Floating at the edge of the lake, the Automated Cart is still in one piece, swinging lightly from left to right with the winds that come from the Ether storm beyond the throat of Arcadia. The surface of the lake makes little waves, at which crests light up, signaling that many ether particles have end up falling into the water.

Carrying the last body of one of the mercenaries, Fleck puts it beside the other ones that died with that fall. Two ended up falling outside of the cart and died when they hit the waters, three inside because they had their weapons out and ended up being stabbed by them, one, the last one Fleck just put down…

-”With that expression… maybe a heart attack?”- He wondered in silence for a bit.

The boss’ voice breaks that silence as it reaches him -”if you finished there hop on already! We have a long road ahead and the J’avos will surely come for that bait.”-

-”Barks a couple of orders and then disappears for half an hour, seriously… well, at least the boy is ok”- Fleck mutters as he enters the cart and sits, then he looks around to see who else is left. The automated cart was large, once again, larger than many of what he has seen Zunkois civilians use for everyday use. It could compare to the automated carts that companies use to transport grain, sugar canes, fish from the Sea at the north, or any other product that Zunko produces. Still, the fact that this automated cart survived such fall puts it way on top of those that he has seen before.

While the automated cart started moving, it had aligned looking straight forward to the Ether storm, which crimson light invaded the cart. Fleck counts ten figures, the ones at the front darkened by the light.

I don’t know if this cart can make it to New Arcadia with only ten mercenaries… also… something is off.

Then, turning once more to right in front of him, he reaches for the cloth covering the shipment and removes it, confirming what he saw for brief moments during the fall: multiple people in cages, chained by the throat and feet at the same time, some of them with animal features like bunny ears, small horns, a tail, etc.

Slaves…

Fleck could only let a long sight escape. Meeting the eyes with one of the slaves in front of him, a woman of light brown skin, with bunny features and white hair, Fleck’s eyebrows jump seeing how, unlike the others, she still had a fierce look in her eyes, even if it was mixed with sadness, her eyes glazed with tears that she was holding back.

Covering back the shipment, Fleck incorporates himself up as he turns once again to the front of the cart, and how there was cages and cages lined up and covered by this dark cloth all the way up to there.

Never thought that I would see… them… here… though it makes sense, after all, Arcadia fell...

Then, a figure that Fleck recognizes as being Selvin stands up from the floor. He was at the front beside the entrance to the conductor's side of the cart, where the boss was sitting while driving, to the right of that entrance, the same side Fleck is. As the cart takes a curve, the light of the Ether storm stops pouring by into the cart, the winds instead hitting the cart by the side and lighting up the crimson mithril threads, which gives a soft red ambient light in the inside of the cart.

As he sees Selvin get up, he sees how his shoulders go up, his hands cover his mouth, and then he lets escape a yell -”Sis!”- as he runs to the left side of the cart. Following him, Fleck's guts tighten as he sees how, from under a cloth that was covering what he assumed where anything from tents to weapons, Selvin’s sister appears under as if she where asleep and suddenly woke up in the morning.

But fast enough, something else took Fleck’s attention entirely: A person with a large red cloak and hood was sitting beside them. Remembering her from two hours ago back at the boss’ hideout, Fleck stands up, sword at the hilt of his blade, and with large steps, he puts himself in front of this figure.

-”You’re an eyesore”- Fleck says, looking directly at this person. Selvin’s sister reacts by grabbing Selvin and going to the other side of the cart.

Fleck catches the mouth of this person opening, then flashing a wry smile.

-”You… you can see me?”- this person speaks, revealing with her voice to be a woman.

-”You stand out like a sore thumb.”-

The woman stays silent. Fleck sees how her mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out, letting him know that she doesn’t know how to react.

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-”I don’t remember you being part of the group that the boss got for this mission.”- Fleck says as he grips the handle of his sheathed sword at his waist.

