Hi. Another update.

With the sun setting, the group found a nice grove to camp in for it would take another day's march to arrive in Thetford. While Robin and Vaike went out to collect more firewood and water, Lissa and Lewis were in charge of preparing supper. Stahl was somewhere trying to hunt for some meat.

Since the preservation methods were still quite primitive, Lewis and Lissa didn't have much to work with. They had some fruits and roots that Stahl had foraged from earlier with the standard ration for travelers. In the end, Lewis and Lissa just decided to throw everything into some sort of mishmash soup.

"It has an interesting color at least? I thought you were supposed to be a better cook than this..."

Lewis looked at Lissa with a deadpan look. "I never learned to cook with these ingredients. I don't have flour, spices are too expensive for everyday use, the preservation methods result in these crappy jerkies, I don't know half of what these roots and fruits are, and I could probably bludgeon someone to death with this hardtack. I tried my best."

Lissa looked unconvinced as she once more stared at how purple the soup looked. "I can't believe the same guy who made those delicious pizzas and burgers made this abomination."

Lewis groaned as Lissa kept giving him grief about the soup. As Lissa was the princess, she herself didn't know how to cook. This was the best they could do with what they had at hand.

"Look. If it makes you feel better, I'll try and experiment with some cooking recipes so this disaster doesn't happen again." Lissa looked at Lewis with concern.

"Lewis..."

"What?"

"Don't push yourself too hard. Everyone is worried about you. Not even Miriel works as hard as you."

Lewis scoffed at Lissa's words. "Lissa, if Miriel had her way, she would lock herself in the lab for hours and hours only coming out to eat and sleep."

Lissa gave Lewis an exasperated look. "Miriel enjoys research. She lives and breathes it. She is happiest when she is with her books and observations. Not only that, she, at the very least, takes breaks. She comes out for reasons that are NOT work-related, and she sleeps on her bed. You, on the other hand..."

Lewis interrupted Lissa before she could finish. "I know. However, what I am doing is necessary, and I consider it fulfilling to keep myself busy. I've been very productive so far."

"At the cost of your health."

"Staves exist here."

"Staves aren't a cure-all. There are some things that magic can't heal."

"Meh. I'll still manage. You are looking at someone who can go 40 hours without sleep with little difficulty ."

At this point, Lissa had it with Lewis's stubbornness. Before she could say something she would regret, Lissa bit her tongue and turned to the soup. However, she had to squeeze in the last word. "Staves can't heal stupidity for one thing."

Lewis pretended not to hear that and waved to Stahl, who was carrying three skinned rabbits, to try the soup. Stahl jogged over with high expectations only to be squashed at seeing the soup.

"What in Naga's name is this?"

"I tried my best at using ingredients I wasn't familiar with. You should try some." Lewis proudly stated.

Stahl stared at the soup before shrugging and tasting a spoonful. Immediately, his face grimaced as he started smacking his tongue to get a sense of what exactly he was tasting. It wasn't inedible, but the clash of the sour fruits and the bitter roots did not go smoothly together. Stahl groaned as he realized their blunder. It made sense that Lewis wouldn't be completely comfortable with a lot of their world's ingredients. He just assumed that Lewis knew how to cook from his previous works like the pizza and hamburgers.

"Well, it's still edible," Lewis snorted as he interrupted Stahl that he wouldn't have served it if it wasn't, "but when we get back, I am teaching you about the types of forageables that are available in Ylisse. You should have said something if you didn't know." Stahl crossed his arms in annoyance.

"I didn't know that I didn't know! When I went to the kitchens of Ylisse, I could recognize all the traditional stuff like flour and most of the farmed goods. I just assumed that the forageables will be something similar just a wilder version." Stahl just sighed once more as he began spitting the rabbits. As smart as Lewis could be, he was just as dumb at certain occasions. At least, he wasn't Sully's level. Stahl shuddered at the last time Sully was forced to cook. The entire Shepherds went through an entire crate of staves to fend off the onslaught of diarrhea and vomiting. She managed to even bring Frederick to his knees.

Shaking off the memory of that episode, Stahl turned his attention back to cooking the rabbits. Absentmindedly, Stahl dipped his hardtack into the soup and began munching away. His eyebrows raised as it was unexpectedly quite good. The flour seemed to counter the sourness allowing for a less conflicting aftertaste. Perhaps, this soup was still salvageable.

