When the first sight of a looming city appeared on the horizon, the merchants as well as Taiga and Mouse began to relax. Some, because Mouse terrified them, others because the threat of demons was over.

Of course, no one ever said this to their faces, but the subtleties weren’t so subtle. After seeing Mouse chase down a demon trying to flee him, and crush its throat with sheer strength… Well, Taiga appreciated they still wanted protection to Winolin.

Mouse smiled more, now that Jonha and the other merchants were noticeably less chipper. He didn’t seem to realize the impact he had on humans, though Taiga left it be. Instead, the remaining four days' walk went generally well. Mouse took to keeping an eye out up ahead, and Taiga hung back to chat with the merchants.

“I see it! It’s huge! Bigger than Pall?” Mouse hopped down from the carriage’s tarp covering.

“The capital is the biggest city in Lanria. Winolin is supposedly the… third largest?” Taiga asked to no one in particular.

“Yep, the port city of Haasundra is the second largest.” Jonha replied, smiling. This is how communication worked now. Mouse would say something, and Taiga would relay it in a way someone felt comfortable answering. Everyone was happy. Or at least, they tried not to show otherwise.

As they approached, the grass roughed into dirt. They passed several groups in the last day or so, and one small family had joined them just a few hours ago. They’d ridden most of the way from a town a couple days south of Winolin.

Maybe because they hadn’t seen Mouse’s method of murder, they let their two children play with him. A child ran up to him as he came off the tarp, hands open and out in front of him. When he reached Mouse, he held his prize up over his head for inspection.

“I found another rock! What do you think of this one?” The boy giggled as Mouse took it.

“Hmm, pretty good. See this line here?” He knelt down for the kid to see, “this means it’s got a nice secret inside it. If you can break it open, you’ll find the secret.”

The boy made an ‘O’ shape with his mouth, before tottering off to tell his parents, whom were only a couple meters away and heard the whole thing. Hughe watched the boy uneasily until he made it back to his parents.

Taiga admired Hughe’s efforts to warn the small family to not let the children near Mouse, as he overpowered the demons with such ‘ferocity’. Which, the father responded to with absolute delight in knowing these two mercenaries could keep his family safe. At least Hughe tried.

As they walked, Sweet Bun trotted to a mound inlaid into the ground. Taiga walked to her, setting a gentle hand on her feathers and peered around her. Red broken bricks laid atop each other in a pile. Ahead of them stood more piles, some stacked into what may have once been walls. The brick remnants of past buildings lay as skeletons in a graveyard of what once was. Many bricks were faded, and the bare foundation lay scattered around, building in number as they got closer to Winolin.

“What are these?” Mouse skipped over to one, peering around a column.

“I’m wondering as well. I’ve never been here before.” Taiga added. Conversation flow, after all.

“Winolin used to be larger than it is today. Well, at least more sprawling. When the rise in demons started, there would be occasional attacks. Back when they first appeared, and we were all woefully unprepared, small isolated areas, like these homes and such, got hit hard.” Hughe coughed, bowing to a small passing memorial. Taiga, along with the other merchants and the family, also bowed before moving on.

“Is it not a problem anymore?” Taiga asked once a few moments of silence passed.

Hughe shook his head, “well, yes and no. Winolin built a wall a few years ago. The city itself has been safe since, though the wall does see some action.”

“There’s a lot of mercenaries in Winolin. I thought you two were headed there originally because they have a sizable establishment in Winolin.” Jonha’s husband added. Taiga never learned his name, since Jonha always referred to him as ‘love’ or ‘dear’.

“Makes sense, if they’re taking care of the demon issue.” Taiga nodded to this information.

This meant he was right to make Winolin their next stop. A lot of mercenaries means a lot of information. And even more, a large and established guild meant more resources, more investigations, and more sway in town. In these uncertain times and lacking support from the capital, Winolin lived off the mercenaries here, and their presence vital to surviving.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

A few teenagers ran past. Taiga turned, kicked up dust shrouding a wagon coming up the trail behind them. An oxen of a sort pulled their wagon, ridden by a young girl. Confidence emanated from her, while several adults walked alongside. She kept control of her animal as they hurried past their larger, slower group.

Ahead, once the dust from the wagon settled, a group of people stood. Though more gathered near what Taiga assumed was the gate, at least a hundred more people stood in a jumbled line, thinning out the further back it went.

