The morning was a hard one for him. After getting his armor on, he grabbed his pack with the new pouch Tessa gave him attached to it and the bag of items he was donating to the dormitory. He stopped at the front desk and dropped the bag of items on the desk. What greeted him was the warm and caring smile from the man at the front desk.

He looked at old man Hue and said “Hey Hue, I am leaving for a while. When I make it back to Les I will come and say hello.”

Hue gave him a large smile and stood up to pat Thomas on the shoulder. He said “I have watched you grow up. I know you will do great out there, just stop in when you make it back.”

Thomas matched his smile and said “I will. I am donating this stuff, It’s just clothes and books.”

“I will take care of it. Now get going.” Hue told him with a small shove.

It was an easier but also harder goodbye than the one with Tessa. Old man Hue had been one of the only consistent people in his life since he was a kid. Hue was the one the nudged him towards adventuring when he saw his anger and aimlessness when he was younger. The other staff in the orphanage pulled away after what happened to Lily because he spiraled and was unapproachable. He didn’t blame the staff; he knew they didn’t want to waste resources on someone who didn’t apply themselves or seem to care. Hue didn’t give up on him. He didn’t act like a parent but more of a guardian with few words here and there that help push him down his current path. Even setting up an adventurer to come and talk to him. For that Thomas would always be grateful for his support.

With confidence in his steps knowing that’s what Hue expect, Thomas left the Rose dormitory for the last time as a resident. He headed towards the guild where he was supposed to meet up with Abigail. When he arrived, he didn’t spot his companion anywhere. Liz waved him over to the receptions desk.

She said “Mr. Thomas I took the liberty of already assigning your name to the quest Miss Thorn took in both your names. She wanted me to inform you when you arrived that you could meet her at the northern gate. She also wanted me to tell you that she already has your temporary horse paid for and with her.”

Confused he said “What quest? She didn’t tell me we were taking a quest when we left.”

An exaggerated sigh left Liz before she got control over herself again and she said in a dead pan voice “Miss Thorn told me that she would handle filling you in and I wouldn’t need to. But my responsibilities as a guild official won’t let that happen, it’s a simple escort quest to the town of Balwyn Hill. The lady getting escorted is a noble so be wary of that.”

Thomas just shook his head and said, “Thanks Liz.” He turned to leave to head to the northern gate.

Liz waved and said, “Safe travels Mr. Thomas.”

With that he was off, it took him longer than he expected to make it to the northern gate. It seemed like everyone was out and slowed him down as he weaved through the people. Off to the side was Abigail with her back to him, she was talking to three women who looked like they were pestering her about something. Stepping out of the crowed he approached, one of women talking to her noticed and he almost paused because of the almost sneer that was on two of their faces.

Either way he continued forward, when he got close enough that one of them spoke saying “We aren’t interested. Please leave us alone.” It was loud enough to be heard over the crowd around them. It even caused a few people to look his way. Including Abigail, when she turned, she had a look of complete annoyance on her face. Seeing him her face brightened but before she could say anything, Thomas spoke up saying “Good morning, Abigail.”

Abigail stepped away from the group and came towards him. “Morning Thomas, I have Jack all ready for you. We will be escorting Lady Hill to Balwyn.” Abigail said that with an emphasis on the Lady Hill part.

It wasn’t hard for Thomas to guess that Lady Hill was the daughter of a noble and based on how Abigail was acting she was important.

She continued saying “The other two are her maids, Janet and Marie.” She motioned to the two in question as she spoke. “I was asked to escort them, and I figured since we are going there anyways why not.” As they walked towards the group, he could clearly see annoyance on the face of the richly dressed lady as he did so.

When he got close enough to the three and did a small bow saying, “Hello I’m Thomas, I will be escorting you alongside Abigail.”

The richly dressed one who he assumed was Lady Hill completely ignored him and addressed Abigail saying “I thought it was clear that no man was allowed to be part of this trip. You told us that we had to wait for your partner. You didn’t tell us it was a man, are you trying to tarnish my reputation. What is the meaning of this?” Her voice was getting more offended and scathing as she spoke.

Abigail smiled brightly as she spoke in a tone that he would take as disrespectful. “As told the Branch Director when he asked me to do this, I will not be leaving my team behind. If you don’t want to travel with Thomas than you are welcome to find a new team to escort, you. Good luck finding an A-ranked in this town.”

