My examination of the few people in the inn's hall didn't net anything interesting. There were no high-level skills, no visible titles to note, nothing.

The two men at the same table as us probably were hunters or something like that, their ranged combat being 8 and 9, respectively, and counting with some beast and forest-related knowledge.

Another pair of men sat at the second table, but judging from the dirty clothes and dusted faces, random workers who were drinking on leave or something. Truly low skillset, nothing but [Labor] getting higher, even so, just 7 for both.

My gaze stopped for a few moments on a lone lady at the same table. But except for the stunning contrast between her absolute grey hair and a cute youthful face, there was nothing else about her. She had nearly no skills, just some knowledge of [Herbs] and [home eco]. She nursed a cup of something and looked as if deep in thought.

Except for that five people, Sercia's group, the plump woman, and a man who poked out from a door briefly, probably from the kitchen, there was no one else. To my shock, Sercia had the only two over-average skills in the room, [Labor] at 11 and [Fishing] at 12.

The situation about meeting in such a place for tax collection was bizarre, to say at least. Eithne clearly didn't like it, but surprisingly, Lutrin returned before the waitress even brought us the two mugs of beer we had ordered.

"Everything's fine. Ilkor and the head of [Claymarch] are upstairs in a room, sleeping their party off. We can meet them now. Sercia already sent one of the women to wake them up." The young guard reported. He was not holding his spear, for the first time since our meeting, as he left it at Sercia's table.

"Got it. Did you ask why the sudden urge to drink here?" Eithne asked as she started standing up and motioned for me to do the same.

"They finished on the 2nd day, everything bought off by envoys from [Tranquil Shore], although from what Sercia says, I think they were from the castle, not from the city itself. They had planned for four days, so they decided to spend their time here, at [Lakeroad Inn], while waiting for us. Oh, and drinking what they earned for selling everything at the first price." He nodded and quickly retold everything.

"Mmm, Maester Gudea will be interested to hear that. The Baroness of Lake Ante shouldn't need to spend so much effort buying food during the market days. An no need to overpay. The Guild could have provided better prices if we knew." Eithne muttered as I made a note to learn a bit more about that Baroness.

After all, I did know that there were two baronies on the Viscount's territory, but neither Aison nor Yuld had given me any relevant information on the second one, only the [Lake Ante] title.

***

With Eithne staying downstairs, it was only Lutrin and me to go to meet the representatives. She had decided to avoid any sudden changes for when we left, and while I would have preferred for her to collect, I didn't say anything and just followed her suggestion.

As if to continue the streak of good surprises, the two men we met in a simple two-cot room nearly instantly produced a pouch of coins each and reported that they earned some extra thanks to the lucky sale.

After some minutes of chatter between Lutrin and the middle-aged and rugged-looking Ilkor, from which I discovered they were relatives of some kind, I took a chance during a pause and said that we should move on.

"I should probably visit them later, Ilkor and Sercia took care of me for a few months when my mother died, so it would be nice to help them with something." Lutrin explained as we took the stairs, but before I could reply, he suddenly pointed towards the entrance.

"Hmm? Soldiers?" Following his indication, I saw Eithne speaking with a pair of armed, armored in heavy leather with some chainmail on, people. [Status Screen] revealed them to have decent martial skills and no titles.

"Yes, and their heraldry is of [Lake Ante] barony. I wonder what they forgot here, outside their territory? I will be right back." Lutrin spoke in a low voice before turning towards Sercia's table, probably to pick up his spear.

As for me, I walked towards the trio while examining the fang over some very light blue circle, all on a nearly-black triangle that was the emblem of the barony.

"Everything's done?" Eithne asked as soon as I stopped near her.

"Yeah, sorry for interrupting your talk." I nodded to her and then to the two soldiers.

"No worries, we were about to leave already." One of them, more armored and older than his companion, nodded back at me.

The other one, a bearded man about my age, spoke after, before also nodding and starting to leave, "Thank you for your help. If you see something, please let us know or leave the news with someone in the area. We will continue then. Have a safe day."

"What did they want?" Lutrin came over right as the pair left the inn.

