Shawn

"Say, why were you on that frozen wasteland of an island by yourself anyways?" Hank suddenly asks me as we exit the city.

I turn to him and glare through my mask at him without saying anything.

He seems to take the hint and stops talking.

"You probably shouldn't be asking him stuff like that, Hank," Aldred says with a smirk on his face.

Hank looks upset as he says, "Aww, but he is a part of our party now, so shouldn't we know more about him?"

I tune them out and glance at the people behind us.

Why are there so many people at the exit to the city anyways?

Amber approaches me and asks, "Are you wondering why there are so many people leaving the city?"

I wordlessly nod my head.

"It's because of the feud between the Island Lord and Luke," Amber explains before looking at Aldred and Hank who are still arguing.

"Just think about it this way. Do you think his family would be happy with you asking about his personal affairs?" Aldred asks Hank.

Hank doesn't say anything and visibly trembles at the thought.

A smile finally appears on Aldred's face as he says, "Exactly."

I face forward again as we continue walking.

At least he won't bother me with questions like that again.

We make it about halfway through the Ash Plains before Aldred calls us to a stop and kneels onto the ground to look at something.

I walk over to him and look at the ground as well.

"Footprints?" I mutter.

"Yeah," Aldred says before standing up straight, "These probably belong to the bandits."

He then turns and points to another set of footprints a few meters away that seem to be scattered about everywhere.

"And these footprints likely belong to the ones being robbed by the bandits," Aldred says before walking over and bending over the footprints for a closer look.

I study the two sets of footprints and compare them.

After a few seconds of thought, I come to understand how he came to that conclusion.

The first set of footprints are organized and appear to be approaching the other set.

Meanwhile, the second set of footprints are scattered around in a disorganized manner.

It's likely that the bandits ambushed the victims using some sort of concealing magic. The victims then scattered in a frenzy while being attacked.

I walk over to the scattered footprints before muttering, "It looks like some of the victims managed to escape alive."

Aldred looks up from where he is crouching before standing up straight and walking over.

He then looks down at the footprints that I am looking at.

"It looks like you're right; these footprints appear to belong to someone running away from the area in that direction," Aldred says while pointing due south.

Amber speaks up from near us, "Should we follow these footprints?"

Aldred turns to Amber and says, "Yes, we should. They will likely lead us to the settlement belonging to the owner of these footprints, so we should be able to get some info on the bandits from them."

Amber nods her head says, "Sounds good."

I turn due south and begin walking along with the others who follow shortly thereafter.

A settlement of sorts soon shows itself on the horizon.

It only has around eight or so small buildings and no walls for defense.

Well, that doesn't look very well defended.

Someone notices us from the settlement and calls out to the others in warning.

The people then grab whatever they can use as a weapon and send wary glances towards us as we approach.

"They seem to be rather distrustful of others," Josh comments.

I nod my head in agreement.

"Hello! We are adventurers from the city! Would it be alright if we asked some questions about the bandits?" Aldred shouts at the people in the settlement.

His shout seems to surprise them, but not enough for them to drop their guard.

One of the people shouts back while pointing a pitchfork in our direction, "Stop there! You may ask, but only from where you are standing!"

We immediately stop walking and share a glance with each other.

I shrug before motioning Aldred to continue speaking.

He then turns back to the people and shouts, "Do you know the general location of the bandits?"

The people in the settlement share a look before turning back to us and nodding.

The same man who spoke before shouts back again, "They are to the northwest of here."

He then points towards the northwest.

Aldred looks towards where the man points as the he continues, "They are camped out at the base of the volcano, close to the nearby dungeon."

Aldred then turns back to the man and bows before saying, "Thank you for your help. We will take our leave now."

This seems to surprise the people of the settlement as they look at each other again.

"Let's go," Aldred says to us as we begin heading towards the bandit camp.

Before we can get very far, the same man from the settlement shouts, "I wish you luck in dealing with the bandits!"

I turn towards the settlement again and give a brief nod before continuing towards the bandit camp.