“Sir! Please, go to the headquarters immediately. The sheriff is expecting you.”

  After three days of travel, we finally reached Pine Peak.

  The road held no surprises, and neither did my training – although watching young Seb struggle for around 6 months with the arcane meditation technique could count as a surprise. Well, perhaps my expectations were too high, given his talent with the sword, and maybe I underestimated just how monstrous of a talent one must have to grasp this technique in just one month at that age.

  Regardless, the real surprise came upon our arrival at the town gate – not only did the guard recognize us on sight, without us even saying a word, and politely asked Thomas to proceed to the local watch headquarters.

  The deputy himself, however, did not seem surprised at the slightest.

  “Just how?..”

  As our horses slowly made their way deeper into the town, I couldn't help but mumble under my breath. Evidently, the deputy, with his sharp senses, managed to overhear it, turning his eyes to me in a questioning gaze.

  “How did they know we're coming, if we were supposed to be the first messengers sent this way?”

  Thomas raised his eyebrow.

  “I know most commoners don't use them, even here in Valoria, but don’t Luskarians know about communication arrays?”

  “..?”

  I raised my eyebrow. Both words could be found in Sebastian's vocabulary, but not their combination. What was even stranger was that I, working in IT, actually remembered this combination, but couldn't possibly imagine it being relevant to this world.

  “A communication array is an arcane contraption – or, I think that wizard called it a dynamic hybrid contraption, something about using… nevermind. Anyway, it's a device that can be used to communicate over great distances.”

  The deputy shrugged.

  “Of course, its activation is much more expensive than writing a letter and sending it with a caravan, or even a courier, and access is usually reserved to high officials in the watch or the administration of the town. Also the major temples. High ranked nobles or big business owners can request access, too. But still, everyone knows of its existence.”

  After digesting the information for a few seconds, I couldn't help but ask.

  “But then… Why were we sent all the way to give this urgent report? Couldn't the sheriff just send it via that array?”

  “...well, I also had to escort you to the interrogation.”

  His voice sounded confident on the surface, but I could see he barely managed to think of an excuse.

  “Then, he could transmit the report, and send me on a regular caravan later. In that case, he wouldn't have to assign someone like you as a guard, either.”

  “...that's classified.”

  “Could it be that those communications can be easily intercepted?”

  I threw my best guess, and judging by his momentary reaction, I hit the bull's eye.

  He noticed that I noticed, and sighed in resignation.

  “This isn't much of a secret anyway. But, I'd ask you to refrain from trying to gauge anything of the sort in the future, else I'd be forced to communicate accordingly.”

  “...sorry. I was really just curious.”

  “As long as you remember. Anyway, intercepting those messages is not as simple as you might imagine, so those communications are quite safe. But when dealing with The One Who Deceived Death, or similarly conniving entities, we can't take such risks.”

  “I see. By the way, isn't it the place?”

  “Indeed, it is.”

  We stopped in front of a large stone building, almost completely identical to the one in Pine Harbor.

  As we dismounted and tied our horses to a nearby post, the guard at the entrance quickly went inside. By the time we approached the heavy door, he came out with a familiar crystal sphere.

  “Deputy Thomas?”

  Upon seeing the short man nod, the guard extended the sphere.

  “If you may.”

  After confirming the deputy's identity, the guard let us in, instructing us on how to reach the sheriff's office. It wasn't really necessary, as those town watch buildings seemed to have shared the same standard layout.

  Upon reaching the second floor, we walked straight to the sheriff's office, with Thomas knocking on the door.

  “Come in.”

  This office was similar to the sheriff's office in Pine Harbor, only that the desk stood by the left wall and had a slightly different style, there were a few different shelves, and everything was a tad tidier.

  On a stand, near that desk, was a set of metal armor, with similar Valorian markings as the other sheriff's, and on the nearby wall shelf lay two medium-length swords, both sheathed.

  The man sitting behind the desk was slightly shorter than me, and his body was even leaner. He looked middle-aged, with his hairline receding quite far, creating two separate patches of black hair, like a pair of horns, each pointing backwards.

