A/N: Besides some Summer classes I have no excuse for how late this chapter was, sorry everyone. Anyways please leave your thoughts in the review section or PM me if anyone has any questions or comments. I try to answer as many reviews as I can. Hope you all enjoy the chapter.

The path through the mountain was a lot simpler than I anticipated. So far, there's nary a deviation from the main path from the entrance I forcibly opened. I'm worried, because it's both a blessing and a curse. A lack of pathways could make travel simple and quick, but the same time, we wouldn't be able to avoid any full-lane traps if they activated, which I assumed to be quite numerous. I wasn't particularly worried about myself or Chelsea, but Yoru and Spear could struggle with sudden panic situations due to their inexperience. I was confident they could hold their own, but if we're to be separated, well... to be honest, their chances would drop dramatically in case they're caught off guard.

"Yoru, pull out your torch, it's starting to get darker in here," I ordered.

The path carved into the mountain was crudely made, so there was a distinct lack of natural light. No supplementary systems were installed in this passage to provide vision either. This meant the farther we traveled deeper into the mountain, the harder it will be or us to see.

It's a necessity and I could live with the risk of someone detecting us. The torch was more for the three of them who couldn't use Magecraft, since I, and to some extent Chelsea, could detect enemies' presence without using sight. Sadly, my Structural Grasping could only deliver so much information, and detecting life forms was a little hard for me. There's a few traps along the way, with the basic tunnel layout already mapped out, but it's the one hiding in my blind spots which worried me the most.

On that note, though...

"Everyone, duck!" I ordered.

No questions nor complaints were voiced. Yoru, Spear, and Chelsea executed my command immediately.

A barrage of bolts flew over our heads harmlessly.

"Careful for a pitfall about 200 meters ahead, eight stories deep and connected to a room about 50-by-30 meters. There's no mechanism to cover the ceiling, so I suppose it's a fall designed to kill you, and I bet there's several Danger Beasts to finish the job hidden down there. Let's be cautious with the jump, okay?"

"How the hell do you know all of this? We've never been here before," Yoru asked me.

I was going to answer his question, but Chelsea beat me to it.

"Come on, Yoru, you stayed with Shirou the longest out of all of us. It's probably more of his magic mumbo jumbo," Chelsea answered, ruffling Yoru's hair.

"Magecraft, Chelsea. There's a difference," I corrected her.

Chelsea waved me off. "Magecraft, magic. They both sound magical to me."

It's a good thing we're not in my previous world, or most of the magi hearing her comment would have an aneurysm. From her viewpoint, though, she had a point.

I sighed. "Well, with the lack of knowledge here, your opinion is fair enough."

Chelsea perked up my at answer. "Oh my, Shirou... did you just admit I was right? Is this the part where you now confess your feelings for me, and we enjoy a romantic get away?"

If I was to turn around and face her, I am positive the vixen would attempt to put me in a compromising and sexual situation. Then Spear would get offended and start yelling, and Yoru would be dense all over again. I don't need this.

I was content to just ignore the comment made by Chelsea, but sadly things don't always work out for me.

"Do you have no shame, Chelsea? Shirou is a respectable man and you take every opportunity to advance on him," Spear huffed.

I can imagine how Chelsea is rolling her eyes at the other girl.

"Please, Shirou knows I'm just playing with him. Maybe you should stop being such a stick in the mud. That's probably part of the reason why you've never had a boyfriend before, Spear. Learn to relax and be free at moments. Guys don't like it when you're overly serious. Live a little, take a risk," Chelsea responded in turn, her hands pulling on Spear's cheeks as if massaging a tough piece of steak.

I turned my head towards the two bickering women.

"I'm really going to have to remember not to pair the two of you up without my supervision. You'll seriously kill each other," I sighed, palming my head.

The two of them were always at each other's throats. To be more accurate, it's Chelsea constantly taunting and teasing Spear, and the poor girl just doesn't know how to respond. I just prayed for her sake she can just ignore it soon, or else I truly think Spear will blow her gasket.

Actually, that might not be a bad thing. Chelsea just might respect her more if she did.

Looking back down the single corridor, I sent out a couple pulses of magic energy, simliar in practice to echolocation. The magic energy would branch out and bounce back once it came into contact with something. I already used Structural Grasping earlier, but it wasn't able to give me any information on any living enemies that might be within the confines of the area. This technique should hopefully be able to give me the info I desire.

After a couple seconds, my magic energy ping returned to me. The results were better than I expected.

"There's two individuals farther up ahead, one male and one female. I have no other info on them. The fact that they were able to find this place and make it so far within insinuates that they're at least capable. Stay on your toes, one isn't that much farther ahead while the other seems to have found what we're looking for," I informed my team.

