The sun was right above us as we were on the road. As usual, I was at the back but I was behind the lone Suta this time and Crescent Blue ahead of him with Brell leading. There didn’t seem to be much chatter today as Lin was still missing and we should be arriving in Nishilon soon. To help pass the time, I’ve been practicing moving around the mana in my body while having one's eyes open. I still haven’t had much practice doing it and was still focused on one thing with my eyes as I did so. It wasn’t like Lin who was able to while moving.

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It wasn’t until the sun was getting close to sunset when we broke through the treeline and left the forest. I stopped practicing with my magic and looked around me. All around right away were golden fields along the roads. The road twisted right a bit from the forest and led down for a while before turning left leading towards what I would assume was Nishilon.

We followed along the road and were on the straight path towards Nishilon. It seemed like Nishilon was the biggest place I’ve been to unless the three other smaller looking towns were very close to the place we were heading to. The place had no gates or walls and as we got closer, just looking down the road it led to what looked like a town square surrounded by buildings averaging from small to medium in size. The golden fields ended when we were almost there, leaving room for colourful fields of flowers.

There was then a road that led off to the left leading towards what seemed to be the same size group of buildings like the one we were heading to. The only difference was there was one building that was bigger than the rest and was surrounded by a bunch more smaller buildings. Then looking straight, past the place we were heading to was a road that led up a hill towards what looked similar towards the one on the left but there was a bigger building behind all the smaller buildings in front of it.

To the right of the place we were heading to had a road coming out from the right that went down towards a huge body of water. The water was surrounding a chunk of land that had a similar layout like the one going up the hill except most of the buildings were lining along the side of the lake and one large building in the middle of them all. The body of water looked large as it was hard to see to the other side and I wondered if this was one of the Great Lakes that Ilise mentioned.

We finally came to a slow pace when we arrived at the entrance to Nishilon which was guarded by two men cladded in a full suit of white armor with only their helmets missing. We all came to a halt when Brell, who was leading, came to a stop to talk to the two men.

The first to speak up was the man on the right. “Reason for entry?” He asked.

Brell, who was upfront answered for us “We are the party that the guild hired for the road subjugation from Marawa.”.

“Ah, I understand, if you need directions to the guild it’s quite easy to find as it’s in the town square.” As he told us the two guards turned sideways and made way for us to enter.

Brell didn’t move right away as he looked back towards Suta who was still in front of me. “I actually have one question for you two.” Brell said as he looked towards the guard he was talking with originally. As the guard wondered what he would ask, Brell spoke up “Has there been a girl that has entered here in the past few days? She is a bit short but quite muscular and doesn’t wear anything on her feet.”.

“Hmm unfortunately for me that doesn’t ring a bell.” The guard on our right said. “I’ve only just started watching the West entrance just earlier today so your best bet might be to ask the guild?”.

Brell then looked to his left “How about you, have you seen anyone that matches that description?”.

The guard just shook his head “I’m in the same boat, only just started watching over the West gate since this morning as well.”.

After the guard told him this, Brell decided to keep on moving and started entering Nishilon. As we all entered, Suta, the one in front of me stopped to tell the guard on the right “If you by chance see her, her name is Lin. Just let her know that Suta is waiting for her at the guild.”. The guard nodded to him and Suta started moving again.

We then followed the main road that led towards an area that opened up into a wide circle that had a fountain that had water shooting up out of the center. Surrounding it were some tents that had people behind tables with all different types of things from jewelry to food to weapons and armor.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

It seemed like Brell knew where he was going as he took us to the right after we arrived at the center. After we turned off from the town square, we arrived at a short but wide building. Brell stopped near the entrance beside a long log. He then got off his horse and took the lead rope and tied it around the log. Everyone else started to do the same and I as well followed suit. After Brell made sure everyone tied their horse down, we entered the guild.

The inside of the guild was similar to the one in Trennent with a tavern and the guild on the same floor. We walked towards the left side which was the guild side and Brell came to the desk. “We have completed the Nishilon Road Subjugation quest from Marawa.” He told them before the man behind the counter could speak anything.

“Ahh, I see. Alright, how many monsters and bandits did you guys run into on the way?” The man asked.

“It was four beasts and seven bandits.” He told the man.

“Hmm that should be seven extra silver coins on top of the main reward per person.” The man then said as he began pulling out six small pouches and added in seven per bag. After he was done, he pushed all six pouches towards Brell.