  The stern gaze of his brown eyes, sitting below the thick eyebrows, skimmed over me, quickly locking onto the short man beside me.

  “Deputy Thomas.”

  “Sheriff.”

  After exchanging respectful nods, the local sheriff spoke.

  “Given that you got here on time and unharmed, I presume your plan was a success?”

  “Mostly. Everything was as expected, and we managed to eliminate the three field commanders…”

  Over the next few minutes, Thomas summarized his improvised operation, as well as what happened until we arrived in town, with the sheriff asking a couple clarifying questions here and there.

  “...after leaving Westville, we traveled here for three days. Nothing happened on the road.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “I see. A shame those villagers didn't survive, but everything else seemed to have worked out, at the very least.”

  “I take it you haven't received any news from Pine Harbor yet?”

  “Nothing beyond the first transmission. I presume there are developments, but they are likely taking place in Brightroot right now.”

  “What about your forces?”

  “We have..”

  He glanced at me.

  “Certain circumstances tying up our people. Beyond that, we wouldn’t make it on time – not to Brightroot, at least.”

  The deputy raised his eyebrow.

  “Do you, now? Then what about securing the road for Westville escapees?”

  “Didn’t you clear the road for them? I thought they weren’t far behind you?”

  Both men silently stared at each other, with the atmosphere becoming tangibly colder.

  “...I have my own urgent matters to attend to.”

  “I see. Then I shall send a small envoy at once. Would have done so sooner, had I expected a deputy sheriff of Valoria to neglect the kingdom’s citizens.”

  “Perhaps if a certain town maintained proper patrols in the entirety of its jurisdiction, the citizens of this kingdom would not be in a position to be neglected, from the start.”

  It felt as if the temperature in the room dropped by a couple degrees, and the men's stares grew even more tense. After a few long seconds, the sheriff clicked his tongue.

  “Well then, I have work to do. Even more so than before this meeting. You are dismissed. Continue on with your.. urgent mission.”

  The disdain in his last words wasn't even hidden.

  “Thank you for your permission, sheriff. We shall be on our way, then.”

  The sarcasm in the deputy's first sentence was just as obvious.

  He turned around without saying another word, heading swiftly towards the exit. I followed, doing my best to keep my eyes from glancing back at the sheriff.

  It seemed the relations between the two towns weren't as good as one could imagine.

  “Haaa…”

  As we left the building, Thomas exhaled in annoyance.

  “I take it the two towns aren't on the best of terms?”

  “...”

  It seemed like Thomas would ignore this near-rhetorical question, but as we got to our horses, he explained.

  “Pine Harbor became a town nearly a century after Pine Peak. Before that, it was but a small remote village. But since its founding, it has managed to catch up to its older, more established neighbor, and what's more, our lumber yard has become a competitor to theirs, even taking the lead from time to time in recent decades.”

  “So… it’s just politics?”

  The deputy scoffed with disdain.

  “It is understandable why this rivalry could breed some animosity. But to refuse to send reinforcements to Brightroot, just because it's no longer under their direct jurisdiction? Not to mention this goblin raid hit their village, too…”

  The deputy sounded appalled.

  As for me, I couldn’t help but look at his cold attitude towards the second village in a different light now. Still, given how his operation ultimately saved them, he was probably in the right here.

  “Let’s go. There is a decent inn nearby…”

  ***

  After arriving at the inn and paying for our rooms, Thomas went somewhere, saying he still had business in this town. As for me, I first went downstairs to have dinner.

  Unlike the Blue Mushroom, this inn actually had a small menu. However, after ordering a bowl of the daily soup with some ‘special’ roasted beef, which was marinated in red wine and a few unknown herbs, I came to the conclusion that the food was better at the former establishment, although it was still pretty good here as well.

  Afterwards, I asked whether this inn had a bath, but was directed to a local bathhouse. After inquiry, they said it was open until midnight, so I had decided to give it a visit later.

  First, I confirmed whether the local Adventurer's Guild had a training area (it did), and made my way there for my evening session.

