"Hoi, there!" A voice calls out. "Anyone around?"

That's a much older voice than Thomas's, though it's outside of the range of my [Empathy] so I can't be sure how old he is. Unless Thomas lied or word spread and someone got curious and decided to investigate the newcomer, that's probably the village's chief. Thomas did say that he was told about the stream by the chief so I did know the man is no doubt aware of me.

It would make sense for Thomas to report back about how the problem got fixed. When a newcomer arrives, it would also make sense for the chief to personally visit to get a feel for the person while introducing himself.

As I start to exit the cabin, the man's mind enters my range. It feels to be around the mid-seventies to me, something I confirm upon seeing the grey-haired, brown-eyed man standing about forty feet away from the cabin's porch. He's right at the edge of the zone I cleared in front of the cabin over the four days since Thomas's visit.

Standing beside him is Thomas, who's wearing his basket pack again. The old man is as well, though he's unarmed while Thomas has on the same gear as he wore last Thursday, and still has his bow and new quiver.

This time, he's wearing a hat with a high crown and wide brim. They go by different names in different areas, though I'm used to the term "cowboy hat" due to some of the people I've interacted with regularly before coming here. They might call them rancher hats here, though, as I know that's more common out in the sticks regardless of where.

As with Thomas, the older man also wears one, and he's wearing a necklace just like Thomas's, too. That's odd but not necessarily unusual.

"Hello," I greet them. "Just finished putting in solid flooring in the cabin."

Was walking across it to test the sturdiness, in case I'd made mistakes. It seems fine to me now and will do until it's time for me to tear the building apart and build something new.

"I know it's a couple of days earlier than I said," Thomas tells me. "But Chief wanted to meet you and I have the information about the monsters from the mines."

"Alright," I say. "Come on around back."

They follow me back and I can sense the old man's surprise at all of the stuff set up here and prepared. There's a small shelter to protect the treated pelts from the elements, a table near the fire ring, which has been built up in height a bit, and even a few stools at the table and a few more in other spots. Another table that's really just a large chunk from a tree is set up near the tanning station for butchering my catches and about half a dozen freezing crates are set up beside that.

That's only some of what I have here, and I know it's more than what I had when Thomas visited on Thursday.

"You're just a mercenary?" Thomas asks. "You didn't have the tables and stools last week."

"Adventurer," I correct. "They're not hard to make, and the orphanage I was in when I was little did woodworking and a little bit of ceramics to keep itself funded. I helped build tables and chairs as a kid. Those ones are mostly just me cutting a thickness from the diameter of the tree and fixing shaved branches to them, so they didn't really take much time."

My earlier years aren't something I like to think or talk about, though, so I shift the topic away from that.

"What brings you both out here?" I ask. "Just to introduce me to… you're the village chief, based on what Thomas called you?"

The village chief and very suspicious, though I can tell he trusts Thomas quite a lot. Since Thomas said I seem fine, he's accepting that for now but will keep an eye on me.

"Correct," the old man says. "You're a bit young to be retiring from being a mercenary. Don't those normally retire in their forties or so?"

"Adventurer," I correct. "And I don't have much in the way of money. It's more that I want something calmer and quieter. To stick to one area rather than constantly travel. To settle down and build a home and eventual family for myself. Mistwood is a quiet place without real conflict based on what I know so that sort of makes it ideal. It's also close to the Mistwood itself so if I ever feel the drive to take on a monster, I can just head over there and do it. And my birth parents are from the area, though I don't know their names."

"They are?" The chief raises an eyebrow, doubt in his mind.

"Yeah," I answer. "That's all I really know, though considering that I was dropped at an orphanage pretty far from here, they probably moved away a long time ago."

"I see…" he contemplates something for a moment while he and Thomas pull off their packs. "You corrected both of us to 'adventurer' from 'mercenary', but are they not the same thing? You do work for money."

"That's a misconception," I tell him. "And most adventurers get offended if they're called mercenaries. We have some similarities, but there are distinct differences."

"What differences?" Thomas asks. "They seem the same to us and we've had to hire some before."

"Did you always offer money for the pay?" I ask.

"Well, yeah," Thomas says a little rudely. "How else would you hire someone?"

"That's probably why you didn't see a difference," I tell them. "Mercenaries are in the work for money, fame, and sex. If it doesn't lead to decent money and maybe at least one or both of the other two, the mercenary likely won't take the job. Mercenaries will only ask for money, and only if they get a profit. They might accept jewels or something, stuff which they can sell for coin, but it leads back to coin in the end.

"Adventurers," I say. "Are in it more for doing the work no one else does. Whether it's helping people out, discovering new areas or ancient ruins, or something else like that. As long as we can keep our gear maintained, our stomachs filled, and our supplies stocked, we're generally fine. Sure, we'll ask for money if we need it, but we don't generally ask for excesses even if we'll accept them."

I can tell the two aren't too sure of the explanation and how it makes sense, but that's understandable considering where they're from and their preconceived notions. Someone who has a well-established mindset won't change it very easily.

