In the end, it was the Frog who opened the dungeon door and released Grandma to the outside. When the golem stepped through, Grandma understood why Mina hadn’t been able to do so. The girl was busy trying to manage a hostage situation.

The few black marked mercenaries had each taken a hostage from among the mercenaries Grandma had deemed harmless, and were backing away from the main group with knives held to their throats.

“We would have paid you when we got back to town, you know,” Mina said, annoyed.

“Little brat,” one woman spat. “Like we’d believe that. You dragged us here, showed off your flashy magic, and now you’re going to cut us off. We hardly even did anything. Now we’re going to lose our income because of you.”

[Traitors will never believe in the sincerity of others,] Grandma informed the girl. [I see we’re busy on this side of things too.]

“That kid has money, he said so himself,” another man said, briefly gesturing at Jiyon with the knife before returning its blade to his hostage’s neck. “Leave it all here and let us go, or we’ll kill them.” He pressed the knife a little harder against his victim’s skin, drawing a thin line of blood and a hiss of pain.

[Pluot, Fiddler, you can eat the ones holding knives to people’s throats. Do it fast, and don’t hold back.]

Mina was in the middle of saying something when the traitors went slack all at once. Their knives dropped from nerveless fingers, and their hostages broke free and dove for the safety offered by the wall of soldiers. Mina abandoned what she was saying and rushed over to them, checking them over for injuries. Tanner carefully didn’t point out the faintly colorful fog swirling around the fresh corpses.

“What just happened?” asked one of the mercenaries who had been watching in helpless fury.

“Divine retribution, perhaps,” Grandma intoned solemnly.

Tanner made an undignified snort, trying desperately not to laugh out loud, because now was definitely the wrong time for that. Mina breathed carefully, in through her nose, and out through her mouth, in what Grandma knew was also an attempt to strangle the inappropriate laughter bubbling in her chest.

Grandma looked for, and found Sasha amidst the people milling around. “Let’s go home,” she said to the mercenary.

Sasha looked bewildered, staring back and forth between the dead mercenaries and Grandma. Finally, she let out a shuddering sigh, and nodded. “That sounds good.”

They spent several extremely awkward days trekking back to town. Grandma stuck to her “theory” of divine retribution, Mina earnestly and honestly disavowed doing anything to the traitors, and Tanner just bit his lip whenever anyone thought to ask him about it. The soldiers knew enough by this time that they played along, despite each having their own thoughts on what had happened.

The mercenaries kept their distance from Mina and her soldiers, far more wary now than they had in the beginning. It was ironic, really. They had been willing to follow the girl when Mina was focused on killing what they had perceived as monsters, but now that they’ve seen her possibly striking down other people, they were on their guard against her. Even the promise of payment wasn’t enough to overcome the chilly distance that had sprung up between them.

[You did great back there,] Grandma said to Mina. [I’m so proud of you.]

[I was scared, and angry.] Mina’s fists clenched, then relaxed again. [After seeing how those people acted in town, I expected they’d do something horrible, but when it actually happened, I was still shocked.]

[It’s hard to brace your heart against betrayal,] Grandma said. [It’s not a terrible thing, to not be able to fully harden yourself against it.]

[So how did you do it?] Mina asked. [Was it Pluot and Fiddler and the others?]

[Yep. I told them they could eat the people with the knives, and to be quick about it.] 

One additional thing Grandma did was find Jiyon among the soldiers. The boy had been shaken, after being the target of two back to back betrayals, just for saying out loud that he had the money to pay the mercenaries. “You all right?” Grandma asked one evening, as she handed him a bowl of mystery stew.

The boy glanced up, then away. “Not really,” he mumbled.

“When you finish, let’s take a walk,” Grandma said.

She didn’t expect him to take her up on the offer, but a few minutes later, the boy tapped her solicitously on the shoulder.

“Is that offer still good?” he asked.

Grandma nodded and stood. [Back in a bit,] she told Mina and Tanner, then steered the prince away into the night.

“I thought you didn’t like me,” he said as they walked slowly through the waving grass.

“I don’t like you.” Grandma confirmed matter of factly. “That doesn’t mean I don’t worry about your wellbeing.”

The crown prince stared at the golem through the failing light of dusk, incomprehension stamped across his features. Then he let out a snort of laughter, a wholly undignified noise that made him seem younger than his usual courteous demeanor. “I appreciate your honesty, madam.” He bowed, a lopsided smirk on his face. “I feel as though I can be honest with you in turn.”

