“We’ve got absolutely nothing useful! Romping around fields and asking everyone weird questions, and nobody’s even given us a lead!” Junil yelled.

Both the Hero and the Healer were stepping into the town’s inn for the night. The sun had almost already set, the sky darkening from a sunset yellow to a gradually darkening blue.

“Please lower your voice, Miss Junil. It is terribly rude to speak so loudly.”

“Ronn, we’ve been walking around this town like fools. At least let me be mad!”

“We have gathered good information about the current state of this town’s reconstruction after the war. Does that not account for anything?”

Junil grabbed a chair at one of the tables and pulled it back. “Oh, sure! I mean, that info is probably useful to someone running the reconstruction programs. Or a census. But are we running a reconstruction program right now, Ronn? Are we gathering information explicitly for a census bureaucrat at this very moment, Ronn? Or did you forget what we’re here for in the first place?”

“I did not forget,” he replied. “My questions were geared to find as much information as possible, while simultaneously revealing as little as I could.”

“That annoys me. I can’t argue with your logic, so I’m just going to stay annoyed.”

The Healer crossed her arms and gave a huff. She took a seat as the Hero stepped over to a receptionist and requested for a room for the night.

Gazing her eyes over the occupants of the room, she could see a few semi-familiar faces that she had seen on the construction site. It seemed that a lot of the Demonfolk were dining here.

There was a cacophony of voices, plates, chairs screeching on wooden floors that assaulted Junil’s ears. This only served to sour her mood.

The Healer heard the bell on the door chime, and glanced over to the newcomer. She stared at the new arrival for a second, then turned away.

Then did an immediate double-take, looking back at him.

She could recognize a Demonfolk General no matter where she went. Right now was definitely no exception.

As Ronn stepped back over to the table, Junil gave a tap to his armor.

“What is it?” Ronn asked, looking down at the Healer. Junil pointed at the front door, and the Hero immediately saw who she was referring to.

“I see,” Ronn said. “I shall go talk to him.”

Leaving Junil behind, Ronn walked over to the front door. The Demonfolk General spotted him, but wasn’t able to turn or step away before the Hero was right in front of him.

“Hello, General Forge,” Ronn said. “It has been quite some time since we’ve last seen each other.”

General Forge, in response, narrowed his eyes at the Hero. He scooted his left leg back a little.

“Oh. It’s you,” he replied. “Yeah. Long time no see. Wish it was longer, though.”

Ronn shifted his gaze to Forge’s damaged horn.

“I see that the wounds I have inflicted still remain.”

The Demonfolk general rubbed the chipped end of his left-side horn. “This? It’ll grow back, given a year or two.”

“You still resent me.”

“Yeah, I do. Wounds heal. The damage you’ve done to my pride? Priceless.”

General Forge narrowed his eyes. “I haven’t even been able to repair my Mandrel. Not after you sliced it in half.”

“Pardon?” the Hero asked. “What may you be referring to?”

“My halberd. Mandrel. I can’t find anyone to fix it yet, so I’ve basically got nothing to my name.”

The Demonfolk General continued speaking, as he turned halfway around on the heel of his foot.

“Now, if you’re done with your talking, I’ll take a nice, long walk outside just so I can stay as far away from you as—”

“Wait.”

General Forge frowned at Ronn’s interruption. He also stopped, in part because Ronn had grabbed him by the arm.

The two stood there, tense.

“What is it? I don’t have much time,” the General asked.

“I find it slightly suspect that you happen to be here, as we are surveying this location,” the Hero stated. “What are you doing out here, at Grand Elm?”

General Forge pause extended for a few heartbeats.

“What I’m doing out here?” he asked. “Well, I wanna know why you’re so eager to see me in the first place. Covered that distance from the table to here in, what, five paces?”

“That is irrelevant,” the Hero replied. “I simply wish for an answer to the question that I have. Nothing more.”

General Forge scoffed. “Fine. If you want to know so badly, I’m just working as... a laborer now. Nothing more, nothing less.”

The Demonfolk General stared at the Hero. He then looked down to his arm, which was still held by the armored glove of the Hero.

“Can I go now?” General Forge asked. “Or are you gonna laugh at me, a General, for working as a simple laborer?”

Ronn replied almost immediately.

“You hesitated when talking about your occupation.”

