Of course, the dodgy businessman left a detail like that out. He simply didn't want to pay the man.

  As Anzu was about to say something, Itani let out a long sigh and stepped forward, though she didn't flail her hands like the farmer. It was clear she'd had dealings with people like this before, probably in similar circumstances.

  "Listen. We all know what Shikku's like. He's a bastard, and he didn't tell us anything about the payment you have to receive."

  The farmer stopped flailing his hands as a sour expression on his face replaced the previous angry one.

  "A bastard he is, aye. A villain. He's done this to me before, you know."

  "It wouldn't surprise me. We don't actually work for him. We're just doing this as a favor so that he'll let us leave town on one of his caravans."

  The farmer frowned and scratched his head.

  "Ah, on the run are you?"

  Anzu didn't feel like intervening at this point because Itani was doing a great job. She had calmed the man down and was now sympathizing with him.

  In fact, she seemed much better at this sort of thing than he was. Studying languages, history, manipulating the arcane, and generally strategizing were activities he excelled at. Rhetoric and people skills, on the other hand, not so much.

  "Well, yeah. You could say that. Due to injustice, though."

  The farmer had by now relaxed his hands and started leaning on a nearby tree.

  "I believe you. I really do. Given what the priests and the Gutians get up to these days, I'm surprised you haven't left sooner."

  He gave a sigh and looked down to drain his hair of some of the rain with his free hand.

  "Okay, look. I'll take the 50 silver you're offering. And usually I'd leave it at that. But me and the wife are in debt, you see. We opened a small tavern recently, and we really need the money."

  The farmer paused for a few moments, observing the horses.

  "How about I take the saddles on the horses in addition to the 50 silver? Those'd fetch a nice sum."

  Itani's face lit up at this idea, and she gave Anzu an inquisitive look.

  "What do you think? Shikku never said anything about saddles, anyway."

  Anzu nodded. It seemed only fair.

  "Yeah, I think this is fine."

  Itani then looked at the farmer and offered her right hand.

  "Then, we have a deal!"

  She counted out the coins, dropping them into the farmer's extended hand, while he handed over the tether for the horses. Together with Anzu, they waited for him to take the saddles off and then offered to shake hands again.

  "Well, pleasure doing business with you. I won't forget this. Us that get caught in Shikku's schemes gotta stick together. Emesh is the name, by the way."

  'Itani and Anzu,' said Itani for both of them, just as Anzu was shaking the man's hand.

  "Listen, my tavern is only a couple of miles west of here. The Copper Anvil, we call it. If you're ever close by, come say high, and I'll gladly put you up for the night."

  Walking away and sticking close to the trees to avoid the rain, the farmer kept repeating the names Anzu and Itani as if trying to memorize them and nodding to himself throughout.

  As the man left, the horses became even more irritated and started neighing loudly. One of them even started to rear.

  "Anzu, I think it might be time for that calming spell of yours."

  "It would indeed."

  Anzu moved his staff away from himself slightly and began to cast [Pacify mind]. It was a simple tier 4 spell, mainly used for reducing the unwanted aggression of mobs, but it seemed to work on horses just as well. As a very thin blueish mist surrounded them, they gradually reduced their neighing to whinnying and finally to nothing.

  They were lovely animals. One of them was a black with a long mane, while the other two were white with brown spots all over them. Anzu approached each of them calmly and traversed their manes with his left hand, also saying good boyto each of them.

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  Itani just stood there observing Anzu with saucer-wide eyes and a smile on her face.

  "Nice! And I'm the Ranger here, hah. You've got experience with horses?"

  There wasn't much he could reveal about his other life. It wasn't something Itani would even believe, probably. At least not right now. He couldn't tell her that in his university days, a certain number of credits had to be gained from physical education activities. Luckily, horse riding was an option since they had an equestrian center nearby. That was muchbetter than, for instance, soccer.

  "I just like animals. That's it."

  "In that case, let's get going. I'm starting to get annoyed by the rain, too."

  She had a point about the rain.

  Though his robes were crafted from the most exquisite silk and even had enchantments that guarded against basic rain and cold, water was beginning to seep through and was spreading down his neck.

  But they were nearly at the city gates, and things were really starting to look up now. Tingles of anticipation formed in his stomach as he thought of being back in his tower in Larsa. A safe place, and all his gear was there, too. It made him happy, even playful in his step.

  "Wow, where did you get that shot of energy? I could definitely use some...," Itani's voice dropped low. "Anzu, stop. What's that?"

  She pointed at the gate they were approaching.

  Anzu passed the tether to Itani and went on alone in the shadows.

  As he was nearing the gate, a figure began emerging, one nearly bent over, supporting itself with a pole. He knew what this was. He would handle it.

