Taiga pulled ahead as they approached the village at Blackcap Mountain Mine. A few children running about spotted them first. Two waved with wide grins while another ran off to find an adult. When they did, a few adults gathered in preparation to greet them.

  Mouse walked behind Taiga, peeking over his shoulder at the gathering group. By the time they were in speaking range, nearly a dozen people awaited their arrival. Jule stepped quickly ahead with a smile. She greeted them before turning back to Taiga and Ellio. “This is so exciting!”

  “Is it?” Taiga asked, making a bow at an elderly woman who returned it.

  “Yes, our first mission! And for a Trensony flower at that. Getting paid while I can do research is the dream.” She spoke in large enunciations at ‘and’, ‘the’, and ‘dream’.

  “Remember Jules, work first.” Ellio slowed behind Mouse as Ghost. Their super sleek looking red horse pulled away with a grunt.

  Mouse would try this ‘patience’ thing with him, too. It worked on Sweet Bun, who allowed his presence as long as he left her alone. Maybe by the time they returned to Winolin, he could get a few pets in and feed the horse an apple. He looked forward to it.

  “Yes, yes, I know,” she sang, skipped a few paces ahead.

  “Welcome. Mercenaries from Winolin, I presume?” The elderly woman nodded at them.

  “Yessss, here for Tresony flowers.” Jule placed her hands on her hips, her red robe swaying behind her.

  The elder blinked at her. “Flowers?”

  “We took a mission to gather a few Trensony flowers for the hospital in Winolin.” Taiga commented. He stole a glance at Mouse, unease reflecting in them.

  What that unease meant, Mouse couldn’t guess. The villagers were oddly happy to see them, but Mouse assumed it was due to lack of visitors. Was there another reason? The shifting eyes of the adults confirmed this.

  “You,” one of the men stepped forward, “you’re not here for the mission we submitted?”

  The smile on Jule’s face faltered. “What mission?”

  Mouse glanced up as more villagers approached. Eyebrows scrunched and whispers ran amongst them. He backed up a bit further as eyes fell over him. He tapped Taiga as his stomach flipped. Taiga gave him a small, reassuring smile.

  “I apologize for any confusion.” Taiga smiled a bit brighter to the villagers. “Can you explain what mission you’re referring to?”

  “We submitted the mission over two months ago!” A woman snapped, pulling one of the kids against her stomach. “We’ve waited this whole time!”

  The elderly woman raised a hand to her in warning before turning back towards Taiga. “We paid for the mercenary guild of Winolin to inspect the old mine. There’s no way in, but we’ve all heard noises coming from inside it.”

  “Noises?” Jule’s eyes lit.

  The elder hesitated upon her expression, but nodded. “Scratches, moans. We had a few of our own try to move some of the rock enough to inspect the inside but the sounds vanished. We put the rocks back and they returned.”

  “We’re worried they may be souls of the past never put to rest,” one of the men stepped forward. “Souls unable to make their final journey to the stars.”

  “But here? And now?” The elder shook her head, “I don’t know. But it’s our duty to make sure those souls have guides. They must be returned to the stars. We put in a mission for help. We want to sort through the rubble, see if we find any remains left behind.”

  Taiga nodded, but before he could speak, Jule cut in. “We’ll look into it!”

  “Uhh, Jules,” Ellio sighed, “we should consider their opinions, too.” He waved a hand towards Taiga and Mouse.

  He was right. How dare she make the decision here? Mouse almost let it pass because Taiga likely planned to agree. But Ellio was right. How dare she. He readied to say something but Taiga held up a hand to pause him.

  “I plan to look into it as well.” He turned back to the elder. “Will that suffice for now? If we can’t figure out the source, when we return to Winolin, we’ll ask the commissioner to assign the mission to someone.”

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  Could they do that? Mouse didn’t recall them ever being assigned a mission. Though he supposed they did join a few missions once asked by other mercenaries. Maybe it was something similar.

  The elder looked towards a few of the outspoken villagers. They spoke for a few moments in hushed tones before turning back towards Taiga. The elder smiled, her skin draping beneath each cheek. “We’d really appreciate that. Dawna here runs an inn. You can stay there for the night, free of charge, in exchange for the help.”

  Taiga’s smile turned genuine. Mouse didn’t know what exactly about it changed, but it undoubtedly did. “Thank you so much.”

  They followed another woman towards the inn. Jule stepped beside her, greeting every person they passed with a smile. “So, how long has the issue been going on? The noises?”

  The woman, Dawna, smiled warmly, eyes gentle and tired. “About three or so months now. Some of the men went off to investigate when it first started but well,” she sighed with a shrug, “no one here is trained for battle or anything.”