Brell then grabbed them all and turned to the rest of us “Lets have something to eat before we all go our separate ways.” he said as his eyes batted between Suta and I. I personally had no reason to say no and agreed with Suta doing the same.

After which he led us towards the tavern side and went to an empty table that was able to seat us all. After everyone took a seat, Brell began sliding a pouch to each of us and two to Suta while mentioning “You should hold onto this for now, give it to her when she arrives.”.

Suta nodded to him as he took it and stored it away in another pouch he had. A couple of minutes after we all put away our pouches, the wench came along to take our orders. “What can I do for you all?” She asked with a smile.

“I’ve been on the dried meat diet and need some real food, I’ll take your guy’s specialty.” Brell told her.

“I’ll have the summer salad.” Howari said almost quietly enough to not be heard.

“Pork Chops.” Krello said, staying true to his little words ever spoken.

“I’ll just have the specialty and a pint of mead.” Said Suta in a dejected voice.

After Brell heard Suta order, Brell quickly spoke up “Oh if Suta’s drinking, get me a pint of ale!”.

The wench then looked towards me “And for you, Sir?” she asked.

“I’ll just get the same as the other two.” I told her.

The wench nodded to me before turning around and leaving. After she left the table Brell peered at me with a big grin “Ah, I should have known you liked to drink as well!”.

When he said that, I realized I probably got a pint of mead as well. I don’t know if I have before but I do know ever since waking up in the forest, I’ve only ever drank water so in the end I didn’t mind.

The table went a bit silent but was broken when the wench brought our drinks along with three large mugs filled with a golden substance that had foam on the top while the other two were just water.

Brell was the first to grab his drink and take a large gulp out of it, leaving a moustache of foam on him “Puwaahhh, nothing can beat a mug of ale after a quest!”. Brell then stared at me, waiting for me to take a drink instead of just watching the foam slowly begin to settle down.

To get him to stop watching me, I finally took a drink from the mug. What hit me right away was a bitter taste of something that was similar to bread in a way followed by a sweet aftertaste that had me trying to taste more of it off my tongue. To sedate the taste for more, I took another gulp of the golden liquid in front of me. This time, expecting the bitter taste, it went down a lot smoother, especially when the sweetness settled into my mouth.

After my second gulp, a large burp came out of me as I looked to see a smiling Brell who just finished taking another drink “Haaa, Nishilon’s Ale is great, isn’t it!”. I just nodded to him “Now let’s see if the little bear can ou-” Brell stopped talking as he turned to look beside an empty spot beside Suta who was just staring at his golden drink depressed. To break the awkward mood, Brell spoke up “Hey Suta, she will come. She might already be here, you know her.”.

When Suta realized all eyes were on him he lazily answered “Yeah, you’re right.” and took a swig from his mug.

Soon after we all were drinking our drinks, the wench came along and began placing our plates in front of us. What came out first was Howari’s salad followed by Krello’s plate of pork chops and what looked to be mashed potatoes and a brown sauce on top of it. After which, three bowls with a small plate of bread for each were placed in front of Brell, Suta and I.

The bowl in front of me was filled with something similar to the beef stew I've had before but this time around there were a wider variety of different vegetables in it as well, the other difference was that the broth of it wasn’t as thick and was a bit more clear which showed off two different types of meat inside.

I looked up to see the other two and how they were eating it. I saw them dipping the bread that was on the side into the broth and eating it along with spooning down the rest of the contents. Following suit, I started with dipping the bread into the broth and took a bite out of it. When the bread entered my mouth, it felt as if I was taking a bite out of a cloud that had a warm savoury taste. I then took a spoonful of liquid and tasted it which gave me the flavours of sweet and savoury. I wanted to taste the rest of the dish and tried out the meat and veggies. To my surprise the veggies all had their different flavours except for one thing which was that they were not too soft and not too hard which made it pleasant to eat. The meat itself felt as if it was melting in my mouth. Before I knew it, I already finished eating and was taking another drink out of my mug which was followed by another large burp.

I ended up finishing my whole mug while the rest finished up their dishes as well. In which Brell then looked towards Suta and I “Are you guys up for some more drinking? My treat!” he asked us.

“I have nothing to do but wait so sure I guess.” Suta said still depressed.

“And you, Crim?” Brell asked as his eyes laid on me. I just nod to his words. He then turned to his party mates “Well you two, I know you guys don’t drink so get some good rest tonight, I’ll keep Suta company for the night.”. After he told them that, they took their leave. Shortly after they were gone, Brell quickly finished his drink and shouted out with the mug in the air “Wench! I’ll get another round for my table!”.