“Silber, what is going on? Were you able to talk to the deer?” Adam asked.

Silber gave a simple nod as he said: “Yes! It is kinda weird but it there is some sort of understanding we could come to as guardian beasts. The deer said he had a rather amicable relationship with the humans until recently. A group of armed men wearing striking colors have been attacking his herd and killing them in droves! There is hardly even a third of his herds left! He has been attacking the town in retribution and in hopes that they would stop this insanity but they haven't!”

Adam was surprised by every word Silber spoke to him. He did not dwell too long on how Silber was able to talk to the deer. This was likely something all Guardian beasts could do and he would not be the first to discover this. The rest of what Silber said was simply shocking. Was the city of Alfar truly the one at fault? But if they had done such attacks, surely they would know that this deer would strike back against them. Just what was going on?

Adam relayed everything that Silber told him to Clayton. Clayton gave a heavy sigh as he started to see the root cause of what was going on. He turned to Adam: “Get Silber to ask... does the deer even have a name? Get Silber to ask him what colors those men were wearing.”

The deer did not really have a name relative to human terms. Clayton decided to just refer to him as Buck... The answer that Buck gave them for the colors the men were wearing was bright orange and black. Adam thought this was odd as he told Clayton. Alfar's colors are blue and gold for their city's standard. Heider's colors as a kingdom were blue, purple, and black. He was not overly familiar with orange and black, but he had a sneaking suspicion. He asked if Clayton knew what these colors represented. Clayton was very heavyhearted when he heard this. First the dragon with Heider blaming Luxom for instigating it and now this! Clayton answered Adam: “Those are the standard colors of Luxom. Either it is truly Luxom or someone masquerading as them to try and instigate war between Heider and Luxom...”

Rage boiled in the pit of Adam's stomach. Who would go to such lengths for a stupid war? If people want to fight fine, just don't involve innocent civilians! Adam spoke up: “We obviously can't just kill Buck! How was he supposed to know that the people attacking him weren't from the city? We need to find the people responsible and stop them! They are no worse than bandits at this point!”

Clayton became worried as he saw Adam overcome by his anger. “Calm down Adam! Nobody said we were still going to kill Buck!”

Clayton gave a heavy inward sigh. It would be simplest to just kill Buck and end the contract but that was not acceptable to him. Clayton also wanted to stop whoever was responsible but he thought deeper into the matter than Adam. Clayton knew just how convoluted war got and was worried about the consequences their next actions might take. The people attacking the herd might truly be from Luxom, but it was equally likely that they were people from Heider that wanted to be seen as Luxom soldiers so the tension between the two kingdoms boiled over and the war that had been threatening to start for the last four years would finally begin! Was there really no other outcome but to confront these attackers? Clayton could only hope that there would be evidence on them that could point to them not actually being Luxom soldiers.

Clayton finally said: “Get Silber to ask Buck for details about the attacks its herd has suffered. We need to know the direction from which the attacks came from and where they occurred. Hopefully we can find a clue as to the area of their camp.”

Adam was more than eager to comply and got Silber to ask the questions. He also had Silber explain the situation that enemies of the city were actually the ones responsible for the attacks. Buck was suspicious of what they said but could not refute the possibility. He felt sorrow at souring his relationship with Alfar but did not regret attacking. He did what he felt right to protect what was left of his herds.

After everything was said and done, Adam and the others left Buck to heal on his own. Being a guardian beast it would not be too long for him to heal his wounds and there was nothing they could do that would be of extra help to him. They headed towards an area where Buck said he had actually fought the attackers. Most of the time Buck was too far away, by the time he knew one of his herds were being attacked the attackers had already left. Buck actually protected all the herds of deer within a range of a hundred kilometers! Even with how fast he could normally move the attackers would retreat before he had a chance to appear. They did not even collect the bodies of their kills and it was completely unlike normal hunting practices. This helped Buck to believe some of the words Adam and Clayton had spoken to him but he would never again trust humans to be fully sensible after this.

The scene of that battle was a ghastly sight! The attackers had started shooting arrows at the herd from one side making them run directly opposite of where the attackers were. The attackers had set up some traps and many of the deer had their legs broken from this. The attackers had started to finish up the deer that had been captured by their traps when Buck finally showed up. There were over twenty dead deer strewn about this battlefield! There were a few human corpses as Buck rammed and killed a few attackers before they started to flee. Instead of hunting those men down Buck tried to help the deer that were still alive and caught in the traps. This battle happened two days ago right before it attacked the city in anger over this.