Stahl turned to Lewis and recommended serving the soup with the hardtack in it. Lewis shrugged and began throwing in crumbs of hardtack that he crushed with the help of Lissa's staff. After giving it a taste himself, Lewis nodded in approval and gave Stahl a thumbs up.

Once the rest of their group came back, they sat around the fire and began dining on Lewis's experiment that was barely saved by Stahl's intervention. Robin was a bit disappointed like Stahl, but she ate without giving Lewis too much grief. Vaike didn't care at all and consumed the soup without much of a second thought. His opinion was as long as it was better than Sully's food, it was good enough. Lissa was just happy that there was no bear meat anywhere.

"Hey, Vaike. Hand me the wine." Lewis tried to avoid drinking raw water if he could help it. Unless it was collected from rainwater or boiled, Lewis refused to drink it because he had no wish to get cholera or any other water-borne diseases. It turned out that magic-resistant pathogens existed in this world. Until Lewis could recreate the microscope and kickstart progression into more modern medicine like vaccines and water purification, Lewis was going to play it as safe as possible.

Overall, dinner ended without much fanfare. Robin merely gave everyone an outline of what they are to expect before they decided to turn in for the night.

Lewis won the first watch as the others got to sleep. The first or the last watch is the most preferable because any other shifts had the person waking up in the middle of the night and then attempting to go back to sleep after freaking out over every single hoot that was heard during the shift. It could make someone who was not used to watch duty very cranky in the morning.

Lewis couldn't help, but be fascinated at how many stars littered the night sky. It was humbling in many ways as it reminded him of the vastness of the world. However, more and more he was beginning to despise looking at the exotic night sky. He couldn't place just why, but failing to find the north star seemed to put Lewis in a foul mood these days.

A tap on his shoulders brought him out of his misery. Vaike sat down next to him and stared at the stars as well. "You should have woken the teach. It's time for my shift, you know?"

"Sorry. Just got my head up in the clouds."

"I know this is your first mission, but don't lose track of your mind like that when we fight, especially when you go for the kill. Frederick lost too many recruits because they hesitated."

"Vaike. Although this is my first mission, this is hardly my first kill."

"Really? I thought you weren't a soldier in your world?"

"It was actually in this world. I had to save Lissa from a hostage situation. I shot the man's head off." Vaike nodded as he considered Lewis's words.

"Are you okay? First kills tend to be... messy for your mind."

"That's the thing Vaike. I am perfectly fine."

Vaike frowned before he looked at Lewis's gun and nodded in understanding. "Let me guess. You weren't in any danger, were you?"

Lewis shook his head. Vaike chuckled as he gave a playful punch. "Then, you really still are a greenhorn. That first kill doesn't count. To me, a first kill is getting up and close to the person, and watching the life drain away from the person's eyes. At first, you get a rush. You survived, but then it hits you like a brick. The blood, the eyes, the smell. It will never go away."

Lewis cringed as he contemplated Vaike's words. "It's a good thing that I can fight from a distance then."

"Let the Teach give you a fair bit of warning. Never get cocky like that. You have no idea how many mages and archers I've got the drop on because they assumed they were safe."

"I know that. That's why I've been training with the bayonet... and the shortsword." Frederick wasn't very happy with Lewis's insistence on training with the bayonet. His view on the rifle and bayonet combo was that it merely turned it into a glorified short spear that was too heavy and unwieldy compared to a proper spear. However, Lewis reminded Frederick that he was going to fill the role of an archer, and the bayonet was at most a last resort. Lewis also told Frederick that as someone who has never handled swords before reach was more important than fancy swordplay. In the end, Frederick allowed training with the bayonet as long as he kept a shortsword as a backup.

"That's good. Be sure to keep it up. That's right! Before I forget, I need to tell you something." Vaike recounted Lissa's problem, and Lewis nodded in agreement. It wasn't a bad plan, and it did give Lewis a chance to drink Robin under the table.

"What did Robin say?"

"I... haven't told her yet."

Lewis snorted in amusement. "I'll give my approval, but you convince Robin without my help."

