The jury, rather confused, reported on the Behemoth's attack and Alex Tikker's flight. The pace-faster was deeply disappointed by Alex's departure, and Madam Haclaire made a tentative attempt to comfort him with the help of her embroidered handkerchief. Siel nodded to Pepin shortly after hearing this news and sent him back to the candidates.

Because of the commotion, Robert and Leo got a moment to sort everything out.

"Gee, what was all that to me," Robert said tiredly. "Is everything still okay with you?"

"Sure, why should there be anything wrong?" replied Leo fleetingly.

"After a fight with a huge monster and a long journey, you'd be tired for less. You seem a bit tense the last few days. You can trust me," Robert replied cautiously.

"Robert, believe me, everything is okay with me. You don't have to worry about anything."

Slander, noticing the tension between the two, intervened.

"Robert, she's obviously just trying to come across as strong. Give her some space, will you?"

'But...' Robert began, but soon Vlander joined in.

"We still have a long way to go. Plenty of time for chit-chat and gossip. Now let's just go to the horses and continue on our way."

Vlander's words were not lies. The tour group was still a long way from the Arendsbergen. The mountains, which were located in the north of Salado and therefore in the northeast of Yths, were a remote place to reach. They were virtually isolated from the rest of the country. The terrain was unpredictable and uneven, and many travelers and mountaineers had met their end here unhappily. Only with the help of local dwarves was a trip through the landscape somewhat possible. Luckily for our candidates, Jack knew an old acquaintance living in the mountains. The aforementioned Visgaroff Zoltanev still lived in one of the few remaining villages at the foot of the Arendsberg. Despite this certainty, there was still a hard journey of several days of travel ahead of them before they could start that climb.

The many walks gave Robert a lot of time to think. One thing still bothered him. If the king were to recover, what about the winning candidate? It was impossible for two kings to rule one country. Could there be a further purpose behind the tests? Perhaps the winning candidate became the king's right-hand man, a decision that certainly Siel, who was currently sitting in that chair, would not agree with.

Another reason was that the top of the Hoofs Functional Bourgeoisie of Yths, as is often the case, had simply not thought any further than sending a group of volunteers on an adventure. Or send them to their own demise, it depended on how you looked at it. Robert thought that if he should win, and the king should be sufficiently recovered to reign the next day, he would have passed all these tests to be king for a single day. The more he thought about it, the less he understood the point of it all.

And is someone who can deal with acorn witches and Behemoths a competent king? Shouldn't a king be able to do very different things than be a good fighter? Robert went over the remaining candidates in his head. Who would he see as king? Could such a small gnome, for example, control the entire Courtly Functional Bourgeoisie? Could he do that? His knees were shaking at the idea. Or should the new king be someone who listened carefully, perhaps even too well, to the promptings of others?

Who knows, maybe Siel was behind everything, he suddenly thought. A spontaneous shiver ran down his spine. Robert had always thought Siel a strange bird, but would the night elf be capable of making the king sick? With a large number of strong fighters from the capital, he had the chance to seize power. Robert thought back to the incident with Leo at the fountain, when it became clear that actually a woman is. Siel did have a habit of getting extremely angry about big and small things, which was quite normal with his elven species. Night elves were rather known for their cunning and fiery, both literally and figuratively, temperament.

But he had never seen him so angry, and certainly not for something that Robert thought was very close to him. Siel, despite his position at Court, was not the most patriotic eleven that could be found in Yths. He did his job, but he also had a habit of questioning the king's arrangement and decisions. He didn't like Robert at all.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Ever since his appointment to the Courtly Functional Bourgeoisie, he had been given nasty looks by the night elf. Madam Haclaire had then reassured Robert that it was very common for Siel to look at him angrily. Siel had something naturally gruff about him. "Don't take it personally," she confirmed.

At their first meeting, she called him a 'grumpy grump without humour', a remark Siel also heard. He tried to prove them wrong by telling the worst joke they had ever heard.

"A man goes to the healer because he's been feeling really bad for days." He started with unprecedented enthusiasm. 'After a short examination, he is immediately admitted and lies in a bed waiting for the healer. The healer comes in and says, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you have about 10 hours to live" The man asks worriedly, "So what's the bad news?" To which the doctor replies, 'I should have told you this yesterday!'"

