As I started walking away from the village, I received a pop-up message which read, "Minor faction quest COMPLETED. +100 XP. +200 Reputation. +400 XP." Unsure of why I received this, I turned back toward Kalistra. "Are you seeing the pop-up?" I asked her.

"What about it?" she replied.

The two boys traded glances but otherwise kept silent. The nobleman and the cat girl were not just master and servant, but also party members? This revelation was shocking to them because it revealed the depth of the bond between Lord Mulligan and his servant. Neither boy had ever joined a party before and the two feared that they would be forced to do so on this trip.

"If I read the intentions of the gods correctly, I received a completion reward for taking these two boys out of the village. The reputation bonus was granted to me because I found a resolution that didn't involve killing Sene in front of the villagers," I speculated.

"That sounds about right. When you showed off your truth stone, you revealed your membership in the Church; taking the boys away from their evil uncle was entirely within the purview of the church. In addition, you enhanced your personal reputation, as well as that of the church itself, by finding a peaceful resolution. After all, it's what we lowborn expect from our best judges: justice for all regardless of class. Because your judgment met their expectations, the villagers approved and your reputation increased as a result," she explained.

Once we walked far enough to turn Burnhamm village into a mere speck in the distance, after an hour or so of walking, Kalistra yelled out, "Stop!"

The rest of us turned around with great alarm. The two boys searched for signs of danger in our vicinity while I turned squarely to face the cat girl with my hand resting on the hilt of my sword.

My heart started pounding harder in my chest. This morning was becoming far too eventful for my taste. We tried sneaking past the bad uncle and ended up having a showdown in front of the entire village. And now, we were going to face an ambush?

"Let's talk a breakfast break under that tree," Kalistra said while pointing her left paw at the tree just up ahead on the road. Her tail dangled in the air as she sashayed over to the tree.

I gave her an exasperated expression as I released my grip on my sword. "Don't scare us like that! I thought you noticed something dangerous nearby," I complained to her back.

Kalistra turned around. "Scare? You mean like the way you were screaming when the curtain snapped while you were climbing out of the window?" she smirked.

"Hey!" I protested while putting my hands on my hips. "I did NOT scream!" Well, at least I DON'T think I screamed. At the time I was falling, I was staring at the window ledge and thinking how high it was from my position.

"Boys?" the evil minx turned her head toward them, asking for confirmation of what happened.

Kitel and Copene looked away, refusing to be dragged into this little cat fight.

The cat girl's eyes glowed. "Why do you think Sene and the entire village came out to stand in front of the tavern?" she pressed her argument.

"You tossed our backpacks out the window and it made a big noise," I replied. "The ground practically shook!"

"Is that why?" Kalistra smirked. "You sure it wasn't because you screamed out in fear as you were falling to the ground?"

Before I could yell at her again, Kitel interrupted. "Milord, let's break our fast. I'm starving," he said.

I gave the cat girl a dirty look and walked over to the tree that she had suggested. I opened my backpack to see what ration Gendun had prepared for me. I pulled out some hardened beef jerkies, a fistful of nuts wrapped in a cloth, another fistful of cheese wrapped in another cloth, some biscuits, and a wineskin. I blanched at the offerings. If this was all I had to eat, this will be a long trip.

Copene noticed my facial expression and understood that the food was not to my liking. No member of the nobility would, for that matter. "Milord, you haven't checked the ration that you purchased from the tavern," he reminded me.

Kalistra untied the satchel from her belt and then pulled open the drawstrings. Inside were cured ham and sausage, some grapes, apples, and more biscuits.

My mouth started to salivate at the sight and I reached for the satchel . . . only to have my hand slapped away by the evil minx. "No, master, we must save this for the trip. I will cut out some small portions of the meat to supplement the food that Gendun provided you," she said with an evil grin.

I stared at Kalistra for a moment, pondering the odds of successfully snatching the precious satchel out of her hands. Remembering her player screen, I realized that I had better odds of winning the lottery than taking the bag of food from her. With as much grace as I could muster, I sat down, leaned against the tree, and started eating some of the crappy food that Gendun had prepared for me.

