The bald farmer was chatting with Ferguson at the exact same bench they had left him at, though he didn't seem very pleased with the poor guide. Upon seeing the group's arrival, Ferguson stood up immediately.

"Boy, am I glad to see you're all still in one piece! Did everything go well?", he asked in a hopeful tone.

"...we killed all five crawlers and brought their heads as proof in the bag Sharmon is carrying.", he said.

"Really!? That's awesome...! You'd think one would be happier after a successful mission."

Nero's eyes turned to the farmer, who was looking at him with a rather grim expression on his face. He probably saw it coming already.

Nero took a deep breath, which despite the smell of the bad he felt he needed.

"...we've also brought the remains of your farmhand. We found them at the cave."

"These remains are all we found when we were exploring the cave. We're sorry.", said Araven in an uncharacteristically distant tone.

The middle-aged farmer closed his eyes for a moment.

"May the divine bless his soul...", he murmured, then opened his eyes again. "Thank you, students."

Sharmon took a step forward and gave him the bag.

"You may do as you see fit with these.", he simply said. The farmer nodded at him.

"Please, wait here. I'll be back in a few minutes."

The farmer took the bag with him and called for his two farmhands to accompany him. They all walked down the road and went out of sight for a while.

"Ferguson. Have you found out anything useful regarding the plague?", Sharmon asked.

"The plague...? Ah, you see, I was trying to get some info on that, but I didn't have too much time. You all must have taken two hours at most. Also... the people here aren't exactly thrilled to see me, but he did let on that there's a... what we call a Plague Bringer further south."

"What's a Plague Bringer...? I mean, I get an idea from the name, but can you give us any details?", said Nero.

"They're horrible monsters.", said Ferguson.

"You mean like the ones we just killed an hour ago?", asked Araven.

His clothes were still dirty with the crawler's dried blood. So were Sharmon's for that matter; the only one who still looked more or less clean -if only a little bit dusty- was Nero.

"No, I mean actual, terrible creatures, not some wild animals. They are made of a kind of... black goo, or something. They have bright green eyes, big mouths that they bite and chew people and animals with, and leave trails of their ooze everywhere, contaminating everything they pass through. These are the most common known ways for the Plague to spread in Armorica, and everywhere that looks like it's starting to heal, they appear to prevent that from happening."

Araven frowned and crossed his arms.

"I've never heard of a creature like this. What's it even made of...?"

"Nobody knows. You can't kill those things. People either run away or die... or worse, get contaminated."

"What happens when an individual gets contaminated?", Araven's eyes narrowed.

"...they die and then raise again as a corpse."

"A zombie.", said Nero.

Ferguson nodded.

"We call them "infested" here, but it's just another word for the same thing."

Araven paced left to right and left to right again, deep in thought.

"Necromancy...?", he murmured.

"That has been studied, but results were inconclusive.", said Ferguson.

"What studies? I need to know more about this."

"I... I'm sorry, I don't have the details."

"You must procure these for us.", said Sharmon.

Ferguson scratched the back of his hair.

"I'll try..."

"Oh, looks like they're back.", said Nero.

Herbert and his farmhands were returning without the bag.

"Thank you for waiting.", he said; the other two farmhands went back to their duties on the fields nearby.

"Don't worry. We took the chance to discuss our investigation here. I presume... you gave your friend a proper burial?"

The farmer nodded at Araven.

"That boy said your name was Sharmon, right?", he asked the sorcerer.

"Indeed."

"Thank you again for your help, lads. My name is Herbert. We're about to serve lunch, won't you all join us?"

The boys looked at Ferguson, who crossed his arms in thought.

"I don't think the inn is expecting us to be back before dinner, so it should be fine."

Was the food going to be fine, though?

Yeah, probably not, but they had to eat something. It was at times like these that Nero sort of envied Sharmon for not needing sustenance of any kind; a sorcerer not chained to common mortal troubles was almost something he wished he could become.

Then, he remembered how Sharmon was in terms of character, and his wish soon vanished.

Herbert got up slowly and beckoned his other two farmers, who were tending to the fields very close to the road, and guided the group towards the small farmhouse located some twenty yards to the south of the small fields. It was mostly made of stone with a thatched roof and square open windows.

"Nelly, do you need help with anything?", he said as soon as he stepped in.

