"I give you my tentative blessing to explore the shrine when you return, mister hero", Festari of the Abbey said once the children had been extracted from Link's person and sent away. Again. This time Link wasn't actually expecting them to be truly gone; he liked to believe he learned from his mistakes most of the time. "However, we will have to have a serious talk about your conduct and carried weaponry when that time comes. I will not allow the shrine to be destroyed because of an unneeded exploration by a hero who isn't doing this for a purpose grander than simple curiosity. Are those acceptable terms for you?"

Link nodded eagerly. He didn't care if he had to carry a stick instead of a sword as long as he got to have an adventure. Besides, that was future Link's problem anyway. 'Fine by me. I will look forward to that.'

Sidon beamed at Link once he was done translating. "I'm so glad you managed to figure out a solution that works for all of us! Are you sure I shouldn't tell Zelda-"

Link shook his head vehemently. No. He wasn't going to become a diplomat of any flavour, thank you very much.

Sidon laughed. At least someone found this funny.

"Pardon me for interrupting your merriment", Festari said, waving to regain their attention. "Was there anything else you needed?"

They liked to stay strictly on business, Link had noticed. That was probably a personality requirement for raising so many children to obey reasonably well. Or maybe it had developed because of the children. Or if they had been raised in a similar manner, maybe it had been ingrained to them from childhood.

Regardless.

Sidon and Link looked at each other. Was there anything-

Ah!

'Advice about traveling in the woods through the mist. Before we forget again.'

"Yes, you're right!" Sidon said, and turned to Festari. "We have been forgetting to ask any of the locals about traversing the Lost Woods. Big p-" he halted, glanced at the doorway, and lowered his voice considerably. Hah, he clearly remembered their little eavesdropping audience. "Big people get lost in the mist easily and are magically returned to the entrance if they pick a wrong direction to go. Does it work the same for the Minish?"

Festari frowned. "I'm exceedingly glad you asked. It would have been disastrous if you went in without knowing. Yes, us Minish are returned to the north entrance of this very city if we wander too far from the path. However, the area you're allowed to travel in is very vast and it takes hours to reach any given edge that the Koroks will fetch you from. If you walk in circles, you will be lost and unable to take the shortcut back very quickly."

Link assumed the area in question was the same it was for big people. That would be a lot larger for someone Minish sized.

"Do you have a map? I could draw you a safe path to use and write down some landmarks you should see along the way so you know you're following it correctly."

"We do", Sidon said, and dug the item in question from his bag. "Mayor Misteri already drew us a path, but the landmarks sound helpful. Do you have any other advice on how to stay on the path?"

Festari took the map and walked over to a table near the door they came from. There was an open book and a pencil on it. Was it a guest book?

Link heard shuffling from the doorway as he and Sidon followed their host, and smiled. Kids.

"Yes, I do. Keep the wind on your ba- What is this?"

Festari frowned at the map, which prompted Link to peer over their shoulder at it curiously. It looked exactly the same as it did when he last saw it.

"What's wrong?" Sidon asked, following Link's example.

"This path… is very incorrect", Festari said slowly. "It doesn't lead you to the heart of the woods at all. It takes you to a very unsafe bog area."

...What?

"But…" Sidon said, eyes wide and confused. "But Misteri drew it for us herself."

A cold feeling settled in the bottom of Link's stomach and the hairs on the back of his neck rose. If Misteri drew the map, and the map lead to a completely wrong place… not only wrong, but dangerous at that…

Festari had a deep frown on their face as they turned towards the doorway. "Festari the Twelfth, come here."

There was shuffling and whispering in the hallway, and then the biggest child entered the room and stood in front of the adult Festari, giving them a wary look and shuffling their feet, while also making an attempt to not look guilty. Poor kid probably thought they were in trouble.

"What is it?" they asked, biting their lip.

"You're not in trouble", Festari said, which made the kid breathe a huge sigh of relief. "I need you to go to the edge of the marketplace and fetch a guard. Tell them I sent you."

The kid's eyes widened. There was a collective gasp in the doorway, and when Link glanced that way he saw that the rest of the kids were now blatantly in sight and staring.

"A guard?" Festari the Twelfth asked. "But why?"

"You'll no doubt find out later, but for now just go. Time might be of essence."

Link and Sidon exchanged looks, and Link could see from Sidon's stiff posture and serious look that he had gotten the memo now.

Either Misteri was a Vaatian or a Vaatian had been impersonating as her. Regardless of which one it was, it meant trouble.

ooooo

Festari drew them a new route on their map while they waited in tense silence. Finally, Festari the Twelfth returned with a serious looking guard, and Festari the adult explained the situation at hand. Or rather, the situation that had been, as they had no way of knowing what was going on in the neighbouring town at this moment – it had been a full day or so since they left Misteri's house and that meant anything could have happened.

