Zen took Devan’s sudden act of departure as a time for him to leave too. Zen stood up on the table and banged on a pot. Everyone quickly turned to him.

“Attention everyone!” Zen rang out. “That’s the end for today. The three letters have been sent, and we’ll have to wait for the response that will come in the morning. So everyone, wrap it up. Everyone needs to get a good night’s sleep. Meeting adjourned!”

Everyone quickly began leaving their papers in the mess hall and leaving out the front door. It was quickly realized by many that it was already incredibly dark and rainy, so people began sprinting straight towards their tents, trying to avoid the rain as much as possible. It didn’t go so well for some other soldiers, as some slipped and fell in the puddles. A couple laughs and chortles were heard. Must be hell without light. The only light that was visible was from the fort, and that wasn’t enough to see in front of you.

Zen made his way back to his tent, the pitter patter of rain hitting his neck and back. While he was in the field of tents, he suddenly came to a realization. He hadn’t marked his tent with anything. He didn’t know where his tent was.

In a panic, Zen began to move along the group of tents hastily trying to find which one was his. Most of the tents were white, so it was a major pain in the ass. Zen opened a tent flap, only to see someone else’s bed and lodgings, and most disgustingly, their unwashed feet. Zen closed the tent flap and ran off before they could say anything.

Eventually, Zen had searched and searched. He was soaking wet. Sadly, he made his way to the closest covering he could find, the small under-roofing of the wood cabin. It was as if mother nature was toying with him, because he could almost see a black wisp floating near him. Out of pure spite, Zen decided to ask the ghost for directions.

“Hey ghost,” Zen said to the probably hallucinogenic spirit. “Do you happen to know where my tent is?”

The black wisp with no face didn’t do anything, before slowly pointing a smoke-like finger towards one of the tents. Zen made his way over before seeing a plaque stitched to the front.

[ZEN: MORO: SAVIOR OF FORT SCHISMS]

Zen was astounded. Did the people of the fort really stitch a plaque into his tent while he was away? How kind!

Zen turned around to thank the ghost, but the spirit was already gone. Maybe he was hallucinating after all. Zen quickly dove into the tent, where he was met with a bunch of things that weren’t there in the beginning. A simple tent bed, a sleeping bag, a candle, a small table with an extra pair of clothing, and… hey! It was the bag of stuff that he had lost in his river ride down!

Zen quickly tore off his drenched garments before changing into his new pair of clothing. They were more soft and padded though, but he didn’t care. Zen quickly slid into the sleeping bag he was given, and in a blink of an eye he fell asleep.

His beautiful sleep was interrupted by the plumage of a fat bird sitting on his face.

“Gah! What is this–” Zen began to say, sitting up from his tent bed, before seeing the bright sunlight beaming down on him and a less so beaming Devan.

“Oh hey Devan.” Zen said, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. “What’s up? And what’s with the pigeon? Did we get a letter back?”

Devan rolled his eyes. “You know what we need to do. Get up. It’s already nine. And yes. We got all three of them back. All recipients of the letter are extremely worried.”

Zen got up, handed the bird back to Devan, who held the bird and waited just outside Zen’s tent. Zen quickly took off of his evening garments and put on his leather boots and cotton shirt and pants. He was ready to work dammit!

Zen stepped out of his tent and saw that most of the troops had assembled at the center square. There wasn’t really much activity. It was almost as if they were waiting.

Devan brought Zen over to the front, where the soldiers were standing in a semi-circle ring formation. As if they were waiting for orders. Zen stood behind Devan as the short man held onto the new letters.

“Soldiers and guards of Fort Schisms!” Devan yelled out. “Our letters have been heard. I have received statements from all important branches, such as the local military, the local newspaper, and the adventurer’s guild. I will now be telling all of you the general summary of each letter.”

Devan put one of the letters on top of each other, which had a distinctive sword and shield stamped into its wax sealant.

“This is the letter from the local military. They are astounded by the fact that so many crosserfangs have become agitated and are looking into the matter and are cooperating with the Tampatown lord. They admire Jacky’s efforts, and mourn for his sacrifice. They request for a representative to talk further about the matter.”

Devan flipped to another letter.

“This is the letter from the Tampa Taddle, the local newspaper of… you guessed it, Tampatown. They are astounded at the new revelations and are working hard to make a new edition of the newspaper as quickly as possible. They mourn the loss of the great hero Jacky and promise to make sure he is remembered as a hero. They wish to meet someone who is familiar with the whole situation for extra information.”

Devan moved onto the last letter, which was crisp, clean and white, with sky blue and golden borders. Must be from the Adventurer’s Guild.

