CHAPTER 41: YOU!

Wade looked up to see a contingent of horse riders riding towards them from the direction of Crowhill.

They were riding at full speed, dust billowing in their wake.

"What should we do, adventurer?"

Wade turned to the side to look at the beekeeper, who was staring at him, along with the man’s employees. They had a mix of hope and fear on their faces.

"What?" He blinked.

"What do we do?" The beekeeper repeated. "About the pursuers?"

Wade stared for a second in confusion, before his brain made the connection.

The beekeeper thinks the contingent of horse men were pursuers sent by Viscount Fairchild. Well, if that was true, then there was only one thing to do.

"Speed up." He instructed. "We can’t let them catch up."

The beekeeper opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind. A second later, Wade saw what it was.

The oxen were painfully slow. Watching them trying to move faster at the prods from the beekeeper was like trying to watch paint dry.

Wade glanced back at the contingent. From the speed they were all moving, it was inevitable. They would soon catch up with them.

Sighing, he turned back to what he had at hand to work with.

He had his horse, his sword, which was attached to his saddle, his stats, and his skills.

Basic Ward, and Mirror Step.

He exhaled, stopping his horse.

"You guys go on," he said. "I’ll catch up. And if I don’t, I’ll find you."

Without another word, the beekeeper and his employees continued on, leaving Wade behind.

Wade dismounted, unsheathing his sword. He stepped forward, planted it into the soil before him, both hands on the hilt, and stood there, waiting.

A few minutes later, he felt stupid, but with the riders closing in on him, there was no way he was going to abandon the pose now.

It didn’t take too long before the sound of hooves striking heart reached his ears.

The riders moved closer, becoming visible. They all had armor on, but from what he noticed, it was regular armor, not loot armor.

So that meant there was a chance these people were normal warriors, not adventurers.

He looked towards the lead rider. ’Observe.’

[Name: Dick]

[Race: Human]

[HP: 54/57]

[Strength: 9]

[Agility: 11]

[Perception: 7]

[Constitution: 10]

A sigh of relief escaped Wade. He was dealing with a group of normal humans. That was good.

A grin appeared on his face as they finally neared him, their horses slowing to a canter.

"I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, guys." He grinned, holding his pose. "But you shall not pass!"

He’d always wanted to use that reference. Now was a time as good as any.

The group slowed to a stop before him, the lead rider eyeing Wade.

That was when the voice reached his ears.

"Wade?"

Wade’s eyes widened in surprise, his eyes snapping towards who had called him. And when he saw who it was, his jaw dropped.

"Rowan?"

"What are you doing here?" Rowan asked, a frown on his face.

"That’s what I want to ask you. What are you doing here?" Wade shot back.

"Wait a minute..." Rowan narrowed his eyes. "Are you the adventurer that ran off Viscount Fairchild’s men?"

Wade opened his mouth and closed it a few times, his brain in too much disbelief to know what to say. Then, he finally processed what he’d just heard.

"Don’t tell me..." He stared at Rowan. "You work for Viscount Fairchild?"

"Yeah." Rowan nodded. "I took a quest with him. Fairchild wants me to bring the beekeeper to him. What about you?"

"The beekeeper wants me to protect him till he gets to Hiving." Wade answered automatically.

"Oh."

They stood there in awkward silence for a minute, each man realizing they were on opposite sides of the quest.

"Wait a minute..." Wade said as something occurred to him. He cast Observe on the rest of the contingent to see that they were human. Rowan was the only adventurer.

But that was not the surprising part. It was that Rowan was working for Fairchild. He was supposed to be the good guy, not work for bad guys.

Maybe it was because he was used to the twenty-first century sense of morality, or the fact that something just seemed... wrong to him about the whole thing.

"You know what’s going on, right?" Wade asked. "About what Fairchild plans to do with the beekeeper."

Maybe Rowan didn’t know. Maybe he was just following others.

Rowan looked away, a flicker of shame appearing on his face before disappearing.

"You know." Wade said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "You know, and you’re still doing it."

There was silence as the other riders of the group stared at both adventurers, silent.

"So, what are you going to do?" Wade asked.

He didn’t care what Rowan did in his free time. He’d just been surprised that someone like Rowan would be doing this kind of job. And now, he was putting the ball in Rowan’s court.

He already knew he was too weak to defeat Rowan anyways. So whatever Rowan decided to do, that was what would happen.

Rowan spurred his horse forward, riding past Wade, his contingent following behind him. But not before leaving Wade with one last word. "Sorry."

As the sound of hooves faded behind him, a question came up in Wade’s mind. ’Why was he apologizing to me?’

Wade could understand the situation. They were both adventurers working for different people.

So, it didn’t really matter if they were friends outside of work. After all, this was work. They both had to do their jobs. And it wasn’t as if they’d attacked each other.

He chuckled as he sheathed his sword back on the sheath attached to the saddle, mounting his horse.

This time, he’d lost. But when next they crossed each other on a job, he wouldn’t lose.

And with that, he spurred his horse into a walk.

A minute later, the riders rode out of view. And a few minutes after that, the notification appeared before him.

[Trade recorded.]

[Escort to Hiving: 1,000 coins]

[Cosmic Value: -0.5]

[It wasn’t that important to you, but a deal’s a deal. And you lost.]

[Balance: 1]

Wade stared at it with wide eyes.

"Wait, what?"