"And that was it," Li Han finished, wrapping up his recollection of the strange encounter from three days ago. "She didn't say anything else. She didn't look stressed, worried, in a rush, or anything like that. Does that help you?" he asked, looking between the two riders.
Mae's leather-clad hands tightened into white-knuckled grips on her reins. "A little, knowing what she looks like now," the elf muttered bitterly. "But not much. She really said absolutely nothing about why she's going to this City of Rivers?"
Li Han gave a helpless shrug from his spot behind the half-orc. "That is honestly everything she told me. But... it really felt like she was searching for something, or someone, when she asked for directions. That was just a gut feeling I had, though, rather than something she outright stated."
Mae let out a long, frustrated sigh.
"Where do you think he got so much coin and travel papers, Miss Mae?" Drack suddenly asked.
"Probably just stole the coins, and he definitely faked the papers," Mae replied without a second of hesitation.
Li Han's brow furrowed in deep confusion. "Wait, wait, what are you two saying?" he asked, completely lost as to how they could make such massive accusations so easily. "First of all, you are calling her a 'he' again. You've done that multiple times now. Second of all, what do you mean she stole the coins and faked the papers? How can you be so sure about that? Who exactly is she?"
Drack slowly looked back at the spearman over his shoulder, giving the human a look of profound, silent pity.
Mae, on the other hand, just looked at him with pure, unfiltered annoyance.
"Goddess, why did your captain have to give us such a talkative one?" she muttered to herself with a sharp shake of her head. She then snapped her attention back to Li Han, pinning him with a vicious glare. "You don't need to know what we know about her. But, just to give you a tiny bit of info so you finally shut up—she is a thief. Always has been one. The coins? Stolen. The papers? Forged. Which just means you are a garbage excuse for a checkpoint inspector."
Despite the sheer harshness of her words, Li Han couldn't exactly disagree. As much as the insult stung, if what the elf said was true, he really was a sorry excuse for a checkpoint guard.
"So, she's a thief?" he asked, trying to salvage some shred of his pride. "Is she a well-known one? I really hope not, because then I truly did fail at my job."
Drack spoke up this time. "I think she kind of is in her own city, but otherwise? No, she isn't."
Li Han let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Okay, so I'm not completely awful at my job," he muttered.
"Oh, no, you are," Mae instantly retorted. "Even without your little inspection blunder, you and your men would have died today if we hadn't been merciful enough to drive those demons away."
Li Han gave the back of her head an incredulous look. "I would be bad at my job because my garrison wasn't able to fight off a horde of literal demons?" he asked, just to make absolutely sure he was hearing her correctly.
She nodded without a hint of hesitation. "Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. I've seen other humans do it, yet you are completely unable to? Heh, it just proves you're weak," she stated mockingly, presenting her skewed logic as an undeniable fact.
Li Han just let out a heavy sigh, deciding it was completely pointless to argue with her. "Fine. Since you two are being so tight-lipped, let me ask you something else instead. And it has nothing to do with you or Annie." He paused for a moment. "Do either of you know about chi?"
Both Mae and Drack glanced back at him, their blank expressions making it blatantly obvious that they didn't even understand the word he had just said.
"You don't," Li Han concluded flatly. "Alright then. Since we are heading there right now, let me explain to you what little I know about chi, and exactly what you should expect once we arrive in the City of Rivers."