Terry resisted the urge to look behind him. She was still going to be there. That blacksmith had somehow gotten it into her head that coming with him was a solution to their shared problem. It was most certainly not a solution to their problem. At the very best, it was just pushing their problem down the road a little bit. An idea that he just couldn't quite seem to get across to her. When he and Kelima had packed up their stuff and tried to leave the woman behind, she'd followed them. He had thought that maybe he could just run fast and leave her behind. Except, she knew where he lived. He hadn't needed to tell her. The letter from her sister had done that. Even if he did leave her behind, it was a temporary fix.

Of course, if he did abandon her on the road to Miner's Mark, that could create a whole different set of problems for him. Analina would almost certainly be furious at him for that. Nari struck him as someone who could probably handle herself in a bad situation, but traveling on the road wasn't safe. It was just safer than traveling through the forest. A stealthy monster could easily get the drop on her. Then there was always the possibility of human beings choosing to be awful and attacking her. If he helped cause Nari's death, even indirectly, Terry was certain that his time as an adventurer in Miner's Mark would be done.

Even if she did make the trip without harm, Analina would probably still be mad that he callously left her sister behind to fend for herself. A reaction that he would have a hard time disagreeing with or arguing against. With the clock running down, Terry did the only thing he could think to do. He just put up with it and made it future Terry's problem. The one and only upside to having Nari along was that it gave Kelima someone else to talk to. He was legitimately grateful for the break.

The noble girl had gotten better as they went, but his tolerance for socializing was limited. Half of the mean things he said and did to her were born from his being forced to keep socializing when all he wanted was silence and solitude. Not a great excuse, he knew, but truth was truth. He suspected that she was happy to have someone else to talk to as well. That it was another woman likely helped. They could discuss the things Kelima knew better than talk to him about. Things about which he would have nothing useful to say. Like the girl's feeling about everything she'd seen and done on that trip into the forest. If she had ever told him about those, the best he'd have come up with would have been a shrug.

If she'd seemed particularly in need of words, he might have managed a hesitant, "Yeah, those are definitely some feelings you got there."

It didn't take deep self-awareness to understand that he wasn't cut out for those conversations. So, he was quite content to foist all of that off onto Nari. He considered it her payment for inviting herself along. Not that the pair left him alone as much as he would have liked. Nari kept trying to get him to tell her how much orichalcum he'd retrieved from that mountain. A question he kept sidestepping or outright ignoring. Kelima kept dropping some not very subtle hints that they should go visit her parents. He had no idea what brought that on. It was possible that she really did just want to go home and see her parents. Possible, but it felt more like she had some scheme in mind. Not that it mattered. They weren't going anywhere until that monster army was dealt with. Something that turned far more pressing when the town finally came into view.

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Terry glared at the monsters that were attacking the walls of Miner's Mark. He tried not to think about what awful things they might have done to his nice, if largely unfurnished, house. It would have been right in their way. For that matter, where the hell had Drumstick gone in the face of all that chaos? He'd have to try to find the cowardly chicken-lizard, along with Haresh, Ekori, and Jaban, once the fight was over. At least the humans could have taken refuge inside the town. As adventurers, they would likely have been welcomed with open arms as more hands for the fight. Unfortunately, Terry didn't think he'd be able to get himself, Kelima, and…he shot a sour look over his shoulder at Nari.

There was no way he was getting all three of them into the town before the monsters arrived. If he were a guard, he wouldn't open the gates for them. He wouldn't open the gates for any reason. Not until the battle had been settled

At least the demons aren't here, said other-Terry.

Oh, damn it, I forgot about them, thought Terry. It's good that they aren't here. I have no idea how they would have reacted to all of this.

"Terry," said Kelima in a tense voice.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Assuming you win this—"

"I'm going to win this," he interjected.

"Right. Assuming you win this, you have to know that it's going to draw all kinds of attention here. More specifically, every noble in the region is going to be looking to recruit or blackmail you into their service."

"It had occurred to me."

"So, what will you do about that?"

Terry rolled his shoulders, took off his fantastic new hat, and grabbed the cunning handle inside. It really was going to make for a nice makeshift shield and bashing weapon. He smiled at it for a second, then got back on task. He drew one of the new swords with his other hand.

"I doubt they'll have time for me. If they do get irritating, I think the technical term is nobility beatdown," said Terry. "Unless I miss my guess, though, there's a war brewing, and those fuckers over there are just the opening act. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go get my monster murder mayhem on."

"Monster murder mayhem?" asked Kelima.

Terry took advantage of that momentary confusion on the noble girl's part. Before she could start making objections, Terry blasted toward the minor horde that was closing in on the town. Then, in a ringing voice that carried to every ear within a mile, Terry bellowed one word.

"Steak!"

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