After Nora's arrival and wiping up of the remnants she saw to all of the villagers, if not personally, then one of her aides who had similar magic to herself. There was a clear delineation now between us and them, and some of them looked none too pleased.

I could understand their point too, for I'd done nothing to intentionally aid them, instead leaving the fighters out fully to dry. Then again I'd also done exactly as I'd said I would do, trying to help protect the innocent while letting those who wanted to fight, fight it out. So I didn't really care to hear any of their complaints at the moment, I just wanted to talk to Nora and be done with this farce.

However her people had opinions too. They could see clearly that me and mine had magic, and they could tell from what they saw that we'd done nothing to aid Curz in the fight or him impending execution, even though we could have. Several of her people kept an eye on us as she and the other healers saw to the injured, their gazes just short of hostile. However I didn't run, and didn't try to fight them, so they seemed content for the moment to wait, their defensive postures making sure we didn't try anything.

One of her people eventually brought a small raft over to our larger boat.

“Greetings,” he began with a harsh tone.

“Greetings,” I replied, keeping my own voice calm.

“The villagers there are none too pleased with you, they say you didn't help them against the men trying to take them by force.”

“I did not, I also told them I would not, and explained in detail why.”

He snorted. “So I heard, but still you can't think that was right?”

“The men you killed thought their leader was right, you think your leader is right, who is right? I don't know, I'm not from here, nor do I plan to stay here. It is not my place to tell your people how to live if I don't plan to do anything for them,” I answered with a shrug.

“You're defending that scum!?”

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“No, I'm staying out of it. Did I defend them from you?” I asked, trying to get him to reason. “What about Curz and his attack, did I defend them then?”

“That's... not untrue,” he finally said.

“I've one thing I desire, to deliver my message, and to return home. Kindly ask your leader if she'd be willing...”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, you're clearly not an ally, if you wish to speak to her, you will go through the proper channels.”

I was more than a bit taken aback by that. This world had its respect, its proper forms of address, and methods of seeking audience, but it was also far less formal than my previous one about that kind of thing. I was here, I needed to talk to her, she was here, the normal thing to do would be for one of her people to escort me over to do exactly that.

There was nothing stopping me from yelling my message, or using magic to shout it across this damnable swamp. However if I did so her people would probably take rather great offense to that, and perhaps she would too. That would be bad, bad for me, bad for my companions, bad for this foolish, overlong mission.

“Very well,” I said trying not to grit my teeth. “And how would I set up such a meeting to deliver my missive?”

“One of the counselors, there is always one on duty, at her residence. I'm sure they would be perfectly happy to set up such a meeting.” He managed to keep his face stony, but deep in his eyes I could see the smugness.

I considered violence in that moment. Violence was easy, it was also effective, and I was good at it. I'd developed the weapons already, the methods for killing even those far stronger than myself, it wasn't always easy, but it was very doable. After all, we might be biologically ageless, but that didn't mean we didn't break and die.

“Very well, I shall do just that.” As I spoke I felt the ice creep into my voice.

We were left then, he'd been an elder, that much was clear from the shock of white hair, and being that he was with their leader herself had probably been pretty powerful. What did that matter to me though? Nothing, I was tired, tired of the power plays, tired of this swamp, tired of having to deal with curmudgeonly old elves. Still, just a bit further and we'd be done, I could live with them just a bit further.

“You good boss?” Chien asked after a time, it was clear he sensed just how angry I was.

“Do we have any more of those heating crystals?” I asked quietly.

“... a couple,” Isha answered for him. “I kept them in case we needed them for trade, but I doubt you'll get anything for them here, too warm.”

“I would like them please.” I was glad we hadn't traded all of them, just in case an example needed to be made, or an escape if they decided we didn't need to leave their city.

“Okay...” She didn't argue, but instead began looking through our various bags.

While Isha was busy Chien sidled up to me. “Boss, please don't do anything too extreme.”

That brought me back to myself, the reminder that I didn't need much. I needed that from time to time, friends nearby to remind me who I was, and what I should do. Sure, I was pissed off and tired, but killing senselessly? Raging and bringing pain to others without a good reason? No, that wasn't what I needed, I needed to be prepared if things went south, sure, but we weren't there, not yet.

“Sorry if I lost myself there a bit Chien, I'm just very tired of all this. Don't worry, I'll avoid any conflict with these folks, even if they do piss me off something fierce.”

He patted me on the back cheerily. “That I understand, and you're a good person boss. I'm sure everything will work out fine with it.”

I sighed. “I'm not sure about being good Chien, but I'm trying and that's got to be worth something.” He raised an eyebrow at that. “I've got my flaws, as you have yours, we fail, again and again we fail. I've failed, more than once, and I'll fail again, I'm sure of that, but I'll try, try to do what's right.”

“I know you will boss.”