“Oh, for goodness’s sake!” the General exclaimed, turning back to face the Hero. “Who wouldn’t hesitate if the Hero himself was right in front of him?”

“You were not contacting the Demon Lord at all, were you?”

General Forge recoiled at that question. “What? No. You guys severed the connection ages ago. C’mon, let’s not make a commotion here...”

Indeed, the conversation between the two was beginning to attract attention from the other patrons of the inn.

“You plan on turning a new leaf?”

“Well, I’m just making money. What’s wrong with that? There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

While the Hero wasn’t so willing to lend his trust to a former General of the Demon Lord, he could tell that General Forge said not a single falsehood.

“Very well. You may take your leave.”

Ronn released General Forge’s arm. The General pulled it back and rubbed where his metal gloves had gripped his arm harshly.

“Is that it?” the Demonfolk General asked. “I expected some more... well, resistance.”

“That is it,” came Ronn’s reply. “However, I do wish to discuss matters with you at a later time. Not immediately, but in the near future.”

“And I was hoping I wouldn’t see ya again.”

General Forge took a few steps towards the door, then looked back at the Hero. He waited a moment, as if unsure the Hero was really willing to let him go. Then, he stepped out, the bell on the tavern’s door ringing with his departure.

Ronn stared at the door, as though he was thinking. His attention would snap away the moment Junil grabbed him by the arm, guiding him back to the table they had sat at.

“The food’s here,” the Healer said. “And did you get any useful info out of him?”

She sat at the table, as Ronn took a seat next to her.

“What do you mean?” the Hero asked.

“Well, think about it. Did he answer any of your questions directly, or did he just side-step them?”

Ronn took a moment to think.

“I could not tell if he was lying. But his behavior seemed suspect,” Ronn said.

“That’s because you’ve never had a conversation with him that doesn’t involve fighting!” Junil exclaimed. She was speaking in as loud of a whisper as she could. “You can’t just say that you know if he’s lying or not!”

Ronn’s helmeted head turned to look at Junil. “I wish to believe that I am a good judge of character.”

The two sat at the table. Before them were two plates of a meat stew, both of them steaming hot.

“A good judge of character for Humans. What about Demonfolk?” the Healer asked.

“I am capable of reading Demonfolk, to an extent,” Ronn replied. “General Forge may have been a challenge, but I can understand him. Regardless, we should begin eating.”

“That’s because the total amount of time you’ve ever interacted with him is probably less than an hour! You can’t just—”

“Junil.”

“—expect us to figure him out with—”

“Junil.”

“—three minutes of conversation! Seriously, we need to—”

“Junil.”

“—go and talk to him again—”

“Junil. Eat your food. It’s going to get cold.”

The Healer blinked, then looked down at the bowl of hot stew that had been placed before her earlier.

“Huh... we should, it’s— Wait, now don’t you change the subject, Ronn!”

“I have taken your opinions into consideration,” the Hero replied. He lifted the mouthpiece of his visor up. “It is too late to pursue General Forge at the moment. We will do so tomorrow.”

Then, Ronn began to shovel spoonfuls of the stew into the opening on his helmet. Although he was definitely eating the stew, it wasn’t something that could be seen from the outside; the darkness of his helmet made it impossible to see his mouth, much less his face.

“Fine. But we’ll need to get to the bottom of that. Hurry up with eating, gotta go to sleep early tonight for an early morning.”

Junil shoveled a spoonful of the stew into her mouth. She immediately coughed and gasped, almost tossing the spoon across the table.

“Ouch, hot! Hot!”

“Be careful, Junil. The soup is hot.”

“Would’ve been helpful if you told me that earlier!”

The two ate their meal in silence, the only sounds between them being the scraping of their spoons on the bowl and chewing.

Then, Ronn broke the silence.

“Perhaps we should return to New Frontierland.”

The Healer, who had been idly gazing out one of the windows, looked at Ronn.

“What?” she asked.

Ronn looked down at Junil. “Indeed, we may need to return.”

“Are we really returning to New Frontierland?” Junil asked. “After getting the tickets and everything to get here?”

“Yes,” the Hero replied. “We may be taking the incorrect approach in our search. However, I must elaborate when we are in our rooms. We cannot talk of the exact reasons in public.”

“...Okay,” Junil replied. She averted her gaze and scraped the last of the stew from the bottom of the bowl, spooning it into her mouth.

