I then suggest you stay low. The mercenaries ought to leave before nightfall, if this is a chance meeting she says.

Come, I want to show you something Lidia adds and takes you back to that cabbage field at the southern edge of Greenbelt.

Between the Echoing War, campaign against the Demon King, and the general fallout, the Church is as busy as ever. She opens a creaking door of the cabbage garden. And I'm tired of battles. Therefore, I'm focusing on the fallout. I've donated my share of loot and became a baker's apprentice. I feed the poor of Perish now. That also means I’m very close to Greenbelt. We can visit each other, won’t that be swell?

Lidia makes a few calculated strides across the field so as not to disturb the vegetables. She approaches an old, slim outhouse - barely distinguishable from the surrounding brush due to the moss covering it.

And there it is! she motions to the outhouse. Ta-da!

You observe the outhouse. You got to go?

What, no! Ew, Veil, that’s not why we are here. This outhouse is in fact a…

Before Lidia could finish, two insect-like creatures burst forth from the cabbage field. The dirt seeps from their ox-sized chitinous bodies. They turn toward you and Lidia, click their powerful mandibles, and lunge forward.

You don’t panic as hulking insects lunge at Lidia and yourself. You crouch low, pulling Lidia with you. You maintain an eye contact of steel, no blinking, yet no challenge. It’s a fine line, made all the finer by the virtue of creatures’ soulless, composite eyes.

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We are not food. Neither are we foes you mutter to yourself.

The creatures stop a finger’s width from your face. They emit a strong, earthly smell of deep soil. A yellow liquid trickles down their mandibles and burns through the cabbage heads it drips on. After a few long moments, the insect duo starts roving in the fenced field and consuming the cabbage.

Before long, half of the cabbage was missing. As the larger of two consumes the leafy vegetables, the smaller one turns to the outhouse. It starts chewing on its moss, before taking a crunchy bite out of the moist wood.

Dying Dhossor, ohh no, please no Lidia snaps through her teeth The outhouse. It belongs to my Church!

Why does your Church own random outhouses? Actually, why are you telling this to me now?

Stop it, Veil! Listen! It’s a portal to Perish. But I won’t be able to use it if that Abyss-spawned ant snacks on it! She looks at you pleadingly. Without it, it’s a day’s ride on a horse from Perish to here. Are you fine with that?

You do quick mental math. There are responsibilities that come with portals. One of them is guarding it, since you never know what passenger the portal might bring to this side. Not to mention, using it might put you or Lydia in debt with Church of Dhossor. You don’t want that paralysis leverage over you. Not now.

A day of riding is acceptable you affirm meekly.

A crashing sound of wood splintering.

The larger monster finished eating all the cabbage while the smaller one used its massive weight and strength to knock the outhouse down. After, it quickly shrunk the wooden structure to ¾ of its original size, then ½, and finally to nothingness.

The monsters burrow away. Where a cabbage field was, you now see a pock-marked, twisted mess. Where the enchanted outhouse stood, an empty latrine pit now took its place.

Lidia shrugs. I should leave for Perish. It's a long ride now that the portal is gone. And you should certainly report this to the mayor or the guard captain.

You bid your farewells and decide to see the major. This means heading back to Newstone Square where Quateria is…