They got a nice plate of some kind of meat with cereals, and Edwin gestured for them to join him at his table soon after. There were a dozen people already sitting there, all men except for a woman with a creepy scar covering half of her face. Mahon and Jorik sat at one end of the table where there were some places left. The man directly next to Mahon was that burly guard they had met in the morning.

Hagre wasn’t it?

He didn’t have much time to get to know the man better than another couple guards joined them, and Edwin spoke to the whole table.

“Good, we’re all there. First, let me introduce our two latest recruits.” He gestured to Mahon and Jorik, and everyone turned their heads to them. “Please present yourself.”

“I’m Mahon, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Jorik. Pleased as well.”

“I’ve tested them myself. They know how to fight despite their young looks.” Edwin simply continued once they had stated their names.

Mahon threw a look around and realized most of the others were actually closer to three hundreds than two. And Jorik was looking even younger than him, even though his memories went back further than Mahon.

There really are some kind of discrimination with young people.

“Let me remind you that the five people with this badge,” he flashed his own badge, a golden version of Mahon’s one, “are part of the Frontaliers, and thus hierarchically in capacity to order you. That is, Zelphar, Elas, Ailred and Neia.” He pointed at the three men and the woman sitting beside him.

He then paused and looked at Mahon and Jorik, as if to make sure they had understood the information. Mahon nodded to show he had, and Edwin continued.

“Standard stuff for this afternoon. Help the merchants pack their things while keeping an eye on the market and everything that can go wrong. We’ll patrol the surroundings in case something happens, you can always call us. But it’s Barcombe, so I don’t expect anything. We’ll camp a few kilometers north tonight and then head to Jongvale. It’ll be a two-day journey, the area should be safe, so you’ll just have to patrol along the caravan and ensure everything goes fine. Is that clear?”

They all nodded around the table, and Mahon joined them easily. The task didn’t seem complicated at all.

Just walk along the carts and offer assistance? With pleasure!

The group then chatted leisurely together, and Mahon got to know Hagre a bit better, even though the man wasn’t one to talk much. And he also didn’t look that smart. They also discussed with Jorik’s neighbors, but they weren’t really interesting either. They quickly learned they were here for the easy money and only brought their muscles in.

Edwin’s comment about Mahon and Jorik being already smarter than the other guards after just a few words echoed in Mahon’s head, and he now understood what the man had meant. The other guards weren’t mean, but they were ones to use their muscles to solve their problem rather than their brains.

Mahon quickly stopped talking and tried to listen to the probably more interesting conversation between the Frontaliers, but they were too far away for him to pick up anything over the other discussions.

They ended lunch soon after, and Mahon informed Jorik he had found some merchant he could help to pack things for. It seemed Jorik had found a couple other merchants he could help too, and they each went about their duties.

They didn’t spend much time discussing what they had discovered or learnt and instead went their own way. They knew they would blend in with more ease if they weren’t always together. And also, by being in two different places, they increased their chances of understanding this world faster. And above all, they were still cursed by the Amentiae to go to Nightmare, and since all the others were not, they would have plenty of time to discuss anything in the dreamy land, away from snoopy ears.

Mahon walked back to Reptar’s cart, but the man wasn’t there yet. Mahon bid his time, watching the surroundings. The market had been closed before lunch, and no citizens of Barcombe were allowed in anymore. That left only the merchants in, and they were slowly starting to pack their stuff with practiced motions.

A few minutes later, Reptar came, accompanied by two little girls. They were young, probably somewhere around ten, and identical. The twin sisters bore beautiful, long, blond hair with multiple braids cascading around their shoulders. They all had the same hazel eyes of their father, and a genuine happy smile was hanging on their lips.

“Mahon? You’re already there. That’s good!” Reptar said as soon as he got close enough. “I present to you my two daughters, Petunia and Rose. Say hello, girls.”

“Hello, sir.” The sisters said at once.

“Hello.” Mahon answered with a smile.

“Papa, can we pack the instruments now?” One of the twins said, pulling on her father’s hand.

“Yes, yes, go.” Reptar laughed. “Pack the small flutes first. I’ll do the heavy stuff with Mahon.”

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The two girls didn’t wait any longer, and as soon as he had said “go” they had already rushed behind the cart to retrieve some tissue to wrap the flutes. The merchant watched them do it with a big, happy smile. Once he realized Mahon was still here, watching him, he showed a more neutral face, and gestured for him to follow.

“Help me pack the sitars, please. You need to be careful and not grab them by the…”

He didn’t even finish his sentence, as Mahon had already caught the closest sitar in a knowing grip and carefully placed it on its leather case.

“Seeing this harmonica’s state, I admit I thought you stole it and broke it by not taking care of it, or something like that, but I now realize I owe you an apology. You’re a musician, there is no doubt about it.” Reptar finally said, his wide smile back on his face.

