Craydon punched the Guild Master straight in the face and shouted, "What about Meryda? Is she not innocent as well? Or are you going to start talking about sacrificing one to save hundreds? I told you already! I don't care if everyone in your City dies, as long as Meryda is safe!"
While the Guild Master was rubbing his cheek, Rusha Banei, the Guild's receptionist, asked with a trembling voice, "Craydon… You don't care if I die?"
That was when Craydon remembered he wasn't alone with the Guild Master. He slowly looked back at the crying Demi-Cat woman and said, "I… am not sure what I feel about you. What I know is that if I have to choose between you and her, I will always choose Meryda."
Rusha Banei quickly cleaned her tears, and her face opened up in a smile and she answered, "Then, I just have to make you understand what you feel! And also, if I have to choose between you and Meryda, I will always choose this cute little thing, dumbass!"
Pof Grinun, who until that point was in silence, said, "As for me, if I have to choose, I will always choose Meryda as well. So, now what do we do?"
Everyone was in silence, and then the Fae said, "Dralro Jic, Craydon said you were not welcome here. Take the Adventurers and the Explorers and leave. We will only deal with you when we need to sell Meryda's harvest, or when we go to apply for a Quest. Is that alright with you, Party Leader?"
Meryda nodded in silence since she wasn't sure what to say. It came as a shock to her to find out that the always smiling and mocking Guild Master thought about delivering her to the Ooman Alliance without even trying to warn her.
She could half understand why he did that, considering there were so many people living in Amberstar, but she didn't know all of them that well like everyone thought, because she wasn't from that World.
Meryda looked at the worried group of kids that were going to her. Pof Grinun, the always-grumpy Demi-Dog boy. The Centaur siblings, Hazer and Shilna Cemim. The smiling fool Demi-Lamia, Tetil Stog. She hugged them all, one after the other, and while hugging the smiling Fae, Meryda said, "Thanks, you pretty plant! I knew you liked me!"
"Hihihi!"
Dralro Jic, the Guild Master, said while going for his horse. "For all things worth, I am really sorry for all this. I didn't know what else to do. When they came to me, they had already sent the message asking for reinforcements. Craydon, are you-"
"You won't be seeing me again at the Guild, unless I go for a Quest. And even that won't be that often, considering all the work I have piled up on this farm. You are a piece of scum, Dralro. I had no idea Oomans were so rotten, but what surprises me is that you live in a Demi country, and that should have changed your pitiful ways."
"I can't say anything that will make you forgive me, but as a Guild Master, I must do my best to protect my Adventurers and Explorers, together with everyone who lives in Amberstar."
Craydon squeezed the handle of his crossbow and said, "The last time I checked, you were training Meryda to be an Explorer, and we also live in Amberstar. But I guess that didn't cross your mind, since you didn't even bother to try to warn us or take those envoys to another place to give us time to escape. Get out of here before I stick a dart in your treacherous nose!"
Dralro Jic took one last look at Rusha Banei and saw her slowly pointing with her head to the farm's gate, making him realise he had also lost her.
As the Guild Master, the Explorers, and the Adventurers were going out of the farm, one Adventurer asked, "What is going to happen next, Guild Master?"
"I have no idea. You all heard the Fae. If the Ooman Alliance comes for Meryda, the Fae will protect her. It is up to us to protect the City if, by chance, the Alliance takes revenge on our people. Darn it, this took the wrong turn so quickly! If I had only thought things through properly, I could have sent a message to warn Craydon before we even got here! Or I could do like he said and take the envoys in the wrong direction!"
"We are also at fault, Guild Master. We were so baffled by the envoys' direct threats about their army coming that we didn't even think about a plan to protect Meryda. No wonder Craydon got so pissed. I am pissed at myself as well. Do you think Meryda and Craydon will ever forgive us?"
The Guild Master sighed and answered. "I have no idea. Part of me hopes for that to happen, but the other part is screaming that I caused this, and I shouldn't be forgiven. Let's go back to the Guild. I need to decide what to do about the loss of our cook and our receptionist. I never saw Rusha so disappointed, and Meryda looked at me with such sad eyes that it broke my heart."
While everyone was looking at the Guild Master and his group leaving, Rusha Banei asked, "Craydon, do you have an extra room for me? And by chance, are you looking for a helper on this farm? Because I kind of just quit my job at the Guild, and I was living there." Seeing him looking at her so surprised, Rusha quickly explained, "It would be just for a few days until I can find another place to live!"
"I… think so. We have an empty room that we are using to store seeds. There is a bed and a closet there, together with a table and a couple of chairs. Will that be enough?"
"And for a job?"
"Sure. I can pay you with food and give you some shares of the sales, I suppose."
