Chapter 3: The Bureaucracy of Being a Mercenary

To Gale:

I hope you're doing all right on your travels. I'm getting ready to leave Taven myself tomorrow morning. If things go well, I'll be getting a license to do mercenary work from Hyrule Castle. Some things you said and others that I've noticed have me worried about how things are. Mercenary work will allow me to look into it and still repay the orphanage that raised me. Maybe we'll run into each other again.

Before you showed up, I had been unsure of leaving town when I'm one of its active defenders. But Gregio (the sword master you talked to about Trickster's Grotto) got after everyone else who shared that duty about leaving rescuing the horses up to just me and a stranger. He and I even took out some of his current students to learn how to navigate the grotto safely, in case another monster leader shows up there. That's why I didn't have a chance to write you for several days, as I've been doing a lot around town. With that handled, it should be okay for me to leave.

What kind of work are you traveling around for? It's okay if you just want to give me a general idea, as I'm just curious what you're up to.

From Link

Ganon was currently in a military camp hidden in one of the many small caves spread throughout Hyrule. These caves were vital to his plan as a way to shift people around without causing much notice. For this initial strike, secrecy was of utmost importance. A good portion of the Hylian knights were away fighting in one of Albertos' wars of vanity; Lavanne had been taken over a year ago, but its people were fiercely independent and were not taking Hylian rule peacefully. Ganon wished his own people in Sudai had been the same way. But, he had just been a naive boy then and had desperately wanted the war to end.

Setting the letter in a secure box that would only open to his touch, Ganon made sure no one else would see it. There were a pair of guards in the cave room he'd taken for his own, but they were Darknuts. When he snapped his fingers, the Triforce symbol on his hand shimmered. The Darknuts saluted, then walked on either side of him as he went to meet up with his generals. Monsters such as them had total allegiance to him now. Although, he only had trust in them when it came to fighting. They weren't good for much else.

Three men and one woman met him in the war room, three of them saluting promptly. The last gave a lazy sort of salute, a smirk briefly on his face. Medras had been rising up in the army since before the Triforce came to Ganon, one of those who liked these times. During this final discussion of how to take Hyrule Castle, he wanted to use poisonous fog to weaken the guards. He shrugged when another general told him that it would end up hurting civilians, saying, "That's too bad, but a necessary price."

"Necessary?" Ganon asked, stopping his pacing by Medras.

"It's too much," General Leonidas said. He was of old Sudai nobility, very loyal with a strong conscience. "We're not seeking cruelty, we're seeking justice. Such a plan will make far more civilians suffer than knights and soldiers."

"But we'll want to get within the castle as quickly as possible," the cruel one said. "That's why we're taking such care to move about under the cover of night, hiding our tracks. Once our attack force is discovered, whoever holds the castle grounds will hold the greatest advantage. It can become a fortress within an hour, so I hear. If we don't want to deal with a long and frankly boring siege getting that castle, we need to get it as our first move by any means possible."

"We all know that, but there's other more precise plans we can do," the lady general Kimbera said. That was one lesson from his parents that he kept well: anyone who showed a good mind and power should be respected for it, whether a man or a woman, young or old. Their hard work was to be acknowledged; Kimbera had certainly worked hard to earn her position here.

"Too complicated and it will make us look like softhearted idealists. Much better to take out as many of the enemy as possible, wouldn't you say so?" Medras looked up to him, expecting approval.

He shouldn't have let this man get this powerful. His plan with a poison fog, though... Ganon enjoyed the thought of so many of those high and mighty Hylians suffering, paying the price for all the suffering they had inflicted. It would be satisfying. Would it? Did the civilians really deserve a slow painful death like that? There would be children there, not old enough to remember the previous war. But the idealists would hold them back, maybe allow too many to survive and then seek vengeance for their invasion. But ideals like that should be prized.

"My liege?" Kimbera asked, after he'd not moved or reacted outwardly. Medras was still smiling, but his eyes showed uncertainty.

"We're going with my plan," Ganon said. While they were still puzzled over his moment of slowness, he brought out a dagger with swiftness and impaled the cruel general's heart in one blow. A hand motion and a silent order got a Stalfos to appear to take Medras' body away and make sure he was dead. Especially in the mind. "And I will not tolerate any kind of foolishness or sloppiness, understand? We are making precision cuts to take out corruption. But said cuts will be made with great force. While I'm at it, I want to emphasize that no one is to break cover before the attack. If our troops are discovered before we move in, I will make sure the entire unit that betrayed us and all of their families suffer for such actions. Is that clear?"

