*You've Collected: Side-Companion*

After finally reaching the outer forest, Axum and Wen were stopped by guards.

"State your name and reason for approaching." The guard was on alert because Axum fit the description of the suspected spy, but while Wen looked like a member of the Zhao family, he wasn't willing to take the chances of letting them pass.

Right as Axum was about to start speaking, surprisingly, Wen was the first one to speak up.

"I wish to speak with my uncle Zhao Luo, my name is Zhao Wen, daughter of Zhao Tung," Wen quickly spoke to the guard, but with a level of respect, he had not seen commonly when superiors spoke to subordinates in this world.

"While you may continue, I will have to request that he stays here," the guard finished his sentence with a finger pointed towards Axum.

"I am going to speak with my Uncle specifically about him, so it is a prerequisite that he comes along," Wen gave a quick excuse. Still, she didn't seem significant at lying, and while the guard didn't seem suspicious, he demanded that he come along.

After the guard left his post to another guard, the small group consisting of Axum, Wen, and the Guard continued venturing into the forest.

'Even though Wen was able to come up with a good cover for us, she has kinda put us in the same boat, and I don't want to get her into trouble. I'll have her ask her to convince her uncle to let me see Losho... Man, I've really gotta make it up to Wen after this, I'm depending on her too much. We're going through so much just because I've got a feeling that Losho has at least a semblance of an idea of recognizing my powers.'

His thoughts slowly came to a stop as he took in more of his surroundings.

Cypress, Oaks, and Willow trees made up the majority of the tree flora with the essential shrubs and bushes. But what surprised Axum the most was the integration of man-made structures into this flora. Outposts in trees and small interconnecting buildings built into the sides of hills gave the place a feeling of the area being overgrown. But the city was exceptionally well-maintained that Axum had a hard time at first recognizing these buildings.

And the animals that lived in these areas were also walking with little fear to humans, they wouldn't allow a person to approach them, but they certainly didn't have fear in their eyes, but rather Axum identified some intelligence.

Wen saw his interest, confusion, and surprise in his eyes and decided to answer his questions even before he asked them.

"You should remember that this whole area was built to dedicate worship towards Li Ban, a river goddess, so you could expect that almost all man-made things are non-intrusive and were designed with high respect towards the wildlife and scenery. The rules that the master who built this place are still in effect even though he doesn't live here anymore. There are few rules but if you break one you have to answer to him for it," She paused for a moment before continuing.

"The rules are simple; no destruction of the landscape, no removal of trees, rocks, and bushes. You can maintain these things to make it look neat and orderly but zero destruction of nature. And there be no harming of wildlife that lives in the forest. The master personally brought endangered and rare species to this place so that they can live without fear."

"He sounds like a nice guy, I'm surprised someone would put so much energy and expense into this type of project," Axum replied.

"Most grow powerful not for the sake of being powerful but to protect the things they love," Wen answered.

"That sounds to me like people who grew powerful wanted an excuse to tell people why they grew powerful..." Axum retorted sarcastically.

When they finally made their way to the inner layer of the forest they started to see more people and buildings, with some, Axum assumed to be, prominent family members from the sight of

their armor.

After passing through an arch that Wen told him was a signifier of entering a holy place, Axum noticed the Qi rising in density slightly and bypassing more animals he saw an increase in intelligence as well.

No quantitatively different examples but rather qualitative ones, like more emotiveness in the eyes of these slightly different colored and differently shaped animals Axum assumed to be rare.

A few hundred feet past the arch, they arrived at a simple door guarded by two well-armored sentries. The door was embedded in the small hill that was located at what Axum assumed to be the center of the forest. And if not for the two guards, then Axum would've just expected that this door would only lead to a small underground hut.

But when they entered, they came across more sprawling grass and smoothed rock to act as support columns to the roof. It was like a natural cave one would come across near the base of a waterfall.

Natural Qi in the air with moisture palpable, Axum could assume spending some time meditating here, and gardening would bring about a decrease in his anxiety and a better appreciation for nature.

But at the end of the cave were two more guards and one more door, but instead of being allowed forward, only Wen was.

'I guess they don't trust me well enough, I'll just hope Wen is going to give a good enough reason...'

...

"Ah, Wen, to what do I owe the pleasure of being able to bask in your elegance? Shouldn't you be running around with that foreign boy?" Zhao Luo, Zhao Wen's uncle, asked Zhao Wen with a teasing smile.

