The elf group eyed the three mounts greedily and moved forward to take them from the gnolls accompanying Alex. When the gnolls tried to intervene to protect their belongings, Alex gestured for them to step back.

"Could you explain how I stole the horses you acquired at the auction yesterday when I just arrived with them today?" Alex inquired.

"Nonsense, these Fheres are clearly mine. Look, I have a master's token that I acquired along with them," the young elf said, proudly displaying an object shaped like a spike in his hand.

Alex didn't know what it was, but he could sense that it was relevant since everyone around him made a gesture of understanding, and even the guards nodded in agreement. The Fheres, on their part, began to feel uneasy, and he could sense a trace of apprehension from them as they looked at the token.

The elf began to give them orders to calm down, and they looked at Alex, who discreetly gave them a command to relax. When the mounts calmed down, everyone around them again assumed it was because of the young elf.

A guard stepped forward and said, "It seems your luck has run out, rat. Do you have anything else to say?" with a malicious grin.

Unperturbed by the situation, Alex responded, "Yes, you should ask the gate guards if they saw a human enter with three Fheres. Also," Alex paused and looked at the Fheres, saying, "Come here, friends."

Upon hearing their friend, the Fheres became agitated, knocking down the elves who tried by every means to force them to stay and returning to Alex's side.

Now, the guards were genuinely surprised. It would be impossible for anyone to show such a bond with animals they had only stolen the night before. Moreover, several things were becoming too obvious to ignore, and the young man, although he had money, was not so influential in the city for these guards to take his side.

"We'll investigate this in detail. You should know that if the gate guards don't confirm your story, you'll be in trouble. Plus, you can't leave the city while your story is being verified," a guard who seemed to be in charge of the others said.

"All right, I have business to attend to with Marquis Rhenar. I think it will take me the afternoon, so take your time," Alex said, showing composure despite the events, although he was starting to break out in a cold sweat.

As he turned around, he urged his young companion to lead the rest of the way, snapping him out of his stupor.

Soon, the group arrived at the front of the villa.

"Get out of here, dirty vagabonds," was the first thing they heard when they stopped in front of the gate from the guard on duty.

However, Alex paid no attention to the guard because there was another group unloading goods on the premises, and he glimpsed how they were handling with great care a quantity of herbs similar to the ones he had. They were paying generously. It seemed his herbs were more in demand than he thought, or perhaps a major event had made them temporarily scarce. Whatever the situation, he had a slight advantage that he decided to use.

Stolen story; please report.

When the young elf began to translate what the guards were shouting and how impatient they seemed, the human simply told him to help as an interpreter.

"I have business to discuss with the marquis. Please inform him of my arrival," Alex said, trying to appear solemn again, although the truth was that he was quite nervous. He thought he would never have even considered doing something like this if it weren't for all the difficulties he had to face during the trial. Killing a large number of invaders seemed to somehow cure his shyness.

"The marquis doesn't have time for dirty fleas like you. Leave before I take matters into my own hands."

After a few short exchanges, Alex finally looked at the butler, who had remained low-key all this time, and said, "Are you going to let your lord miss this business?"

The butler looked intrigued by the young elf, waiting for him to translate before asking cautiously, "What is this business about? As you can see, sir, we have stocked up well on medicinal herbs," the butler said, looking at the bulk of the herbs they had purchased.

Alex shook his head. "I wasn't referring to those; I was rather talking about the ones over there," he said, pointing to another group of herbs in much smaller quantities, which had been treated much better than the rest. He brought a similar amount to what they had sold him, and those were only the lower-quality ones they had. Without a doubt, the forest was a great source of wealth, and only now was he beginning to realize why so many factions were rushing to this place.

The butler contemplated for a moment when he saw the group that the human was pointing to and then said, "Follow me inside. First, I'll have to call one of our experts to verify the quality of what you bring."

"Sure, no problem," Alex said.

Liev was very nervous; he had worked as a translator between both sides in a business he had never imagined. Although he had brought Alex here himself, he never thought that he could really pique the interest of the marquis' faction.

The butler left them in a nearby room and ordered that they be served some sweets while he went to fetch his expert.

The group, on the other hand, was tense, and their faces appeared constricted. They didn't fit in with the luxury of the place. Both the five gnolls and Alex and Liev were dressed in rags. Unlike Liev, the rest didn't seem as malnourished, but none of them looked more than a vagabond.

They remained standing the entire time, fearing to sit down as they didn't want to ruin the furniture. That was until Alex intervened.

"Liev, feel free to try the sweets they offer us," the human said, placing a hand on his shoulder and inviting him to eat with the other.

"I couldn't possibly do that. I can't afford the cost of these," the young elf said in a hushed voice with his head lowered.

"Don't worry, you guys too. At least try one of these. After all, when we go back, you may never have this opportunity again," Alex encouraged them as he took some pastries to taste the local desserts.

Everyone was surprised by the exquisite taste of the cookies, even Alex and Liev, who had tasted something similar before, couldn't help but shiver at the flavor.

When the butler returned, he saw the group standing in their place, with only a few cookies missing from the tray. He immediately suspected that his staff had been rude to them, which could be bad news for him if that was the case.

In the short time he had been outside, he had managed to have his specialist perform some quick tests on the herbs. They were much better than anything on the market, so they couldn't pass up this opportunity. If they didn't acquire them now and secure a long-term contract, he was sure others would line up to get them.

"Mr. Alex, the marquis is ready to meet you right now. We hope the meeting will be relatively quick as he has other matters to attend to later," the butler said.