A simple nod from everyone and the serious looks on their face let me know they understood and would perform whatever I found necessary of them to do. I picked up more speed, traveling at a much faster pace than I did previously. I was still able to sense everyone else behind me. The fact that they are able to keep up shows they've been serious about their training, filling me with a small sense of pride. They've all come a long way already, even Chelsea who spent the least time with me.

I soon felt myself nearing another individual, I couldn't yet see who it is with how dark the tunnel is, but…

A Black Key materialized in my right hand as I block the sword that was aimed at my throat. Without wasting any time, I kicked out with my left leg, sending my attacker into the wall. A soft grunt echoed through the tunnel. A shame. If he didn't scream, I must not have hit him as hard as I thought I did.

"Shirou!"

Sending a quick glance back, I saw that Yoru has arrived with the others. The three of them quickly stood in front of me, facing the opponent who was now visible in the torch light that Yoru held.

The man was lean and fairly muscular, wearing an all-black upper garment which revealed his toned chest and light-colored pants, held together with a sash. With his head cut in an ugly triangular bob cut, I couldn't help but think this guy has some serious fashion problems.

"I underestimated you, but this time I'll take your head," the unknown assailant said, as he picked himself up off his feet. "My name is Enshin of the Wild Hunt and I am going to enjoy murdering all of you, however…"

His gaze traveled towards Spear and Chelsea. I saw a hungry gaze in his eyes, and once his tongue left his mouth I knew what he wanted to do with them. I was about to put an end to him that instant, but a soft hand on my chest stopped me. Chelsea stood before me with a ferocious smile on her face, instead of her typical sly grin.

"You go on ahead, Shirou, and get to the Shingu. Spear, Yoru, and I are more than enough to handle this disgusting waste of flesh. You said there was a second person and we don't know what they want, so go. Don't worry about us. I think Spear and I especially want to teach this guy a lesson," Chelsea told me, her voice full of determination.

My eyes travelled until they locked onto Spear.

"Don't worry, Shirou. After the training we received under your tutelage, someone like this won't be a problem,"

Well, if they're so determined, who was I to say no? I did bring them along for field experience, after all. I can't babysit them forever.

"Very well, then. Don't take too long, or we'll have an extra difficult training session after this, okay?" I smiled dangerously, making them gulp.

"Of course, the reward is always equal to the risk, so I'll give you something nice if you do succeed."

Having spoken my part, I quickly darted down the tunnel. The Shingu were soon going to be in my grasp.

Yoru watched as Shirou sped down the dark corridor. He knew that whoever else was within the mountain with them wouldn't be able to deal with his aniki. Now all that's left for him is-

The young teen dodged out of instinct as an invisible blade of air flew where his head was previously located. Yoru proceeded to run towards what was in his opinion a very stupidly dressed individual, the type of outfit he was wearing couldn't be effective in the slightest.

"Chelsea, cover me and Spear!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a small hail of senbon were already flying at their opponent.

"Foolish!"

With a swing of his Teigu, their attacker deflected the sharp projectiles.

"Who the hell do you think you're dealing with? A couple brats thinking that they can take me on without even using a Teigu? My Teigu Shamshir shall soon taste your blood!" Enshin declared, his tongue trailing across the flat of his blade.

"I think you've talked enough!" Spear shouted as she reached Enshin with her... well, her spear making contact with the opponent's Teigu. Enshin swung around, trying to land a vertical slash along Spear's neck, but she was able to block the attack easily, before retaliating with several quick thrusts of her own, forcing Enshin to disengage.

"You're nothing compared to Shirou! I can read your movements without a problem!" Spear taunted, her weapon held across her body, ready to react at a moment's notice.

"Bitch, don't you talk to me like that!" Enshin shouted in anger, the Wild Hunt member couldn't hide the waves of embarrassment that coerced through him. He was chosen by the son of the Prime Minister to be a part of his elite task force, damn it! He can't be having trouble with a couple whores and a boy! If Syura finds out that he's been taking this long to deal with a couple pests...

'No, it's better not to think about it.'

"You should really pay attention more."

Enshin's eyes widened as he saw Yoru appear right in front of him, the boy's fists held tightly, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

'How the fuck?!'

"I don't know what caused you to be so distracted, but don't think I'm going to let this opportunity slip past me," Yoru said cold heartedly. His fists flew before Enshin could even set up a proper guard, easily whipping around Enshin's Teigu and landing a savage combination of blows against the man's body. One hit to the solar plexus, the spleen, right rib cage, and finally the left temple sent the man sprawling across the ground, gasping for breath, blood leaking down his head from the cut Yoru's fist made upon impact.

"Ugh, you're still alive," Yoru moaned. "Aniki is going to have a field day with me later. I'm supposed to kill you with three strikes maximum, you know. I can't believe you survived after four."

