"Besides, you and the elves were all followed by humans throughout the day. In fact, some of them are watching the castle right now."

Lin says "Really?! I didn't notice anyone! What did they want?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I have marked all of them. Right now I am waiting to see who they report to."

Lin says "Let me know what you find out. I am going downstairs to take care of the kids. Once they are asleep I will be in my library, I have a lot of books to put away."

"Alright. I will come find you once the elves have all returned to the ship and I see where the humans go."

Lin gives me a kiss, takes the food pouch, and heads down into the main building. All the elven groups are now headed back to the ship, so I focus on the humans. Other than the ones watching the castle, the rest move once the elves have left.

They go to over a dozen different places in the city, it looks like they all work for different people. A few even head to the association's building and report to people inside. Most of the rest report to people who look like merchants, but two head underground.

It is a big city, so it doesn't surprise me at all that there would be a criminal element. The criminals being interested in my elves is a bit worrisome, but they might just be selling information. Unless they do something, killing them all seems like it would be going overboard.

Even if they try something, it could be because someone hired them to do so. On the other hand, they are criminals so if I need to kill them I won't feel guilty about it. I just don't want to cause a huge fuss in the city while my elves are here.

Now that I know who the humans are reporting to, I can relax and join Lin. However, before I can leave the tower I notice a boat leaving the ship and heading for the dock. When I focus on it I can see that it is Stillwater and the others.

The dock is still closed off by Zachariah's people, but I decide to keep an eye on them anyway. There are still a lot of people around, watching both the castle and the ship. It soon becomes obvious that Stillwater and the others are coming to the castle, so I open the gate for them.

Once they enter, I close the gate and then get down from the tower to meet them. When I escort them inside, I find that the kids are already asleep, which means Lin should be in the library. I find her and tell her we have guests, but she wants to finish putting her books away.

"So, today went well, but there may still be a problem. All of the groups were followed by humans that don't work for me. They might just be curious, or they might be plotting something."

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Silverleaf says "That's why we came to talk to you. I made sure there was a scout in each group and they also reported that they were followed. What do you think we should do? Should we not send more groups over?"

Brightfire says "I think a better question would be how did Ash know they were being followed?"

"I was on the tower all day using my mana to keep watch over everyone. I plan to do the same tomorrow, so we can still send groups over. However, I think tonight I will make a few protective items just to be on the safe side."

Stillwater says "Wouldn't it be safer to just keep everyone on the ship?"

"Safer maybe, but it also wouldn't be good for their mental health. They have mostly been cooped up on the ship since I saved them. It will still be several weeks before we reach the peninsula, I'd rather not keep them locked up until then."

Sheraf says "I agree with Ash. People have not been doing well with being at sea all the time. I know I haven't been with you the entire time, but I think it is worth a little risk."

Silverstream says "I agree. We can't always hide out of fear. Although, that doesn't mean we can't make plans to keep them safe. For instance, we could each go with one of the groups. We are the strongest one out of the elves."

Silverleaf says "If we do that, who is going to watch the ship?"

"Just leave the ship to Athena. She is more than capable of protecting the ship while you are all ashore."

Stillwater says "That's true. Truth be told, the ship runs as smoothly as it does because of her, we aren't really needed. I agree that we should escort the groups."

Sheraf says "Then it's settled. We will each act as escorts for a group tomorrow. With those that visited the city today, will tomorrow be the end of it or will we need to do another day?"

Stillwater says "Unless we either increase the group size or reduce the time, we will need to do this for three days. Ash has saved a lot of elves over the course of this trip."

Silverleaf says "Yes, he has and we owe him more than we can ever repay."

Sheraf says "That's true and to think that I tried to kill him! That is something I am going to regret for the rest of my life."

Brightfire says "It is a good thing you failed. Not that Ash is an easy man to kill! Anyway, that is in the past, we need to focus on the present."

"Alright, we are agreed. Come by in the morning, I will have the protective items ready. Are there any other issues we need to discuss?"

Stillwater says "How long are we staying here?"

"A week, two at the most. There is a caravan with over a hundred elves on its way to the city that should be here in less than a week. The empire is gathering another hundred or so elves that I will need to go get in a little under a week. Once we have both groups we can leave when we are ready."

Stillwater says "That's great! It is certainly worth waiting, but is the ship going to be safe in the harbor for that long?"

"No worries. This city doesn't have any weapons that can hurt the ship. If they tried, we could easily reduce the entire harbor to ashes. That shouldn't be necessary though, I have a decent relationship with the city leaders. We just have to worry about some of the small fries in the city."

Stillwater says "It sounds like you have thought of everything."

"No, probably not everything. If something unexpected happens we will just have to react as best we can."

Stillwater says "Alright. I guess that is it for tonight. We will leave and let you get some rest. We will come back in the morning before the groups start visiting the city."

"That's fine. I will make sure that the protective items are ready by then."