"I know I am in a town called Arenol, but if I'm honest, I have no clue where this is. I just arrived today but am trying to get back home."

"Boarded the wrong ship?" the barkeep chuckled as if he remembered something amusing. "This humble little town is on the southwestern end of Oscela. You can reach Slester by following the coast up north, although it is still quite a journey. Baladale is right across the sea, and I'm sure you can find some ship heading there even here."

I was disappointed at how useless that information was to me, but at least knowing the names of a few locations could help me learn more about them. I currently did not want to appear too clueless, so I refrained from asking in case any of those were famous locations.

"What do you reckon a ride would cost?" I asked, hoping to learn more about the local currency.

"Two ravens normally to travel up the coast, maybe double that to cross the sea. Right now, however, with the harvest in full swing, space will be at a premium. I'm sure the captains will make use of that to extort any travelers."

Well, not like I had any money to begin with so that changes nothing. Nor do I really need to leave.

"How common are spirits here?"

"In the town? A rarity. Always bad times when one does show, though. Only the most dangerous ones make it in and tend to stay well hidden. Outside the walls, however, you will find them aplenty, mostly no worse than overly aggressive rodents."

So I got unlucky then, I guess. That jackrabbit sounds more like what he is describing.

"Mana on this whole island is scarce, but it makes it good for farming." He continued. "Well, not necessarily good, but safe."

Nice to know I'm on an island. Spirits seem to be linked to mana in some way. Are they even stronger where there is more mana?

The thought sent shivers down my spine. It made me hesitant to even want to leave this place.

What if there being no mana here is why it looks so ordinary. Are there magical cities elsewhere?

I did not want to set my expectations high, but attending a school of magic or seeing a flying city sounded exciting.

"Mind if I ask a question?" The barkeep asked, suddenly looking serious.

"Sure."

"I just wanted to know if you think you will manage to kill that spirit soon. I have a daughter, you see. Same age as the victims, and I'm scared to let her out of my sight."

I was hesitant to answer as I had no idea if our plan would work or even when, but I wanted to reassure him. I also began wondering how much Andre had told the barkeep, but only as an afterthought. I fidgeted with the cup as I mulled it over, realizing I had not yet drunk any of my drink as I watched the rippling surface.

"It is a work in progress," I admitted, going with honesty. "Finding it won't be easy, but we are hopeful. If we are lucky, maybe even tonight."

"When you do, I'll get you a drink on the house as a thank you."

I finally took a sip of my drink and immediately had Qubit catch the liquid just in case, as I did not want to gag in front of the people here. It was upsetting as I was sure I would have enjoyed it were I still human.

Setting my mug down, I noticed the barkeep taking a step back and looking down at something behind the bar before excusing himself to go into a backroom, presumably the kitchen.

I did not think much of it, so I remained seated and pretended to enjoy my drink and spent the time looking over the various bottles lined up on the shelves surrounding the barrels inlaid into the back wall. There were no labels, but some did have text etched directly on the glass. Only after some time of aimless thoughts did it occur to me that there were a significant number of beer and wine bottles. That was not something I would expect from a seemingly pre-industrialization town, but it could have just been my ignorance. Maybe this bar was simply well-off or importing a lot from elsewhere.

My musings got cut off just as I emptied my tankard with the barkeep returning from the back.

"Enjoy your drink?" he asked before turning to a whisper after I nodded in confirmation. "I've been told to tell you it is time to leave and to make a scene that we are out of rooms before you go. I don't like to think there is a spirit among the men here, but I might be biased. Good luck."

Seems he wasn't told it could be a human just as well.

I gave him a slight nod before sitting up straight.

"Do you have a room?" I asked, playing my part.

The barkeep, who I just realized still did not have the name of, looked conflicted as he stepped to the side to put a little distance between us.

"Sorry, ma'am," he said with a slightly raised voice to be heard over the noise of the other patrons. "I'm afraid we are full tonight. I can get you another drink as an apology."

"I'm good. I'd better get going then." I said and got up, taking a glance to see a couple of curious faces looking this way but did not loiter.

Stepping outside, I took a deep breath of fresh, cool air, free of the stench of sweat and alcohol, and looked around.

Just as I expected, Andre was already waiting at one of the street corners, disappearing from view as soon as he saw me see him.

Out next destination was a small, somewhat sleazy-looking bar. Most of the patrons were on the older side, and it was hushed inside. I had felt like I was trespassing somewhere I did not belong, but nothing of note happened, as the barkeep was not overly talkative either.