The other three nodded with fearful respect. It disgusted and delighted him.

The morning Link planned on leaving his hometown, a small group came with him to the town entrance gate to bid him farewell. It did not include Charlotte, much to his relief. Though it did include one of the girls at the orphanage who had a child's crush on him. She bashfully gave over an extra bundle of arrows. "Me and my friends put bits of our allowance together to get you some of these," she said. "Cause they say sometimes you can retrieve arrows, but sometimes you can't."

"Thank you, that helps," he said to her. He'd already picked up what seemed like a good supply of arrows, but a few more couldn't hurt.

The girl smiled up at him while a couple of her friends giggled. "Yeah! So you're gonna go off and rescue a princess and marry her, right? But if it doesn't work out, you can always come back and see me instead."

He smiled back and rubbed her head, although the fact that she was ten years younger than him made it unlikely he would come back for her. "I'll keep that in mind." That at least made the kids happy.

"Well it doesn't have to be anything as grand as that," one of the teachers said. "But I know you'll do good things out there regardless."

While that's what he planned to do, Gregio had some unexpected advice to go along with it. "I'm sure Link will," the sword master said. "Even so, be careful and don't let anyone pressure you into doing anything for the sake of destiny or fate. You are like the hero of legends, perhaps too much so. Whatever you end up doing, make sure it's something that you want to be doing. A real hero doesn't do things because he or she has to, but because he or she wants to."

"Like you taught me?" he asked, giving a nod. "I'll keep that in mind too."

They then wished him well before he took Epona's reins and left town with her. That had been a gift he appreciated. While he'd been allowed to ride Epona around town and into the forest, he'd never been sure if he'd be allowed to take her if he left town. But the town elder had willing to pass the horse's ownership over to him once he asked, saying it was out of gratitude for his years of work taking care of all the town horses.

The road from Taven to Hyrule Castle was a wide dirt path through the lush green fields. Link and Epona had made this trip before, although not on their own. This time, there was a sense of freedom and wonder passing down this gentle path. Once out of the forests around Taven, he entered the wide grassy field that offered many possibilities. He could check out a cluster of trees growing atop a rise near the center of this field. Or, he could go down to the wide rive that cut across the land; it was said that there was good fishing to be had in that area. He could even take one of the other paths that headed into other provinces of the land.

So much to explore… but he had to restrain himself. As beautiful as these lands were, there were still monsters lurking around. He could see some Bokoblins shuffling through the grass, occasionally poking their distorted heads up to look around. Along the road itself, there were some giant spiders that tried to jump out and take them down. His new bow was able to clear them out well before they put Epona in danger. It was also good for taking out some flying Peahats and shadowy falcons that would have attacked him as well. As long as he was just taking care of himself and his horse, it didn't matter what he did.

But once he came across someone in trouble outside of his hometown, he could end up in a lot of trouble with the knights. Link wouldn't want to leave someone in danger, especially when he could do something to help. But if they rewarded him and word got out about what he did, he could be called out on unlicensed mercenary work. It didn't matter if he hadn't asked for anything for his work; if he got something for it, the knights would be watching him. Link didn't like it, but his master had gotten in trouble on multiple occasions for doing just that.

After a quiet ride down the road, he arrived before noon as he'd hoped for. Hyrule Castle Town was a beautiful place, if defensive with its huge walls topped with watchtowers. The castle itself sparkled in the distance, while beautiful flowerbeds and fountains sat just outside the massive southern gates. As Link passed through, he could see that the market street was bustling as always. There were a number of taverns, inns, and stables along the southern wall to accommodate travelers such as himself. He took Epona to a stable he knew would take care of her well, then followed a less crowded street to get to the castle.

While many other towns in the kingdom were small and only known for a few trades, one could find almost anything in Hyrule Castle Town. Just getting to the castle, Link passed by a glassworks, a huge smithy, a jeweler's workshop, and three different doctor offices. There were more apartments and houses in another part of town, including some beautiful residences that seemed like miniature castles. Then merchants from other provinces would show up in the marketplace with goods made in those places. This place had been thriving for centuries, far better than towns like Taven which had been built up only decades ago, after other towns in the area had fallen apart. Nowhere else could compare.

