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"What happened…"

"Stay behind me Erile." Fey said seriously as she protected her from the wave of sand

\'Something fell from the sky right now... A person.\'

\'... Who is this person?\'

\'The moment he fell, he killed all of the bandits in a single strike, most of the sand was actually from his fast swing and not from his collision with the ground.\'

\'Despite his entrance, he doesn\'t give me bad vibes…\'

In any case, she couldn\'t be certain of his intentions, so she placed herself between this newcomer and her master.

As the dust and sand slowly cleared, it revealed to all what had truly happened.

A tall armored man holding a spear now stood where the group of bandits once remained.

Behind him was a large sword almost his size if not a tad bigger, cleaving into the rocky ground beneath, leaving a long gash in its path…

Bellow him were many pieces of armor and other scattered items, they were the dropped items of the bandits, but no one paid attention to that…

Instead, they wanted to know the intent of this man, because all of the Mercenaries here knew one thing, and that this guy was business.

(Images?)

Before they could ask anything though, the man opened his mouth to ask:

"Who are you all? Are you all from the Mercenary Guild? Are you all Merchants? Or something unrelated altogether?"

"W-We..."

Before they could reply though, he gave them a small nod and said:

"Also... Pardon my rude entrance."

"It\'s just that recently, we\'ve been having trouble with outsiders so we have to check their intentions before they even enter." Dale replied deeply as he looked around

\'A small lie, but at the same time not, I\'m here mostly because of the Event notification…\'

After Dale was done talking, the guards looked at each other, thinking about who should be the one to talk…

But against their expectations, one girl stepped forward.

It was Erile, walking forwards despite her guard\'s protests…

"It\'s a pleasure meeting you." She said eagerly

Dale raises an eyebrow,

"I feel the same... Albeit I have an inkling that you know me." He said jokingly

\'Her gaze changed when she looked at me, as if she recognized me, a bit odd, unless she fell in love with me at first sight haha...\'

"Would you believe my words if I were to say yes?" She asked as she took another step forward, much to her guard\'s distress 

"Huh?..."

\'Was that actually the case?\'

"It depends on what you say, my ears are open." Dale replied, slightly interested

\'This is getting interesting, I thought this would be the long-awaited merchant convoy… Was I wrong?\'

Erile smiled, albeit, it was hidden beneath her bandana.

"You are just like what he told me… Dale Houston."

"!"

Dale\'s expression soured, he had never shared his second name before…

For a moment, he became tense as this lady could know his real-world identity, and after what happened, he was on edge against any sort of matter that bears even the slightest connection with that.

Even though she looked like an NPC, she could very well be like him, a player hiding as one...

/Clench.../

So he grasped his spear tightly, ready to attack.

Erile noticed that, but she didn\'t change…

No, she felt fear, her life was at stake, but she trusted the woman behind her, and the mission she was given.

"Who told you that? Who are you? State your business here."

"My identity isn\'t anything special, nor does it matter all the way here… As to who told me that…"

She pointed towards the Church.

"The one who presides over the place, above us all… God."

/Silence.../

Everyone that listened to her was half shocked, most rolled their eyes, even if they weren\'t in a situation that allowed them such.

Dale took it in a completely different way though, still, he looked at her, his gaze changing...

"... Do you expect me to believe that?" He asked as he rested his spear on the ground

"No, truths need to be confirmed, validated so they may hold any worth…" She said as she shook her head, but she felt a bit happy, as his actions indicated he had relaxed somewhat 

"And I was told that you possess the means to do so… \'The Avatar Clad in Gold shall Validate my Honor and position as per the Holy decree\'… That was what I was told." She said deeply as she remembered the words given to her...

"The Avatar clad in Gold... Validate your honor?... Fine."

