They deconstructed the tents and left the camp after brunch, breakfast having been delayed due to Kynos sleeping in.

Erwin scattered the repellent potions before they left, and Otto buried the remains of Erwin's experiments. Unable to keep her zombie insects supplied with freshly killed parts, Elise also had them settle into the impromptu grave.

She looked a bit sad doing so.

They made it to Widala in the late afternoon, Erwin and Otto sweaty from exertion. Kynos had used his shadows to help support the weight of his packs, and Elise, though carrying a full pack now, looked unfazed.

Erwin checked in to the inn and ended up paying for two nights, having originally only planning to stay for one. The lack of sleep and desire for creature comforts were starting to catch up to him, who usually lived in luxurious conditions. Kynos was more than happy to be able to sleep in two nights in a row, and Elise was thankful for the opportunity to bathe. Otto, as usual, stayed quiet.

The tavern that night was a raucous place. Erwin was incredibly pleased at being able to conduct a field experiment of such a scale, and he was continuously buying rounds of drinks for the entire room. The clientele was a large group of adventurers that had been employed to track and hunt a particularly troublesome hydra, which had somehow wandered in from the marshes south of the forest and was disrupting the environment in very noticeable ways. Being mostly veterans who risked their lives on nearly every mission for years, they were partying hard and living life to the fullest while they could.

When Kynos and Elise stepped into the tavern, both fresh from baths and changed out of adventurer clothes, the volume dropped a bit. All of the adventurers were wondering why two children were crashing the party, and were properly flabbergasted when Erwin waved them over and announced that they were the heroic mages he had been regaling the adventurers with tales of just now. All of the seasoned warriors present had thought that he was joking, and was still joking, until their one and only mage opened his eyes wide and shouted, “miss Elise?!”

On reflex, she hid behind Kynos, who immediately located the mage and walked over to him. The mage stood up imperiously and pointed an accusatory finger at Kynos.

“My name is Frain,” he said, trying to shake off the alcohol and pulling out his identity card, “a rank B magician of the mage's guild. Name yourself and give me one good reason why I should overlook you kidnapping a council member's daughter!”

The adventurers tensed up. They would have to support their mage if it came to a fight, given that they absolutely needed a fire mage to deal with the hydra's ridiculous regeneration.

Kynos flashed his own ID at the mage.

“Kynos, rank A, pupil of Eliza, on request from the guild.”

Frain plopped back down on his chair in a daze. Having been one of the younger mages to qualify for a B ranking, he never imagined that he would be outranked by a child, who was also a protege of a council member. He barely stammered out an apology before Erwin sauntered up to the man with another mug full of wine to diffuse the situation.

The adventurers laughed off the situation and resumed their drinking, and the laughter and boasting could be heard from the tavern until deep into the night.