The evening approached with a promise for a nice and warm night. Usually, that happened when the skies were embraced by the fluffy blanket of clouds.

Anyone knew, from a royal to a villager, that when the skies were clear – it was a promise for a cold night and a chilly morning. Therefore, a cloudy sky would keep the warmth accumulated during the day on earth. 

One could say – people did not have any other means to foretell the weather but by judging the skies above.

Bave was walking down the street, slowly distancing himself from Soh Vah's apothecary. There wasn't enough time to rest. He guessed that he would go another night without sleep although he could feel his body quite tired.

However, he could not show it. That was what it took and meant to be a leader – one had to lead his men even in desperate times. Although he wasn't sure how 'desperate' the times were.

He walked, his senses isolated from the surrounding, in deep thoughts of what was happening. He didn't notice the happy drunk people laughing from the noisy tavern or the girls that giggled when looked at him.

He didn't even hear that some of these ladies whispered around that he was quite handsome despite his clay-smudged cheek.

All he was absorbed by was one single thought – What to do with the Nominalia if they manage to retrieve it?

The intense brain-storming made him hungry. He instinctively reached for his stomach as it protested. As soon as he questioned his meal, he remembered his mother's homemade banitsa which he didn't manage to taste.

Bave wondered whether the hot weather had spoiled the dairy filling inside the pastry rolls. There was only one way to know – it was time for his favorite dish.

The man headed for the horse house in the eastern parts of Shimeo where he left his stallion rest for the time being. His luggage was with the horse as it made no sense to rent a room which he would not use.

Besides, he paid additionally for safety reasons. Not like people would steal bags with clothing, food, and some books but they could do so for water.

Water, despite being abundant in the lands of Balhkara – it was still a reason to get robbed since poor regions relied on nothing but rivers. So, freshwater could get stolen.

The young hunter finally reached the rented slot and noticed the night-shift guard who was nodding off next to the door of the horse house. Bave sighed, that was the security they offered?

"Greetings.", the young man greeted and alerted the guard.

"S-Sir! Ah…!", he paused as he had to brush a trail of drool off his lip corner, "May…May I s-ssss-see you-you-your s-sss-slot pass?"

Bave stared at the stuttering man. He did not want to appear rude and quickly patted his pocket to take out a wooden block that had the engraved number.

Not like it was a great way to present a sort of proof that one had a reserved slot inside. After all, it was pretty easy to forge one. So it wouldn't be surprising to see such methods exploited. However, Bave couldn't make all the changes he wished to see in Balhkara. There were too many things to change. He couldn't do it. 

Not alone anyway.

After he was allowed in, he noticed a few men packing up their horses. The well-illuminated horse house allowed for quick recognizing.

So, it wasn't needed to ask questions about whether someone was in or who it was.

Bave halted in front of his horse slot which was positioned diagonally to the slots that were occupied with packing men.

The hunter stared as it was both surprising and not so, to bump into other hunters who could probably be on a mission or head for the Nominalia.

Although Bave did not mind, nor really cared about other hunters – he knew that the recognized faces he saw wouldn't make Kal happy. He disliked that particular guild of hunters – 'The Resti' team.

The men noticed Baht Ver and as the best of the best – they couldn't ignore such a man.

"Salutations Captain Baht!", their leader waved lazily and although his greeting might appear formal, it was said in a mocking tone.

His build was similar to Bave's but his age was closer to Koh's. So to say, he was older than Bave. Despite the age-gap, he had to offer a proper greeting as he had a high-ranked hunter before him.

"Greetings Zack.", Bave nodded as his body was in a relaxed position with his hands resting in each of his pants' pockets.

He was wary whenever his hands were not prepared to either punch or draw his sword out. However, he doubted that the Resti team, even though they use underhanded methods to achieve their missions, would attack him.

"What a great coincidence huh?", Zack approached slowly, "Out for hunting or?"

"Not really. Just traveling.", Bave smiled faintly withholding any sort of information that could give a hint to where he was heading to.

"Are you alone? It's not wise to do so, Captain. Especially in such times.", Kal chuckled and leaned against a wooden pole that separated a slot from another.

"How come?", Bave dismissed the initial question but directed the conversation skillfully to a different topic.

"Have you not heard? Hunters are disappearing mysteriously. Last week 'The Hon' guild disappeared in Shimeo.", Zack crossed his arms before his chest and had that annoying grin upon lips as if it were a big deal to bring news to a top captain from the Association Bar.

"I am afraid I was too busy with my last mission to care for rumors, Zack."

There it was – the salt rubbed on a fresh wound. Bave's guild was known to be the most employed guild of the Association. Moreover, it was one of the most highly paid teams. Therefore, they usually were sent to S- or SS-ranked missions.