Beyond them, a tan wall stretched to either side. Armed guards stood atop the wall, a few walking it and glancing down at the people as they went. A few uniformed men stationed by the gate looked out at them, maybe on the watch for anything suspicious.

“What’s all this?” Mouse hopped beside Taiga, having scurried away the moment he spotted so many people.

“I’d say it’s a line.” He narrowed his eyes at Taiga, likely unenthused by the response.

“Yeah, I can tell. But why?” Then, a little quieter, “I hate humans and their lines.”

Taiga laughed, “when have you ever stood in a line? Haven’t I always done that for you?”

“Yes.” He sank his head down, watching the people as they approached. “But I still hate them. Why can’t we just go through? What is this nonsense for, anyways.”

Ignoring him, Taiga turned to Hughe, “what is the line for? Do they limit the number of people allowed in?”

Hughe nodded, “in a way. Winolin became a safe haven, of a sort, after they built the wall. Not just for demons, mind you, but for anything. Crops fail? Go to Winolin. House burned down? Go to Winolin. Want your kids to have a chance at education? You get the idea.”

“There’s too many people. Get it? So, they set this checkpoint up, oh, maybe a year or so ago, to limit not the number… but the type of people allowed in.” Jonha sighed.

“Type?” The word soured on Taiga’s tongue.

She nodded. “If a person has a skillset they can live off of, they’re allowed in. The check itself is pretty loose and most people get in with simple registration and inspection. But a person can be removed from Winolin if they don’t prove their worth over time.”

“Us merchants,” her husband started, “who come and go with goods and money have no problem getting in. But say, a farmer? Unless they’re coming and going to sell their crops, there’s not a whole lot of jobs they can undertake in a city landscape.”

“And… if said farmer is injured,” Taiga’s tone hardened, “and they’re looking for a new way of life?”

Jonha shrugged, “you see the problem.”

“And why there’s a long line.”

Taiga’s eyes followed a mother carrying her child, dressed in the garments of outside work, as they hurried passed to join with an elderly couple sitting beneath a tree. They smiled as the woman approached, waving at the line and talking in rushed tones before moving into it.

He understood the rule, and why it existed. Not a perfect system by any means, and one that sorely forgot the purpose of such systems in the first place. But one that protected those it could.

They joined the line in silence. Though they took their time lining up, they didn’t stay last in line for more than a few minutes. Taiga briefly wondered where all these people came from, but in the end it didn’t really matter.

Mouse bounced around, eventually settling beneath a tree he spotted a bird flying into. He didn’t so much as shut his eyes before something plopped upon the top of his head. He raised a hand to it, before leaping back and cursing.

“It shit on me!” He called to Taiga accusingly.

He shrugged, “what do you want me to do about it?”

A few birds, Blue Jays from the looks of their feathers, flew out. They swatted over him, doing fly-bys and clawing at his head. He yelled out, more surprised than anything, running to Taiga.

“Why??” Mouse huddled behind Taiga. It didn’t take more than a single glance from Taiga for the birds to take flight back to the tree.

“They probably have a nest there, and you disturbed them.” Taiga grabbed a cloth from his bag.

Mouse bent down, and Taiga cleaned his hair. Mouse whined the entire ten seconds it took to clean. He didn’t have any cuts or marks left by the birds, other than his curls being a little more tangled than usual.

“And what are we going to Winolin for today?” To the other side of the carriage, a uniformed man asked. He leaned against the carriage to get a better look at the whole group.

“Merchants. And these two,” Hughe motioned to Taiga and Mouse, “are mercenaries.”

The man blinked at them, “do you two have licenses?”

Taiga reached into his bag, shuffling around for a moment before his hands found the leather folder. He pulled it out, opened it, and flashed the contents to the man with both licenses in easy view.

The man nodded and waved them forward, “come on through, mercenaries don’t need to wait in line.”

Before Taiga could speak, Mouse leapt forward, squeezing between the man and the carriage. “Taiga, let’s go!”

Despite the urging, he took a few moments to bow and thank the merchants for their time, help, food, and company. They returned their thanks, even though a few of the merchants were already sighing breaths of relief while looking at Mouse. Sweet Bun followed behind him, never leaving his side for more than a few minutes. She shook off any fatigue before nibbling at his collar.

When he finished his goodbyes and walked around the carriage with Sweet Bun, Mouse grabbed his arm, yanking him forward and towards the gates of Winolin.