After it was safe, we left the city. It was for the best. My kids were all with me, but I decided to leave the centaurs with the rest of the envoy. I did not need them anymore when I had everything that would make the game easy for me. They looked a bit sad that we were parting ways. I was not going to change my mind though. I had other things to attend to. Once we got back to Ablinas, I was met by a courier. She gave me a letter from Tristan. It was an urgent request to meet up with him. He was in very desperate need for rescue from Orido Village. He had been captured by the militia there and they were refusing to let him go unless he ratted on all of his friends and converted to their faith. I had to ransom him with money. That was almost funny, seeing as I helped the village set up a militia in the first place. Tristan would probably be upset if he found that out. I knew where Orido Village was and decided to go over there right away. I did not want anything too bad to happen to them. When I got there, he was chained up in a small wooden shed. I had just enough money to ransom him out.
We walked back to Ablinas. Once we entered the walls he hugged me and said he had to go. "Thanks so much for this! I'll make sure I pay you back for this. Honest!" he said jovially before running off. I shrugged and went back to my house. It had been a long time since I had been in it. My kids and I spent a day there before there was a knock on my door. I opened it and it was a member of the Mercenary Guild. I had a job waiting for me. That was right. I was still on the roster as a Copper Mercenary. As that was the case, lots of clients wanted my services. It was to be expected. I was super cheap for my actual level. Technically, I should be priced at the Silver rank rate. I did not have enough missions though as a Player. I could rank up a bit while I had some down time to myself. 5 Escort, 2 Security and 4 Extortion missions later, and I was now Bronze rank. I would be getting a small salary from the guild regardless of the amount of missions taken. To get Silver rank, I would need to do 14 more of their missions. To be honest, I was already a paladin. I did not need to do many more for them.
Shayne met me in Ablinas. He told me that Korey and Tristan had died in a heist gone wrong. I told him about Tristan. I actually liked Korey, so it was sad. Since he was with me, it would be easy to complete the task he had for me. He told me his father was bedridden with a deadly illness. He needed medicine quickly, or he could die. I then asked him to show us the way to the alchemist. He nodded and joined the party. The alchemist was in Ablinas. I asked him about the cure when he greeted us in his shop. He wanted a high sum for it. With making my kids paladins, I was pretty low on cash. I did know a sure way to get it. I told him we would be back. The alchemist just crossed his arms and grunted. We were going to go bandit hunting. Between the four of us, the party level averaged to 255. That meant some absolutely mythic bandits were due to spawn in any moment. When they did, we were ready. Shayne was on Alpha's back with a bow and some arrows. It was part of my plan. When they blocked our path on the road, I attacked. Shayne took a shot that ripped one of their heads off.
The 5555% damage boost was still worthy of a 1-hit kill. That leveled him up so fast, that he passed out from the power surging into in him. Under normal circumstances that would be bad. I had healing magic and was able to get him back up. He leveled all the way up to level 81. The kids took care of the rest of the bandits. I was able to kill steal once and rise up to level 81 as well. More important than the leveling was the loot. I was not disappointed. They all had elite armor and weapons on them. They also each had enough money for a small noble. All together, it was a very large fortune. We were easily able to pay for the cure and more. It was just a matter of rushing it over to the village where his father lived. Once that was done, his father was able to get up and smiled at us. Shayne nearly cried at that moment. I gave him some time alone with him. Since the quest was over. I knew that I could marry him. I went back to the city to buy a pair of wedding rings for when I next saw him. It was only a few days before he came up to my house to thank me. I had a really big choice to make.