Silber went directly to those human corpses to pick up a scent to follow. With that it should not be too hard for them to find the camp these attackers were using. Silber followed the scent for a few hours before they found a clearing that had recently been used for camping. There were a few fire pits dug up and the area around looked like people had traipsed through it for a day or two. From here Silber continued to follow the trail for another full five hours before they got close to where those attackers were finally camping! It was evening at this point and the other Silver Saviors had spotted the attacker's camp before even Adam did. They saw smoke rising from the distance that was created from cooking fires. The Silver Saviors finally snuck up to the camp by the time the sun had just passed under the horizon. The attackers did not have any sentries out since they were not expecting any company. As the Silver Saviors got close enough to survey the attacker's campsite, they started to hear them talk among themselves.

An angry voice started talking: “I still can't believe that fucking demonic beast killed Bret and Ford. Thought this was supposed to be an easy mission of hunting deer to cause a local demonic beast to go crazy! Nobody said nuthin' about actually fighting it!”

An exasperated voice replied: “Why are you bringing this up again? Bret and Ford weren't the only ones killed! And we all knew the risks when we signed up to make that guardian beast go crazy! This is a righteous mission and its risks match the reward.”

The previously angry voice continued muttering: “Pfft, guardian beast? What lunacy. Never heard of such a thing till now. There are only demonic beasts!”

While they were surveying the camp, Clayton had been hopeful that their conversations might shed some light on who exactly these people were and what their intentions were. Unfortunately they only said they had received the mission to anger Buck but not who gave the mission. Clayton still had his suspicions about who these people really were but they had to attack before the Silver Saviors were discovered. With Clayton's abilities as a martial artist he intended to capture one of the attackers during the battle. He chose a target that looked like he was of a higher rank.

The Silver Saviors had already come up with a plan of attack before they approached the camp. They would first survey a bit to try and locate all the members of the opposing party. Then they would use hand signals to tell each other which areas they were going to attack and then they would have to quickly kill their way through the enemy! They were likely outnumbered so this was the only way the Silver Saviors could ensure a swift resolution with minimal casualties on their side. Clayton would most likely be able to take them all on his own if he wanted to just destroy the entire camp, however, he was going to be tied up with capturing a few of the enemy and he also desired to keep the campsite intact in case there was any information laying around that could reveal the true identity of these attackers.

After the Silver Saviors shared a few hand signals, they quietly got to work. They softly pulled their weapons free and quickly approached the camp in hopes of getting the drop on them. It did not take long for them to get to the campsite but it was long enough for some of the attackers to realize something was wrong. As the Silver Saviors broke into the campsite, they finally gave out some war cries as they started chopping their way through! With speed faster than most could follow, Clayton slipped ahead of everyone else to capture his target. Clayton quickly grabbed the man's arms and pulled them behind his back in a lock. With Clayton's strength there was no way he was going to escape!

After Clayton had captured that man the fight started in earnest around the camp. The attackers finally managed to grab their weapons and started fighting back! Adam carefully weaved his way through the camp as he struck out with his sword. He fought alongside Silber who would quickly circle around and bite at the attackers. Silber was too quick for them to hit and provided more than enough distraction and injury for Adam to finish them off. Silber's bites could just about rip off a limb if he put just a little more effort into it! In the middle of fighting Adam suddenly called out: “Archers!”

A few of the attackers had grabbed bows and were attempting to fire at the Silver Saviors! There was quite a tussle around them, though, and the Silver Saviors tried to position themselves so that they were fighting with some of the attackers between them and the archers. This made it so very few arrows managed to find their marks and those that did only inflicted minor injuries on the Silver Saviors. However, there was one arrow that hit an archers target perfectly. This arrow had been directed at Clayton! The arrow zipped straight into the throat of the man Clayton was holding! Clayton had been too surprised at the fact that these people were willing to kill their own to keep their secrets to move and stop the arrow. The arrow may have moved a tad slower than the dragon Clayton had fought but he, unfortunately, had not way to react this time! Clayton quickly released the dead body he was holding and tried to capture someone else. He had to get his answers! It was finally at this point that the attackers noticed how fast Clayton could move. Before they had been so concentrated on the attack that they did not know how Clayton had managed to get a hold of that man. One of the attackers shouted: “Martial artist!” to which most of the attackers gave a bitter expression to. They all then suddenly bit down at a weird angle and crunching sounds could be herd! The attackers then started to convulse as one of them said: “You will never capture us or stop our righteous cause!”

The men then all dropped and convulsed a bit before becoming still. Adam watched with his elemental sight as something black and wicked spread through their bodies killing them off. The souls of all the attackers then departed from their bodies and dispersed. They had all committed suicide! Clayton silently cursed under his breath when this happened. These men were prepared to the point where they hid poison in breakable false teeth! Clayton ordered everyone to search the tents and look for any documents or something that explained more about their presence here. Unfortunately, they could only come up with items that came from Luxom. With the colors on the flags that the men had erected in the camp anyone would easily draw the conclusion that they were indeed Luxom soldiers. The only thing left at this point was to return to Alfar and report what had happened. However, it was getting dark so the Silver Saviors decided to set up a small camp some distance away. Their camp only consisted of a single fire and a sleeping blanket for each member.