Much like previously, the barkeep went to the back after seeing something behind the bar, only to return to tell me it was time to go. There was no staged sendoff this time with him either not wanting to play along or there being no need with the subdued atmosphere.

Soon after I left that bar, however, something finally occurred. Two men, with the larger of the pair being the same one that came to refill his drink while I was getting mine, stopped on the far end of the street when they saw me. The larger man pointed in my direction, and I suddenly had an uneasy feeling as they once more began walking in my direction.

I did not stop, nor did I speed up as I continued following Andre's path, hoping to get his attention before he dips behind a corner again. I do this by raising my hand when he turns to check up on me, making sure I am out of sight of my stalkers before I do so. He only briefly pauses this time before slinking down an alleyway once more, and I follow suit. Just before rounding that same corner myself, however, I imitate Andre and briefly pause to check up on my pursuers, who I was now fully convinced were after me as I once more got pointed out.

The alleyway I was now walking down was short and narrow, with only shuttered windows and no doors, meaning one way in and one way out. At the end of it, I was briefly startled to find Andre having waited for me to catch up hidden just around the corner.

"Stay there." He instructed me, and I did so, not turning around until I heard muffled footsteps and talking.

"She's still there. Told you we'd catch up."

"It's still a horrible idea, but no, just too stubborn to listen. Could have been drinking and winning some cash right now."

"You followed me on your own. Go back if you want. Oh, hey there missu- oh what the hell?"

I turned just in time to see Lucie, sword in hand, gently dropping down between me and the two men. They took a step back in shock, only to find that Larry was blocking the way behind them.

The larger man quickly put up his hands in surrender, his friend following along as he skittishly looked back and forth.

"We ain't looking for trouble. If you want money, it's in my pouch."

"Don't play dumb. You followed her here. What did you want?" Lucie demanded threateningly.

Realization quickly dawned on the man's face.

"Told you it was a horrible idea." The smaller one retorted before sweeping his open palm for us to see. "We ain't spirits. We saw the young lady on her own and wanted to make sure she is safe. I swear!"

"It's true! It was my idea. We would never do any harm. Our captain would skin us alive if we ever did."

"Seems we have a pair of vigilantes on our hands," Andre spoke as he finally stepped in to take control of the situation. "I think it is best we call it here. I'll take them in, talk to their captain and keep an eye on them."

The two men visibly paled at the mention of their captain.

"Please don't tell her! We really didn't mean any harm."

"I'll be the one to decide if you meant any harm or not. Now follow us."

Larry maintained his position at the back, sword still at the ready as I fell into step beside Lucie, just behind Andre. We walked in silence back to the church, stopping at the foot of the stairs where the cart was.

"You three go and rest. I'll send out Tristan. Do make sure to drop by tomorrow, and we can start the training. We can give this another shot after if you are all fine with it."

"Gotcha, but hopefully it's over now," Larry said as he stifled a yawn now that the tension was dissipating.

"Oh, and one more thing Larry," Andre said as he held out his hand.

Larry looked on in mild confusion before realizing what he meant and quickly handed over the house keys he had received.

"Thank you. Have a good night."

And with that, Andre ascended the stairs and entered the church with the two sailors.

"That was exhausting." Lucie proclaimed as soon as it was just the three of us left, along with Chestnut. "Those rooves are not meant for walking."

"At least ya knew what was going on. I kept getting worried I'd lose ya." Larry then turned to me. "Everything go alright?"

"Yeah, no issues. Had a nice chat with one of the barkeeps." I replied. "And got to see the town a bit."

"Glad ya got something out of it. Oh, Lighthouse is here. Let's get going."

Lucie was the first to jump in the cart.

"Yes, please, I'm freezing."

With the group assembled once again, we set off with Larry taking the reigns. We arrived at was what looked like a castle adjoining the outer wall on the far end of the so-called North Quarter.

There was a fenced metal gate in the wall leading to what appeared to be a courtyard. Larry hopped off and approached to unlock and open it but seemed to be having some trouble.

"I may have made a blunder."

"How? Don't tell me you lost the damn key." Tristan asked in exasperation.

"I think I gave ours to Andre. This one is his."

"You can't be serious."

"I'll go get it," Larry said, sounding defeated. "Lucie, mind hopping over and waking up Casper?"