The caravan went on without much difficulty.

Seems after the worm attack last night, no one wanted to make a fuss, you know, in case it might get hungry again and come back.

We could see the walls of Kesi standing tall hours before we got there, giving everyone in the caravan just a little ray of hope in the blistering heat.

Agnes was reluctant to cast that rainwater spell again after what happened last time, so I held my shield up over her as she casted it. The water was nice and cool, much better than the rain, but I hate wet clothes. Especially when the rain stops, cause everything gets all warm again, and it's just a miserable time all around.

But the rain was a nice respite.

Agnes and I had a long discussion over the gods and politics of this world. I mainly just nodded along and acted like I knew everything she was talking about.

So apparently this whole country is known as Aknepata, a desert nation that is surrounded by a giant river bordering the east and northern parts of the country. They share borders with two other nations, Croavia and Treiland, which they rely on for trade. Intriguing.

Aknepata was originally a large group of city-states governed individually, but one day the city of Tarpenu gathered a large military force and managed to take over the surrounding cities, turning it into what we know it as today.

Aknepata is governed by a Sultan, who has all the powers of a king in the Middle Ages. Awesome. Hope he's a pleasant fellow.

I asked her about monsters in particular, and why some looked like beautiful women. Again I got another long-winded story about religion and whatnot, but the brief version is: as humans advanced and became more physically powerful, monsters were desperate for a way to feed on humans easier, so they evolved to look like hot women, in order to seduce their targets and eat them. I asked why the sandworm didn't look like that, and I got no definitive answer.

Agnes seemed to just be reciting something she heard from a classroom too, so I assumed she knew next-to-nothing about specifics, but she was quite helpful and patient with me.

As the walls of Kesi got closer, it was her turn to ask me a question.

"Hey, Anon..."

"Yes?" I turned to her.

"You're a Paladin, a warrior chosen by the gods to fight for them. Do the gods ever... speak to you?" She was fidgeting with her hands.

I didn't know how to answer that. If I answered truthfully, would I be breaking some form of contract? Would I get killed by a lightning bolt or something? "I don't really know... do they talk to you?"

She tilted her head at me. "They don't. At least I don't think they do." She looked down, "it's silly, but I've followed the gods all my life, and I guess I thought I'd receive some form of reward at some point, or at least a vision telling me what I should do..."

"I'm sure you'll receive a vision someday." I reassured her.

As the caravan parked outside the gates, the caravan head hand us a satchel of coins.

"Your pay." He said, nodding to us.

"Thanks. What time will you be setting off?" I asked him.

"We plan to leave in two days. Do you wish to accompany us?"

I looked to Agnes, who had the satchel in her hands, and was looking into it with awe in her eyes. Maybe she hasn't seen that much money in her life. She is a nun.

She looked up at me, "I mean, if you wish to continue onwards, I will as well."

"But do you want to go? I don't want to force you."

"I don't want to force you either."

The caravan head sat there while we had this back in forth, waiting.

Eventually we agreed to go down with them, at least to the capital. I wanted to the the Sultan's palace. I was envisioning something straight out of Aladdin, honestly.

However, now that we had some money, I wanted to explore the city a little bit, you know, prepare for the coming travels. It was only going to get more difficult from here.

The first thing I needed to do was get my armor fixed, though. I picked up my armor from the caravan and Agnes and I headed into the city, looking for a blacksmith.

Eventually we found a smith located near what appeared to be the shopping district by the main gate. It was mostly empty, probably because everyone had gone to the caravan, but some people were shopping nearby.

We entered the smith, and I marveled at all the weaponry.

Straight out of any fantasy nerd's wet dream. Swords of all shapes and sizes lined the walls, giant battle axes hanging over the forge, bows and arrows strung up in the corner. Honestly, I was pretty stoked.

I walked over to the smith and cleared my throat. The man looked up. He looked up at me, his long black beard containing wisps of grey, his skin dark and wrinkled from sun exposure. His arms were pretty jacked, but I'd assume as much from a blacksmith. He wiped sweat from his brow as he looked up at me, walking towards a desk.

"Never seen yer faces 'round here before..." he began, his voice gruff and abrasive, but not unfriendly, "what can I do fer ya?"

I gently set the broken armor on the desk. "I was wondering if you could repair this for me..."

