As we arrived on the other side of the river we thanked the old man and rode up the trail to the village. The rain began pelting us harder and harder as we made our way up. It didn’t help that the trail was starting to become muddy and made it hard for the Norhs to get any traction. Though we still made it up to the flatlands that the village rested on. As soon as we arrived we saw the few villagers and the guards stationed here closing up the last of the buildings for the storm.

“You two! What are you doing here?” one of the guards asked as he walked up to us. The rain pelted off his cloak and leather armor as he did.

“We were traveling through the mountains when we saw the storm coming our way. Would it be okay if we stayed here until the storm blew over? We have some gold items we would be willing to trade for it.” I replied from atop my Norhs.

The soldier looked both of us over. He looked curious as to what Sasha’s gun was but paid it no head before nodding his head. Leading us over to a small stable he helped us get our Norhs settled into an empty stall. After doing so we gave him a gold coin similar to the one we gave the ferryman earlier. The soldier looked curious about the coin but after realizing it was gold he didn’t care too much.

“I’ll have the two of you sleep in the backroom of the guardhouse for tonight. Once the storm lets up then you two can go. I figure you two are trappers?” the guard asked.

“Yeah. We were heading back from setting some traps up when we saw the storm and decided to head here. How did you guess?” I lied as quickly and as naturally as I could so that he would believe me.

“It’s not unusual for trappers to lose a limb because of their prey or traps. I hate that you lost a limb so young though. Also, your wife is carrying what I assume is a trapping device. You trappers are known to create some weird trapping items that are kept within the trapping families. It wasn’t that hard to figure out.” the guard said proudly. Sasha looked like she was thinking this man was an idiot but he wasn’t too far off. Perhaps, we could use that as our background in the future?

“Thank you. It really means a lot.” Sasha said to the guard with a bow of her head.

“You’re welcome. Though there’s no point in thanking me. You two are the ones paying for this so it’s not like I did this out of the kindness of my heart.” the guard said before leading us over to the guardhouse.

The rain only seemed to get worse the later it got. So much so that we could hear the sound of the wood shingles being assaulted as if the rain was like thousands of whips. Other than the one guard who led us inside the other three guards didn’t look worried about the storm. Instead, they were happily drinking honey brews to ease any worries they may have had.

“Who are the kids, Argus?” one of the older guards asked. Like the others, he was wearing leather armor but it looked like it barely fit around his large belly. Unlike the other guards who were fairly clean-shaven, he looked like he had never shaved in his life. However, unlike the old ferryman, he still had his hair which was long, dark, and oily.

The building wasn’t much more than a community room at first glance. There were two tables and a single fireplace in which a stewpot sat beside. Candles sat on each table and illuminated the corners of the room in which the fireplace did not. On either end of the room was a door. One I assumed was the bedroom for the guards while the other was probably the backroom the guard mentioned before. Which one was which was unknown to me.

The wooden walls of the building were old, rotting, and splintery. There were even a few buckets scattered around to catch water from the leaky roof. Had I known any better, they weren’t getting enough funding from the capital. Though it wasn’t like Alsenia was having a border dispute with Hutch. The mountains were considered a free zone by both sides considering the fact that neither could agree on where the border lies within the mountain range. Border guards zones weren’t considered all that necessary other than to keep the random villages safe. I even heard of one village that is protected by both Hutch and Alsenia due to an accident where they both thought the village was theirs. When the guards from both sides appeared they ended up getting along great and now both sides are welcome there.

“A trapping couple. They saw the storm and came for shelter. They paid us so I don’t think it will be a problem, Felix.” the one guard who I guess was named Argus answered.

“How much did they pay?” Felix asked.

“A gold coin marked with the old Empire’s insignia.” Argus replied.

“Does that mean you two are from the Empire?” one of the others asked.

“Not at all. I’m from Alsenia. Specifically, from Sentan’s province. We just happened to find some old relics when we were looking for new places to try trapping.” I said, going along with the whole trapper’s background.

“That makes a bit of sense. Every so often we’ll find relics from when the Empire held these mountains.” Felix said before drinking some more of the honey brew.

“You two can go in there to sleep. If you need to change into some dry clothes while your current ones dry out then there are some spare shirts and pants in the chest back there. After you’re both changed you can share some of our stew if you’re hungry. We have plenty.” Argus said with a kind smile as he pointed out the door.

“Thank you.” Both Sasha and I replied before walking to the back room.

Once we were in the back room I pulled off my robe and hung it over one of the low-hanging rafters. I then looked around for the chest that Argus mentioned. While I was doing that Sasha undid the straps holding the magazine pouches on her stomach. After those were off she began helping me look for the chest, either because she wanted to change faster or because she want me to put something on other than my undergarments. As soon as we found it she pulled out a shirt and pants.

“Look away.” she said.

“Yeah, I know.” I said before turning around and putting the pants on. As I did I couldn’t help but get glances of Sasha on accident as she removed her clothes. Although she had beautiful features and curves, I was more concerned with the scars across her back. Though asking about them would prove that I looked when I wasn’t supposed to so I didn’t ask.

“What’s the matter”? Sasha asked as she slid her pants on.

“Oh, nothing. I was just a bit sad that I wouldn’t be able to see what a nice ass you have.” I replied.

“Do you want to die?” she asked with a very serious tone.

“Not really. Though if I died for seeing such a sight then it would probably be worth it.” I replied as I threw the shirt on myself.

“You are an idiot.” she said before wacking me across the back of the head.

“Hey, I thought you couldn’t hurt me?” I asked with a pained voice.

“I can’t kill you. Hurting you is fine though.” Sasha said with a smug grin. Fuck…

“Please don’t. I’m still healing from where I lost my arm.” I replied sheepishly.

“Speaking of which. Can I take a look at it? I haven’t had time to since I bandaged it up so you should probably get some new ones put on.” Sasha asked with a somewhat concerned tone.

“I guess.” I said as I held out what little stump of an arm I had. She rolled up the sleeve of my shirt until she got to my arm. Slowly unwrapping the bandage she gave me a worried look.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“So far, nothing. I just don’t like doing this sort of thing.” Sasha replied as she looked over the scabbing with a disgusted look.

Once she removed the bandage, Sasha looked over it. She saw nothing out of the ordinary for a wound like this. There were no signs of puss or infection which made me less concerned. Sasha thought the whole thing looked disgusting but she didn’t see anything to cause concern either so she began wrapping it up in a new bandage.

“Did you do this kind of thing in your other world?” I asked curiously. Though that probably wasn’t the best thing to ask as she gave me a stupified look.

“I don’t know. Perhaps, I did at some point but I can’t remember. I do remember how to do this kind of thing but I have no clue where I learned it or if I ever did this as common practice.” Sasha replied with a somewhat sad look.

I couldn’t even imagine what was going on inside her head. I mean, she had no clue who she was, where she was from, or what she did. The only clues we have are from the book and her weapon. However, neither of those gave many implications to her past life as the book was fairly blank and the weapon could have been common among people in her world for all we knew.

“I’m sorry. Though I’m sure that your memories will eventually come back. We just have to be patient.” I said, hoping to cheer her up.

“Thanks. We should probably go get some of that stew.” Sasha said with a forced smile.

“Yeah, I guess we’re both pretty hungry.” I said before opening the thin wood door and walking into the main area of the barracks.