"We\'ll see if your words hold any truth." Dale replied as he scratched his helmet

\'Things are a bit strange, but refusing her outright would be foolish, given what I already experienced.\'

\'I suppose she received some sort of Revelation from Ju-Arkesios?...\'

\'He… She… I don\'t know what gender… Whatever.\'

\'Ju-Arkesios has been relatively silent ever since she cast her blessing onto the Village 2 weeks ago, but David said that she\'s always watching.\'

\'In essence, I have no doubts about the existence of this God… But her words aren\'t supposed to be easy to hear, I myself haven\'t heard them but more of read text messages through the System.\'

\'If it is true that she came here as per her "orders"… What does that make her?\'

\'A Saint? An Apostle of the highest order? She may even be more important than me.\'

\'And what does that say about Ju-Arkesios intentions?...\'

Everything seemed to align, telling Dale that it would be in his interests to allow someone like her into the Village... 

But he couldn\'t let things go on like that.

\'I have no reason to stop them, but I can\'t take my eyes off her, she could be many things in a world of fantasy like this, and as far as I know, her objective may very well be something else.\'

\'It\'s never bad to be too cautious in these situations.\'

Dale looked to the side, towards the guards, and asked:

"What about them? Are they your guards?"

"Yes and no Southern Warrior, they are… Mercenaries employed by the Mercenary Guild to protect our Convoy under the request of several parties other…"

"One of them being the Merchants Unions, another one being the Mercenary Guild themselves, and the last one being me."

"We all banded together to make this trip more accessible and the way smoother."

"Is that so?..."

\'So they are indeed who I thought they were.\'

\'The merchants and the mercenaries, plus someone connected to the Church...\'

\'I really have no idea of who they are, but I must enforce my position as one of the Elders first, as this time, I won\'t be allowing these guys to rip off from the Villagers.\'

"May I ask for any identifications…?"

"What arrogance is this?" Someone said rudely, interrupting Dale

From within the wagons, a tall skinny man appeared. He was wearing good clothes, although he was just like the others, wearing protective clothing against the sun.

He looked like a sketchy person, his mustache was thin, and his eyes were sharp.

(Image?)

"Mr? We all thank you for your… Intervention in cleaning these bandits."

"However, that gives you no right to question us as in the first place, this bandit problem is your fault isn\'t it?" The man asked with a sly smile

Dale raised an eyebrow, he disliked this man the moment he saw him...

He looked like the kind of guy that just didn\'t know when to stop talking.

"You\'re right, me saving you from the bandits gives me no authority to ask you any questions…" Dale agreed with a small nod as he raised his hand to his chin

"So?! Get out of our sight! The goods need to be delivered…"

"..."

Dale started to become upset...

"... I did not finish." Dale said deeply and with a frown as he crossed his arms

This sent a small shiver down the merchant\'s back, but he quickly recomposed.

"Are you going to continue intervening?! What if the goods…"

"What of them?"

"Stranger... You\'re very, very far away from your home." Dale said slowly as blue aura started to gather around his body

"In here, we can only fend for ourselves, beasts, demons, monsters... And Humans."

"Due to that, we are already on edge..."

"We do not have the leeway to be respectful to others first, as that already backfired on us once."

"Pardon me for my arrogance, but allow me to give you some advice."

/FLASH!/

""?!""

Dale let his entire Mana spread around, sending many to their knees!

"Don\'t be the first one to go over the line, you won\'t like how that will end."

"As for what you said before... Do you have the balls to tell me whatever you brought with you is going to spoil?"

"The only spoiled thing in here is your mind to think I would buy such an excuse from the get-go."

\'Does he take me as stupid?...\'

The man was still kneeling on the ground, trying to breathe, but Dale didn\'t allow him to.

"... Besides, I don\'t like your smug tone, thinking you\'re high and mighty because of what? Because you are a merchant from a more populated section of this damn continent?"

"Are you looking down on us because we are in the countryside? Thinking of scamming us like you did so many other times?"

\'I researched a bit about the people that came here to trade before, and many of them ripped the villagers off... I have no intention of having that happen again.\'

Dale raised his right hand and pointed towards the desert.

"Then I ask you to leave, and while you\'re at it, Die." He said slowly

"Y-YOU!" He said in-between gasps

\'He\'s mad, asking someone he just saw to die!\'

"I am me indeed..." Dale said as he turned around

"Also, you wanted someone of a higher authority to come here? Good for you that I\'m an Elder of this place."

\'I\'ve raised my Reputation greatly this past 2 weeks, although I have yet to meet the requirement to raise my position again, it doesn\'t matter, as the position of each Elder and that of the Village Head are very close to each other.\'

"You are…"

As the thin man got up, he dusted his pants and his face grew red in a mix of anger and embarrassment.

