The door opened immediately. It was a scared looking woman with braided gray hair, wearing a formal dress too rich for a common townspeople. Just looking at her house and her clothes, she was definitely in charge of the town.
"Hello," Ellis politely greeted them. "We wish to talk."
She stared them down and caught a small glance at Michael. "Who are you people?"
"A party of adventurers—"
Mave caught the door before the woman shut it closed. "That's rude."
The woman tried to close it with all her might but to no avail, she couldn't best the strength of an adventurer.
Michael didn't like how easily they entered their home but their first goal of talking with the chief was accomplished. Well, not in Michael's expectations but forced entry was one way to talk. The house was almost twice the size of Mave's home back in Aldoria.
The woman's home had two living rooms, a staircase that cut in the middle and two more rooms behind that. They had glass doors that separated the living and kitchen with furniture more fancy than Michael had thought.
A man ran in front and stopped them before they could intrude any further. He pointed a fancy sword at them, with trembling hands, and tried to find words to say. It had to be the husband and the wife of the town.
Stefan raised his hands, playing along with the act. Michael did the same but Mave nor Ellis budged in their play.
"We don't want any trouble." Ellis said. "We just want to talk."
"Talk?" the woman snarled. "Did you want to talk when you broke into our homes?"
Mave frowned. "You opened the door—"
"That doesn't mean I allow you inside my home!"
"Look, look," Ellis gestured to them. "We'll surrender our weapons away. We don't mean to impose a threat, even if you don't trust adventurers. Really, we just want to talk. You must be wondering why we were suddenly roaming through your town."
The husband and wife exchanged looks at each other. Considering that their party looked more reasonable than the others, they agreed with Ellis's terms.
Michael placed his sword next to the door along with their weapons. He held the handle tight, promising that they would talk again after.
Their names were Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, the chief family of the town. After sitting down and sharing introductions, they could finally have a proper talk without threatening each other. Stefan, Michael, and Ellis sat on the living room sofa as Mave stood beside them. Mr. Hayes refused to sit down but his wife sat across from them.
"Could you put down the sword?" Ellis asked Mr. Hayes. "You're scaring me."
"And be unarmed against you people?" he snapped back. "I think not."
"That's a ceremonial sword," Mave said. "The edges aren't even sharp enough to cut skin. They're meant to be treated as a treasure, not a weapon."
He contemplated but still pointed it right back at them.
"So, you wanted to talk," Ms. Hayes faced them. "I'm listening."
Ellis cleared his throat. "Well, first of all, I'd like to thank you for letting us inside your home. I assume these past few days you've been threatened by other adventurers with the same objective as ours."
She nodded. "They've been here for a week. None of the people have stepped outside ever since, especially during the night."
Ellis looked at Mave, sharing the same thought. "Then, I would like to apologize on their behalf. You see, we don't know the goal of our quest either so please excuse their time here. Adventurers can easily bore which leads us to impulsive and rash decisions. If any of your people were hurt, the guild will compensate after the quest is done."
"So, it is a quest," she said feeling relieved. "I thought you adventurers were just looking to cause some havoc in my town."
"No, no, that's far from the case."
"Are you the guild captain?"
"Actually, I am—"
"We're a party," Mave interrupted him. "From the Adventuring guild, sent here just like all the hooligans you see outside. We're not here to wreck your homes and scare your people, we're here to protect you."
"Protect?" she looked offended. "You adventurers have done everything but protect—"
Ellis cleared his throat even louder. "Do you guys have any food, any water? It's been a long ride all the way here."
Mrs. Hayes nodded. "Yes, give me a moment."
They watched her walk into the kitchen, putting together a plate of treats and cups of tea. It was just silence that was left and her husband still pointing his shiny, jeweled sword at them.
For some reason, Stefan was admiring him on how still he was pointing the sword. This only irritated Mr. Hayes even more because Stefan was trying his best not to laugh.
"Stop!" Michael whispered to him. "Aren't we trying to make them like us?"
Stefan was trying to hide his snicker.
"Making fun of the town's chief?" Ellis joined the whisper. "Real genius, you two."
"To be honest," Stefan leaned over. "The only reason they aren't afraid of us is because of you and Michael."
"Oh, really, you wanna go there—"
"No, stop," Michael bumped the two of them. "Gaining their trust is part of the quest, right? We can't do that if you're going to fight each other."
