No one had died on any of their missions, which was remarkable in its own right. The slime had required them to regroup. Qen lifted his arm, showing me the slight acid burns that still remained after he had drunk the healing potion. I winced. “That looks pretty bad…” I remarked. “Perhaps I should have gotten you a cocktail of the poisons I’ve used before.”

“I would not have expected you to.” Qen said. “We hadn’t considered that slimes could put up so much resistance.” He said with a wince. “I guess we forgot about the importance of setting the battlefield. Well at least we’ve got a reminder out of this…”

“Not much you could’ve done about it.” I said. “It wouldn’t have come otherwise. Did you eventually manage to poi… Oh right, that would not have been good at all.” I said, reminded of what had occurred the first time I’d tried to poison them. “Did you… by any chance, use a convulsant?”

They looked at me sheepishly. “Yes…” Mulia said. “I had simply picked several poisonous plants that I had been told to avoid. It was why we didn’t have enough for his wounds.” She continued. “We ran away so we could cure ourselves…” She said.

I grimaced. “Sorry, I learned that the first time as well, should really have added that as a note into the handbook…” It reminded me of my high school days, when I would always just pass on making notes, and never write anything into my textbook. Something about it just felt like I was defacing it. “Yeah… that’s on me…” I said. “Sorry about that, you should write that in when you get the chance.”

“But… it’s your handbook.” Maria said. “You just lent it to us, how could we?”

“If I recall, I gave it to you.” I said with a smirk. “Besides, again, I have a good memory so I don’t need it anymore anyway. It’d be a waste otherwise, and it’ll help you keep it in mind next time if you ever get rusty from all the giant killing I expect you’ll be taking up. How was the ettin?” I asked.

“It was much better than the slime, especially since we could get the dire wolves to work with us as well.” They puffed up their chests at that, looking especially proud of themselves. Mulia laughed, stroking their ears and running her hand along their backs. “Yeah, you guys did good.”

I gave them a wry smile and pet them as well. “Keeping out of trouble are we?” I asked in a joking tone. They headbutted my hand, giving a snort. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I said, laughing. “In any case, I’ll need to leave before the day really gets too late. I have another job, this one will probably be… interesting.” I said, standing from the chair and turning to leave. “Good luck, stay safe.”

I walked back to Cale, who stood from the chair. “Are we ready?” He asked. I nodded. “Who were they? I recognize Mulia, but few others. They seemed to regard you as a mentor, and yet it would seem they aren’t aware that you are the Masked? Others hold you at a distance when you are in your other persona.”

“Considering how I look, I can’t really blame them.” I said. “I look similar to a death knight.”

“Well the superstition surrounding you and the myths others have cultivated are doing you no favours either for anonymity.” Cale noted with a faint, wry smile. “Some say you are a demon taken human form to champion the cause of justice. The common folk like you quite a bit really. As they like Frejr and the others, but you are growing to be more and more well known.”

I frowned. The whole thing is really starting to unnerve me. I thought. I mean… hell, I’m basically turning into some kind of folklore hero…

[Aren’t you? You’ve had a lot of chances and many events where you’ve proven yourself as quite the ally of the people.] Page noted. [Along with that distinctive armour, it’s no wonder.]

We made our way there by cart. A merchant had conveniently decided to make a trip there, and we had signed on as extra guards for the trip. “This trip will be a pretty long one.” The merchant said. “And with things the way they are a few more guards couldn’t hurt. Got to say though, you’re all doing a great job at keeping the roads safe, with a growing organization you’d probably still be quite the force when the war’s over.” He rubbed at his chin.

“I think at least some of us will probably disperse once the war ends. It’s one thing to step up, but once the army returns to their patrols, the wanderers in our group will probably lift roots and scatter.” I said. “Or some of them will return to old haunts anyway.”

“Ah, which do you think the Masked will do?” The merchant asked, the cart slowly trundling along its path. “He strikes me as one to wander, and yet he seems to have gone out of his way to provide aid. They say he negotiated with the dragons as they came down from the north. Fought demons and tamed beasts, truly a strange enigma is he not?”

I laughed. “He certainly looks the part doesn’t he?” I said. “I don’t know him personally, but I think once this is over he’ll find somewhere quiet, he didn’t strike me as a person who would wander too much except when there was no other choice. Hell, they found him down at Soren in the first place, he’d just been guarding the place for several months before the war if you can believe it.”

“Huh, that’s interesting.” The merchant said, surprised. “I’d not heard of that before.”

“Likely because the other stories are far more interesting.” Cale noted with a smile. “After all, the tale of him helping to break the siege of the gnolls would be far more glamourous than the tale of him defending a farm from slimes.”

