Mill sat behind a boulder as she held her wooden staff close to her chest.

  The Hossa Mercenary Band members took cover behind boulders or tall grass, each nervous or focused.

  She peeked from behind the boulder, eyes fixed on the endless plains ahead.

  Not a tree in sight. No mountains or shrubbery. Only long glades of wet grass glistening in the morning sun.

  Mill clicked her tongue as she moved back behind the boulder.

  Izick crawled up to her with the Honor Rod strapped to his back and a roll of bread in his mouth.

  He sat beside her and began to devour his food while Mill looked on in annoyance.

  “Why are you eating right now? Aren’t we in a dangerous situation?”

  “I guess. But I made the mistake of skipping breakfast. I’m not running out there as bait on an empty stomach,” Izick said, throwing the last of the bread into his mouth.

  “Izick, you don’t have to do this. I know you have a lot of experience, but this will be pretty dangerous."

  “Open fields like this are typically a nightmare for a Scout like me, but I’ll be fine if I keep moving and listen for underground movements. Besides, this is an order from Scotts. I can’t just say no without consequences.”

  Mill grimaced at his words.

  “I’m sorry about this. Maybe joining this caravan was a bad idea since it got you exposed to an investigator.”

  “We’ve been through this before. I don’t regret joining Hossa on this journey. Dealing with Scotts has been rough recently, but we would have never made it this far without this caravan,” Izick said, rising to his feet.

  “We're making good time to Alain. I’m now much closer to home than before. Get past this, and we're closer to the end of this caravan.”

  “I know, but don't forget to stay vigilant. I can't heal the dead.”

  Izick pulled out 3 orange Banger cubes from his leather pouch.

  “Well, I’ll be counting on you and Sibyl’s support to keep me alive.”

  Mill glanced over to the neighboring boulder, where Sibyl shivered and rocked herself back and forth in the fetal position.

  Apparently, she would be the only one giving any meaningful support today…

  Izick ran from behind the boulder. He dashed through the tall grass, keeping his eyes and ears at attention for anything out of the ordinary.

  Nothing caught his attention. The sound of grass swaying in the wind and the view of endless fields remained the same.

  He tossed the cubes into the ground ahead of him, setting off small explosions, launching soil towards the sky.

  Izick steered clear of the area he just bombed while keeping his ears open for anything strange.

  Slight tremors disturbed the ground underneath his running feet.

  He dived to the left as a tree root shot out of the ground like a spear, sending dirt and grass into the air.

  Izick tumbled across the grass as dirt pelted his body.

  He scurried back to his feet before dodging another root that snaked out of the ground.

  More roots shot out of the ground in front of him.

  A wooden human-like face pulled itself out of the dirt. Yellow Mana flowed out of its mouth and eyes as the sound of falling timber boomed across the plains.

  More of these monsters emerged from below with their focus on Izick in front of them.

  Mill raised her staff to create a red shield of Mana in front of Izick to redirect the heavy wooden hand of a monster trying to crush him. The wooden hand crashed into the ground, spraying Izick with more debris as more monsters advanced on his position. Barson stood on top of the boulder with his sword pointed at the emerging monsters.

  “Burn the Treants!”

  Led by Scotts, each Mage raised a staff and formed a fireball above their heads as they Recited words.

  The fireballs blasted off before smashing into the hulking monsters, sending wood and roots flying as they began to catch fire and burn.

  The surviving Treants roared with the sound of falling timber as their focus shifted completely from Izick to their more dangerous attackers.

  Barson noticed the change in aggression towards the Mages.

  “Paladins!”

  Heavily armored mercenaries took a defensive position in front of the Mages with their shields.

  Roots shot out of the body of Treants to skewer the Mages, but the Paladins raised their shields, producing a network of green hexagons that blocked the roots.

  The Treants quickly realized their attacks were ineffective against the shields of the Paladins, so they drove their roots deep underground to burrow beneath the defensive wall and strike the unsuspecting Paladins and Mages from below.

  "Don't scatter! You'll become easy targets!"Scotts shouted in vain, trying to keep the Mages and Paladins in formation.

  Barson grunted as he watched his Mages and Paladins scatter in panic as roots smacked them around and skewered them.

