Chapter 30 – On the Run

Reina and Grimwald escaped the capital the same way they entered. Once they met back up with Maria, Vyrdrun, and Kuromo, they moved west.

Within the hour, the sun had reached the horizon and began to set. It was also at that time that they reached a forest. Grimwald got to work foraging for food, collecting a variety of edible plants, as well as the decapitated body of a krindar. While the meat wouldn't be tasty, it was still meat and something that'd be good to have after fighting this day.

In the meantime, Vyrdrun had set up a stone building for them to rest in a bit further in. While having a place to sleep was more than enough reason, the building served a second function, which three of the occupants were extremely thankful for.

"Ugh…" Reina moaned, sitting up near the fire. "I forgot what this felt like."

Outside the stone cottage, violet rain fell to the ground. It had been a month since Reina had been around it, and she was glad for that. Feeling weak and nauseous wasn't particularly fun, though it seemed like she was having a better time than the other two humans with her.

This did give her the opportunity to test out her thoughts on violet rain, which she did. Reina switched out her weapon forms, noting the difference in her magic stat and how she felt with them equipped. The higher her magic stat was, the worse she felt.

Reina had also unlocked her Greater Violet Storm Idol, which gave her magic rating adjustment (small). That gave further evidence that the rain affected people with higher magic stats, since she was certain hers counted as a lower value for negative effects. Additionally, while Grimwald didn't look too good, Maria was outright miserable. Vyrdrun acted like he normally did, but Kuromo didn't seem that affected. Dragons were probably just built differently.

"You doing okay there?" Reina asked from her place near the fire.

"Mm." Maria gave a noncommittal response. "You're crazy, Boss…"

While in pursuit of her curiosity, Reina had asked Vyrdrun to drip a few drops of violet rain onto her hand to see what would happen. It hurt, but the damage was negligible. The pain lessened with weaker magic weapons equipped, giving further proof of her assumption.

"That doesn't answer my question." Reina pointed out, standing up and walking over to her.

"Wait." Maria tried to sound forceful, but her voice came out a bit quiet. "You don't have any rain on you, do you?"

"Already wiped it off." Reina said.

"Good." Maria lifted up her arms. "Then I could use a comforting hug to deal with the rain."

Reina laughed lightly as she knelt down next to Maria, giving her what she wanted.

"Mmmm~." Maria hummed. "This'd be so much nicer if you weren't wearing your armor."

"Yes, yes." Reina patted Maria's back. "I'll take it off before I go to sleep." It was a bit too heavy and cumbersome to lay down in and relax properly.

"Good. It feels better to have my arms around your stomach~." Maria lazily let out.

Maria's reaction to the rain starting before was almost funny. She'd gotten as far away from the doorway as she possibly could, pulling her hat down over her face as she sat down. Seeing as how being caught in the rain was normally a death sentence, Reina wasn't all that surprised by the reaction.

Though, since she was acting flirty again, she must have started to feel better.

Adding to her reaction was the fact that there didn't seem to be a lot of information regarding violet rain outside of minor treatment of it. Even the Violet Storm church didn't seem to know much, despite being on good terms with the race that can more easily survive it.

"Well, it makes you sick just being near it, so I guess it's no surprise not a lot of research can be done by humans alone. The water becomes inert after a couple hours, so they can't really test it out then. Sure, it can be held in containers, which makes it last longer, but the air around it makes you sick, too." Reina thought.

That said nothing about the potions Vyrdrun made, which retained their potency after being boiled.

While Reina would like to continue this line of thought, there was another matter that required her attention.

"Alright, I think I've waited long enough." She looked to the last human in the hut. "What happened in that town before we showed up?"

It would have been better to discuss this before bed—like they were now—without worrying about the rain, but Reina had put it off for too long.

"A moment, Totem Hero." Grimwald stood from his spot and moved to a corner of the building. He then proceeded to vomit part of his meal onto the floor.

"If he's trying to appeal to me by acting less like a noble probably should…well, it's working." Reina thought.

After he collected himself, Grimwald turned to face her. Reina separated from Maria and stood as well.

