Finn stilled immediately, turning slowly to face the newcomer.
It was a man, lean and casual-looking, with shaggy blond hair fluttering in the air. But that image didn't fool Finn, he could tell with every fibre of his being that the man was dangerous. The fact that he hadn't heard a single sound till the man was within close proximity went to show just how skilled he was.
Finn smiled nervously, holding his hands up in surrender, "I apologize, I'm just a traveler, and I wasn't spying or anything. Just wanted to see how things worked before I went in… First time here."
"A traveler, you say?" The man scoffed lightly, giving Finn a once-over. "Well, at least you don't look like no bandit, I'll give you that… But a traveler?" he tutted.
"Zane! What the hell are you up to?! The whole caravan is waiting—!" A man with a large axe strapped to his back suddenly burst through the shrubs, pausing mid-sentence as he took in the sight of Finn.
"Who's this?"
"A traveler, he says."
The man looked Finn up and down. "Traveler my ass. He looks like one of them sissy young scions parading about in the town," the man sneered, before calling out to Finn, "Who are you, boy?!"
Finn dropped his hands, already less tense now that the focus had shifted from the possibility of him being a bandit scout to a question of his identity and origin.
"Name's Finn—" he paused for a moment, and actually considered whether or not to reveal his true purpose for being here. Althea had most certainly gotten into the town and very likely also gotten a permit from the town heads immediately. But one couldn't be too sure.
It was why he had chosen to wait it out till when the day broke. Perhaps then, even the guards at the toll gates would've been informed of their coming.
But just as thought to reveal his purpose for being here crossed his mind very briefly, it was killed immediately.
"—I'm here for my own business, which doesn't concern you in any way," Finn strode forward confidently. "In fact, why are you here questioning me? Who the hell are youguys anyways?"
A chuckle escaped the lips of the first man at Finn's sudden switch up, but the second, larger man didn't seem to take it too kindly. He held out a hand to block Finn's path as he strode past. "If your business here is of no concern to us, then I'm sure it very well will be of concern to the guards at the tollgates," he said curtly. "You won't say you have any qualms following us to the gates, no?"
Finn leveled his gaze with the man's, and they stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, before Finn shrugged. "I have no qualms at all."
The man nodded, and Finn was escorted out of the woods. He was walked out to the open, where a company of about twelve merchant carriages full of goods and the merchants themselves were waiting impatiently. A man who seemed to be the merchant company head launched into a hot scolding to show his displeasure at the sudden hold-up.
But as though his words were entering one ear only to come out of the other, the two men escorting Finn, and especially the first, overly casual man, didn't seem to mind or pay him much heed.
"Sorry, sorry. We spotted a potential rogue scout and had to take precautions," the larger man waved.
That seemed to shut the merchant up, as he paused to take a good look at Finn, who for the most part, seemed harmless and even curious. He observed the caravans with interest as though it was a novel experience for him.
"This one's no bandit scout," the merchant huffed after profiling Finn to the best of his capabilities.
"Well, that's what we'll find out now, won't we?" The larger man still seemed intent to follow through till the end, further incensing the merchant because they now had to wait even longer.
Finn was led by the two men to the tollgates, bypassing those who were on the queue and heading straight to the front directly.
"Hey, Greg!"
An equally huge, battleworn man perked up at the name being called, squinting his eyes at the three walking up from the sides.
"Bron, Zane… you better have a good reason to be cutting the line." Greg deadpanned, as there were already grumbles of dissatisfaction from the merchants and travelers waiting patiently on the queue.
"Found a suspicious guy surveying the town from the trees in the distance." The huge man — Bron, went straight to the point, motioning towards Finn.
The tollgate guard — Greg, turned his eyes to Finn menacingly, causing Finn's outwardly cool facade to falter slightly. It felt like a dangerous beast was staring down on him, about to pounce at the slightest movement.
What the hell is a man this strong doing all the way out here! Finn thought in alarm. The only other person he had felt this sort of oppression from was his father! The dangerous feeling emanating from the man was less than his father's, but not by much!
Finn killed every thought of spinning a lie immediately, fully sure now that the truth was the only thing he could say here to possibly extricate himself from his current unfavorable situation.
He swallowed silently and walked up to the man, who raised a brow at Finn's unexpected move.
He came within three steps of the man before stopping and speaking softly so only he could hear. "I—I'm from the Seneschal Ossuarist School…" he said and paused hoping to see any reaction from the man, but there was none whatsoever, as if the word meant nothing at all.
But Finn pressed on nonetheless. "I'm a Grade 3 Initiate Ossuarist from the school, I don't know if you've been informed, but we were sent to purge chaotic soul mass outbreaks in the area…?"
The man still remained unfazed, simply watching Finn with a blank gaze and his threatening aura leaking out freely.
"H—Have you not seen my senior yet? A girl? She should've arrived way earlier…" Finn asked nervously, waiting for any response from the man. It was all up to him now. If he had gotten the notice from the higher ups already, then Finn knew he was free to enter despite any misgivings or personal opinions the man might have against Ossuarists.
But if he hadn't… well then, Finn was in for a tough time. If the man had the slightest bias towards Ossuarist, besides the outlook people of Aethelos generally had, then Finn had just laid himself bare for the man to do as he pleased.
The man let the silence drag for a couple of seconds, before the look in his eyes abruptly changed.