"Are you sure?" Gray asked as he and the rest sat at the table within the small hall, pointedly raising his eyebrow at Erika.

"Of?" Erika asked back, taking her seat amidst her comrades at the long table, Gray directly to her right, with Dust and Tejil next, and Drun to her left, with Celest beside him. The other side of the table directly before her was an empty chair with several Merfolk on either side, Zen being one of them.

"Letting those pirates return to their ships is what...Won't they run? Come back with more and worse?" Drun grumbled.

"The ones loyal will stay, their captain remains here, does he not?" Erika pointed out, gesturing at the pirate captain Fang who sat silently in the corner, two large Merfolk watching over him.

"Hm, I wonder that." Gray responded, but shrugged and let it go.

"Yeah I do wonder that, they're pirates! There's no honor amongst their kind!" Drun argued in a whisper, swallowing his grievances as two Merfolk who hadn't been seated yet approached. A young woman helping out the eldest among the Mer here, the chieftain.

"Thank you dear, have a seat you too now." The old Mer said, barely recognizable as a Mershark, his old age warped his features badly. Seemingly, the younger Mer was his relative, also a Mershark but much more recognizable. When both were seated, the chatter around the hall paused, and all eyes turned to their table.

"We thank you, travellers, for aiding my foolish nephew here." The chieftain said, smacking Zen with his walking stick. The Mereel barely felt it, but grumbled something under his breath, which the chieftain either did not hear or ignored. "I don't know if my brother, his grandfather, would ever forgive me if I let his idiocy get him killed like that."

Erika noted to herself that, while there lay many variations of Merfolk here, Zen was the sole one with an Eel-like appearance.

"There is no need to thank us, sir. She did all the work." Gray mused, pointing his thumb at Erika.

The chieftain then had a double-take, glancing between the large Dust who he thought the leader and the relatively average built Erika. "Then...it is you whom we thank, and whom we offer this feast to!" He then chuckled, "I apologise, I took Zen's oafness as the mould for strength!"

"Chief.." Zen tried to speak, but was smacked by a stick.

"Shush you, going against the elder's ruling of no conflict! I would tell em to drag you out of the feast if I knew anyone here could carry you!" The chieftain snapped at him, before calmly returning to the party. "We, myself and everyone here, thank you wholeheartedly. Travellers, you may not understand but, you did more than save us from pirates." He sighed, turning to his full plate of food.

"My, how long has it been since...our plates have been so full?" The chief asked, clenching his walking stick. "If it wasn't the pirates, then starvation. If it wasn't lack of food, then it'd be the concord." He said, Erika noticing the expressions of all the townfolk turning sour, all but the children who did not wait but immediately dove into the food.

Some, even became teary-eyed at the sight before them.

"Concord...what do you mean?" Erika asked, her eyes focusing on him.

"Tax collecting bastards." Zen replied, gaining himself another smack.

"Hmph, but...yes. We, as any village under the Lord's domain, must pay to remain within these lands." The chieftain replied.

"Where did you come from then, do you not have anywhere to return to?" Dust asked, trying not to meet eyes with a child Mershark who sat before him, one who had already devoured his entire plate and was now eyeing his.

"No, son, our people were born here. This has been our land for...eons..." The chieftain explained.

"Tis hasn't been our land for ages." Zen grumbled once more, instinctively jerking his eyes closed in preparation for a smacking, but none came.

"Indeed, even for as long as I remember...the Blood Lords have owned us all." The chieftain spoke sadly, smacking his lips at the food before himself, but not moving a single hand towards it as if in disbelief it was there. "With the pirate's hauls, we can maybe...for once, pay the concord in full."

"And you...cannot fight back." Drun noted, glancing over the scrawny people that filled this hall. Then, ending his gaze on Zen, "How'd you turn out so god damn big?" he asked the Mer.

Zen sighed, "Unlike, everyone else, river water is all I need to thrive." he grumbled in response. "By absorbing it, and its nutrient-filled contents." he then picked up a cup of water and dumped it onto his forehead. They each watched as his skin seemingly absorbed it entirely. "I can sustain myself."

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"Woah, that's interesting." Gray perked up, eyes shining like stars he inspected the Mer from head to toe.

"Why not leave?" Dust asked, smirking as he pushed his plate to the kid Mershark, who much to his parent's shame dove right in.

"And go where?" Zen asked, "We have no ships, not enough supply. The swamp spans for half the continent too, and this is the only survivable corner of it. The grasslands then, would only get us hunted down by the Concord, as leaving would mark us as rebels. We have nowhere to go."

"You got my ships now, don'tcha?" Fang then spoke up with a wheeze, yet he smirked. "My supply too. But ye don't know how to work them ships, do ya? No, you don't. I and my men do."

Erika sighed, "Trying to raise your worth, so that these people do not execute you for your crimes?" she mused, her golden eyes turning to focus on him. But the lizardman did not meet them, instinctively looking away. "So you do think your men will stay, a fraction of them at least."

"And you did not!?" Drun spat, almost choking on his drink.

