Zeltara fiddled with her gauntlet as they approached the village. While she was excited about finding a settlement, signs began to show that not everything was fine. They passed several farms and found no signs of people anywhere. No one was tending the crops or moving around the house. The closest sign of human life they’d found was the abandoned farm animals in their pens. They had fresh food and water, so that left her wondering where the farmers could possibly be.
At first, she thought perhaps there was some event in town that had them visiting for the day. A coincidence that it happened as they showed up, but nothing more. This proved not to be the case as they got close to the town. They could make out an improvised barricade. Wagons, boxes, and planks were all hastily assembled into a barrier that seemed to surround the village. And now that they were getting closer, Zeltara could hear that the whole settlement sounded subdued. Not silent, as there were people there, but quiet. It was like the villagers didn’t want anyone to know that they were there but knew that they had to maintain some semblance of normalcy.
“So, what do you guys think?” Zeltara asked. She needed a second opinion beyond her mostly baseless speculation.
Saiya turned towards her. “Something obviously attacked them. You don’t hastily put up barriers without something happening.” Kaztos nodded along.
“I concur. There is something dangerous out here then. We need to be on our guard.” Zeltara’s mind went to the previous evening. Where that emaciated monster traveled through the forest. It went in this direction towards the village. Was that monster the reason for the defenses? She didn’t think it likely. It didn’t seem like enough of a threat to warrant such a response. Plus, makeshift as those defenses are, they would have at least taken a day or two to set up. That meant the threat continued to plague this village. Something more was at play here.
“I agree we need to be careful,” Zeltara finally said as she shook her head. “Couldn’t of just had a normal day then? Oh well, at least we’ll be busy.” She had no doubt in her mind that this problem needed to be resolved before they could report back to Mousafont. Zeltara doubted the village would send an ambassador when the situation required everyone to stay holed up in the settlement. Kaztos nodded in agreement, while Saiya appeared more skeptical.
“Do we have to help?” Zeltara just gave Saiya a look. They locked gazes for a moment. The blond girl let out a huff. “Fine. Let’s go run into danger for people we haven’t even met yet.”
“Don’t worry!” Kaztos exclaimed. “I’m sure they’ll be nice enough. Besides, part of our mission was to secure support of these settlements for Mousafont. Leaving them to fend for themselves would leave a bad first impression of us.” And that was exactly why Zeltara was doing this. Just finding settlements wasn’t enough. The village needed to join up with Mousafont City willingly. If they left after finding the village, that would leave the job half done. She doubted they would be much help to Mousafont as is.
A sound reached Zeltara’s ears, interrupting her musings. The stretching of a bowstring. Her heart rate shot up as she turned to her friends. “Get down!” She dived to the ground, followed by Kaztos and Saiya less than a second later. Zeltara heard an impact and turned to see an arrow embedded in the ground behind them. Careful of any other attacks, she sat up and yelled, “What’s the big idea?”
From behind the barricade, she heard someone let out a swear. “Those aren’t monsters. What are you shooting at them for?” It was the voice of an adult man.
“I couldn’t have known for sure. It was better to be safe than sorry,” another voice said. This one sounded deeper. The first voice scoffed.
“They can’t be those monsters. There’s no buzzing.” More evidence that the monster from yesterday had something to do with this.
“Well, their voices sounded like buzzing, okay?” The two continued to argue as Saiya and Kaztos sat up next to her.
“What’s happening?” Kaztos asked.
Zeltara kept her eyes on the barricade. “It sounds like they mistook us for monsters. There’s two people up there having an argument right now because of it.” The three of them stood up.
Saiya wiped the dirt off her clothes. “And here we feared making a bad first impression.” Zeltara thought that they technically had. But she doubted they could have done anything differently in this case.
“Come on, let’s go clear this up before they get any more ideas.” Zeltara hoped they could go the rest of the day without getting shot at again. But who knew with those jokers?
Team Outsiders closed the rest of the distance to the village and came to a stop ten feet outside the wall. By now, Zeltara was sure the other two could hear the argument from behind the wall. The three exchanged a glance, not quite are how to proceed. It wasn’t as if they could just waltz inside.
Finally, Kaztos called out, “Excuse me! Could we talk for a minute? We’re not mad about the arrow. I’m sure it was an honest mistake.” That made one of them. Zeltara was more than annoyed with it. And based on Saiya’s expression, she felt the same.
