How long had he been travelling by now? A week or so? Probably a few days more than a week, considering how often he had gotten sidetracked with strange plants that he found along the way, taking the time to examine them before realizing that they were useless. It did some good for his catalogue though, which was filled with new sketches of useless plants. At least, they'll be considered useless until they show some sort of potent synergy with another concoction or whatever.
Even though Allereun, now, didn't have the time for such trivialities.
His wanderings had led him off course, and now, with the Three Moon Festival quickly approaching, the bespectacled botanical explorer was picking up the pace, hoping that he could reach the town of Calgeth at least a day before the festival happened, so he could have a long, long rest, preferrably by a warm fire. Word from Calistre was that there had been some bandit troubles down at Calgeth, after all, and most of Allereun's nights had been spent without a fire, munching on cold rations whilst he hugged himself against the bite of the northern winds. It was annoying, but necessary. After all, his negotiation skills were only useful if his opponents were reasonable enough to think over his terms.
And the Three Moon Festival was approaching. He had no time to spend in a bandit camp, healing with their injured and making friends out of all of them.
Taking a look at the sun once more, which cast a radiant tint over the hills, Allereun sighed, took another swig of his water canteen, and brushed a few beads of sweat out of his eyes. The terrain was getting hillier at this point, the ups and downs of the country making it harder on his legs. It would have been great if he had travelled with a caravan or bought a horse, but a horse meant that he would have to travel on the roads, avoiding potentially uncommon herbs that could be foraged, while a caravan would make him a target for bandit attacks.
It was sometimes painful, being so smart, logical, and self-disciplined.
Nevertheless, he reminded himself that he would be arriving in Calgeth soon, judging by the landmarks nearby, and fueled his body with the promise of a warm meal and a cold drink. Fortune willing, he'd be able to find a proper alchemical shop as well, and trade secrets with the local alchemist or apothecary.
At least, that was what WAS on his mind, until he heard the generic exchanges between what sounded like bandit-hunting guards and guards in general. First, there was an obviously false bluff that spoke of veteran soldiers wasting their time to rout a bunch of small-town bandits, followed by the sound of a crossbow and then the beginning of a fight. Dropping onto his knees and sliding off all his packs, Allereun drew the hood of his cloak over his head and took a moment to take a deep breath.
And then, he started to inch his way towards the scene of the battle.
After all, he WAS interested in collecting Blood Lotuses, and remembering the location of this battle could mean that, perhaps one year later, there will be blossoming Blood Lotuses everywhere.
By the time he made it over the top of the hill, it had been clear that the battle was already decided, with the shinier people (he assumed that they were rather well-armored guards), being on the victorious side.
Standing up and raising up both hands to show that he wasn't hostile, Allereun called out, the sunlight highlighting his amber eyes, “Hello there, are you guards alright?”