"We cleared away the monsters in our path toward the town. The guards at the gate let us in quickly, since monsters were landing inside. We spread out, Carlo, Dylan, and I staying together, as was the plan. We took out more monsters, doing our best to keep the people safe while the templars secured the wall. Or so I thought…"

Grimwald spat out a bit of partially digested food before continuing. "As my group was fighting a larger number of monsters, the Radiant Cross and Silver Falcon templars came up from behind. I'd barely turned around when they started shooting, both at us and the monsters. After the first volley, the Radiant Cross templars switched to fire magic. Dylan was the first to be killed, Carlo joining him soon after.

"Admittedly, I was lucky. The concussive nature of the spells used sent me into the monsters. I was left dazed, trying to regain my senses while the templars filtered away to deal with more monsters, and the townspeople, it seemed. If there weren't a bunch of monsters killed in their attack, they might have realized they didn't gain any XP for killing me."

Grimwald ground his teeth. "I was careless. I knew it wasn't safe for me around those templars, but I didn't think they'd try something so soon. The people there should have been their first concern, murdering me coming second."

Reina frowned. "You're not the only one at fault." She didn't blame him for getting taken by surprise. It happened to her, too.

There was no way she could have known what the templars planned on doing. It was completely out of nowhere. Attacking one another could have been predicted, but not during the Wave. But killing everyone in that town under the belief they sided with brigands? Impossible.

It wasn't a large town by any measure, the walls not nearly as fortified as the capital. They were partially made of stone, but mostly used wood. They were short enough that a normal Gromnar would have been able to reach up and touch the top, and Gromnar were more than tall enough to use a weapon against defenders. The people there weren't doing simple trade with brigands; they were being extorted.

And yet, instead of dealing with the Mist Mountain brigands, the town was left to fend for itself. What other choice did they have other than give them tribute? Reina heard the Mist Mountains had violet rain around them often, so it wasn't like the town could send guards out there to deal with them, or hire adventurers for the job.

Of course, that was assuming the Mist Mountain brigands went there at all. For all Reina knew, it could have been some other tribe that was doing legitimate trade with the town. Or maybe the Mist Mountain brigands weren't actually brigands, but just normal Gromnar. She only really heard about them from Prime Minister Heiner and a high priest in passing, both of whom weren't reliable sources of information on Gromnar.

She just couldn't understand. With a noble with her now—foreign or otherwise—she might be able to shed a little light on a few of the possibilities.

"Do you know why the capital didn't send help to that town?" Reina asked. "It was apparently dealing with brigands from the Mist Mountains for a while."

"Maybe it wasn't that profitable." Grimwald offered after thinking for a moment. "Maybe the noble in charge there didn't get along with the churches. Maybe they didn't offer proper tithes to the churches. Could have been rival nobles trying to weaken the town or turn the people against the ruling lord for failing to protect them and securing aid. Nobles play these sorts of games, after all."

"Speaking from experience?" Reina wasn't sure if she was asking if he did these sorts of things or if they happened to him.

Grimwald grunted. "A neighboring lord who didn't care for me hired bandits to harass and steal from my people." The look on his face hardened. "I personally mounted the heads of those bandits on pikes to show everyone what would happen if they tried."

"A good show of force." Reina acknowledged. Her own run-in with bandits came to mind.

"I'm thankful that's all I need to do." Grimwald nodded. "Duke Balta has much more experience in courtly matters and subterfuge, which he still deals with on my behalf. People don't try that often, assuming I have more experience than I do based on my appearance. Having powerful allies to rely on is important, Totem Hero. I hope you are able to gain some."

Reina wasn't exactly sure how to take his words. If he was 19 and trained by a hero, she didn't think he had as much time to learn politics. That was especially true given how he survived the templars. She didn't ask, but his level must have been pretty high, at least compared to the templars in the town. Training and leveling would take time, time that he couldn't then spend on learning deception and political maneuvering.

If there was some hidden meaning beyond the suggestion of finding allies and potentially being one himself, Reina didn't see it. Instead, she took it at face value. There was something else he said that caught her interest.

"Why do you call me that?" She asked. "Aside from Vyrdrun, everyone else calls me Spirit Forger. Oh…and Ritual Implement Hero sometimes." The only people to call her the last one were Lola and the Fire Spirit.

"Short answer: Hascain doesn't like the empire, even if it's dead now." Grimwald told her. "Are you not aware of the first empress?"

Reina shook her head. She only recently heard about that, but she had some ideas.

