You nod to the guard, gritting your teeth slightly. "Good thing I have enough gold then." He lets out another bark of laughter, then waves you on, not bothering to reply. Likewise, you continue on without another word, closer to the stone steps of the city.

Approaching the stone steps, you can finally make out the statue you had seen earlier. To your surprise, the statue depicts you. While you never wore the shining armor they present you in, and the sword is far to small to be your own, the facial features are too similar for it to be anyone else. Looking it over, you see that it's covered in bird dung, and there are many chips and cracks in the marble.

You clutch your hand tightly. Of course, the statue couldn't have depicted anyone else. Couldn't have been the king, couldn't have been the count, couldn't have even been some sort of God. It had to be you. Taking in a breath and releasing the death grip you have on your palm, you push on past the statue and up to the steps. A guard stands there gripping a spear. Behind him is a large oak door, leading into the city proper.

He blinks at you and lets out a mix between a yawn and a sigh, before speaking, "Two hundred gold for entrance into the city, sir."

You pull out your bag and rifle through it, before handing him four pieces of gold, each worth fifty. He counts them out, even chews on one to ensure its authenticity, before nodding. "Very good, sir. Welcome to Sodran." He pushes the doors open, and lets you through.

Stepping into the city, you find that it's grown substantially since your last visit to it. Large buildings rise high into the sky, faded signs declaring what they're all for. People bustle through the streets, going about their own business, while merchants hawk their wares. Guards stand at every corner, keeping a watchful eye on the citizens. Shady looking people hang around alleyway entrances; unconsciously, you keep a tighter grip on your coin purse.

So much to do, so little time. But I suppose the question I should be asking is if you wish to do something about the state of the city, or if you're just here to explore.

The Count doesn't matter. You came here to get away from fighting, not to get involved in more of it. You'll look around.

You decide not to interfere with the Count, instead opting to explore Sodran. It's been a while since you've been here. Briefly, you wonder how much has changed; obviously it's grown a lot, but are any of the old stores still open? You recall a store run by an older man, which sold the best wine you ever tasted. Is he still alive, or did his son take over the store like he wanted?

Shaking your head, you reason that you'll just have to find out, and begin to explore. Most of your knowledge of the city hasn't aged well, since more buildings have sprung up and some roads you used to know are gone now. Still, your knowledge holds true when you find the old store you knew. The sign reading "Louie's Supplies" is faded and the wooden door is cracked, but it's still the same place.

Stepping through, you find a bored looking young man standing behind the counter. Looks like you were right about his son taking over. He perks up as soon as he sees you, and smiles. "Ah, a customer! It's been a while since one came through." He studies your face for a moment. "... You look familiar, traveler. Do I know you?"

You grunt. "Probably not. I have one of those faces."

He shakes his head. "No, no, I do know you... You helped my father deal with thugs that were harassing him. Twenty years ago..." Then, he gasps, as if finally realizing who you are. "You're Sir Kit the Brave! The man who slayed the vile wizard Alistair!"

Despite yourself, you face twists into a scowl. "Don't go screaming it from the rooftops."

His own smile drops. "Oh. Apologies, Sir Kit."

"Yeah... Look, I did know your father, and I did help him out, but I just came here to see if the place was still around. Glad it is..." You can't help yourself, and soon ask, "Is your father still alive?"

"No, sir. He died five years ago, when I was nineteen. I inherited the store. Didn't wanna see it run into the ground, but..."

You're gonna hate yourself for asking this. "But?"

"... I don't want to run this store. I want to go out into the world, go on an adventure, like you did. When you came and helped my father with those thugs... I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a hero."

That makes you sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose. Great, now you've got a fanboy telling you he wants to be a "hero", like you were.

You discourage him. Being a hero's not all it's cracked up to be.

You take a moment to think about what you want to say. After a moment, you begin to speak, "Look, kid. Adventuring isn't all that fun. It can be brutal. I had to cut down my fair share of men when I was younger, and while I can live with it, not everyone can. Just keep the store running, like your father would've wanted."

The shopkeeper's face falls. He lets out a sigh, but nods. "... Right. I should probably keep doing that. Settle down, find a wife, too. It's just that ever since I took over the store, no one's coming here anymore. I guess I just don't manage it as well."