Ellis silently scoffed. "You two already found your way into that one anyways, am I right?"
Mrs. Hayes returned with the snacks like Ellis requested. A freshly prepared pot of tea and small bites of sweet cake laid in a pretty manner. She poured them their own cups of tea and placed the cakes in the middle of the table so everybody could pick a piece. It turns out they were all admittedly hungry after wafting the aroma of baked sugar.
Ellis sipped his tea. "No tea?"
"Nah," Stefan said with his mouth full. "I don't like tea."
"Then could you stop eating all the damn cake?"
"You said there was a quest," Mrs. Hayes sat down in her chair. "You also mentioned you were assigned to protect us."
"It's an attack from Falden," Mave said. "We're here to protect you from that."
"Falden?" Mr. Hayes panicked. "What's the duke of Falden have anything to do with us? We're far from the capital, we have nothing of value with Wilmere!"
"Calm down, Mr. Hayes," Ellis said. "In the most common scenario, it's just going to be a battalion of Falden soldiers. As long as you clear the streets and stay in your homes, I promise that none of your people will be hurt."
"But, if they're coming here," Mrs. Hayes gulped. "They're coming to kill us, aren't they? They're being sent here to take our heads?"
Ellis stared at his tea. "If you'd like to believe that, then that's fine with me. But we're also here to prevent that as well. These parties of adventurers are enough to combat Falden's forces."
She still looked concerned. Having an opposing kingdom send out an execution with her name on it wasn't a comfortable feeling, Michael imagined. It just happened that these adventurers who they had already found intolerable were responsible for keeping them safe.
"Stay in your homes," Ellis continued. "When you hear the sounds, you will definitely know. Hide somewhere safe, away from the windows, and away from the outside's view. I assume you have a cellar to hide in case of emergencies."
She reluctantly nodded.
"Right, then, you are more than prepared. You can leave the rest of the work up to us."
"An attack from Falden," Mr. Hayes lowered his ceremonial sword. "Isn't this business higher than some adventurers? What about the royal guard? Why aren't they here to handle the complications of war?"
"The royal guard has been stretching thin every year," Mave answered. "If they were sent out to incoming threats in Wilmere, then Aldoria would be left unprotected with its king."
"The Roundtable," he grumbled. "What about the Roundtable?"
"The Roundtable's business is also far beyond our concern, and I assume yours too."
He muttered something under his breath that they couldn't hear. His wife decided that they needed some time alone to converse alone, moving into the other half of the house.
Stefan ate the last of the cake without sipping a drop of his tea. Michael didn't even get to eat anything.
"That went better than I thought," Ellis stood off the couch. "Do you think that's enough to let us stay here?"
Michael narrowed his eyes. "Stay here?"
"You think we're going to share the same room with the other adventurers? Come on, Michael, you should already know this."
"Where are they going to sleep?"
"Probably inside an inn or even worse, they could take quarters in the people's homes. I'm sure that's breaking some laws but we're too far gone for them to care."
"So, you just wanted to have someplace to stay?"
"This home has two floors and the living room is the size of our home. There's no way they could occupy all of these rooms with just the two of them."
Michael felt it was clever but a cheap trick because their party had a chance to talk to the chiefs before anybody else could. Though, this beats sleeping beside the crazy adventurers that he met back in the tavern.
After they came back from clearing the air, the Hayes family showed some more trust in their party compared to everybody else that wished to speak to them. From banging doors, threatening shouts, and even peeking through the windows. It was a miracle that none of the adventurers were unhinged enough to completely break into the home just to meet the chief of the town they were assigned to protect.
Mrs. Hayes just said that their party felt safe to talk to. Though, Michael wasn't sure if this was an indirect insult to Ellis's height but he hoped it wasn't that specific.
They were finally given the freedom to stay in their luxurious house made for the chiefs of Almore. The upstairs had five bedrooms, and two of them were made for masters as they looked twice the size of the others. One master was already occupied by the Hayes so, for some unwritten rule, Mave was given the other. The other three normal bedrooms were given to the rest of the party.
Michael unstrapped his tight leather armor and slumped onto the bed. It felt as if the room was empty for ages, without anyone having stepped foot into it. There was a neat chest placed on the end of his bed and a tall closet beside. There was also a window on his left side as his room was on the end of the house.
He rolled off the bed and firmly locked the door, even double checking if it worked. Then he climbed back onto his puffy bed and grabbed the hilt of his sword.