The barracks greeted them with cold stone and the smell of iron. In the courtyard, sacks of loot already lay on the ground — hides, fangs, horns. When Kael and the others placed twelve monster heads on the table, the surrounding chatter faded.

  “Blade-hounds…” one of the guards muttered. “Not bad work.”

  The heads were counted twice. Silver coins were poured onto the table with a heavy clatter — 720 coins. The payment was fair. Enough for food, lodging, and supplies for several days.

  “Newcomers, huh?” a voice came from the side.

  A young man about twenty-five approached them. Neatly dressed, no armor, but his stride was confident. A trading house emblem was sewn onto his cloak.

  “I saw your delivery,” he continued. “Clean work. I could use people like you.”

  Rin tensed.

  The elf watched in silence.

  Nika instinctively stepped closer to Mika.

  “Speak,” Kael said shortly.

  The man smiled.

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  “A caravan. To the nearest city. Escort duty.”

  “Payment — one thousand silver.”

  He paused, then added,

  “We leave today.”

  For a moment, tension hung in the air.

  A thousand silver was a lot. Too much for such a short route.

  “Why the rush?” Rin asked.

  “I don’t like questions,” the man replied honestly. “But there’s risk. Otherwise, the pay would be lower.”

  “Who else is going?” the elf asked quietly.

  “A couple of mercenaries. Merchants. Wagons with cargo.”

  Nika looked at Kael, then at Mika. The girl said nothing, gripping the strap of her bag until her fingers turned white.

  “We just came back from a hunt,” Rin said.“We’re exhausted.”

  “That’s exactly why I want you,” the man smirked. “Your experience is fresh.”

  Kael was silent for a few seconds. Then he calmly asked,

  “Leaving today means at night?”

  “Yes.”

  “No route scouting?”

  “No.”

  “No time to prepare?”

  The man nodded.

  Kael exhaled.

  “No.”

  The smile slowly faded from the trader’s face.

  “Do you understand what you’re refusing?” he asked. “Chances like this don’t come often.”

  “Then it’s not ours,” Kael replied.

  Rin felt something tighten inside her. It felt like they had closed a door — one that might have led to wealth… or death.

  The man looked at each of them carefully. Then he nodded.

  “I understand.”

  He stepped back.

  “If you change your minds, we leave in an hour. After that, the offer’s gone.”

  He disappeared into the crowd.

  They stood in silence for a while.

  “We did the right thing,” Rin finally said, as if convincing herself.

  “There will be other money,” Kael replied. “Mistakes don’t get second chances.”

  That evening, they returned to the inn. The silver was stored away, weapons cleaned. No one joked.

  At night, Mika couldn’t fall asleep. Nika sat beside her, asking no questions.

  “Scared?” she whispered.

  Mika nodded.

  “Then we made the right choice,” Nika said and extinguished the candle.

  In the morning, the city was buzzing.

  “The caravan didn’t return,” people whispered in the market.

  “They say near the mountains…”

  “No survivors.”

  Rin stopped when she heard it. An unpleasant chill ran through her chest.

  Kael looked toward the northern gate — where the wagons had disappeared the day before.

  “The price of haste,” he said quietly.

  They survived.

  And that mattered more than silver.