She heard the two men stumble at Kaztos’ call before they scrambled towards the top of the wall. Two heads popped up, wearing old metal helmets. So, these weren’t likely a regular military force then. Perhaps a militia of some kind? One quickly put together for whatever threat they were facing. It again spoke poorly of the situation the village found itself in.
The man on the right spoke first. “We’re sorry about that. We’ve been jumpy for the past couple of days.” He spoke in the first voice Zeltara heard.
“I told you that it was an accident.” The second man said, glaring at his friend. On his back were a bow and quiver. He turned to them. “What are a bunch of outsiders doing here? We have enough problems as it is.” Zeltara stepped forward.
“Well, you see-” She stopped as the two men sneered at her. They looked down at her with contempt.
“What’s an elf doing here? Go crawl back into the hole you came from,” the first man said.
The second man was quick to add on. “Nulls like you aren’t welcome in Riverfront. Leave now, or my next arrow won’t miss.”
“Excuse me?” Zeltara said with a trembling voice. Did they really just say that about her? She tried to hold back her growing anger at being addressed like that. Mouthing off now would just make things worse. Unfortunately, she couldn’t control herself. “You-” Zeltara only got a word out before Kaztos put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her behind him. He took a protective stance in front of her.
“Greetings, gentlemen.” Kaztos’ polite tone ran counter to his tense posture. “We appear to be getting off on the wrong foot here. There’s no need for name-calling. We’re here to help your village.” Kaztos brought a hand back and grabbed one of Zeltara’s. The firm grip helped to calm her down. Saiya walked in front of her, almost blocking the elf from view.
The second man looked ready to yell when the first hit him on the shoulder and pointed at Kaztos. He looked to where the first was pointing and calmed down. “My apologies, my lord. We didn’t see you there at first. You said that you’re here to help?”
“So they recognize my amulet and not who it belongs to,” Kaztos muttered under his breath. Zeltara was probably the only one who heard that. He then answered out loud. “We’re from The New Horizon’s Expedition based out of Mousafont City. We are here to help with any problems you may have and ask for a representative to be sent to Mousafont for negotiations. The city hopes to form a trading agreement with any nearby settlements.”
Zeltara said, “Perhaps we could talk to your leader?” Maybe they would me more polite than these two idiots, but she wasn’t getting her hopes up.
“Just give us a moment to talk. Stay right there,” the first man said. The two then crouched down behind the barricade and whispered to each other. “So, what do you think about this, Nalo?” Despite their attempt at secrecy, Zeltara could still hear them. She didn’t feel any guilt over the fact.
The newly named Nalo scoffed. “We aren’t anywhere near Mousafont. It’s obvious that they’re lying, Rammi. We should just send them on their way.” Rammi peeked over the barricade to look at Kaztos, who waved at him. He then ducked back down to Nalo.
“But they’ve got a noble with them, so they must be telling the truth. Things have been strange since we showed up in this forest. I’d believe just about anything at this point.” Kaztos turned to talk to Zeltara, but she held up a hand. She then pointed to her ears and towards the barricade. He nodded and turned his attention back toward the town.
Nalo scoffed. “I don’t know what you want me to do. I don’t think shooting them will go over too well.” There’s a brief pause. “Why don’t we just send them to the captain? He’ll sort them out one way or another.”
“But the captain said that we shouldn’t bother him unless it’s an emergency. I know, let’s ask them what they want to do.” The men pop back up. “Sorry about that, my lord. Uh, we’re not supposed to let anyone in right now. We’ll have to ask our captain. Is that alright with you?” Zeltara wanted to facepalm over the situation. Saiya didn’t look impressed either.
Kaztos asked, “A captain? Are you two guards? This village seems small for an organized guard.” Rammi shook his head.
“No, we don’t have a regular guard outside of the mayor’s bodyguards. But the captain raised a militia after the recent attacks. He was a sixth-crisis veteran.” Nalo smacked Rammi on the back of the head.
“Don’t tell outsiders our secrets! Who knows what they’ll do with that information.” Rammi rubbed the back of his head, grumbling. The two looked ready to get into an argument.
Saiya held up a throwing knife. “Take us to see your captain before you each receive one of these between the legs.” The blond girl’s fierce tone had everyone staring at her. Zeltara was honestly impressed her patience lasted this long. The two militiamen took a step back in fear.
“Alright, we’ll let you see the captain. No need to get upset,” Rammi said, his voice shaking. Nalo scoffed but said nothing. The two men hopped down from the barricade, and one of the wagons began to move.
