After leaving Baron Villens's estate, Mikaela and the head knight, Goran, had gotten to an inn the first day.

  However, now on the 6th day, they had reached the forest in the morning and were still inside the forest as night fell. Goran quickly set up camp alone, as Mikaela still had the manacles shackled to her hands.

  Of course, she could easily slip out of the manacles. She had lived in the underworld for far too long to be hindered by such crude tools. But she didn't, as she had no need to.

  "I've got nothing but bread and stew. Don't know what kind of food you're used to, but as it goes, this stew might not fit your tastes." Goran muttered in her general direction.

  The man was slightly grumpy, but Mikaela thought it was not that he felt any irritation. Rather, he was shy.

  "It is fine. My life as a noble ended a lifetime ago. I've eaten much worse than bread and stew since." Mikaela scoffed. Goran had been awkward to her the entire time. Since he found out she had been a noble, she had become both his captive and a person to be respected in his mind.

  Even if she weren't a noble anymore, most lowborn had an innate fear towards nobles. As if the nobles were not the same humans as them.

  As they were eating the surprisingly tasty stew they had acquired when passing a small village the day before yesterday, Mikaela suddenly jerked her head towards the way the road they had travelled.

  Goran, seeing her attention towards the road, asked.

  "Hear anything?"

  "No. I sense two strong people and many more weaker people approaching." Mikaela tried to figure out who the people were, but they were still too far away for any of her skills to tell her.

  "Two strong people. Templars, that'd be my guess." Goran said with a dark shade passing his eyes.

  Templars were sometimes hard to deal with, even for a noble knight. Few nobles had any say in what a Templar did or did not do. If the Templars judged that Goran's mission to investigate the portal was wrong, they could summarily decide to kill both Goran and Mikaela.

  Goran was bound by duty, so he would offer his neck before hurting the Templars. Mikaela knew this and inwardly felt quite a bit of fear.

  They were in a small clearing along the road, and it was marked on the map. It was likely the Templars would want to make camp here for the night.

  "Fuck," Mikaela said in a quiet voice, as if to let out some of her fear.

  Goran stood up and drew his weapon. It was a beautiful large sword, somewhere in between a greatsword and a longsword. A bastard sword, with enough handle for both of Goran's hands to grip it.

  The blade was wider and longer than a longsword, and it looked very heavy. Goran put the sword leaning against a tree, fully visible for the approaching party. He put his dagger, and an iron spike next to it.

  Mikaela inspected the iron spike from across where she was sitting and wondered how Goran fought with it.

  Goran noticed her looking at it and shrugged his shoulders.

  "It's a throwing weapon. Good for dealing with annoying archers."

  He then sat down where he had been sitting earlier and awaited the visitors.

  It did not take long for them to arrive, even though the dark of the night had already fallen. The two templars were on horses, while the rest of the soldiers were footmen.

  The soldiers did not look strong. None seemed to have passed the first gate, at least. Both the Templars were somewhere in the high 60s or low 70s, according to Mikaela's brief inspection of their level.

  "Greetings!" The older Templar waved and greeted them before dismounting his horse. He was a very muscular man, with wide-set shoulders. He looked like a small mountain to Mikaela.

  This man would give the orcs a run for their money in a brawl.

  As he approached, the other Templar dismounted and moved more silently than his armor would normally allow. Mikaela instantly swapped her focus to the younger Templar. The large Templar looked to be in his fifties, although he was the image of healthy and fit.

  The younger one was slim, with a hood covering most of his head. His long black hair draped the sides of his face, and he carried no sword. He looked to be in his thirties, but it was hard to judge at a glance.

  The large Templar shot a glance at the weapons Goran had displayed. He then nodded and sat down on one of the logs present around the campfire.

  "I am Palton. May I ask for your name, Sir Knight?" Palton asked with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes.

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  "I am Goran, head knight of Baron Villen." Goran bowed his head quite deep toward Palton.

  "Baron Villen, huh? His territory is quite far from here. May I ask what your purpose is for travelling around this area? And with such... company." Palton pointed at Mikaela at the end of his sentence.

  Goran explained the circumstances in a polite and direct manner, without leaving anything out.

  Palton looked to be in deep thought as he thought about Goran's story. The younger Templar had been walking around the camp, inspecting it for any traps. He had been slipping in and out of Mikaela's focus, which was rare for anyone to do.

  She judged him to be either an assassination-focused Templar or equipped with artifacts or skills that hid him at the very least. If he had the darkness element, that would also do it. Mikaela strangely felt that the younger Templar was stronger than Palton.

  Yet it was always the stronger Templar who led the weaker one. That was what Jod had said.

  "Well, that is a bit of an issue for us. You see, we also are tasked with investigating the portal and the area around it. If it is possible, we are to eliminate any enemy on this side of it," Palton said.

  "Now, you say this woman is an enemy from across the portal?" Palton glanced at Mikaela again, this time with an inquiring look in his eyes.

  "You won't be able to retake the encampment around the portal." Mikaela spoke, a rare slip of the tongue for her.

  "Oho? Why is that, enemy captive?" Palton said, while leaning forward to now fully look at Mikaela.