"Easy enough." Lewis gave Vaike a glance filled with suspicion, but Vaike maintained his smile. Lewis shrugged, deciding it wasn't his problem.

"Well, I really should turn in now. Good night, Vaike." With that, Lewis went to his tent, snuggled up in his furs, and fell asleep. A sleep that was continuously disrupted by the rustling wildlife.

Breakfast was a disappointing meal of hardtacks and tea. Lewis still hadn't been able to get his hands on coffee. After waking up Lissa with a bucket of water, the group went on their jolly way to Thetford.

With the sun blazing in its afternoon glory, Thetford's cotton fields came into view. As Thetford was one of Ylisse's primary producer of fabrics, it came as no surprise for Lewis to see the massive cotton fields that filled the countryside. Workers could be seen picking the cotton and placing them in a basket that hung on their shoulders while mages could be seen in the empty fields reinvigorating the soil for the next harvest. Some of the pickers looked up and gave a wave to the passing Shepherds.

Thankfully, slavery was banned in Ylisse during Marth's reign. The only country in Archanea that still practiced slavery was Plegia for its gold mines that were owned by the Grimleal, but even then slavery was still heavily frowned upon and rarely practiced by those not of the Grimleal. The other countries that practiced slavery were in the continent of Valm; however, from what Virion has told him, Walhart promised emancipation to all slaves if they swore into military service increasing the size of his army by another two-fold. Lewis cursed when he found another reason why Walhart's men were such fanatics for him. The upcoming fight with Valm grew dimmer the more he heard about Walhart.

While Robin went to the Lord of Thetford to gain more information about the highwaymen that were plaguing the town, Lewis wasn't content at sitting around in the barracks to stew in his thoughts so he decided to take the time to scout out potential taverns for after the mission. Although Lewis was slightly disappointed that the plans have changed, he valued Lissa's happiness more than his carnal desires. Although Vaike's rather enthusiastic affirmative was a bit disconcerting, Lewis simply chalked it up to Vaike being Vaike.

As he was walking through the dirt streets, Lewis saw how well-maintained Ylisstol and Southtown was compared to the other towns. First, the smell of human waste was horrible. While human waste wasn't dumped all over the streets, the lack of a river running through the town meant that any human waste was temporarily stored in cesspits and outhouses before they were taken to the nearby river to be dumped. Second, the houses were all one-room cabins made of some mixture of animal dung, straws, and clay while Ylisstol and Southtown had an outer layer of stone or lime with a wooden skeleton. Third, Lewis was nearly pickpocketed five times. Thankfully, Frederick's training made him far more aware of his surroundings so he was able to catch all those little buggers before they could run off with his money bag or pistols.

When Lewis passed by a group of women who were weaving fabrics on a loom, Lewis paused to see them work. The work was awfully repetitive. A string was looped weaved between other strings that were held vertically by some wooden frame. Suddenly, a thought came over Lewis. This weaving process could be mechanized, couldn't it? He remembered something about some type of machine that used rivers as the power source for mass-producing fabrics.

Realizing how much money Lewis could make if this succeeded, Lewis took out a piece of paper, sat down under a tree, and began pondering how the weaving processed could be simplified by a machine. Noticing Lewis's interest, the women invited Lewis to sit with them so he could have a closer view of the weaving process and ask them questions about how the fabric industry was managed. The women were greatly amused at how interested a man was in weaving so they humored Lewis as they replied as best as they could. He even got to try his hand at weaving. While Lewis was busy trying to recall how the weaving machine would look like, he didn't notice someone sneaking upon him.

"You know Lewis... You do understand that all these women here are married." Lewis frowned as he was disrupted from his thoughts. He was so close to recalling how the strings were organized in the flying shuttle, a weaving machine from the industrial revolution, until some rude individual disrupted his thoughts with some accusation that was best reserved for Virion.

Without even looking up from his diagrams, Lewis retorted with a sharp tone. "I am not lusting after these women. I am merely interested in the weaving process to see if I could make a machine that would speed up the process. These women were merely kind enough to humor me with my questions."

"Oh, Darius. You shouldn't tease the young man. It's rare to find one with an interest in this stuff, and he wasn't a bother." Daisy, the woman next to him, spoke up. Lewis frowned as the name Darius sounded familiar. Suddenly, the voice and name matched up with a face, and Lewis snapped his head up to look to see if he was right.

