"Hey, hey. What's done is done. Like I said, you couldn't have changed the outcome. So do not blame yourself so much, okay?"
She laughed nervously at the merchant's slip of tongue and patted the man's back. She watched as his eyes filled with what she thought was guilt, as he looked at Hanno. She herself felt guilty for what happened to the kind and gentle faerin.

"Nice to meet you Mr Tramys. My name is Aurora Labyrinth and he is Hanno Futaba"She introduced herself and the resting man, letting Daedalus introduce himself. The young girl thought for a while. She didn't want to leave the emotionally unbalanced man alone in his own dark thoughts. Who knows what he might do, if left alone. He needed something, a hobby or job, to get him busy and start a new life. But what would that mean? She couldn't take the man and bring him along with her everywhere she went right? 'what are we going to do with him..' she looked forward, staring at the back of the old merchant when suddenly an idea popped in her head.

"Why don't you work as a bodyguard!" She said, looking back at the Yladian. "You can do that right?! you are really strong and I bet merchants like Mr Richard always needs protection and company when they go for long trips such as this. You will be able to protect innocen and right people. Surely you can try to take up that job right?"
She looked at Daedalus. "What do you think? Maybe you can tinker some weapons up for him with your amazing skills"

 

'Maybe I shouldn't have been so reckless in my actions...' The Faerin thought to himself, keeping his eyes shut. The last thing he wanted was to someone bother him right now. Right now he wanted to reflect about what he have done... Was that alright? Was that wrong?

Of course that considering the whole situation, the answer would be that it was alright. After all, it was a dangerous situation for his comrades- And it was impossible to know in that moment if that Yladian was a good guy or a bad guy... So taking the risk of having his friends killed wasn't an option. Right?

'But I could have tried to dialogue first...' Maybe, just maybe if he hadn't gone to an all in attack as soon as he sighted the Yladian, none of that would have happened.

As Hanno thought on his mistakes, his ears twitched at his comrades talking- The topic of course catched his attention. The Faerin carefully listened to everything... And probably @Daedalus's words were the most enlightening of them. No matter how much you wanted the world to be bright and perfect, the truth is that what is wrong and right is pretty much grey in most of the times.

Making those mistakes... No matter how bad they are- They are pretty normal. In fact, Hanno's mistake was caused because of the Yladian's mistakes to being with...

The Faerin took a deep, but quiet, sigh. That was a lot to take in- But those were important thoughts. 'I will need to review my ways... For the sake of those that I want to protect.' He concluded.

It was time to improve.

 

A lot was happening right now, and they hadn't even set off yet. Taking a long drag on his pipe, Daedalus did his best impression of a dragon as he puffed an off-white cloud of smoke from his nostrils and mouth, listening to the Yladian bitterly muse about his hopes for a 'perfect world'.

Briefly, he had a flash of his real life. The one outside of Terrasphere. The one where he himself would have said such a thing. Clenching his teeth, he let the scent of burning smoke-leaf erase the thoughts from his mind, instead focusing on the Yladian's revelation of his companions' motives. His usual cheery, carefree mood had been dampened a little though, regardless.

Daedalus merely shook his head in visible disappointment, but not directed at Eldrin. Sure, they would have died had they not fought the Yladian's companions off, but who was he to admonish a man who had simply been misinformed and overly idealistic about how people acted?

Rolling his eyes as Richard made a slight slip-up in conversation, Daedalus couldn't really blame the elderly merchant either. The things he'd seen hadn't exactly been easy on the mind either, especially since he was just an honest civilian trying to make a living with decidedly no bloodshed involved. Whatever the case, it was good to know they were almost at the end of their journey.

Merely grunting in acknowledgement of Eldrin's name, he opened one eye and took a glance at @Hanno Futaba as he sighed, but did nothing else. The fellow Faerin had gone through a lot today...better not to disturb him.

"Mmh, I'm Daedalus. Just Daed is okay. And you don't owe us nothin'. We let your companions die. But now that we've spared you, we're quits. Make something of your life, and we'll be happy with that."

Listening to @Aurora Labyrinth present Eldrin with a potential career option, Daedalus nodded in agreement, turning around and threw a thumb up at Aurora while patting his backpack down into a more comfortable shape.

"She's right, you know. With your kind of skillset, it's not so hard to make a living off the protection business. If you want any potions, weapons or weapon modifications, come see me in Brisshals later. It's gonna cost you though."

 

Hanno remained quiet and resting through the whole trip back to Stokbon, apparently things calmed down a lot- There wasn't a single ambush or fight through their path... Which was very good, it was all the Faerin needed to set things down and calm his emotions. Eventually he would end up giving up to the tiredness and would actually sleep.

Annoyed, Ghast just kept looking around without having much to do. The Shield would eventual wave it's tentacles in a playful way, trying to slap a fly or any bird that got too close from it as a matter of distraction... Surely it was a weird way to pass the time.

Finally getting to Stokbon, Hanno slowly woke up and shook his head. A soft yawn, and he blinked. 'Uh? We are already here?' The Faerin stood up, making Ghast look up at him and give a pat with it's tentacles. "Ah- Morning Ghast." Hanno nodded at his buddy, looking out of the wagon- Richard was all happy and cheerful. The Faerin was actually worried that the man would be scarred from life for seeing such atrocities, but in fact... He seemed very satisfied.

