“There it is, just opposite side of the river.” Klem point at the village from afar. It is a big quiet village, it has a big square and sturdy looking buildings made of the native birch wood that grows near the water. The village stretches along the river on its eastern side and has a big round square in the middle, many market stalls stand still but it looks quite empty. It could be the hour, they think, it’s already the afternoon and the sun will set soon, there are also older looking outposts and walls surrounding it.

“We can ask the church if there’s room for us to stay.” Gregory naively states.

“I don’t think it has a church.” Klem tells him.

“No church? That must be wrong, is there no noble looking after this place?”

“It used to be a military camp in the past, now it’s… well, this.”

“We can stay at an inn or something, how much should it cost?” Fren asks.

“Oh yeah, you got a huge reward, ten rocks, right?” Gregory remembers correctly.

“Ten rocks?! With that much money you could live at the inn.” Klem is very surprised, he was only offered a couple dozen pebbles for the round trip. They do make a little noise while walking around the village, the villagers around them gossip around them in a wary way, the group doesn’t notice but the villagers are a bit afraid, Fren might look like a hired thug with his getup and his sword.

“Where are y’all going might I ask?” A guard stops them, he has dirty blond hair and a bushy handlebar mustache, his guard gear includes metal shin and wrist guards and a yellow shirt with a symbol of two spears and he has chainmail underneath. He holds a spear and has a stern look. Behind him are two younger guards with brown hair and similar attire.

“You must be a guard, say, do you have a church around here?” Gregory walks forward to ask the man, he gives Gregory a suspicious look.

“A priest? My name is Carola and I’m the guard captain. You might want to tell your buddy here not to cause any trouble, we have plenty of trouble with the Damians already.” He nods toward Fren.

“Oh, he’s an adventurer, we were actually attacked by Damians on the way here.” Gregory explains.

“They took my horse!” Klem shoves something into the conversation too.

Carola thinks for a moment, he looks at the hole in Klems shirt, in the upper sleeve, with blood. With a brief look he can understand it must be a wound healed by the priest, thinking that he decides to step away and let them go.

“Is there a nice inn for us to stay in? We have the money.”

“Huh? Might go there, “ Carola points in a direction beyond the square. “It’s called the Linden Inn. Guy works there with his wife.”

“We also met a girl ranger, she had an eye patch. She helped us and I want to thank her.” Fren probably said that to get directions, thinking she’s from the village or something.

“A girl with an eye patch? You met her?” Carola asks in surprise. “You better stay away from her, she has red eyes. A demoness, and she also used to be with the Damians.”

“No she helped us.” he continues but Carola turns away and walks off, probably for other guardly duties.

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“Come on, it’s over there.” Gregory tells Fren who still looks at the guards, trying to make eye contact with the other younger guards but they avoid him and walk off with Carola.

“She’s not a demoness, she helped us.”

“Must be someone else then. He probably knows lots of feral girls with an eyepatch and a bow. We can ask again in the morning.”

“There must be a mistake,” Fren thinks out loud.

When they make it to the inn it’s already twilight, the inn looks closed, even when they enter through the door to find a small reception room with stairs it looks empty. A chalk board behind the desk with erased prices and a doorway to a different room.

“Maybe they aren’t-” Fren doesn’t finish his sentence.

“I’m telling you it’s the doorbell Shaila, there are customers.” A man’s voice comes from upstairs and the sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs accompanies it.

“There are no travelers coming, who could it be who… Ahh hello! Customers! Dear, there really are customers.” A woman in her thirties in a plain brown yellow dress finds herself shocked seeing Fren and company when walking downstairs. She quickly walks over to the counter and pretends she’s not surprised at all. The man in an apron and plain clothes stands on top of the stairs and looks with a smile.

“Hello, are you open?”

“Yes! Yes! We’re open, would you like to stay? Are you staying? How long?” she nervously asks a series of questions. Gregory walks in “We need only to stay the night.”

“Won’t you stay for breakfast in the morning? My husband is a great cook!”

“Well, we do have food packed already. Just one room for the night.”

“Alright, it’s six silver pebbles per night.”

“SIX? Six pebbles, are you trying to swindle us?” Klem shouts indoors.

“Five without breakfast.” She replies quietly.

“Shaila!” The man up the stairs calls her name, but she doesn’t answer.

“This is a shakedown!” Klem accuses the woman loudly and angrily.

“Shaila, give them a break, they are travelers, this one is a priest.” The man on the stairs calls her again, he doesn’t feel right with the marked up price.

“We need it dear, it's the end of the month tomorrow and the Damians will be back, you remember what they did last time.” Shaila whispers to her husband, but everyone can hear clearly.

Klem understands the situation and feels conflicted, Gregory also feels bad about it.

“Here’s six pebbles, we’ll take the breakfast.” Fren steps in, the man is shocked and his wife finds it odd but is quick to accept it.

“Thank you, a room with tree beds is upstair, my husband can help you find it.”

They walk upstairs and follow the man who leads them to their room, Gregory unpacks his bag but the man stops Fren for a moment and whispers. “Listen, I’m sorry, last time the Damian bandits came they beat me up, my wife is still scared but… I don’t feel fair charging you this much. The Damians will come tomorrow so don’t stay in late, alright?” The man then tries to put 3 silver pebbles in Fren’s hand, but Fren keeps his hands.

“I think I will stay in late any way, I have something I want to ask the bandits myself.” Fren replies and shoves the man’s hand back to him. The man understands Fren doesn’t want the money back, and thanks him. “By the way, do you know of a woman with an eye patch and a red eye?”

“A woman with an eye patch and a red eye? You mean… you shouldn’t mess with her.”

“What do you know about her?”

“She’s… I shouldn’t say.” but he finds Fren’s stare not willing to relent. “She used to live in the village, then she joined in with the Damians, all of this was a few years back.”

“Where did she live?”

“Southern side, next to the watermill. I can tell you’re an adventurer, but why even get involved in this?”

“We ran into the Damians on the road when she stepped in to help.”

“She helped you? So you want to thank the demon?”

“It’s not just that. I got a short look at her, but it was enough to see. she had a sad look.”