  Shit. Why did she not keep her mouth shut?

  She sighed and decided that she would just tell the truth.

  "You and your younger colleague have passed the first gate. I don't know what level you have reached, but you haven't passed the second gate. There are two individuals in the encampment who have passed the second gate." Mikaela looked defiantly into Palton's eyes.

  "Also, the soldiers you have with you are simply a wall of meat. A wall that will very quickly fall. I urge you to try diplomacy." She did not think that diplomacy would work either, but Oran and Otek were currently at the encampment to her knowledge. They would easily decimate the Templars and the soldiers, she had no doubt.

  Palton looked as if he did not believe her, and Goran looked displeased as well.

  "Well, good thing we have you here then," Palton said. "Everything is easier with a hostage! We can simply trade your freedom for them leaving through the portal."

  Palton looked pleased with himself, as if this would surely work out in his mind.

  "I am not that valuable to the other side. I have not worked with them for a year yet, and I am a shady businesswoman. They won't sacrifice the encampment for my freedom," Mikaela stated. She knew this was the truth.

  "We'll see, will we not?" Palton said and waved her comments away with his hands. "Anyway, Sir Goran, this captive is now under my control. You are free to accompany us, as long as you do not disrupt our plans. I know of Baron Villen; he is an honorable man. As such, you should confirm the situation at the portal with your own eyes."

  Goran nodded, and soon everyone went to their own tents to sleep. Mikaela also had a tent, a shabby one, and her manacles were tightly tied to a tree next to it.

  ---

  As the midday sun reached its peak, the encampment came into view. Mikaela's heart was pounding in anticipation and fear about the upcoming conflict.

  As they walked out of the forest, a horn blew from one of the watchtowers. Soon they had arrived close enough to be within earshot of the walls and towers, all made of wood. The new stone architecture of the Amanita kingdom had yet to be introduced here.

  The gate opened at that moment, and a lone orc walked out. It was Otek, and Mikaela was relieved to see that she had been right that he and Oran were at the encampment.

  Otek walked up to them with confident steps. As he walked closer, the soldiers started muttering between themselves. Goran seemed shocked at the large, green man.

  However, Palton and the younger Templar showed no reaction. As Otek stood about five meters in front of them, Palton spoke.

  "Are you the commander of this... encampment?" Palton seemed to think the walls and watchtowers were paltry.

  "I do not command anyone; I am simply the strongest warrior present." Otek answered while inspecting both the Templars. He then smiled, a terrifying smile.

  "I wish to know why you have my friend over here in manacles." The pressure coming from Otek seemed to increase with the question. Palton smiled as well.

  "She is our hostage. She has been committing crimes in our empire, and as such, she and her men were imprisoned. We order you to leave through the portal, and then you might even see her alive at the end of the day."

  Otek took a few moments to stare at Palton. Just before the atmosphere turned violent, Otek laughed. The orc's laugh was... hard to get used to. Their laughs seemed to come from their throats and were raspy.

  The soldiers almost took a step back at the sight of the laughing orc. Otek did not mind them, as he raised his hand and then pointed to his weapon. He took out one of his axes from the belt.

  Just as Palton went to draw his own sword, Otek threw his axe straight up into the air.

  Everyone's eyes were fixed on the axe. Then it exploded into debris at the peak of its height.

  The soldiers saw no reason for it to explode. The Templars, Mikaela and Goran, saw it, however. It was an arrow that was shot with massive force and speed. It was clear it was not a skill, as there was no mana to be detected as the arrow was shot.

  Palton swallowed as he realized Mikaela had not lied about the enemy's strength. The younger Templar disappeared from sight entirely, and Mikaela could not detect him at all.

  Then a dagger appeared, stabbing its way through Otek's neck. The younger Templar quickly pulled it out and stepped back.

  Then he was lifted into the air. His feet hovered about half a meter from the ground as Otek appeared out of thin air. His large hand was holding the younger Templar's neck from the back. The orcish hand entirely enveloped the skinny Templar's throat. The orcish laugh was heard again.

  "Of all the things you could've attacked me with, trickery is probably the worst choice." Otek said matter-of-factly. He then looked at Palton with bloodthirst in his eyes.

  "So what now, Templar? It seems we both have a hostage."

  Palton was still frozen with his hand on the sword hilt. The previous events had unraveled inside of a few seconds, and he was not yet sure what exactly had happened.

  As Palton kept his silence, Otek continued.

  "You give me Mikaela, and I give you this boy. Deal?" Otek had been one of the orcs who was most active in turning in hunted monsters and materials for money and had started using the word "deal" quite excessively these days.

  After a few more moments, Palton nodded. Mikaela removed her manacles without needing a key, in one swift move. She then walked over to Otek's side.

  Otek threw the Templar over to Palton's side.

  "Now leave. There is nothing for you here." Otek said as he and Mikaela turned to leave. Mikaela then stopped and questioned Goran.

  "Goran, your wish was to see what was on the other side of the portal, right? Then come along now."

  Goran cast a glance at the Templars, and before they could say anything, he started walking alongside Mikaela and Otek.