“Well, that was rather vulgar, but I guess it worked,” Kaztos said. Saiya rolled her eyes and then walked over to Zeltara. She pulled the elf’s hood over her head.
“Keep that on. The last thing we want is a mob forming over your being here.” Despite the dismissive tone, Zeltara could see Saiya’s concerned expression. Zeltara adjusted her cloak’s hood to hide her ears. She turned back to see the wagon out of the way. Rammi waved them in.
“Come on, I don’t want to sit here all day.” Team Outsiders entered through the opening. “Now, the captain should be meeting with the mayor right now. Go see them.” The three stood there for a moment and exchanged glances.
Kaztos was the one to ask. “Uh, where are we supposed to go exactly?” Rammi looked embarrassed.
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“Oh, sorry my lord. It’s the manor in the middle of the village, about three stories high. You can’t miss it.” Zeltara looked over to see a large building towering over almost everything else.
“Aren’t you supposed to escort us?” Kaztos asked. “You were going on about how we couldn’t be trusted earlier.”
Nalo said, “The captain gets mad when we leave our post, so we’re staying here. I’m sure you can figure it out.” He then points at Zeltara. “Just make sure to keep your elf on a leash. We don’t want any of her kind to be causing trouble. We have enough problems around here.” Zeltara felt like she practiced great self-control by ignoring that and walking away. Saiya followed closely behind, with Kaztos coming last after offering a goodbye.
Once they had walked far enough to be out of earshot, Zeltara came to a stop. She took a deep breath to calm down. Kaztos put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay? They were completely inappropriate towards you.” An understatement if there ever was one. Still, his concern helped Zeltara calm down.
“I’m fine, just need a moment. It’s just something I’ll have to get used to.” And didn’t that grate on her if nothing else. Urada wasn’t the best, but the insults didn’t have quite that much vitriol. Kaztos looked unhappy at the answer, but they both knew nothing could be done at the moment.
“Do we even want to bother? This hasn’t exactly been the warmest welcome,” Saiya said, glaring at their surroundings. Her concern brought a smile to Zeltara’s face. She’d be fine as long as these two were with her.
“We can’t exactly move on just because of a rude welcome and itchy trigger fingers.” They didn’t have anywhere else to go anyway. “Besides racism aside, there seems to be a reason why they're so jumpy.” The two men mentioned attacks. Was that monster from last night involved, or was it something else?
Kaztos said, “I agree! There aren’t many other options for us. We’ll just have to make the best of it.” He then fiddled with his amulet. “I guess this will help. They recognized I was a noble, but not a Molinar. That could get us a bit of headway.”
“We are in the middle of nowhere, so I’m not surprised that they didn’t recognize the symbol,” Saiya said. “Just don’t go using your last name to clue anyone in.” Kaztos grimaced.
“It feels like lying to do that. I don’t want to hide who I am. It’s why I wear my family’s amulet in the first place.” Kaztos let go of his amulet and sighed. “Very well. It that’s what’s necessary.”
Zeltara nodded. “Thank you, Kaztos. We need all the help we can get right now. I doubt they would have let us in without you. Now come on. I want to get to the bottom of this.” With that settled, she turned to look at Riverfront.
Its appearance didn’t impress her. The village looked rather worn down. Several houses were damaged, with the rest being dirtied. Some garbage littered the street, and there was a bad smell Zeltara couldn’t quite place. The people themselves went about their business, but they seemed solemn. Like something weighed on all of their minds. Their clothes showed people who had to work hard to make ends meet, but they weren’t starving. Those closest to the three of them would give suspicious looks before continuing on their way. Whatever was happening, Riverfront needed help.
The street revealed a way straight to the manor. Its large size felt out of place compared to the rest of the village. It gave Zeltara a bad feeling. But with nowhere else to go, she took the lead towards the manor. She kept an eye out for anything of interest. Besides the occasional militiaman, there didn’t seem to be any guards around. Kaztos appeared unimpressed at the sight.
“With those farms, Riverfront could help feed Mousafont City,” Kaztos said. “They could offer the village protection in exchange.” Saiya shook her head.
“Mousafont can barely afford to protect itself. They won’t be able to send anyone over. Besides, they aren’t using their farms at the moment, so it’s a moot point.” True, but Zeltara could see the potential for something greater.
