The tavern slowly began to empty with the advancement of celestial bodies orbiting around, time was passing and the small hours of the night approached. Bave, Kal, and Koh were one of the last guests to leave 'Tava', and similar to many others – the hunters were slightly tipsy.

The breeze outside splashed their faces with the gentle swoop of air upon stepping out of the tavern. Their lungs filled with the smell of the ocean and the well-distributed fragrance of linden. It made them briefly close their eyes and enjoy the momentum.

The linden trees were sacred for Balhkara, symbolizing fidelity, peace, and justice. Udeos was quite prominent for its linden abundance, in fact, Udeos people were known as the protectors of the sacred tree. Many rituals took place around the beginning of the Autumn to celebrate the end of the Linden Season.

The linden tea was another thing anyone from Udeos could pride himself, or herself, in. The city was a mass-producer of linden tea and the dried flowers could be bought at any time from any shop although its price had risen for the past few years. It was the Kingdom's policy changes that had driven many linden producers to suffer.

However, despite the changes, the selling of linden tea has not dropped. The plant was known for its healing effects and it was a must for any herbalist's collection.

The three hunters strolled down the pathway, though Kal was swinging from side to side his mind clear as spring water. The men spent a minute or so in silence, looking around and enjoying every corner of their home currently bathed in the dim moonlight.

Trees, old houses with windows darkened, for everyone was asleep; closed taverns and shops – the quiet of the night reigned. Now and then they could hear the tree leaves rustle or the tapping sounds of rodents when they ran across the streets to hide away in bushes whilst mosquitoes feasted on the men's flesh.

Sweet home.

"Say Bave…", Kal hiccupped as slowed his pace, "Are you not surprised by what Jena told us?"

Koh was also curious to hear the answer, as both of them noticed how calm Bave was from whatever they discussed at the tavern. In fact, it seemed to them that he already knew.

They could bet that even Jena noticed how composed he appeared, and if they didn't know him that well – they'd think he was just simply indifferent, and no man from Balhkara could appear indifferent when it came to the Tulo clan.

"I am surprised.", Bave briefly said yet his voice sounded a bit too weak for one of the best captains in the hunter world. One could say that he was either too tired of the long journey or too tired to think about a possible long journey.

"Mmmm…", Kal completely brought his steps to a halt and turned to look at Bave, suspicious of his behavior change lately.

"It seems to me…", his speech interrupted by another hiccup,"…that you knew about it!"

"I knew about the Nominalia, you are right.", his answer even calmer than before as he halted his steps as well. His deep black gaze was completely submerged in the darkness of the night but Kal was too tipsy to try and read his friend's eyes.

"What…wait…", Koh took over, faster to react than Kal was in general, although Kal's questions entangled with his then and there.

"How come you knew? No-wait, forget about that… why  did you not tell us?"

"Well…", Bave looked to the side, a bit embarrassed that he had to say it himself,

"You know… both of you finally made it back home, you have families who are starved for your attention…Whilst I am pretty much on my own and have nothing else to do…", his chuckle rolled dry, unable to mask his awkwardness.

Koh and Kal both signed audibly, such a relief. A peal of soft laughter followed as both of them realized how tense they were to hear Bave's answer. It wasn't that they have forgotten the main question – how did he know about it, but it was a relief that their friend was not conspiring.

His attitude was honest enough. Besides, it was not unheard-of conspiring members in the Association. People truly changed once money, fame or power were to be involved.

"Bave…you idiot. Sometimes I am surprised how can you be both so wise and so silly.", Koh rested his palms on each side of his hips as Kal reached to pinch Bave's cheek like a father would do.

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"Ah ah ah…Kal! Wh-What are you doing!?", the young man tilted his head in an attempt to avoid the cheek-pinching.

"Our lil' precious Bave worried about these old men here, huh?", his pinching was rather like his own way of punishing Bave. It even started stinging with a bright red bruise forming around the pinched area.

"Listen Bave, we are hunters."

"We are hunters.", Koh repeated, and there was some sort of pride in all that.

For the past ten years, these men have retrieved hundreds of lost artifacts, restored bridges to connect villages, helped people guard their crops against bandits, hunted criminals, and even saved children from the slave market.

They had a damn solid reason to be proud.

"I know…I just…", Bave hesitated briefly whilst his palm rubbed the rouge bruise against his cheek, his eyes cleared up from darkness as the faint Crescent rays reached between the tree crowns.

