bounds where it did, but it seemed like a pretty much perfect spot to call home.

It took a few hours, but I set to work right away. First, I dug out a three-foot-deep, twenty-foot-long, by fifteen feet wide pit. That would be nine hundred cubic feet of dirt. It took about half a week to do that. I did of course take breaks, playing with Bella, rubbing down and brushing the horses. They all took to their new surroundings well enough. I usually posted the horses out on different trees during the day, before bringing them in to be close to the campfire and wagon at night.

Next, I cut down some good-looking trees close to the clearing and attempted to process them into something useable. I say tried, because I was working with vague knowledge that was barely more than half remembered at this point. The first few were almost complete failures except for the fact that I now had a rather large pile of firewood drying. I didn’t have the time to really do any drying of the lumber, so I just have to cross my fingers and hope that nothing falls on my head when I am done. I took a few days to dry what I had cut as much as I could, and during that time I would collect some of the bigger stones from the mountains to chip into bricks. This I had more success off the bat with. I had to use the horses and some creative harnessing to pull some of the stones, as well as stumps in the path from the road to my clearing, wanting to expand it more fully.

After another week of working on it, the house was finally… halfway done. I had run out of lumber and was working on some more to use. The fireplace was on one of the shorter sides and was a pain in the ass to get to fit the boards around it. Just as an extra precaution I made the bricks double what they probably should be and had used up most of the mortar on that and to seal in the parts of the walls that I already had done. The other special thing about the fireplace was that it had a relatively thin stone slab with airflow on either side, so I didn’t choke to death on woodsmoke as I grilled. This allowed me to have some freshly cooked foods, using meat that I went out and hunted when I was taking breaks from the wood or bricks. The small multitude of rabbit pelts and the single deer pelt were drying out on a small stand I built using some of the extra wood.

Across the building on the opposite side to the fireplace, was a small lean-to like structure ten feet wide and the same length as the building. The north and south sides were completely open for now, with the east and west being little more than posts with some boards between them. The roof for this part was the canvas tarp, protecting it somewhat from the rain. The walls made it easy to navigate the cart in so that it would stay out of the weather. The horses had a pair of medium-ish sized stalls on the back of the house with a roof over their heads so they could be out of the weather. I had just been sleeping in the bed of the cart, as it was covered and raised off the ground. Bella was gaining even more mobility, running about the place, though the splint remained. She was also growing much larger during this time, having nearly doubled or more in size since I had first found her.

Another week later and I have completed what I set out to do originally. I had finished the house and made myself a place to call home. I guess I can tick that off the agenda, but it was but a small step in this world. It looked rather plain and boring, but eventually, it could grow into something rather quaint. The roof was supported as much as I could make it, hopefully so that it won’t collapse on me. I had used dirt to pile against the walls and roof as much as I could, filling in all the cracks between the boards that would let cold air in during winter with mortar. Nothing is perfect, though, and I suppose a heavy enough wind or rain could get through, but it will block out the most of it. Would probably be a good idea to get some canvas tarps, to help block out the rain even further.

The inside was where I had spent the most time. In the middle of the house, there was a pretty massive support beam, over a foot across. It should help keep some of the pressure off the walls. I had used almost all the rope I had brought before and the new stuff from the miscellaneous items I bought in the frontier town to make a nice and cozy hammock. My weaving skills aren’t the best, but it sure beats lying on the ground or even on the bed of the wagon. It would be very awkward with multiple people trying to sleep in it, but luckily it was just me and Bella. I could probably already take the splint off, but it shouldn’t hurt to be cautious and leave it on for another week. I had read somewhere once that growing dogs can heal from broken bones in about a month or so, which is coming up soon, if that hadn’t passed already. Time was getting harder to track, especially during the construction of this place. I had started getting into a rhythm, and with not much happening, it all started to blend together.

The other pieces of furniture that I have are a small square table close to the fireplace with a chair, and that is where I usually eat at. I had made a giant ten-foot-long workshop table where I did most everything that needed the use of fine detail because I had situated it right in front of the biggest window I had. I say window, but it is just a giant rectangle with the dimensions of five feet wide by three feet tall, that had an equally giant shutter to close it.