Link liked coming here, but he didn't think he'd want to live in this place. They did a good job keeping this place clean and bright with colorful gardens. However, it was too crowded and he preferred grassy paths over this fully stone ground. Maybe it was because he'd grown up around a forest, as there certainly weren't enough trees around to make him feel comfortable. Still, it was beautiful in its own way.

The castle was set apart from the town, wrapping its stone walls around the town like a mother embracing a child. A clear drifting moat was surrounded by a pair of straight grassy paths, where the trees grew in a neat row and every bush was kept well trimmed. Past that, a secondary wall protected the grand old castle itself. The gates were open today, as he expected. Although, visitors like himself were only allowed in the first part of the castle, a small portion that dealt with public matters like obtaining licenses and paying taxes.

Still, it left no doubt in the wealth and power of the royal family. Detailed paintings depicting famous events were hung on the marble walls, while a starry gold chandelier hung overhead to give the entrance hall a warm light. A few precious treasures were on display under glass cases; some children accompanied by a teacher were talking about them in wonder. At the far end of the room, there was a massive set of doors that each bore a golden engraving of the royal family's sign. But the pair of fully armored knights with large swords indicated that the doors were not for public passage.

A woman working there directed him to the knight's office there to ask about the mercenary license. There, he had to speak with a knight captain about the matter. It made Link uneasy because the man had a cold disinterested look when told of his request. He could tell the captain was one of those who wouldn't listen long to someone who couldn't speak well. Still, Link put that uneasiness aside as best he could and said, "I want the license to look into what travelers have said, that there are troubles with monsters all over."

"That's not a sufficient reason to become a mercenary," the knight captain said. "The knights can take care of such matters and we do not need reckless people going around doing things they don't know about."

If the knights could take care of matters, then why weren't they? Taven only got visited by a knight or two once a month. They usually just looked around town, spent a night at the inn, then headed back without hardly talking to any locals. When the village elder asked for assistance with the increased attacks at night, he'd never heard back. There was once when they'd gotten a whole squadron of knights in town, but they had only been passing through to get further south to Lavanne.

Before Link could get his words together, the knight captain went on to say, "If you really want to help out, you'd do better to join us and train up to be a knight. If you prove you have the talent, rather than only trying to take the image of a hero, then we'll provide for your equipment, housing, and general needs. You'll get a lot more honor and trust that way."

"That wouldn't help, with what I want," Link managed to say, but how did he put this? He put a hand to his lips and tried to think, but it was so much easier to put words together in his head than to say them.

"Nonsense, the knights are the best protection from monsters we have," the captain said as if Link had insulted his pride. "Nobody can compare to the Hylian knights! We are protecting the honor and legacy of our grand kingdom..."

Then someone else came into the knight's office and had no qualms in interrupting. "Are you haranguing a civilian again?" a young man in a nobleman's attire asked. "Honestly, he probably didn't come in here to be lectured."

"This is none of your business, Joachim," the knight captain snapped. "Someone like you can know nothing of a knight's true honor."

"I know better than to cause people a headache," Joachim said, then looked at Link. "Is this about a mercenary's license?" When Link nodded, he added, "Thought so, that usually sets him off. I'll handle this, captain, licenses are a part of my domain."

"You would let dishonorable ruffians do as they please if they pay you off right," the knight captain said. "Hmph, well then if this fellow causes trouble, it'll be your ass in the fire."

"I don't mind that," Joachim said. "Well then, I'm Joachim Delours, a trade officer and notary. Let's go by my office across the way. What's your name?"

"Link Verden," he replied, following him back out into the entrance hall. "Thank you, for this."

"It's no trouble," he said, but didn't say anything more until they were in his office.

While the knight's office was more showy with flags, banners, and a barely used desk, Joachim's office was definitely worked in. He had bookshelves along all walls, full of books, files, and bins holding various forms. His desk had various tools of a notary, like an ink well, an ink pad for thumbprint signatures, a stapler, an abacus, a locked moneybox, and more. In a small adjacent room, it looked like he had even more references along with some devices that Link was unfamiliar with.

Joachim surprised him by saying, "Don't sit down quite yet, our business will be better conducted with someone else. You see, I'm close to the princess and she felt someone like you would show up today. Once I spotted you in the captain's office, I had to intervene right away."

"What does Zelda want from me?" he asked, glad he was on his side.

"That she wasn't entirely clear on," he said, finding what he wanted on the shelves and pulling out some papers. "But it may be simply to help you. You see, we're going to need her approval to get you a mercenary license without having a captain's signature. The king may have said it was to create an opportunity and prevent abuse, but such licenses are ridiculously rare. Why are you looking for one?"

