Jon could hear galloping making their way towards them. He was nervous.

More cavalry? He wondered. Would there be big men in armor, like at the castle?

He was too anxious to look at the front of the carriage to find out. So he was forced to look forward to Macy the entire time.

Is she having fun? Jon wondered. Fighting was certainly exciting, but it wasn’t fun. At least he thought so anyway. Maybe it was the fact that Macy was just so much stronger than him. Jon felt safe in assuming that she was for a number of reasons, one of them being that she was Hector’s sister.

Jon then finally noticed the group of horses that surrounded them. He looked up to see the people on top.

He saw the meanest faces of men and women that he ever knew. They all wore incredibly simple clothes and looked shaggy and unkempt. Each of them kept some sort of weapon at their side.

Their clothes may have been all patchwork, but that didn’t seem to make them less scary.

Jon wished that Mercy was here. Her scariness didn’t seem all that frightening anymore, compared to these guys.

He also knew that there were people behind him. If he started shooting, how could he compensate for what they would do?

He felt a warmth on his shoulder. Without moving his head too much, he looked down to see Tallow’s hand holding him. He then looked at her face.

She wasn’t looking at him, but he understood what the grip meant.

Be ready.

Jon slowly looked back to where he was facing. Macy was still giving her a large smirk.

She suddenly raised her arms. The soldiers behind her shook in anticipation.

She yawned. “Oh, man, sorry about that guys. This wagon… It puts a strain on a girl’s back. Mind if I… take a stroll?”

“You! Stay in there!” One guy said.

“Sure.” Macy relaxed. “One of you wanna give a massage?”

“You trying to be smart with me, Missy?” The guy asked.

She finally looked at him. “I thought a yes or a no would be simple enough, but it seems I’ve misjudged you. I must remember to keep things simple around folk.

She turned back away from him without a worry on her face. Jon was impressed. He could already see some of the other armed men trembling behind her. Maybe Macy could be scary as well.

“Why you-” the man got close to the side of the wagon.

Macy quickly raised her hands up and wrapped them around the man’s neck.

She stood and came back down, lifting the guy off of his horse and slamming him over her head onto his back in the carriage.

She quickly wrapped her legs around his neck.

This is it… Jon began to stand, trying not to think too much of what was happening behind him.

“Enough!” Jon heard it, so he stopped. He was grateful that the people around the wagon stopped as well.

Now, he had to ignore the man struggling to get out of Macy’s grapple right beneath his feet.

In fact, it turned out to be easier than expected, as everyone else inside and outside the wagon had turned up ahead. Approaching front the carriage, and by extension, Lester, was a man dressed similarly to the others, but Jon could feel an aura emanating from him. He could also feel the respect that the other horse riders were giving him.

There was another feeling creeping up on Jon as well. That same coldness he got from Bal the swordsman. Here it was again. Jon had thought so much about what he would do when he encountered that same feeling again, but he hadn’t found his answer yet.

His arms were starting to feel weak, but Jon fought on, determined to hold on to his gun and fight whatever battle needed to be won.

Unfortunately, behind that man was another pack of horse riders with weapons.

With just the people who approached the wagon first, it was the most people Jon had seen in a group that could be considered advisories. He was definitely not ready for added numbers.

“Where’s Marshall?” The man asked Lester.

“Fighting for his life in the back of the wagon,” Lester answered.

Now that he was closer, Jon could see the man’s face fully. He had hair grown all around his face, with a short haircut on top of his head. He also wore an eyepatch. Jon wondered what happened to his eye.

“I implore you to let him go,” the man said. “Unless you want me to sick my whole pack onto you.”

“Not until I know what’s happening,” Lester said.

“I’ll tell you… if you let my man go,” the man answered.

Lester and the man stared at each other for a long time. Jon wondered if Lester was staring at the eyepatch, or focusing on the single good eye. He also wondered if this was a good time to call Hector or not, not that it would make any difference in the situation. How long would it take to get here?

“...let him go, Macy,” Lester said, not taking his eye off of the man.

“...He’s asleep!” Macy said.

Jon looked at the man. He was drooling from his mouth, and he was limp in Macy’s legs.

“Are you sure you want me to wake him?” Macy asked.

“Let him go!” Lester repeated.

Macy unwrapped her legs and spun on her back until she was standing back on her feet again.

She then shoved the unconscious man off the back of the wagon.

“At least I think he’s asleep,” Macy said as the others knelt down to check on him. “You should check.”

She received some glares.

“I don’t know how this girl has survived all this time,” Tallow said out loud. “She’s dumber than Hector!”

“That’s low-hanging fruit,” Macy said with a large grin.

“So… what’s this about?” Lester said.

