When the town of Ironwall came in our sight we stopped and began our preparations. First we changed the arrangement of our horses luggage and their outfit. We remove the armor and rearrange the luggage to look more like their heavily loaded and not like warhorses on a journey. After that I let a greater part of my weapons disappear into my storage and changed some bits of my armor. Then I put on a brown coat in order to hid my body. Lastly I put on a wool hat to hid my hear and ears. I intentionally don’t use the hood of my cloak in order to not look suspicious. Henry and Charles did the same as me, however they had less weapons to store away and more armor. Just like me they did put on a cloak, but didn’t hide their faces.

They did look a bit like a father and son merchant. Both with having similar blond hair, blue eyes and both being taller than the average human. Charles being taller and having a beard looked like a stereotypical good father, if put next to Henry, who looked younger than he was. In truth they were about the same age. The townspeople would probably see me as the daughter. Al tough it was simple. Its still a rather effective disguise. The only one, who sticks out like a sore thumb is Erin. An Oni clad in a kimono, a strange red cloth.

“Why did you disguise yourself? Isn’t it more advantageous to use your status as hero?” (Erin)

“It certainly makes things a lot more easier, but I don’t want to interact with people, who see me as some sort of celebrity. And why don’t you disguise yourself?” (Bara)

“I could, if you want, but I’m not capable of hiding my Horns completely. I can turn them invisible with magic but they are still there and it will be suspicious when I enter doors in a weird way. Shall I wear a cloak?” (Erin)

“Hmm…. No!” (Bara)

“Huh?” (Erin)

“Why!?” (Henry)

“If she doesn’t disguise herself, people will avoid her. We will have free space wherever we go and scammers and pickpockets will avoid us. On the downside they will be assholes towards you. Insult you and search for the smallest reason to put you in jail. Stuff like that.” (Bara)

“If they attack first, am I allowed to retaliate as I see fit?” (Erin)

“Yes.” (Bara)

“GOOOD!” (Erin)

With that it was decided Erin would go without a disguise. In order for us to not stand out more and to gain a protection against whatever they might throw at us, we made some changes to our disguise. A group of traveling merchants accompanied by a noble looking Oni is highly suspicious no mater how you look at it. So we changed our equipment. We reequipped some weapons and armor, but still kept it light, so that we looked like mercenaries. The finishing touch was a golden medallion, which the three of us proudly displayed on our chest. The medallion outed us as high ranking mercenaries. The likes, who work with nobles. Persons you don’t want to mess with. A group of high ranking mercenaries with an Oni looks unusual, but nothing suspicious.

And so we set out. After a short time we reached a the road leading to Ironwall and started traveling on it towards the town. This time Erin was with me on Irwin, sitting sideways behind me. I couldn’t see her but I imagine that she sits there like a noble, confident and proper. Convincing her to ride with me was rather easy this time around. I only had to say that it would be less obvious if she was on horseback like the rest of us.

“You said you can not turn yourself invisible, yet you can turn your horns invisible. How is that possible? Is invisibility not one singular spell?” (Charles)

“I can’t cast invisibility instead I would have used the spell transparency on my horns to make them see through. I would have increased the see through effect to the point of making my horns invisible. Sadly casting the spell on my whole body is to demanding to keep it up for longer periods of time.” (Erin)

“You are capable of changing your spells? Call me impressed?” (Charles)

“I can only increase or decrease its effects. Nothing more unfortunately.” (Erin)

We continued traveling along the path. Slowly but surely we approached the gates of the city. With that we also encountered more and more humans walking or riding along the street. Like I predicted they were wary of us. Almost all looked at us only to avert their gaze the moment they thought that we looked back, only to continue string at us the moment they felt save once again. No one out of the humans dared to approach us. Many even moved as far as possible away from us as they could or do without looking suspicious. This ensured that no one dared to stay in our path or that we had to stop to make space so that somebody else could pass. We reached the queue leading into the town quicker than I thought. Manly because no one was brave or foolish enough to stand in our way. Of course even in the queue we were subject to many gazes.

Erin seemed to be enjoying it. Staring right back at everybody who stared to long at her. Her cold gray eyes scaring all, who she gazed upon. Sometimes she even smiled back at them, exposing her canine teeth, visibly scaring the shit out of those bold enough to stare at her for to long. Nobody messed with us, saving us a lot of trouble.