Adam's gaze was locked onto the fire as he watched the fire essence roar away. “Why did they kill themselves like that? Was it really worth dying over trying to get a guardian beast to attack a city? Sure Buck had killed a few civilians from the city but it was hardly crippling. Why did they have to try and make Buck go crazy?” Adam tried thinking for a long time but could not come up with a satisfactory answer. The only thing that came to his mind was another question: “Is Luxom full of crazy bastards like this?”

Adam and the others started heading back early the next morning. On the way to Alfar, they decided to drop by where they had parted from Buck and see if he was still there. If he was they could tell him that the problem was finally resolved. As they approached the area Buck was at Adam could see from afar that he was already doing much better than he had the other day. Buck seemed full of vigor and spirit essence. In fact he walked towards their direction when he noticed the Silver Saviors were coming over. He appeared out behind the trees showing off a marvelous splendor that had previously been missing when Adam and Clayton first met him. Buck's lighter toned undercoat seemed to be shining with a golden brown color while his horns shone with white. He now also held a posture that seemed rather noble. Adam looked towards Silber and said: “Tell him that we killed the ones who were hunting his herds.”

Buck was glad to hear the news but told them something that could be devastating to Alfar. Buck was expecting them to not hunt any deer for the next three to five years! Buck wanted the herd population to get back up and needed time for that. If Alfar expected to be able to hunt the same amount of deer as they had in the past, the local deer population could be wiped out! Without letting them discuss the matter, Buck then immediately left to tend to his remaining herds. The Silver Saviors truly got the bad end of the stick for this contract. Not only was it far more complicated than was initially expected, they had to deliver bad news on top of it!

With nothing else to do, they finally made their way back to Alfar to deliver the news. Clayton took them all they way to the estate where the governor of the city resided and did all his work. Clayton announced that they were the group sent to deal with the demonic deer that was attacking the city and had an important progress report to give. They still ended up waiting for another hour before the governor finally had time to see them. Clayton led the way into the receiving hall where the governor would hold public meetings. After a few short greetings with the wizened man who was the governor, Clayton laid everything that had happened out to him. At first the governor was happy to hear that the root of the issue had been resolved. Then it started to get more complicated with the men who appeared to be from Luxom causing the problem and that Buck would not allow hunting for three to five years! While deer meat was not their primary food source it was still an important one!

“You call this having taken care of the problem!? You should have taken care of that damn demonic beast that killed those innocent people as well as those Luxom bastards!”

The Silver Saviors were startled by the governor's outburst. Adam was worried that he might order them to even go back out and kill Buck with how angry he seemed to be. Clayton frowned at the governor's outburst. Clayton was a strong martial artist and was not afraid of the words coming from an old man. Clayton growled “Are you really that stupid!?”

The governor became surprised at Clayton's own rebuttal. There was hardly anyone in Alfar who would stand against his words. Clayton continued: “Buck needs to remain to protect those herds for the next few years. If you simply allow your people to hunt as they previously have, your grand-children and great grand-children will never see a single piece of deer meat on the table in their entire lives because you hunted them to extinction! What is a few years of missing deer meat compared to losing it forever!? You may do what you will with the information I gave you but you should probably get your military office to investigate that camp and verify who those men's allegiance was with. We are going back to Hessler to give our final report and they can decide if we have successfully finished this contract or not.”

Clayton then walked out with the rest of the Silver Saviors in tow. He directly led them out of town, even though it was already late in the day. He didn't want to stay in town after he had talked to the governor like that and had said they were leaving. Clayton might not be afraid of a simple old man but that man could still try to send city guards out to arrest them if he got angry enough. It was another week on the road before they finally made it back to Hessler. It seemed that Clayton did not have to worry as much as he had since there wasn't a hint of anyone pursuing them to put them under arrest.

When they reached Hessler Clayton went off to report on their contract as he normally did. Adam, on the other hand, started walking... home. He felt that this time was somehow different than every other time he had come back. He put all his thoughts about the last contract aside as he started walking home. He wasn't going to Madame's but truly to his own house. He was eager to see what Helen and Vivienne got to decorate the house with but he did not walk to fast. He did not want to lose this feeling he had as he walked to his home. As Adam finally stood in front of his house he could already see some changes. The outside walls of his house had been bare before but there were now a few simple ornaments and trellises adorning the walls. Seeing Adam just stand there doing nothing, Silber got impatient said:“What are you waiting for Beta?” Then he started running forward while barking: “Alpha, Alpha, I'm home!”