The two boys quickly devoured the food that we gave them, and then went off into the bushes to answer nature's call.

Kalistra took the opportunity to have a small talk with me. "Lawrence, I need to look at your player screen," she requested as she passed me thin slices of the cured ham and sausage. "I also remind you to be alert at all times. If I judged Sene's character accurately, then I don't think he will leave us alone," she warned.

"You think the dwarf will ask his friends to ambush us somewhere?" I asked as I sought clarification from her. From the way Sene was glaring at me, the thought had indeed crossed my mind. While thinking about the encounter, I opened up my player status screen and took a quick look at it. A picture of my player avatar was on the left column and right above that read: “Title: Pursuer of the Crown, Title: Were-Hunter, Title: Avenger of the Town Judge Wachtel; Status: Liege of the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship, Status: Adept of the Church of Britannia, Status: Town Judge of Tregome, Status: Honorary member of the Tregome Bordermen, Status: True Friend of Burnhamm Village.” The middle column read: "Name: Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, Race: Human, Alignment: Lawful-Neutral, Special Condition: Kissed by Lady Luck (Expiration 1:01:38), Permanent Conditions: Marked by Bane, Marked by Musa, Marked by Luck, Marked by Gaea; Profession: Swordsman (Adept), Level: 6, Experience: 38,654 / 21,000, Reputation: 9,802, Attack: 34, Damage: 6-8 (Unarmed), 7-11 (Dagger), 7-15 (Sword), Critical Attack: 7%, Critical Damage: 250%." On the right side of the screen were my player attributes: "Health: 64, Stamina: 44, Magic: 30, Strength: 19, Intelligence: 20, Wisdom: 12, Dexterity: 19, Constitution: 25, Charisma: 12. Abilities: Navigation-Sense (Level 5), Magic Sense (Level 3), Immunity to Electricity (Level 1), Negotiation (Level 3), Spirit Sense (Level 5), Reroll (Level X)." At the bottom were three tabs. The first was marked "Skills." When I mentally clicked on the tab, I saw: "Professional Skills: Swordsman—Charge (Level 2), Disarm (Level 2), First Strike (Level 2), Slide Step (Level 2), Duel Winner (Level 1)." The second tab was "Spells," and it showed: "Divine Spells: Order—Unveil (Level X), Chaos—Veil (Level X), Life—Minor Heal (Level X)." The last tab was "Artifacts," and it revealed: "Truth-Stone of Order and Chaos—Truth-Telling (Level X)."

When I decided to advance two character levels during my intensive training back at the dojo yesterday afternoon, I had ten attribute points available. Because Kalistra had insisted that I have twenty-five points in Constitution when I was short by six points, that left four points remaining. I chose to split them equally between Wisdom and Dexterity because I obviously needed more personal wisdom. I also chose dexterity because a higher score allowed me a greater chance of success in attacking; it helped raise my Attack score and also Critical Attack slightly.

I was fairly confident that I would pass through the first round of the tournament because of the way my status screen was filling out with so many useful skills. Secondly, my intensive training gave me plenty of practice dueling other swordsmen possessing similar skill and training. I had to admit that Kalistra's unconventional training method was efficient and effective in preparing me for the Melee Tournament. Furthermore, I was encouraged by the rapid progress that I had made in the past five days. I will have to discuss with my master whether or not I should advance to the next character level before I participate in the Melee Tournament. But I didn't want to have this discussion in the presence of Kitel and Copene, though.

Speaking of the two boys, while I was sympathetic to their plight, they hadn't sworn allegiance to me yet and therefore, I had to remain circumspect with the amount of personal information that I divulged in their presence. I certainly didn't want to discuss my character level, personal attributes, or my skills within earshot of those two. Nor was I inclined to ask the boys to join my party with Kalistra. They hadn't earned my trust; and, if I read the cat girl's demeanor correctly, she didn't trust them either, for whatever reason.