I used most of the bigger cleaned pelts as blankets, which at the moment was just the deer pelt I had and another I had gotten a few days ago. It may seem wasteful to some that I was catching all of this food, especially to the people of Earth, but the pup just plows through more food than I can eat in a week in about a third of the time. I had gotten a few more rabbit pelts so the count for those is now up to sixteen. I had gotten some sacks to store stuff and I now had two full of dried and smoked meat that weighed about thirty pounds each which I could sell for a good amount hopefully.

I had some good luck with the trades made so far, so sixty pounds of meat and sixteen pelts should cover almost everything that I would need to make the trip into town to buy. I wouldn’t have to worry one bit about my house or anything that I left here because the people of the frontier town thought that most of the territory past three days walking was somehow tainted or corrupt. I attribute all of this to their general lack of knowledge about the area and fear of what the previous kingdom left behind. I assume that as more of the land is tamed closer to town they will expand further. As it stands, the cart easily traveled two or three times my walking speed, so I was a good fifteen or more days from Lyion, which is well outside the range of most bandits or people in general.

Most people would not find anything of value out here except what you make of it, and those that think like that would hopefully be honorable enough to leave everything alone. Bandits might be a problem closer towards the city, but they were usually a very superstitious bunch and as such, they would be within three days of it. Hopefully.

I packed up all the things that I was planning to sell as well as the water barrel and enough food. I still had most of my arrows for my bow, but that is one of the things that I will be stocking up on. The damned things seemed to break faster when you had more of them, so even though I had bought several bundles not all that long ago, I was running low again.

When I finish loading up the cart and fixing the horses to it, I close all of the windows and make sure everything is secure. I had maintained the road in the forest as much as I could, and it only took a day to cross back what took me three to clear originally. The first few days were uneventful, but it started to rain on the fourth day from home. I had taken the tarp down from the lean too, so everything but myself and Bella were kept dry. I personally had my cloak, so it was Bella that got the worst of it. She probably needed a bath though; it had been a while since I had managed to wrestle her into the stream to wash off. Three days out from the city, almost like magic, I encountered some bandits. They were just standing by the road trying their best to look menacing. There were three of them, but they had ripped clothes and a single rusty sword. Not exactly the most intimidating bunch. Especially since I had taken the splint off Bella during our first day of travel, and she had what looked to be full mobility.

I stopped as soon as I saw them and drew my bow with one of my axes in the driver's seat next to me. I had seen them with enough time to string the bow, though it was a bit awkward to do so from a seated position. They stepped out across the road and spread out. No one said anything at the time, so it would be comically tense if not for the threat of violence. The leader of them drew their sword and stood threateningly. While that was the only weapon they had on them, the other two were rather large people. Slightly larger than me if I can see right. Though they do look awfully malnourished. They were still a good twenty or thirty feet away.

“Give us everything you have, and you might escape with your li-” The bandit leader starts to say, but I cut him off with an arrow to the foot. I was aiming for his leg, but at least I hit him. My aim had certainly grown better, but it still had a long way to go. As he is now in lots of pain on the ground, his two goons charge straight at me. I shoot one more arrow before they can get me, but they dodged it. I set down my bow and grab my axe seconds before they are climbing up into the wagon. Bella started growling at the one climbing up the left side.

The one climbing up the left side backed off a bit when he heard that. I was swinging the blunt end of the axe at the one who had been climbing up the right side when I saw a metallic flash of metal as he ducked under my swing and stabbed at me with the knife he had hidden. I received a cut across the stomach that hurt like hell. A pained gasp and a kick to his knee caused him to fall out of the wagon. He fell on a rock in the road and promptly started bleeding from a cut across the head because of it.

Bella jumped at the other one and had his arm in her jaws, shaking it back and forth. I used the blunt end of the axe to hit him on the top of his head, and he crumpled to the ground in a big heap. The other one tried to run, but I had taught Bella a few things when I had the time. She knew stuff like sit and stay, but my favorite that I taught her was a tackle. She used it on a few of the rabbits she had got and would then bring them to me.