He was a large man with expensive armor decorating his chest. A Zhao family crest inscribed in the middle with small jewels running in a decorative pattern. Gaps large enough in the plating to allow for some flexibility, but the armor seemed mostly geared toward stout defense.

Zhao Luo himself was an above-average looking man in his 40's. He held a lofty position in the Zhao family military, as a defensive commander and coordinator he was entrusted in strategizing and logistical support if the Zhao's were on the offensive. And in charge of conscription and fortifications building on the defensive. And his wives reflected the military honor he held. With over 10 wives, he held the most in the Zhao family, with second place being his first son, Zhao Wang.

Even though Zhao Wen felt embarrassed to be teased right in front of the upper echelons of the Zhao's military, she thought she deserved it a bit. She was offered marriage by the first son of Zhao Luo, Zhao Wang, who was aged 28 at the time, but she declined by saying that she didn't wish to marry someone she didn't love. And with her following around Axum, it could be interpreted as being a floozy.

But Zhao Wen tried and slightly succeeded in concealing her embarrassment by only having barely flushed cheeks. She then proceeded with a slight bow before speaking, "Hello, uncle, my friend Axum believes that he should have important information that should be delivered to the Peacekeeper Losho. I'd like to request on his behalf a meeting with him."

"Insolence!" Zhao Wang, the same that proposed marriage to Zhao Wen before, spoke with sonorous inflection.

"Even elders have the understanding that they do not have the influence to request a meeting with a peacekeeper, but you're saying that a foreign boy might have pertinent information? Water does not flow upward, there are correct steps to be taken in regards to asking for a meeting. But requesting directly from a high ranking member could smell of corruption, and the Peacekeepers themselves are in charge of removing that corruption. Does this not reek of contradiction?"

Even though Zhao Wang did not mind that much of Zhao Wen turning down his marriage request because he already had a few wives because of the prestige of his family, but it still hurt his ego slightly. So he took this chance to get a bit of revenge but had no evil intent.

"His request comes with the importance of secrecy, and that is why we must skip these steps to maintain the safest level of restricting leakage of information during this time of uncertainty," Wen replied with a weak lie. Still, it was the best she could come up within such a short amount of time. They also were speaking more formally than usual because of the more formal environment of the war meeting.

"It is so secret that he can not speak of it even to my father?" Zhao Wang retorted.

"Ok, stop, enough. Wen'er, there is no way that you think I can accept this excuse to visit a senior imperial officer?" Zhao Luo denied Zhao Wen's request, but he did it with reluctance. Instead of relying on what everyone was telling about him, he decided to learn about him from the source.

"Could you please bring Axum in here directly, Wen?" Zhao Luo asked her.

Although she wanted to argue more with her uncle, she couldn't because they were in public, and she couldn't disrespect someone with authority no matter their relations without being punished.

So instead, she brought her uncle to meet with Axum, where he was sitting just outside the meeting on a bench. "Axum this is my uncle and familial officer in charge of planning and defending, Zhao Luo," Wen introduced her uncle but found that Axum had met a friend while waiting.

...

The friend she was referring to was an owl, a few minutes after Wen left an owl came flying down from the entrance of the cave and sat down next to him.

"Hello, Mr. Owl, to what do I owe the pleasure of being acquainted by you?" Axum spoke in a low voice while rubbing the top of the owl's head. The owl closed its eyes and raised its shoulders, clearly enjoying the rubbing.

Then the owl moved out of reach and hopped on top of Axum's shoulders and started sniffing him. After the owl finished sniffing him, it suddenly started to inspect Axum as well, it was around this time that Axum began to realize that its unique features.

It was about 2 feet tall and looked similar to an eagle owl. But instead of a predator type gaze, when it looked at Axum, it held curiosity and a slight mischievousness in its amber-colored eyes. With a black overcoat and a snowy white interior, it held a bit of majesty when looked at. But it was the intelligence in the eyes that was what attracted Axum the most to this curios bird.

...

The moment in time when they came back was when the owl was nipping at Axum's hand when he was covering his face from being pecked at. After Zhao Luo and Wen saw them Axum came to a stop, held the owl in his Wen introduced her uncle, Zhao Luo stayed silent.

She looked back at her uncle and saw him standing there with surprise and confusion in his eyes, then understanding and acceptance.

"Ok, Wen, Axum will get his meeting with the Peacekeeper. But I'm gonna need to speak with him afterward," Zhao Wen had no idea why her uncle changed his mind, but she was delighted.