He joined Mahon, and together they proceeded to pack delicately all the instruments, before Mahon followed the merchant’s guidance to arrange the cart for travel, pulling some panes, locking and fastening the load, getting rid of the tissue roof, unlocking the wheels and so on.

In half an hour, the cart was ready to go, and Reptar clapped on Mahon’s back with satisfaction.

“Good job! It has been a long time since I’ve been this efficient in preparing that thing. I’ll go pack my tent now, see you later! Petunia! Rose! Let’s go!”

The merchant’s daughters stopped playing and ran to their father, and they all left shortly after. Mahon took a look around, and most of the other carts were either already done or well in the process. He toured the market to see if anyone needed him, and one of the other guards told him they needed help with the caravan’s tents.

He went there and folded his fair share of tents, among the guards, cooks, stewardships and other necessary stuff from the caravan’s organization. Another half an hour later, and the caravan was finally on its way out. A long procession of carts slowly left the town of Barcombe in relative ease as the merchants were more than accustomed to the operation by now.

Mahon waited until every cart had left the town to make sure no one was left behind, and soon he was almost alone in the previously very active place. Another guard had had the same idea he did and stayed behind to check if everything went as planned. He was one of the Frontalier and simply gestured to Mahon once every cart was gone.

“It went well. Let’s go, now, boy.”

“I’m no boy.” Mahon grumbled, but the man seemed to hear him nonetheless.

“Hahaha, sorry. You’re Mahon, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Elas.” The Frontalier introduced himself, even though Edwin already did at lunch.

Mahon shook the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you too.”

“First time escorting a caravan?” Elas started walking towards the leaving carts, and although they were already a bit farther away, they were moving slower than walking speed.

“Yeah.”

“I guessed that much. No guard waits for everyone to leave before going. That’s the job of the leading unit, in this case, us, the Frontaliers.” Elas explained. “But Edwin mentioned you were too smart to be simple guards… I can teach you a thing or two, if you want.”

Mahon observed the man, but he appeared to be perfectly honest. Maybe he was just reminiscing about his own start among caravan guards.

“Yeah, sure.” Mahon shrugged. He had nothing better to do than walk near the caravan, anyway.

Elas flashed a happy smile and started a long monologue about the duty of the caravan’s guard, and how they should always be there to help and serve the people. Just before Mahon started to get bored, Elas started to tell of his own adventures.

“When I was your age, I had already experienced a few runs through all the Finem Kingdom. They all went pretty well. No trouble. The most interesting thing that happened was that a cart broke its wheel, and we had to find a way to drag it to the next town. I thought it was an easy job, but, then, on my first real mission, after I got an official position at caravan’s guard, I learned of a new reality.”

Mahon now listened with rapt attention as the man was now revealing details about his world. He seemed to notice Mahon’s interest and redoubled his effort to narrate his story.

“We were moving near the frontier with the Ripa Kingdom, in the plains, and… Wait. You know where the Ripa Kingdom is?”

“Not really.”

“Yes, no wonder, it’s your first big trip after all. The Ripa Kingdom is a coastal territory north east to Finem. You’ve heard of Drulens, right?”

“Yeah, just by name, though.” Mahon lied.

“Everybody knows about the second biggest city of Finem, but few actually went there. Unless you’re a merchant or a caravan’s guard, most people don’t bother going there. It’s close to Ripa though. To give you a rough idea, it’s the same distance between the capital and Drulens than between here and the capital!”

Mahon couldn’t prevent his mouth from falling open. He knew his map wasn’t depicting the whole land, but to imagine there would be more than half missing… And even more, if there was apparently another territory behind it.

Elas chuckled in front of Mahon’s face. “World is big, eh? But don’t worry, you’ll have time to travel it all if you keep working for caravans. It’s part of the reason I’ve chosen this job. You’re traveling a lot and seeing incredible things… But back to my story! I was on a caravan going from Drulens to Lakefield when we got attacked by a group of harpies, and… Wait. You know what harpies are, right?”

From Mahon’s face, Elas had guessed he had no idea what the man was talking about, and so Mahon shook his head. Elas sighed like he was exasperated, but he was actually smiling. Mahon realized the man was pleased to have someone to tell stories to.

“You’ve really got a lot to learn, boy.”

This time, Mahon didn’t correct the man. He was too focused on absorbing as much knowledge as he could.

“So, harpies… They are like goblins, but with wings. You know goblins, right?”

Elas was looking at him suspiciously, and Mahon felt like it was something he should know so he simply nodded.

“Good. So imagine that little green beast with his long nose. Turn its skin brown and add two ridiculously wide wings and you got a harpy. Scary right?”

Mahon’s picture of the creature was a bit vague given he had no idea what a goblin looked like, but he nodded nonetheless. Elias continued his story.

“Harpies love weak prey, and in this caravan, we had somehow ended up with a group of elderly men to escort for a part of our journey. And, by the Twelve, these old men were smelling so bad, the harpies must have picked their scent from kilometers away! And so here we are, walking through the plains when I spot black dots in the sky…”