Lady Hill’s face warped in a sneer before she could get it under control, she spoke in a tight tone saying, “No it should be fine.” Then she looked at Thomas and spoke in a tone like she was addressing a bug saying “Under no circumstances are you allowed to get near me let alone touch me or even address me. Understood?”

He just nodded at her in response. The three of them left, Lady Hill and Janet entering a carriage while Marie got onto the driver’s seat. It was clear she was waiting for us to get on our horses to leave. Thomas just looked at Abigail who was rubbing her forehead and just raised an eyebrow. He asked, “Was it smart to talk to a noble like that?”

Abigail gave him a very unlady like snort as she said “What can she or even her family do to us? For one thing I’m a A-ranked Adventure, that’s pretty rare you know? Plus, you are on an approved guild quest, doing anything to you in retaliation for my actions would be very bad for them.” She leaned closer and said in a whisper “Don’t forget you are an inquisitor now as well; you get extra protections because of that.”

That peeked his interest, but before he could ask what exactly she meant she asked. “Anything you want me to put in my storage ring? It doesn’t seem like you have a lot of things with you.”

He tugged the strap of his bag saying “Nope everything I own is in this bag. I can carry it.”

She nodded at that and said “Well we might as well get going. I have already prepared everything we will need. I even got you a few items to make your life easier on the road.”

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Mounting his horse, he gave jack a pat on the neck. They set out of the town with Abigail in front of Lady Hill’s carriage and Thomas trailing behind. They set off at a decent pace, but it will still take a week for them to reach Balwyn. He was glad that he was in the rear so he could look back at the town he grew up in and spent his entire life as it shrank from view. It made a complicated feeling well up in his chest, he was excited to start this new chapter in his life but also sad to leave the place he grew up in. He knew it was more so because of nervousness at starting down this unfamiliar path he chose to take. He would be able to help more people than ever before but the fear and nervousness where still there. As the walls of Les disappeared from view Thomas took a deep breath and exhaled, pushing out all the complicated mix of feelings that were burning in his chest as he did so. Letting the excitement take over as he looked forward to the new possibilities that where ahead of him.

As the day drew on Thomas started to wonder why exactly it was two adventures escorting a noble instead of her knights. The more he thought about it, this odd situation made him get a sinking feeling that something bad was going to happen on this quest. Maybe the two maids where also there to protect her. He didn’t know but he would ask Abigail later about the situation because everything about this seemed wrong.

They stopped around noon so everyone could eat lunch. The maids wanted to set up a cooking fire so Lady Hill could have a warm meal, but Abigail stopped that saying it would be a waste of time and make the trip a day or two longer. Like the adventures they got stuck eating sandwiches or whatever ready to eat meals they had. Abigail handed him one to eat, she had a restaurant make it for her before they left. It was better than anything he had on him, so he gladly took it.

He motioned for them to step further away from the other three so they could talk. Once far enough away he asked “What’s the deal with this quest? Why are two adventurers escorting a noble instead of a group of knights?”

The sheepish smile she got on her face already made him get a feeling it was somehow her fault. She answered in a timid tone “Well I literally walked into her. She wasn’t pleased and started to make threats, when she realized I was more amused by her reaction then scared she got curious about who I am. When I was finally about to introduced myself, that made her change her attitude from being hostile to trying to buy my services. I declined but this morning when I went to check in with the guild the branch director asked me to his office. He explained that Lady Hill had put in a formal request with him to have me escort her to Balwyn. He explained that the reason she didn’t have her knights with her is because she ran away. I ended up agreeing because I understand her situation she’s in and offered some help but then I met her again and you can see just how charming of a personality she has.”

Now that got Thomas’s attention, so he asked, “What do you mean you understand her situation?”

A sly smile appeared on her face as she said “What you didn’t know? I am clearly a princess who ran away.” Even in armor she did an elegant curtsy.

He was about to ask her to be serious when one of the maids got their attention and said, “Lady Hill wanted me to inform you that if we aren’t eating a hot meal then lets continue traveling.”

Thomas slumped in defeat, he thought he would get actual information on Abigail but of course they were interrupted. Abigail just nodded at the maid and said, “Yes we will be ready in a few minutes.”

Before they left Thomas knew there was something he needed to address. As Abigail was about to walk away so they could mount up he stopped her and said, “You keep saying we are a team and I am your partner, if that’s true then please don’t make decisions like this without asking for my input.”