  "So, what did you find out?" Itani asked with anticipation when he returned.

  "It's a guard, posted at the gate. He keeps dozing off, though, probably from too much ale."

  Itani's eyes shot a worried look, and her shoulders tightened.

  "Damn it, I knew there would be another problem! What now...?"

  Anzu took the horse tether from her and extended a placating hand.

  "Don't worry. I'll take care of this."

  As they approached the gate, the guard's head lifted as he tried to stand up straight, not quite managing. He only became truly alert once he spotted the horses behind them. That made him jump and point at them with his spear.

  "Halt, bandits. We've been expecting an illegal horse shipment to come in all night."

  Anzu passed the tether back to Itani and went to the guard, who had by now become visibly nervous.

  The thought of his tower and a warm hearth inside was too irresistible for him to ignore. It was so close now he wasn't about to let a drunk guard get in the way of it.

  "Hey, you, stop! Didn't you hear me?"

  Using the hand with the ring, [Clay spewer], Anzu extended two fingers and waved in the guard's direction:

  "These are not the horses you're looking for."

  A thin streak of light travelled from his ring to the guard, as he cast [Persuade Mind]. It worked instantly, as the drunk man shifted his eyes, checked where he was, and just said:

  "No, they're not. Move along."

  Anzu waved to Itani to join him, and the line of horses finally moved through the gates. As they gathered some distance from the groggy guard, Itani gave a sigh of relief.

  "Ha. I thought we were done for back there. Damn convenient spell, that one."

  Anzu nodded and gave her a reassuring look. For a moment, he'd doubted their chance of success, too, as more guards could have been on the way. But it all worked out. The tower in Larsa was waiting for him.

  They proceeded through the darkest part of Lagash to avoid detection, with Anzu at the front, leading the horses by the tether, and Itani at the back. The rain was slowly subsiding, but luckily, there was no one around to hear the clacking of horse hooves against the cobblestone floor.

  Such was their journey until they finally reached the corner of Stonemason and Akkad avenues, where Shikku said they would meet the man who would take over the horses from them. And in return, give them their tickets.

  At least this part was all true. There was a man, wearing farmer clothes, simple brown garments, and a straw hat, who was standing in the shadows of the street crossing. Pressing closely against the wall of the adjacent building, he constantly checked both ways of the street nervously and immediately approached Anzu as he spotted the horses.

  "Hi," Anzu blurted out. "Are you here for the horses?"

  "Aye, that's correct. Give me the tether and let's be done with this."

  Even as he spoke and reached for the tether, his eyes kept checking whether anyone else was on the street.

  "Wait. The password first."

  "Darn it. What was it again... Something fancy like... Oh, aye, beasts of burden and so much more. There. Now give it here."

  The hastiness and sloppiness of the man were starting to irritate Anzu. None of them wanted to be here, but this had to be done right.

  "Hang on. What about our tickets? Do you have them?"

  The farmer started rummaging around his small pouch, cursing very softly in the process. Finally, he retrieved something and lifted it in his right hand.

  "Ah, aye. Here. Two tickets for the caravan bound south."

  Anzu exchanged the horse tether for the tickets and wanted to shake the man's hand, but the latter was much too busy checking both ways of the street again. He never even noticed the offered hand.

  "Alright. Just so youse know, there's some commotion with the guards. They went on high alert about an hour ago. Supposedly, the priests are looking for some grey-cloaked guy. Have a good one."

  He never looked Anzu in the eye and simply went on his way, continually checking if anyone was about on the adjoining streets.

  "Grey-cloaked man. That's us," Anzu whispered to Itani. "We've got the tickets. We need to leave the city right away, but stealthily until we pass the gates. Then we can relax, but not before."

  "Agreed. Let's get going."

  Their journey back to the west gates was uneventful, which was something Anzu was more grateful for than he imagined at first.

  Was he in a weak position at the moment due to his mana regenerating issues? Yes. But he could've handled anyone, nonetheless. It was the drudgery of it all that annoyed him, since he never really liked stealth. And being on guard all the time was tiring.

  The guard at the gate was still there as they approached. His eyes had a certain fog in them, partly due to [Persuade mind] and partly to ale. Besides, the news of the high alert probably hadn't reached him in this remote part of town. At least Anzu hoped that was the case.

  As they passed through, the guard just nodded in acknowledgement and dozed off as soon as they were outside the city walls.

  An immediate sense of relief washed over Anzu. His step became lighter, and he stretched his arms in recognition of this. Even the rain had completely stopped.

  "We don't need to crawl around in stealth anymore," Anzu suggested, "We can walk normally, but we should hurry up and get to the caravan as quickly as possible."

  "We should," Itani agreed, but frowned right after. "One thing, though. How do you reckon they found out about us again?"