"Let's give a sample scenario," I tell them. "You have a farm that's being harassed by goblins. You rebuild the fence, the goblins break the fence and steal your crops. You rebuild the fence, the goblins break the fence and steal your crops, again and again. You don't have much money and this problem is causing you to lose your only way of earning more.

"So you go into town," I say. "And ask for help. All you can offer is some meals and a place to sleep while they're down there.

"The first person you ask at the guild," I say. "Wants to know how much you're willing to pay. You tell them you only have a few coins, and they tell you that the journey isn't worth it for that little coin. Not for traveling across the mountain, tracking down goblins, and the like. They'll lose money on it so it's not worth it for them.

"The second person you ask at the guild," I continue. "Asks a few questions about the goblins, things like how often they attack, if you know their numbers, and so on. You answer to the best of your abilities. They then ask if there are others in the area who might need assistance as well or if there are any other monsters harassing the village. You say that yeah, there are a few, but no one can really offer coin. He's not fazed by that, though, and asks if you'd be willing to take him when you come back home.

"He accepts the meals and the place to sleep from you," I say. "Keeps the hides from the monsters he hunts to sell when he returns to town, fixes up an old woman's fence in exchange for meals while he works and a plate of cookies and some stories after, takes out a boar which destroyed some crops in exchange for some of its meat after it's been cured, and various other tasks. He never asks for money, or only accepts what's offered of it, and will negotiate on goods if he thinks it's too little for the job. He's only around for a week or two and has asked that he's given a ride back to town when he's done, but doesn't seem rushed to leave to make money from selling the pelts.

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"The first is a mercenary," I say. "The second is an adventurer."

That seems to satisfy them, judging by the shifts in their minds.

"So that's why you weren't concerned about coin for the bow and arrows," Thomas says. "As long as you were getting what you felt was a fair exchange."

"And a promise to bring me ingredients I can't acquire on my own counts," I say. "Sure, adventurers might hope for sex and fame from their work as well, but it's far less important for one than it is for a mercenary."

"Basically," the chief says. "It's a difference in greed and ego."

There's still skepticism from him and Thomas as they likely suspect I want to earn their trust before showing my true colors. Living out here, away from everyone else, will give us the space and time necessary for me to eventually earn their trust and for them to learn this is just who I am.

"Essentially, yes," I say. "Also, when you hire from the town, I would recommend adventurers. I might be a bit biased, but you tend to get better quality of work from us. A mercenary gets the job done just to get paid. With an adventurer, you'll get the job done right, with a little bit extra possibly added in."

Thomas lets out a soft gasp as realization enters his mind.

"That's why you told me about the difference between using a magic weapon and a normal weapon on monsters," he says. "A mercenary would kill the goblins, get paid, and leave. But you did it just to clean them up, then told me that killing them with normal weapons would cause problems like at the spring so that I'd know how to avoid causing that from happening again."

"And why I was willing to give you the arrows," I say. "Since it'd be cheaper for you to trade me goods for them over time than to buy one in town while immediately giving you a way to take the monsters down without leaving bodies behind."

"They work pretty well," Thomas reaches into his pack and pulls out a leather pouch, which clacks in a way that tells me it's filled with magic crystals. "Just as you said, they turn into magic crystals. That mist that forms when they die, though-"

"Is the corrupted energies that cause the problems," I explain. "When their corpses decay, that energy absorbs into the soil. But if you kill them with something magic, that energy isn't bound to anything and dissipates quickly. It can't cause problems. Though there are outliers and exceptions to the norm, but that's not important."

There's caution and skepticism in their minds over my statement. They suspect that I'm lying and that mist might actually be the problem. I don't blame them for that, I am a stranger making claims without evidence.

"You can ask in town in your next visit to it," I say. "And if you observe non-mage adventurers and look at their weapons, you'll note that they either have edges like that or magic runes on them. Some won't, but that's because the nature of the weapon is magic already. Frost steel is inherently magical, for example."

"Fair enough," Thomas says. "I'll be doing that when we head in. The trip's tomorrow, which is why we came out today."

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow.

"You had plenty of wolf pelts when I came out last week," Thomas says. "And rabbit pelts, too. If you want them sold in town, we can take them with us."

"Ah," I say. "Almost all adventurers learn within a few years basic leather working. That only takes a few weeks and is immensely helpful in the field. I'm no master, but I can make leather armor and gloves, and fur coats fine. The plan with the pelts was to do that, since I'm a bit closer to monster territory. Nothing's attacked yet so I've put it off a little, but I want to make myself some armor for if I head closer to the Mistwood."

I look at the pile of pelts. In addition to clearing out more trees, building the tables and stools, preparing and installing the flooring for the cabin, and building the shelter for the hides, I've hunted down more wolves.

"I suppose I do have quite a few," I admit. "But it's a bit chilly here even with the trees from around the cabin removed. I'll probably be using some over the floor to keep my feet warm and more for a bed. Then with making armor… I'll probably use them all. If you're willing to take one to sell, though, there are a few things I could use. Nails, for example, and hinges for doors so I can put in a proper door. Holy and fire magic crystals in even amounts, but keep around 200c from the total."