Rusha Banei nodded with her face all red and winked one eye at the surprised Meryda.
While the Monsters were returning to their work on the farm and Meryda's friends, together with Rusha Banei, were going to the back of the building to check what needed to be taken care of, the Fae pulled Craydon's and Meryda's arm to a side and said in a low voice, "Meryda, the envoys were right in one thing. The Ooman Alliance has been at a standstill for a few days now, and some kingdoms are getting worried about the number of dead soldiers and Mages. Some Kings are thinking about some dangerous things."
Craydon frowned and said, "And why are you talking about that now? Didn't we already go through a lot today?"
"We understand that, but there is one thing both of you should consider. Despite what those envoys said and did, it would be better for you and Meryda to go see how things are in the mountain range. Don't trust what other people say, including us. See what is happening, think, and decide for yourselves. This time, it was Ooman envoys who came after Meryda. Next time, it could be Demons. Instead of fighting whoever comes, you both should go see both sides and then decide. Of course, you can also stay away from all that mess, and things will continue as they were for the last centuries."
With a shrug, Craydon said in a low voice, "That's fine with me, considering we are not even from here. Why should we get involved in a long-lasting war?" He then remembered what the Fae said and asked, "Wait a minute… You said the Demons could come after Meryda. You mean there are Demons in the Demon country? Intelligent ones, not only the Sub-Demons?"
The green being went silent, and Craydon sighed, "Right, you can't talk about other species. If we agree with that, it would take us months to go to that mountain range. Even if we were riding Bone Boars."
"That is only a matter of Meryda taming a few flying Monsters. We are not saying that a few are flying close to this place, but they might if they change their course. One can never know what is inside those weird flyers!"
"You are plotting some strange things again, aren't you?"
The Fae hid behind Meryda and said, "Don't smash our head again! We were merely making a suggestion! You can decide what to do next!"
"I won't smash you if, and only if, you explain very well what you are plotting. And don't you even think about escaping, or the next time I see you, I will kill you over and over until I get tired! And I recently found out poisoned darts hurt you!"
The Fae was melting to disappear into the ground, but she then stopped and slowly nodded. "We… just want Meryda and you to see both sides of that conflict in the mountain range. We can't say anything more for as much as you threaten us. This war has been happening for a very, very long time, and if things continue like this, Oomans will be extinct. The Demons have been patient so far because of their own reasons, but if they get enough of that war, no one knows what they might do. And not even the Fae can persuade them if they go down that path."
"Is that why the Monsters are only preventing the Oomans from going into the mountain range instead of attacking? And why did I get the feeling Fae doesn't like Oomans that much?"
With a serious face, the green being answered, "We Fae don't mind that Oomans live in this World, but we mind that some of them, mostly their leaders and rulers, are greedier than they should be, and because of that, they keep sending people to fight in the front lines. The Fae are observers, and we do our best not to intervene. If this keeps going, we might need to re-think our no-intervention guidelines, made millennia ago, and Fae doesn't want to do that. The guidelines have served us so far; that is why we are not very willing to change them."
Craydon rubbed his face with his free hand, feeling all his strength slowly fading away, and said, "I am going inside to see what I can do about dinner."
The Fae happily followed Meryda to the back of the house, joining her friends and Rusha Banei, who was frowning at the sight of so many Bone Boars taking care of the planted fields.
When Meryda saw her scratching her head, she asked, "What is the matter? You look puzzled."
"Yeah, I was kind of wondering what I could do around here. Those guys take care of everything on their own. Even the spiders are working, so I don't see anything for me to do!"
Pointing to a few bags that her friends were taking out of the barn, Meryda asked, "What about if I tell my boars to clear more soil, make a few water canals, and then we can plant more stuff? I overheard a few merchants yesterday morning saying that potato season is about to start. With the speed my seeds grow, we will have tonnes of potatoes in no time!"
Grabbing a big bag of potatoes, Rusha Banei made a big smile and said, "Sounds like a splendid idea! Let's do it! Then I need your help to clear up some space in my new room, or I will have to sleep in the barn!"
"You better not try to go to my father's room in the middle of the night! He might kick you out, and then you will for sure have to sleep in the barn!"
Rusha grinned and whispered into Meryda's ear, "I can't promise you that! There is no way I am going to let this opportunity slip! I will for sure try to seduce your father so that he falls for me!"
"Good luck with that, then!"
"You… don't mind if I go after him, I hope?"
Meryda answered with a gentle smile, "Why would I? I can see you like him. But you must be patient. He seems to have a lot on his mind lately."
"Yes, I noticed. He is way more cautious and silent than he used to be. Strangely, I also like him like that."