“Tackle!” I yelled and pointed at the fleeing bandit. She had grown a lot and now weighed about fifty pounds. Most people cannot simply shrug off that jumping at them close to twenty some miles per hour. Bella sprinted at him and took him down by dragging him and his arm towards the ground and holding it there. I ran up behind them and swung like a baseball player with the axe and knocked him over the head. He collapsed and I turned to the last remaining conscious bandit while holding the cut across my stomach.

He was trying his best to hobble away while using his sword as a cane. He had left the arrow that I had shot his foot with snapped in half next to the bloodstain it caused. I started to walk towards him, and he just collapsed to his knees and started to try and beg to be let go.

“Please just let me go, I won’t ever be around here again, and I will tell the rest of the crew not to mess with you!”

I casually stopped outside of the range and he just stared at me with cool resignation in his eyes. I motion for him to toss the sword and he goes to do it, but at the last second, he lunges forward at me. I swung my axe like a bat again, and it struck his rusty sword. My hit had broken the point of the sword off and thrown the stab off course. I promptly kicked his wrist and he dropped the sword. I then used the axe to knock him out like I had with the others. Though they might not be long for the world, anyway, especially not trying to do their foolishness with the concussions I no doubt gave them.

I used what rope I had left and made sure to secure all of them as tight as I could. I tied the right wrist to the left ankle and left wrist to the right ankle. I only just had enough rope left to tie them all up like this, and I definitely needed some more. I then threw them into the wagon as far away from all the other stuff as I could.

For the next three days, I fed them twice a day and gave them water every few hours. They got a bathroom break a day and they knew they couldn’t run away as I had a bow pointed at their backs as they went about their business. I had bandaged myself up soon after the fight, but it still hurt pretty bad for a few days after. Nobody talked much during the ride. Whatever they had thought about planning or trying to escape never happened as I or Bella always had an eye on them.

I joined the extremely short line of people trying to get into the frontier town of Lyion, at least the from the east anyway. There had been many more coming in from the west. I must not have seen the sign with the name on it by the gate last time, but I had certainly heard other people using it. It is good to have confirmation though. As I pulled up next to the guard, before he could ask me my business in Lyion, I said: “What do you want me to do with these people that attacked me on the road here?” At first, it is obvious that he would be confused, but that cleared right up when he walked up to my wagon and looked inside. His eyebrows certainly crept right up, and his jaw dropped a little.

He started, “I will take them, and you shall have to come with me to a guard station to-”

I cut him off there with a, “To check the truth of my statement?” He looked a little annoyed that I had cut him off, but he just nodded. He went back and yelled something into what I suppose was the gatehouse for someone to replace him. He waved towards me, so I gave a flick of the reins and followed him. We hadn’t gone far before he stopped and went inside a building and came out with two other people dressed similarly to himself.

“I don’t suppose that you could get someone to watch my wagon while I come inside?” The original guard just nods his head and tells one of the others to go get another man. The guards then came over and helped me untie the bandits from how I had them and then tied just their hands together behind their backs. I stored my rope in one of the sacks and nodded to the fourth guy coming out. He nodded back and just stood there watching my wagon.

Inside was another one of those people with the gray robes, who was probably another truth seer, or just someone that could use truth magic. He looked at me questioningly and I just nodded to him. I walked up to him and he said: “Start from the beginning and tell me what has happened since.” He adopted a stony expression, while some whitish wisps started pouring off him. I was a bit confused at first, but I just rolled with it.

I started at where I had been bringing stuff to the city to sell and then to buy some more things that I needed and continued to the fight. I told him exactly how the fight went and even showed him where I had been cut across the stomach. I finished up the story of what happened between the battle and here, ending it with what I told the gate guard.

He didn’t interrupt me and as soon as I was done, he just said “I have confirmed what you have said. We thank you for taking more bandits off the roads. Please go and collect five silver from the clerk as a show of appreciation.” His expression relaxed a bit, and I had noticed that as time went on the wisps had decreased by a fair bit.

“Thank you, sir.” I said. With that, I walked over to the clerk who wasn’t but five feet away and had heard everything that was said. He just handed me a small money pouch and nodded at me. I checked to make sure that it was indeed five silver and nodded back. I passed by the guard watching my wagon and waved at him as I climbed into it. He just nodded and turned to the door of the guard station to go back inside.