"Alright," the chief says. "Is there any particular pelt you wish for us to take?"

"The one on the top," I answer.

He grabs it and sticks into his basket pack, though it hangs out plenty and we end up rolling it around a smooth stick so that it'll stay straight instead of folding over.

"We always stay for the night when we head into town," Thomas tells me. "Since it takes so long to get there with the turns of the path through the mountain. I probably won't be here for the one-week mark, so I brought the next batch now."

It's the same as he brought me on Thursday, but that's not a problem. It's lasted me well enough until now and this should last me a little bit as well. With my own foraging and hunting, this is more to increase my options for meals than it is anything else.

"Alright," I say. "It's about lunchtime and I was going to make something once I finished checking the floor. Would you two like to stay? Get something in you before you head back?"

They're both reluctant but agree to it, so I grab the sack of what was wheat when Thomas dropped it off last week. It's now full of flour, since I decided to grind it all at once rather than as needed. It takes very little mana to do that so I saved myself the physical labor with magic.

After grabbing a few other things, I start preparing something I'm sure they don't eat locally. In fact, they might not have ever eaten it before – I learned the recipe while visiting another kingdom and haven't really seen anyone who could make it here.

Flour is formed into a well on the prep table, and two eggs are cracked into it. It's mixed together into a dough, which I then "roll" out using a stone with a flat bottom. I turn it into a thin sheet, then fold it over itself twice between cutting it with my dough scraper. Zolbiatz saw fit to give me one for some reason, but I'm glad he did as I use it in cooking all the time.

He even gave me two, the other one of which I use for chopping meat as I cook it. The rest of the meal is prepared as I work on the dough, short breaks taken to make sure nothing burns and everything is prepared properly.

"I've never seen dough done like this before," Thomas says as I drop the noodles into boiling water.

"It's called pasta or noodles," I tell him and the chief. "And I learned it from someone from the Goldelm Kingdom."

"You've been to the Goldelm Kingdom?" Chief asks.

"A couple of times," I confirm. "And a few other nations. Adventurers tend to travel a lot. You can dry the pasta out to use later, though it takes longer to cook. Fresh, it cooks quick since it doesn't need to rehydrate, which is why I got everything else started already. Even dry, it doesn't take too long to cook."

When it finishes, I separate it onto three plates, then top it with the mixture of meat and veggies I grilled up. The tomato I used formed a sort of sauce, with some onion and herbs to add flavor. For the plates, they're just wooden ones I carved and polished with a special formula, as are the forks we use to eat them with.

While neither Thomas nor the chief say anything while they eat, I can tell they're surprised by the flavor. I'm no professional chef and this is no professional kitchen, but that doesn't bother them. They're used to such cooking on their own, making whatever recipes were passed to them by their parents using local ingredients. This meal is essentially the same, it's just served a little bit differently due to the pasta.

"This ain't bad," Thomas says once he finishes eating. "And the noodles looked easy to make."

"They are," I confirm. "It's just as simple as it looks. You can use water instead of an egg, or a mixture of the two. A little salt for flavor if you want. Some use milk or the recipe. It mostly depends on your taste preference, in my opinion."

"I'll keep that in mind," he says, then curiosity piques in his mind. "Ain't we are war with the Goldelm Kingdom? It started about seven years ago, didn't it?"

Travel between the two kingdoms basically came to a halt due to the war. Neither side wants to let potential spies or saboteurs in, after all. It's likely to end soon, though. Even with one of our strongest mages dying and two more vanishing, our forces are still superior.

That, and our forces took out basically all of their most powerful mages and strongest soldiers in the last year. Unless the Goldelm forces and leadership are dumb, they'll surrender soon.

Not that the war matters to me. I'm not a part of it and now that I'm retiring down here, I'm on the opposite end of the kingdom as the fighting so it shouldn't affect my life.

"About the time I became an adventurer," I confirm. "You want to know how I entered if we're at war with them, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't actually learn it in the Goldelm Kingdom," I chuckle a little at the memory. "I was actually over in Blueash when I met the Goldelm chef. He didn't exactly like me, but he liked the goblins' net trap he was caught in even less."

That earns laughter from both of them.

"Thank you for the meal," Chief tells me. "We'll be back in a few days with your things."

"Thank you for taking care of that for me," I say. "May the spirits and gods guide your paths."

"May the spirits and gods guide your paths," the two of them respond, then leave.

With that promise from them, I should have a proper door within a week. Though it seems Thomas didn't want to give me the magic crystals he'd obtained in the mines, since he took them with him when he left. I suppose he wants to wait on acquiring the gloves for fighting the hard-bodied beasts until he's verified my claims.

"What should I do for the rest of the day?" I ask Aluci, who glances at me before resting his head on his paws again. "I asked about me, not you. Of course you're going to nap. Well, I suppose I could do some more foraging. I want to see what other reagents I can find around here."