The road was getting smoother, and we were passing far more farms now that we were getting close to the town. The saltiness in the air was unmistakable at this point.

"Where is the red scar in the sky?" I asked curiously as I tried to spot it.

"Oh? That's mostly a story told to kids to scare them. There's no actual scar in the sky," Milo said, shattering that belief.

"But they said it's where the demons came from?" I asked, confused now.

"No. The demons have three portals set up on those lands, and the red scar is believed to be one of the many volcanoes on the land—its glow reflecting in dense ash clouds," he explained.

"Can't we just break their portals and end the demon invasion?" I asked, wondering why that hadn't already been done.

"If only it were so simple. Each portal is owned by a specific demon clan. There used to be five, but due to some infighting, the demons destroyed two of their own portals. We've tried to reach the others to destroy them ourselves, but even getting remotely close triggers a demonic lord to come out—and that can backfire spectacularly," Milo said.

"Couldn't Lily help?"

"Oh, absolutely. She could probably end the war in a day or two. But consider it from Lily's perspective—why would she? If the army weren't preoccupied here, what would they be doing instead?" He gave me a look, clearly trying to lead me to an answer.

I shrugged. I didn't really get what he was getting at. If Lily could end this in a couple of days, wouldn't that be better for everyone?

Milo went on. "If the army isn't here, they'll be out hunting dangerous beasts. Dangerous beasts like Lily, not that they'd have any success."

Milo chuckled a before continuing, "But there's a reason Lily, and the dragons, or any major threat out there, won't intervene. It's simply not dangerous to them. If the sapient races lost, then they might step in. But only because they'd no longer have to worry about the armies getting bored and turning on them instead," he concluded.

"Why doesn't anyone talk to Lily or the dragons? Work out a deal?" I asked, confused as to how it could be this difficult.

Milo just laughed.

"Trev, my boy," Hari added, "you might be the only person alive who's had a discussion with a dragon and a relationship with a Shadow Cat. They're not exactly known for being kind to the sapient races of the world."

"What if I ask Lily to do it, then?" I offered. Maybe I could help?

"Say she agrees—and does it. War's over. What happens when the army marches straight into her forest, just north of here? Arguably the closest place to them. How would Lily feel about you? About people in general? The losses on our side would be absolutely catastrophic—and far worse than the demon invasion," Milo said.

"Why is it so complicated?" I muttered, feeling lost in the situation.

"The war with the demons is horrible, I won't sugar-coat it," Hari said with a sigh. "But right now, it's almost a stalemate. Neither side is escalating with more powerful forces. It's like the demons are using our troops as training tools, and our kingdom is using the conflict for its own benefit—at the cost of thousands of lives every year."

I couldn't help but feel conflicted by it all, did so many have to die so pointlessly?

I still hadn't seen Lily all day—and she hadn't shown up last night either.

***

It was a couple of hours after lunch when I saw a town appear on the horizon—though it looked more like a fort than a town.

Hari rode alongside me. "Crisplet, I don't suppose you'd be able to revert to your orb for this next part?" he asked directly.

I was surprised when Crisplet gave him the single ember response for no.

"You can't shrink anymore?" I asked curiously and got a bright burst of embers in return.

Crisplet floated out of the brazier and, upon hitting the ground, began to grow in size—until he stood just below my shoulders.

"Wow, that's amazing! I didn't even know you could do that!" I said excitedly, watching as Crisplet let off another burst of embers. This time, they looked dangerous—almost like small burning rocks.

"Curious. Well, we'll just have to work around it," Hari said.

"I can carry Crisplet?" Jen offered.

A now-shrinking Crisplet responded with a burst of embers.

"That might work. I'm just trying to take as many eyes as possible off Trev when we enter," Hari added, as I passed over Crisplet's brazier to Jen.

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After that, we made our way toward the town.

Much like Boltron and Divinmere, it sat right on the edge of the water. We wouldn't be doing any shopping today, though. I even had my travel cloak back on—not because they'd recognise me, but because Hari wanted to keep as much of our identities hidden as possible.

Everyone except Micca was wearing one. Unfortunately, she didn't have one of her own.

As we approached the gate, Hari dismounted and walked up to the guards.

"Polite Company, from the Adventurer's Guild. Here on a job for a merchant," he said, gesturing toward Micca.

"Duration of stay?" the guard asked, sounding completely bored.

"Single day, or less, then we'll be moving on," Hari answered.

"Very well. Usual rules apply. Barracks are off-limits to all civilians. If you require an audience with the General, an appointment must be made in writing. Any complaints or otherwise are also to be submitted in writing through your local lord or lady," the guard rattled off, sounding like he'd said it a hundred times and couldn't think of anything worse than repeating it again.

After that, the gate was opened, and we made our way into the city.

Once we passed through, the first thing I noticed was the complete lack of what I considered normal life. Groups of guards were patrolling the streets, and the town itself lacked the liveliness I'd come to expect.

There were several smithy's, all of them working at full capacity, with younger people manning the bellows while multiple smiths in the same shop worked away.