“That’s what we’re here for. Once we take care of the problem they’re having, the farms will start producing again. The good will means they’ll be more likely to form an agreement with Mousafont.” Zeltara waved her hand dismissively. “But that’s all beyond us. It’s the Duke’s problem to figure it out. We just have to get the city’s foot in the door to earn our gold.” The three continued down the street, passing by houses on either side of them. As they kept going, the foot traffic dwindled. It made Zeltara anxious. Were they walking into something?
Her question was answered a minute later when a door slammed open. Zeltara swung her head around to see a militiaman pulling something out of a house. It was a wheelbarrow covered with a blanket. The fabric slowly stained red. Another militiaman stood at the entrance and closed the door that had something drawn on it.
“Come on, let’s check this out. It could be connected to the attacks.” Zeltara said. The three walked up to the man pulling the wheelbarrow. “Excuse me, what happened here?”
The man stopped. “Why do you outsiders want to know? It’s none of your business.” He glared at them with open hostility.
“Apologies for our rudeness,” Kaztos said with a bow. “We’re adventurers who just came into town. We wanted to know if we could help.” The militiaman looked between the three of them. Zeltara could feel the skepticism.
“You seem young to be adventurers.” Well, he had them there. Kaztos just gave the man a friendly smile.
“I can agree with you there. But there’s no helping it. This is just the times that we now live in.” The man shook his head, finally warming up to them.
“You got that right. Fine. If you want to know more, go talk with Wulz over there.” He motioned to the militiaman guarding the door with his head. “He’ll tell you what you need to know. For now, I need to take care of this. Poor bastard.” He continued to pull the wheelbarrow down the street.
They walked to the house where Wulz stood guard. Now closer, they could see what was on the door was splattered with blood. But that wasn’t what caught her attention. It was the drawing sitting front and center. A simple face with cat like features. It’s expression held a wide grin as the face winked for whoever came upon it. Zeltara could almost mistake it for a children’s drawing, if it weren’t for the fact it was painted in blood. It must have been fresh, as small tears dripped down the door from the butcher’s artwork.
“Quit looking. We have enough problems without outsiders getting too curious for their own good,” Wulz said as he blocked the door. Kaztos shook his head.
“Not at all. We’re adventurers who just came into town. I was wondering if we could ask some questions?” Relief washed over the man’s expression.
“Thank the Amedori above, we need it. Between the attacks and the repeated killings, Riverfront is in crisis.” Zeltara started to copy the blood drawing into her journal. It might be a clue in the future.
She said, “So, this has nothing to do with why you’ve barricaded the village?” Riverfront was in worse shape than Zeltara first thought. It sounded like a serial killer was on the loose.
Wulz grimaced. “No, that’s for another reason entirely. And that’s the worse problem at the moment.” He pointed behind him. “This has been an issue for a while now. Though, you’ll have to ask the mayor for details.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kaztos asked. Wulz glanced around the area before lowering his voice.
“The mayor doesn’t like us talking about this, especially with outsiders. I want to tell you more, but I’ll be risking my job. I have a family that needs food, so I can’t say anything.” That silenced any protests Zeltara had. She didn’t want to ruin this guy’s life when they could get more information from the source. “Besides, the attacks are the bigger issue. If that doesn’t get taken care of soon, then there won’t be a Riverfront standing.”
Kaztos asked, “Could you tell us more about these attacks?” The questions seemed to make the militiaman nervous.
“I don’t know too much. Just a lot of monsters started attacking us one day. We’ve been fending them off, but they keep coming back.” Wulz shook his head. “We’re not supposed to talk about that too much either. It makes people scared.” Zeltara recognized a pattern here. One that didn’t speak well to Riverfront at large. “Just go and see the mayor. I’m sure he’ll explain everything.” Sensing the dismissal, the three walked away from the house.
Saiya sighed. “Things just keep getting more complicated. I don’t even know what to think of it.” Kaztos nodded.
“Right. We've got monsters attacking the settlement and what sounds like a serial killer. Riverfront is in dire need of help.” Zeltara again took in the sullen mood the villagers were in. Looking closer, they seemed to border on hopelessness.
“I doubt we even know the half of it,” Zeltara said. “It sounds like this supposed mayor is keeping everything under wraps. Things could be even worse than they appear to be. We’ll have to investigate this ourselves.” Though they needed to be careful. With information being at least partially suppressed, the village could kick them out for asking too many questions. Just another layer in what was proving to be a complicated mess.