After the two finished with their meal, they filed away to the room they were staying in. Ronn had paid for the room alongside the meal, as they were staying the night at Grand Elm.

The moment the Hero closed the door into the room with two beds, Junil immediately leaped on her soft, animal pelt bed. She gave a tired groan and rolled herself in the sheets.

“The beds in the little Frontier town inns are so nice,” Junil said. “Compared to the bigger cities, it seems like you can’t get a decent room without paying a pretty penny...”

“Inns are a traveler’s first impressions of a town,” Ronn replied. He set down a lit candle by his bed’s nightstand. “A good night’s sleep is one way to incentivize people to return in the future.”

Junil gave a chuckle. “Must mean that the ones in the cities don’t want people to return... maybe they’re saying they’re full. ‘No, don’t come here anymore, we’re out of room!’ Or something like that...”

“I believe there are also economic reasons,” Ronn replied. “Inns on the outskirts are closer to fur trapping and wool resources. Those materials are likely not as expensive to obtain as in the cities, where craftsmen are also looking for high-quality materials.”

“Ronn, don’t talk about that anymore,” Junil said. “You might actually put me to sleep with that... And, well, we have privacy now. What was it you wanted to tell me earlier?”

Ronn sat down on his bed. “Our methodology is flawed.”

The Healer raised her head. “What?”

“Being out here has given us almost no leads to begin with,” the Hero continued. “And it stands to reason that the Second Coming may utilize the railway to reach New Frontierland first. One option we have is to return to the railway station in New Frontierland and vet everyone who comes aboard.”

Junil groaned.

“Ronn, you literally mentioned that earlier but discounted it because it’d be too obvious...”

“Indeed,” the Hero confirmed. “It would not be possible to do so discreetly. So, while it is an option, it is not one that I am willing to immediately utilize. Do you have any additional ideas?”

Junil placed a finger on her chin and peered at the ceiling, thinking for a moment.

“Well, General Forge is literally right here,” Junil said. “We could nab him right now. Unlike what you did in the War.”

“Are you referring to taking him into our custody?” Ronn asked.

“Yes,” the Healer stated, pointing her finger up. “Precisely.”

She paused for ten seconds, then frowned.

“I can tell already, you’re thinking of a rebuttal,” she continued.

“I already do have a reason; I am attempting to formulate the best way to deliver it to you.”

“Spit it out.”

“Alright,” Ronn said. “I am aware that you will not be satisfied with my answer. We will not be apprehending General Forge at this moment.”

The Healer was glaring at the Hero.

“And why is that?” she asked.

“He is not a priority. The Second Coming is. We cannot afford to delay this mission, as the Second Coming is a far more imminent threat than a General.”

The Healer rolled her eyes. “Again? This is the exact same thing that’s happened with the Demon Lord, y’know.”

“It is a matter of task prioritization,” Ronn replied. “Attempting to apprehend General Forge now would be troublesome, for a multitude of reasons. Not only would detaining him greatly hamper our current abilities, but it may alert the Second Coming that we are already aware of her presence.”

“But, look,” Junil retorted. “You said something similar when we were steamrolling towards the Demonfolk capital during the War. That we couldn’t go after any of the Demonfolk Generals because the Demon Lord took priority.”

“You have misinterpreted my intent. Defeating the Demon Lord and ending the War was a priority. The Generals, while important, were not.”

“And, of course, that meant we were only able to capture one of the four Generals, leaving the other three to run around and cause problems!”

The Hero sat down on his bed.

“We have not noticed any sizable movements of Demonfolk after the war has ended. The Generals have either fled the continent, or are lying low. Regardless, and I will insist on this, they are not a priority when compared to the Second Coming.”

“Alright. Whatever,” the Healer muttered. She tossed the bedsheets over her body. “You win, the Second Coming is more important.”

“You have additional ideas, Miss Junil?”

“I’ll sleep on it,” Junil said. “I’m exhausted after today.”

“This is a time-sensitive manner—” Ronn started, but Junil had already turned around in her sheets. He could see her body slightly rise up and down with her breathing as she began to snore.

Sitting down on his bed, the Hero sighed. “I suppose the rest can assist with the creation of new ideas.”

He should get some sleep, after all. Especially considering the all-nighter he had the prior night.