Jon didn’t know what to expect as they made their way back through the forest. Macy had led the way while Hector followed along.

Once they reached the building, Jon saw that most of the bandits had been tied up with rope.

One of the villagers was finishing the final touches.

Liz was nearby on her horse pacing around.

“Liz!” Hector called.

She turned.

“Hector?” She asked. “You’re here?”

They went up to each other.

“Jon, you’re safe!” Liz said. “I assume the same goes for everyone else?”

Jon nodded.

“Some of the mercenaries got away,” Liz said. “They took their leader with them.”

“Leader? Mercenaries?” Hector grumbled. “I can’t believe it. Should we chase them?”

“It’s your call,” Liz said. “King’s Guard business, right?”

“...It’s whatever,” Hector waved his hand away. “I’m way too busy anyway. My sister will take care of it.”

Hector climbed off of his horse, and Liz did so as well.

“I-” He was caught by a big hug from Liz.

“It’s nice to see you,” she said. “I haven’t seen you or Lana in a while.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Hector coughed. Jon could see his face turn red.

“You guys know each other?” Mercy asked. She and Macy had also climbed off of their horse.

“She’s a friend of my sister’s,” Hector explained.

“Come on, Hector, we’ve gone way back.” She patted him on the shoulder.

Hector coughed again. “Sure. Uh, what’s the situation-”

“Hector! My man!” Lester came by and hit Hector hard on the back. “You missed all of the action! Come ‘ere!”

He grabbed Hector and showed him away.

“...Are you with the King’s Guard as well?” Liz asked Mercy.

“No, that’s his fiance’,” Macy said, cutting off whatever Mercy would have responded with.

“Oh!” Liz blushed. “I see. You must be special for Hector to have considered you. I don’t think he’s considered anyone as long as I’ve known him.”

“Lies,” Macy said. “He’s considered you.”

“Alright, you got about two seconds before I punch you in the mouth,” Mercy said.

Jon's breath got caught in his chest. Was it gonna happen?

“Do it, hun,” Macy said. She stepped towards Mercy.

“Hey, hey!” Liz went in between them. “We just finished a tough fight. There’s no need for this.”

She turned to Mercy.

“There’s nothing between me and Hector,” Liz said. “Just some well time spent between us and his sister. Please.”

“...I believe you,” Mercy said. “It’s her I have a problem with.”

Macy shrugged. “I’m just telling things from my point of view, that’s all.”

She walked away.

“...Macy has always been like that,” Liz said. “But never mind her.”

“...Right…” Mercy caught eye contact with Jon, who hadn’t gotten off of the horse yet. Now that he wasn’t shooting anyone anymore, he was glad to be on the back of a horse, just to see the world from it. It was quite nice.

Soon enough, Tallow had arrived back with the wagon in tow.

“I got bored,” she said. “I figured it was fine to come back.”

She hopped out.

In the back of the wagon, the Armistand family had seemed to become extremely comfortable.

Ray held on to his sister, who had fallen asleep in his arms.

“She must have tired herself out,” Liz said, approaching the wagon. “She must have used a lot of mana deflecting all of those powerful attacks. Even with her weapon. But some sleep will be good enough for her.”

“...Speaking of which…" Tallow crossed her arms. “Weren’t we supposed to return the item to the guild?”

“The guild which I run?” Mr. Armistaned asked. “Consider everything taken care of. I will issue payment as soon as we return back to the guild in Valta!”

He turned to Ray. “Will you return with us?”

“I… uh…”

“Honey, don’t put him on the spot like that,” Mrs. Armsitand responded. “Let’s just enjoy this moment. As a family.”

“Yes…” Mr. Armsistand responded.

“Also, Tallow added, “Liz said she was gonna take the entirety of magical items back with her to her own guild.”

“Tallow!” Liz exclaimed. “I- that isn’t necessary!”

“Oh, this here?” Mr. Armistand asked, grabbing towards the bag of magical items. “Sure. Keep it all..”