His eyes widened. "Holy shit, kid." He looked over the massive holes in the breastplate.

"I know. Ghoul attack."

"Ghoul attack? Now I've seen Ghoul attacks before, but I didn't think they were capable of somethin like this..." he looked over the armor. "Repairing this is gonna cost ye... I'd say about 375 gold pieces."

I almost choked.

"What's that look fer, kid? Plate armor's expensive."

I looked at Agnes, who had begun counting out the money we were payed. She looked up and said, "we were paid about 100 gold pieces, 50 for each day."

Shit.

The smith looked us over. "Sorry kid, but I can't lower the price any further. If you want, I could get you a lighter piece of armor though. It may actually be better fer ya though, out in this heat."

"Um... sure. Anything is better than nothing."

He nodded, "how about I give you a chain shirt? Granted it isn't as protective as plate, but it's lighter, and is far better than anything leather..."

I thought on it. "How much would it cost me?"

"With the exchange of this scrap armor, I'd say I'll charge ye about 25 gold pieces."

"We'll take it." Way better than 375.

He walked into the back room and handed me the armor. It also came with a few extra layers of fabric, most likely for added protection, so the desert sun would probably still stink, but it would be way better than sitting in giant metal casing.

Donning the armor took way less time than the plate armor did, and as it clicked into place, I handed over the money.

"Everything fit okay?" The smith asked me.

"Yep. Everything's all good."

"Good. I thank ye fer yer business."

As we left the building, Agnes got distracted by something in the distance.

"Hey, Anon. I know this is sudden, but I need to go get something."

I turned to her, "really? What?"

"I'd rather not say." Her face was slightly red, and left me to fill in the blanks.

I looked over to see a clothing shop over there, and connected the dots.

"Oh. Okay. Do you need me to come with you or...?"

"I would prefer you didn't..." she said, not looking at me.

"Gotcha." I understood, although I kinda wanted to see what she would purchase...

"I'll just go look around for a bit." I said, and she smiled.

"Thank you." She bowed and began walking away backwards, almost tripping over somebody in the process.

So I guess I'd be shopping alone for a bit. Huh.

I walked around the shopping district. The smell of cooked meats filled my nostrils as my eyes wandered across vendors selling food, trinkets, gemstones, among many other things.

As I began walking, the area became much dirtier as I went, most likely I was entering the slum area of the city.

The houses were older, and looked in desperate need of repair. Stores were far less common, and the ones I saw were sparsely stocked. The streets were mostly empty, and as I looked into one of the stores, I saw a little girl manning the counter, wearing a large, stitched together hat and a plain, dirty brown dress.

I felt awful. Who would leave their children in charge of a store like this? Things must be pretty dire.

I walked towards the shop, looking around. This shop had more wares than any of the others combined, but it still didn't have much.

Some daggers, tools, a few packages of dried food. However the glitter of gemstones caught my eye at the back, and I approached the counter.

"Hello!" The girl said, her smile wide. She looked up, and her large hat began to slide a bit. She adjusted it back into place quickly, and gestured to everything around here. "Welcome to my humble little store." Her voice had a slight, almost unnoticeable lisp to it, which was kinda endearing.

"Hiya." I knelt down a bit, looking down at her, "I'm looking to buy something at this fine storefront. Do you run the front desk?"

"You want to buy something?" Her eyes sparkled with joy.

"Of course."

She scrambled off a stool behind the desk, running over to the other side. Her height reached up to my belly button, maybe a little higher.

"It's been forever since someone's came by! Here, let me find something for you." She began rummaging through the various items on the shelves.

I looked around the room, finding a back room behind the door, I saw a large straw bed, with two larger lumps on top of it. Must be her parents, sleeping. Beside the bed were piles of straw. The whole thing looked messy.

I turned to see the girl holding something out to me. It appeared to be a bottle filled with some sort of liquid. The liquid was red in color, and it sloshed around inside the bottle.

"I have... whatever this is!" The girl said proudly, setting it on the desk. She had to stand on her tippy toes in order to set it down. "What do you think?"

"Hm..." couldn't hurt to purchase something. I do have a hefty amount of gold in my pocket. "How much will you charge me?"

"Three hundred gold pieces." Said in the sweetest voice possible, with the happiest, most innocent smile on her face.

I chuckled, "I don't know... that's a lot of money."

