As the soldiers fell back a few meters, the tension in the air lingered, though Lynx had toned down his fiery display. His fur now shimmered lightly, his red eyes still glowing.

The main light came from torches carried by some soldiers, the dying embers of the Trewars' fire, and the three moons hanging in the sky. The red and blue lights of Kargath and Frigg added to the eerie atmosphere. Higher above, Demetros' gray form was barely visible, seeming to blend into the dancing shadows rather than brightening them.

Almost total silence enveloped the theater. Additional troops had shifted to the sides, forming a half-circle around us before coming to a stop.

While Ju's quick thinking provided us with a much-needed break, technically, she had lied. I wasn't the hero of the Kingdom; Cala was. Sure, I had controlled Cala for a time, but those actions weren't mine. They were Markus's. So, there was a good chance I'd be caught in a lie.

If the viscount decided to challenge my status based on that, it might end in a fight. With Lynx on our side, victory was likely, but the real question was whether everyone would make it out alive. I almost wanted to ask Alice to hide Tom and Tina in the ring, but opening the portal could provoke the troops into an unwanted reaction.

As all movement settled, the captain approached us.

"Hero! I'm Captain Dorstack," he announced. "I'll speak with the young Viscount of Genevais to get to the bottom of this misunderstanding."

With a brief bow, he turned and walked back toward the group around the viscount. I exchanged a look with Alice and Lynx.

"Thank you," I said to both. I still had my right hand on my left shoulder, where the bloody arrow remained lodged. Somehow, I couldn't get a good grip to pull it out; the metal head was stuck in a rib, and the pain was starting to intensify as blood slowly trickled down, staining my blouse.

"What do we do?" Ju asked as she tried to remove the arrow, to no avail.

"I think I'm going to start crying," I admitted.

Tina hugged me while Alice moved in front of me to examine the wound. She addressed Tina and Tom.

"Your intentions are noble, but if it comes to a fight, you should run. Don't stay. Now, it would be best if you could sneak away to the Trewars."

"But that would be cowardly!" Tina protested.

Alice sighed, then placed a piece of wood in my mouth.

“Bite on this,” she instructed, taking a knife to enlarge the wound so she could grasp the arrowhead.

“Wise, not cowardly,” she told Tina. “Be wise and survive another day. Be stronger, then you can help. Only me, Lynx, and eventually Ju could be sure to survive a fight.”

“But what should we do if this story turns sour now and they decide to attack us?” Ju asked, healing herself as I was draining life from her to heal myself.

After having extracted the arrowhead, Alice took the ring from her finger and gave it to Ju.

“We can still use the ring. It's the best option. If they decide to fight, you should open the ring. Everybody goes inside. I'll keep them at bay with Lynx until you're secure, then we'll pick you up and run away,” she said, turning to me. “Is this a good plan?”

I nodded, then added my thoughts.

“Before we run, Ju needs to go to the station and collect the other boys too. Ju, you can teleport, so you should be able to sneak inside while Alice and Lynx attract the troops' attention. I'll shadowmeld and keep up with you. But before we do that, I want to give the captain a fair chance to solve this shitty mess.”

Alice nodded.

“That makes sense!”

Tom and Tina retreated with Julietta behind us.

“What would you say if he inquires about the token?” Alice asked in a whisper.

I raised my shoulders in a shrug.

“The truth, as much as I am allowed to say.”

She nodded, confirming she had the same suspicion.

“That's good. He may have some truth-checking artifact or skill.”

“There seem to be over one hundred soldiers,” Tom whispered. “Can Lynx and Alice face so many? Shouldn't we all run now?”

I shook my head.

“Trying to run now would only precipitate the events. True, a fight would be no cakewalk. That's why we plan to disengage. This seems to be a full company, so there must be over three hundred people. If my memories serve me right, a company is basically thirteen lines of thirteen, but they are organized into three platoons, each with four lines and an additional line of mages.”

“That would be two hundred fifty-six? Besides, I see no mages!” Tom questioned my numbers.

“Well, there are additional officers, one or two per platoon, a sergeant per line, and a logistics group with chariots carrying food and materials, plus some healers. The mages must be hiding behind the platoons. They can form battery groups, mostly of four mages, but there can also be a formation where they all channel their power together to shoot what they call artillery fireballs. That happens mostly during sieges or when fighting very high-level enemies.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Why did you say 'if your memory serves you right'? This seems to be pretty precise and detailed! How could you know so much if you were never here?” Tina wondered.

I sighed.

“Because there is still a mess in my head. I have memories of three persons, and I had trouble knowing which memory comes from whom. This memory must come from Cala.”

We interrupted our chat as the captain advanced towards us, accompanied by one of his lieutenants, the viscount, and three of the viscount's men. Behind them came another three soldiers, probably the captain's own guard.

They must have come to a conclusion, but I couldn't read anything on the face of the captain as he approached me. He was about my height, dressed in leather armor reinforced with steel plates and decorated with the kingdom's and the legion's regalia.