"For the millionth time, Herbert, no. Just sit down."

A very short and very round lady was stirring what appeared to be stew. It honestly didn't smell that bad... though that may have been the contrast between this and the cave's aroma doing most of the work.

"The students from the College are back, and I invited them over to have lunch with us. They took care of the crawlers, can you believe it?"

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The lady turned around and looked at the group -especially Sharmon- with suspicious eyes.

"No, I don't believe it.", she turned around and kept stirring.

"They brought their heads in a bag, and they also brought Nico's remains. They found him in the crawler's nest."

"Hm.", she said in a tone that could only be described as "okay, but I'm still not impressed."

Funny, Nelly's tone and attitude made Nero think she sounded almost exactly like Sharmon.

"We can procure ourselves our lunch back at Trena if you feel like you don't have room for us.", said Araven.

"Sit down. It's almost done.", the lady said. Araven stared at her but she didn't turn back.

Nero gave him a look and they both headed towards the long wooden table, sitting in front of Herbert and the other two farmhands.

"What are your names again?", asked one of them.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Nero, this here is Araven, the man in black is Sharmon, and that over there is Ferguson, he's our guide."

The group's guide smiled and waved at the farmers, but they both replied with rather sinister stares.

"My name's Reo.", said one of them.

"And I'm Pohl."

"Yeah, nice to meet you."

"I heard Herbert say you killed all the crawlers? How'd you do that? No disrespect, but you're a buncha kids."

Araven pointed at Sharmon, who was leaning against the stone wall, with his thumb.

"He did most of the work."

Both farmers turned around.

"What're you doing over there? Come sit with us.", they said.

Sharmon raised his palm and shook his head slowly.

The farmers frowned.

"...you can just ignore him. He's not a normal person, he's my summoned familiar.", said Nero.

"Your what?", asked Reo.

Crap. These people had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"...sorry, I got ahead of myself," laughed Nero, "Araven and I are being tested by the College of Mages. If we do well they'll accept us as students. Sharmon over there is... kind of like a magic spell I cast. He helps us fight and stuff.", Nero grossly oversimplified things in an attempt to more or less explain the situation to them.

Both Pohl and Reo turned around and looked at the sorcerer again.

"...he doesn't need to eat, is what I'm trying to say."

"Huh. He can talk, though, right?", said Pohl, still looking at Sharmon.

"Yeah."

"...magic is something I'll never fully understand.", Reo commented.

Nero didn't blame him; he himself barely had any idea of what he had done or who the hell Sharmon was, for that matter.

"Well, it healed my leg, I can understand that much.", laughed Herbert, giving Araven a grateful smile.

"Oh, yeah, we heard about it. You did that?", they asked the blonde.

"Nero is trying to become a summoner mage, and I want to be a medic.", he nodded.

Nelly placed six stew bowls with their respective spoons on the table, then brought some clay cups and finally poured some... black drink on the cups. It didn't smell bad, but... what the hell was it? Anyway, she sat next to Herbert and everyone got ready to eat.

"Before that, let us offer a quick prayer for Nico. Nelly?"

"Yes.", everyone at the table closed their eyes; Nero and Araven also followed out of respect, "Winged divines, we thank you for another day, and we beg you to carry the soul of our dear Nicolai to your realm. Please welcome him, please tell him that we love him, please tell him that we'll miss him, and tell him we are grateful to have known him. Let him share the divine realm with you. We will share in our meal with our new friends, who brought Nicolai back for us to bury. We thank you, divine ones."

"Thank you.", said the others.

Araven and Sharmon said nothing. The first one probably didn't know the prayer, and if Nero had to guess, the second one didn't care.

Nero grabbed a spoonful, blew it and took it to his mouth. He had many things in his mind, but was also hungry, so first thing first...

Chomp.

Hmm. Not too salty. A little bit of meat. Mostly vegetables. Lots of spices.

"...it's good.", he said.

"Yeah? You like it? It's nothing fancy like what they serve at the College Magic.", she said those exact words.

"No bread is stale when you're hungry.", smiled Araven; the farmers laughed.

"I didn't know that one. I'll remember it.", said Pohl.

The drink was also... okay. It didn't taste nearly as bad as it looked but rather had a slightly bitter aftertaste...

"I've never had this. What's it made of?", asked Nero.

