“I hate them.”

“I know.” Taiga took a meat skewer from Mouse. His nose singed from the spice alone, but Taiga eagerly took a bite.

“If you knew, then you wouldn’t have grouped us all together.” Mouse snapped a bit more than he’d intended. 

“No, I knew. But we’re playing the role of human farmers. Why would we push back on working together with a group willing to show us the ropes of being a mercenary?”

“Because I hate them.”

Taiga sighed, taking another large bite. Mouse eyed him. The smell of white pepper, ginger, and garlic overwhelmed that slab of rabbit, but Taiga seemed unfazed. Mouse had asked the shopkeeper for the spiciest skewer he sold. He’d delivered.

“Mouse, it’s one mission.” Taiga smiled and waved ahead of them. The two men Taiga had met, along with their two other companions, walked a short ways ahead of them. 

They’d taken to the road several hours prior, but Mouse refused to get closer. The group they joined owned horses, but left them in the stable at the guild hall due to Mouse and Taiga not having any. Instead, they brought a single horse with them, using it as a pack mule more than anything else. Mouse wanted to touch the horse’s mane, but the mercenaries never left its side, acting as its guards.

Walking, the mission’s region would take three days to reach, and then three days back. How Mouse would endure was beyond him. But since Taiga already agreed to it while Mouse grabbed food, he’d put up with it.

He walked with eyes to the ground, off to the right of the path frequented by carriages and travelers. According to the man with red hair, Mellagin, if Mouse remembered correctly, ever since Monx invaded a few years ago, a lot of displaced people traveled the road they were on. 

Between Monx to the west, and the corrupted lands spreading to the north and northwest, many people took on more nomadic lifestyles, finding temporary jobs or farm work where they could. Occasionally small groups of travelers would pass by, and Mouse even caught sight of the rich blue of doctor’s garbs once. 

A black stone caught Mouse’s attention, and he drifted from the path to look closer. The rough, chalky exterior struggled to contain its ebony insides. He picked it up, weighing it in his hand with a few gentle tosses. 

“Find something?” Taiga called. He walked on, pocketing the finished skewer, but his head turned in Mouse’s direction. Mouse took a few quick steps back towards him, holding out his findings.

“A new rock. Look, the inside is pretty, right?” He brushed a finger over the shined edges. 

Taiga looked it over, nodding, “it’s a deep color, very rich. Want to add it to the collection?” He opened his slung over bag and pulled out a tan leather sack. It jangled as it moved, and opened to reveal the small stones, pebbles, and other goodies Mouse found over the last few years.

He placed it carefully into the bag, and Taiga held it out patiently for him. “It looks cool, right? You like it?”

“Sure,” Taiga replied, smiling. Mouse, satisfied with this answer, turned back towards the side of the road for any more surprise finds.

After a bit, the woman of the group walked towards them. She was nice enough, older, and a veteran soldier from over a decade ago. Her gray-streaked hair was pulled back into a ponytail and aside from the age lines on her face and hands, she could easily look in her thirties. Out of the four mercenaries, Mouse tolerated her the easiest. She called herself Hela or something.

“Hey, we’re gonna go over the details of the mission. You two should listen in, see how we do things.” Hela called, hands on her hips. 

Mouse opened his mouth, to ask why they should bother, but Taiga jumped in, “sure, sounds great. Thanks for including us.” He side-eyed Mouse. Stifling a tinge of annoyance, he shut his mouth.

Up ahead, the three other members of the group had pulled over. The larger man with a broad chest and short puffy hair pulled the horse’s reins gently to the side of the road. Mouse breathed deep. Don’t snap at them, don’t yell at them… what else did Taiga warn him about? Not threatening them? Something like that.

“We usually go over this on the way, but since you two are new, we figure it’s best to go over in a bit more depth.” Mellagin sat against a large rock.

“Mallegin, you got the map?” The larger man asked. Mouse noted the corrected name. 