His thoughts stalled for a moment again. "I… my hometown Taven nearly lost all of our horses to Moblins when the knights wouldn't come out to assist us, after two years of their nightly raids." While Joachim briefly raised an eyebrow at how slow he spoke, he kept quiet and listened. "Myself and another finally took care of them. I hear other places have such problems and I want to know more, to do something more." Feeling embarrassed, Link put a hand to his cheek. "Sorry, I… I know I'm a poor speaker."

"It's okay," Joachim said. "Your line of work wouldn't really require much speaking, would it? But that trouble tells me that you must be sincere to have come all this way to ask about it in person. I can sign off of the license, but as I said, we'll need Zelda to sign as well to avoid dealing with the captain. Come on, she shouldn't be far."

In fact, she was in another office in the public area. He and Joachim had to wait for a few minutes, though, as a group of Zoras were in speaking with her. In the meantime, Joachim asked him a few questions about the Moblins stealing horses as he was interested in the incident. Link had heard that many nobles were snobbish and looked down on others, but Joachim seemed like a good person that wouldn't discriminate.

Once the Zoras left, they went in to see the princess. Zelda was busily checking a book against notes she'd made, dressed relatively simple for how one expected a princess to be. She did have a purple shawl with a marking of her family, over a long pale pink dress with a lace belt. However, she wore no jewels and it looked practical for doing office work here. She was quite beautiful still, with long white hair and a delicate face that might be an artist's muse.

"Zelda, pardon us for butting in," Joachim said warmly. The sparkle to his eyes hinted that he might be more than just close to the princess.

Link was sure of that when Zelda immediately looked up and smiled gladly. "It's fine, I..." she then glanced over at him and looked more serious. "Oh. Are you called Link?"

He nodded while Joachim explained, "We're here to get him a mercenary's license, so he can travel around the lands and look into monster troubles the towns have been having."

"Ah, of course." She seemed embarrassed herself. "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not troubling you. It's just, some troublesome signs have appeared throughout the kingdom. And then here you are like I've seen… I have a bad feeling about Hyrule's future, that my father's machinations will come to haunt us soon. You're not the problem, but if things go as I fear..." she seemed at a loss for words.

"We're doing all we can to alleviate that," Joachim said, more to her than him.

"If darkness is coming, we should make it brief," Link added.

"Of course, thank you." Zelda set a bookmark in her place, then held her delicate hand out to Joachim. "So you have the forms? I've got an idea that may help out as well." Once she had the papers, she started filling them out. "This will take a little time to file, but if I ask you directly to take on a task, you won't have to hang around town and wait on it. You'll be on official royal business, so the knights won't be able to trouble you."

"All right," Link said, then followed along as the two of them explained about the licensing form. There were a number of parts that they said were only there to give reasons for rejection, but being honest on his form gave nothing objectionable.

Once that was done, Joachim left to file the application. Zelda had him stay. "So you want to look into the troubles that monsters have been causing lately. It's true, they've been getting more aggressive and organized over the past few years. Some people suggest that the wars are stirring them up, which could be. But there could also be someone in the background guiding them.

"Did you see the people I speaking to before you? The Zoras have been asking for assistance from the knights for several months as a monster has taken up residence in a cave by Lake Hylia. It's been attacking and eating lone Zoras, usually at night. As they started to avoid it, it's come further up the river itself to prey on them. The knights have put it as a low priority that they aren't even looking into because the Zoras can be fierce warriors of their own right.

"But, there's a problem the knights and even my father are willfully ignoring." She waved a hand, calling a map of Hyrule over by magic. When it was on her desk, she had the enchanted map focus in on Lake Hylia. "The monster's den is, here, as part of this huge cliff at the northern end of the lake's valley. The Zoras are excellent warriors, but that's in the waters. To get to the den's entrance, there are two ways. One is by going through an underwater tunnel that collapsed shortly after the Zora Eater took residence there. The other is by climbing up the cliff face, something the Zoras cannot do easily with the way their bodies are formed. Can you climb a rock wall?"

Link nodded. "I lived in Taven, surrounded by forests and occasional rough boulders. I couldn't take my horse over there, but I could climb up the cliff."