Additionally, I still had a responsibility to both myself and to this world in pursuing and winning the crown. One could easily argue that my mission took priority over everything else. Therefore, while I would try to render as much aid as possible to Kitel and Copene, I could not allow them to hinder my mission. Consequently, I could not miss the Melee Tournament even if this meant abandoning the boys somewhere along the way. I could only hope that Lady Luck will help me find a suitable place to leave them behind. Otherwise, may the gods have mercy on my soul.

"I am suspicious of the circumstances that led to the demise of Sene's adventuring party," Kalistra admitted while she examined my status screen. In particular, my master was thrilled to see that I had followed her advice and poured sufficient attribute points into my Consitution. She also approved of my decision to increase my Dexterity, as this would help tremendously in my duels at the tournament. "It seemed a little too convenient. I fear that Sene was caught in a wrongful act by a member of his party, and then he killed all the witnesses," Kalistra speculated.

"I don't see how Sene would be able to. He doesn't strike me as a particularly skilled or powerful fighter," I replied.

"True, he's not. However, there are many ways to dispose of party members. For example, he could have poisoned their meals or killed them in their sleep. When you have a party, there is an inherent trust between the party members. Sene does not seem like the type of character to honor this inherent trust," she noted.

"No, he doesn't," I admitted. "If the dwarf is willing to sacrifice his nephew's life for money, then there isn't much that he won't do to achieve his goals. If his friends show up during our trip, then we will deal with them at that time." I saw the worried looks on the faces of the two boys when they returned and heard this comment. I patted each on the back. "While you're traveling with me, you're under our protection," I reassured them.

"Thank you, milord," the two bowed deeply.

"We're going to cross another bridge soon. If Sene is planning an ambush for us, he would have his friends wait for us there," Kalistra said. Suddenly, she sensed movement over her head. When the cat girl looked up, she saw a carrier pigeon flying past the party's position on the ground. Kalistra frowned when she saw the small note tied to the pigeon's left leg. Unfortunately, the fighter did not carry a bow and her dagger could not reach the bird flying so high in the air.

"Uh-oh," Copene blurted out when he saw the gray and white pigeon with a distinct, dab of yellow at the tip of its left wing. He recognized it as belonging to his uncle. "That's my uncle's pigeon," he said.

"Damn," Kalistra hissed. She turned to the rest of us. "We need to hurry. If we're lucky, we may be able to cross the bridge before Sene's friends could set up an ambush. Run!" she ordered and started racing on the road with all four paws.

Knowing how fast the cat girl could run, I immediately ran after her.

The two boys started running too.

The four of us ran for about twenty minutes or so before we finally we reached the bridge. I was both surprised and envious that the two were able to keep up. Frankly, I was also surprised that I was able to follow the cat girl as well. Pouring all those attribute points into my Constitution was really paying off.

Kalistra was hiding behind a tree on the right side of the road. To our left was the river stream, which forked in two directions: one continued eastward while the other continued northward. Beyond the northern branch was the beginning of a small hill. The incline wasn't steep enough to prevent us from climbing the hill if necessary. A wooden bridge crossed over the east river and connected to the road on the other side.

Positioned right in front of the bridge were a group of scruffy looking men. Fortunately, there was only a half-dozen of them. A young boy watched as the horses grazed on the grass. Another man, who looked old enough to be the boy's father, was holding a cage with a pigeon inside. The other four men passed the time by playing a game of cards.

I kept my head down and peeked out from the bushes. I stared at the bird intently; the pigeon resembled the one that flew over our heads earlier this morning. I sensed movement behind me; when I turned around, with a hand on my sword hilt, I saw that it was Kitel and Copene. "Do you recognize these men?" I asked in a low voice.

Kitel stared at the men for a moment. "The old man holding the pigeon cage is a friend of Sene; his name is Tewind. He came to the tavern last week for a visit. The boy watching the horses is his son; his name is Kewind. I don't recognize the rest of them," he said.

"I saw those two at The Golden Goose having dinner with Sene in a private room," Copene confirmed with a nod.

"What is your order, Master?" Kalistra asked me suddenly.