The woman giggles, taking her left hand in front of her mouth -”Is it wise to stand so close to a person you don’t know?”-

-”Drop that hand and answer, who are you?”-

-”Ugh, pushy men are the worst”- the woman says.

Fleck puts on a smug smile as he replies back, getting in position to draw his sword -”I will push this sword down your throat if you don’t answer.”-

The woman opens her mouth, but instead of what Fleck expected, another thing altogether came out:

Cadenas.

A great number of rainbow sparks appeared in an instant all around Fleck. The crimson mithril threads lighted up, irradiating strong red light inside the cart, enough to eat itself the sunlight reaching them irradiated by the evening sun.

Drawing off his sword, faint blue light answered to Fleck, spreading and multiplying as if multiple arms and hands reached in the next instant all rainbow sparks around Fleck, embracing the sparks and turning them from rainbow to faint blue. Then, the crimson mithril threads lost the previous light they had, getting back to normal, and the spell ends up being deflected, hitting Selvin that was right behind him instead. He falls down to the floor, tight as a log, with both arms and legs as if chains and ropes were passed around him in order to restrain him.

-”Look what you have done…”- says Fleck as he turns to see Selvin on the floor and his sister trying covering him with her body, then turning back to the woman in front of him.

-”Are those… death runes?”- the woman in the red cloak and hood asks, putting her left hand to her mouth once more as she starts incorporating herself.

-”I’m impressed, I’ll give you that, that someone manages to recognize them. Indeed, this is a magical weapon,”- Fleck says as he grabs the long sword with both hands, showing off along the blade, runes engraved there in a forgotten language, lighten up in a faint blue light -”it is a shame though. It is like a Zunkois saying goes: “You jumped the gun”, and that is your downfall.”-

Right before Fleck swings his sword, the boss enters the automated cart and yells -”Hold it!”- while raising his right hand.

-”What… what’s the matter boss?”- Fleck says, keeping the stance and not letting the woman in front of him out of sight.

-”That is what I want to ask!”-

-”This woman, right there”- Fleck says as he changes the high stance he had to a lower one and points with his thumb towards her -”She wasn’t with us when we escaped, nor when we fell from the waterfall. I was about to throw her off the cart.”-

The woman snorts.

-”I see,”- the boss says -”in normal circumstances, I would agree, Fleck. This time though, she stays.”-

-”What are you…”-

-”Everything you said is correct, but I meet her right at the bottom of the waterfall, Fleck, right after we got out of the lake… She made me a proposal that I couldn’t refuse…”-

Fleck falls into silence, and the boss takes the opportunity to finish -”That is why, she stays, end of the discussion.”- then adding towards the woman -”I’m sorry for the commotion, Hashi.”-

Hashi giggles and says -”It’s ok, Masha.”-

-”Thank fortunes that I got an automated cart that can do an automated pilot to an extent…”- The boss Masha says as he goes back into the driver’s seat.

-”Meeting a woman right outside of the capital city and somehow you still convinced him to let you travel with him, in the middle of an Ether storm… how did you do it?”-

-”What is this?”- Hashi says as she lets a small chuckle escape -”One moment you are about to thrust your sword down my throat and now you are all good manners?”-

Fleck lets a sight escape as he sheathes his sword.

-”What a party pooper you are, Fleck”- Hashi says while leaning forward, revealing that she is dressed in the upper part with a light pink shirt that as a large cleavage, revealing her large breasts. Resting her left hand over them, she adds -”Let’s say… that… I know how to speak to a man’s head...”-

After a moment of silence where Fleck stares at her breasts, he finally says -”Go figure, with a fake name like that… nevertheless, it explains some things.”-

-”What a rude man... pushy and rude, ugh...”-

-”Deal with it. Nevertheless, welcome aboard, Hashi.”- Fleck says as he turns to Selvin once more and, standing right in front of him, slightly unsheathes his sword, removing the restraining spell he was under even though Selvin's sister was still between them.