Her smile grew wider, "if you don't have the money, there could be other ways for you to pay me."

I don't want to assume, but I imagine she's heard this line from her mother. "You know, kids shouldn't be saying things like that." I looked over her shoulder at the back room, now even more concerned with this child's living conditions. "Are your parents here?"

"Yes... but they're sleeping. They're in the back." She grabbed my hand and began pulling me. Not just tugging at my arm, she was physically pulling me towards the back room. "Here, I'll show you."

As she was dragging me towards the back room, I heard someone call my name.

"Anon! There you are. I've been looking for you." Agnes stepped into the store, and the girl paused for a second.

"Who is she?" The cuteness in the girl's voice disappeared immediately. She let go of me and crossed her arms, staring at Agnes.

"Oh, this my friend, Agnes."

"Hello there, little one!" Agnes said cheerfully, bending down to the girl's eye level. "What's your name?"

"Synx." She said, staring hard at Agnes.

Agnes held her hand out, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Synx. My, you have a strong grip!" She said as I watched the little girl seem to squeeze the ever loving life out of Agnes's hand.

"Agnes, I was just buying something from this young woman, tell me, what do you think?" I gestured towards the bottle of red liquid.

"Oh I think that's wonderful. How much does it cost?" She asked Synx, smiling down at her.

Synx smiled back, and once again, in a sweet, completely innocent voice, said: "For you, five hundred gold pieces."

Agnes froze for a second, before laughing, patting Synx on the head. "Oh, that's funny!"

"Here," I said, reaching into my bag, "I can't pay you five hundred-"

"It's five hundred for her." Synx said. "For you, I guess I can lower the price to five gold pieces."

Me and Agnes exchanged a glance. "Alright. Five gold pieces." I said, reaching into my bag, handing her the coins.

Synx's eyes widened. "Woah..."

I assumed she had never seen this much money before, and I wondered whether or not she was still ripping me off...

She took the coins quickly, and handed me the bottle.

"Thanks for your business!" Synx smiled at me, "I hope to see you again!"

We waved goodbye to the girl and walked outside.

"Was it just me, or did she seem to hate me?" Agnes asked me.

"I dunno," I looked backwards to see Synx watching the two of us, her face expressionless.

As we left the building, we were approached by a man in leather armor. A scimitar was strapped to his side. "Ah, excuse me a minute." He approached us, "mind if I have a few moments of your time?"

We shrugged, and followed him into an alley.

"I work on the city guard, and I couldn't help but notice you entered that strange shop over there."

We nodded.

"There have been reports of a girl matching that child's description stealing from other vendors. I would check your pockets, make sure nothing was stolen from you."

Agnes and I exchanged glances, and began rummaging through our stuff. I had everything, but Agnes let out a shriek of surprise.

"She took my-" her face turned a deep blood red, and she stopped talking.

"Ma'am, what got stolen from you?" The guard asked.

Agnes's face was bright red. She mumbled something under her breath.

"What did that child take?" The guard asked her again, calmly.

She leaned forward and whispered it to him, and his eyes widened. "How on earth did she manage to steal that?"

Agnes shook her head. "I don't know... we need to get it back though."

"I agree. I'll come with you." The guard said, and the three of us approached the building again.

The girl was gone. We searched the room, but she disappeared somewhere.

"I'll check the perimeter." The guard said, "holler if you hear something." He went back outside, and I thought for a moment. I should check the back, maybe talk to her parents or something.

I walked around the desk and peered into the doorway. There were more large lumps on the bed than I originally thought. Hm.

I stepped through, and my boots stepped on something.

I screamed as my leg got caught in rope, pulling me up in the air upside down. Agnes raced into the back room, looking up in terror.

Synx appeared from the shadows, her hat removed from her head. I could now see two horns protruding from the top of her head. Her ears were pointed, and her eyes were catlike, looking up at me happily. Then, from behind her, five more girls looking just like her emerged from the bed, holding large clubs and slings.

Then I heard a loud yawn, as another girl rose from the straw pile. She was a full head taller than the other girls, but aside from one other key difference, she looked quite similar.

The other different thing about her was her chest. It was unnaturally large for a girl of her size, and she scratched herself as she looked up at me with a dopey grin on her face.

Synx smiled at me, her sharp teeth clearly visible now, in the torchlight.

"Hi."