“Please, hand over this report to the guild. They should respond proprietary to the mana presence in the forest. You can expect a lot of more adventurers in your establishment.” Celine gave a piece of paper to the waiter responsible for guild duty. The man had concern on his face but it changed immediately once Celiene winked toward him and after he heard about more customers coming to their village.

Sam and Sien waited for their new companion in front of the inn. They played “rock, paper, scissors”. Clear annoyance was visible on Sam’s face as he had been unable to win since they had started.

“Shall we begin our journey?” The elven mage said, informing them that she was ready to head out with a backpack on her back and a leather bag by her hip.

The party headed out south to their next destination, a village near the mountains that is known for the passage between mountains with a skilled guide, Skalern. With this help, they will shorten their travel by a full five days of walking. If they are lucky enough they might catch the boat downriver to save even more time.

While they were traveling Celine taught Sien the basics about the runes she knew about. Most of them were simple spells like making a fire, a source of light, or a gust of wind. Whenever they stopped to take a rest, Sien trained with his saber. He had two masters, one for swordsmanship and one for magic. Before he went to sleep he would always repeat all the runes he knew. That way he could quickly remember and draw them when needed.

Sometimes he woke up Sam with a bright light, making him think that it was the middle of the day or making him cold with the constant gust of wind on his neck.

Before reaching the village they found an elderly man lying down by the tree. Broken in half, the wooden cane was by the man’s side. Sam and Sien rushed to the elder's aid.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Were you attacked?” Asked Sam as he checked with his eyes if the man was hurt anywhere.

“I’m not hurt. It’s hard for me to walk without a cane and the main broke as you can see.” The man explained as he showed them his broken cane. It was made of old wood that slowly deteriorated over time.

“Were you going to the village by the mountains by any chance?” Asked Sien, seeing the mountains between the trees.

“Yes. In fact, I live there.” Answered the old man.

“We’ll help you get back home.” Sien gave the old man a hand, helping him walk toward the village, he took the man over his shoulder and assisted him with walking. Sam had a genuine smile, seeing that his students took his teachings to heart. Celine only observed them and walked a few steps behind them.

The mountains grew tall right in front of the party's eyes. They passed a few lumbermen on their way. Each of them greeted the old man. When they reached the Skalern, everyone turned their gaze at them and the old man beside the group of adventurers. Some showed concern for his health to which he replied “I’m fine. My cane just broke.” As he lifted the remains of the cane for them to see.

Skalern was a lively place. A lot of stalls selling wood or items for daily use made of wood like plates, cutlery, bowls, etc.. The village lived out of the wood they cut and processed. There weren’t any major farms. Only small gardens that the villagers set up in their homes.

The elder instructed where his home was and on the way, a woman ran up to them. Everyone thought it was a relative of his until she said “Did something happen to you chief?”

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

“I’m alright Julia. This young man helped me get back to the village.” Said the old man as he patted the boy on the back, letting him know that he could let him go as the woman extended her arm. He wrapped his arms around her arm and leaned against her for support.

“You’re the chief of Skalern?” Asked a bit surprised Sam, blinking as he couldn’t believe their luck.

“Indeed I am. Have been for the past twenty years. This place is not some small village as you can see.” The man waved his open hand toward the whole village, proving his point. “What brings you to our humble place, if you don’t mind me asking? Is it for the festival?” Asked the old man with a warm smile.

“There is a festival?!” The boy's eyes widened with just a single thought of how fun a festival could be since he had only been to a small one in his village. Don’t counting the ones in the capital where he had to be protected by guards and constantly being watched by them.

The old man turned toward the sun to check the time. “Yes. It begins tonight. Right after sunset.”

“Can we go?! Can we go?!” Asked Sien, turning to Sam with big eyes to convince his master, grabbing him by the coat.

“That depends on the guide. We have to reach our destination as fast as we can.” Said Sam, trying to sound as serious as he could to knock that idea out of Sien’s head.

“The last guide of the day will probably leave in around an hour. But it doesn’t make much difference if you go now or early in the morning. In the end, it will be a two-hour difference and you’ll have to sleep two days in the mountains where the weather drastically changes.” Explained the chief of the village.

“I’d like to reduce the time that we have to sleep on hard ground… Let’s take the one in the morning.” Said Celine with a tired face as she mentioned sleeping on the hard ground. She was tired of sleeping on the ground for the past few days. All she wanted right now was to get a proper sleep on a comfortable bed.

“Fine.” Sam finally admitted his defeat. Sien and Celine celebrated their victory by silently cheering. Celine didn’t look like it on the outside but inside she was as happy as the young boy beside her.

After parting ways, the group went to find the inn. The chief pointed them in the right direction. The establishment was built on the side of the mountain. Most of the building was made of stone carved into tables, stools, and railings for example. The dominating color of the building was purple with banners at the bar that had eagles on them. Those were the banners of Peresia House.

“I don’t like this place…” Whispered Sam as he looked around the place, a right hand rubbing his left arm as he had goosebumps at the sight of the banners.

“Why is that?” Asked Sien as he didn’t know much about other families except for their colors and symbols.

“Is it about the rumors about the Peresia House?” The elf asked.

“You heard rumors. I heard the truth from my master. Alk House was the kindest, the rest were natural, and Peresia… Greedy. It’s all about money for them.” Answered Sam with clear hate in his voice.

They were able to get two rooms at the inn. One for Celine and one for the boys. After leaving all their belongings in the room they went to the inn’s restaurant. The menu had only a few dishes but everyone was able to find something to their taste. The waitress approached them and began writing their orders down.

“Is there an option to eat in my room?” Asked Sam, his eyes down on the table, as if he was doing anything but looking up at the banners.

“It is. But you need to give us something to hold off. Once you return the plates the item or the money will be returned to you. It's just our policy.” The waitress explained.

“Are you a shut-in?” Asked a bit shocked Celine as she didn’t take Sam as an introverted type of person.

“No… It’s just… I don’t like this place. I feel like I’m in the enemy territory… You can stay here if you want but I will eat in the room.” Sam picked up his order and left.

Skalern loved the Peresia House because thanks to them the village was able to flourish. They invested a lot of money into this small place. The people took it as a kind gesture from the nobles but in truth, the Peresia Family invested in them for the money. They knew that they didn’t have to pay much to some peasants in the mountains and the woodsmen didn’t know that their job here was much harder than in any other village in the country. The royal family used them, and they did not know about it because they were limited by mountains from other lumberjack villages that made as much money as they did without any help from the nobles.