“Well, assuming my guy’s still alive,” the man said, “we’re here for a toll.”

“A toll, you say?” Lester nodded with a tight-lipped grimace. “For whom.”

“For me, ya punk,” he said. “We’re a struggling town that lives outside of the regions that are the noble Kingdoms of Resden and Volta, if you have noticed.”

“Oh, I noticed alright,” Lester said, taking a good look at the people surrounding him. “Pretty rough out here.”

“So, we're collecting a toll so we can provide for our land and families.” the man continued. “So, pay up.”

Lester sucked air through his teeth. “I’m sorry. You see, we’re in a bit of a hurry-”

“Pay up!” The man repeated.

“We can take ‘em!” Macy said. She stood up quickly, making the horse riders fumble for their weapons.

“Stupid… sonuva…” Tallow had started to speak under her breath.

“You men are inexperienced,” Lester said. “Why should I be scared of you?”

“Not all of them are inexperienced,” the man responded. “You might not know which one when they’re coming at you from all sides.”

“What I should ask,” Lester continued, “Is how can I be assured that this money is going towards a good cause.”

“You don’t,” the man responded. “You pay up, or you find out how it feels when a sword gets shoved up your smartass.”

Lester’s hand began to reach up for his sword. The man also began to reach for a sword behind his back.

Jon looked at Amalia, the only one who he hadn’t been keeping track of at this moment. She was reaching around the bottom of the wagon desperately.

What would she be looking for? Jon wondered.

She sat back up and reached around her waist frantically.

On her waist…

Money. Hector kept money on his waist all the time. Amalia probably wanted to pay the toll.

Jon reached down for his bag but realized that there wasn’t anything there. He looked off to the side.

Underneath the unconscious man, Jon could see money spilled out underneath him.

It must have been tipped over by the struggle in the wagon, but that was fine. Hector said that Tallow had money too.

Jon looked at her waist and saw the bag. She was paying attention to what was happening around the wagon, and Jon figured that she wouldn’t care, so he quickly reached for the bag of money and ripped it from her waist.

Jon stood up while opening his gun. He dropped the bag inside of the chamber, closed it, aimed the gun, and fired.

The shot made a noise as it flew out of the barrel of the gun and went straight into the man’s face, bouncing off of it harmlessly.

The man’s free hand quickly caught the bag before it went to her floor. Lester, hand still wavering over his sword, watched as the man shook the bag in his hand.

“How much is that?” he asked, handing it off to another man without taking his eyes off of Lester. Jon still didn’t know if it was technically only one eye or not.

The man who was given the bag of the money went through it. “There’s… more than enough… Raglace, sir, this is-”

“Shh.”

Raglace… Jon figured this was the man with the eyepatch. At least it wasn’t Eyepatch man anymore.

“According to my friend here, this covers the toll for you and your compatriots,” Raglace said.

“More than enough, I suppose,” Lester responded. “You’re giving us back the difference, right?”

“Oh, leave it, bonehead.” Tallow said from the front.

Raglace laughed. “Dissension from your own crew? That would never happen to us. Ain’t that right men.”

“Sir, yes sir!” The horse riders yelled.

“But, if you have this much money…” Raglace said, “I wonder if that means you’re hiding anymore under that dress-”

“Please!” Amalia called from the back. “We simply wish to pass through peacefully! We mean you no harm!”

“Too late for that, isn’t it?” Raglace said. His horse came around to the wagon where Amalia sat.

“You sound like you’re a good-bred,” he said. “Maybe a bit of kidnapping, extortion-”

“Don’t you touch her!” Lester yelled.

Raglace laughed. ‘Sure, sure. By the way you look, I’m sure you would take out many of my men before your dying breath, and that’s not a sacrifice I’m willing to make right now. Be glad of your dissenting compatriots, for they have saved us a ton of grief and bloodshed today.”

Raglace motioned forward. He and the other horsemen, including the recently awakened Marshall, had ridden away.

“Piece of work that was,” Lester muttered.

“I don’t believe it!” Tallow said. “You’re trying to get us killed. All of you!”

She stood up in the wagon. “Jon was the one to save you guys. Country bumpkin my ass.”

“You have a ton of money on you,” Macy said. “Why didn’t you just pay the toll?”

“It was Amalia,” Jon said before Tallow could curse at Macy. “Amalia…”

“Oh…” Amalia blushed. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I was missing my money, and…”

“Here it is.” Macy held it up. “Hector said you like to spend money like you’re trying to decorate the castle, so I held on to it for you.”

Amalia gave Macy a dirty look and took the money bag back. It was much fancier than the ones Hector gave them.