"It was over 100 years ago." Grimwald began. "It started in the small country of Saresu, about two weeks of walk west of here. By some unknown necromantic power, a vampire came about. Vampires drain the blood of their victims, creating more vampires. They are strong, have a natural ability to wield necromantic magic, and have impressive regenerative abilities. That's just the weakest among them. Those who have taken more blood develop stronger abilities. Some would devour everything in the path, but others set up areas to continuously feed themselves and grow stronger.

"After several months, the situation became bad enough to summon the Totem Hero. With the help of Keston nobles and adventurers, the hero grew in strength and took the fight to the vampires. It took over a year, but the hero was able to hunt down and exterminate all the vampires.

"Once the fighting was done, she helped the affected countries rebuild. In that time, she married into the Keston royal family. It didn't become official until sometime later, during her twilight years, but some of those countries ended up becoming vassals of Keston, making the country an empire. I'm glossing over a lot of details, but that's the summary."

Reina pondered what was said. "And her title?"

Grimwald nodded. "She was able to have multiple spirit warriors fighting with her at once, making her a fierce combatant. If one was destroyed, she was able to create another quickly. Though, more likely, the title of 'Spirit Forger' was due to her creating the 10 churches, 4 of which being favored by her. Of course, both were used to encourage a few countries to submit to Keston while she was alive."

"You mean she threatened them?" Reina asked. That very much didn't sound like something a hero would do.

"Who can say? Her, her husband, one of her children, one of her concubines."

Reina nearly sputtered at that. That seemed to fall in line with what she understood about the Spirit Forger having women around her, though that specific title wasn't used.

Grimwald went on. "I don't know the specifics. Even after her death about 100 years ago, Keston was a powerful force. They had more than enough power to subjugate other countries, including Hascain, which was the strongest single nation at the time of the war."

A small smirk played on Grimwald's face. "The first Demon Lord changed everything. With the death of the imperial family 20 years ago, many nobles in Keston vied for power and ended up destabilizing the empire. Hascain and many others broke free. While Keston doesn't have direct control over many countries west of here, the churches filled the gap."

Grimwald crossed his arms. "The first empress did a great thing by ending the vampire threat, but she paved the way for the empire. I can't say the first Demon Lord ended up being that great, since he seemed to inspire many others. Hascain has had to deal with many of these lesser Demon Lords in the following years, much more than any other country."

Maybe that was part of the reason people didn't seem that concerned about a new Demon Lord. He attacked Savia, sure, but if past Demon Lords were mostly in a country that the churches didn't seem that fond of, that could extend to the people feeling at ease about it.

"Boss~? Are you done talking yet~?" Maria drawled out from her place on the ground. "Come to bed~."

Reina sighed. "Alright." It had been a long day, so proper rest was in order. "We can talk more tomorrow about how we'll work together. For now, I'd rather get some sleep."

"As you wish, Totem Hero." Grimwald gave a light bow. Despite how he held himself, Reina could tell he was still feeling sick. It showed as he began slowly unbuckling his breastplate.

Maria aided Reina in removing her armor as well, with light instruction from Grimwald. Once she was done, Reina had the light clothing given to her from Baric for wearing under the armor and padding. She didn't feel quite revealed in the presence of a man—human man—with these clothes; it was moderately acceptable. She'd be covered by a large monster hide from Vyrdrun, regardless.

~Forging Legends~

Reina roused from a long and peaceful sleep. It didn't seem like she moved at all during the night, since Maria was still right behind her, holding her close.

With a little shaking, Reina woke Maria up. The two of them rose from the ground, stretching out. When Reina looked around, she saw Vyrdrun sleeping closer to the entrance with Kuromo on his chest. Grimwald, however, wasn't there.

"Hm?" Maria approached the extinguished fire pit. "Did Grim go foraging?"

"I guess so." Reina said. There was only a little bit of gathered food from the previous day, the krindar having been mostly eaten and then absorbed into her weapon.

With nothing else to do at the moment, Reina went to her armor to get it put on. Maria was able to help her out of it, so Reina was confident they could get it back on easily enough without more help. However, when they approached where the armor sat, Reina looked around.

"Where's my old armor?" She asked.

Her newest set was placed on a sheet she got as an item drop while her old set was kept in a sack. Since there might be a time when she needed to armor up quickly from sleep, Reina didn't want to store it in her weapon and out of reach without a Dragon Hourglass.

Alarm began to rise in her as she looked around the hut, finding not a trace of the sack. That alarm soon turned to anger as nothing of Grimwald's was anywhere in sight, the little that he had.