  “Healers! Patch up the wounded. Warriors, cut those Treants down! Aim for the head or the areas where they were burned!”

  Mill pulled Sibyl’s arm as they ran towards the injured mercenaries.

  “No! Those Treants are going to kill me!” Sibyl said as she vainly pulled against Mill’s strong grip.

  “Shut up and do your job. These people will die if we don't act fast. I can't heal everybody fast enough by myself.”

  The Paladins quickly regained their position by creating a series of shields over the ground to block roots from striking them below, as the remaining Paladins blocked the overhead threats and protected the two Healers working behind them to save the injured.

  The Warriors charged forward with the opening gained from the Paladins, cutting down the roots flying towards them and the roots coming out of the ground.

  An axeman swung his axe into one of the narrow legs of a Treant.

  The axe head dug into the Treant's leg before the handle snapped off, leaving him open to attack from the Treant, who noticed a small human below.

  Giselle ran up behind the axeman and used her sword to slice through the Treant’s leg by continuing the axeman's previous cut. The Treant released groans like falling timber as it began to lose balance.

  “Hey, don't lose focus. Try to only attack the areas where they were burned.”

  Giselle sliced at the charred area of the monster's other leg to bring it down.

  Scotts slammed the burning mace head of his staff into the body of the downed Treant.

  He stepped away from the Treant as flames engulfed its body. He smiled as he walked to Giselle with his staff still burning.

  “Let's knock them off their feet and get this over with. Think you can fall 2 of them if I boost you?”

  “Hah, I'll kill more than 2 of them. Give me 30 coins if I cut down at least five,” Giselle said, bracing herself with her sword out in front of her.

  "Deal, but you're getting nothing if it's less than two."

  Scotts brought his staff back and then clanged the mace head against Giselle’s sword, lighting it up like a match.

  He then pointed a hand at Giselle’s feet, creating a red circle.

  Giselle launched off the red circle like a springboard.

  She cleaved through the legs of two Treants with her flaming sword as she zoomed by.

  She slowed herself down as a Treant brought its heavy hand down to crush her.

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  Giselle slashed through the falling hand before it smothered her.

  She attacked its feet to bring it down for the Warriors coming behind her.

  Izick dragged an injured Mage to Mill’s side as she finished healing a Warrior in front of her.

  “This should be over soon. We should have a clear path through the Evony Plains after we're done with these Treants,” Izick said, plopping beside the Mage he rescued. Mill wiped the sweat from her brow before placing her wooden staff over the Mage and healing her.

  “Yeah, then we can get to Treffel and put this caravan behind us."

  Mill noticed Sibyl beside her, struggling with a Paladin, inefficiently pulsing rough, healing Mana with her expensive staff.

  "Sibyl, stop using so much Mana while healing! Forcing Mana like into wounds can make injuries worse, and you'll be Mana exhausted before you reach the next patient!"

  "S-shut up! I'm doing my best! Not everyone has monster Mana reserves like you."

  The three of them looked up as cheering filled the plains.

  Giselle felled the last Treant. The flames engulfing her sword extinguished as she sighed in relief.

  She playfully extended her sword to Scotts as he walked up.

  “I got seven!”

  "Ugh, I'll pay you later."

  Barson walked up to the burning Treant while sheathing his sword.

  "Well, that's over with. Healers, keep mending our wounded. Everyone else, gather the Treant remains into a pile and burn it, or at least drain the Mana from every piece of wood you see. Let's get to it, people. We don’t want them regenerating on us.”

  The mercenaries grumbled as they began the painstaking work of pulling the Treant remains into a pile.

  ***

  Izick watched the bonfire dance under the night sky as other Hossa members conversed and ate around the tall, raging flames fueled by dead Treants.

  This was a celebration for clearing the last major hurdle before reaching their final destination, where they could finally end the caravan.

  Izick sat beside Mill on the severed leg of a Treant with a bowl of plain bone broth from an unknown animal in his hands.

  Izick balanced the Honor Rod in his lap as he reached into the pocket of his leather vest and pulled a yellow cube. He channeled some Mana into it and then set the cube between him and Mill, creating a faint yellow circle around them.