“Let’s just get to the mayor already,” Saiya said. “He and the captain should be able to shed light on the situation. Assuming they’re still together at the moment.” Saiya was right. They didn’t have enough information to know how to proceed.
Zeltara looked at the manor ahead. “Let’s keep going then.” They continued on their way. Apparently, news traveled quickly in Riverfront. Their group was attracting a small crowd. Many looked at them with open curiosity. Most of them seemed to be younger, with many of them being kids younger than they were.
While the adults were quick to go back to their business, the kids followed them. It would have made Zeltara anxious if it weren’t for how friendly they seemed. It reminded her of how they treated visitors in Urada. In these communities, there wasn’t anything interesting to do. Any sudden visitors would bring new excitement.
After a minute of walking, someone kicked a ball into their path. They stopped as a young boy ran over to pick it up, followed by three other kids. It was a group of two boys and girls all under the age of ten. The boy picked up the ball and looked up at them with interest.
“Whoa! Are you guys the outsiders? What are you doing here?” The other three kids whispered among themselves, speculating about who they were and their reason for being here.
Zeltara watched as Kaztos gave the boy a kind smile and crouched down to his eye level. “Well, my friends and I are adventurers. We came to Riverfront because it sounded like the village was having some trouble. So, we’re here to help.” Not completely honest, but the explanation brought a sense of wonder to the kids’ eyes. Zeltara grinned at the sight. It reminded her of herself when she was younger. The young boy hopped with excitement.
“No way! Real adventurers are here. I’ve heard so many stories.” One girl pushed in front of him.
“I heard adventurers can do anything. You’ll save my brother from those monsters, right? They took him a week ago.” That was concerning. Zeltara didn’t realize there were kidnappings on top of the attacks. They really needed to get to the mayor quickly.
Another boy said, “Yeah, and those monsters hurt my dad really bad. He’s still in bed all day. But you’ll beat those monsters easily.” The other two kids clamored on about the recent troubles of Riverfront. Despite their upbeat attitude, Zeltara could tell that it was affecting them. There was uneasiness behind their cheerful words. Like they didn’t believe whatever words given to them saying that everything would be alright.
Kaztos’ expression turned nervous. “Uh, we’ll do the best we can. I’m sure your brother is fine. And your father will recover in time.” Zeltara hid a grimace. Saying that you would help was one thing. Promising it to a bunch of young kids was another. It would be awful to let them down now.
Saiya stepped forward and leaned into Kaztos’ ear. “We should get going. We’ve wasted enough time.”
“I know, but we can’t just leave. These kids sound like they’ve had a rough time. If I can help ease their concerns, then I will,” Kaztos whispered back.
The first boy asked, “Could you tell us about some of the adventures you’ve been on?”
“Yeah! Tell us about all the monsters you killed.”
“Or the princesses you’ve rescued.”
“And the cities you saved!”
All four kids gave their demands. Zeltara and Kaztos exchanged an anxious glance. They didn’t exchange words but agreed. They had to give these kids something to avoid disappointing them. Kaztos’ expression brightened, and he turned back to the kids.
“Alright, we’ll tell you a story. But only one! We have to meet with the mayor so we can start helping Riverfront. Understand?” The four kids nodded. “Let’s see. Which story should I share? There are so many of them.” Zeltara cracked a smile. Kaztos was really hamming it up. “Let’s see, this happened some time ago. We were traveling through a great wasteland. It was hot, and there wasn’t a drop of water in sight. It had been days since we’d last seen any signs of life. The land was completely inhospitable.”
One girl asked, “What were you doing out there?” Kaztos paused for a moment before answering.
“Um, we were hunting a monster. Yes, a deadly monster was endangering a nearby caravan! It was our duty to protect it.” As Kaztos talked, he gestured wildly with his hands. His storytelling completely enraptured the kids. “This monster was deadly, able to kill a grown man with no effort! It took days, but we finally confronted it after the sun fell.” Zeltara’s shoulders shook with hidden amusement. It was something she remembered doing, though with more than a little grandiose fibbing added.
One boy was hopping in place in excitement. “Then what happened?” Kaztos paused, then pulled out his hammer. The children's attention turned to the weapon.
