The rain hadn’t stopped. It came in steady, hissing sheets over the broken stones of the fortress. Dawn was still hours away.

  Karl sat across the fire from Tanir, the leader of the smugglers. Between them, a battered kettle steamed faintly.

  “You sleep at all?” Tanir asked, voice casual.

  Karl shook his head. “Didn’t feel like it.”

  “Wise.” The smuggler gave a tight smile. “Never know what kind of beasts crawl in after dark.”

  The words were light. The eyes were not.

  Karl matched the tone. “You’ve traveled far?”

  “Two weeks out of Vrossa. Took the long way around. Too many patrols on the trade roads.”

  Karl stirred the fire with a stick. “You’ve done this before.”

  Tanir didn’t answer directly. “I’ve survived this long.”

  Karl’s fingers tightened slightly around the stick.

  > [Caution: Emotional Spike Detected – Star Key Auto-Calm Engaged]

  ---

  Across the courtyard, the five players stood like silent statues.

  They watched the exchange, unreadable, unmoving.

  And deeply, deeply confused.

  “Is anyone getting subtitles?” the student whispered.

  “Nope,” said the researcher. “Language module still syncing.”

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  The pervert tilted his head. “They could be negotiating peace or declaring war right now and we wouldn’t know.”

  “I vote war,” said the adrenaline junkie, cracking her knuckles. “Feels like that kind of vibe.”

  The ex-soldier didn’t speak. He just watched Karl.

  “He gives a signal,” he said softly, “we move.”

  “What signal?” asked the student.

  “Exactly.”

  ---

  Tanir’s eyes flicked over Karl again. The cloak. The posture. The hands.

  But then Karl said something—used a phrase, a turn of speech—that made the smuggler pause.

  It was too... raw. Not refined. Not how an officer would speak. Not how a noble would phrase it.

  No polish. Just instinct.

  That wasn’t a trained soldier’s vigilance. That was a rat’s wariness. The kind beaten into someone by desperation, not drills.

  Tanir sipped his tea.

  *This one's not here to arrest me,* he thought. *He’s here to survive.*

  He leaned forward slightly.

  “You and your people,” he said. “Looking for somewhere?”

  Karl hesitated. “A city. Somewhere safe. Ravenn, if it’s close.”

  “It is.” Tanir nodded. “Two days by foot. Less by wheel. We can take you. For a price.”

  “What kind?”

  Tanir’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “No trouble.”

  Karl met his gaze. “No trouble.”

  They stood.

  Across the courtyard, tension twisted tighter.

  Every smuggler hand was near a weapon.

  Every player muscle was coiled like a spring.

  Then—

  > [Quest Complete: Secure Travel Alliance]

  > [New Route Unlocked: Road to Ravenn]

  > [Reward: +12 XP, World Map Segment Added]

  The student blinked. “Wait. That was it?”

  The adrenaline junkie relaxed instantly. “Huh. No boss fight?”

  “Thank God,” muttered the pervert. “I did *not* want to punch the guy with the gun.”

  They started smiling. One even stretched and yawned.

  The smugglers stared.

  Tanir raised an eyebrow.

  “…They don’t talk much,” he said slowly.

  Karl cleared his throat. “Northmen. From beyond the frost line. Speak their own tongue. Understand ours a little. Not much.”

  Tanir nodded slowly. “Slaves?”

  “Sort of. Mercenaries. Cheap, loyal. Bad with grammar.”

  The smuggler gave a low chuckle. “Figures.”

  He didn’t believe it fully.

  But it was better than the alternative.

  ---

  As the fire burned low, the groups packed quietly.

  The rain was lighter now. The road ahead would be long.

  Karl glanced toward the players, now joking and comparing “loot drops.”

  Then he glanced at Tanir, who was watching the players just a little too closely.

  > [Warning: Target Suspicion Level – Medium]

  > [Disguise Integrity: 58%]

  He muttered under his breath. “Let’s hope they don’t blow this.”

  Then louder: “We leave in ten.”

  No one blinked.

  And no one slept.