Bella just looked up at me from the back and went back to sleep on the furs. I navigated through the streets as fast as I could without running anyone over, but it still took about an hour to reach Conner’s shop from where I was. I pulled off the side as much as I could and set the wagon brakes.

“Guard,” I told Bella and she stood at attention inside the back of the cart. Then I grabbed the pile of rabbit pelts and the two sacks. Whereas before my two weeks of hard labor I would have had a good amount of trouble just lifting all of this in one go, it seems that I have grown stronger. My arm was fully healed by now, and it had been a few days since my latest injury.

I open the door and the store is about the same as last time. This time there are two open people at the counter, and one of them is Conner. I walk up with a small smile and a “Hey.” He smiled at seeing me, happy to have a repeat customer if I was to guess why.

“Ah, hello Davin. I haven’t seen you in some time, but it seems that you have been busy.” He replies with a small smile of his own.

“Yes, well I have set up a small homestead about a bit out from here into the frontier. I would have come back sooner, but I wanted to finish up my house that I cobbled together before I came back for some more supplies.” He seems a bit surprised that I would be out on the frontier, but he just nods along with my tale.

“Well then, what do you have to sell and what do you need? I most likely have anything that you could need for a budding homestead here. I don’t do animals, though, sorry.” He said with a small chuckle.

I return a smile of my own, and say, “That’s okay. I have sixteen rabbit pelts and sixty pounds of dried meats. I will need about four barrels, two barrels of mortar mix, a small crate of candles, six sixteen feet long rolls of rope, a good amount of sacks like these” I hoisted up the sacks of meat “two sacks of nails, a few lanterns, and enough oil for a few months. I will also need some seeds for corn, tomatoes, some green peppers, and onions. Some rosemary and thyme wouldn’t hurt either.” Always good to have a bit of variety, though I could just dice some potatoes for the starter plants.

A bit overwhelmed with all the stuff I asked for, he starts doing some math on a small ledger on the counter, intermittently using the abacus as well, noting down prices and adding them together.

“Also a few small leather journals, if you can.” He just nods along doing the math. After a few minutes, he looks up at me. I knew that I would still likely be paying for this exchange, even after all that I brought in, but that was ok. It was all stuff that would help in the long run.

“I can give you twelve copper per rabbit like last time, and about a silver for the meats. All of the stuff that you wanted would total out to six silver and ten copper, but how about I just round it off six silver.” He says with a kind smile, though I don’t doubt that he was still making a hefty profit.

I give a small smile in return, before setting out the silver and ten copper it would take to make us even. I then ask, “Do you know anyone that could sell me some chickens? I want to raise some on the farmstead.” Mostly because I miss having eggs.

He gives me a nod for the coinage, and says, “There is a stock yard a few streets over to the east. Can’t miss it for all of the shit smell in the air.” A light laugh after that, and he says, “Is there anything else I can help you with?” His air of professionalism never slipping, and ever present.

I reply, “No, I don’t think so. Thanks for the information. If I ever need anything and I am in town, I will make sure to come here for it.” I extend my hand to shake.

He says, “No problem friend. See you around then.” Returning my gesture and giving me a firm handshake in return.

I walk back out to the wagon and wait for all my stuff to arrive from the shop as some laborers set it neatly in the back of the wagon. I double check everything is there and then put two of the three small leather-bound books in a few sacks and then stick them in an empty barrel to keep them safe and dry. It was getting a bit late, so it would probably be a good a time as any to bed down for the night.

I head towards the inn I had stayed in last time, and they did have a few rooms open. The prices had remained the same, and Bella and I enjoyed a lovely meal of spiced chicken and baked potatoes. All gooey and covered in melted butter. The horses only got a bland meal of oats in the stable. I was handed a different room key than last time, but when I entered, I saw that the rooms were nearly the exact same. The bed was in a different corner though. I pulled off my boots, and plopped down into the rather luxurious bed, well, compared to my own at least. Bella jumped up right after me, and we both slipped away not too long after.