  Unlike the town Watch headquarters, this building was different from its Pine Harbor counterpart. It was a large, three story tall stone building, with the training ground right beside it, surrounded by a tall wooden fence.

  As I stepped in, I could instantly feel the different atmosphere – the reception area was of similar size, but the orderly positioned chairs and tables made it feel less cramped. Two of those tables were occupied by - seemingly - adventurer parties, both groups busy discussing something mission-related.

  As my gaze glossed over the receptionist - a woman with long brown hair, and hazel-colored eyes, wearing a familiar uniform - she flashed me a professional-looking smile.

  This place felt much warmer, and more welcoming than the branch in Pine Harbor, at the very least.

  ‘I guess it was really just that branch that sucked.’

  Looking at the large wooden board, I saw that most remaining requests were adorned by small bronze pins. The few iron pin heads among them were as uncommon as the wooden ones.

  I even noticed a couple silver-colored pin heads – although this was clearly just paint, the mission difficulty was real, matched by the reward amounts.

  ‘50 gold… 80 to 120 gold, with a chance for an extra bonus… this is incredibly high.’

  Of course, those were missions deemed suitable only for level 3 to 5 adventures, and usually parties of 2 to 4. Moreover, leftover missions like this would be either extremely unpleasant, very time consuming, on the verge of being deadly, or some combination of the above.

  ‘Most of the good stuff is probably in the city.’

  All-in-all, there was no easy money in this world, and if there was, it definitely couldn't be found in the Adventurer’s Guild.

  ‘Anyway, I don't have to worry about this for now.’

  I went through the side door, leading directly to the training ground, and got to work.

  Over the next few hours, all that remained in my mind was related to swordsmanship.

  ‘Actually, this has been getting easier those last few days. Or was it longer? I feel like compared to my first days doing this, not only are my movements better, but I can actually last noticeably longer, too.’

  My thoughts were interrupted by the guild receptionist announcing the closure of the branch. I quickly made my way outside, hurrying to where the bathhouse was said to be.

  Luckily, the large building with a wooden sign in front of its entrance was hard to miss, and they were still open.

  Hurrying inside, I happily relinquished 1 silver coin to rent a small personal booth, which included a wet sauna, with a hot bath with running water occupying the room’s other half, separated by a thick curtain.

  There was also a large single drawer for my equipment, a small bucket of fresh ice, and a piece of hard soap.

  I did not know what the ice was for – perhaps there was some traditional order to enter the sauna and the bath, with the ice being used in between? Either way, I was simply happy to wash myself up after the long journey. The sauna was a bonus.

  I also used the time to continue soldiering through Sebastian’s meditation-related memories. After all, sitting on the bench in a sauna didn't require any particular concentration... Although I had to admit, it did taint the experience.

  Either way, by the time I returned to the inn, it felt like an invisible burden had been lifted off my shoulders. Without checking on Thomas, I waltzed into my room, throwing off my equipment, and collapsed into the soft double bed.

  Sleep came to me almost instantly.

  ***

  “One Pitch-Black Nail. Make it a double.”

  In a small room, half of it occupied by a filthy wooden bar, a tall, slender cloaked figure slid onto one of the crooked stools.

  The bartender, a burly, muscular bald man with a scar-filled face that only a mother could love, gave the figure a short glance, one which would make most regular folks move to the other side of the road.

  clack!

  Without as much as a nod, the man placed two thick glasses on the counter, ducking under it to retrieve a few bottles.

  creaaaak

  As he began mixing the drink, another figure opened the old wooden door, making its way inside.

  This visitor was slightly shorter than the first, but the curves, distinctly visible through the thin fabric, indicated she was a woman.

  As she sat near the first figure, she pulled back her hood, revealing the smooth brown hair tied in a ponytail behind her head – and her ears, slightly sharper and longer than a regular human's, peeking through it.

  Her sapphire eyes looked into those of the robed man, an inexplicable mix of emotions shining through them.

  “You.. shouldn't have come back, Xin.”

  Black Magic Apocalypse!