Before the young teen could move forward to finish off his opponent, sinister laughter filled the tunnel.

"Hehehe… hehehe... You'll have to get out of here alive before you can do something like that!"

Yoru's sense of danger was the only thing that warned him to move. Twisting his body around, the young teen barely avoided the blade of wind that whistled at him. After regaining his footing, Yoru felt a warm sensation on his right side. Reaching with a hand, he realized it was his own blood.

'He got me?'

"Yoru!"

Turning his head back, he saw Chelsea gestured for him to fall back as Spear rushed forward to take his place up front.

"Don't think you're getting away from me that easily, you damn brat!" Enshin shouted in rage, blades of wind being released from Shamshir towards his retreating figure.

The attacks were a lot more vicious than anything from before, and it was proving to be difficult for Yoru to dodge everything. Small cuts started to appear on his body, the main problem being that it was the air itself trying to dismember him made it all the more difficult.

"Don't forget that you have more than one opponent!" Spear shouted as she intercepted a wind blade with her weapon. Enshin looked shocked, obviously not expecting the girl's weapon to be able to block his air blades.

"Chelsea, check on Yoru and make sure his injuries aren't too serious."

With a twirl of her namesake weapon, Spear dashed forward at Enshin, crossing the distance between them while evading multiple air blades from the Wild Hunt member. Once she was close enough, Spear spun her weapon around her back, trying to bisect Enshin in one blow. The man's previous injuries dealt to him from Yoru were slowing him down, and he barely mustered to bring his blade up in a hasty block that sent him skidding backwards slightly.

Before she could continue her attack, though, she was forced on the defensive by the strength of his sword. It's categorized as a Teigu for a reason, and the sudden ferocity made her think he was underestimating them in the start.

'Is he getting serious?'

His blows were furious, and just like Yoru before her, Spear was finding it difficult to defend against the aggressive onslaught. She was holding out a lot better than Yoru, having a solid weapon gave her the option of actually blocking the attacks coming her way. Shirou's training helped her to avoid major injuries, and with both parties sustaining blood loss from both their wounds, they're at a stalemate

"Oh? You're doing really well, blondie. I might have to savor you first!"

A face of disgust appeared on Spear's face as she shoved back Enshin's Teigu, a surprised look on his ugly mug.

"I am not someone to be played with!" Spear shouted as she thrust her weapon at Enshin's face.

"Hehehe..."

Spear's eye's widened when her opponent twisted around her weapon and smashed his open palm against her throat before grabbing onto it tightly, pushing her against one of the walls of the tunnel.

"Did you really think you could beat me? You're good, and if you had the right weapon you may have had a chance. But when that boy's first attack failed to kill me, your chances of victory fell astronomically."

The man's eyes roamed Spear's body, "You are a cute little thing. You will definitely satisfy my urges." Enshin cooed, the flat of his blade caressing the side of Spear's face.

"Sadly, I don't think she's interested," an ice-cold voice declared.

Enshing turned towards its source, but three senbon needles pierced through the wrist of the hand holding Spear in place.

"ARRGGHHH, FUCK!"

Enshin dropped Spear in his agony. The girl kicked out, hitting the Wild Hunt member on his right side, aggravating the injury that Yoru inflicted earlier, causing the man to curse in pain as Spear scrambled away.

"Hurts a lot, doesn't it? A lot more than three simple steel needles should," the same voice called out.

Enshin started looking around frantically, but now he couldn't even tell where the voice was coming from, but that's the ridiculous part. He was in a one way tunnel. There couldn't be too many places for this mysterious voice to come from.

'Wait… where's the tunnel?'

All around him, there was only darkness. Everything was pitch black, darker than any night. The walls of the tunnel were gone, and all Enshin could see was his own body and his Teigu. The three brats he was fighting previously seemed to have disappeared, which was impossible. People don't just disappear, right?

"Poor Enshin, lost and alone. The three brats he was hunting have evaded and him. Worst of all he now finds himself as prey, how worthless. You were supposed to be part of an elite unit? You're better classified as cannon fodder, if you ask me," the cold voice from before rang in his ears.

The member of Wild Hunt lashed out in fury, swinging his Teigu around like a madman, not caring at all that in all intents and purposes he could'nt cut someone's voice, but the man felt like he had to do something. The voice, it was mocking him, telling him he's powerless...

'To hell with that.'

So he kept swinging, swinging, and swinging, but eventually he lost the energy to do that. His Teigu Shamshir was unable to produce it's cutting blades of wind anymore due to its wielder's exhaustion.

"I am Enshin of Wild Hunt, and when I get out of here I'm going to-"

"You're not going to get out of here, Enshin," the voice interrupted. "You see, this darkness you're in…" the voice sounded closer, "is going to be your grave, and do you know what's going to be the best part?"