"He…He stole my armor!" Reina shouted. A quick look at her status showed his name was no longer there.

Vyrdrun jolted from his place on the ground, looking over at them.

"Vyrdrun!" Reina looked at him. "Have you seen Grimwald?"

"I have not." Vyrdrun shook his head.

"Damn it!" Reina slammed her fist against the stone walls. "I can't believe it…"

Grimwald had stolen from her in the middle of the night and left. Of course he did. That armor was made by Baric, a legendary blacksmith, apparently. It was worth more than 19 geld, much more. Grimwald would be able to do a lot with that.

"Why did I trust him? I didn't, not really. He fought against templars that were only just about to turn on me. We didn't have any strong bond, and it wasn't as if I spoke kindly to him. Can't say I even blame him as much as I should, since I was so careless. Letting him sneak away with my old armor…this one's on me."

Reina sighed. She wished she was more cautious around him. Two Demon Lords came with her to the Wave, not to mention Meru. She should have been more distrusting. At the very least, he didn't steal her newest armor. He must have just taken what was easiest to carry, and sticking a bunch of armor pieces in the same sack might have woken them up.

"Fine." She ground out. "Let's just get going."

Maria patted her shoulder comfortingly before helping her into the dragon armor.

The rest of the morning passed with few words spoken between them. Vyrdrun had more than enough knowledge to gather edible food for them, with Reina taking out what remained of last night's cooked krindar to reheat over a new fire. It was preserved well enough in her monster drops, and Vyrdrun made sure it wasn't tainted.

After that, they continued on their way west. While the betrayal stung, there wasn't anything Reina, or any of them, could do about it. None of them were trackers. Even if Grimwald had gone in the same direction—a distinct possibility, since it was the opposite direction of the capital—he would have had too much of a head start.

Instead, Reina focused on fighting the monsters that were in her path. Krindars and a couple new dolls were most common, but Reina couldn't be bothered to look over the weapon forms. The monsters were her distraction so she wouldn't have to think.

The only thing she did give any real thought to was Kuromo. The dragon had grown again during the night, gaining half a foot, or a full foot including his tail. Pretty soon, he'd be as long as she was tall. Based on his parent's size, he still had a ways to go.

Despite what he did, Reina did consider Grimwald's words before. Reina had a seal placed on Kuromo's egg to control him. From what she understood, that was more of a physical control than a mental one, like the collars used on slaves. Her carrying his egg was what gave Kuromo a mental urge to obey. Reina likened it to imprinting on him, like she was his mother. That, at least, eased her mind a little.

"Gau!" Admittedly, watching the young dragon tear into their latest kill was somewhat heartwarming.

Grimwald had said this forest didn't have giant insects. The specification was important, since they did come across a giant animal. It was a boar, roughly the height of Reina. Its size was all it really had going for it, since it wasn't that strong. Or, it might have been strong, but three out of the four members of her party were above level 40 now.

"You think it tastes good, Boss?" Maria asked next to Reina.

"I hope so." Reina nodded absently before speaking up. "Alright, that's enough now. Let me dissect and absorb the rest."

"Gau!" Kuromo lifted his head from the slain monster, his jaw dripping in blood. That sight was less heartwarming.

Vyrdrun had done his role of surrogate leader well, having already finished wiping the blood from his mouth when he took the first bite. Moments like those made Reina see why humans wouldn't be so fond of Gromnar.

Reina approached, shifting her weapon into an athame form. Vyrdrun likewise pulled his enchanted metal and changed it into a knife. Hopefully, she'd get some good weapon forms from this.

"Vyrdrun!" A far off shout stopped the Gromnar before he could begin.

"Was that…" Reina looked toward the source of the voice, recognizing it. "Wha—Vyrdrun!"

With his metal shifted into a club, Vyrdrun ran to where the yell came from.

"Let's go!" Reina gathered herself and called out. She trailed after Vyrdrun, Maria flying right beside her and Kuromo doing a combination of flying and running. "Forge Spirit!"

She had no idea what the hell was going on, but she was going to find out.

Vyrdrun's longer strides made it hard to catch up, but the large trees kept him from getting too far ahead. Added to that was him clearing any foliage that was in their way, with Reina's spirit clearing the rest. It was only about a minute of running before they slowed down, Vyrdrun just a few dozen feet in front of them.

