“How was your first experience as a knight my fellow cadets?”, asked Dave laughing.

Orph and Cess groaned.

“That bad?”, Dave replied somewhat in shock.

“If you ask me, this wasn’t that ba-”, smiled Dave, but before he could finish, Cess walked away fast while huffing away with Orph following her soon after. They both maintained a distance ahead of Dave.

Dave groaned.

“Was this really not that bad?”, asked Eric. Dave’s eyes lit up for a moment before fading away. His eyes were full of sadness.

“No... I was just trying to say something comforting.”, he sighed, “I guess they both say through me...”, he let out a sorrowful smile. He looked back at Eric and added, “But It wasn’t that bad, we succeeded and not many people lost what they care about.” He paused for a couple of seconds and with a serious look on his face added, “Sometimes...”, he sighed, “Sometimes that’s all that matters.”. He let out a big smile.

Eric could feel the pain behind that smile however, he was not brave enough to mention or ask about it. In an attempt to move the conversation elsewhere, he asked another question.

“Why are we going to the county?”

Dave looked at Eric and smiled as he normally does before replying, “I have to congratulate someone....”, he looked at Cess still mad at him, and added, “and I wanted to cheer you guys up!”, he laughed.

Eric looked at Dave and decided that it was the best conversation ender he could’ve ever hoped for. At least in this scenario, he stopped his curiosities and simply nodded in return.

Ahead of them Orph asked Cess, “Is that really why you’re mad?”

Cess nodded in anger, “Yes! He’s trying to comfort us...”

“I don’t really see what’s wr-”

“There’s nothing wrong with it!”

“Then-”

Cess looked at Orph with sadness in her eyes, “I get where he’s coming from... I just wish he thought of himself a bit more...”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“You guys seem close.”, Orph smiled.

“We are...”, Cess looked at Orph. “I mean, he is my hero!”, Cess marched away.

“Yes! Dave’s our hero!”, Orph marched behind her.

“Yes! Exactly!”, Cess smiled before sighing and looking at Orph, straight in his eyes. “Do you think I’m childing?”

“For what? For worrying about Dave?”

Cess nodded.

“No.”, Orph smiled, “It’s alright to be angry on behalf of someone else.”, making Cess smile too.

They all kept quiet mostly for the rest of their journey as they reached the county soon after.

“Ahh.”, Dave wondered, before exclaiming, “Good on her!”, to himself.

The others looked at him.

“Oh, I’ve been to this place before and it already looks better than what I’m used to.”, he smiled. “I knew she had it in her...”, he thought to himself.

Meanwhile in the county castle.

“I hope your talks with the priest were successful.”, asked Tess.

“Oh?”, Esting looked back from the statue of the hero on display and faced Tess.

“Yes.”, he replied before looking back at the hero again. “It was.”

“The county is grateful for your donations!”, said Tess, piercing him with her eyes.

Esting smiled, “No, it was nothing. The county should be grateful for having you as its new countess!”

Tess smiled without moving her eyes.

“Besides.”, added Esting. “The hero was from these lands, it’s only fit that this happens here.”

“The priest was eager to spread the teachings of the hero on his homeland.”

"And...", he added. "My father's family is from here... My mother loved him for that... At least she did at first."

"Oh, How could I ever forget!", exclaimed Tess. "Your ancestor was the sage!", she smiled. "Forgive me... You mention it a lot and yet I..."

"It's alright, the sage was a great man.", smiled Esting.

"And yet here you are making statues of the Hero.", murmured Tess.

"Did you say something?", asked a curious Esting.

"I'm sorry?", replied Tess with an innocent look on her face.

Esting groaned and started to walk out of the room before stopping right in front of Tess with a glimmer in his eyes and looking her straight in her eyes. “I hope you use the donations wisely. Wouldn’t want my daughter’s friend to make a fool out of herself.”, he smiled.

“Of course not, Prime Minister. I thank you for your advice, but can Babour survive for so long with such precious advice?”

“I made Babour strong enough to do so.”, scoffed Esting.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me. I must go speak to MY dear friend.”

Esting walked away and went outside.

“Did I hit a nerve...”, murmured Tess to herself. She went towards the Hero’s statue and sighed.

“Did you ever see a future such as this for the Kingdom you founded, Hero?”, She looked away. “I hope not. I... hope not.”, she started to go outside as well. Before leaving, she looked behind again, “ I have some guests to attend to, if you’ll excuse me.”, and went outside to see a familiar face in the distance.

She smiled, “Dave! Long time no see!”

Dave smiled back, with Orph, Cess, and Eric behind him. This was the first time any three of them had seen snow. The cold was hard to bear, but the beautiful sights made up for it. The county was different from all the cities, towns, and villages they’ve ever visited and all of them couldn’t wait to experience what it had to offer.