"This time it might be a bit different."

"What do you mean?", Koh inched closer, so the men could form a circle, pretty aware that this was not the appropriate time and place to discuss it but he had to ask.

Bave on its own accord decided that there was no sensitive information that could threaten them even if someone was eavesdropping in the shades of the night.

"Before we departed from the city of Rakuah, just shortly after we completed our mission, I received a letter in the guesthouse we were staying at."

"A letter?", Kal started sobering up as his curiosity was picked.

"Rather, an invitation for a possible mission. However, the mission was never mentioned. The only requirement to qualify for it was to retrieve the Nominalia from Luse's borders. The letter was not signed, nor instructed what to do after we retrieve it. That was all it said – 'Retrieve'."

Bave reached for his chest, his hand nudging between the layers of his clothing to take out the letter from his inner pocket.

Kal reached for it and Koh leaned closer whilst impatiently waiting for his teammate to unfold the paper and read along the lines. The only clue, which they were pretty sure Bave caught on, was that the letter was written in a particular Balhkaran dialect from the West part of the Kingdom.

Once they saw the proof, they looked up at Bave who was nervously waiting for his friends' reaction.

"You'd been the dumbest man alive if you took off on your own. You can't risk your life and jump into some crazy scheme that possibly involves a play of high ranks. Whoever sent the letter probably did a proper investigation on us."

Koh looked at his teammates and felt slightly endangered which was detectable in his tone. His first thought was about his family and then any relative of his.

What if that, indeed, was a mission different from the ones they had before? What if they never returned from that mission?

"Moreover, think about it…say that we retrieve the book… you do know that we have no way to contact that person. We don't even know when they will contact us whilst we have to guard such an important artifact. It could take a week, months, or even years before we are contacted. I do not think the Association of Hunters Bar was meant to be involved in this, which is the scary part."

Kal laid the plain facts forth.

"I know, I know…if they wanted us to be officially hired, they had to contact the Association.", Bave reached for the bridge of his nose and pinched it lightly between his index finger and thumb.

A brief silence roamed the streets and the men stilled. Was it truly worth it? So, what if the book disappeared? Tulo clan was already long gone, there was no meaning behind some book.

Moreover, if it was a portion of such a history that was bitter to remember, for it no longer can return – it might be actually better to abandon it.

People no longer wanted to hear about any type of ruling class, some even hated the fact that the great Tulo just went ahead and died, leaving despair behind. Many cursed them to the pits of Hell whilst others begged in misery for their return. Such a book could only bring disturbance.

Koh sighed deeply and rubbed his palms vigorously into his face.

"Whatever! I don't care much about the book but somewhat my blood is boiling from the thought of it being smuggled so easily."

"My words exactly!", Kal agreed,

"I don't want to abandon the honor and dignity such a clan once taught us. If it wasn't for them, Balhkara would have been long destroyed. We all know from our grandparents about the wars that Tulo won, and the price they paid for every single corner of this land."

Bave smiled faintly, he knew that his friends were making a choice. They chose a book over their good time, possibly a good time, at the Rose Festival.

Unmistaken, he was. If these men met a true King, they'd serve him well. The young hunter out-stretched his hand for a fist-bump, beckoning his teammates to join him for another mission.

"Count on me man…", Kal pressed his knuckles into Bave's.

"No way to leave you both on your own, what would you do without my cooking skills?", Koh laughed and joined the fist-bump.

"Don't look back…", Bave smiled brightly as he began a sentence, a sentence they usually used as a sign of promise before any mission they were to take on.

"Even if you are to lose…", Kal followed the next part of the sentence with his eyes slid close in pleasant drunkenness that warmed his heart along with the thought of a pledged vow they used before a mission.

"Even if you are to die…", Koh looked down at their adjoined fists and smiled.

"Don't take it back.", Bave's voice wavered a bit, but not because of uncertainty. His voice represented that gut feeling he had.

This mission meant something personal, even gave a bit of hope that something could happen. Something could change.

Their vow was perfect for such a mission – not to look back to past decisions they made as any might have been wrong but once they regretted – they were done for it. Even if they were to lose a battle, to lose something precious, even if they were to die – they could not take back what was given.

Such a vow was like a thrown stone – you could not retrieve it. Hence, spoken words were like thrown stones.