There also seemed to be several leather shops—and likewise, they all looked incredibly busy. But none of them had storefronts like you'd expect in a city. They were just working.

"They're all working on arms and armour for the army. It's all they do from sunup to sundown," Liane whispered, catching my expression.

"They don't sell their wares?" I asked, confused. Where was the payoff? They were doing all the hard work, but there was nowhere to enjoy it. The city just felt… cold.

"They're all employed by the kingdom and assigned to the army. They don't really have a choice. They get a wage—but what's the use of money if you never have time to spend it?" she replied, then continued, "No, most of these tradesmen work all day, drink all night, and that's their entire life. Their whole class revolves around mass production, so it's not like they'll ever get out of this life."

"That's why we mentioned that even if something seems easy to level, it's not always the ideal path," Milo added, overhearing the conversation. "It'll funnel your evolutions into that action and lock you out of a more unique class."

It wasn't long before we were pulling up outside an inn, tying off our horses at the troughs out front.

"The inn?" I asked.

"For someone who worked at one, you don't seem to have picked much up," Micca laughed.

"If you ever want information, the inn is where you get the information," Liane added.

"Oh. I thought we were just going to ask one of the guards. Or generals. Or something," I said, a bit embarrassed. In my mind, we were just going to walk in and find a military person to question.

"I mean, that's exactly what we're doing—but not in the way you picture it, I'm sure," Hari said, walking past me into the inn.

I followed behind, not really sure what was going on and feeling like I'd missed something in the explanation—or maybe I was just clueless about how this actually worked.

Before long, we were seated at a fairly central table. Hari had ordered drinks for everyone and some water for me, along with stews and bread.

The inn itself wasn't very lively. There were a few tables occupied by groups of middle-aged people in a mix of leather armour and plain tunics and trousers, along with several older men covered in scars who looked like they hadn't bathed or changed clothes in weeks.

But Hari didn't seem to mind. He started drinking—or at least, it looked like he was drinking. I noticed his cup wasn't actually getting any emptier.

As I ate the stew in front of me, I kept watching. It was honestly not good. The meat was tough, the broth watery, and there were barely any vegetables. Geo would have been furious if I had served something this bad.

Hari and Milo had begun chatting with nearby tables, even buying them drinks—and that's when I started to see the plan.

As they pretended to drink, they were really just spreading the alcohol around, and eventually, one of Hari's conversations caught my attention.

"So when's the next batch supposed to show up around here? It's always depressing to see that sorry bunch wander into town," Hari was saying with a laugh to a rough-looking man who was clearly very drunk.

"You know... I don't know... should be soon though," the man slurred back.

Then I saw Milo collapse to the ground.

I was about to jump up and check on him, but Liane was already there. She gave me a quick wink before hoisting him up.

"Right, you've both had enough," she said, pulling Milo to his feet. Jen stepped in and yanked Hari away, who was pretending not to want to leave.

"Let's get out of here—we've got a job to do, you drunks," Jen scolded, dragging Hari toward the door. Micca and I followed as the four of them stumbled out, Milo and Hari putting on a very convincing show.

The moment the door shut behind us, the act vanished.

"Right. They're not here yet. Let's head west," was all Hari said as we returned to the horses.

"Wait... that's it?" I asked, completely confused by what I'd just witnessed.

"That's it. The best way to get information out of soldiers is when they're drunk at a bar. If they think you're a friend—and drunk too—they'll tell you just about anything. Just remember that, Trev," Milo said.

"They're absolutely right. Someone intoxicated at the inn will tell you basically anything. There's no filter," Micca added with a laugh.

I sighed. Once again, I realised how little I knew.

Climbing onto Sable, we made our way out of the town. No one seemed to take any real notice of Crisplet—or if they did, they didn't show it. As we approached the gate, the same guard who'd let us in gave Hari a curious look.

"The person we needed to see isn't here, so no rest for us. We move on," Hari said with a sigh, clearly not thrilled about it.

"Ah, one of those jobs," the guard chuckled. "Well, best of luck to you then."

And the gate was opened once again as we rode back out of the town.

We followed the same path for a while, then Hari led us onto a different road heading west along the coastline. He was confident we'd intercept the group eventually—but he wasn't sure how long it would take.

It was already late afternoon by the time we left, but we kept riding until the sun dipped below the horizon. For dinner, I used the leftover stew from the night before and made some fresh rolls for everyone.

I also had to make more mash for the horses. I couldn't honestly tell if it was doing anything, but what I did know was that Sable—and the others—loved it.

Much like the previous night, I was made to train—both formations and runes. At least the rune work was interesting. I was going through Char's notes, and the one she focused on tonight was a cooling rune—commonly used to keep food fresh.

I wasn't sure how that would interact with an actual food item. Would it just make the food cold? Would it freeze it? Milo also posed the theory that the effect might be entirely different due to my base skills, and even though it was cold-related, the outcome could vary.

Either way, we'd find out soon. I wasn't quite ready to draw it properly yet, but I was getting close using my practice sheets.

Still, Lily didn't show up.

At this point, I couldn't help but worry.

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