Adam had a broad smile on his face as he watched this. He could see that Helen was inside with Vivienne and Silber likely smelled that Helen was there too. Adam then quickly dashed forward just behind Silber as they ran to the house. Helen and Vivienne had been in the living room that was next to the entrance. When Helen heard the barking she quickly stood up and ran to open the door. She opened the door to see Adam and Silber not even a meter away. She cried out happily: “Adam, Silber!”

Silber expectantly sat at attention, ready for Helen to start petting and adoring him. Helen ruffled the fur on his head with a smile before stepping over to Adam. “Welcome home you two. Come inside and see what we got!”

Helen grabbed Adam's hand as she led him inside. Vivienne also quickly appeared and was happy to see Adam. This was their new home and it always felt the best when everyone was here together. Adam followed Helen around as she showed him all the new furnishings and decorations they got for the rooms. Even though they were not the most opulent they were all steady and well made making them cost one whole gold and ten silver, for them to furnish the whole house! That still left one gold and ninety silver in Adam's account, which was more than enough for an emergency fund. Adam was extremely happy and satisfied about everything. “We can finally invite people over!” Adam said.

Both Helen and Vivienne nodded with knowing smiles: “We decided we would have a house warming party and combine it with your birthday! It will be on the twenty-seventh, of course!”

It was currently the sixteenth of Drittel so it was still a little over a week until then. Adam told them what had happened over at Alfar and they became surprised. They also saw something rare as Adam told them the story; Adam was showing a seething hatred! It was not surprising considering what Adam went through at Fort Erich and how Luxom was apparently responsible for both the dragon and this last incident. However, it was still rather rare to see Adam like this. After Adam had told them about what happened, he tried to put it out of his mind. There was nothing more he could do about it but news of it spread like wildfire. Everyone everywhere in Heider started talking about how devious and conniving Luxom is so whenever Adam left home he was constantly reminded of it when he overheard people talking. Adam tried to distract himself with expectations about the upcoming party and before he knew it, it was finally the twenty-seventh.

Quite a few people ended up coming in the afternoon for Helen and Adam to show off the house to. Janette, Susan, Bruno, Clyde, Darren, Franklin, Kevin, and a few others came. Even Alfred came with some reluctance. Even if he felt awkward to be in the house where the woman he loved was living with the man she loved, Alfred was rather interested in the unique house. Helen and Adam showed the house off to them all and held the party in the garden courtyard. Everyone was fascinated at being outside while technically being inside the house. The space was so big that it easily accommodated them all. The evening passed rather happily. After looking over the gifts which ranged from kitchen utensils to a sword cleaning kit for Adam, everyone mingled around. With jokes flying around at times, someone finally asked: “So Helen, have you thought about marrying Adam yet?”

With a red face Helen muttered a: “Maybe.” that was heard by a few people. Adam's own face turned red as they laughed at the bashfulness of the two. As that joke was flying around, Alfred left. Noticing this, Adam felt a little bad. Alfred was his best friend and that joke touched a rather sensitive subject. Adam quickly followed Alfred out, not sure of what to say. Alfred had stopped just outside the entryway to the house and was looking up at the starry night sky. Adam approached him but was unsure of what to say. After a minute of silence Alfred started speaking on his own: “You know, when you and Helen started going out, I tried to move past her. It would make it easier for us all if I could just stop being in love with her but I can't! I don't know why but I just can't!”

Adam started out with “I...” but he still had no idea what to say.

Alfred gave a sigh as he looked at Adam. “Don't worry about it Adam. As long as both you and Helen are happy it is fine. Sometimes it might hurt when I see you two together but sometimes... I also feel at peace! I still love her but as long as it is you, I can stand her loving someone else!”

After a short pause Alfred suddenly shifted gears as he once again looked up to the stars and shouted: “Damn you Luxom!”

Adam was surprised by this outburst. “Where did that come from?”

Alfred gave a laugh: “Well think about it; if they had never attacked Fort Erich you would never have come here and taken Helen from me! My love life was totally messed up by those bastards! I will only hate them because of that, not some stupid enmity between them and Heider!” Alfred then gave another laugh: “I sound so stupid when I put it like that though!”

Adam also gave a soft chuckle. “I am sorry that I can't give Helen to you but I will help you curse Luxom any time! You are my best friend no matter what!”

Alfred then said: “Ah, don't get mushy on me! I am going to leave and go cool my head. Don't stop your party on my account!”

After Alfred left, Adam rejoined the party. A little later the party naturally ended on its own. Even with what happened with Alfred, it was a good evening. It was two days after this, on the first of Vieren, a piece of news caught the attention of everyone in the kingdom of Heider. Full out war had once again been declared between Heider and Luxom!