His face was severe, with an aquiline nose and dark brown eyes. He was clean-shaven, his hair dark brown too, cut short, with a little white at the temples, and he had his helmet under his left armpit.

He stopped about three steps in front of me, glancing at my bloodied shoulder. For a brief moment, a small smile appeared on his face, probably because he noticed that I was healed.

"Lady," he said, nodding.

"Captain?" I questioned, raising a brow.

"May I inquire your ladyship's name?" he asked.

"Lady Lores," Alice answered on my behalf. She was still half a step in front of me, ready to cover for eventual sniper shots as had happened before.

"Never heard the name!" the viscount whispered to one of his men, loud enough for all to hear, but the captain ignored him.

The viscount was a younger boy in his twenties, a bit unsteady on his legs. Was he drunk, or was that emotion?

"I was told that your bodyguard had maltreated the viscount's retainer when he had invited you to join his company," the captain said, looking at Alice. It was obvious that he felt irritated to be forced to intervene in such trivial matters.

As he was talking, I assessed the group. Except for the captain, they were all under level forty. The viscount was a trained swordsman of level thirty, a promising level for his youth, but still, I wondered, did they not realize that Alice could sweep the floor with them? Not to mention Lynx, who was now gracefully sitting behind me, licking his claws like a cat. Giant claws as big as sickles.

He had interposed himself between us and the group with Ju, to allow them time to escape in case of trouble.

The viscount interrupted the captain, to his hard-hidden irritation.

“There's only one way out of this!” he said, pointing at Alice. “She maltreated my retainer and killed my archer. I offer them the grace to take over her contract, discipline and punish her, and if she swears fealty to me and if she's worth it, I might reconsider her fate and forget the offense. Simple as that! A mercenary for a mercenary.”

Alice chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. I huffed.

“I want to drink what he had drunk!” I said, loud enough to provoke some chuckles from the soldiers behind.

“We can come to that,” the viscount answered, “after we clarify the details!”

Either he wasn't the brightest bulb, or he was trying to double down on my irony.

“Your retainer called my lady 'girly' and put his dirty hands on her,” Alice said, “and your archer got what he deserved for shooting and hurting my lady!”

“Shut up, you dirty merc!” the viscount yelled.

“Is what the mercenary said true?” the captain asked, turning towards the viscount's retainer.

He was still a bit wobbly on his legs, and while his broken nose had been healed, there were still traces of blood on his shirt.

“It may be that my language was not very elevated; we had drunk and wanted to hear the singing lady,” the retainer said. “And maybe I touched her while inviting her to come.”

The captain closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stood still for a couple of seconds. Then, he made a simple sign with his left hand. In the next moment, the head of the viscount's retainer was rolling on the ground.

“What! What did you do, you crazy brute!?” the shocked viscount yelled at the captain's guard who had executed the retainer.

“My guard did that on my order,” the captain spoke slowly and loud enough to be heard by all. “Your man lied to me and to you, viscount, and through his lies, he created this whole situation where he endangered you and my troops and pinned us against a Hero of the Kingdom! Now, justice was served!”

The viscount turned with a vicious face to me, his cheeks trembling as he failed to hide his fury.

“She's no hero! Just a rich singing freak who bought that token in who knows what tavern!” he yelled.

The captain sighed.

“This is a grave accusation, viscount! The token of fealty to the Kingdom is not a small thing!” he said, then turned to me. “Did you buy that token? Please answer with yes or no!”

“No,” I answered, and I was not lying.

“Did you steal it, receive it, or take it in any way undeserving of its glory? Please answer again only with yes or no!” he asked.

“No,” I said again.

This second question had been trickier, but still, there was nothing undeserving of the token's glory in what I did.

I saw his eyes go down to his ring, which was giving off a light blue light. He nodded.

“That's what I thought. Did you receive it for your feats in the Battle of Theomix?”

Now, that was one of the questions that I feared. It was true that I had Cala's memories, but did that make me Cala? No, as the Lynx and Cala's inventory item had shown, so I tried to block.

“Captain, did I not answer enough questions until now? Is this still needed?”

However, the viscount smelled blood.

“I knew it! She tries to obfuscate! Who knows where she had found it!”

The captain sighed.

“Please answer my question,” the captain repeated. “Did you receive the token for your feats in the Battle of Theomix?”

“No,” I answered, then I added, “The true reason for the reward could not be written, that is why only the battle was mentioned.”

The reason was that the king did not want to be known as one who finances assassins to kill his opponents. Such a non-chivalrous, brigand act, not worthy of a king, could not be recognized, and in this case, it suited me well.

The viscount's face turned from triumphant to confused and angry within those few seconds. The captain nodded, satisfied.

“That's surprisingly true! No more questions from me, lady, please excuse us,” he said, bowing and turning to leave. “Young viscount, please consider your words!”

He nodded towards us again and left, leaving the babbling viscount with his two remaining guards.

I sighed. I was strangely satisfied by the justice delivered by the captain. Judge and executioner in one. And it seemed he was not that impressed by the noble viscount. He did call him 'young viscount' more than once; probably he was just a spoiled brat of some rich nobleman.