Jon then looked to Tallow for her emotional response. Instead, she was staring down at the seat of the wagon between her and Jon.

Jon didn’t know what to say, but he figured that Tallow didn't want to say anything, so he left it.

Instead, he climbed out of the wagon and collected his bag of coins on the floor.

Lester watched to see Jon climb back in.

“Now that that’s over with…” Lester shook the reins.

The wagon continued forward.

Soon, Jon could see several buildings. They reminded him of the houses at the farm, except smaller.

The main road passed between two rows of buildings. The wagon stopped at the edge of town.

“Alright…” Lester said. “Where do we start?”

“We start by finding a place to stay,” Tallow said. “This is probably gonna be more than a day.”

“I don’t wanna stay here longer than is needed,” Lester responded.

“Actually,” Macy said. “I agree with the Vindazi.”

“That’s Miss Vindazi to you,” Tallow said.

“Don’t you have to get to the castle?” Lester asked Amalia.

“Things are crazy enough as it is,” Amalia said. “And Father barely sees me on a lazy day.”

“But what about the Highlander on loose in the castle?” Tallow asked.

“Well, my father has seen fit to try to use the Highlanders for his personal gain,” Amalia said. “Especially if Hector and the girl do get married. Then he’ll definitely want to be on her good side. Or at least her parents.”

“Fine.” Lester turned around. Jon what do you-”

He stopped himself. “I don’t think Jon cares.”

Lester was right. Jon didn’t mind at all. He just hoped that his friends were alright at the castle.

“Fine.” Lester hopped out the front. “Let’s find a place to stay first. If we even have enough money.”

“You’re being dramatic,” Tallow said.

“Says the witch starting fights in the back of the wagon,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing… nothing…”

The others had climbed out of the wagon as Lester led it by hand through the road.

On the way, Jon saw a pigpen.

Oh… He walked over to it.

“Jon?” Amalia went after him.

He watched the pigs run around and eat from the slough.

“You have animals at home?” Amalia asked.

“No,” Jon said. “Crops.”

Animal raising was a thing, but in the farm's case, they always had more than enough for themselves. Jon could feed animals, but he could never hear them or organize them right. He was glad his father didn’t raise animals at their house. The farm provided whatever meat they needed.

“You grow crops,” Amalia nodded. “I heard that farmers could-”

“I don’t grow crops,” Jon said. “I don’t grow anything.”

“I’m sorry for assuming,” she said. “Apparently, I’ve done a lot of that recently.”

“It’s… okay…” Jon didn’t know how to reassure her.

“Heyo!” The two of them turned to see Tallow waving at them. “Come on!”

They walked back to the wagon.

While Amalia went ahead, Tallow pushed Jon back to separate him.

“You have to stop!” Tallow said.

“Stop what?” Jon mumbled.

“That thing you do. With people. When you… trust them. You make them like you!”

Jon didn’t know what to say to that.

“I…” Jon didn’t try hard to make people like him. He didn’t think very many people liked him at all, although he supposed the number of people who liked him increased since the farm.

“You don’t need to be friends with everyone you meet,” Tallow said. “You can’t just go and trust people willy-nilly!”

“I… trust you…” Jon said.

“That’s... “ Tallow turned red in the face. “That’s different! I’m different! I’m-”

She stopped herself. “You were lucky with me, Jon. I at least care about you a little bit. But not everyone is going to be as nice as me. People are going to take advantage of you.”

Jon thought really hard about what he would say next.

“You… take advantage of me?” he asked.

“I…” Tallow looked away. There was obviously something disappointing her. “It doesn’t matter. Maybe you’re right and I’m making noise. Come on.”

She walked after the wagon, and Jon followed.

“This looks good,” Lester said. He stopped in front of a two-story building.

“This is taller than a lot of the other buildings,” Lester said. “This might be a place to stay. It’s on the main road.”

“That size is for your giant head,” Tallow responded. She walked inside before Lester could respond.

Jon and the others went in as well. The first thing that struck Jon was that it was empty.

There were a ton of tables and chairs set up, but no one to sit in them.

A man with short flat brown hair and glasses was standing bored at a counter at the end of the room. When he noticed them, he sat up quickly.

“Welcome, weary travelers!” he asked. “Have you any coin?”

“It was stolen,” Macy said.

“Bummer,” the guy sunk back onto the desk. “Well, whatever, you can stay. It’s not like we have any business anyway.”

“‘Cause of those guys,” Tallow said. “They’re keeping people out, right?”

He sighed. “Yes. Raglace and his unmerry companions have been pressing travelers for money. They get so spooked they don’t even stay in this part of town. They just keep going to their destination.”

He perked up. “Hey, are those weapons?”

“We’re from the King’s Guard,” Lester said.

