Lafrenia

The not-so-talkative merchant, Milorada from Greywind, had a task: to escort her to the Refet outpost, along a route where travelers were attacked by beasts and bandits. The bandits planned to launch a surprise attack on the squad simultaneously with a group of monkeys, hoping to quickly overwhelm the resistance as a whole, but they failed to account for the fact that the squad would be prepared for the encounter and would be able to deliver a crushing blow. When the attackers froze, paralyzed, Ashur mentally prepared himself to witness the brutal slaughter of defenseless monkeys, but his comrades wisely used the time gained to kill the people, or rather, the demonic bandits, as the more dangerous opponents. The senseless animals, posing a threat to the movement of merchants, and the raiders who emulated them, were a problem that needed to be solved. How much were the lives of these miserable beasts worth? Dividing the proposed reward by the number of opponents in his mind, Ashur calculated that, on average, each of these souls, including the bandits, was worth no more than four chimes. And Coriel Tav, another one killed by the insane monkeys, was worth about five chimes, according to his share, and was a lifeless confirmation of how little human life meant in this ravaged land. The merchant noticed that the lily-like Nao, who had previously established herself as a fierce accomplice to those hiding from the law, tried to revive one of the monkeys, presumably with the intention of killing it again, in order to avenge the losses in her gang caused by Coriel - because with a more noble intention, she would certainly have preferred to raise the demons she loved so much. If she had succeeded, this malicious act would have surpassed even Tao Kug's mockery of the remains in terms of immorality, but fortunately, she only succeeded in wasting a healing potion. Disgustedly bypassing the remains of the monkey, disemboweled by his fellow countryman who had fallen into a furious psychosis, Ashur sighed heavily and prepared to continue on his way. Arriving at the outpost, he learned that the whole endeavor had been pointless - the merchant, who turned out to be the daughter of the local commander, was struck so hard that she could not stand on her feet, and they immediately turned back to the city, and the squad, as a reward for their heroism, was granted by the commander the opportunity to rest instead of being immediately sent back where they came from, like Milorada. Consumed by dark thoughts, Ashur did not cease to mentally pray to Avaritia to bring peace to this land of cruelty and malice.