"What do you mean? Is there any competition or something?"

He nods. "There's another store across town that opened before my father died. People went there, but they came here more often, because they trusted my father. Now that I've taken over, people don't shop here as much, if at all in a few cases. They don't know me as well as they did my father, so I might as well be another stranger to them... If people come here these days, it's because they want to save time rather than walk across town."

You ponder for a moment. Maybe you could get people to start heading to this store more often? You have your fame to use to your advantage, maybe if you recommend it, more people will come. Alternatively, you can just ignore the boy and leave. You've spent too much time in this town already.

You you'll give the store your commendation. That will get people to shop here.

After a moment of mulling it over, wondering if you should bring this much attention to yourself, you come to this decision. "I could help you out. We can use my fame to get people to come here. Everyone loves me, for whatever reason, so if I gave your store my commendation they'd shop here."

The shopkeeper's face lightens up immediately. "Y-you'd really do that for me? You're serious?"

"Sure. It'd help you out. I didn't go through those thugs just so this place would have to close down."

To your surprise, the shopkeeper jumps up and hugs you from across the counter. You awkwardly pat his shoulder, as he blubbers into your own. "Oh by the Gods, thank you, thank you so much! I don't know how I can ever repay you!"

"You'll repay me enough by keeping this place open... And giving me as much of that Cikoni wine as I can carry."

The shopkeeper pulls away from you with a small smile. He wipes the tears away from his eyes... Then pauses. Chuckling nervously, he asks, "Uh... Do you mean the Cikonus Vineyard Wine?"

You frown. "Yeah. What about it?"

"We uh... Lost contact with the makers of that wine, about ten years back. We don't sell it anymore."

You grumble. "... Perfect. Just perfect."

Not long after, you leave the shop and look around outside. You told the kid to stay inside, because you'd get the customers in there. As you search the marketplace, you find that there's a large chunk of townsfolk milling about. Some are in a hurry, others taking their time checking each shop out.

Raising your voice, you begin to shout, "My name is Sir Kit of Droburg, and Louie's Supplies is my favorite store in Sodran!" This piques the interest of a few shoppers, who turn in your direction. A few look in awe that you're there. Others look disbelieving and carry on. Still, you got some attention.

A young girl approaches you, looking at you with wide eyes. "Wow! Are you the guy who killed the evil wizard Al-a-star?" She pronounces his name wrong, but you smile at her and nod.

"Yes, I did! I saved this city, and this store right here, too!"

More people begin to flock over. A few actually head inside, but most just ask you questions or request some stories of your exploits. You don't want to answer them all, but an idea sparks in your head... "Tell you what, folks! If you buy one item from this store, I'll gladly tell you any story you want!"

That really gets people heading into the store.

People start swarming in and out, buying everything from little knick knacks to their groceries. You answer a few lighthearted questions about yourself and what you've been up to, the occasional serious one involving your friends. The former is asked by young kids and the like, while the latter is older folks who know the true details of your journey beyond the bastardized fictionialized versions.

Eventually, a young boy tugs at your shirt. You look down, and he smiles wide, his two front teeth missing. He shows you a small box of chocolates he just purchased from the store. "Look, I bought some chocolates! Can you tell us about your adventure, Mr. Kit? The whole adventure, not just parts of it!"

You were waiting for that. To be honest, you're not sure how to respond. It takes you a moment, before you decide that no, you won't tell this story.

You're about to give the boy your answer, but you stare into his wide and hopeful eyes. Despite yourself, you can't find it in yourself to decline him. "... Alright. But it's a long one. I might not be able to get to all of it."

"That's fine! I just wanna hear what really happened!"

A small smile makes its way onto your face despite yourself. Taking in a deep breath, you begin to reminisce about those days. Where to start? You suppose, at the very beginning.

"Listen closely, because I won't repeat myself. A long time ago, I lived in a village called Droburg. It was there that I lived with my best friends, Henry, Thomas, Lilith, and... Grace. One day, news came through that an evil wizard was attacking the Kingdom! We knew that this was what we had been waiting for. So, the very next day, we set out to slay the vile wizard. And that, is where our story begins..."

THE END