‘How… Interesting.’

This Linden kid was weird. For one, it looked like he was a tiny bit older than he looked like. His mental maturity seemed decent enough to trust him, but the thing that worried Nepizze, was his lack of knowledge.

Not Exploring knowledge, no. Just simple things, like the worth of currency.

On the other hand, it seemed he was knowledgeable about stuff normal kids know nothing about

Nepizze had seen it several times. Those were symptoms of a person who tried their hardest to conceal amnesia.

Now, there were many ways for someone to forget everything. Most of the time, instead of concealing it, one would seek help. Why would Edward avoid it? Nepizze had a hunch.

She would bet her entire single expedition’s earnings that Lindens memories were replaced with something else. Something that made him think he was someone, (or something) else.

How could that happen? ‘Maelodor’ like some called it, was quite quick to screw with peoples’ brains. What general public didn’t know however, was that it could do more than just destroy.

Anyone gifted with “sight” or a relevant visual relic would quickly notice that ‘Maelodor’ poisoning works both ways. It influences minds, but minds can influence it just as easily.

Simply put, it moves in accordance to peoples thoughts and intentions.

Nepizze could easily tell if someone was lying to her, or trying to harm her as long as it was in a place with high maelodor concentration.

But the most fantastic thing She experienced, was memories that didn’t exist. She was walking down a cave, and suddenly, she had a vision of sorts. One that warned her of danger. For just a moment, it felt like she was someone else. A person walking down the same path she was heading.

And then, vividly realistic experience of getting eaten.

She proceeded with heightened caution, and indeed, there was a nest of Kärhitails right ahead. She managed to retrieve their key. A blue one.

Since then, Nepizze was convinced that there was much more to ‘maelodor’. It could apparently store memories and experiences. She wasn’t sure what the conditions could be, but if someone were to suffer from amnesia, and then get hit with a cluster of… something?

The point is, Nepizze was quite sure that’s what happened to Ed. It probably wasn’t even his real name, even if he believed it to be so.

But that wasn’t really all that important. After all, it was his business, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to regain his memories or anything.

The important bit, was that he was joining them. Teaching him would be a pain, but it would be worth it.

‘Deeper into uncharted lands, there are a lot of beasts and savage tribes. Some of them can read maelodor as well as we can, or better. Heck, some of them use Maelodor sensing as their primary sense, just like regular humans use sight.’

“To achieve victory, imagine yourself as your enemy, and think what you would do to defeat yourself.” Was something every good explorer learned quite early on.

‘In other words, inability to perceive the world the way those things do, can cripple your ability to devise valid tactics.’

Being gifted with “sight” or owning an artifact like Amadeus' “Horror Monocle” made a world of difference.

“High grade relics are stupidly expensive. Awakening “Sight” in someone who isn’t talented can be very difficult and time consuming. And here we have a kid who has it right from the start, will join us almost no questions asked, and all he requires to become a splendid member of the group is some experience, and getting through puberty. Feels like we are robbing a gambling house, but without even bothering to cheat.”

Nepizze noticed the boy entering the Inn, and waved to get his attention.

Ed quickly climbed over to her table, and made his greetings.

“Hello, miss Nepizze.”

“You can drop the ‘miss’ part. I’ll be your superior, sure, but it’s still unnecessarily long. For the same reason, I’d like you to tell me whether you prefer ‘Edward’, or ‘Linden’ as a name we’ll call you by.”

“Linden is fine. Why did you call me?"

"You should get to know your new comrades Ferns' Flower consists of several small teams, all of them directed by Leader. You'll belong to my group. They should be here once they wake up."

"It's pretty late. They sleeping in or something?"

"Yeah, they forgot to go to beds. Gambling until morning will do that to anyone ".

"Is there anything I should know about them? I would rather avoid saying something I shouldn't."

"I don't think so... No, wait. You should know that one of the reasons you're joining our team is because we had casualties on the last journey. That's also why we've been staying here for so long."

"I guess that kind of thing comes with the job, huh?"

"You sure are awfully calm about replacing a dead man?"

"With my current skill, I'm not really replacing anyone. Besides, in a sense, we're all replacing those before us. That's the reason babies are made, no?"

'What a cheeky kid.' "Pffft... You're gonna do just fine. Oh, here they come."

Indeed, entire group exited the door to the dining hall. 'Well, it's just four people.'

Each of them carried a blue key, three had them on their necks, one had his key dangling off his belt. They climbed the contraption serving as stairs with considerable speed, and sat around the table.

'Wanna show of to the new guy, huh?' Nepizze was amused. They were clearly trying to climb as fast as they could, and it definitely served as a dick measuring contest.

"Yo!"

"Yo!"

"Ya!"

The greetings were exchanged.

"Okay everyone. Sigfred already knows him, but here he is, a new member."

"Hello, my name is Linden. Edward."

"Amadeu"

"I'm Sigfred"

"Names' Falsh."

"Mine is Pravda, nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

"Oh, how courteous. Falsh, you could learn from him."

"Like you're any better."

"I am better. In every way imaginable."

"Yeah, right. Maybe at being annoying."

"Excuse me, are the two of you brother and sister?" Their newest member interrupted bickering of siblings.

"Yeah, Pravda is my sister, why?"

"Nothing much."

Nepizze snorted. This little guy's expressions were precious.

"Anyway, Now that we introduced ourselves to each other, let's eat, and we'll answer some questions Linden can ask us."

Once the food was delivered, the kid started seeking answers.

"You told me we'll leave this place very soon. Should we really go at this time of year? Aren't we gonna freeze?"

"Simple. If we go within a month, we should reach the western wet lands right after they freeze over, allowing us to waltz right through them without having to swim half the time. A swamp is a dangerous place."

"Reasonable. Do you have something I could use to learn as much as I can about places we'll be going to?"

"Sure. You're a member now, so it shouldn't even be illegal to give you some notes. Remind me later."

"I take it he doesn't have any equipment?" Amadeu expressed his concern in a unique manner.

"Surprisingly, he has quite a bit more than you could think. That being said, we'll select the rest after we finish here."

The boy perked up at the mention of new gear.

"Do I get some new stuff?"

"Yeah. Same things as us. You'll see later."

Nepizze already warned her subordinates to not pry too much into the kids' past, so they didn't.

In turn, Linden didn't ask a lot himself, surely taking their apparent lack of interest as a universal custom to not dig too much into others' circumstances.

In other words, the breakfast was a bit awkward, and everyone would have to get used to the new state of affairs. Linden looked shy, but Nepizze knew his type.

'He'll probably get really talkative once he gets to try out his new rifle.'