“This is the letter from the Adventurer’s Guild. They thank me for my hard work and the new revelation and are quickly asking for aid from neighboring towns. They are also working with other guilds and adventurers to fix the new issue. The Guildmaster has been alerted, and the entirety of Tampatown will soon be on standby. As you might have known, Fort Schisms is somewhat close to Tampatown, so any attack or disturbance we fight here also endangers them. So a crosserfang is most definitely something to worry about. They would like me to come by as quickly as possible as well as another representative.”

Devan coughed, before holding the letters to his side. “So now you know what the letters say. And as you may have realized, each letter asks for one or two representatives. And because of this, it seems that Zen and I will have to leave on a short excursion to Tampatown. I know it will be hard without your lead adventurer, but I have given the gist and roles of the letter send offs and writings to Gunther and Rothhardt, because they have the highest qualifications. They will be in charge of all functions that deal with the letters. I highly doubt the crosserfangs will come today, or in the coming few days, as they have just lost a few of their greatest assets.”

“Meeting adjourned!” Devan finally shouted, and the crowd of soldiers dispersed. Rothhardt came forward, picked up the pigeon that was sitting on the fountain bench, and walked away with it back to the main fortress.

“So we’re leaving for Tampatown right?” Zen asked. He already knew the answer though.

“Certainly. It will be about a half day trip, so before sunrise, I had already set up a carriage and several horses. And don’t worry. I can wield them. You can just sit in the back. As for clothing, we need a wardrobe change.”

Devan sprinted into the fortress before coming back out with a white box. He set it on the nearby bench and opened it up, revealing some beautiful and neat sets of clothing. Devan quickly pulled a pair of trousers, a vest, and several other unusual garments from the box and walked towards the close-by wood cabin.

“Where are you going Devan?” Zen asked.

“I’m going to go change in the cabin. When I come out, it’ll be your turn. There is a set of clothing at the bottom of the box. That is for you."

Devan opened the door to the cabin and closed it behind him. A few minutes later, a noble looking lad walked out. Wait a moment, nevermind. It was just Devan in fancy clothing. He wore a straight sky blue suit with a fancy multi-shaded tie and spotless black shoes. He even wore gloves and other beautiful doodads. He looked like a person of high position for sure. Even though he hadn't seen a noble before, the suit Devan was wearing screamed nobility.

“Alright, it’s your turn.” Devan said, as Zen walked over carrying his new clothes. Zen took a good long stare at the clothes he was holding and what Devan was wearing.

“How did you manage to get your hands on these fancy clothes?” Zen asked. “They must be worth a fortune!”

“They were a gift.” Devan said flatly. “Got them from the second prince. Seems like he really likes the idea of giving fancy clothing as a gift. Always asks whether I have time to have tea, but I always tell him I’m busy. It’s kind of funny, getting all of this expensive stuff, and I don’t even have to talk with him all that much.”

“Oh… wow. So you’re using the second prince to get free stuff? That’s kind of mean.” Zen said.

“Well, he is the admirer, and it’s his choice on whether he wants to send me stuff. And I am very busy. Now go on. Get changed. We need to go if we want to get to Tampatown before sundown. We only have three days after all.”

Zen decided that yes, it would be a good idea to stop talking. If he stalled time any longer, Chan would probably explode. And with the spread of the news, probably even faster. He made his way into the cabin, closed the door behind him, and put on the clothing.

The clothes he was given looked like a really advanced suit of adventurer’s gear. It had a steel breastplate, chainmail plating, jet black and gold trim leather greaves, black boots, a pair of black gloves, and along with it, a neckerchief and a new shining sword. Sweet!

Zen checked out his new duds. They looked really cool. Really wish he could keep them though.

He opened the door, where he saw Devan waving at him from the open gate, where a large prairie carriage with two beautiful brown and white horses stood. Zen quickly made his way over.

“I’m all dressed up. Do I need to bring anything else?” Zen asked.

“Not really. I took everything that needed to be brought.” Devan said. “Food, water, equipment, ammunition. And Jacky’s short bow.”

“Wait, how do you have Jacky’s short bow? Wasn’t it on my back yesterday?” Zen asked.

“Yeah it was.” Devan said. “But I took it off of you while you were sleeping at six because I wanted to get everything done. Now hop on. We need to go.”

Zen hopped into the back of the carriage, and Devan quickly made his way to the front, manning the reigns. With a quick tug, the carriage began to move, and Zen, for the first time, watched the fort begin to shrink, as he began moving towards a possibly new adventure. An adventure filled with boring diplomacy.