\'Tsk, as expected of a countryside people, letting such a young boy have a position of power, much less someone with no tact.\'

\'I made a blunder here, trying to put pressure on such an uncivilized man…\'

\'But he can\'t stop us anyway, no one can, they need us more than we do.\'

\'Still, even if I have to take on some loses, it is better than discussing for days and not selling…\'

\'He said something about Outsiders, hah, even if I can\'t sell to the Village, then I can sell to them. Let\'s see his expression when that happens.\'

"Wait, excuse me, young lad… I mean, Elder Dale, if you allow me to address you as such." Said a fat man, climbing down from one of the wagons slowly with the help of another man

"!"

The skinny merchant was immediately shocked, from all of the other merchants in this convoy, this was the one he expected the least to act…

This meant trouble! He had to…

"No worries sir, call me Dale if you will." He replied with a smile, although that wasn\'t possible to be seen due to his helmet

\'This guy seems to be taking me in a different way.\'

\'I will reply respect in kind... But disrespect?...\'

\'Well, he didn\'t act at first, which means he wasn\'t taking me seriously before... But such is life, people judge others by their first impressions of them.\'

\'Letting that slow me down would only make me as foolish as this merchant.\'

"If I haven\'t heard wrong, you asked for our identifications? I apologize for the confusion and for being late, I was gathering everything."

"Here they are." The merchant said as he gave Dale a badge

Dale grabbed the badge and inspected it, saying out loud:

"The Dragovir Services?" 

"You know of us? How surprising."

"Of curse I do, you\'ve made trade with us so many times that… Well, welcome back."

\'Not all merchants have bad manners, nor the same mentality, but we\'ll have to see what will this man\'s approach to us be.\'

Following this merchant, one of the guards also gave Dale a badge, this one he recognized at sight, it was a badge from the mercenary Guild.

\'I already expected this, so no surprise there.\'

Dale nodded and said:

"Welcome to our humble Village once more for those that already visited in the past, and for those that are here for the first time, I extend my greetings, I am Dale, one of the Elders of Resko."

"I shall wait for you all inside, especially you, young miss… I shall hear your name then."

"I\'ll give you some advice, ignore the outsiders for now, we\'ve had our share of trouble from them and we\'ve also been keeping tabs on them, so be careful of what you came here to sell."

It was a warning and a piece of advice…

"If you want to learn more, you can come to ask us at any time."

"I hope you all have a joyful time while here in the South." He said in a slightly ironic tone as he turned around fully

/Split!/

Dale pulled Caladgold from the ground and raised it in the air before dropping it.

Surprising everyone in sight, the sword started levitating!

/FWOOSH!/

Dale placed his foot on the sword and like a skateboard, he soured to the skies like a bullet!

It was a magical scene most of them had never seen before.

Some had seen wizards fly in the more developed areas of the Empire, or magical tools that could do the same, but it was still impressive nonetheless.

Witnessing all of this, the fat merchant\'s eyes sharpened.

"..."

\'I knew it, the village has changed… Maybe he was the cause.\' 

\'Could it be... Is it time?"

\'A place that was once great is now on the verge of rising again?\'

\'My Grandfather\'s words were correct, that wasn\'t the last of Resko...\'

\'This time, I took a gamble, and it seems this time it\'ll be paid off.\'

He turned around, walking back to his wagon, but not before taking a single glance at the skinny merchant.

"As for you... It looks like you choose the wrong person to make little of this time around, Fimbroy." He said as he shook his head in disapproval 

"..."

Fimbroy remained silent, his eyes becoming sharp…

"Let\'s go Fey." Erile said as she turned around, going back to her wagon

\'We have places to be.\'

"Erile… Sigh. I\'m right behind you." She said as she went after her

The others also started to get ready, but before they departed, Erile had the mercenaries clean the scattered pieces of armor on the ground.

It was a small favor she would give to Dale, at least in the hopes of making him think favorably of her since their first encounter wasn\'t quite pleasant.

As for the rest, there was nothing to do but march onwards, their objective was within sight!

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