Abigail stopped for a few seconds as his words registered with her. She looked at him then nodded saying “You’re right. I am so used to working alone that I agreed without taking your opinion into account. We are a team and I need to start treating you like it. I am sorry.”

When they finally stopped for the night Thomas learned something new, riding all day was painful. He was so sore it took ten minutes of stretching before he could walk somewhat normally. He also was grateful that his armor was so well fitting. He was initially worried they wouldn’t fit as well as they do because of how little time it took to modify them. Surprisingly after riding all day, it didn’t cause any problems or pinch anywhere.

By the time they got the improvised camp set up and started making dinner it was already getting late. They found a nice clearing next to a stream, the flat open area was clearly used for this exact purpose. It showed signs that the clearing was used by dozens of people. After he got his small tent set up Abigail asked if he would prefer to spar before they ate or after. Deciding that getting beaten before eating would be better, they started to spar. They received a few looks from the maids as they started to cook a meal for Lady Hill, but they quickly returned their focus back to the food.

Getting into a fighting stance Thomas was ready and was trying to figure out a way to surprise Abigail. Who was casually standing with the same stick she had since the first day. He decided to start calling the evil piece of wood the stick of doom, because no matter what he did he was doomed to be hit.

As the sparring started to get more serious Thomas got somewhat distracted by the audience they had. Apparently, Lady Hill and her maids decided they wanted a show with their meal. Pushing it out of his mind he focused fully on the allusive Abigail, but like always after a few hours he ended up exhausted.

Moving in his new armor was something he needed to learn if he had any hope of being more effective in combat. As he sat there panting for breath Abigail spoke up saying “Good work, in a month or two we are going to start adding in kicks and other strikes. It’s going to get more difficult once we start adding in mana training too.” She said with a large sigh.

That perked his interest, so he asked, “Why don’t we start now?”

She shrugged and said “It will be easier once we know what mana type you have. I would much rather spend the next week getting your swordsmanship at least slightly better than add in extra training. I don’t want you to be spread too thin trying to handle all the new topics at once.” In a more hushed tone so their audience couldn’t hear she said, “I would rather go into mana related topics when we are alone anyways.” He nodded at that.

They got dinner ready; she brought out slabs of meat and vegetables, but Thomas offered to cook since she provided the ingredients. He wouldn’t say he was a great chef, but he thought he did a decent job. He sautéed the veggies with a mix of herbs he had in his pack, they would leave your mouth with a nice tangy taste. The meat he left how it was, just a little salt and in the pan they went. Looking at the meal he was proud of how it came out, taking a bit of his serving he thought it was good. Abigail seemed to approve as well.

That’s how the rest of the trip to Balwyn Hill went. Traveling in relative silence as he trailed behind the carriage, keeping his eyes peeled for any threats. A part of him thought there would be an ambush from a rival noble house or some bandits. That’s what always happened in stories when a noble lady travelled without a proper guard. It hadn’t happened yet, the most that happened was passing a few people who where heading to Les, somewhere clearly merchants while others were just normal everyday people.

They would stop at the obvious camp stops at night. There were always clearings that were used for camping at night. Abigail and him would spar then eat.

The only true inconvenience was the watch rotations. Well, that and Lady Hill started trying to butter up to Abigail in an attempt to recruit her. That was entertaining to watch. She offered money and anything else if she would join the noble for a yearlong contract.

When it came to the watch rotation, Lady Hill offered that her maids could assist but Abigail shot that idea down. Thomas was thankful for it because he didn’t trust them. So that meant Thomas and Abigail got very little sleep the entire trip.

The ride to Balwyn wasn’t bad until it got towards the last day of travel, and they would reach the city the next day. The noble switched tactics and sent her maids to try and win Thomas over. He wasn’t upset at having two beautiful woman fawn over him after a training session with Abigail. He had an idea about what Lady hill was trying to do and rebuffed them. The noble thought that she could possibly get to Abigail if she convinced him. His thoughts where all but confirmed when an annoyed Abigail clearly and without reservations stated that neither one of them would join the noble. It was more direct than he thought she would talk to the noble.

Thomas watched as Lady Hill’s face soured at the clear rejection. He didn’t know just how powerful her family was, but he got the feeling people rarely talked to her that way. That was the only real issue they had during the entire trip.