Zelda smiled gratefully. "Great! Then that's the first task you have from me: go take care of this Zora Eater monster. You should probably go visit the Zoras first; they live in the mountains at the source springs of Lake Hylia. Even if the den is on a cliff face, there is an underwater section you'll need to traverse to track down a beast that travels in water. I can allot you some money to bargain some gear they have to help humans swim and dive better.

"Also, there's something more. This cave that the monster has taken residence in, there are rumors that a champion's medal was lost within it years ago, specifically the Medal of Valor. It is one of the three keys that keeps the Master Sword asleep within its shrine." She momentarily looked sad again. "I did not want this to be a time when that weapon was needed again. Perhaps it won't, perhaps it will. Nevertheless, if you can claim one of those champion medals properly, even those stubborn knights will not be able to argue that you don't have honor. The monster is a priority, but keep an eye out for the Medal of Valor in there."

"All right," Link said. It sounded like a good place to start.

Zelda had taken an early lunch as usual, so she met with Joachim for an afternoon tea. "Looks like the legends are truly replaying in Hyrule," she said.

"The hero seems very sincere," Joachim said, sitting back in his chair. "He might not have said anything to you, but he apologized to me for not speaking well. We can trust his word, I believe."

"He didn't tell me, but I could tell he was watching his words carefully," she said. "Although that fits as well; the hero is usually not one for many words, one reason we don't hear much about them except through the accounts of others." She set her tea cup down. "Well we have Link set to start a quest to claim the Master Sword."

"You're sure the Medal of Valor is in that cave?" he asked.

Zelda nodded. "I made sure to track them down. The one thing that could cause trouble in getting the medals is in getting to the Dust Devil Flats. Although if he impresses the Zora, they can help him out there."

"One of them ended up out there, huh?" The door opened up noisily as the knight captain walked in. They had to stop with that conversation with him in there. Past him, they could hear someone screaming. "Captain?" Joachim asked, getting out of his chair.

Then she saw someone coming in behind the captain, a dark-skinned man with long red hair. Ganon wasn't supposed to be around the castle anymore, having gone back to Sudai a week ago. "Here they are," the captain said, turning to Ganon.

"Captain, what's going on?" Zelda said, standing up as well.

"We've got your parents and most of the castle captured already," Ganon said coldly. "You shouldn't resist, I wouldn't mind hurting the king and queen if you both don't cooperate with me."

What was she supposed to do? Neither of them were capable of fighting like either of these two. She looked to the captain, who smiled smugly. "It's about time your family got knocked out of power. You're regretting ignoring all my advice, aren't you?"

"You'd betray us?" Zelda asked. Although now that she thought of it, it wasn't too much of a surprise. He was an unpleasant person to deal with, to all but her father. If Albertos argued with the captain, it was sure to be trouble.

"It seems that is how he treats those he swore loyalty to," Ganon said. Unexpectedly, he called the captain's sword out of its scabbard by magic. When the captain turned to him in confusion, he sent the sword flying through his chest so hard that he was immediately pinned to the wall.

"M-master Ganon?" the captain gasped.

"You've done what I wanted and I cannot trust someone whose loyalty is so fickle," Ganon replied. He snapped his fingers, summoning three Darknuts into the room. "Take your just rewards. As for you, feeble desk clerk."

"Me?" Joachim asked, not sure what to do.

"You'll be locked in your office," he said, gesturing for one of the Darknuts to take him away. "The kingdom isn't going to run itself, so you make sure all the little bits and bobs get taken care of for me. Perhaps your everyday work hasn't been done so the people of this town keep living, but it will now. Understand?"

He clearly didn't like this, but hearing that the townspeople might suffer consequences for his actions made him resolved. "Yes sir, I do sir."

Before the Darknut could take him, Zelda took his hand. "Don't lose hope, Joachim."

Keeping as brave as he could, he smiled back at her and clasped her hand for a moment. "Same to you, Zelda." Then he nodded to the Darknut and headed off towards his office, the monster quick to follow along.

Ganon waited for them to be gone, then looked over her. "As for you, I need you dead." Zelda bit her tongue and tried to keep brave at this too. But there had to be a chance, or she'd be pinned to the wall just like the captain. "If it were that simple, you'd already be dead. It's not, so you'll be taken to one of the towers instead. But you're fond of that young man, so I hear. I would prefer him alive, but he can be tormented a great deal without cutting into his capacity to work. As long as you keep quiet and cooperate, I'll make sure he's treated fairly. You might even get him to visit you."

"Very well," she said, not liking this. Bur for right now, she didn't have a way out of it.