He nodded, rolling it out on the ground in front of them. Taiga knelt down to peer at it, so Mouse followed suit. Beside him, the larger man plopped down on the ground, groaning and rolling a bit. He bumped into Mouse, before catching himself, and Mouse pushed the rising tension and heat back down, gritting his teeth and focusing on the map all to keep from blowing up. 

Don’t snap at him.

The stench of stale beer saturated the air and overtook what little remained of Mouse’s tolerance. When the man hiccupped and burped a waft of fatty meats and cheap alcohol, Mouse jumped to his feet. Four sets of eyes turned to him, and their stares raised the tension in his chest only further.

“Mouse, gotta pee? You did drink a lot of water earlier.” Taiga’s tone softened his anxiety a bit. Mouse focused his attention to him, who glanced at him and nodded towards the trees just a bit further off the path. “I’ll catch you up on anything you miss.”

He managed to nod before his legs carried him away from the group. When he reached the first tree, he pulled himself behind it. He breathed a few times, exhaling any putrid breath left in him from that guy. Then, he touched his arm where that disgusting human had touched, and rubbed at the spot until his nerves calmed.

He’d kill that human. He could, easily enough. He could come up behind him, cup his hand under the man’s chin—

He shook the thoughts off. Taiga wouldn’t approve.

He breathed until he steadied as Taiga had told him. His muscles relaxed, and his mind cleared. He just needed to put up with it. Such a simple thing, and yet so daunting a task. But once this mission was over, they’d be free and could earn money while traveling north. Then he could check on the Guardian Spirit of Leryn Forest. He could keep them safe while he and Taiga figured out the cause of corruption.

This was just a step towards that goal. He just needed to put up with it. That’s all. He could do this much.

Laughter bellowed from behind the tree, and he could hear Taiga’s voice among it. Another deep breath before Mouse dragged himself back towards the group. Taiga had moved beside the larger man, leaving the space to the left of him free and with no one on the other side. Mouse knelt down beside Taiga, who was busy smiling and chuckling. They caught each other’s glances, before Taiga returned to conversation.

“So once we reach Applegate, we’ll meet up with one of the guards in town to know the last location of our Target, Remy.” Taiga told him, pointing to a small labeled dot on the map.

“She’s an outsider from Monx. Supposedly, she’s gathering information and sending it back to Monx.” Hela added, shaking her head and sighing.

“A spy?” Mouse ventured, studying the map and mentally measuring the distance from their current location to the dot. If they had a horse, maybe the trip would’ve only taken two days.

Mallegin nodded, “seems so,” he had a long, thin pipe in his mouth, took it between fingers and blew out a smoke circle. “Those that came in contact with her say she’s spreading propaganda. Maybe trying to weaken Lanria’s morale from within. Spreading lies to confuse people. The Gale Order commissioned for her live capture and for her to be handed over to the guild’s commissioner. They’ll take her from there.”

The youngest of the four companions, a gruff man in mid-twenties and the closest to Taiga and Mouse’s age, held up the wanted poster for the woman in question. It was a drawing in ink, so details such as eye and hair color were written in the description. But Mouse noted her larger nose and spectacles hanging low on it. He repeated the name in his head, ‘Remy’.

“Do we have a specific plan in mind for capture?” Taiga asked no one in particular.

“Mmm,” Hela considered, “According to the information we have, she doesn’t have any sort of physical prowess and no military training. Although a good spy could fake it. I’d suggest we observe first, and approach her based on what we see. I think luring her into a trap would be easiest, but we’ll adapt based on what we see.”

“With six of us, it should go fairly smooth.” The gruff younger man added, rolling the poster back up and stuffing it into his bag. He and Mallegin spoke softly to each other for a few moments. 

Taiga’s focus lingered on the map. After a few moments, Mouse followed his line of sight, trying to figure out what he saw. Still unsure, he asked. Taiga looked around the group, making sure no eyes were on them. He took their own map out of his bag, and unfolded part of it. He tapped a finger to an inked purple star.

“We’ll be at the edge of a Guardian’s territory in Applegate.”