Two days later, Rohl and his escort arrived at Elmon, the escort soon departed to return to Elmon’s barracks leaving Rohl free of any commitments for now at least. The south gate was a flurry of activity as men and women streamed in and out of the city. It was as if the city had returned to its normal state of affairs as if the attack had never happened. Although, there seemed to double the normal number of guards and it seemed as if all of them stopped to watch Rohl’s return to the city.

Guards patrolled the streets, however, none stopped to question Rohl as he made his way through Elmon’s many districts. Apart from the increased security, everything was ordinary, residents walked through the streets, shopkeepers called to onlooker’s as people went about their business. Guards and adventurers Rohl recognised gave nods or greetings as they passed.

With Rohl’s horse returned to the stable, he made his way to the adventurers guild. There seemed to be a small gathering of residents outside perhaps putting in requests. A dozen or so adventurers were lounging around the guild or searching for jobs, most Rohl recognised from his previous visits, others were unknown to him.

As expected, Ell was here, sat waiting at one of the tables by the entrance. A small glass and stack of monster contracts were placed on the table in front of her.

Her gaze became focused on Rohl as he sat down across from her

“I’m back, did you miss me?” he asked, his mood somewhat light.

“Hadn’t even realised you were gone.”

“Well I missed you.”

“Of course, that’s only natural for a simpleton like yourself.”

With their typical friendly greeting over, Rohl couldn’t help but give a small smile and laugh, Ell’s lips twitched upwards slightly.

“Did anything happen?” she asked next, the trace of her smile gone.

“Of course not, didn’t want to let you down after all.”

“Good, now I’ve made a list of some contracts we could do during our travels to the foreign nations.”

“Sure, what are they?”

“Our choices are a herd of gryphons, a chimaera, a troll tribe, a cerberus or a titan boa.”

“I think they're all a bit above our current level.”

“True but with some better gear, equipment and training, we or more specifically you could likely reach a higher adventurer level we might be able to. Plus your blessing provides me with a huge advantage anyhow.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to do some practice and preparation, that might put us on an experienced level capable of fighting the troll tribe at least. We could even look for more party members, a mage perhaps.” Rohl replied, still slightly unsure of the high-level contracts she had selected, it's not like he would have an army at his back in these fights like he did earlier, or even as much help and preparation either. Sure the Mimic of Bureihal was a sacrilegious beast and one of the strongest monsters in the words, however a lot of that power went into its monster army, on top of the blessed blood acting as poison and the help he received, they were able to defeat it. On his own, he would have easily died. Getting overconfident because of this victory would surely lead to his death.

“A decent idea, who’d of thought you’d have come up with it. The recruiting boards by the entrance.”

With a goal set, the pair made their way towards the entrance, as they got within paces of the door, it slammed open. Three men in shining full plate steel armour flooded into the room, Offa’s flag imprinted on their breastplates. The imperial guard of Offa had busted in swiftly followed by a number of Elmon city guards. Within moments the soldiers had swarmed into the guild, all facing Rohl, swords and shields raised.

“Rohl Bluedawn.” asked the lead imperial guardsman.

“Yes?”

“You are under arrest for treason, you will accompany us to your trial in the capital, any resistance and you will face immediate execution.”