Darius, a noble turned merchant, smiled back and waved. "Why hello there! It's nice to see you in my hometown. You should've sent a letter so I could properly welcome you!"

Lewis wracked his brain as he tried to remember any other details about the man in front of him. "You're the fabric merchant, right? In charge of the trade of fabrics between Ylisstol and Thetford?"

"Yup! I'm glad you remembered! I was afraid you forgot who I was for a second."

Lewis suppressed a smirk as he remembered other details of the man in front of him. "How could I forget the 'upstart' that defeated Guild master Aurum at chess?"

About two weeks ago, the Exalt managed to squeeze Lewis into an auction house so he could make more connections with the upper class and merchants. While Lewis didn't buy anything, he was able to meet with a couple of minor lords as well as some merchants. Granted, most of the people Lewis met were pricks so he wasn't keen on partnering with most but a couple. Before the auction, some chess boards were set up for guests to amuse themselves. To pass the time, the Guild master decided to pass the time with a massive win streak until Darius came along.

Darius caught Lewis's interest so he chatted with him. Surprisingly, he wasn't an arrogant prick despite his noble status. Lewis considered Darius for a business partnership, but Lewis wanted to hold off until he knew Darius better so he wouldn't end up with a knife in his back.

From what he knew so far from utilizing Guild master Aurum expansive information network, Darius was the older brother of the current lord of Thetford. Yes, he was the older brother; however, he gave up his rights for inheritance so when his father died from some illness a couple years back, his younger brother inherited the title. Of course, this made Lewis highly suspicious so until he had a firmer grasp of Darius, he would treat him cautiously.

"The old geezer needed a proper challenge after all those pitiful excuses of chess players. He was properly taken back by someone competent suddenly appearing. I wouldn't have won otherwise. So, why does weaving suddenly become appealing to you?" Perhaps Darius couldn't withstand the suffocating social status that came with the title.

"And why do you care?"

"Cause I can smell it. You're planning something big. Money-making big." Lewis stared back with an even expression.

"You must have quite a keen smell. It is a good thing you are not a hound for you would make a poor one."

Darius ignored the jab and wagged his finger. "Nonono. You aren't fooling anyone. I know that someone like you couldn't possibly take an interest in something mundane as weaving unless you had some stake in it."

"Have I given you that impression?" Lewis frowned as he thought back to the conversation with Darius. They mainly talked about what type of items the auction will exhibit, the current market price of fabrics, as well as some gossip about some sort of scandal between two noble families.

"Well, you are saying that an outrealmer who has earned the favor of the Exalt, is acquaintances with numerous guild masters, is a rising star in the alchemic field, a friend of the church, and inventor of the printing press with numerous other projects underway just happens to get interested in weaving so much so that he is wasting numerous sheets of paper trying to draw out something for no reason at all? I'm not buying it." Lewis was flattered that his work was garnering attention and slightly concerned at how some nobody knew so much about him. Perhaps this was how celebrities felt when they met up with fans. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Well, I am planning something, but it is still in the development phase. So far, it's not going well, and I'm starting to think I should just abandon it." Lewis deliberately spoke as vaguely as possible with some lies sprinkled in.

"Well, I'm sure that someone of your intelligence could overcome whatever problems there are. Is it anything I could help out with?" Now, Lewis was getting a bit interested in the hidden message hidden beneath that innocent question. If this Darius merchant truly dug in deep for information regarding Lewis's projects, even he should know just how much Lewis and his partners would gain if they succeeded. His current project of cement, blast furnaces, and the steam engine weren't something to be scoffed at.

Lewis frowned as he once more wondered about potentially entering into a partnership with Darius. Darius wasn't someone who was recommended by the Exalt herself so Lewis was reluctant on taking such a risk. However, it would be good to stretch out his connections and take the initiative himself. After some careful thinking, Lewis decided to take the risk.

"I am currently in Thetford with some other Shepherds to deal with the highwaymen. We plan on staying in this town for a night after wiping them out. Perhaps then we could have a chat?" Lewis held out his hands for a shake.

Darius returned the handshake with enthusiasm. "That's great! I was wondering when the capital would send someone to deal with those pesky thieves. They've been wreaking havoc on our businesses. So many merchants are afraid to take this route and have been going elsewhere to buy fabrics. When are you going to go?"

