This one took a little longer to make because I wrote myself into a corner. Now it's to my liking so enjoy and sorry for the delay.

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As we parted from the families of Odalcet and Eve we took position alongside the cart full of wares that Tito was riding. Tito told us that at a walking speed the capital of the hold was 4 days and 3 nights away. The city of Osnec was ruled by the Rignar family; they've been ruling these lands for three generations. I didn't know nor cared much about the politics of this country so most of the info about them slipped my mind shortly after. Apparently the current lord is quite young having inherited the spot after the early death of his parents.

After travelling on a dirt road for a while we encountered a paved highway. It was made of tightly  packed square stones, apparently this was a mayor trade route as we drew  closer to the capital the number of waggons, carriages and people increased.

While we encountered a few wild beats here and there we were never really in danger. Odalcet it seems likes being in the thick of things as such he has focused on improving his skills with polearms. He has taken a liking to using a halberd he picked up in a town on the way here, while Eve saying she doesn't like the idea of blood spraying on her decided to use magic as her main weapon. She has a dagger though as a last resort.

We are currently staying at a town along the highway, it's the night of the second day of our journey. We should arrive the day after tomorrow, up until now nothing noteworthy happened. There was an incident when Eve tried to get Odalcet drunk but fortunately nothing serious happened. I wonder what plan did she conceive in her mind. On an unrelated note I've decided never to cross Eve.

I returned to the inn after a walk, the lady on the counter welcomed me with a smile. I guess when your livelihood depends on being nice you learn to fake it for anyone. The inn was unremarkable not good but not bad either, for a traveller staying a night it was just right and cheap too. Because we are Tito's escort he is paying for food and lodging, after we reach the capital he'll get new escorts.

"Hey kiddo what are you doing here" {Patron}

One of the patrons of the inn is talking to me. He looks like he is in his fifties, he has short white hair and a beard. His blushed cheeks tell me he either had some drinks or is in love with me. I hope it's the first one.

"I'm escorting a merchant." {Pr}

"Best be careful then, a merchant came by some days ago and he was battered. He said he was attacked by a monster and that his escort and cargo was lost." {Patron}

"Oh my, I too heard that story; He said he was attacked by human looking frogs. it is probably best if you stay in town until the army deals with it, it should only take some days."{Inn lady}

I don´t know if it is concern or she is just trying to get us to stay so that we pay for more days, either way it is not up to me to decide.

"I appreciate the concern, I'll tell my employer what he thinks." {Pr}

I went to Tito's room after knocking twice he let me in. The room was rather simple. It had a bed, a nightstand and not much else. In terms of size it was on the small side but by no means cramped. Odalcet and I were sleeping in the same room, when the arrangements were decided eve looked at me as if trying to take my soul. I would have gladly traded places but Odalcet refused saying an unmarried maiden shouldn't sleep in the same room with a man. Eve the road ahead of you is rocky!

"Don't just stand there in silence. Why did you come here?" {Tito}

His words made me come back to reality, right why was I here for again?

"I forgot why I came. I have a feeling it was important."{Pr}

"I'm glad you're in charge of escort and not schedule, otherwise we might end up forgetting our destination!"{Tito}

"Ah, right! A merchant was attacked by frog monsters along the highway apparently." {Pr}

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

After I said that he fell into silence, stroking his chin. He was clearly thinking about what should be done next.

"Mmmm... Do you think you guys can handle them?" {Tito}

That is a tough question. It boils down to numbers though. Frogmen are relatively weak alone but quantity has a quality of its own. I suddenly felt like a totalitarian leader took possession of my thoughts, scary.

"If there are less than thirty of them we could somehow manage but you should be ready to ditch the wares and run." {Pr}

Frogmen are essentially bipedal frogs standing around 1.50 meters tall, in their environment they are dangerous but on solid land they lose a lot of advantages.  fortunately frogmen are cowardly so they don't attack unless they are sure of their victory. It should be alright fifty or more frogmen is not something that wouldn't be noticed so I'm fairly sure it is within what we can manage. I also seem to be in to notch condition, after the fight with the bandits I didn't even break a sweat.

"We will set off tomorrow, there are goods that can spoil in the cart so time is of the essence." {Tito}

I told Eve and Odal the situation and to be prepared for combat.  They had serious expressions, but they were ready for whatever came their way.

"It's not a do or die fight if the fight starts drifting against us we can always run. Anyway we are fighting frogmen so I doubt it'll be difficult." {Pr}

"What about the other merchant, his escorts were killed weren't they?" {Od}

"Yeah, but they were ambushed. We on the other hand are expecting a fight. Not many people expect to encounter a monster along the road so they are often relaxed."{Pr}

I told a lie, there is no way I know how the other group got defeated nor how safe the road is. It seems the lie did its job as their faces were a bit relieved. A white lie never hurt anybody and it won't help if they are too nervous.

The next morning we left the town after checking our equipment. I'm in front of the waggon, Odal is to the left while Eve covers the right flank. We spent some time walking when we see a forest to the right, that's probably the place where the other guys got ambushed. I signaled Tito to stop and called the guys to me.

"Okay, I'll scout ahead a bit you two stay here protecting Tito." {Pr}

"Yes, if anything happens we are here." {Od}

I walked ahead, cautiously checking around for sings of the enemy. I could only hear the sounds of the forest and my heart beating fast, being bait for an ambush sure is an exhilarating experience.

So far so good, after going ahead twenty meters there was still no sign of enemies. I'm honestly relieved but I can't let my guard down yet. After having advanced some more the forest has gone deathly quiet. The birds that could clearly be heard chirping just a few minutes ago have gone silent as if it was just my imagination that they ever existed.

I feel a presence behind me. It's getting closer, it might be my imagination but I feel a piercing stare on my back.

As I turn around the sound of powerful legs being uncoiled reaches me. I'm preparing an ice bolt and brandishing my mace, whatever it is I won't go down without a fight.

"Croak." {xxx}

When I finished doing the turn I saw the monster with my heart on my throat I let out a sigh. It was just a frog!

I was almost driven into an early grave by a frog. I lifted my mace in anger but I couldn't kill the innocent animal. The frog of course had no idea what was going on and kept leaping without a care in the world.

Fortunately the rest of the journey was uneventful, the frogman menace that we learned about in the town was dealt with by the guards a delegation that was passing thru on its way back. We reached the city, after 4 days travel, without a problem.