“The monster was terrifying. It had many sharp teeth and countless arms and legs. We almost wanted to cry out in fright! But we were brave. I attacked the monster with my hammer, driving it back!” Kaztos mimicked a swing with his hammer. He pointed at Saiya. “Then, my friend used her mana to shoot fire at the beast, scaring it.” With eyes on her, Saiya waved at them. Kaztos then gestured towards Zeltara. “Finally, our fearless leader used one of her many inventions to land the last strike on the monster. Boom! We destroyed the monster so it wouldn’t hurt anyone else.” Zeltara grinned and struck a cool pose for the kids.
“Wow, that was amazing!” One of the kids shouted out. The others echoed the sentiment. “Tell us another story, please!” Kaztos laughed at the kid’s enthusiasm.
Saiya took a step forward. “We should really get a move on. We’ve wasted enough time.” Immediately, four sets of eyes turned to the blond girl.
The kids ran up to Saiya. “Come on! We want to hear another story. You can spare a few minutes, please!” She stood there, surprised by the kids’ pleading. They crowded around her to beg.
“Um...” Saiya turned her gaze to Zeltara. She almost wanted to laugh at the sight. Seeing Saiya at the mercy of a group of small kids was hilarious to see.
Zeltara decided to help her by saying, “Sorry, guys. We need to get a move on.” The kids grumbled at her denial. “Maybe we can come back and tell you more stories another day.” That seemed to quell the kids’ protests. They took their ball and walked away. Zeltara noticed a few adults nearby giving them looks of approval. Maybe they appreciated their getting the kids’ minds off the current troubles.
“Well, that was a waste of time,” Saiya said. “I thought we wanted to hurry to the mayor.” Kaztos adopted a serious look on his face.
“That wasn’t a waste of time. We were helping a couple of kids regain some hope. You heard what they said. Kidnappings and injuries of family members. They probably didn’t show it, but I imagine they were feeling scared.” Saiya didn’t look convinced.
“And do you know what would help them? Solving the issue that’s causing that fear. Telling them made-up stories just to make them feel better isn’t doing anything.”
Kaztos said, “You don’t get it. Using a few minutes to brighten those kids’ days was more than worth it. Positivity like that can spread just as much as negativity. Besides, a bit of embellishment helped capture their attention. We pretty much did everything I said, just out of order and with a different context.”
“Enough arguing,” Zeltara said. “Kaztos wasn’t hurting anybody, even if I wish he didn’t twist the story so much.” She smiled in thought. “It reminds me of when I was younger. There used to be traveling minstrels or adventurers who would visit Urada, and I’d always be there to listen to stories. It feels nice to be on the other side.” Saiya let out a huff of irritation and turned back towards the manor.
“Fine. Let’s just get this over with.” The three of them continued on their journey towards the manor. Now that they were closer, Zeltara could make out a few more details.
Unlike the rest of the village, the manor was in good shape. Someone recently painted the walls, and they properly maintained the lawn. A small waist-high wooden fence surrounded the property, the only of its kind in the village. It wasn’t anything too fancy, but compared to the rest of the village, it might as well have been royalty.
The only thing out of place was the lack of security. Outside of a guard patrolling the perimeter and two more posted at the front door, there was a lack of defense. Though these guards seemed more equipped and better trained than the village militia they’d seen so far. To Zeltara, it appeared that the mayor was more focused on his own defense rather than the safety of Riverfront.
As they approached the front door, one of the guards stepped forward. “Halt! The mayor is currently busy dealing with some issues and isn’t available to talk. Please come back later.” Zeltara took a step forward and bowed.
“Good morning. We are Team Outsiders. A group of adventurers from the New Horizon’s Expedition in Mousafont City. We were sent to find settlements and negotiate on behalf of the Duke. Please let us pass.” The guard seemed surprised by her explanation.
“Mousafont City? But Riverfront isn’t located anywhere near there. And the Duke wants to hear from the mayor?” The guard sighed. “This sounds above my pay grade. Fine, I’ll take you to him. Just be warned, he’s in a bad mood. Do your best to keep that in mind.”
Zeltara nodded. “I will. Please lead the way.” The guard walked back to the front door and opened it. As she led the others inside, a feeling of unease filled her. She didn’t know how well this conversation would go. The last few times hadn’t gone the best for Zeltara.
Her eyes drifted to Kaztos, who had bailed them out previously. He noticed her nervous gaze and gave a simple nod. A part of her relaxed. With Kaztos here, she can navigate this just fine. Zeltara just had to remember to be polite and confident. Don’t let them get the upper hand. They entered the manor, ready to meet the mayor and captain of Riverfront.