  "This is the fourth day since Scotts cornered us in the woods. You're still not going to ask any questions?"

  "About what? Your locked Skills, or the nature of your Malevolence?"

  "No. My Skills are still locked besides [Rapid Shot], and I've learned nothing new since talking to Giselle. You don't have to play dumb. You looked pretty disturbed when Scotts mentioned that I killed a man. I know you want to know more about this."

  Mill looked down at the liquid in her tankard before taking a sip.

  "I do want to know more, and truthfully, I was disturbed. The fact that you had to resort to taking a life in self-defence at such a young age makes me bitter at the state of our world and sick to my stomach."

  "Who said it was self-defence? It could have been a cold-blooded murder for all you know."

  "True, but from what I know about you, there's always more to the story. I didn't want to bring it up since I wanted you to tell me on your own terms, if you ever wanted to."

  Izick remained silent for a few moments as a small group began to form and merrily sing a song.

  "I had to protect Cylvia, and erasing that man from this world was the only way. It was my first kill, and things haven't been the same for me since.“

  Mill lowered her head and shoulders as the festivities continued to ramp up around them.

  "Izick…"

  Their somber conversation came to an end when someone began shouting their names from a distance.

  "Izick, Mill! Over here!"

  Scotts called out to them with a smile on his face and a drink in his hand. He sat at a makeshift Treant table with many other jovial mercenaries sitting around him.

  “Looks like our favorite investigator wants a word with us," Izick said before sighing and downing the rest of his now cold bone broth.

  “It seems that way. I wish we could just ignore him."

  "Agreed, but that dirt he has on me makes that choice impossible. Let’s get this over with.”

  Izick snatched his yellow cube and deactivated before taking up the Honor Rod and walking over to Scotts'. He took a seat by some of the laughing mercenaries as Scotts kept up his fake smile in front of him.

  Scotts laughed at a bad joke from one of the mercenaries as he took a long swig from his tankard.

  “Anyway, I have an update to the address you gave me,” Scotts said, taking a light swig.

  "I see, but can we talk about this more privately?"Izick said, reactivating the Silencer cube.

  "Oh, you haven't noticed? The people at this table are not mercenaries but junior Investigators working under me through Janson Yard. They just arrived, and they already know about the deal."

  Mill glanced over to Izick, who seemed genuinely annoyed by Scotts' admission. He studied the Investigators parading as mercenaries. Each one kept a light expression but watched him with intense interest.

  "I figured they weren't mercenaries because I didn't recognize them. What do you want, Scotts? I know you didn't call out to us to introduce your team."

  Scotts took yet another pass at his tankard.

  “You're right about that. Good news. The location you gave me apparently checks out.”

  He pulled out some papers from his inner coat pocket with his free hand.

  “According to the investigation launched by my team in that area, bags of coins were found at this location, and local post offices confirmed that packages were sent and received during the dates you provided.”

  “Does that mean we're free to go?”

  Scotts gave Izick a stern glare before shrugging his shoulders and smiling.

  "What you said actually turned out to be true, and you have done everything I have told you to do over the last 4 days. I have no real reason to distrust you besides the fact that you used to work under Alister Black, which is a pretty good reason to distrust you."

  Scotts set the tankard down on the table.

  "With that being said, I'll keep my promise and count this as a betrayal to the current Death Emperor. I'm no longer interested in naming you a traitor. We're cutting you free."

  A sense of relief came over Izick like a heavy burden being lifted from his back. Their time at Hossa was finally coming to an end.

  "However, I don't control what other Investigators from Janson Yard will do. Some Investigator might string together some circumstantial evidence against you and deem you a traitor anyway."

  "They would do that?" Mill said, raising a brow.

  "Absolutely. It's what Scotts tried to do to me earlier," Izick said, glaring at the Investigators in front of him.

  Scotts frowned as he swirled the liquid in his tankard. He sighed and then took a quick swig.

  "Alright, clear out everyone. I want to talk to our guests a bit more privately. Everything from this point forward has nothing to do with our investigation."

  "Yes, sir!"

  The junior Investigators all saluted Scotts before standing at attention and marching away.

