I had a stroll around the Mage District," Jess answered Grit's question while tearing off another piece of bread.
His rented quarters in the small building were just around the corner; if Grit called him out for drinks and to stay overnight, he definitely couldn't agree.
In fact, he didn't want to agree to anything right now, nor did he wish to entertain Grit. He just wanted to rush into his shabby little room and take a quick nap. With all the tribulations he had been through, he felt he could fall asleep at any moment.
Grit sized him up and murmured softly, "The Mage District? Look at you, you look like you've been wrung out, I'd think you went to the Old Town if I didn't know any better."
Jess poked Grit in the chest with the baguette he'd been nibbling on and muttered, "I'm not you, just spit it out, what do you want?"
Grit glanced at the workers lying on both sides and whispered, "Of course, there's work to be done."
"I can't, no way," Jess waved his hands and said: "I can't do anything today."
"Tomorrow, a trip to Westfall Fortress, one silver coin plus 30 coppers for a round trip. You don't have to drive yourself, just sit in the carriage, and you can sleep through the afternoon."
"An escort of food?"
"Army rations, from Moonbrook, to be delivered to Lakeshire, needed by the garrison of Nethergarde Keep... The situation near the Dark Portal seems quite complicated, looks like a battle is brewing. But we only need to escort to Goldshire, no need to worry about safety with the soldiers around."
"What if there's an orc ambush? Want to lose your life over a silver coin?"
"Westfall Fortress? No orcs there. Save those worries for another time!" The dwarf climbed up the stairs, adding, "Orcs all come from the Redridge Mountains side, Westfall and Moonbrook's security is stronger than us here, my brother. Plus, with the soldiers but, it's easy money!"
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"That's not too bad."
Jess smiled wearily, with that silver coin, rent would be well taken care of.
The next day at noon, both men signed up and joined the convoy heading to Westfall Fortress.
Just as Grit had said, they encountered nothing on the way there - neither wolves, murlocs, gnolls, nor orcs, nothing at all, the Elwynn Forest was peaceful and calm.
However, the rations that should have arrived at the fortress around 3 pm got delayed for hours.
In the evening, the red sunset poured through the trees onto the tents camped near Westfall Fortress, tinting the riverside camp like recently baked pudding cakes.
When the wagon finally arrived, the quartermaster spoke with the soldiers; there seemed to have been some trouble near Sentinel Hill.
There was no time to wait. The hired guards and soldiers quickly donned their armor and grabbed their weapons. It was already late, and they had to set off promptly.
The escort had six fully armed soldiers, equipped with longswords and the Stormwind lion crested shields, wearing fearsome blue plume nasal helms that looked incredibly expensive.
And if you add about twenty recruited militiamen like Jess and Grit to the mix, even a sane marauder wouldn't dare to interfere over a few carts of rations.
However, the returning vehicle carried no cargo and the soldiers had to walk back, and everyone was in a somewhat slack mood.
A few greenhorns who were on their first escort mission were discussing the gray wolves and wild bears in the forest, speculating that these beasts, when starved, might frenzy and attack the convoy. Jess had faced off with some wolves while logging in Eastvale Logging Camp but had never been in real combat.
Listening to them, he also felt a shiver when he looked towards the forest.
Before, his mind was filled with the painful curse he experienced in the slaughtered lamb's basement; he hadn't given much thought to what the name "Westfall Fortress" implied.
It was then that a lone wolf howl emerged from deep within the woods, and the quartermaster sounded his whistle, signaling everyone to prepare for departure.
That wolf howl suddenly roused memories from Jess's past.
This place... wasn't this Westfall Fortress, notorious for its gnoll infestations?
Gnolls are a widely spread humanoid monster species within the Kingdom of Stormwind, many young people cannot tell the difference between gnolls and kobolds.
If kobolds are considered a band of utterly rotten thieves, then gnolls are a group of bloodthirsty bandits. The two can't be compared in terms of size, combat ability, or ferocity.
Several gnoll tribes had once banded together and waged war-level conflict with the Kingdom of Stormwind.
Although they ultimately couldn't face the kingdom's regular army and were scattered in defeat to the surrounding mountains and wilds, after decades of recovery, these savage and violent semi-intelligent species made a comeback, infiltrating the Elwynn Forest from various directions, crossing rivers, and over bridges.
Westfall Fortress was still in its post-war reconstruction phase, but a decade later, it became the outpost against the Riverpaw gnoll tribe living in the Westfall.
Jess jogged a few steps and caught up with a Stormwind guard, asking, "Were the grain carts ever attacked by gnolls before?"
The guard tilted his head and replied, "Gnolls? A few years ago, when the Horde attacked Westfall, they killed a leader of their Riverpaw tribe; without a chief, they just can't organize themselves to harass us anymore. Of course, don't go near the riverbank alone; it's still very dangerous."