Still standing back at the gates of Wolfpine, Scott waved. “Time to return, Redwood! Once the threat is dealt with, you must return to the town walls. No lollygagging!”

Joanne beckoned. “C’mon. He’s not joking. We’re actually supposed to return to the town walls as soon as all threatening Monsters are dead, and we also aren’t allowed to help Adventurers beyond dispensing [-Flash Heal-]s. Jog with me.”

Glenn only then remembered the Life Crystal the Gloamwolf had left behind. Should he pick it up? Yet when he turned to look, there was no Life Crystal.

“Any time we kill a Monster, their Life Crystal shatters,” Joanne explained patiently. “We get paid from the town’s coffers, and if we could use all our Strength to smash Gloamwolves like dollies, unscrupulous mayors would be using us to rake in Life Crystals day in day out.”

“Oh,” Glenn said. That sounded like something Mayor Coleman would definitely do.

He followed Joanne back to the gates, marveling at how different her walk was now. She wore only a simple [Commoner’s Shirt] and [Commoner’s Pants], yet they hugged her athletic frame. He’d only seen Joanne in her armor before today, yet she was obviously strong even without it.

Once they reached the gate, Joanne waved at Scott. “Now, I’m off to get ready for my Duel. I was promised a thick bag of crescents if I wrestled a rather overconfident Brutalist without wearing my armor, and then beat him into the ground. So that’ll be fun.”

“Wait,” Glenn remembered. “The Brutalist who just walked by came here to Duel you?”

Joanne spun and smiled. “Is he here already? [Steel Armor] and [Iron Shield] that haven’t seen a smith in years, and a shoddy [Bone Axe] that isn’t even enchanted?”

“Ah,” Scott said, with new understanding. “It appears I was mistaken, Redwood. The gold in that pouch was not, in fact, for our Entertainers.”

“Oh Gods no,” Joanne said. “It’ll be all mine soon, though to be fair, I imagine a lot of will end up in The Scarlet Rose anyway. Luke Calmwarden just officially became an adult, and you could grate cheese on that man’s abs.” Joanne breathed. “He’s going to be quite busy.”

“So you’ll be ... wrestling, this Brutalist?” Glenn said, hazarding a guess. Dueling remained illegal inside the walls of Wolfpine.

Joanne’s grin turned predatory. “Let’s go with that.” She turned and waved as she sauntered off. “Have a good day, gentleman. Don’t get salty!”

Glenn looked back to the Safe Road again, belatedly. He’d completely lost focus. He half-expected a disappointed Logain to be standing there, judging him, but the Safe Road remained empty. It was still early, after all. It looked like there was going to be a lot of boredom in this job.

“Does Joanne do this often?” Glenn asked, when it was clear no one would be by soon.

“Wrestle mouthy Adventurers in the nude?” Scott asked.

Glenn blinked at him. “She’s...” He paused. “You’re both messing with me again.”

“Are we?” Scott asked archly. “Only the Gods know for certain. What I can say is even without her armor, I’d not challenge Joanne Dewcrest. She once trained to be an Anchorite, and had 15 Strength before was selected as a Town Guard. That Brutalist, I believe, will learn his lesson too late.”

Glenn nodded, impressed. Anchorites were warriors who fought entirely unarmed, learning Skills that allowed them to crush and smash their opponents with fists and feet. Anchorites actually got stronger the more they got wounded, which made them a real terror at the end of a fight.

Glenn had managed to gain 14 Strength by Level 5, which was impressive in and of itself, but 15 was the maximum one could gain if one was naturally as strong as possible by the time they reached common age. While he and Joanne had both gained the same amount of Strength as they Leveled, she’d been stronger from Level 1, which made her even more impressive.

Glenn definitely wouldn’t want to wrestle Joanne, armor or no. And especially not nude.

Not that he could ever wrestle Joanne nude, of course. He was still trial age, while she was an adult, athletic and shapely and ... Gods! Why was he thinking about Joanne nude at all? He really shouldn’t be thinking about that.

“I’d say that’s it for your tests today, but you’d be a fool to believe me,” Scott said. “So stay sharp! We still have a full shift ahead, and you’ve only my cheery disposition for company.”

Glenn nodded and focused on the road. “I suppose that’ll have to do.”

“That’s the spirit,” Scott agreed.

*****

Glenn concluded his first shift on his first day without further incident. No one else ran screaming to the town gates with Gloamwolves on their heels. Adventurers came and went as Glenn stared enviously at the life he still wanted for himself, more than a little.

Standing guard that first day on the gate was as novel an experience as Glenn Redwood had ever had. Yet after all the excitement and disappointment and secret revelations of the night he undertook the Ceremony of the Path, over the next few days, his life slowed down again. Life became ... life, again, the same as it had been since he could remember.

His family remained as supportive as ever, and Glenn never missed a chance to have some more of Karl Coldbreaker’s delicious barbecue. He quickly became fast friends with all his fellow Town Guards, even Logain, who, while he was unquestionably in command, was also generous and fair. Sadie even occasionally sent Randi to the gates with a snack or two, which Glenn truly appreciated.

Everyone treated him differently, of course. Everyone in town knew the Gods had chosen him to protect them, and the deference they showed him even out of uniform was disconcerting and flattering. The gratitude he received felt heartfelt as well, an aspect of his new job he’d never considered ... perhaps because it came from Wolfpine’s adult Townsfolk, rather than those common and trial age.

It seemed the respect the Townsfolk felt for their Town Guards had always been there. He’d just never noticed since he’d been focused on leaving. And while his inability to leave Wolfpine’s walls and hunt every day felt confining at first, his seemingly inexhaustible pile of crescents had its benefits.

His shift was somewhere between eight to nine hours per day, with a long break for a free meal and some mead. Afterward he’d laugh and joke with Scott or another Town Guard for some of the day, and he’d occasionally take shifts with the other Town Guards as they swapped out for Scott or he swapped in for one of them. Other times, they simply stood in mutually respectful silence.

In that manner, his first week turned into a month which turned into three. Guarding the gates of Wolfpine wasn’t glamorous work. It wasn’t exciting. Yet every so often, an Adventurer came rushing into town with some Monster trying to kill them ... and Glenn saved them.

Saving people felt good. In three months on the gates Glenn saved twelve people, twelve Adventurers who didn’t die because he was on duty that day. And now that he wasn’t spending all his time out Leveling with Becka, he and Zack had actually found time to reconnect over their shared interests. He realized, now, he’d missed spending time with Zack.

Zack, of course, was completely uninterested in theorycrafting out his Skills and Blessings for his coming Levels, despite Glenn’s offers to help. And Glenn, as well, was intensely uninterested in learning the best way to convince a woman to consent, despite Zack’s offers to help. Yet they both enjoyed mead, and they both enjoyed tales of adventure, and Zack now had plenty to share.

Glenn still missed Becka—of course he missed Becka—but having a steady work schedule and a roster of new Town Guard friends helped him stay focused, as did the glow of accomplishment he felt after he saved each new life. He protected people. Glenn had always loved protecting people.

All that time Glenn waited anxiously for a letter, or word, or anything, and for a time he feared he’d never receive it. Yet two days after Becka’s sixteenth birthday, Glenn arrived home from his shift at the gates and found a letter waiting in his room. His mother had thoughtfully placed it on his pillow.

The letter bore a Blazer seal, a red ink circle with a hand and arm holding a blazing torch.