"Hank, you know what's needed of you," Marcus said as he looked at the young man who was going to remain on the tender, "You know how we retreated last time, always be prepared in case something like that happens, understood?"

  "Understood." Hank just nodded.

  "Same for what you have to do if there is no news from us in 45 minutes, and if there's no news from us after the decided amount of time from our last contact, right?" he pushed.

  "I know." Hank again just nodded, "If I don't hear from you within the first 45 minutes, I will wait for 30 more minutes before making returning to the Voyager my top priority, same set-up for the next one."

  "Good." He nodded. "Keep yourself prepared for whatever might come your way, but don't be too trigger-happy."

  Leaving the young man with those last few instructions, Marcus turned around to the other two who just nodded in understanding. With a determined nod towards them, they started their walk to Rosereef.

  This time, they had Nulara who had more understanding about their situation. They didn't have any way to identify themselves and prove who they were, so they discussed whether they should sneak in again or just try going through the gate with her.

  She told them that as long as they didn't act suspiciously and were polite, the most they would have to deal with was paying a bribe to the guards at the gate. If the guards were honourable and had a lie detection skill, they would only need to prove that they weren't there for trouble and they would be let through.

  She said that adventurers were pretty common around these parts, and you wouldn't expect all of them to have identifications, especially newer ones who weren't successful enough to join any of the many guilds.

  That was the first disguise they decided on, a group of adventurers. Their getup had them change that though.

  The clothes they were wearing were the same as the ones they wore the last time they went to Windy Cliffs village. Marcus found them quite a bit annoying, but he knew when it was a must to do something and he would never complain about a necessity. They even had a few bags on them to sell the looks, nothing too modern though, but closer to what might be found in this new world they were part of, verified by Nulara too of course.

  The small problem that brought was the fact that their clothes looked a bit too expensive for the roles they were pushing for. But Nulara did say that sometimes some young nobles would try their hand at being adventurers for a bit, it wasn't that common, but it could be believable and with a bit of acting could be sold.

  Deciding to go with that, they rehearsed their speech, in case they were questioned by someone with a lie detection skill, so it would be true while also exposing nothing, and made their way to the gate.

  The three of them were all experienced people who had been through their fair share of events and confrontations. They knew how to act normal and not draw attention towards themselves, so as the gate showed up in front of them they just continued on their way with nothing off about them. They were even having a conversation about finally reaching Rosereef and having a place to relax for real.

  Unlike the first couple of times they went to shore, the sun was close to set, but light could still be seen from the horizon. That change of plans was also due to Nulara, she told them that many cities and towns closed their gates after sunset, so it would be better if they got there just before then.

  "Next," one of the guards called. As they stepped up, he took a glance at them before asking, "Any identifications?"

  "We don't have any on us," Old Raily spoke as he advanced in front of their small group to take the lead. "We are a group of wandering adventurers."

  The guard glanced at them again, his eyes scanning George who had a bit of an arrogant air about him and Marcus who was acting imposing. A flash of realisation passed through his eyes before turning around and shouting,

  "Rookie, come here."

  A few seconds after his shout, the sound of running was heard before a young man who barely seemed to be in his late teens stood in front of him in attention.

  "Yes sir!"

  "Go through the usual with these gentlemen," the first guard said as he signalled to them with his head. He then got closer to the young man before whispering something into his ear.

  "Can you follow me please," the young guard said after saluting the older one.

  The group then followed him to a small room just by the gate, that was being guarded by two armoured guards.

  "Can you tell me your names?" he asked after they sat down on a small wooden table.

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  "You can call me Raily," Old Raily was again the one who answered, "And these are George and Marcus."

  The young guard seemed to look at them blankly for a split second after Old Raily was done speaking before nodding almost unnoticeably and continuing,

  "Any family names?"

  "No," Old Raily said without even a twitch in his expression.

  Again the young man looked blankly for a split second before frowning a bit, he looked behind him, through the door, uncertain, but no one was paying attention to them.

  "Okay..." he continued, his tone a bit off, "Where are you coming from?"

  "We just were in Windy Cliffs village before making our way here," it was Marcus who answered this one.

  The young man didn't seem suspicious of that, he just nodded and went on,

  "Do you have any weapons on you?"

  "Yes," Old Raily answered without hesitation.

  "Do you plan on using them for any crimes in the town?" Old Raily's answer didn't seem to stress the young man, he just continued with his questioning.

  "No, only for self-defence," Old Raily answered again.

  With one of the biggest nods the young guard moved along. He went through a few more questions before finally asking,

  "Okay, for our final question, what do you plan on doing in Rosereef?"

  "Search for a place to restock before continuing on our journey," Old Raily was the one who answered again.

  "That's all for now," the young guard said as he stood up, "Wait for me here for a second."

  After that he left the room. Fortunately for them, he didn't move far before the guard who met them at first appeared and stopped him. They weren't close enough for them to hear what was being said, but Marcus saw the young guard speak for a while and the old one just nodded at him after he was done speaking. He then left him with one sentence before turning to leave,

  "It's all set," the young guard said as he entered the room again, "You can enter Rosereef after paying the entrance fee. It's 1 silver coin per person."

  "We pay here?" Staying in character, Old Raily didn't try to haggle or anything like that.

  "No, no!" The young guard shook his hands. "There is a small room ahead where you can pay."

  They then said their farewell, paid the entrance fee and got a badge per person that they were told to show to the guard when entering and leaving, or if they were asked for it by the guards while in town.

  "Okay, that wasn't so bad," George said with a light smile.

  "It went well," Marcus agreed, "Let's hope that the next part is going to be just as easy."

  Their eventual target was the Farland inn, where the inn master, Jared, would lead them to the black market. That's what the islander Corgan said at least.

  Of course, they weren't going with that option straight away, they were going to take their time looking around and window shopping, trying to see if they could find a way to get their hands on the materials they needed without the black market.

  Before all of that though, something needed to be done,

  "Marcus here, over," Marcus talked into the walkie-talkie as they took a detour into a secluded alley.

  "Hank here, over," the reply came fast.

  "How are things on your side? Over," He asked.

  "All is good, no one came by and things have been quiet. Over."

  "Good, start a timer for 1 hour, if you don't hear from us by then, you know what to do. Over."

  "Got it, over." With that, the line was cut.

  "Okay, let's move out." Marcus checked his watch for time before leading the group out of the alley and into the bigger streets.

  Even though it was around sunset, the streets were full and shops were still open. They went around, stopping from time to time at a shop and asking around for the materials they needed.

  "This is annoying," Old Raily said as they left their third shop in a row.

  "Yeah." Marcus had to agree, it was quite annoying.

  It wasn't that they didn't find what they needed or that it was expensive, but that it wasn't available in the amounts they needed. Or more precisely, the shop owners weren't going to just sell them all they wanted. It seemed that you needed to be a merchant to have the ability to buy in the amount they were asking for. It had something to do with making it harder for pirates to restock or whatever.

  Another thing that was going to be a clear issue was how hard getting those materials out of town was going to be, they worried that the guards weren't going to be too accepting of that. He knew that someone in the crew had a skill that could help with that, but it still wouldn't be enough, what they needed was just that much.

  "It seems that we have no other option but to try for the black market," George said after they had walked in silence for a while.

  "That's how it seems." Marcus sighed.

  He just hoped that it wasn't going to be a trap.

  And as always, a high thank you to our newest patron!! Epieest!! Thanks a lot for the support! Means the world~~

  See ya in a bit everyone!!