  "Look, Giselle was right. We have been treating you somewhat unfairly. I don't have much to apologize for, since I was only doing my job, but I believe we should make up for things a bit if possible."

  Scotts scanned the mercenaries until he spotted the person he was looking for.

  "Giff! Your 'benefactor' is here!"

  Giff noticed Scotts' voice. He glanced at Mill and smiled before leaving his table and walking over.

  "Scotts, is she the one?"

  "The one and only."

  Giff took both of Mill's hands and shook them heartily, leaving her in a total state of confusion.

  "I can't thank you enough, young lady! You saved me and my goods back at the elven city of Damaran! I've been asking around, trying to thank the one who shielded me from that Ogre, but I was only pointed to Paladins who could never form the brilliant shield you created. I only found you after describing the shield to Scotts and Giselle, who promised to introduce me to you properly."

  "Oh…yeah, I'm glad you're safe. But what I did wasn't anything special."

  "Nonsense, you saved my life, and I will be forever grateful to you for doing so. I also didn't forget about you, either, boy. You were one of the few people who actually wanted to converse with me on the way to Marca in the Misty Alps. I wanted to give something to both of you."

  Izick didn't mind the prospect of receiving a gift from a rich merchant, but he was pretty sure he was more annoyed by Giff than accommodating when they were traveling together.

  Scotts nodded to Giff.

  "We talked it over and decided to give the two of you an appropriate award."

  Giff smiled as he reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out two strips of white paper.

  "These are tickets to a train owned by a–uh, 'rival' of mine. He's not a pleasant fellow, but he's a genius businessman with a love for the excessive."

  Giff placed a ticket in each of Izick and Mill's hands.

  "And boy, is this train excessive."

  Mill thanked Giff for the ticket. Izick flipped the ticket over and inspected it. The words "CITY TRAIN" were etched in gold. It definitely looked expensive, but he was slightly disappointed that this reward wasn't coins.

  He held up the ticket.

  "I appreciate the gift, but how is a train ride relevant to us?"

  "Ah, I heard from Giselle that the two of you were heading towards Tallbern, right? Well, this train will get you very close to Tallbern within a matter of days."

  Giff's eyes turned dark as he stared at the ticket in Izick's hand.

  "I cancelled my plans to ride this train with my wife so I could transport my goods to Treffel with Hossa, but that bastard who owns this train made these tickets non-refundable. You're giving me peace of mind knowing that my money was well spent despite the circumstances."

  Izick looked at the ticket with a newfound appreciation. Could they get to Tallbern even faster?

  He didn't even know a train like this existed, but this would definitely save them a lot of time.

  "We will accept these tickets. This will be a great help in our journey."

  "I truly hope so. I would have normally given you some good coin in a matter like this, but some of my goods were damaged in Damaran. Naturally, that 20% bonus is no more, but I'm now operating at a loss. Safe travels, and let's meet again someday soon."

  Giff tipped his hat and left the three of them behind.

  Scotts finished off his tankard and rose to his feet.

  "That's all I have for you two. We'll be heading off to Treffel in the morning, where we will split. The train Giff talked about can also be boarded there as well."

  He gave them a smile as he swiped the paper off the table.

  "You might think of me as mean, but just don't forget this warning:you'll never find an Investigator as nice as me. This is goodbye. Stay sharp and keep your head down if you don't want people like me on your tail."

  Izick and Mill soon found themselves alone in the midst of celebrating mercenaries. Mill looked down at the ticket.

  "This is an incredible stroke of luck."

  "Who knew saving that merchant could get us on track to Tallbern even faster?"

  "Yeah, but I didn't save him while expecting something in return."

  "I know, but I'm still glad that you made that choice."

  Mill sighed as the two of them blankly watched some mercenaries tossing a sports ball back and forth.

  "This is it for our time in Hossa. Are you going to miss this caravan?"

  "No, but we're making good time to Alain. That's all that matters to me."

  The night carried on until the mercenaries tired themselves out, leading to a quiet night where only sentries kept watch over the goods and the bonfire that kept Treants at bay.

  Dawn was coming soon, when the Hossa Mercenary Band would depart and end this caravan.