We resumed our travel and the girl stopped trying to escape. I spent most of my days with her as Sylvia is still following my instruction of not speaking. As the days pass, I noticed something odd so I called for leader.

  “What can I assist you with, midy?”

  “I have noticed something. Are they increasing in number?”

  “I am surprised you noticed, midy. I was going to report to you once I have finalized the numbers.”

  Doubtful but it does not benefit me to point out such a thing.

  “While we were travelling, I took it upon myself to acquire more people for assistance. They are still comprised of thugs and bandits. All of them are lured by the chance of pilging and stealing from others.”

  Having his own people is one thing but suddenly recruiting those that would commit crimes and other illegal activity is quite dangerous.

  “How do you have trust in these people?”

  “There is no trust, midy. All of them are here for their selfishness and greed. They stand to lose nothing by following since they would have food and safety for the time being. If my words are true, they can benefit. If they are false, all they must do is run away.”

  The logic makes sense.

  “What is stopping them from stealing from you?”

  “Themselves, midy. Those that have been with us will not attempt such a thing. If any of the new dares to act, they will be an example for the others. Losing one or two of them are not a problem. This is not a problem as the number of people who have been with us longer is rger. They shall keep the others in check as they already know the benefits of being with us.”

  “It seems you have put a lot of thought into this.”

  “Of course, midy.”

  “How many do we have now?”

  “After certain events, we only had around 70. Right now, we have roughly 100.”

  “It seems you have been hard at work.”

  “Of course, midy. The hardest times are when I lose all of them and I must start all over again but there will always be people like this everywhere. Such is how we humans are.”

  No need to comment on an obvious fact.

  “That will be all, you can go now.”

  Leader left and I noticed the girl seemed sad.

  “Are you disappointed?”

  The girl nods to my question.

  “You do not need to be. Even with the result, your actions did get 20 of them killed. That is a fact that you cannot deny.”

  The girl nods and she embraced me tightly. I pat her head.

  “Good girl. No need to worry. Their time will come. All you need to do is to endure. Just endure and all of it will end soon enough.”

  The journey continues and we reach the next pce by the next day.

  “Are you sure this is the pce?”

  “Yes, midy.”

  “Are you sure? This is more developed than the other pces we were before.”

  There are buildings being made everywhere. Some of the buildings were also going through some renovations.

  “They have an inn, tavern, and a general store. It may be still under construction but this pce can already be considered a town.”

  “I understand, midy. It was not like this before. This is obviously recent development.”

  “Either way, they are essentially a town. Which means they will have more defenses.”

  “Yes, that is true, midy but there is no adventurer’s guild here. The number of capable fighters should not be much right now.”

  “Quite a bold choice. I would think that seeing this development would deter you from attacking such a pce.”

  “If they were more developed, I would be more hesitant but their early progress means that it is still possible for the attack to succeed. Their supplies and materials should also be plentiful as they are still in the middle of construction.”

  That is true. Ongoing developments present the greatest number of resources. Any pce would need a lot of materials to develop.

  “But I understand your concern, midy. We need more information. I shall send someone to check the pce out.”

  “I have an idea. Rather than one of your men, it would be best to send her to gather information.”

  “Are you talking about the girl, midy?”

  “Of course. People are less suspicious of a cute girl. If one of your men were to go, they may be found out immediately.”

  “Even so, midy. Can you trust her? She may ruin the pn instead.”

  “In that case, we move on. Even if she does tell anyone there, none of them would believe her. If someone does, they would still need time to do something. You can set a time limit and if the result is not satisfactory, we move on.”

  The leader is thinking. Both methods have risk. If he sends one of his men, the risk of getting found out is higher. With the girl, the risk is lower but the other risk is that she does not cooperate. Sending both of them is also not a good idea, they would not get along and the risk of getting discovered would be higher.

  “Which one will it be?”

  “Your pn is better, midy. I suggest letting her go tonight and then return here in two days to report what she has seen. I will decide on what to do on that night. Is that satisfactory, midy?”

  With our pn decided, leader and I go our separate ways. I meet up with Sylvia and the girl as I tell her the news.

  “You have a mission.”

  “M-me?”

  “Yes. Do you see that pce over there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your mission is to go to that pce and collect data.”

  I cannot see Sylvia’s face but her look of surprise is easy to notice.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course. You will start tonight. Be a good girl and complete your mission.”

  As it turns night, the girl leaves and heads to the town. Sylvia is looking at me.

  “I know what you are thinking, Sylvia. If she decides to run, let her be. Her presence would not change anything. Whether she succeeds or not will not change what will happen. So, come here and let me hug you. You missed being my body pillow, right?”

  I embrace Sylvia and close my eyes to slumber.