"One of the Knights from the Lake Tower went missing while returning from leave in Chubu, so they are trying to find out what happened on behalf of the Barony." Eithne explained, then shrugged and changed topics, "I asked the server to wrap up some food, so get a quick sip, and let's move out. Our next destination is also the last, but a cart will slow us down, so we have to hurry to make it to Chubu by night."

"A knight is stronger than the usual guard and shouldn't have anything valuable on him if he was on leave, so I don't think it is related to what we are searching for, but I agree." As she looked at me, I supposed I should say something, so I did. Pretty cool if I say so myself.

"I will bid farewell to Sercia, and I am ready." Lutrin agreed as well.

We left the inn about ten minutes later, without any incident. Well, that if I discard the matter of me paying for everything after Eithne looked me with such puppy eyes that I nearly choked on the beer and that in the doorway, the grey-haired but young woman ran into me by accident.

For the former, a few copper coins weren't an issue, but the diligent Eithne doing something like that was startling. As for the other, it ended with a quick apology from the lady as she quickly walked off.

"All the coins in place?" Lutrin confirmed with me as the lady walked off, and I nodded without checking. After all, I wasn't stupid to carry the Guild's money, or my own, anywhere but in my [Inventory]. As for the wallet on my belt, it hardly had but a couple of silver coins in copper, so I didn't even care if it disappeared, which it didn't.

***

Our next stop turned out to be about five primordial steps away, a bit less than 9 kilometers, and while we walked briskly, we still only arrived when the sun was starting to set. We were right in the graphic for the plan, though, as Gudea planned our return by night, painting us as a more likely target for anyone with bad intentions.

[Enhartar], something like [Green Pastures], was a picturesque, unwalled farmstead three kilometers from the tract. Thanks to the explanations, and some passing [Old Anear] soldiers, I found that we were now on the Barony lands, and it was considered a safe zone because of a nearby watchtower, thus the lack of wall or lookouts.

"Surprising for the Guild to own lands here." I didn't directly ask but muttered something to see if I got a reaction from my companions.

And I did, Eithne informing me of everything as we approached one of the six houses, the bigger looking and with some sheds near it as opposed to the communal warehouse and barn across the small unpaved street. In short, this wasn't the Guild land per se, but Gudea's own. The dowry of his wife, if put in simple terms. Yet, Gudea registered it as the Branch property to give them the same benefits, so the task of collecting goods or money rested on the Guild's guards.

After knocking on the half-open door, we waited for a few moments before a very tall man appeared from inside the house.

"Oh, you are from the Guild? I am sorry, I thought you would arrive at sunset, but we will get the cart prepared right away." He excused himself before motioning us to come in, offering us to sit around a table in the house's main room.

"I don't have much to offer, but please try this apple wine. It's from a testing batch we made last month." The man, who later introduced himself as Gian, placed a small barrel on the table, moved to a cupboard for some wooden cups, and then having done all that, excused himself, "Please wait while we get the cart ready. We loaded it on the morrow, but the oxen are still at the pasture."

"See? I was right to say we should wait to eat until here." Eithne placed a small bundle we got from the inn on the table as Lutrin quickly served a cup for everyone.

"Surprisingly tasty. I wonder if Gian has more, it would be nice to buy some to bring back." Sipping on the wine, which was more like cider than anything else, I felt it very good and even decided to bring some to Megvuroz if able.

"Unlikely, they will have some around if it was a testing batch." Eithne shook her head, "Never heard of someone making wine around, but the taste is pleasing, and they should get a good price if they start production."

The inn's food doesn't deserve any notes, just some basic meat pies, the meat was decent, but the pastry was dry and unsavory. And it wasn't enough for me. So having some time, I decided to check my [Inventory] for what I had left.

{Hmm, only jerky and the second hotpot we never started during our journey, huh?} Well, munching on jerky was more stuff for the road, so I summoned the hotpot with an audible [Storage] to much surprise of my companions.

"Maester, no Master Rador is a mage?!" Lutrin nearly shouted, revealing that they had no idea. Eithne didn't say anything, but her brown eyes widened in surprise, confirming my thoughts.