The merchant laughed. “That’s true indeed. So what takes you to Romus?” He asked. “They seem to be one of the few places that don’t tolerate irregulars very well. Are you there for a job or some kind of petition?” He looked at us appraisingly.

“A petition?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “Why would you say that?”

“Considering the growing influence of your group, I’d thought that you might wish to ask them for permission to set up even a small outpost in the area.” The merchant said. “Besides that, I imagine that you might also benefit from an alliance of sorts to keep the peace.”

I shook my head. “No reason for us to set up an outpost in a place that doesn’t need our help. For the latter… well I would say that if nothing else we’re an independent and unruly bunch, not really one for those kinds of politics.” I said. “In this case I’m just travelling to meet a friend in the area, haven’t heard from them in a while, and I’d like to check if they’re still kicking.” I smiled wryly.

“Hah, well I’ve heard of nothing in particular happening in the city, so if your friend was hale and hearty there should be no problem.” He said, taking a look at his map. “We’ve entered into Republic grounds by now, their roads are a lot safer than most others.” He glanced over at us. “No offence to the irregulars of course, it’s remarkable what you have managed despite your resources.”

I laughed. “None taken, it’s a good thing that people are managing to stay safe regardless.”

“Heh, I see. A few of the people I’ve talked to have whispered of a conspiracy. I think they might be just a little jealous of them.” He chuckled. “Not without good reason I’d say. They have quite the robust military, even after they sent their share of it to the front lines.”

“Well, technically the army that remains is mostly the private armies of the councillors, hence not part of the conscription.” Cale said. “The actual general army is plenty depleted in the same way that the others are, I think there’s even been a petition within the Republic to split them among the councillors.”

“That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen…” I said. “Are the councillors on good terms with one another?” I asked. “I can imagine a fracturing of forces if there’s no unifying body…”

“From what I know… I’ll have to conclude that with no.” Cale said with a sigh. “Though it’s unlikely to escalate to a civil war, the years have seen fractures between them, though it tends to only cause problems when new regulations are being passed, as each of them wants an edge over the others.” He leaned back. “It’s getting pretty tiresome honestly.”

“Oh? You know a lot about the political situation in the Republic?” The merchant asked, looking over with interest. “What do you think of the recent events? They say that there might indeed be open war this time. Between the councillors Ixley and Loke.”

“I keep myself apprised. It is my home after all.” Cale replied. “Them again? What makes this time any different from the last. They’re mostly bluster, less a problem than a nuisance.”

“Ah, that would normally be true, but from what I’ve heard, this time it concerns matters of the heart.” He smiled amusedly. “There’s also been talk of murder, though that seems less concrete.”

“Matters of the heart…” Cale muttered. “Don’t tell me that Lean and Shae have decided to make a public announcement…” He groaned. “I can’t deal with this right now.” He muttered under his breath, where only I could hear.

Do I hear Romeo and Juliet being played out in an alternate world? I thought, bemused. That could definitely… complicate things. “Oh? You even knew of that beforehand? Truly you are blessed with an extraordinary grapevine.” He said with a laugh. “Indeed they have, what a curious time to do so though. Wouldn’t you say?”

“No… no I wouldn’t…” Cale replied. “I imagine Shae finally became of age for service…”

The rest of the conversation was more idle gossip, trailing about the state of the world and the war. The dragons were spearheading the push against the demons, they had almost no deaths, but many injured in the line of duty, their ability to heal was pretty strong however, and many of them had rejoined the fight in short order.

Soon we approached the gates of Romus. “Ah, welcome back. It’s been a while.” The guard said to the merchant. “Has the year been good for you?”

“Times are lean.” The merchant said with a sigh. “But I’ll manage. Can’t complain considering I still have a roof over my head.” He said.

“That’s true, head on in, you know the drill, but I’ll just repeat it for your escorts. No fighting, no killing, no loitering in the streets.” He rattled off, looking at us. “May you enjoy your time with us.” He said, waving us into the city.

“This is where we part.” The merchant said, passing us several brass siqs. “Thank you for lending your aid. I assume you will not be with me on the return?” I shook my head, it was unlikely we’d be able to finish our work in the interim. In fact, it’d be best if there were fewer people around when we started pulling things off, but that was an increasingly vanishing hope.

[At least you got paid for the journey rather than having to pay for it.] Page noted.

That’s true enough… Walking would not have been a fun way to get about… I thought to myself. It had been confirmed that we would split up, taking residence in different inns. Cale himself would be attempting to keep his identity a secret.

“So…” I asked. “Have you figured out how you’re going to approach?”