"Boy wake up!" They're almost here!” Rel shakes him firmly.

Ezer takes a few moments to process the information while half awake.

"Didn't you say I had a few more days!?" The dream vanished completely, he hurries to put on his clothes.

"I was wrong, we only have a few minutes now." Rel's relaxed aura vanished completely and perspiration showed on his forehead.

“Prepare your equipment and pack a lot of food, you're going to need it.”

Luckily they had already planned ahead, so everything he needed was gathered in a few minutes. Weapons, clothes, food and everything someone need to cross the mountains. Ezer quickly looks out the window and sees the sun beginning to show on the horizon.

"Boy, there's no time, you have to go now." Ezer finishes tying his boots and walks out of the cabin.

They both take a moment and face each other with a solemn look.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me so far.” Ezer produces a salute from the nobility showing his genuine gratitude.

"Thank me when we meet again and pay your debt." At that moment he takes out a black dagger and hands it to Ezer.

Ezer hesitates for a moment, but accepts it and can't help but say the words that have been on his mind from the moment he met Rel.

"Why did you help me back then?" Why do you keep helping me?” He always wanted to ask him, but something held him back and prevented him from doing so until now.

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"I did it for a friend. A friend to whom I owe a lot.” Deep emotions were reflected in his words involuntarily.

Ezer understood that he couldn't deepen any further into the subject, so he restrains his own curiosity and undoes the questions his answer prompted.

“You will reach the mountains in a day if you go at a good pace. I'll try to distract them as much as I can, but I'm not promising anything.” Rel holds out his hand to say goodbye.

Ezer doesn't shake it, instead he lunges and hugs Rel as hard as he can, who widens his surprised eyes for a moment, but then a smile spreads across his face.

“By the way, my full name is Relen.” He says it as he returns the hug.

The gesture only lasts a few seconds until they separate and Ezer turns his back to him with his forehead towards the mountains.

“Goodbye, Relen."

“Goodbye, Ezer.”

---------------------------

"I don't think that's a good idea. Just the two of us, it's too dangerous.” He smoothes his long, greasy hair as he holds a butcher knife in one hand.

“Pff… I know these woods like the back of my hand. If I don't want to meet a beast, I don´t, and if I want to I find it, it's that simple. You just have to look for the child.” Or carried an ax on his back and walked with difficulty due to his obesity.

“Anyway, we have to avoid the soldiers.” He was a bit nervous and it showed in his voice.

“You're right about that, I don't want them to take away my credit. They should be at that hunter's house by now so let's search other areas.”

The sun climbed the sky gradually warming the atmosphere, the forest and the animals began to move.

"Don't you think we're too close to the mountains?" I heard that the closer you are to them, the more ferocious the beasts are.

“Exactly, if I were the child I would hide where no one would dare to go. But we are different, smarter than others, right? Perspiration dripped all over his body and his breathing was agitated.

"Yes, yes... but I think it's very dangerous."

“It's 50 gold coins, don't forget that.”

"Yes, yes, but... what is that?" Brushing his hair out of the eyes, he tries to see into the distance.

“What thing?” Or follows his partner's gaze trying to figure out what he means.

Ahead, the ground dropped and then rose again. With firm and quick steps someone was crossing the forest in front of his eyes.

“That's not...?”

“Yes, that hair... just as the poster describes it.”

With a smile, he pulls out the ax he had on his back. At that moment all traces of tiredness seem to vanish from his face and only the obsession with money remains.