At the base of a tree, Grimwald was panting with his cleaver out and his knee on someone's back. The cleaver was held against the prone man's throat, keeping him still.

Before Reina could send her spirit forward, Grimwald looked up to Vyrdrun. "Help keep him pinned down."

Vyrdrun moved without hesitation, kneeling in front of the pair and shoving the held man's head into the ground the moment the cleaver was removed.

"What's going on?" Reina demanded as she watched. Maria and Kuromo came up behind her.

"We're about to find out." Grimwald said, reaching behind him. What he pulled out shocked Reina. A metal collar opened up as it was maneuvered around the prone man's neck before it snapped in place. "Seal!"

It glowed for a moment before dimming again.

Once that was done, Grimwald stood up, returning his cleaver to his back. Vyrdrun allowed the man use of his head, which he used to look at the group.

"Well?" Reina looked between Vyrdrun and Grimwald expectantly.

"You know what that is?" Grimwald responded, pointing off to the side.

Reina held her glare for a few seconds before turning. On the ground near another tree was a black cloak that almost seemed to shine in the sparse daylight that made it through the thick trees.

"A cloak, so what?" Reina returned to Grimwald. "You stole from me."

He heaved a sigh. "I didn't steal anything, and that's the cloak of a shimmer."

Reina glanced at the cloak again. It did look a little familiar, though she didn't get a good look at the shimmer she saw in Savia. She didn't have much time to before Derdir killed him and she had to run.

"Where's my armor?" Reina demanded. If he tried anything, she was ready to use her forged spirit on him.

"Right here." Vyrdrun was the one to answer. He turned to show the pack he almost always kept on him, lifting the flap to reveal Reina's old, shiny armor.

Looking between the two of them again, Reina could feel her eye starting to twitch. "Someone had better explain this."

"We were being followed." Grimwald looked back to the man, the shimmer, still on the ground. He'd risen to his knees, though his hands remained on the ground as he seemed to look through Reina. "I noticed during the middle of the night when I walked around our encampment."

"And you didn't think to tell anyone?" Reina questioned.

"He told me." Vyrdrun pointed out. It was rather obvious, given the circumstances, but Reina was too mad to make the connection right away.

"He came just a bit too close to the hut." Grimwald continued. "He was much easier to spot without his cloak active, and he couldn't use it at that distance without Vyrdrun noticing it."

That…was also something Vyrdrun had explained at one point or another. If a magic item wasn't being used, he'd have to be within a few feet to notice it. Otherwise, he could sense the item from about 60 or so feet away.

"But why didn't you tell me?" Reina asked, looking at Vyrdrun as well. "Either of you."

"I wasn't sure who he was following." Grimwald spoke. "If it was me, I'd have simply killed him when he followed me out and returned before daybreak. Someone was tailing me in the capital yesterday, but I managed to lose them before returning to the cart. I suppose he wasn't expecting to see me so soon, since he was a bit sloppy. But if it was you he was after, following me to find you since I went with you to the Wave, he'd likely stay near the hut. I had to give a good reason for being away for so long, so…"

He left the rest unsaid. If Reina saw Grimwald wasn't there and didn't return, they might have gone looking for him. That might have tipped off the shimmer. She was pretty loud in saying he ran off with her armor. If this shimmer worked for one of the churches, that could be a believable story. Both the templars and Bishop Valais didn't have a high opinion of him, or Hascain for that matter.

"Alright, fine." Reina surrendered, returning her spirit to her. "That was…pretty clever. I can't really complain since it worked out and nothing was really lost."

She wanted to be angrier about the deception, but she was already plenty angry when she thought she was robbed.

Hesitantly, she continued. "…Good job, Grimwald."

Grimwald gave her a soft smile. "Just 'Grim', if you would. 'Grimwald' is just for dealing with other nobles."

"Alright then…Grim." Reina nodded. "Then call me 'Reina'. No more 'Totem Hero'."

He returned her nod. "Of course."

If nothing else, he showed he was serious about working with her. Reina definitely did not like being tricked like that, but she understood his reasoning. And if he didn't like other nobles any more than she did, which was starting to sound like the case, it was all the better.

"Now, then." Reina focused her attention on the shimmer still on the ground on hands and knees. "What are you doing out here? Following me for the churches?"

The shimmer didn't respond.

"That collar can shock you at my command. I can even kill you with a snap of my fingers." Grim said with no hint of reluctance, raising his hand up.