Axum was surprised because he didn't Wen would be able to do it, but he was happily surprised.

He didn't see Wen's surprise, but he did her reaction when it changed to fear, as she realized that he was going to be meeting with a peacekeeper.

He had heard a few stories of peacekeepers since his short talk with one, and they sent shivers down his spine.

One story was of a merchant who was kidnapping people off the streets to apply slave brands and essentially create free "products" when he was discovered. Usually, this would be handled by the local government, but it was supposed that one of the great families had been backing him. Which required the government to report the issue to the peacekeepers because while the great families could sometimes try to throw their weight around and get what they want when it involved innocents or bypassers, the peacekeepers include themselves like an angry bull. Making the issue of taming the Peacekeeper's rage a more pressing issue than the problem they were trying to sweep under the rug.

It turned out to be semi-true, while the central family hadn't been backing him a grandmaster descendant of one of the great Zhe clan had been supporting him. When suddenly no one had heard from him or his town in a while when the family he came from sent people to look for the reason for the communication block, they found his village completely empty.

The town held a grandmaster, three masters, and hundreds of families and disciples were suddenly gone. No blood or a single piece of furniture out of place, nor any money gone. As if the people in the town never existed in the first place.

As well as some influential people in government disappeared on a single night. They knew it to be the peacekeepers because the ones who were in lofty positions were often surrounded in a sea of the most reliable bodyguards. But not a single person ever mention this or complained about it to the peacekeepers, because they knew that they crossed the bottom line of the peacekeepers.

This incident was referred to as the Night of Silent Justice because everyone was happy that corrupt people were arrested/killed. At the same time, the backers of the enslaver were also arrested/killed.

No one knows what happened to the families that also disappeared, but that just adds to the horror of not knowing if they believe in guilt by association. A majority of the populace, as a result, is commonly lose lipped when it comes to crimes, and gangs try to keep citizens as happy as possible.

... (CHANGE INTO FIRST PERSON POV of AXUM)

I'm surprised that the owl is still following me, he is acting quite strange though. Before, he was nipping at my ears and nose and sniffing and looking all over me, but now he is just sitting on my shoulder calmly. While it took a second for me to get used to the large owl on my shoulder, it's actually quite comforting to have a large pillow on the side of your head as long as you can ignore the pain of the sharp nails. But even then, the owl seems to be taking great care in placing his pins to have the least impact on me.

That's not the only strange thing though, as we head deeper into the cave, it is sloping downwards and away from the meeting hall. After we passed through a meditation room, it was just a long, darkly lit hallway that, after sensing for Qi felt changes in the surroundings. While natural Qi increased, an ominous feeling soon took over, and I was starting to feel a more oppressive force pushing down on me as I reached the end of the hallway.

Unsure if the water I was wiping off my face was from my sweat or from the mist that occupied the lower half of the cave, I confirmed my resolution to face the repercussions of pursuing this meeting.

As I opened the door to darkness, instead of the oppressive force overwhelming me, it instead continued to build as if the door wasn't blocking any of it. But instead was acting like a gravity field that surrounded the barely visible figure that was shrouded in darkness.

Even though I knew that Losho couldn't see me, I still bowed in case Losho was observing me in a way that I didn't know about. This seemed to be the correct choice because of the pressure I was facing slightly decreased when I bowed.

"Hello Peacekeeper Losho, I apologize for intruding during your meditation, may I have a moment of your time," I asked. But when I finished speaking, the pressure just continued building, like a river, that was building up behind a dam.

Losho remained silent and kept sitting still as if I had not even spoken to him in the first place.

I know that he is interested in me, but from my quick interaction with him, before he seems wary and confused toward me at the same time, it looks like we'll have to just go at this the old fashioned way.

"How about we trade information, I'll answer any questions you have, and you answer only one of mine?" I tried to give an unfair deal towards myself as possible as an apology towards him for ruining his meditation session and try to put myself in his good graces at the same time.

But the force just kept pressing down on me, while it lightened up a bit after I finished speaking it just continued building as it had before. It was starting to cause my lower back muscles to ache from holding up my upper body because I was still in a bowing position. And if I tried to raise my head, the pressure would reach a heightened state.

I was about to leave, but Losho broke the silence by making a simple statement. "Tian Xin, Eastern Wind Sect in the Capitol."

After that statement, he pushed me outside using some Qi force I couldn't understand, and I was sitting outside the room on my ass completely confused.

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Please read the authors note at the end if you're interested in the future making of this novel or reasons for my release schedule.