“I advise you to limit your range of perception, when we are within Ironwall.” (Bara)

“Is it that bad?” (Erin)

“It is a typical medieval town. Beautiful and glittering in the main streets, but the moment you enter the sideways… I have never lost faith in humanity this quick.” (Bara)

“For the sake of my mental health I’m going to follow your advise.” (Erin)

After a short while we finally reached the end of the queue and were standing before the gates leading into the town. There we where stopped by the townsguard. They were professionals in handling the gate and their appearance made clear that the public security was not something that was done halfheartedly in Ironwall. The guards where armored with a chainmail shirt and some metal armaments on arms and legs. They were equipped with a small shield, a wooden club and a sword. Undoubtedly they were on guard when handling us, but not panicking just paying more attention then they normally would.

“One 1 medium copper each to enter. One permanent entry permit 1 big copper each. Extra fees if you carry any merchandise. We need to know what is inside your luggage for safety reasons.” (Gateguard)

“Does this have any meaning here?” (Bara)

I show the guard my golden medallion. They nodded, but didn’t look surprised. Guess they have seen such medallions often in recent times.

“Entrance fee is halved inspection still remains.” (Gateguard)

I handed the guard 5 medium copper after a short search in my pocket. Erin had to pay the full prize. The inspection of our luggage was rather quick. They opened each backpack to see what’s within it. Before that the held a wooden staff with a crystal before it, a magic detecting staff. It didn’t glow up. Neither was caring any magic item with them in their luggage. All the magic items that we were carrying were on our body and not detectable by the staff, because of how advanced they were. A crucial flaw in this world society, But sadly there was no reliable way to fix this problem. The only magic tools good enough to detect our own, are simply to valuable to be given to a mere gateguard.

“You can enter now. Please behave while you stay here and don’t cause a commotion.” (Gateguard)

The last sentence was more or less directly said to Erin. It was a warning, but all whop are involved knew that it would only be some light trouble for us nothing we could deal with. We were simply to strong to be kept in check by the towns guard if we wanted to cause trouble. They could only hope we are decent humans and won’t start trouble.

Finally we had entered the town. Just like before the citizens parted in front of us leaving us plenty of space thanks to Erin’s presence. We slowly went across the broad paved streets. The intersections had small statues and fountains. Above our head colorful garlands spanned from one roof to another. The houses on the sides of the streets, where on shop after another, each selling something different. In between the shops, were Inns, Taverns and “adult fun houses” disguised as Inns. On the intersections, farmers, other locals and traveling merchants whee selling their products from stalls. The whole thing was rounded up by the street performers and musicians. Ironwall seemed to be a town straight out of a book, a romantic lovely medival town full of simple fun and happiness.

We are in the tourist district. The only district besides the noble district, whose purpose is to look beautiful. The purpose of this beauty is simply to hide the ugly town and to get as much money out of travelers as possibly. A simple glance in the side streets reveals beggars upon beggars, unfortunate woman and girls and thugs and thieves of various profession. The ugly face of every great town was just one ore two streets past the tourist district. Full of all kinds of shady or downright forbidden things. The rest of the town was just filled with dirty houses for the commoners and their workshops.

It was my first time in Ironwall. Still I knew where to go. The noble district was always at the center and we were heading there. It went faster than I imagined. We didn’t have to wait or squeeze ourselves through the full streets. Simply thanks to Erin’s presence. Entering the noble district was easier than entering the town. Simply showing the guard our golden medallions was enough to bring them to open the gate and let us pass. Then we headed to the very center of the town, to the castle. The place where the royal family resides and the heroes are to meet to discuss the Demons.

Reaching the gates of the castle I jumped from Irwin and took of the wool hat that had covered my ears.

“My name is Bara Hero of Ferian. I have come to attend the meeting of heroes!” (Bara)

After a short amount of time the gate was opened and we where led in. Inside we were greeted by a man dressed in formal attire of a royal servant.

“Greetings Warprincess Bara and her companions. Its a pleasure for us that you have come. We have prepared a resting place for you and your companions.” (Royal servant)

“We are in no need of accommodations. We only need a resting place for our horses, where they are splendidly taken care of.” (Bara)

“Very well. There will always be a room for you in the castle. We would be pleasured you would decide to stay here.” (Royal servant)

“When does the meeting of the Heroes commence?” (Bara)

“It will commence when all the heroes have safely arrived. Thanks to your early arrival it will commence earlier than scheduled. Should you reside within the town, when the gathering is about to start a bell will be rung to indicate the starting of the gathering.” (Royal servant)

“Thank's for the information. We will leave our horses in your care.” (Bara)

“Very well. Please come to visit the others who are residing in within the castle. They are eagerly awaiting you.” (Royal Servant)

With that we had taken care of our horses until we would leave the town. They won’t miss a thing in the coming days and it won’t even cost us a single copper. Then we left the castle and the noble district. We left it almost faster than we had entered it, even though we were not anymore on horseback.