To make matters worse, he smirked at that. "Excellent. You're better mannered than your parents no matter what the situation. As for their fate, that will come in a few days." Then he looked off to the side. "And you back there, don't think I don't know you're there."

It had to be Impa, Zelda thought. For now, she didn't appear. Zelda looked down and shivered. She didn't want to see her killed off as well.

Ganon silently ordered for one of the Darknuts to take her by the hand. Then he turned to face a little to the left of the door, where a china cabinet stood. "You're her caretaker, aren't you. Well I could either break her legs so that you can't break her out of captivity or I could allow you to be imprisoned with her so you can follow your duty there. Will you fail your duty or carry it out?"

Would he really break her legs if Impa got away? Whether he would or not, Impa made her decision and appeared standing in front of the china cabinet. She wasn't as obviously muscular as the knight captain, but she was trained as a bodyguard too. "You're a monster," she said.

"Not yet," Ganon said. "Since you're here, we'll all go up to the tower. Get moving."

He didn't say anything more on the way, and the Darknut firmly kept a hold on Zelda so that she couldn't go walk by Impa. They went straight for the prison tower, kept well-guarded and separated from the rest of the castle. Up at the very top, there was a dim small cell that only had a slit in the wall for light. However, he put them in the other cell there, one that was comfortable and almost like the bedrooms elsewhere in the castle. The main differences were that this one could be locked tight and the windows were barred. The Darknuts were left out in the hall to make sure they stayed put.

"I'm sorry, Zelda," Impa said, her voice betraying that she was deeply troubled. "The captain or someone plotting with him must have put up a sound barrier around the room. I did not realize the castle was being invaded at all."

Getting an idea, Zelda went over to a writing desk by one of the windows. "Don't blame yourself, Impa. Everyone must have been caught by surprise. We'll have to figure out how to make the best of this situation." She pulled the cover on the desk up and was relieved at what she saw. "Oh good, this will work nicely."

"What got left in here?" she asked, coming to check it out herself.

"Just what one would expect to find in a writing desk," she replied, checking on an inkwell there. "This is full and the cork seems tight. A quill, papers, envelopes, and, hmm…" she set the inkwell down and turned to Impa. "You noticed, didn't you? We got to meet with Link and he does seem to be moving along the path of the hero. Since I can write him from here, we can still assist him. And being able to write opens up other possibilities. I should contact the provincial leaders and warn them of what has occurred."

"Hopefully he doesn't restrict us from that," Impa said, taking a moment to look over the window. "We can't be completely sure at this point if that Link is the chosen one. He does show some signs. We'll just have to see how he handles the situation."

"I believe that he will prove himself," Zelda said. "I feel it in my heart." Then she sat down to get the letters written, not wanting to be a useless princess who could only wait to be rescued.

To Link:

I'm pleased to see that you really did take me up on this offer. And I hope you can manage to get that license. From what I've heard, there's actually no mercenaries at all. I've certainly never run into one with a legal license. But I can understand where the king is coming from there. He may be more after a good reason to arrest those who charge outrageous fees for protection services. Still, if the option is there, they really should let some people take it.

As for what I do, I'm a trader on paper. The group I usually travel with brings goods from town to town, selling them to local stores in order for them to have a better inventory. Taven in particular is good for us to pick up wood and leather crafts at, while we drop off metal tools, some glassware, pottery, and textiles. Because I'm capable in magic and can therefore defend myself, I also travel on my own sometimes, taking messages and spreading information. I would like to do that more often, but I have to take care or I'll be suspected as a spy even though I'm not exclusive about who I inform or question.

Actually, it was embarrassing for me to fall prey to a monster like I did in the Grotto. I thought I knew what I was getting into, but I didn't. So, thanks again for your assistance. Just please don't tell anyone else about that. I feel like I can trust you on that. Well, I know they said you don't talk much, but still, you don't seem like the sort who would embarrass someone else with that kind of information.

And I'm glad to share pertinent information I have with you, of course. I know the lands under Hyrule's rule decently well, what things people are talking about. For one thing, I got back with the other traders in my group and they said that the road to the Sudai province is currently blocked off by a rockslide. They said something seemed odd about it though, that guards there were insistent about them not taking an alternate route. This is the time of year when the provincial leaders either send representatives or go themselves to Hyrule Castle to give a report to the high king, so the Sudain king or representative might still be around Hyrule instead.

Well, that may be nothing. Good luck with your query.

From Gale