"I don't know, but you should ask your brother. Our tactician is with him right now to get more information about the highwaymen. He should be able to fill you in." Lewis phrased the question in such a way in order to check the relationship between Darius and the current lord.

"I see. How should I contact you?" Either Darius had a cordial relationship with his brother or he was a good actor. Well, the truth would come out sooner or later.

"Well, the Lord plans on providing us with a small feast after our mission as thanks for dealing with the highwaymen. You can pass on the message then and there." Lewis spied Stahl coming up the road so he quickly tried to wrap up the conversation.

"It seems my comrade has come. It was nice talking to you. And thank you, ladies, for answering my questions. I really hope I wasn't a bother." Lewis did a small bow to the five ladies who was listening to the conversation for some gossip.

"It was no problem, sweetie. I wish you luck in your mission. I would hate to see you hurt." The other four women nodded in agreement at Daisy's words. After a small wave, Lewis walked back to Stahl who was looking at Lewis with great amusement.

"Damn. Trying to woo five ladies at once. You must be feeling really pent up..."

"Just stop. It was business. I was trying to see if I could mechanize the weaving process." Stahl's grin was replaced by a frown and a sigh.

"Are you going to lock yourself in your lab for another week when we get back?" Stahl dryly asked.

"Well, yeah? Anyway, why did you come to get me?" Lewis didn't understand Stahl's annoyance. It wasn't like he was skipping out on training, and he did go outside from time to time. Besides, the lab was where he kept himself busy and productive so certain unwanted thoughts didn't pop up.

Stahl bit his lips in concern but merely shook his head. He made a mental note to tell Robin that Lewis still planned on locking himself in his lab after the mission was over. "Robin wanted your opinion om some matters."

Lewis threw up his hands in exasperation. "I just don't understand why Robin keeps coming to me for advice. I don't have any formal training whatsoever. She should go to Virion. At least he has experience at leading troops."

"You know how Virion feels about that. Virion doesn't trust himself ever since that disastrous defeat against Walhart." Ever since Walhart had become a threat to the sovereignty of the multiple Valmese nations, a coalition was formed against him, a coalition that the dukedom of Rossanne was a part of. However, Walhart smashed the coalition apart in battle, and Virion was forced to retreat in shame. It was this factor that pushed him to flee the Valmese continent in an attempt to find allies.

Lewis clicked his tongue. "Either way, he is the only person in the Shepherds with actual battle experience. His advice is invaluable no matter what he thinks."

"Well, we can't force him, and you are the only other person with some sense of tactical knowledge."

Lewis scoffed, but Stahl interrupted Lewis with whatever he was going to say. "Who else is Robin supposed to turn to? Ylisse has no more tacticians ever since Exalt Emmeryn's demobilization. Virion lost his confidence and always runs away when Robin tries to get some advice from him so he's out. Chrom? The guy who proposed sending the pegasus knights straight into a group of archers? Frederick? He always suspects a trap and constantly second-guesses everything. He drives Robin nuts with his indecisiveness not to mention his strange tendency to solve things by setting everything on fire. Miriel? She ALWAYS overthinks things and makes some convoluted strategy that breaks apart at the first sign of trouble. Me? I can't even make heads or tails out of the logistics reports. Sumia? She's far too soft-hearted to make the tough decisions. For Naga's sake, Vaike of all people? Like it or not, you are Robin's best hope for a second opinion."

Lewis gave a dead look at Stahl. "Stahl. My knowledge comes from books and games. My inexperience may end up getting us all killed."

"Have a bit more faith in Robin. Besides, I was with you guys when you were planning this mission, and you weren't that bad."

"What I'm really worried about is when full-scale war breaks out. I don't want Robin to depend on me when that happens."

"Then, get some experience through small skirmishes like what we are doing now. Have more faith in us. We aren't going to die from a couple of bandits even if you do make a couple of mistakes in the planning. Best make them now before the war."

Lewis stared at Stahl in amazement. "That's the wisest thing that I have heard you say."

"Thanks. Now I expect some payment back home for that advice."

"You got it." After patting Stahl's shoulder, Lewis ran in the room where Robin was scrutinizing the maps, placing figurines in certain areas. Hearing the door open, Robin looked up and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You don't have that annoyed look in your face this time."

