"That took a lot longer than I expected."

Gore murmured as he looked up at the moon.

"It couldn’t be helped. We’ve only been moving at night to avoid drawing attention, and besides, you kept making detours," Shiln responded, sounding as if he were gently scolding a child who didn’t understand reason. Gore glanced sideways at Shiln, shrugging as if to say, "Alright, alright."

"We’re out here, so I might as well bring back something nice for His Majesty."

He patted a cloth bag tied to his waist. It was an item pouch, containing loot taken from bandits they had …