"I expected some to, at least leaving us one ship and its crew without the dangers of lording over an entire angry fleet. Now I'm curious as to how many actually do stay." Erika explained, her eyes not once leaving Fang.

At her words, Fang did turn to look her way, albeit not meeting her gaze. "My men would never abandon me!" He declared shakily, breaking out into coughing right after as he clenched his chest in agony. "They...wouldn't dare."

"Oh." Erika said plainly, returning to the chieftain who seemed to be studying her closely.

"I misjudged you before," the chieftain said, "You are not simple travellers, are you?"

"Ah, no no we're just-" Teijil tried to cover up but was cut off.

"We're rebels." Erika said matter-of-factly, making her whole party freeze and pale.

"Oh, while we may not like our Lords...you do understand young one, we cannot be found harbouring rebels..." The chieftain said, as the hall grew even quieter.

"Indeed, anyone who would be found harbouring us, would most definately be marked as enemies of the state yes?" Erika mused, and her party grew even fainter.

Celest could swear she watched Drun lose some years off his lifespan.

As Erika and the chieftain locked glares, eyeing each other calmly.

"It is a good thing, no one outside of this hall, will find that out." The chieftain then said, causing a collective sigh of relief out of the entire hall.

"Don't tense everyone up like that old fart!" Zen burst out as the chieftain simply began laughing.

Erika too chuckled lightly but barely built up a smile, "Perhaps we should stop weighing each other up, we're souring everyone's dinner." She mused.

"Ah, yes yes, perhaps you're right!" The chieftain said with a cackle, "Eat everyone! It's not every year we'll have full stomachs like this!" He announced, and the atmosphere changed once more, as everyone was reminded of what lay before them.

Awkward still as they picked up the food, when the Merfolk saw their chieftain beginning to eat, they did too.

The chieftain then looked up from his plate to speak, but what came out was inaudable.

"Don't speak while you eating old fool you'll choke!" Zen bellowed out again, raining spittle all over the table.

"Mfph?" The chieftain swallowed, "Please! I could munch down three times this at once!" He declared with a laugh.

Zen simply groaned and shrivelled up into his chair.

"So tell me, travellers, where do you come from? Beyond the grasslands I'd say! I don't see no town folk in any of you!" The chieftain asked, returning to Erika's group.

"Ah, yes. We come from beyond the forest." Celest assured softly.

Drun also shrivelled up into his chair, "So much for under cover..." he mumbled to himself.

"Might as well share while we can, friends will be hard to come by going forward." Erika explained, tapping Drun on the shoulder.

"Ugh, you're right when you're right." Drun grumbled, before turning to the chieftain and beginning to explain their situation. Of the Lycans, the constant conflict at the Great Forest, the battle that ensued.

"My...While I know of Lycans working under the Concord, I must say I've never heard of anything but death beyond the bleak forest." The chieftain replied, Drun's story also catching the ear of everyone else.

"So all this, is news to you?" Dust asked with eyes wide.

Zen nodded, "We've never heard of you all. The only things we know to reside in the forest are ferocious beasts that bring cataclysm to any people who encounter them-Ah, that might be it then." He mused, recalling folktales.

Gray sighed, "Yep, that's how they'd shun our existence all right."

"What do you mean?" Dust turned to him.

"Snuffing out information, by providing a false truth based on legend lore." Erika mused, "This kingdom, it's all based on controlling the narrative, huh."

Zen once again nodded, as his burning gaze turned to Fang. "While we, work hard to survive and grow our village, bastards like him raid us under the payment of the Blood Lords. Then, the Concord comes along, to legally take the rest. And there is not one thing we can do about it. If we even tried to tell other villages, ours would be burned to the ground."

Erika's eyes then focused on Zen, "You say that, as if it has happened before."

The chieftain and the other Merfolk at their table paused eating then, all but the child who didn't read the room.

"Hmph, my folk tried to do just that. Look how present they are now." Zen grumbled out, glancing over around himself. He indeed was the sole Mer-Eel there. Standing up then, "I'll go check on those damn pirates." he said and took his leave.

The chieftain sighed, "I apologise, his family's death has always...haunted us. The Concord, as a mercy, left only him and my brother living out of their entire line. His father, my brother's son, had begged and given everything he had to gain that mercy."

"That's..." Teijil squeaked, covering her mouth as all the rest also paused.

"Despicable bastards..." Dust grumbled.

"Don't lose your heads." Erika then told them, as she sat up. "There's nothing we can do about that."

"We know..." Drun sighed, "Run is all we can do."

"Well, I never said that." Erika mused, turning away from the festivities.

"Where might you be going miss? Do you need someone to show you around?" The chieftain asked, gesturing at one of the older kids at the table.

"No, I'm fine." Erika replied, but nodding in thanks.

"Where are you going?" Gray mused.

Erika turned to the exit, "To fulfil a curiosity I have."

Gray chuckled, "All I need to know." He said, also standing up and following after her. "You all enjoy the meal, I'll go with so you don't worry about more trouble."

"Now I'm even more worried about trouble..." Drun grumbled as the two took their leave.