“Good,” Grandma said. “I really don’t like liars.”

Jiyon was silent for a few steps. “In the palace, everyone tried to curry my favor. Some tried to manipulate me. Always, there was flattery to my face, and the threat of knives behind my back.” They walked farther into the night, the noise of the camp fading behind them. “It’s very different when you can see the knife, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t really a question. “Yes.” Grandma answered it anyway. “You’ve never seen real combat until now.”

“Was it so obvious?” Jiyon sighed and laughed, self deprecating. “My instructors always praised me for my form, but form means nothing to an attacking beast. Nor a mercenary willing to kill me to rob me.”

Grandma grunted in acknowledgement, and waited for the boy to continue.

“Thank you for saving my life. Twice? Probably?” Jiyon glanced at her, but Grandma didn’t give him any answers. “I thought I was prepared to be backstabbed, since everyone at the court had always warned me about it, even as they tried to manipulate me. But when it finally happened,” his voice faded to a strangled hiss. “I wasn’t ready.”

It seemed that this was the theme for the night. Grandma imagined taking a deep breath and letting it out in a sigh. “It is not so terrible a thing,” she said again, “to not be able to fully harden your heart against betrayal. Beasts are straightforward enemies, more or less. Humans tend to be the trickier monsters.”

Grandma steered the boy back toward the camp so that they didn’t wander too far away. The prince shook himself and took a deep breath before blowing it out in a huff. 

“There are so many things I’ve never seen before,” he said. “I’ve never seen a town held hostage by greedy, powerful people. I didn’t realize that that was what fear looked like. That my own servants in the imperial palace had been afraid, all the time.”

Grandma wondered how a person could be so oblivious. Maybe he’d been taught to ignore the servants, and so he’d learned to let his eyes slide right over them. “There are many lessons you cannot learn from books, surrounded by wealth in your palace,” Grandma told him. “It’s not your fault how you were raised. Now that you are older, and have more agency, you can try to broaden your horizons.”

Jiyon cleared his throat. “May I travel with you, even after this expedition is completed?”

“Ask Mina.” Grandma should have seen this one coming. [Sorry, I just threw you under the bus.]

[What’s a bus, and why does this scare me?] Mina asked, faintly alarmed.

[Jiyon wants to keep traveling with us, even after the expedition to Eastplains is over. I told him to ask you for permission.]

[Grandma!] Mina wailed in horror. [How could you!]

When they returned to camp, the crown prince wasted no time at all finding Mina and cornering her to seek permission. Grandma hovered on the edge of their conversation, half concerned that Mina would fling the boy bodily away into the night out of sheer exasperation, but no, Mina kept her cool and managed to converse with him in a tone that was, if not friendly, at least in the same neighborhood as civil.

“Where exactly do you think I’ll be traveling to, after this expedition?” she asked, eyeing Jiyon with suspicion.

“Er, well, anywhere you like?” he said, deflating. 

“I just want to go home and live quietly with my family.” Mina crossed her arms. “All this running around is exciting, and helping people is all well and good, but I’d rather spend my days safe and warm and comfortable.”

[Everyone does, really. You absolutely deserve to,] Grandma affirmed without hesitation.

Jiyon’s mouth opened and closed like a landed fish. Finally, he blurted out, “But there are other provinces struggling with monster attacks! Don’t you feel any duty to help them?”

“Not at all,” Mina told him. “I’m not so kind and generous as to go out of my way to risk my life for strangers on the other side of the empire.” She jabbed him in the sternum with one finger. “You might feel a duty, but I’m not in a position where I need to feel that way. I’ll protect my family, my friends, and the things they care about. If Her Ladyship asked me to keep on fighting, then maybe I’d think about it. Otherwise, I’m going home.”

The prince stared at the girl for a long moment, then sighed. “That’s true enough. My duties are not yours, after all.” He sketched an abbreviated bow. “Sorry to trouble you,” he muttered before turning and stomping away.

[Ha! I think he’s disappointed in you,] Grandma chuckled. [I was wondering what kind of heroic, self-sacrificing icon he’d turned you into, in his own mind. Never mind him. His fantasies aren’t your problem. You made a perfectly fine choice, and there’s no need to beat yourself up about it.]

[Thanks, Grandma.] Mina stared after the boy, lost in thought.