Sidon looked horribly guilty the entire time. Clearly he remembered spilling more info than advisable to Misteri and was regretting it now.

Link was regretting more the fact that their hurry had just re-doubled thanks to these news. They had already resigned themselves to the thought that they couldn't linger in this city, but now it looked like they could only drop by the marketplace, fill their food supplies as quickly as possible, and then run deep into the Lost Woods like a Bokoblin chased by a Talus. No more silently agreed upon room for just a little bit of curiosity about some random thing or a teeny tiny spontaneous side quest. No, now they were on an actually strict schedule.

"Thank you for your time", Festari said and waved the guard off. Then they turned back to Sidon, who instantly fixed his mopey posture and expression into something more fitting for a prince. "There, at least the incident will be investigated now. Is there still something I can help you with?"

Link just now realized that once again he didn't need to do anything to fix a local problem other than to report it. The actual solving of the issue was left to the local authorities. Again.

Note to self, if he wanted to live a peaceful life with zero expectations on his shoulders, he could move here. The only downsides were the fact that Sidon couldn't move here with him, being the crown prince, and the issue of practically nobody understanding his signing. Well, and the fact that he kept being unable to actually accept the fact that he didn't need to fix everything personally. It was still a thought.

"Yes. You never told us how to stay on the right path in the Lost Woods", Sidon said, a polite smile on his face.

"You're right, please pardon me. You should keep the wind on your back as you walk. Carrying a torch is the easiest way to keep track of that. Of course that only makes sure you're headed to the heart of the woods; it doesn't guarantee you're staying on the path I drew you."

Link felt relieved. Some things stayed the same in both the big people world and the Minish world. He wasn't yet sure if the considerably wider path would end up a blessing or a curse, however. On one hand, less of a chance of walking into the mist and ending up back in the beginning, wasting entire days at worst. On the other hand, they could get very lost from the presumably safest path that Festari drew them. He was confident they could handle that, but it would be yet another inconvenience and cost them time, wind on their back guiding them or not.

"Thank you, we'll keep that in mind", Sidon said. "One last thing. Did Slateri the First pass through this city?"

Oh right. They had forgotten to ask about that yet. Link felt a little apprehensive because of Misteri's betrayal, but since Festari had contacted the guards and everything… That, and the Vaatians already knew they were looking for Slateri anyway.

Ugh, thinking about it was a mess right then.

"Unfortunately I don't know", came Festari's answer. "He didn't drop by the Abbey if he did. My sister would probably know, as the guards report to her if any high profile personnel enter the city, but…"

"She's not available, yes", Sidon said with a nod. "That's a shame, but it can't be helped. Thank you for all of your assistance, we really appreciate it. Now, unfortunately, we must hurry on."

"I see. You're very welcome. I look forward to seeing you again one day", Festari said, then turned to look at Link with a faintly amused smile. "I'll keep the Shrine ready for you, Mr. Hero. May Ezlo watch your steps and offer you wisdom."

They exchanged nods, and then Link and Sidon headed towards the way they came from. They made it to the hallway before they were both almost bowled over by the children once more.

"We'll show you out!"

Why had he even expected anything else?

ooooo

"That was rather a more exciting visit to a town hall that I had anticipated", Sidon said cheerfully as they made their way back to the buzz of the marketplace to pick up the necessary supplies.

That was an understatement, and Link said as much, which seemed to amuse Sidon greatly. Good; Link hadn't liked the earlier guilty meekness. He expected it to return later when they were alone on the road, but he would enjoy the lighter atmosphere for now.

Right now their mission was to buy as much food as they could possibly carry with them, because there would be no Minish dwellings in the Lost Woods between Fog City and the Korok Forest. The estimated travel time for a Minish who was used to the terrain and knew the route well was about two or three days, and considering how slowly Link walked with the bog flippers and the fact that they might get a little lost along the way, their estimate was from three to five days. So, they needed to be prepared for a potential five day trip with no guarantee of finding food. At least they knew there was water literally everywhere.

They walked through the marketplace, buying a few seeds here, some smoked spider jerky there, and then came across a stall that was ran by a light green skinned Minish with long and elaborately braided hay coloured hair.

This once Link could immediately tell that the Minish was female, if only because he was one hundred percent certain that this person couldn't be anyone other than Wanderi's wife, Lizari.

They didn't have the time to dally… but a little chat while they checked her wares couldn't hurt.