Alba watched as Vincent alighted the carriage and slowly approached the small house. She stopped her chore and went to welcome him. His right arm was wrapped in bandage and was immobile. Though it had only been a week since she last saw him, he looked completely different for reasons she couldn't wrap her head around.

Vincent used to give a shy but warm impression before. Now, the air around him had a completely different vibe. He looked more mature but also more distant.

"Was everything alright when I was gone?"

"Yes, nothing major happened. Are you alright? Your arm seems hurt."

"It's nothing much. Just a little scratch."

Vincent replied nonchalantly and headed in. The room was filled with thick aroma of meat and smoke. Caught unprepared, Vincent coughed to expel the smoke he had just breathed in. After getting used to the smoke, he began feeling apprehensive. "Do you know how to smoke meat? You couldn't even cook properly when I left."

"Isabell taught me how to do it. I can do it properly, you don't have to worry. The hunter delivered some catch every day or two. I couldn't let it go to waste so I asked her to teach me." Alba answered timidly. She had made a lot of progress but there were also some failures in the beginning. Wild games were expensive and she didn't know how she would come clean about it.

"I see. It's good that you have a friend now. I will leave in about a month. The house and everything will be yours thereafter. I can stay relieved knowing that you have someone you can rely on."

"You are leaving?" Vincent's words came as a shock to her. She didn't have anyone she trusted besides him. Though she knew that he was going out of his way to help her and that it wouldn't last for long, she wasn't expecting it to end this soon.

"Yes, I need to gather some money before the winter wheat's harvest. I will head to Istria. Once I get back, I will join a mercenary band." Zach and the rest would probably be unable to contribute what they had said before. If Vincent too contributed just as much as he had mentioned before, then the group would be hard pressed to gather a reliable bunch. Hence, he planned on heading to Istria and borrowing money from Rachel. If for nothing else, she was at least reliable when it came to money. She wasn't the daughter of a man who had established his own business empire for nothing.

Alba was at a loss of words. She had grown to depend on Vincent for a lot of things and she didn't know how to quell the turbid emotions rising inside her.

"Alba. I am here. Let's go to the hill." A melodious voice came from outside the house. Looking outside, Vincent saw a woman slightly older than him. Noticing him, she bowed and greeted, "You must be master Vincent. I am Isabell, Alba's friend. It's good to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for taking care of Alba during my absence. Please do find me if you need any help." Vincent replied cordially to her and signaled Alba to join her friend. Alba nodded and went away with Isabell with her gaze leveled to the floor.

Vincent sat down and began collecting his thoughts. He had to make a proper schedule and head to Istria. He had to also prepare thoroughly to convince Rachel to lend him money. She could easily lend him a substantial sum but he required quite a huge amount that even she would find hard to part with.

While he was thinking up reasons he could use to convince her, Bruno came by with a new catch. He put down the wild boar and nodded to Vincent. Vincent nodded back and went out to talk to the hunter. He didn't need any new catches anymore. They had a decent stockpile of smoked meat now, though he wasn't certain about its taste. "I think I won't be buying any more meat for some time. We seem to have a lot left in the house while I was gone."

"I understand. Master Vincent, you should advice the young lass to not associate with Isabell. There are rumors that she is a witch." Bruno replied while dismantling the carcass skillfully.

"A witch? That girl? She looked normal to me though." Vincent asked back in a puzzled manner. He knew that witches were an unorthodox pathway to wizardry. Their numbers used to be greater than that of wizards, but after the great magic war two centuries ago, they rarely made appearances. Some countries openly persecuted them and witch hunts were not uncommon in many places. Unfortunately, the victims were innocent women in most of the hunts.

He had felt no mana from Isabell and didn't think that she was a witch for even a moment.

Bruno nodded and answered, "That's right. Her husband died not even a week after their marriage. The girl was also close to the crazy woman who lived in the edge of the forest before she died. Some of the villagers had seen the old woman perform witchcraft. I don't mean to imply that I would know more about witches than a wizard, but I would certainly keep my distance if I were you."

Vincent nodded to show his understanding as he received his share of meat. Though he didn't think that Isabell was a witch, the fact that some of the villagers had witnessed the old woman perform witchcraft piqued his interest. Witches and shamans were said to be from an unorthodox study of wizardry and the knowledge regarding them were strictly regulated. The reasons behind it were also kept a secret and Vincent wanted to see if he could figure something out.

*****************************

Elaine bid farewell to her acquaintances whom she had accompanied for a salon. She got on her carriage and the smile on her face disappeared instantly. Her brows furrowed as she recalled the earlier events. The news of her engagement being annulled had been spread among her circle and the sons of various noblemen began trying their best to make good impression on her. The whole gathering had been incredibly exhausting as she had been approached without end.

She looked at her maid who followed her into the carriage and asked impatiently, "What did you find out?"

"Young master Zach reported that there was a second gold ranker in the scene. A giant warrior who wielded axe. He said that the warrior took the gold from them before they fled." The maid replied what she learnt after bribing the guard at the castle.

"Is he unharmed?" The worry was apparent in her tone.

"Yes, he seemed fine. Only the young wizard in their group seemed to have sustained an injury."

"What else? Did the lords believe him?"

"He presented four chest plates with multiple deformities that seemed to back his claims regarding the gold ranked wizard's spells. I don't know the specifics but he also brought along some soil hoping that the silver ranked wizards serving the lords might be able to gleam any information. Unfortunately, all traces of mana or anything similar seems to have dissipated already."

"Good work Hilma. I am satisfied. How much did the guard take?" Elaine relaxed a little after listening to the maid's report. She had been worried about Zach for a while now. Though she couldn't put her finger around her feelings exactly, she ignored her complicated emotions and tried to help him any way she could. But recently, she had learnt just how little she could actually do. It frustrated her and she didn't know what she was going to do anymore.

The maid fished out three gold coins from her pocket and said, "He took two gold coins. Here are the remaining three gold coins."

"You can keep it. Just make sure you don't tell anyone about what I asked you to do. If you succeed, I will rewards you generously."

"Of course my lady. I shall not tell a single soul about it." The maid's expression brightened as she put away the gold coins. "As for the task, I will try my best to accomplish it. You can rest assured."

Hilma couldn't understand why Elaine had entrusted her with a series of unusual tasks. It made her think about it for a while but after failing to make heads or tail out of it, she gave up. She would do her best to accomplish the task so that she could get her hands on more gold. That was all that mattered to her.