“What happened next?” a young boy asked me as Haydith and Eadric exited the stable complex. Within a few seconds, the two of them were close enough to hear the rest of my retelling of events.

[Persuasion, Lvl. 3] has activated. Your Charisma has been temporarily increased by 3 points.

As I spoke to the large audience assembled before me, I stood on the wagon that held the head of the great talpa. My foot rested on the gargantuan skull of that deceased great beast. Some unknown force - probably my [Persuasion] Skill - told me that it was the right thing to do. I could feel myself being pushed in certain directions as I spoke. I modulated my tone, volume, and pitch as the strange sensation indicated.

“I could tell that the girl was in trouble, so I followed her without delay. Using my mighty arcane power, I flew through the air in the direction I knew she traveled. Chance did not favor my expedition, however. I searched for many minutes from that ascended position, yet I could not find her. Soon after escaping from Mitrikov’s Respite, she hid herself in some place that I could not see from the air. As luck would have it, I spotted three suspicious men wearing masks like this.” I gestured to the deer mask hanging from my belt.

“The men were bandits; I could tell at a glance. I followed the bandits, and they soon found the girl. They must have been following her for a while. I waited for an opportunity to strike from my vantage point in the air. Then…” I lowered my voice, causing many of the people in the audience to listen more closely.

“Bang!” I shouted, holding my hand out as if I was launching Ice Spears at that moment. Several of the audience members cheered, and Eadric clapped his hands. “I fired Ice Spears at two of the men, maiming one and killing the other. The third man was grappling the girl, so I dared not target him with such a dangerous attack.”

“No!” one of the women in the crowd called out, scandalized.

“How did you stop him?” the boy asked, desperate to hear the end of the story.

“Have no fear, everything turned out fine,” I said with my hands up in a placating gesture. “I used the Spell [Electric Arc] to force the brigand to unhand the girl. With her free, I was able to attack the two surviving brigands with [Hellfire]. Unfortunately, they retreated like cowards before I could finish them off. If I see them again, they won’t be so lucky. You can mark my words!”

A cheer erupted from the crowd as they were swept up in my tale. I could not tell if it was [Persuasion] or my own charisma, but they were all very impressed by my tale.

They were essentially medieval peasants, after all, and they did not have the same access to entertainment as the people of Earth. Working a crowd in Ferrum was one of the easiest things I could do.

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“Well done!” A voice from the crowd called out these words with mirthful familiarity. The voice was somewhat familiar. When I turned toward the voice, I saw a familiar face.

Standing in the center of the crowd, hidden behind a gray hood and leaning against a new staff, was my mentor, Beltane Ostara. He had aged six years since I first met him, but he was just as athletic as ever.

“I’m afraid I must leave for now. There’s much I must do in this great city before I leave in two days.” The people in the audience groaned in disappointment as I removed my foot from the head of the great talpa and walked toward Eadric and Haydith, who stood a few meters away from the crowd.

Making sure that I was well and truly out of earshot of anyone in the crowd, I said to Haydith and Eadric, “All right. That ought to make its way to the King.”

Haydith asked, “Is that why you’re doing all this? To meet with the King?”

Eadric, who knew that Haydith was the bastard daughter of King Theophrastus, peeked at her out of the corner of his eye. He was subtly trying to figure out if she knew the truth of her birth.

“When you want to meet with the King, you don’t just show up to Castle Etron. He needs to invite you. Everything I’m doing is to gain an audience with the King as fast as possible.”

Beltane walked up to the group with as much subtlety as he could muster. In a volume calculated to not be overheard, he said, “I see you’ve gained a penchant for the theatrical, Thale.”

I smiled as I said, “That’s politics, Beltane. You need to make a scene if you want to be heard.”

“Beltane?” Haydith asked, watching my interaction with my mentor closely. “You two know each other.”

“Hello, Miss Haydith,” Beltane said with a theatrical bow that one would typically give to a noble of higher standing.

“Why did you just bow to me?” Haydith asked quickly, uncertain and slightly fearful.

“Why, indeed?” Beltane responded. He laughed awkwardly and scratched his cheek in discomfort.

I cut in, saying, “There’s a secret regarding Haydith’s father. We absolutely should not speak that secret here, but we all know it. Just to be clear, Beltane, Eadric, Haydith, and I all know the secret.”

“Oh, well,” Eadric said, unsure of what to say. “I guess I’ve been disrespectful, then.” He reclined his neck in preparation for a bow, but his movement was cut off by Haydith.

“Please don’t bow to me,” Haydith said quickly.

“As you say,” Eadric responded, eliciting a quiet grumble of exasperation from Haydith.

In as few words as possible, I explained my relationship with Beltane to Haydith. We had known each other for six years, so it was difficult to shorten the explanation, but I was done within a few minutes.

“So, he was working for you when I met him a few months ago? Were you watching me before we met?” Haydith summarized.

“Uh, yeah. To be fair, your family is pretty important. Anyone in my position would be keeping tabs on you guys.” I said with slight discomfort.

“Anyway,” I continued. “We need to split up for a bit. Haydith and Eadric, you two go to the Golden Stag Inn, and take Kinro with you.”

“The Golden Stag?” Haydith said, recognition and awe appearing on her face. “Will we be allowed in?”

“Of course. You’re traveling with the great Thale Feldrast, after all.” I said.

“They won’t turn away a noble’s retinue,” Beltane translated.

“That, too,” I said, nodding to Beltane. “While you guys do that, Beltane and I will go see the Alchemist in the Merchant’s District.”

With that, our group split in two. Unknown to us, a hostile agent watched our interaction with interest.