It was the first time Madam Haclair and Robert heard him laugh, if you could even call it laughter. Rather, it was a kind of roar, as if a minotaur had stubbed his toe when he was drinking a cup of coffee and then spilled the coffee all over himself. When the joke was received with an awkward silence, Siel stormed off with a lot of steps on his toes.

Robert hasn't heard him make a single joke since. It also seemed as if Siel liked him even less then, if that was at all possible. Despite that, the threats to Leo and him in the square were unexpected. Is a bad prankster capable of sending a mercenary after them?

Leo, who drove past him, noticed that Robert was lost in thought. "Something on your mind?" she asked curiously.

Robert was so startled that he almost tumbled off his horse and landed in the blackberry bushes along the path.

'Robert Veracker, so deep in dreams that he almost falls off his horse.' Leo chuckled. "It's a good thing we're not in Agriar, or you lived up to your name by falling into a poor farmer's field," she laughed.

Robert smiled back awkwardly. Here in the woods just outside the towns of Salado, it was just as unpleasant to fall to the ground, he thought. Since the incident in the throne room with the dramatic fall of at least half of the Courtly Functional Bourgeoisie, Robert preferred to stand or sit firmly.

'Sorry, I was thinking about the moment with Siel at the fountain before we left on this assignment. I am a little worried about the situation. He really overreacted.' Robert brushed his hair pityingly.

Leo smiled encouragingly, "Don't worry, we're a whole group. Even without Alex Tikker, we still have plenty of capable people in the group. Siel has to hire Mr. Robin Hood and the Merry Men to stop us."

"You're so happy today," Robert responded surprised.

'But of course. The weather is lovely, the company is good and there is no behemoth to be seen. What else do you need?"

"A good night's sleep and some sunlight tomorrow is welcome," Robert joked.

Not much later, the tour group stopped to set up camp and take a break. The evening predicted a calm night and the temperature was pleasant for the time of year. While Jack and Arian set up the tents, Leo provided a softly crackling campfire and the 3 little pigs took care of dinner. That turned out not to be the best decision.

"Hörk, stay with the legs of that Tomate!!" shouted Gnörk.

"Den Mond Halten, Du is already on that Kartoffeln!" Hörk bit back and gave Gnörk a poke.

The quarrel soon turned to pushing and pulling, and before the party knew it, Pörk was hanging with his lederhosen from a low-hanging branch of a nearby birch. Soon the decision was made to put Robert and the Arieman to cooking so that the piglets could cool down for a while.

Arian, who as usual was perfect in everything he did, conjured up a deliciously fragrant meal time in no time with chicken legs, jacket potatoes and a tomato salad with herbs from the nearby forest. Robert looked on with astonished eyes and wondered where someone so exceptional could have come from. He decided to ask the man.

"Say, Arian, Where are you from?" began Robert

'I don't really know myself. It's a place far from here. In a land with an eternal sun where beauty is self-evident and peace is the normal order.' Arian replied, with elegance in his voice, and turned the chicken legs over the open fire once more.

"How did you end up here?" When I hear you like this, it doesn't seem like Yths would be the promised land'

"The Sun has brought me to this land. Where I come from is the Sun, the most important symbol of them all. Where the Sun tells you to go, you go. My fate lies in Yths, and so I took part as a royal candidate', said the Arieman, and the homesickness in his voice was noticeable even for the 3 little pigs who were meanwhile sitting obediently next to each other on a tree stump by the fire.

"You seem to miss your homeland very much," Leo said, throwing another thick branch on the fire. With only the light of the campfire, a friendly atmosphere had been created. Slander and Vlander just fit past the piglets on the stump, Jack sat next to them on the floor, and Hector had made a cushion out of his coat and stretched out his feet to the cozy warmth of the fire.

"Of course," Arian replied. I left everything behind. Friends and family, who await another different fate, far away from here. But I keep going. As long as we have hope, that's a reason to keep fighting. And it's certainly not the worst thing with you.'

Arian's words got through to the other people, earthmen and pigs around fire. Despite the rivalry of the match, the group still quietly grew closer to each other and each of them reflected on their own fate and searched for answers in the flicker of the flames.