“I can’t,” Liz said. “I’m sure some of this was yours to begin with. We can begin to sort through and-”

“Nonsense,” Mr. Armistand said. “Your guild has done tremendous work with the items they’ve collected. I’m sure you can make sure you get everything back to everyone or keep the rest.”

He rubbed his daughter’s shoulder. “I’ve got the treasure I need right here.”

Tallow rolled her eyes.

She walked up to Jon and Mercy. Jon still hadn’t gotten off of the horse.

“How’d you get away?” Tallow asked.

“We said we were going for a stroll,” Mercy said. “Then as soon as we could, we came here. Mallory’s trying to keep everyone busy so that we can make it back without much issue.”

“So we should go,” Tallow said. “Before everyone is too worried.”

Mercy nodded. “Yeah.”

Lester and Liz were the first to leave. They had gathered up with the rest of Liz’s guild in front of the building. Lester was riding on the back of Liston’s horse, much to both of their ire. And Raglace had been tied up and put on the back of a different horse. He was still unconscious.

“You!” Liz tossed a dagger to Tallow from her horse, who caught it. “Take it.”

Tallow looked at it. “This is… Why?”

“You helped us and got us paid,” Liz said. “And you’re not officially part of the King’s Guard. Plus you negotiated our payment. It’s a consolation.”

“...why this one?” Tallow asked.

“I don’t know. Just a feeling. You don’t seem like the flashy type.”

“Right.” Tallow observed the dagger. “Alright. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth… so thanks.”

Liz then looked at Hector.

“Good luck with everything,” Liz said to Hector. “Hope everything goes well, with you and your partner.”

“Not if my father has anything to say about it,,” Hector said.

“So there will be a period of power?” she asked.

“Probably,” Hector said. “Just to spite me.”

“...If you need anyone to fight in yours… or should I say, your fiance’s place, feel free to let me know,” she said.

“Right, thanks,” Hector said, even if he didn’t seem very thankful.”

“...You sure you don’t want to talk to your sister?” Liz asked.

“You and Lester can take care of everything,” Hector responded. “In fact, I’d rather not have her even know I was here. Can you do that for me?”

“Of course. Anything for you, Hector,” she said. “I know Lana worries.”

She turned to Jon. “And Jon, it was good to fight with you. I’d have you at my side anytime in the midst of battle.”

Jon nodded. “Me too.”

“One day, I will have to talk to you in-depth about your gun,” Liz said. “When you have time, I would love for you to come by the guild and have that talk.”

Jon nodded again. “Yeah.”

“Alright. Let’s be off. Let’s make it back before sunset.” She clapped her hands. All of the horses turned away.

“Be seeing ya, Jon!” Lester yelled. “And Hector, tell your sister-”

“Tell her yourself!” Hector yelled.

By then, the horses had already galloped away.

Hector sighed. “This is too much. Let’s get Amalia and get back in the wagon.”

Amalia was back inside of the bandit’s building, where the rest of the villagers and the Armistand family had set up.

She was talking with Ray when they entered.

“Come on, Amalia, let’s go,” Hector said. “Before we get in trouble.”

“Relax, Hector,” She responded. “I was having a nice conversation.”

“No, it’s fine…. Princess…” Ray nearly scoffed at the word. “I would understand if-”

“Please, Raymond, don’t address me like that,” she said. “I’m not a princess here.”

“Well, you should just call me Ray, then,” he said.

“If you need anything, feel free to let me know,” she said. “I’ll try to come by… when I have time.”

She stood up. “Nice to meet you, Raymond.”

She bowed and made her way towards the door. “Let’s go, Hector.”

Hector groaned and followed her out.

Jon was ready to follow her out, but Tallow hadn’t moved from her spot.

She was staring at Thalia, who was tied up in one of the beds.

“...She’ll be alright,” Ray said, coming closer to her. “At least, that was what the magic girl said. And I believe her.”

“Yeah.” Tallow shrugged. “What’s happening with your family?”

“They’re gonna stay with me for a bit,” he said. “Word’s being sent to the guild, so that they know what’s happening. And then we have to figure out what to do with her.”

