"Warrior! You were here!?"

The stable boy was surprised to see Ethan sleeping on the roof. He approached to wake Ethan up but before he reached near, Ethan got up in an instant and drew his sword, his blade pointed right at the throat.

It had been a habit of him lately for Ethan to ready the sword as soon as someone approached him in sleep. He had been cautious since he was in the army of Temple but it became worse lately. He was nearly demented.

"Sorry. I wasn't snooping around. I am here to wake you up. Young master is looking for you everywhere."

Ethan nodded and told the boy to leave first.

He could not believe he fell asleep after the conversation with that girl. Also the night air here was chiller than in Donbask mountains. It might be because the village was near the desert. All his muscles were tensed and in pain. He stretched and warmed himself before going back downstairs.

"Hey hero!"

The people greet him nicely and smiled as he passed them. Ethan was not comfortable how they became friendly after a day. Especially their smiles looked suspiciously creepy.

And he also believed he should not enjoy such treatment. He promised Mrs Borger that he would lead a miserable life.

Suddenly a man sneaked on him from behind and tried to hold him down. He swiftly turned and threatened with the blade.

"Wow~ calm down. I was just going for a friendly hug."

The man raised his arms and stopped on his track. It was Signard. Ethan sheathed his sword back and shook his head. He warned him not to do that again.

"You sure are something. You were in Indran for a day. You became a hero and," Signard smacked his lips before he continued.

Ethan could sense a tone of jealousy from him. But he felt it was ridiculous. Signard was the one who named him 'the hero' last night. Probably Signard was the kind of stupid man who did what he did not mean when drunk and hated doing it when sober.

"And laid with former hero."

"Laid with a hero?" Ethan was surprised, "with whom?"

The surprised act from Ethan made Signard slanted his eyebrows. Then he switched back to friendly mode again.

"With Clara. The girl warrior. Damned. How did you get that cold bitch to sleep with you? I thought she hated Templers."

"No. I did not. And yes. She does not like me." Ethan denied quickly. Now it made sense why the people had been smiling at him creepily.

"Really?" asked Signard. He grinned. "But someone saw you two up on the roof last night."

"We were just having a conversation. She doesn't like me taking her spot."

"I see. Well, in her defence, she had been mother's champion for two years. You came one day and took her title. I am sure mother will not like this n

either."

"I did not take her title. You gave me." Ethan cleared the issue. He ordered a hot stew from the cook to warm his body back.

"Give him some deer and put the tap on the house," Signard told the cook then he continued the conversation, "but you are the true hero anyway. You saved me. You saved us. You saw how she failed too. Fell flat right before the monster. I am sure you also saw her cry too. I have been telling about it to everyone but they don't believe me. They said that icy bitch would never cry."

"Why are disgracing her like that? I am sure she saved your ass several times before me."

"Yeah. I mean yes. But you know, she is too proud of herself and I hate it. She treated me like dirt. And who am I? I myself is a successful businessman and the young master of Indran. Some respect was all I asked."

Ethan nodded in concurrence with him. But in his mind Ethan wondered how a good business would trust a stranger he met just yesterday and told everything. With one conversation, Signard told his own situation, his insecurity and his weakness. He was nowhere near those cunning bastards in Gambit or Easton.

"Well. If you are wondering if she cried or not, she did not. It was the saliva from the beargum. In fact I have never met a woman so skillful that she paled most men-in-service."

He shut Signard down before he defiled her reputation. He was not in sticky relationship with her but as a fellow warrior, he protected her dignity. Signard was not satisfied by his answer.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Sir Templer, your stew is here. And Madame is calling you. Also young master, Madame has been asking you for a while. She said she has an assignment for you," said the cook.

"An assignment? Haha. You are joking. I don't work for mother. I am her partner." He gave an awkward smirk to Ethan before he left in a hurry.

Ethan swallowed a spoon and found out the stew was better than he imagined. The cook did know how to tend the deer meat well.

After the meal, he went straight to the madame. He saw Signard rode out somewhere before he went in.

"Madame," Ethan greeted her politely.

"Finally our hero has arrived. I didn't get to properly thank you yesterday for saving my son. Have you eaten a breakfast? I am having one myself."

"I have. Just now."

"I hope you try the deer. Other dishes may not be up to your appetite but I assure you my cook do know his way with the deer. It is our best dish."

"I did and I was surprised how good it was."

"Glad that you enjoyed it, sir templer."

Ethan smiled friendly although he was uncomfortable with them referring him as Templer. He believed he should leave soon before they noticed he was lying.

"Or should I call you sir Templer-to-be," the woman smirked. She played with the knife and cut the deer meat to intimidate Ethan. "Yeah. I did a little digging and heard a fugitive named Ethanial and his story. I don't understand why you choose Ethan as an alias. Don't you think it is too obvious?"

