We were walking along the path and were about to reach Quiet Village. I was carrying a backpack that had grown considerably in size; it turned out that even Silver-rank adventurers aren't above stripping clothes from a pile of dead enemies. They did eventually decide to leave the undergarments, but only after a long argument with the girls. The bodies were burned on the very same pyre where my bony brethren had once been consumed by flames.

  The road wasn't long, but it was uncomfortable to walk because of the bare branches sticking out everywhere, constantly trying to snag our clothes. Whenever I adjusted the backpack slightly, the stacked swords inside would start to clatter. I hope Droodul can sell most of this load in the village; otherwise, we’ll have to crawl all the way back to Granny Brin’s tavern for three days, or maybe even four.

  “So, you knew I was an unusual traveler all along, yet you still told me about artifacts and magic? Why?” I finally managed to ask Bery as we emerged from the forest onto the trail.

  “It’s not forbidden,” she replied without turning around. “It’s the most basic knowledge—something any mother explains to her children before bed.”

  “But why did you choose to share it? Didn’t that put you in greater danger?”

  “Not at all. If you want someone to trust you and reveal their secrets, you first have to open up to them yourself. And since I choose what to say and what to keep hidden, you never received any information that was truly dangerous for us.”

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  Stunned that the girl who hadn’t used a weapon in battle was actually the most dangerous of them all, I tried to walk with more confidence, so as not to give her a chance to learn anything else about me. Who knows what other strange and mysterious techniques she might employ? Maybe she could guess my weight from the size of my footprint, calculate the direction of my thoughts from the thickness of my arms, or even determine my gender from the color of my rib bones? I absolutely didn’t want anyone staring at my bones for no good reason. Bones are sacred!

  Still pondering all the possible avenues of thought inside that extraordinary girl’s head, I walked up to Skot and asked:

  “And you? Did you know I was a skeleton too?”

  “Of course,” he answered immediately. “It’s obvious you’re a bit… you know.”

  “What do you mean, ‘you know’?” I didn’t understand.

  “You don’t walk evenly, that’s what!”

  “Really?!” I looked down at my legs but couldn’t figure out what was wrong with them.

  “He only found out right before the attack,” Lerry suddenly spoke up. “He had absolutely no idea until we told him. And even we were unsure for a long time. But we decided to take the risk anyway.”

  Surprised anew by this revelation, I now looked at Skot with far greater suspicion. For some reason, he had started whistling a simple, unremarkable tune. But remembering that it was thanks to him I could walk freely now, I decided not to ask him any more embarrassing questions.

  “Enough chatter,” Sem interrupted all conversation as we approached the gates of Quiet Village. “We won’t be stopping here for long and will move on immediately. We still have more than one day of travel ahead, so conserve your strength. We’ll unload and head out right away. Is that clear?”

  “Aye, sir,” came the group’s ragged reply.