Zack didn't like 'The Concealers' guild because he saw Bave as an arrogant man. Probably his envy made him bitter. However, Bave did not care much although out of his three-man team, it seemed that Kal cared the most.

Kal disliked whenever Zack was rude to Bave. Moreover, he found it dishonorable the way how 'The Resti' dealt with missions.

"Oh yes…Indeed. We all heard about your success in Rakuah.", Zack rolled his eyes in a dismissing manner, "Say Captain Baht..."

The man rocked off the wooden pole and paced to Bave. His hand came forth and Bave felt the strong palm of a hunter squeeze his shoulder. If it weren't for all the hard training the young leader had gone through, the squeeze would probably make him grumble in pain.

However, Zack had not a single clue what kind of pain Bave had been through. So, such a squeeze was no reason for him to even flinch in response.

"You should be careful…", Zack's eyes grew darker and his mocking grin vanished," …For beyond Luse, there are swamps and not all horses like wet tracks."

Bave looked to his side, staring at Zack's hand squeezing his shoulder a bit too hard. The young hunter could easily use his hierarchal position and command the older hunter to let go.

If he reacted, he would play right in his hands. Moreover, Bave had never said that they would advance toward Luse to the north where swamps were the last obstacle of the checkpoint where the export-import transfer was supposedly made.

The young leader knew that their horses were not suited for wet tracks. The stallions were chosen for drylands as they had to reach as quickly as possible the swamps. From there on, they could only hope that the horses would last on the wet tracks.

Furthermore, he was now convinced that Zack knew about the Nominalia. As he was informed by Jena, back home in Udeos, many hunters are heading to Luse.

That meant that many hunters, regardless of whether they would participate or not, knew about the export-import scheme going on. So, it wasn't a pure shock or at least not as big as Zack would hope to hit Bave with.

"Gratitude, gratitude. I am very thankful for your advice Zack.", Bave averted his chin away and stared straight in front of him, right into an empty horse slot. He didn't blink, he didn't flinch, he didn't move – he was a blank canvass that Zack could not read.

The older hunter retreated his hand and his face somewhat grew serious. His guesses were correct – Bave was out on a private mission and unlike his team, 'The Resti', who was protected now by the Association Bar for their mission and by the uniform they wore, Bave's team was unprotected.

The best captain was in plain clothes. The shiny golden emblem he had to wear on his clothing back was gone – the glitter of rank was also gone. However, Zack knew very well – Bave did not need the rank to shine.

His leadership skills were visible even in plain clothes and dirty appearance.

"Well…", Zack waved his hand dismissively once again and span on his heel, turning his back at Bave, "Not like I care. Who am I to advise the top captain of the Association Bar? He should know himself, how dangerous is without being protected."

The man walked away slowly whilst talking, poison dripped from his tone as he rolled the words slowly off his lips. Just before he gestured for his men to lead the horses out of the horse house, he looked over his shoulder.

His eyes widened a bit. He had never seen Bave's black eyes that deep and that ominous. The captain stared into him with his face expressionless and yet his black eyes were of a beast.

One of these that would swallow him, if he did not leave at once.

The short exchanged lasted that long. Bave did not move an inch from where Zack left him at. At least not until the whole team departed. Once Bave was alone again, his sighed deep.

He thanked gods and entities that Kal was not around. They would probably waste another hour with Kal fighting Zack – which always happened whenever these two met.

The young hunter checked his luggage. His mind was blank – what was he supposed to think about? The Nominalia? The ambush? The mysterious herb that was rare? The Resti team? The mysterious letter? Or the mysterious man?

He brushed it all away. That was the only manner through which one could proceed and keep going. Overthinking every single thing would result in possible failure. Bave couldn't allow that.

He finally made it to his banitsa. The man's palms were dirty and he didn't like touching such a sacred thing with dirty hands. Alas, his stomach took over his principles.

Bave unwrapped the filo pastry deliciousness and to his luck, the banitsa was not spoiled by the sun. Probably the well-wrapped rolls with several layers of cotton clothing kept the dish somewhat aired but protected by the sun.

Even if the banitsa wasn't fresh as he would like it to be, it was still his favorite. At least one good thing happened that day – homemade deliciousness!

The bite into the filo pastry rolls almost made him hum in happiness. What would he do if someone saw that he was humming with a piece of pastry in hand, eating next to his horse?

He wouldn't care. Probably? Unless it was someone he truly wished to impress. Although he couldn't think of anyone he would like to impress.

However...

He stared down at the bitten piece of banitsa and somewhat watching the filo layers with golden brown colors made him remember the girl from the forest. That one…the one he never asked the name of.

She, too, was his favorite one.