The group decided escort a merchant caravan.

Anne fakes a yawn. "Sounds boring, Captain…"

Arlo shakes his head. "Sounds like easy Gold to me."

"Can I come along?" asks Vera.

Anne shrugs. "I don't see why not, but it's up to the Captain."

Ikku, Arlo, Anne, and Vera set out to meet the merchant…

They find the merchant in a small trading village.

When they arrive, Anne gives Vera a stern look. "Just observe…and be quiet."

Vera nods.

"Greetings," says the merchant. He seems to be wearing worn-out clothes. Anne wonders out loud whether this merchant even has the coin to pay them, given his attire. Ikku notice that even though the merchant is poorly dressed, he's wearing an expensive ring. More than likely, he's just feigning poverty.

"Something tells me he does.", said Ikku.

Anne walks up to the wagon to take a look at it. Inside, there are several crates, and she tries to open one. Then, Ikku tells her that what we're escorting is none our business.

Anne sighs. "Aw, you're no fun, Captain. Very well." She heads back to the front of the wagon. The merchant looks relieved and nods at Ikku.

The merchant tells you that he has to escort these goods to a manor on the outskirts of Eastborne. It's about a day's journey. Ikku have to decide where he'll place each mercenary in the wagon group.

Ikku decide that Arlo will lead the wagon group, Anne over the rear of the wagon, Vera will stay inside the wagon, and Ikku will tay inside the wagon as well. The group  begin marching toward Eastborne…

Ikku failed to spot a metal object sticking out of the ground. It ends up hitting one of the wagon wheels, damaging it. As a result, their journey was delayed.

The group travel for several hours. The merchant says he has to relieve himself, so they decide to stop. He walks into the woods to the left of the wagon. After several minutes pass with no sign of the merchant, Ikku start to get a bit worried. Ikku decided to check on the merchant himself.

As Ikku approach, he hears two men talking. One of them is the merchant, the other is a male voice you don't recognize. The merchant's voice is high-pitched, as if he's afraid.

Ikku decide to listen to the conversation…

"Don't give me that bullshit…I know how valuable that cargo you're carrying is. Your best choice is to hand over half of it, or my men will take it all from you."

"Half? You must be crazy…I would be at a loss," replies the merchant.

"Then you should have accepted our 25% tax instead of hiring mercenaries to escort you. I wonder if they even know what's in those chests of yours."

The merchant doesn't know what to say. Suddenly, the bandit grabs him by the throat. "Leave half of the chests behind on the road…or be prepared to meet your fate."

The bandit roughs up the merchant a bit, then walks away. The merchant begins to walk back and spots Ikku. 

He acts as if nothing had happened.

The merchant looks upset. "What, are you spying on me now? I didn't hire you to spy on me…I hired you to protect my shipment."

He sighs. "It's just a common thug trying to scare me into giving him some goods…don't worry about it."

Ikku head back to the wagon. The bandit could have been a scout from a larger group, or there might be bandits already nearby hiding in the woods.

Anne says she knows these woods pretty well, and Ikku might be able to take a shortcut through some forest paths.

Arlo feels that more than likely, the bandits have laid an ambush for Ikku up ahead. He suggests going and taking care of them before traveling any further.

Vera suggests waiting and setting up an ambush for the bandits.

Ikku decide to set up an ambush for the bandits. He let the merchant drive ahead slowly, while Anne and Vera follow in the surrounding forest.

Eventually, the bandits attack. Anne and Vera sneak up behind the enemy archers and take them out. Ikku and Arlo jump to take care of the rest.

Anne and Vera continue to provide cover with their bows.

There are nine bandits...

Luckily, they defeated the bandits! tHE GROUP reach your destination. The merchant is relieved to be back in civilization. He pays the captain for the job.

The group earned 250 Gold Pieces.

Back at the castle, Ikku hear sparring outside; Anne must be training with Vera again. Ikku decide to go outside to watch.

He sees Anne attacking Vera over and over again. Anne is so quick that Vera can only block and has little opportunity to counter. She looks ragged and tired. Anne keeps attacking, and Vera misses several blocks, getting hit hard with the wooden sword.

Arlo is watching and doesn't seem happy about something. Suddenly, he calls out, "Vera, take a break…Anne I need to talk to you for a moment." He motions for you to come over as well, so you do.

Vera collapses on the ground, completely out of breath.

Anne walks over, a bit angry. "What gives you the right to call me over in the middle of my training? I was making progress with her."

Arlo shakes his head. "It looked more like you were running her ragged. You need to slow down the pace of your training."

Anne shakes her head. "Mercenary life isn't easy…the sooner she realizes that, the better."

Arlo nods slowly. "I understand, but you need to increase her training incrementally, not all at once."

Anne's eyes flash with anger. "Are you questioning my training methods?"

Arlo frowns. "No…I just think you need to give her some time to rest…maybe even a day or two."

Anne balks. "Give her time to rest? Let me ask you, Arlo…when we were on the battlefield or in a siege that lasted for weeks, did the enemy give us a day for rest?"

Arlo shakes his head. "This isn't the same…we aren't in a war here. She's training. If you continue this way, she could get injured, or worse."

Anne steps closer to Arlo. "I want her to reach her breaking point. I want her to get so exhausted that she can't move a single muscle. I want her to reach her limit, and then I want her to realize she can pass it. It's mind over matter, when you think you’re done and you have no energy left…that's the moment where you push yourself, you force yourself to keep going. She needs to understand she has that potential…and what she thinks is her limit really isn't."

Arlo sighs. "That sounds a bit extreme."

Anne shakes her head. "No…I'm making sure she'll survive. When she's tired from battle…no, exhausted from battle and has no energy left, when she's on her knees, wounded, and every muscle in her body aches…I want to know that when an enemy soldier runs up to chop her head off, she knows she has the ability to get up and block that blow. She needs to reach that point. It's better she sees that now in training than experience it for the first time on the battlefield."

Arlo looks over at Vera, who's still on the ground. "Captain, could you weigh in here? This could possibly lead to injury."

Ikku then said, "Anne, do you think you could let her rest for a bit?"

Anne frowns. "Fine."

Arlo nods. "Thanks, Cap."

Anne tells Vera to take a break. Anne walks away, but before she does, she narrows her eyes at Ikku slightly.