Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Stern - Ch. 124

"Are we going the long way around, Captain Stern?"

This Hakim guy seemed rather observant, or at least knew his way around maps. He noticed my scouting party riding west before heading towards Nordhaben. But the Elder gave strict orders to avoid the old Cranta Proper area. She didn't want to provoke the monsters after the repeated defeats near the old capital. Even though she gave me a quota of how many men to lose, she didn't want it to happen at the hands of the Lesser Races.

"Indeed, I'm on patrol duty after all," I explained to the dark-skinned stranger. He rode along with his strange, quiet son. "Even if we found that dungeon entrance, I follow orders to keep the lizardmen away from the north. I can't take the direct route home."

"As someone who lived nearby and always under the threat of their kind, I'm thankful for your service." He bowed in the saddle his movements theatrical. I didn't want to destroy his illusions by revealing the Elder's intentions. "I didn't think I'd be able to make that trip to Sanctuary at last, and got a bit excited."

"It will only add an extra day to the journey," I pointed forward to assure him. "By the time the sun sets and we make camp, we will be out of the danger zone, don't worry. And in two days, we'll reach the gates of Sanctuary too. Since you didn't return to your tribe first, we will still arrive earlier than I intended. But we had heavy losses on this mission, so I doubt anyone would complain."

I rode at the head of the company, the gold plating on their armor glinting in the fading light. We made good progress today, but we'd been on patrol for a while, and it was showing. The relief that we headed for Sanctuary improved their wavering morale. My men dragged themselves along, their faces gaunt from the fighting and lack of rest. I couldn't outright tell them that half of them came to die.

We'd lost good men on this patrol too, and I could feel the weight of the Elder's orders on my shoulders. But in that sense, I was successful. We kicked up the hornet's nest, driving a few lizardmen tribes south. I lost the remaining witnesses who saw the Princess return and escape. To top it off, the magic-resistant armor I borrowed saved my life more than once.

Hakim rode on my left, often strumming his lute and never leaving his son's side. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was off with the little guy. In the two days since they joined us, the bard told me more made-up crap than what I heard in my entire life. He was an oddity, with his dark skin and exotic features, and I'd never seen anyone like him before.

"Nice melodies," I noted but wasn't sure what to make of him. He was a scammer, and I didn't buy his story about living in a nearby tribe either. But his songs proved useful and my men liked him so I was willing to give him a chance. "I miss the court musicians and the parties from Nordhaben, do you know a few popular songs from there? Or something that helps these soldiers take their minds off of the struggles behind them."

He glanced at his son before giving me a response, then at the orange horizon as the evening caught up to us. Dio perched on a smaller pack horse, and the child was an even greater mystery. His eyes seemed too old for their face. While he was the carbon copy of his father, the way he moved and spoke was nothing like him. And why would a father seek his child's approval all the time?

"How about the Rains of Gold?" Hakim asked a few moments later, offering to play an old ballad, that wasn't exactly the song I had in mind.

"Um, something happier?" I laughed, and he glanced at the kid again. I took them under my wing, and he was quiet, but I could sense a spark of energy within him, tension below the surface. As we rode, chatting about mundane things, his eyes never stopped looking for ambushes. Or at the sky, or whatever he saw that none of us did. "You know the Crantan March?"