Still, the shimmer said nothing.

Grim stepped closer to him, grabbing him by his hair. "This can be as painless as you want it to be." He said, pulling the man up.

The shimmer let his arms dangle next to him, wincing at being held up by his hair.

"Don't make us do this." Reina said, letting her voice go softer than she wanted.

She was barely okay with killing people, and even then she didn't think she'd have been able to kill the templars guarding that spirit's location. Torture was out of the question. At the same time, she couldn't just hide away while others did it for her benefit. If this had to happen…

Before she could resolve herself to the situation, something dropped from the shimmer's hand. A small ball rolled toward the center of the group.

"Crap—" Grim's words were cut off as a blinding light encompassed the area. There was a loud bang, but it wasn't enough to rob Reina of her hearing. She closed her eyes, trying to dull the burning pain.

Disoriented, Reina stumbled back and fell to the ground. She heard Grim grunt in pain, the shimmer likely using this time to make his escape.

"Forge Spirit!" Reina called out her skill, trying to at least have some sight through her spirit's eyes.

Focusing, she had it look around. Vyrdrun held his hand to his eyes. Kuromo seemed the worst off, dragging his claws on the ground while whipping his head around wildly. The spirit quickly spotted the shimmer as it passed around a tree, but there was no way Reina would be able to follow. He would soon be out of her spirit's range, and she wouldn't be able to navigate the forest floor properly while following him.

"Incinerate!" The air grew hot as Maria cast her spell. A lance of fire shot from the side to where the shimmer had run. A scream of agonizing pain soon followed before a thud.

Reina's spirit turned to look at Maria, who floated a little away from Reina. Her extended arm slowly dropped to her side.

"Maria?" Reina tried looking to her, but wasn't sure if she was facing the right way.

"Don't worry, Boss." Maria said without turning. "I got him."

Her statement was confirmed by the XP notification, despite not being able to personally see anything else outside her status.

"Where did that spell come from?" Reina asked, blinking as her vision slowly lost some of the brightness of the flash.

"It's an extremely powerful fire spell, but I can't cast it quickly." Maria said, looking at her. "I started channeling it the moment we found that shimmer, and kept myself hidden behind you. They're pretty crafty when they're caught, or so I heard. Since he didn't try to end his own life when caught, I didn't want to risk him escaping."

"Huh…" Nodding at her words, Reina dismissed her spirit and waited for her vision to fully return.

What she said wasn't wrong. If a loyal spy was caught, trying to keep their master's identity a secret was plausible. Since it was likely one of the churches, doing that wouldn't make much sense, except to keep the identity of which church sent him hidden. The shimmer might not even have known everything that happened yesterday. If he did, it wouldn't have been a shimmer that was following them.

It took a full minute, but everyone was able to recover without issue. The party moved over to where the shimmer was, or what remained of him. His clothes were completely burned, his body blacked from the intense fire spell. The leaves on the ground near him started to burn, but they were quickly stomped out.

"Damn." Grim muttered under his breath. "He called my bluff."

"What bluff?" Reina asked.

"That collar wasn't strong enough to kill on command. It's pretty weak, only really usable on people under level 10, and even then it could only shock them continuously." Grim said. "At best, I might have been able to track him until he got it off."

"Hm." Reina looked back at the burnt corpse. "Why did you have that, anyway?"

"It was from one of my servants." Grim said. When Reina looked at him, he pulled an identical one from behind his back. "I wasn't about to leave them in Keston, and people with these collars would have a hard time finding voyage on a ship."

Reina blinked. "You…let them go?"

"To return to my lands, yes. If they choose to." Grim stored the collar under his cloak again. "Indentured or not, they're my people. I wasn't about to leave them to be taken by the churches. I gave them enough coin to return home, where I'd consider their debt paid for having to go through all this. They do have family there, so I'll hopefully see them again."

More layers to Grim were being peeled back. Maybe he really wasn't like other nobles Reina has had to deal with, though that only really counted a small handful. Maria had good general knowledge about countries, but Grim would hopefully have a more in-depth view of Hascain.

They'd be spending some time together before arriving, so there would be time enough to learn.

Author's Notes:

Didn't cover quite everything I wanted, but I can work it in a different chapter's final scene well enough.

Grim seems like he's there to stay. We'll see how that affects the party dynamic a bit.