Hopefully not Plague Bringer goo.

"This is herb syrup. We boil water and then cook the mashed herbs in it, then cool it. It's about the only thing you can drink here without getting sick."

To hell with the taste, then. All things considered, if it was safe to have, then that was already good enough for Nero.

"So, um... Herbert," said Ferguson, trying to not mind the uncomfortable glaring he got, "the boys wanted to know if there is any information you can give us regarding the Plague around here. Have you had any trouble with that?"

"The Plague? It's everywhere. You government buffoons don't know that?", he asked rather brashly.

"Ah, yes, of course..."

"Herbert...", Nelly warned him.

The man shook his head and kept eating.

"What... what I'm trying to say is, these students-to-be wish to study the Plague."

"Study? Forget about it.", said Reo.

"Why?", asked Nero.

"There's nothing you can do about that. It's everywhere: in the waters, in the plants, in the animals, even in the air, probably. How long are you staying in Armorica?", asked Pohl.

"Um... about a week? Today's our first morning here; we arrived last night."

"Good. Wash yourselves nice and good when you get home, and don't come back here."

Herbert gave Pohl a meaningful glare.

"...not like we don't like you, I'm saying this for your own good.", he hurried to clarify.

"We appreciate your concern deeply; that being said, we are here to prove ourselves useful to you. Let us at least try to do something.", Araven insisted.

"Something like what?", asked Reo.

"...we don't know. For that reason, we want to investigate the Plague, see if we can find any information, any clues."

"You sayin' you wanna clean the Plague!?", asked Nelly in disbelief.

"I should like to try.", nodded Araven.

Silence.

Then, the table burst out in laughter. The only farmer who didn't laugh was Herbert.

"I'm sorry, sunshine. Look at you, so young, so handsome, so dashing. No, don't do it. You'll ruin your beauty.", said Nelly.

Wow, even in front of her own husband...

Herbert cleaned his mustache with a handkerchief and looked at Araven.

"We'll tell the Governor you did an amazing job here, and it won't be a lie; you got rid of the crawler problem, which was grave enough. You know why, you saw it yourselves.", he gave them a meaningful look.

He was talking about Nico. Something about him made Nero feel death wasn't an uncommon thing at all in Armorica, hence the quick burial, maybe a prayer, and then back to work...

Shit, it pissed him off.

Nero forced himself to keep eating to distract himself from these thoughts. The more he ate the stew, the more he liked it, by the way.

The rest of the lunch was pretty enjoyable, and after a while the group decided it was time to move along.

"Where are you going now?", asked Nelly.

"We came from up north, and we'll keep heading south in the same direction to see if there are any more animals we can take care of.", said Nero.

Kinda true? But mostly a lie. They would go looking for clues on the Plague. If they ran into any hostile animals... then yeah, sure, away with them.

"I see. Be very careful. And if you see a black animal that it's made of some black oil, don't fight it. Just run away.", said Herbert.

"We'll remember your warning. Thanks for your hospitality.", said Nero.

Herbert shook his head.

"No, again, thank you for everything. I know it's not much, but you're welcome here at our farm anytime. You're free to visit whenever you want, and even spend the night if you want to. We'll get beds and food and drinks ready for you."

"Much appreciated. Take care of yourselves as well.", smiled Araven politely.

"Then... see ya.", Ferguson offered him a quick, almost apologetic bow.

Sharmon nodded at him, and the four of them resumed their walk further south, leaving the farm behind.

"I wanted to insist, but I found no way to convince him to share info on the Plague without bothering him...", said Araven, once they'd gotten out of their sight.

"I get it. You tried, man."

"I'll try to dig info on the plague tonight after dinner. Maybe I can ask the innkeeper, since he's working with us...", said Ferguson pensively.

"Working with us?", asked Nero.

"With the government, I mean. We have an arrangement with him, and he facilitates our work."

"Ah. Fair."

"Yeah. He's bound to know, or to know someone who knows. I think we should just look around for today and not expect much."

"If you see something particularly affected by this Plague, I would like you to tell me, Ferguson, so I may examine it. Just give me any appropriate precautions and I'll follow them."

"Don't touch anything directly if you don't know what it is would be the appropriate precaution around here."

"I'll keep that in mind.", he laughed.

And with that, the group began their exploration of the wild lands.