"S-Stephan?" Caden was stunned.
"You thought I'd miss my beloved brother's birthday?" the tall short-haired brunet man smiled.
"Unfortunately, I found only a burned-out home village and some wardens here... Could you do me a favour and close that bottle on your belt?" Stephan breathed hard.
"All right, but if you try to run away, I'll throw the bottle at you!" Caden said, closing the vial.
"Thank you," Stephan was relieved.
Stephan is Caden's older brother, when he was just ten years old, his magical abilities were discovered and shortly after, the wardens took him away.
"How did you get in here? Why do you have that cloak?!" Caden asked angrily.
"Calm down, it's a long story. And that cloak is a cult sign..."
"The man who killed our father also had this cloak," Caden stopped him.
"What? But..." Stephan stopped talking, while Edward was heard from afar. "Caden! Officer, are you okay?"
"Oh, Saints, I will regret this. Get out of here, Stephan before it's too late," Caden pushed his brother away and turned.
"I'm fine! There's nothing here!" Caden shouted at Edward. Stephan disappeared in the meantime.
Caden went back to Edward, to the centre of the village.
"Nah, that's not true! How could that bastard escape so quickly? They'll lower my rank for this!" Edward cursed.
"Hmm... But you don't have to tell anyone about this mage at all. No one else than us knows about it," Caden suggested.
"Would you really lie to the wardens because of me?" Edward said.
"Why not?" Caden nodded.
"But what do we tell them? I stayed here for too long," Edward thought.
"Because a bunch of thugs attacked you. I drove them out of the ruins of the temple of the Saints south of the road, where they attacked you. We can say we met there," Caden said.
"That's a great idea! Oh, thank you, Caden, but now we have to go." They mounted Caden's horse and drove back into the town.
They reached the city and split up. Caden headed for the guardhouse, El was waiting for him there.
"Caden I... I'm sorry about my appearance before. I probably overreacted..."
"You loved him, didn't you?" Caden said.
"What... I... did."
"That's alright, I would react the same way as you. Now I have to report if you allow me," Caden nodded.
"Come to the pub after you report," El said with a guilty voice and left.
Caden walked into the guardhouse, it was almost empty.
"Aaa... Caden! So you did it?" the guard behind the table called.
"Of course, where is everyone? Nobody's working today?" Caden said uncomprehendingly.
"Something terrible has happened in the pub, almost everyone is there."
"What?" Caden was horrified and ran to the pub, slamming the door open.
"Surprise!"
"What the…?" Caden cast a noncomprehending glance at the room full of the city guards, standing around the big cake before which El and Amelia stood.
"Caden, in the short time you are at our city guard, you have achieved many successes that most of us cannot achieve in our lifetime. As a sign of our gratitude, please accept this celebration," the captain of the city guard told him.
"I... thank you, sir," Caden replied in astonishment.
"Come, cut a piece of cake!" Amelia led Caden by the hand, and they all started eating, drinking, and enjoying the celebration, everyone, except for Caden. Thoughts about Merill still tortured his mind.
One of the wardens ripped him out of his contemplation over the piece of cake.
"Excuse me, don't you know Mr Caden?"
"That is me. Is there something wrong?" Caden asked.
"Don't worry, I just need you to confirm something to me, it'll be just a moment," the warden led him outside.
"Do you know the man?" the warden pointed at Edward.
Caden thought for a while, then laughed and said, "Hah, of course, I do. That's Edward, he helped me defeat the bunch of thugs near the ruins of the Temple of the Saints. We gave them a hard time!"
"That will be all, thank you and sorry for the interruption. Enjoy the celebration, Mr Caden," the warden said, and Caden wanted to return to the pub, but Gorej, standing by the corner whispered, "Shhh! Hey, Caden! Come here."
Caden came to him. "What is it, Gorej? Do you also want to celebrate?" Caden smiled.
"Not really. I have a gift for you that you will surely appreciate," Gorej waved his hand and led Caden down the aisles.
Gorej knocked on the door and a person came out.
"That's not possible... Merill?" Caden called.
"Hello, partner, have you buried me already too?"
"You bastard! Don't you dare to die any more times!" Caden struck his chest.
"Ohh, don't worry. I don't plan to do it anytime soon," Merill laughed.
"But how...?" Caden inquired.
"One time you have a beautiful dream about a half-naked elven women dancing with you in the woods, and suddenly you wake up loaded on a cart in front of the cemetery and everyone around you starts screaming and running."
Caden couldn't hold the laugh. "So the antidote worked?" Caden smiled.
"You found an antidote? How?" Merill asked.
"Gorej, will you leave us alone for a moment?" Caden asked Gorej.
Gorej bowed with a smile and disappeared into the alley.
"I got it out of the dark elf," Caden replied.
"Yourself?" Merill didn't understand.
"That's a long story, I'll tell you somewhere safe."
"I have to tell you something too. You know... that with Gorej. He's my good friend. The interrogation was just a theatre, I wanted to... I wanted to impress you. Like being a tough guy, get it? Forgive me," Merill explained.
"But what about that telling about the elves?"
"I didn't expect that it was a coincidence that Frenkie thought it out," Merill added.
"I couldn't have wanted a better gift, you have to go to the pub with me. I suppose it will be the same shock for others as for me." Caden led Merill.
They both reached the pub.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have the greatest surprise of today!" Caden rejoiced, and Merill came out the door.
El immediately ran to hug him, and they were all happy.
Everyone feasted, drank and rejoiced, and finally even Caden. The celebration took to the morning.532Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fiQOEZpVN
