The Friend

"The journey has been exhausting, young master. You need to rest!"

As Lord Mel's most loyal and trusted steward, and the leader of this trade caravan,

Hus was duty-bound to look after his young master and let him enjoy the journey in peace.

But Explosive Wolf had no interest in playing house with nobles:

"Sure. Once you're dead, you can rest for the rest of your life."

Offended, Hus furrowed his brow:

"Mercenary, we're your employers!"

"So it's my crew that's missing people, not yours!"

Explosive Wolf grabbed Hus by the collar, spittle nearly spraying onto his respectable face.

"Listen, we do the job we're paid for. If someone goes missing or dies, that's just bad luck.

But if you know there's danger and still drag your feet, you're practically volunteering to get yourselves killed.

I'm not getting buried because of your stupidity!"

So some unforeseen incident had forced the caravan to hurry, exposing the plan...

Tang Qi couldn't expect the Goddess of Fortune to favor him forever.

All he could do was consider how to adapt to the situation now that it had come to this:

"Anger's a blade that takes your life,

It digs at every quarrel with all its might;

Refuse pointless chatter and fights,

And take reason's remedy tonight."

Tang Qi's song slipped between their quarrel, like water suddenly doused over a brazier.

They both fell silent and turned toward the source of the song.

Tang Qi raised his cuffed hands and gave them a little shake.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just have one small favor to ask—

While you're arguing, would you let me get my bag?"

He hadn't used Art of Making Friends yet, lest anyone realize he could cast spells too and beat him up afterward.

But once he was sure the other man wasn't willing, he'd use it on Melard, the one really in charge—

His bag still held that journal. He couldn't leave it behind, no matter what.

Before the two interrupted men could react, however, Melard looked at him in surprise:

"You damned scoundrel, you're a bard?"

"It's a shame my hands are bound. Otherwise, I'd compose a poem just for your kindness."

"Why would a bard help mercenaries cover up Star Plum's theft?"

"That's a long story..."

Tang Qi glanced at Black Snake beside him.

Black Snake had a bad feeling about this.

Tang Qi's singing voice, though, turned slightly choked:

"A negligent scoundrel seized an innocent girl,

And sent her toward the gallows, accused of a crime;

A kindhearted bard wanted to save her,

The scoundrel said, 'Fine—if we find no truth, I'll kill you'—

The bard, now aboard a pirate ship, could only curse in his heart,

And had no choice but to deceive the lord!"

Black Snake's mouth twitched.

Something about it felt off.

In truth, the bard had hardly been innocent in getting them to this point.

But then again, wasn't that the damn truth?

"Kind sir, I don't expect you to forgive me for my crime. The fact that I deceived you is undeniable.

But please let me have my belongings back. My precious journal is in there."

Truthfully, Tang Qi didn't even want them to send him away.

He'd wanted to leave with the caravan from the start. The process had gone wrong, but the outcome was still on track.

With the forest growing stranger by the day, sticking close to the mercenaries and caravan was surely the safest choice.

Seeing that the bard knew how to read the room, Melard didn't mind showing some mercy—

His household often hired musicians, but he rarely met anyone as interesting as Tang Qi.

"Where's your bag?"

"This gentleman is staying at my inn. I'll fetch it for him," Catherine offered.

Melard waved her on, telling her to hurry back.

"Mr. New Star, please cast a protective spell over Star Plum. We'll set out in thirty minutes."

The employer's decision settled the matter and calmed Explosive Wolf's anxiety.

Several caravan guards shoved Tang Qi and Black Snake together onto a wagon.

Aside from the piles of odds and ends, a kobold lay sprawled in the wagon. He'd been so heartbroken that he'd kept howling until someone, unable to stand the noise, knocked him out.

Their hands and feet were firmly shackled, leaving little desire to attempt an escape.

With nothing else to do, Tang Qi surveyed their surroundings and asked in a low voice:

"Where's Gravel?"

"I told him to hide. One person taking the blame for failing to keep watch is enough."

"I'm curious. Has Jackal ever seen you being this loyal?"

"I never make my men take the fall for me. Jackal was no different. It's a shame he died by your hand."

Tang Qi blinked.

"Can slander get you convicted in Dragon Gold City?"

"At this point, do we still need to pretend, bard? I checked last night. There wasn't a trace of acid damage on Jackal's chain mail.

"That means he took it off before fighting the Ochre Jelly monster. How stupid would he have to be?"

Tang Qi sighed. Getting caught out over a flaw like that was pretty much unavoidable.

"Couldn't be helped. If I hadn't taken off his chain mail, I wouldn't even have been able to move his corpse."

"He was capable. He just lacked experience."

"He didn't even recognize a kobold. You call that a little inexperience? That was enough to get him killed."

Black Snake leaned against the pile of odds and ends and gave Tang Qi an appraising glance.

"Do you have some misunderstanding about mercenaries? Mercenaries take on guard duty and military service. Exploring the world isn't our job—that's for adventurers."

"So you and Gravel are adventurers?"

He didn't answer.

But that was an answer in itself.

"Surely you aren't staying in Star Plum Town just to retire? Gravel seemed pretty eager to me."

When Black Snake didn't respond, Tang Qi turned to look at him. He found that Black Snake had already fallen asleep beside Kuru.

He was so relaxed that he seemed to have forgotten he was a prisoner.

But what puzzled Tang Qi most was that Black Snake and Gravel were clearly skilled fighters. Even if they couldn't beat the mercenaries there, escaping into the forest wouldn't have been difficult.

They were just mercenaries. They'd lost their reputations in Dragon Gold City—so what if they went to live in another city?

Perhaps he knew Dragon Gold City's laws well and understood that his crimes wouldn't cost him his life?

Or maybe they had some reason they absolutely had to stay here?

"Adventurers, ruins..."

"Brother Tang Qi!"

As Tang Qi pondered, he spotted a girl running along a dirt road through the wheat fields.

Thanks to the curse that had turned her into a beast, she was naturally stronger and quicker than other people, making her able to handle this errand.

Now she was carrying Tang Qi's shabby bag, trying to cross the fields and make her way through the crowd.

"Who's that?!"

Steward Hus hurriedly called over several mercenaries to stop her.

Anbi remembered her sister's instructions and quickly took off the bag.

"I'm here to deliver something."

Hus snatched the bag from her and opened it. Aside from a thick, plain journal,

there was also a large cloth bundle and three waterskins, making the bag feel rather heavy.

The journal had nothing written on its cover. The bundle held several hard black rye loaves, and the waterskins were filled with Golden Oak's distinctive plum wine.

That saved the "prisoners" the trouble of finding something to eat.

Hus gave a cold snort. Unwilling to let the bag's shabby air taint his fingers, he tossed it dismissively into a wagon.

Anbi immediately called after him:

"My sister asked me to give you a message, too.

"She said—

'We can't judge by appearances alone, can we?'

"Young Master Melard is the friend she meant!"

Tang Qi blinked.

Then he remembered the conversation they'd had early that morning.

His gaze shifted to Melard, taking on a deeper meaning.