“...She can’t just stay with your family?” Tallow asked.

“She could. But she probably needs training,” Ray said. “In case… things get hairy again.”

“Then shouldn’t she stay with you?” Tallow asked. “You know. She’d probably gain some experience being out here in the wild.”

Tallow gestured to the surrounding building.

Ray chuckled. “Sure, sure. I think she’d be better off with you, however.”

Tallow’s eyebrow raised. “What?”

“I mean, she needs a teacher, right?” Ray said. “Maybe, you could take her along-”

“Stop right there,” Tallow said. “I can’t do that. I’m still tagging along, as an apprentice. I mean… he’s not here right now, but I’m still in training.” Tallow nodded assuredly.

“Oh, alright. I didn’t mean to impose,” he responded. “But I think you should come back and see her. She’s only known you for a bit, but she seems keen on trying to impress you.”

“Me? Not worth the effort,” Tallow said. “But when she wakes up, tell her I’ll come back with some real training. One day. Until then…”

Tallow gave a glance to Mr. Armistand, who was entertaining the villagers with a story he was telling them.

“Just spend some time with your family,” she said. “That’s something I wouldn’t know anything about..”

“By the way it looks, it seems like you would,” Ray said.

Tallow raised her eyebrow. “Oh. Very funny. I think I have a long way to go until I consider any of these guys' family.”

She looked at Jon. “...Maybe.”

“...whatever you want,” Jon said. He didn’t want to impose, but he was beginning to feel a bond with everyone. A better bond than with his family, in all honesty.

“...I want to think about it.” She patted Jon on the arm. “Let’s go.”

“Bye,” Jon said, waving to Ray.

“Oh yeah,” Tallow added, “And I’d be careful how you tread around flirting with the princess,”

“What!” Ray became flustered. “I’m not-”

Tallow and Jon had already made their way out from the door.

They went to the wagon, where the others were waiting for them.

“Thank God,” Macy said. “My brother was about to have an aneurysm. It would have been funny to watch, but I wasn’t going to carry him.”

“You’re strong enough to carry me,” Hector muttered loudly.

“Was that a compliment?” Macy asked.

“...Kill me…” Hector climbed into the front.

Everyone else went into the back of the wagon. Jon sat down with Tallow and Mercy taking the seats to either side from him.

Across, Macy and Amalia took their seats as well. Macy sat down across from Mercy with a smug smile on her face.

“Everyone in?” Hector said.

“Yep,” Macy answered, having not taken her glare away from Mercy.

“Yep,” Mercy added.

Hector shipped the reins and the wagon took off.

Jon had never known the wagon to be filled with so much tension as the first part of that ride. At least, the other times, Mallory had been there to help fill the void, and then it was just Tallow and Mercy.

Now, Tallow and Mercy were at the same side. And they were focused on the other end.

Everyone seemed to be staring at each other but Jon. He gulped nervously.

“...Why don’t you sit up in the front with your hubby?” Macy asked. “Isn’t he getting lonely?”

“I’m not sitting with my back towards you,” Mercy said. “And you don’t tell me how I should interact in my relationships. I don’t need to answer to you.”

“I’m just curious,” Macy said. “What do you see in my brother?”

“None of your business,” Mercy said.

Macy gave a thin smile. “Haven’t you heard? When you marry someone, you marry their entire family. Me included.”

“Well, then you get to marry mine,” Mercy said, “And I’d like to see if you’ll keep laughing then.”

“Ooooo… Bring it then.” Macy responded.

“Don’t bother, Mercy,” Tallow said. “She’s a sadist. She’ll probably enjoy it.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Is everyone in your family like this?”

“No!” Amalia suddenly cut in. “No! They’re all quite nice, actually.”

“Nice? Ha!” Macy spit out of the wagon. “They just pretend to be nice. They’re all as ugly as I am on the inside.”

“Just on the inside?” Tallow asked. “I’d think you have more in common with them than that.”

“Mmmm… I almost wish my brother was marrying you,” Macy responded. “You’re funny.”

