But Albrecht didn't see the point in getting all mopey about it. What was done was done. Better to focus on the now—especially the immediate issue: how the hell were they supposed to sleep without freezing to death?

  It was already getting cold, and the fact that he was wearing flexible but not very thick training clothes certainly didnt help. He also couldn't carry his old clothes around, so he left them at the Islas shop.

  And a campfire would certainly help, but the ground would still be super cold.

  "Hey! Stop staring holes into the air. What do you think you're doing?" Thereon said.

  Albrecht was startled.

  "What do you mean?" he shot back.

  "I brought the firewood, didn't I? I thought you were setting up the beds!"

  His tone was a mix of confusion and slight irritation. Albrecht crossed his arms, eyeing Thereon with disappointment.

  He had hoped—maybe even expected—that the old man had some kind of magical artifact. Or maybe a subspace pouch or summonable tent, just anything.

  But so far, Thereon had done… absolutely nothing.

  "I am setting up the beds. But we need more wood." Thereon said.

  Albrecht stared at him.

  'Does he want to start a wildfire or what?'

  It had been a long, exhausting day, and his patience was running low. His ribs still ached, his arm throbbed, and the temperature had started to drop.

  But despite everything, he grumbled under his breath and obeyed, returning a few minutes later with another—slightly smaller—bundle of firewood.

  By the time he stepped back into the clearing, the fire had already been lit.

  And it was… big.

  Not towering high with flames, but wide—far wider than a regular campfire. A low, sprawling blaze that stretched across the gravel like a glowing carpet. Thereon was calmly adding more wood to it, arranging the branches like pieces in a puzzle.

  Albrecht dropped the bundle nearby and took a cautious step closer, squinting at the blaze.

  "Don't tell me you actually plan for us to sleep on the fire," he muttered.

  Thereon didn't even glance up.

  "Not on the fire. Over it."

  "That doesn't make it sound any less insane," Albrecht said.

  "There's a method to it," Thereon replied. "Just wait for an hour or so."

  Thereon continued feeding the fire with the rest of the wood Albrecht had gathered, expanding it into a wide, glowing bed of flames.

  Albrecht stood nearby, arms crossed, frowning.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Could you maybe explain what exactly you're doing?" he asked, trying to sound polite—though his expression said otherwise.

  This old man was really testing his patience.

  Thereon shot him a side glance, smirking.

  "Impatient little brat," Thereon muttered under his breath. Then, with a dramatic sigh, he explained:

  "Alright, listen carefully. We wait about an hour—long enough for the fire to burn down into a bed of coals. Not flames. Coals. The kind that holds heat for hours without going out."

  He crouched next to the fire, poking at it with a stick.

  "Once that's done, we spread a thin layer of gravel over it. Not too much—just enough to stop us from cooking ourselves. The heat seeps up through the gravel and keeps us warm all night."

  Albrecht raised a skeptical brow.

  "And we just… sleep on top of that?"

  "There won't be silk sheets or any goodnight kisses. But if an old man like me can sleep on hot rocks without whining, then you'll survive too—princess."

  He gave Albrecht a sideways grin.

  "All that complaining just makes the nickname more accurate," he added with a dry laugh.

  They sat close to the large fire, its flames flickering and spitting occasional sparks into the air as they slowly began to die down into a bed of glowing coals. Night had fully settled over the forest, and the trees cast long, jagged shadows under the pale light of the moon.

  For Albrecht, it felt like the perfect opportunity to ask some of the questions that had been rattling around in his head all day.

  Like that silver identity plaque.

  Back at the gate, the guard had immediately assumed Thereon was a merchant after seeing it. That probably meant silver plaques were used for merchants. But why pretend to be one in the first place?

  He leaned forward slightly, watching Thereon poke the fire with a stick, purely out of boredom.

  "Thereon, why did you show the guard that silver identity plaque? If you'd just pretended to be a worker like me, couldn't we have avoided all those questions?"

  Thereon sighed, the kind of long, drawn-out exhale reserved specifically for dealing with dumb questions from younger people.

  "Kids like you really know nothing about the world," he muttered.

  "Sitting in the same city your whole life, reading books, acting clever, but never stepping outside to see how things actually work."

  He tossed a stick into the fire and gave Albrecht a long glance.

  "Back when I was your age, I became an adventurer and explored half the continent. Fought bandits, sailed pirate-infested waters, and even fought a dragon!"

  Albrecht squinted, unsure how much of that was sarcasm and how much he was expected to believe.

  "But to answer your question seriously," Thereon continued, his tone leveling out,

  "you're only allowed to leave a city after golden hour when you're a registered merchant. Laborers, craftsmen, or commonfolk—like your identity tag says—aren't usually permitted through the gates in the evening."

  Thereon leaned back and folded his arms behind his head, watching the sky through the gaps in the trees.

  "Honestly, I wasn't too confident in the cover. It was a bit of a gamble. But smaller towns like Vaelmont tend to have lazy guards—especially on a day like today. So, I figured I'd give it a shot. Worst case, we'd just do what we ended up doing anyway: push through by force."

  Albrecht tilted his head.

  "Why, especially today, though?"

  "There was a lot going on," Thereon said, waving a hand vaguely.

  "First, they were already on edge looking for that wanted criminal. Then someone stole a Chronos Watch—an expensive artifact, big deal. And on top of that, we caused a nice little brawl in the middle of town. So yeah, the guards had their hands full."

  He flashed a mischievous grin.

  "Oh, and by the way—I'm that wanted criminal! Haha. But don't worry, I'm innocent… of at least some of the crimes they're accusing me of."

  Thereon glanced at Albrecht, clearly waiting for a reaction.

  "I thought you'd be more surprised. Maybe shout or something. Don't believe me?"

  Albrecht shook his head.

  "No, I believe you. Honestly, I kinda figured. I wasn't sure, but the timing was too suspicious. You shaved your beard and changed your clothes, yeah—but the moment you show up, the Central Continents Special Affairs Division starts scouring the town, looking for an old swordsman. It wasn't hard to put two and two together."