Keeping things compatible with children is hard...

When we got back to the oasis, the whole crowd was waiting for us eagerly. Judging from the lack of agitation, however, it was probably safe to say that they already knew that the mountain was safe. Lesta probably told them already.

The one who greeted us first, however, was Arta, who looked me up and down with judging eyes. "You're wearing something different, Young Master."

Oh, shot! Those clothes were the ones Arta specially assembled for me. "Uh...they got burned?" I answered with a grimace.

"What?!" she widened her eyes in outrage, as if the state of my clothes was more important than the fact that I was on them when they got burnt.

"Y-Your Lordship...was Lord Salamander upset, by any chance?" one of the merchant leaders, who I recalled to be the Pathfinder's father--asked anxiously upon hearing my reasoning.

Ah, I guessed they were still worried about that. Make sense, since they had to cross the mountain regularly.