“Well, she’s not funny, and she’ll kick your ass,” Tallow said. “I’d be too lazy to do it myself, so I’ll have fun watching.”

The wagon suddenly slowed down.

“Why are we stopping?” Amalia asked, turning to the front.

Jon looked at the front as well. What was happening?

“...Things are crazy enough as it is,” Hector said, not bothering to turn around. “Could you please not fight.”

“Well, brother, I-”

“You too Macy,” Hector said. “I never ask you for anything.”

“Cause you know I won’t do it,” she answered.

Hector sighed. “Fine.”

He flicked the reins. The carriage started to move again.

“...Listen to your brother,” Mercy said. “He might save your life.”

“He might save yours,” Macy responded. “You know, between all of the…”

She made an obscene gesture with her fingers.

Jon was puzzled, but his attention was quickly drawn by Mercy reaching for her tool.

He tried to think about how to react, but thankfully Tallow had already reached across Jon and grabbed her wrists, stopping her.

“It’s not worth it, hun,” Tallow said. “Don’t feed into it. She thrives off the attention.”

“...Can we talk about the mission?” Amalia added. “And talk about how successful we were?”

“We were very successful,” Macy said.

“Very,” Tallow added. “No thanks to you.”

Macy gave Tallow a knowing look.

“...Well… maybe a little thanks to you. Why don’t you do that thing you did before, and jump off the wagon again.”

Tallow turned her attention to Amalia before she could respond.

“You did good too, princess,” Tallow said. “You managed not to die. And you got some good hits in. More than I expected.”

“...I have barely any training,” Amalia said. “I learn most of what I know… from the little bit of sparring I can get, and Hector’s notebooks.”

She rubbed her shoulder. “I can’t use any mana, so I can’t do anything having to deal with that.”

“But you could surely afford a teacher,” Tallow said.

“...My father… he doesn’t think his princess should fight,” she explained. “I should stay in the castle, and let all of the guards, and Hector’s family do all the fighting for me.”

“But training isn’t the same as letting you go off into the wild,” Tallow asked. “Right?”

“All of the other dignitaries get their children the finest training imaginable,” Amalia said. “One of them was even tutored by Charlotte…”

Macy scoffed at the mention of the name. “Tool.” She muttered.

“I couldn’t even have that,” Amalia said. “So, I’m forced to be weak or to go around my father’s back."

“Then where’d you get that cute thing over there?” Tallow pointed to Amalia’s weapon, which was on her waist. It was in a form similar to Mercy’s tool, except red.

“Funny story,” Amalia said. “Hector’s father gave it to me.”

She took it off her waist and extended it into a staff.

“I was playing around with Hector when I was younger,” Amalia said. “And one day, I begged Mr. Luther to give me something so I could help “spar” with Hector.”

It transformed into a shield.

“He gave me this shield… all while muttering about how my dad should have let me trained, and that he was gonna get killed for letting me use it…”

“My dad going behind Harris’ back,” Macy said. “I still can’t believe the old man did it.”

“It was only supposed to be temporary… but on the way, I found that it had become small, and it wasn’t a shield anymore.”

It transformed into a staff.

“I was afraid because I didn’t want anyone to take it away from me,” Amalia continued. “So, after I went to spar with Hector, I begged Mr. Luther to keep it, since I would never be able to use it. And he said fine. So, after that, I kept experimenting with it. Trying to see what I could do with it.”

It split in half, becoming two small staffs that went into each of her hands. Both pieces then transformed into their crescent-shaped projectile counterparts.

“...This is all I can do for now,” Amalia said. “I haven’t been able to tell what my limits are, and my options are very weak. Who knew what I could have done with more training.”

“You kidding me?” Mercy said. “That’s awesome, training or no training.”

“I don’t understand how magical items are being handed out left and right,” Tallow said. “Like really.”

“You have several,” Mercy said.

“...But, I’m not having a love affair with them,” Tallow said. “Like Jon and his gun.”

Love affair? Jon didn’t imagine being in love with his gun. Did he love it? As a thing? He never pondered it.

“Wouldn’t you be having the love affair?” Mercy asked. “‘Cause you have, like several.”