He was surprised how she fast she got the information quickly in a remote village. He was startled at first but he recollected himself and calmed down. This was the time he needed to show confidence and dominance so that he would not be considered a prey.

"Well, Ethan is a common name and it was best to hide in your own name. No one would expect it."

"I think you are just lazy."

Ethan chuckled softly. "May be I was."

"Why did you pretend to be a Templer? You could have just said that you are a fugitive and walked free."

"Are you sure? The moment I said that I am a fugitive, you will assume I lied and came here to investigate your secret. I would be dead by now. You would be more wary of a possible threat than a corrupted official."

The madame concurred with him, "true. It is better to lose a fugitive than let a possible agent of Temple roamed around my establishment and destroy my business."

She smiled, "I knew I will like you since the first moment we met. Let's have a cup of ginger tea to mark our friendship. Don't worry. It is not poison though it might taste strong for first try."

"I like a challenge."

Ethan took a sip. It was worse than he imagined. However he tried not to show it. The madame smiled as she watched him took another sip.

"I would not do that if I were you. It may not be poison but it is still undrinkable. I specifically make it so."

After her words, Ethan smacked his lips and dropped the cup back. He tried to smile pretending to be fine but the taste came out weird.

"I placed it to test your personality. Fascinating, isn't it? That from a cup of tea we could tell a lot about a person. You are considerate and reliable, diligent and dedicated."

Hearing the compliment did make him felt good until the next words she spewed.

"You are more of a good follower than a good leader. How about you work for me? I have works that I could use your service and skills."

It made him think a lot. She was right.

Sure he was a captain. But he had no vision nor any grand ambitions. He did what was best for the work the Temple threw at him. He did not question if it was right to do so or not. He was a good dog for the Temple. All the times in his life were living according to the will of others.

He decided to be a change this time. He also promised Mrs Borger to live a miserable life. Living within an organisation would be too comfortable for him.

"I appreciate your offer. However I want to live without any binding this time. A free man."

"A life of wandering warrior would be great with all the respect and honour one would be given a decade ago. But the world had changed. This is the era of commerce and trade. A peddler will be given more respect in nobles' court than a warrior. Your life will be miserable."

Ethan scoffed, "miserable? Good."

"I see. A shame. You could live better than this with your skills. Anyway it is your life. So you want to go to the desert?"

"Yes. I heard many fugitives go there to stay hidden until their wanted posters was covered by the new ones."

"True. It is risky but rewarding. No officials or bounty hunters will take the trouble of scorching heat and desert thirst to chase a fugitive. However I have another option for you. I shall tell you if you like to hear it."

It suddenly enticed the interest from Ethan. The way she spoke it meant business and a great offer.

"I am all ear."

"I can forge a new identity, an official document, for you. You will become an 'Ethan' born in Indran, not from Easton. Your parents died in a fire. The poor orphan lived through hard labors and brawls, became a man, a fighter."

"Hmm...It will end all my current troubles. And step into new deeper ones."

Madame laughed hysterically as she heard Ethan.

"You just said you loved being in trouble. And don't worry. All I asks in return will be a small service in the field of your expertise."

"Only one?" Ethan asked in disbelief. It was too good to be true.

"Yes. One. Bring a book. From a man named 'Sahel'.

He lived in the jungle of twin rivers in Midlake."

"What kind of book?"

"It is a big book with a goat leather cover. You will notice when you see one."

He went back to his room after the talk with madame. He had a lot of thoughts in his mind about the job. First, he knew nothing about that man, Sahel. Two, he knew nothing about the book. Third, he knew nothing about the feud between madame and that man, Sahel. He might very well be jumping into a big mess.

Under a series of thoughts, he opened the door to his room. To his surprise he saw a woman having fun in a bathtub. As soon as she saw him, she screamed out of her lungs. Flustered he closed the door back immediately.

A group of men ran to the room hurriedly after the scream but Ethan had to stop those men who had no idea, from entering.

"Why are you blocking? Don't you heard a woman scream for help." A man yelled at Ethan.

"It is fine. She saw a spider and screamed. I killed it." Ethan lied. Luckily it worked. It convinced them. The reputation of Ethan was so high anyone in Indran believed in whatever he said.

Later he found out his room was switched. He scoffed as he could not believe how cold hearted madame was. She switched his room to a small one as she no longer needed to lick his boots; and gave his room to her daughter who just came back from a travel.

"Well. Doesn't matter. I will leave soon anyway." Ethan sat on the floor in his small room and prepared for his journey. Considering how madame told him to go as soon as he could, he felt somewhat unsettled about this mission.