"I accepted my fate. There is no one else after all."

"About time you realized that. Anyway, get over here." Robin gestured to Lewis and pointed at the red figurine on the map.

"Some hunters were able to locate where the brigands were camping out. The estimated number is around 10 with magic users and a couple of archers. Normally, I would just do some sort of hit and run tactics to divide them up, but the problem is that they are in a place where they can easily escape if things got ugly. They have a boat to run away with, and trees make it hard to maneuver with the horses so we can't run them down. My plan is to station you on the opposite side of the river so that you can provide cover fire as well as shoot down anybody that gets on that boat while the rest of us will take them out one by one."

"Okay. The problem?"

"You are by yourself, and that gun of yours isn't subtle. They get another person on your side of the river, and you are going to be in big trouble."

"How big are the trees? Do I have to be on the other side?"

"I used my skill to get a proper view of their camp. The trees are all more or less equal height."

"Then I guess we don't have much choice."

"Are you sure? There is a reason why I try to pair up people whenever I can. You'll be without support."

"If you've got a better plan, say it. I can't think of anything else that could stop them from escaping with that boat unless we do a night raid, but even then we don't have anyone who has the skills as an infiltrator." Lewis grumbled about how useful Gaius would be at this moment.

"I just don't want you getting hurt. You aren't exactly trained for close combat." Lewis cringed as he remembered how his spars with the rest of the shepherds went. Out of everyone, he was the weakest other than the dedicated healer or mages. Even Virion could defeat him because he was trained from a young age on the use of rapiers. If it wasn't for his rifle, he was sure that Frederick would have pushed Chrom to put him in the reserves like Ricken. Everyone knew just how valuable a long-ranged anti-armored personnel weapon could be.

"I know. It's why I commissioned the Royal Blacksmiths to make these two pistols."

Robin's eyes widened at his two pistols. "You made more?"

"Yup. Sadly, these guys aren't rifled, but they'll do the job for close-range fighting. I do have some trump cards now."

"So, you can make more?"

Lewis raised an eyebrow at Robin's insistence on the subject. "Yes? It's not that hard. You don't have to worry about espionage because I made sure with Frederick that the Royal Blacksmiths know how to keep their mouth shut."

"Is it possible to make the others one as well? I think it would be good for other Shepherds to have an additional option like that. Frederick would especially benefit from one. It would give him more of a fighting chance against mages."

"Sure... But I haven't been able to reproduce these caps." Although Lewis has been able to successfully create black powder, he was still working on creating the proper primers for the blasting caps. Lewis was able to properly synthesize mercury fulminate since he was a big fan of Breaking Bad, but Lewis didn't feel comfortable using it considering mercury was quite toxic. As a result, he was trying to make an alternative using the alkaline metals, but he ran into a couple of problems, mainly purifying the damn metal from its salts. Lewis winced as he recalled how many times he blew up the explosives lab. In the last explosion, he had to call in Lissa and Maribelle for quick medical support such as reattaching his fingers. It really put a damper on continuing his project.

"How close are you to recreating it? I assume all those explosions and almost losing your fingers were worth it?"

"Sadly, I have only been able to recreate one, but I am hesitant about using it because of its toxic properties. I do have an alternative called a flintlock, but it has its problems. I'm going to try a couple more times in trying to find an alternative, but I wouldn't hold out on it. I'm close to giving up."

"Let's talk more about that later. We'll go with our initial plan then. Nothing to add I presume?"

"Have you identified them from Ylisse's mercenary records or are they just nobodies?" Ever since Ylisse demobilized, it also meant they cut off their contracts with lots of mercenary groups. Most moved to Ferox or Plegia, but a couple decided to resort to banditry. Gangrel was happy to finance most of the former mercenaries if it meant weakening Ylisse.

"Thankfully, they aren't a veteran group. If they were, I would have sent Phila a letter asking for reinforcements."

"Good. I think we should be fine then. When are we moving out?"

"After I kill Vaike for tricking me into signing that piece of paper." Lewis wisely kept his mouth shut as he watched Robin storm out of the building to hunt down Vaike. Shaking his head, he went to his room to begin making more cartridges for the battle.