“And you’re here to save us?” He asked with a smile.

“No,” Lester answered. “We’re just here to do something, then we’ll head off. You can make a request with the King’s Guard. I’m sure Lana will get back to you.”

“Oh…” he frowned. “Okay.”

“It’s nothing personal,” Lester continued. “If we knew that this was gonna be a problem, we would have come with a whole lot more manpower.”

“No we wouldn’t,” Macy said, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I doubt Raglace would let us leave,” the man said. “I don’t have enough coin to pay the toll. I’m barely surviving as it is.”

“Aren’t the others bothered by this?” Tallow asked.

“Well, not enough. And, although Raglace and his friends are bullies, people do enjoy the extra protection,” the man explained. “Especially since… there’s no one to protect us out here.”

“Hmm…” Jon heard Tallow’s hum. He wondered what she was thinking.

“So, you’re fine,” Lester said.

“But we’re not!” the man said, slamming the counter dramatically. He looked awkward in the quiet side of the room. “I’m running dry! I can’t upkeep this place!”

“You don’t need money to upkeep this if there’s no business,” Lester said. “You’ll be fine.”

“This is my business!” he put his head onto the counter.

He then picked it back up. “I’ll pay you!”

“Really?” Lester smiled. “How much?”

“I… I…”

“Lester…” Amalia said. “You can’t just ask that.”

“I mean,” Lester changed his tone. “We can’t just do things for people whenever and however. We have a system. This is the same system that stops other countries from invading each other and causing a war.”

He shrugged. “It’s also my living. You understand me.”

“Yes, yes, I understand that so much. I apologize.” The man looked around frantically. “I… I can find the money… later… I can’t leave right now.”

“It’s not like you can’t leave right now,” Lester said.

Tallow tapped Lester in the side of his shin with her foot, drawing a dirty look for him.

“Why don’t you go and worry about your original mission,” Tallow said. “Look around. I’ll stay here and figure things out.”

“Right,” Lester turned back to the man. “Have you seen any mystical artifacts of some kind? Any sort of-”

“No, not at all.” Jon noticed the man answered the question quicker than he answered everything else.

“I said go!” Tallow said. “I got this.”

“Don’t take it all for yourself,” Lester warned her.

“And what the hell would I spend it on?” Tallow crossed her arms. “What? Tell me!”

“Just be careful.” Lester walked away. “Amalia?”

“I…” Amalia was frozen.

“I’ll go with you,” Macy said.

“Don’t you want to keep an eye on the princess?” Lester asked. “You’re gonna leave her alone with-”

“You're more of a liability than anyone,” Macy said. “You cause trouble no matter where you go.”

She started guiding him out the door.

“I, cause trouble?” Lester asked.

“Definitely. You need a leash.” Macy replied.

“You wanna leash me?”

Macy and Lester went through the door, but they could still be heard.

“I’m gonna take your favorite part of your body and rip it off of you.”

“Isn’t that dirty talk for you, Macy?”

Tallow turned her attention back to the man. She walked up to the counter and leaned on it.

“How can I help you?” the guy asked nervously.

Tallow knocked on the counter. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

He became nervous. “What are you looking for?”

“I’m not looking for anything,” Tallow said. “I just think you’re hiding something, and I'm pretty curious.”

“I… I’m not hiding…”

She knocked on the counter again.

“I-”

More knocking.

Amalia stepped forward. “Why are you harassing this young gentle-”

Jon grabbed her arm and stopped her interjection.

“She’s… doing something,” he said.

Jon felt bad for the guy, but he knew Tallow never acted unless she really thought something was important. He trusted her.

The man looked as if he was about to explode from anxiety.

“Fine.” Tallow sat up and stretched. “I don’t even know why I bothered asking.”

The man sighed.

She suddenly kicked the counter hard.

Something moved across the floor from under the counter.

Jon shook.

Amalia noticed a moment later, quickly grabbing Jon on the arm.

A child with dirt on her face and a dark cloak who had just crawled out from the counter was pressing her back against the wall. She sat on the floor and was taking short breaths, holding a dagger to her chest in fright.

“Aw, I see, it was just some critters.” Tallow remarked. “Nothing to worry about. I was just wondering if…”

The guy moved slowly to the girl.

“She’s fine,” he said. “Please… please don’t take her…”

“And I’m assuming…” Tallow started, “that’s our magical artifact.”

“We were sent here to retrieve it,” Amalia said. “And bring it to the Rare Artifacts guild.”

“You can’t... “ he said. “She’s… I can’t take it away from her.”

“Oh…” Tallow nodded. “I see. We got a Jon situation.”

Jon agreed. They did have a him situation.