Fin and Brando walked through the streets with only one of their lanterns lit. They navigated toward their horses at the inn only to discover a group of men with torches surrounding the place. They both realized they spent too long at Eugal's, and it was apparent that someone had noticed they were missing. Fin immediately extinguished the lantern, and they slipped down an alleyway to watch the group. They watched for a long time, but the group did not look like they were about to move.
"Should we just cut our losses and go on foot?" Fin asked, feeling exhausted.
"I'll take care of this," Brando whispered confidently. "Just get these lanterns lit and keep them covered. Then get ready to run for the horses."
Brando left his lantern beside the other and moved farther into the alley. Fin did his best to cover them behind a stack of broken baskets before lighting them. He then sat and waited for whatever Brando was going to do.
"They're over here!" Brando's disguised voice shouted from across the building.
The men jerked toward the direction save for one who shouted back, "Who are you?"
Brando responded, "Hurry! They're getting away!" The men all charged in that direction, throwing caution to the wind.
Fin grabbed his covered lanterns and raced for the inn. The horses startled at his approach, but he quieted and saddled them as fast as possible. Just as Fin had climbed on his horse, Brando ran around the corner and followed suit. They set out Northward with a hurried clip.
Too dark to ride without a light source, they held their lanterns high, revealing as much as possible. There was no use hiding the light anyway; the horses were making enough noise to make finding them easy enough. The glow kept them on the right path and signaled others to follow.
Two men ran out on the street ahead with swords in hand. Brando pointed to the right and yelled, "They went that way! We're riding around to cut them off!" The two men bolted toward where Brando had pointed without another word.
"I can't believe that worked!" Fin remarked, trying to keep up with Brando's horse.
"I was a part of a manhunt once," Brando explained. "There was so much confusion that we gave up. Later, we found the person we were looking for was helping us search the whole time. You should try it."
Fin noticed three men with farming tools standing off the road just ahead. Fin pointed left and said, "They just went in there! After them!"
The three men ran in the direction Fin indicated. They hit a dead end and had to turn around. Fin used the trick again on a larger group. He yelled and pointed people in the wrong direction, and they complied. Despite the danger, the two couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of their life-and-death situation. Fin noticed a notification blinking in his peripherals but promptly ignored it until he was out of danger.
The village took longer than expected to traverse. Still, the dirt road that signified the end of the village borderline came and went. They rode by lantern light for yet another sleepless night. Tired arms carried heavy lanterns that shined daggers into heavy eyes. They kept it up until they were far from the village and still kept going.
When the gloomy light was sufficient to see by, Fin stowed his lantern and looked at his notifications.
Malevolent Quest Complete: Give intentionally wrong directions to 10 lesser beings. +1 Active Ability, +2 Charisma. Forfeit all Benevolent quests. Active Ability: Detect Lies
"I don't believe it," Fin said, causing Brando to startle awake and fall off his horse.
Brando shuffled to his feet and took the reins before his horse could run off. "What happened?"
"Tell me a lie, anything, I don't care. Just lie to me." Fin demanded, ignoring Brando's mishap and activating Detect Lies. The world around him tinted blue and began twisting ever so slightly. It was enough to give him an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
"I miss the princess," Brando said flatly, brushing himself off. "Why?"
Hearing the lie, Fin noticed a soft orange glow centered on Brando's chest. He deactivated the ability and restored the world back to normal. After explaining his new achievement, he also explained the Control Minion ability he got back in the village.
Brando shook his head, "You are telling me that you can see gold hidden in rocks, tell if someone's lying, and control anyone you want? You realize that puts you in the position to make both of my ex-wives dance a jig, right?"
"I don't think it's that easy," Fin tried explaining. "I only got this quest after Eugal swore loyalty to me forever. But, if I can somehow get someone to swear to me, then, yeah. It will be dancing time."
"Marriage is technically swearing loyalty for life, regardless of whether they plan on leaving you anyway," Brando digressed and remounted his horse. "If you got one of them to marry you, you could do it."
"Brando, I'm not marrying one of your ex-wives just to get them back for leaving you," Fin drew the proverbial line. "Besides, we're family now, and family don't marry family's ex-wives."
"They did," Brando said with a bit of hurt. "They are sisters, so if we are speaking in terms of technicalities, it's only fair for us to do it since they did it first."
"You married sisters?" Fin asked incredulously.
"Twins, actually," Brando explained. "Their fault, not mine. Though, it did make the transition easy for me. 'Easier,' I should say. It still hurt."
At a complete loss for words, Fin did the only thing he could think of. He pulled out a stick of dried meat and handed it to his friend. He didn't know if he wanted to hear the rest of the story. Nevertheless, he was still intrigued. It made him want to carry out Brando's original secret plan and see the look on their faces when he threw money around like a careless noble.
Fin went rigid when he considered the implications of his own marriage. He decided he did not want to marry someone he had complete control over. This would mean that the woman he married, who she was, definitely not Helga, would have to understand his ability and consider using creative vows when it came. But definitely not Helga or Dezi.