  “Battle?” Mouse asked, a few fingers tapping the sword strapped to his belt.”

  Dawna nodded. “We thought it was bears at first. But when we realized the entrance was still sealed and with no recent bear sightings…”

  They dropped Ghost off in a stable connected to the inn. Dawna waited to continue their talk until the stablehand took Ghost and confirmed there wasn’t enough space for Sweet Bun. Since there would be no rain that night, she’d sleep behind the inn.

  Once the stablehand left, Dawna lowered her voice. “On the other side of the mountain leads to Enrish, past Lanria’s border. Some of the elders who skirmished with them in the past said maybe one of those groups dug through the mountain and into the cavern.”

  “They think it could be the Enrishi burrowing through?” Taiga asked.

  Dawna nodded quickly before leading them into a small two story building. A few children hung around a table in the corner of the tavern. “Once the rumor spread, no one wanted to venture closer. I don’t blame them. There are no warriors here. I wouldn’t let Ri— ah, my husband go either.”

  “I see. When was the last sighting of an Enrishi coming down the mountain?”

  Dawna shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m not really sure.”

  She handed them a few keys and directed them to two rooms. One for Jule and Ellio and the other for Taiga and Mouse. Dawna seemed to think Jule would have a room to herself, but Jule had no qualms with sharing.

  Which was good. Because Mouse would have a few things to say otherwise.

  “So?” Jule asked, dropping down on the edge of a bed in Taiga and his room.

  Taiga sighed, dropping his bag next to the other bed. “It’s not the Ernishi.”

  “How are you so sure?” Ellio sat at a small table. The chair was clearly two sizes too small for him, but he sat upon it easily. Impressive for his size.

  “Enrish is busy with a civil war.” Mouse spoke up. He could rarely contribute to the conversation, and doing so felt…. Surprisingly smart. Taiga must’ve felt like this all the time. He continued, “There’s at least six different bands all inter-fighting right now.”

  “Their provincial boundaries are constantly shifting as each band tries to overtake each other. They have no interest in invading and taking over a hard-to-traverse mountain.” Taiga sat on the bed.

  Mouse joined beside him. “They’re stupid. But not stupid enough to enter Lanria.”

  Taiga turned just enough to eye him. Okay, so maybe Mouse had pissed a few Enrishi off once upon a time and they chased him into Lanrian territory. But that’d been at least a decade ago and it was still stupid then. He stood by his words.

  “So… souls?” Jule pursed her lips a bit, dissatisfied. “Not very scientific.”

  Taiga watched her a moment before speaking. “I doubt it’s ghosts.”

  This perked her interest again, as well as Mouse’s. “Why not?” Mouse rocked his head to the side, confused. Weren’t they just talking about it not being Enrish? It wasn't the souls of the miners either?

  “Mmm well. Do you remember seeing a mission posted for this village? To help them with the mine?” He leaned back against the pillow propped against the headboard.

  Jule blinked a moment before turning to Ellio. “No, actually. Did you?”

  Ellio thought about it, before shaking his head.

  “Exactly. They said they commissioned it two months ago. I’ve never seen a mission posted for this village, and nothing in regards to a potentially haunted mine.” Taiga put his hands behind his head, closing his eyes.

  “You don’t think it was a screw-up at the guildhall?” Jule sat down beside Ellio.

  “Mouse.” He perked at his name. “You remember the merchants we traveled to Winolin with? How they said no help came from the capital during the demon attacks? And we didn’t know the demons were running rampant before then, either. There was never an official investigation.”

  Mouse considered and nodded. “You said information flow was forcibly stopped.”

  Taiga sighed. “Mercenaries are loyal to those who pay, no matter the emblem they wear.”

  “Wait,” Jule almost chuckled the word. “What are you talking about?”

  Taiga opened his eyes and sat up. “Someone high in Lanria is stopping information flowing through the nobles and into the courts. There’s only one person in Lanria with that much power.”

  “Your queen.” Ellio breathed.

  Taiga nodded. “And she uses all tools at her disposal. Mercenaries being some of the sharpest.”

  “You’re saying…”

  “I’m saying we should find out if there really was no one that came to check on this situation and are keeping quiet. Because Lanria’s queen doesn’t want the spread of demons in the Winolin region to be known to the rest of the kingdom.“

  “So… Demons may be involved?”

  “If I’m right, they are.”

  Mouse watched Taiga’s jaw set. He didn’t say more, but Mouse understood. If the situation was known, and the mission withdrawn despite the threat to the villagers here, then they were already forsaken by the kingdom they resided in.