"Absolutely."
Maxim agreed without hesitation, and Thane immediately had Pamin bring over a map to spread out on the wooden table.
Thane's map came from Kralfard. It had some notes scribbled on it but wasn't exactly comprehensive—just main roads and the usual settlements like Fontdmer Town.
"The biggest pain in the ass are wilderness wolves. They hunt in packs, so you'd better watch your six when you run into them. Your knight probably knows way more about dealing with them than I do."
Maxim pointed generously at the map as he explained, "Heading north, you'll need to swing around Gray Snake Canyon—there are massive pythons holed up in there. Not far from there, Ice Spring Lake's got water monsters."
"West in Thorn Valley, there's this giant black bear—supposedly ten feet tall. That thing trashed two caravans. You'd better be careful—now that winter's over, it'll be out looking for grub."
"That's all the nasty stuff I know about. Hope it helps you out."
"It definitely helps. Thanks a ton, Mr. Maxim."
Thane's face was dead serious as he raised his cup. "Here's to our friendship lasting."
"To our friendship lasting."
Maxim raised his cup and knocked it back with Thane.
Thane meant every word—so far he really liked this merchant.
For this occasion, Thane had specially busted out some fruit wine he'd found stashed in the former mayor's house to treat Maxim right.
Of course, Maxim also brought gifts to dinner—Oak City specialties, two bottles of oak berry grape wine.
Thane set down his cup, wiped his mouth, and kept digging for info. "Are there other settlements scattered around Shadowpine Ridge?"
Maxim shook his head. "Sorry, except for that Blackstone Mountain people's village, I haven't bumped into any others."
Thane got the picture.
With wild beasts and bandits running rampant around here, folks had to stick together in groups.
Even if there were tiny villages with a few dozen people, they'd probably be tucked away in some godforsaken corner, laying low to avoid bandits.
"So tell me about the Blackstone Mountain people's settlement. How many folks are we talking about?"
"Can't hold a candle to yours—doesn't even qualify as a proper village. Just a dozen or so households, maybe fifty people tops."
Maxim didn't hold anything back, spilling everything he'd seen at the Blackstone Mountain village.
His two visits weren't exactly extended stays—all told, he'd spent less than three days there.
"But there's this crazy good hunter up there. Last time I scored seven complete wilderness wolf pelts, plus dozens of other hides."
"Complete wolf pelts... that takes some serious archery skills."
To bag a whole wolf pelt, you had to nail the wolf right through the heart or lungs with one shot—a clean kill without messing up the fur.
Getting up close and personal with wolves or setting traps made this damn near impossible.
On top of that, whoever skinned it had to know their stuff and understand wolf anatomy inside and out to peel off a perfect pelt.
This lined up with what Thane had already figured out about the situation.
"The Blackstone Mountains are crawling with beasts, so having a crack shot hunter isn't exactly shocking."
Thane made small talk, then switched gears to chat about Maxim's other adventures.
Only near the end of dinner did Thane circle back to ask when Maxim planned to blow out of Fontdmer Town and hit the road again.
"Tomorrow I need to take inventory of my goods. If the morning after tomorrow's got decent weather, my caravan rolls out," Maxim answered.
Thane nodded. "Sounds good. Then the morning after tomorrow, I'll personally see you off."
"That'd be awesome."
Maxim gave a slight bow to show respect, then carefully asked, "Does your knight Sir Pamin have some free time? If you're willing to send him along to escort my caravan, I'm ready to fork over an extra gold coin as payment."
"Of course I'm willing—not just for the money, but for our friendship."
"Absolutely, for friendship."
The two men raised their cups again, both grinning from ear to ear.
Maxim's grin was because one gold coin was way less than he'd expected to pay.
Thane's grin was because he'd gotten exactly what he wanted and scored an unexpected gold coin in the process.
Thane set down his wine cup and spoke up again:
"To make sure our friendship goes the distance, I've decided to throw in another squad to keep you safe until you're clear of Shadowpine Ridge."
Maxim's eyes went wide with excitement as he jumped up and bowed:
"Your generosity blows me away! Next time I swing through, I'm definitely bringing you something special!"
...
...
Thanks to Thane's over-the-top generosity, what should've been a simple farewell dinner turned into a full-blown celebration.
A pumped-up Maxim specially sent his people to grab two more bottles of oak berry grape wine, and they polished off everything before he stumbled out in a haze.
Thane sent the servants packing and called for Pamin.
"Sir, you doing alright?"
Seeing Thane holding his head and slumped over the table, Pamin bent down and asked with concern.
"I'm fine, just a little woozy."
Had to hand it to this other world's grape wine—it didn't taste like much, but drinking the whole bottle packed a serious punch.
"I've already worked it out with Maxim for you to lead a squad and escort them until they're out of Shadowpine Ridge."
Thane filled Pamin in on all the intel he'd gathered and gave his orders: "Pick some solid fighters, deck them out in full armor, and bring all the round shields. There are some skilled hunters among those mountain folk. I'll bring reinforcements and trail behind you. Don't jump the gun when we get there."
"Don't worry about it. I've still got a day to get everything squared away."
"Good, you handle it."
Thane took a deep breath and planted his head right on the table. With the booze hitting him hard, all he wanted was to shut his eyes.
Pamin quickly called in the maids Liya and Sandy from outside the door, and together they hauled Thane off to bed.
After telling the two to keep a close eye on their lord, he took off to start picking his team.
Playing it safe, Pamin didn't spill the beans about the real plan—just said they were escorting the caravan and scaring off bandits.
Thane crashed on the bed and didn't surface until noon the next day.
After lunch that afternoon, Thane rounded up Eliric, the former Beuigclair caravan guards, and the militia captain, handing out all the weapons and chain mail he'd bought, and telling everyone to stay sharp with two days' worth of food and water ready to go.
The cover story was that Thane had gotten scout reports about recent bandit activity, so they needed to be extra careful and prepared.
All three leaders were scratching their heads—they'd never heard of any scouts. Where the hell did this scout come from?
But the lord dropping serious cash on gear definitely wouldn't lie to them, so all three took it dead seriously and spread the word.
The next morning, Thane was up with the roosters.
As planned, he shared breakfast with Maxim, then personally walked the young merchant out of Fontdmer Town.
Then Thane hustled back to the manor and handpicked fifteen tough guys who'd been busting their asses from the work crew, arming them with axes and longswords.
Eliric and the others also quickly got their people together under Thane's command.
Thane checked the sky, figured out the timing, and waited almost an hour.
Leaving ten men to hold down the fort, Thane led forty soldiers in an impressive convoy, following the path Maxim had taken.