“...Shut up.” Tallow crossed her arms. “I won’t admit how much of a good point you make.”

“I’m nothing compared to you,” Amalia said, the comment being to Mercy. “You’re the daughter of a dignitary, but you’ve made a warrior of yourself. I’m sure that’s why Hector was drawn to you.”

“I… I know exactly how you feel,” Mercy responded. “My father has a set of guards that surround his every movement, and yet, he’s probably more powerful than any of them combined.”

She frowned. “But he still has the guards. And I can’t live like that. Ever since I was younger, my father put me through hell to train me and be the strongest I could ever be, and yet, he expects me to walk around with guards. To sit down and… do nothing? It’s… patronizing, almost. “

“I imagine your father has the guards because even with his own strength, he still is one of the most valuable members of your community. He probably represents the interests of not just himself, but many other people.”

Mercy got a sad look on her face. “Oh. Yeah. I… I hate that.”

“I hate it too,” Amalia said. “That I’m forced to be a certain way because my father wants me to be… because that’s what’s expected.”

Jon almost nodded in agreement.

“Everything I do… reflects on our people, and I wish it wasn’t the case. I wish I could be strong like you, Mercy. Then maybe, I would be happier, and…”

She stopped speaking.

“...I hope to be strong enough to change my destiny too.” She finally said.

“...Maybe we can help,” Mercy said. “Once… everything has settled down.”

“Alright, enough with the sappy stuff,” Tallow waved the air with her hand. “You did alright princess. Just take the compliment.”

“...That was only because Jon was there to help,” Amalia said. “He really saved me… and you.”

Jon grimaced. He was saved by them.

“I… didn’t-”

“Take the compliment, man,” Tallow said. “It’s fine. I’m impressed.”

“Tell me about it,” Mercy said. “I want to hear it too.”

“...Tired…” Jon finally said. He was just happy to be alive and wanted to focus on being with everyone else for the time being. He didn’t want to remember his life being in danger.

He did enjoy fighting with Liz, though. It felt nice to be treated like a normal person who was capable. Liz defended him, but Jon didn’t feel helpless. He had supported her too. They felt like a team.

And even though he did just barely scrape through the fight, he had stood his ground against Raglace. He got in close. He used his gun, and he did everything his friends had told him. He had grown, and maybe, he was just a bit closer to being that strong person that he wanted to be. Strong enough to protect his friends.

The wagon stopped again. Jon shook out of his trance.

It was no longer sunset. It was completely dark.

Tallow had fallen asleep on his shoulder and was snoring. Across, Amalia had fallen asleep on Macy’s lap.

Jon had expected Macy to do something rude, but instead, she had leaned back on her wagon, looking incredibly comfortable.

She noticed Jon and gave him a smile.

She opened her mouth to speak, but what she said wasn’t directed towards him.

“What’s the hold-up?” she asked.

“...Jon, can I get that gem?” Hector asked. “The one that calls Mallory.”

Oh yeah. Jon didn’t remember where he put it.

He began looking around for Tallow’s gem.

“Just give me yours,” Hector said.

RIght. Jon pulled the gem out and tossed it to Hector.

Hector stood up in his seat, holding the gem up to his mouth.

“Hector!” Mallory’s voice boomed through the crystal. “They know you’re here!”

“That’s fine,” Hector said. “I just need to get Amalia back in the castle.”

“No, they’re coming!” Mallory screamed.

“I can deal with the guards,” Hector responded.

“Not the guards!” Mallory exclaimed. “Your Dad! And his horse!”

“Oh…”

Jon didn’t know why that was so bad until he saw the figure appear over the small hill. Seeing Luther’s silhouette made Jon shiver.

“Wha-?” Tallow sat up. “What’s happening?”

“Princess… wake up…” Macy was shaking Amalia by her shoulder.

“What?” She sat up. “What-”

“Daddy’s here,” Macy said.

“My father?” She stirred. “It’s fine.”

“Wrong Daddy!”

Amalia sat up quickly. “Oh no!”