Doing as the oldman said, he hopped out of the wagon along with Ghast, attatching his shield on his back as he quietly waited for the payment. His expression was still distant, but much more docile and friendly- Pretty much how he is most of the times. He took a small look at the Yladian, stepping close at him giving a small pat on his shoulder. "Heya Eldrin, Stokbon is quite pretty, right? I had the same reaction as you when I saw it by the first time." With a silly joke, Hanno gave a weak grin, reminding himself of the past.

The Faerin looked up at the lively town, giving a small frown noticing something weird. He closed his left eye... Everything seemed pretty clear. Then he closed his right eye... Things were kind of blurry. After doing this, he blinked twice and tried to pay focus at some point- His vision was indeed a little weird.

'Ah... I will need Kepler to see that.' Hanno thought with an annoyed expression, apparently the cost of throwing himself at the danger was a little more than just almost melting half of his face.

He coughed, shrugging the problem off before turning to the weapons that the Yladian offered. Hanno would grab something that seemed convenient to him... When Richard finished to sort his reward and everything was settle. The Faerin would look at @Daedalus and @Aurora Labyrinth.

Stepping close to them, he offered a small 'bro-fist' to the fellow Faerin and gave a thumb up to the girl. "Good job everyone, we did it! ... I hope we get to work together again." He smiled weakly, opening his UI and sending a friend request to both, before turning away to the town and slowly started walking away from the group.

 

Daedalus puffed out another cloud of smoke with a smile as Richard and Eldrin worked things out together, helped by @Aurora Labyrinth, making a mutual deal that would, hopefully, benefit both of them. Hearing some metallic clinks from Eldrin, Daedalus flipped over and regarded the assortment of weapons, each one a heirloom of dead men. He was a little hesitant to pick one out, but...

If he refused, he'd be leaving Eldrin with these toxic memories. It was better that the Yladian didn't remember these events anymore, and each of these weapons was a link to his past wounds. So a gloved hand closed over the hilt of a one-handed warhammer, even though he knew pretty well he had no idea how to use bludgeoning weapons. Maybe he could use this as a conventional mechanic's hammer...?

"Thanks, Eldrin, I'll treasure this. I'll be sure to look out for your visit too!"

Putting on as winning of a smile as he could to the Yladian, Daedalus stowed the hammer carefully in his pack, and lay back to watch the clouds lazily drift by until they arrived at Stokbon, listening to the birdsong along with the gentle and heavy sleeping breaths of @Hanno Futaba.

His pipe having long burnt out, Daedalus began refilling it, rummaging in his pack for more smoke-leaf and uttering an acknowledging grunt as Richard announced their end destination. Looking to Eldrin, it seemed that the Yladian man was not so impressed by the grandeur of their destination. Well, each to their own.

Nodding sagely to the guards as they passed through, Daedalus drank in the sights and scenery of Stokbon's famous trade center; it was indeed the biggest he'd seen so far in the game, true to the rumors he'd heard and then some. Among the lively crowd, Richard expressed his gladness of having hired the adventurers.

Evidently, he'd either forgotten the horrors he'd witnessed on the way, or just chose not to recall them in that moment. Or maybe that was how NPCs acted, Daedalus thought, not without a slight touch of bitterness. But still, he smiled and hopped off the wagon, put his pack down and rubbed his legs wearily.

"Finally...I think my left leg's gone to sleep. Lemme help ya with those..."

After rubbing the pins and needles out of his limbs, Daedalus helped with the lifting of the boxes in the wagon until they were done, then would stand by to wait for the reward to be meted out, buying a juicy, waxy red apple from the elderly vendor and tucking in as he waited.

--

After everything had been said and done, he bid Richard a warm farewell and received Hanno's fistbump with a chuckle accompanied by a friendly slap across the back, and waved him off as he left through the press of the Stokbon crowd. His friends list dinged, and he happily accepted Hanno's request.

"See ya round, Hanno! I hope our paths cross again!" And, turning to Aurora, he extended a friendly hand as well as a friend request too, grinning genuinely. "And you, Aurora! You've been a charm, for sure! Another day, perhaps? See ya on the flip side!"

Hopping into the flow of shoppers among the merchants, he waved to her until the crowd blotted her from sight.

"Ah, what a day...time to shop for a few things...where's my list gone..."

And with that, the Faerin Tinkerer disappeared among the sea of people in Stokbon, head filled with only thoughts of what sized cogs, gears and springs he would need for his next upcoming mechanized weapon prototype.

 

Aurora felt a smile reach her lips when she saw Eldrin accept the offer made by Richard. She was happy at least one good thing came out of the whole trip. The girl picked up a random tool from the bag. She didn't think the bandits would have had any magical weapon so no matter what the weapon was, she wouldn't be able to use it but she took it anyways because she felt it would be rude of her not to take something and also because she wanted the man to have a fresh start. Besides, one may never know what weapon could come in handy. "Thank you so much for the weapon Mr Tramys and thank you for the reward Mr Richard. I'm sorry we scared you along the journey and made it unpleasant. I wish you two good luck for your upcoming journey and hope to meet you two again"

She turned to see her remaining teammates and was surprised that @Hanno Futaba sent her a friend request. After causing so much trouble, she was sure her teammates would not want to befriend her but that was not the case. She accepted the friend request before silently waving goodbye to the Faerin before turning to look at Daedalus who also had nice things to say about her. "It was nice meeting you too Mr Daedalus. I hope our paths cross again"She bid him goodbye and watched as he left too.

She also went her separate way but not before turning and waving her ex employer and Yladian a goodbye.