"An untrained one, so don't expect me to save your asses later. Still, I can at least feed you nicely." I decided to go with a more casual manner than the one I had used until now, not wanting to stress out our relations on a day that may end with us fighting against something or someone.

"And yet, you can do that checking spell, right?" Lutrin continued in a mix of anxiety and hope.

I was about to reply, concentrated on setting up the table first, and then heard a thump that made my eyes return to my companions.

"Treat the Master with respect! Even if he allows you to not." Judging from the stern words, raised arm, and Lutrin's pained expression, Eithne had decided to teach him manners with the help of not just words.

"There should be no problem, and as I said, I am hardly a mage. The spell you say, yes, I can, and I will use it sometimes on the road back. But I have to ask, you never thought of just where I hid the money? I am not carrying it on myself, am I?"

"Sorry for my outburst, Maester. I thought you had a hidden pocket in the armor as we." It seemed as if Lutrin wanted to call me by name but ended with Maester, following my words of not being a mage and Eithne's about respect.

Thanks to [Inventory], food was as if just prepared, and while I was barely a decent chef, it got high praise from my temporary team. Although honestly, anything I made in my life would be okay compared to the bland and dry pies from the inn.

***

While Gian said that the wait would be brief, we finished eating, I stored everything back, and the 3-liter barrel of cider was empty when he returned.

"I am very sorry for the hold-up." He almost went to his knees as he entered. And only after we reassured him there was no problem did he explain the reasons, "One of ours wounded himself. So we lost some time as we carried him back. The sun has half-set by now, and we are troubled that you will have to make more walk at dark."

"Sorry to hear that. And there is no problem. We would have to make half the path in the dark anyway, so what about a step more?" Eithne brushed the matter off.

"Anyway, we can leave now, right?" I chose to confirm and, after getting a nod, asked the other thing I had in mind, "The apple wine was enjoyable, and I would be happy to buy off any you may have remaining. So, do you have any to sell?"

"It's good to hear it was of your liking! We only recently decided to try and make some, so we do not have much in store. But, let me check with Fina." Gian brightly smiled and immediately rushed out.

"Shall we?"

***

Outside the house, we found a loaded, open four-wheel cart with two of the local oxen. These were smaller than the ones in Churg's caravan, but they were still near that two-meter tall mark. But their horns were longer, each of the four measuring like thirty centimeters.

Gian approached us with a middle-aged woman that looked extremely short next to him, but in truth, she was about Eithne's stature, just that Gian was damn tall, a good head above me. "This is Fina. She's the one in charge of numbers and stores."

Fina, a woman in her mid-thirties, owner of a rack that could put pornstars to shame and a keen pair of eyes, was a good accountant, whatever her average skillset may say.

She quickly informed us of the contents of the twenty sacks and the same number of barrels on the cart. Then commented that the latter and oxen would be part of the rent for the next month if not returned and was the first person during our journey to check each of our badges, confirming our names.

Gian hovered silently around us until she finished. And then he motioned towards me while telling her about my cider request.

"We have two full-size barrels, but one we promised to the patrol that stops here. We have set up a price for the future, but we will not try to charge you for our testing batch. So in place of paying, drop a few words in the Guild that we produce it and how you liked our new wine." Fina's speech was so merchant-like that I was surprised she wasn't part of the Guild itself and lived in such a small town.

I chose to silently nod, considering that prying was above my standing and against basic courtesy. But a few seconds later, I couldn't help but say, "Fina, you are shrewder than some merchants I know."

Well, a small lie, considering that I knew probably only three real ones, and each was of high level. Yet, how could I avoid praise when I found Fina had already ordered the barrel on the cart, even before I asked?

***

"Let's hope our return journey will be peaceful. It feels wrong to try and avoid our task, but I have no desire to check how swift the Baron's men are." Such were Eithne's words as we departed [Enhartar], with a few farewells and waves of the few residents that came out as Lutrin drove the wagon from the hamlet.

What can I say? She jinxed it, even if it wasn't in the way either of us could have expected at that moment...