Words couldn't escape Enshin's mouth, he was unable to speak. He didn't know whether it was from fear or shock, but the voice, the cold mocking voice kept creeping closer to him. He no longer had the will to even lash out with his Teigu.

The man could have sworn he felt something caress the side of his face.

"No one's going to miss you once you're dead," the voice finished.

Enshin felt something sharp and cold press against the side of his neck, and then he knew no more.

Chelsea dropped the dead body on to the ground, picking up the dead man's Teigu. The auburn haired girl let out a sigh as she wiped off the small bit of blood that squirted on her face after she removed the senbon from Enshin's body.

"Well, he's been taken care of. We didn't handle him as cleanly as I would have liked, but what's done is done. Shirou's going to be pleased we were able to retrieve his Teigu too."

Chelsea turned her head towards Spear who was still rubbing her throat. "Sorry I didn't help you out earlier. That first cut that Yoru got was deeper than he and I both thought, so I wanted to at least apply some emergency first aid to it. Any deeper and the kid could have been bleeding out without even realizing it due to the adrenaline. It also looked as if you were able to hold him back for a good while, nice work." Chelsea said, offering a Spear a hand, which the blonde accepted.

"Will Yoru be okay? You made it sound as if he was really badly injured," Spear asked, her worry for the youngest group member evident in her eyes.

"I'm right here, you know, and I'll be perfectly okay. Stop making such a big fuss about it."

Spear looked towards the young teen, and saw that his jacket was off and the area around his stomach was wrapped with bandages. "See? I'm all good, I don't even feel it," Yoru told Spear with a small smile before turning to Chelsea.

"What did you do to that Enshin guy? After those senbon of yours pierced his wrist he started going crazy and shit, and eventually just stopped doing anything."

A sly smile emerged on Chelsea's lips, "Just something Shirou helped me out with."

She reached a hand into a pouch and proudly showed them what's in her palm. "Here, take a look!" In it, there were several needles, with the end coated in a violet fluid. "It's a hallucinogen we developed together, to complement my relative lack of physical strength, compared to you two muscleheads."

"Hey!"

Ignoring the protest, she continued, "Once a target has this in their bloodstream, it becomes easy picking for me." She enforced the idea by pretending to draw an imaginary line across Yoru's neck, but the boy reeled back in panic. Pushing the needle away from him gently, Yoru gave a sigh of relief once the sharp object was no longer in close proximity and moved to start making his way down the tunnel.

"Well, we did it, that's what matters. Let's hurry up and meet Aniki so we can gather the Shingu and-"

A hand clamped down on his shoulder like a vice.

Turning back around, Yoru saw that it was Chelsea holding him in place. "What? We gotta go."

"No, we're staying here," Chelsea adamantly refused. "Shirou can handle whoever else is in here. You and Spear experienced your first real battle and I'm going to make sure that you two are okay physically and mentally."

Her words were annoying and grating, at least to Yoru. Shirou had already warned him of the effects of his first kill, but truthfully, it didn't bother him in the slightest. Perhaps the victim being a complete jackass helped, but they're trying to do good for the world here! There's no time to waste, and-

Unexpectedly, his argument was shot down by Spear.

"I actually agree with Chelsea this time, Yoru. We need to make sure we're okay and Shirou can definitely handle himself. You should know that more than any of us,' Spear added before Yoru could voice his opinion, stuffing the boys complaints.

"Fine... Doesn't mean I have to like it," Yoru consented with a frown.

Chelsea's arm slinked around his neck and brought him closer to her.

"Wouldn't expect you to. Now, be a good brat and let me take a close examination of that wound of yours."

'I should be close, the antechamber should be just right up ahead.'

Sure enough, within the next couple of seconds, I was greeted by large steel double doors, barring the path to my prize. At first glance, they looked very durable, probably to prevent forced entry. There was some sort of key pad on the side too, meaning the door required some sort of passcode.

I had no time to be dealing with such trivial things.

I opened this door just like how I opened the entrance to this tunnel: brute force.

I could practically see the air parting as I made contact with the reinforced steel. The frame of the doors shook upon impact. I was impressed the door didn't bust open after the first punch.

No matter.

Sliding my feet into a firmer stance, I brought both hands to my left side. With a firm twist of my body, both fists fire off like twin bullets fresh out of the barrel of a double-barrel gun, slamming full force into the object obstructing my path. This time it gave way, the imposing steel doors being blown open with a loud clang echoing through the chamber within.

Sadly, the doors didn't blast apart and fly off their hinges. That would have made for quite the spectacular entrance.

Carefully making my way inside, I was surprised to see how messy the holding area for dangerous weapons appeared. The overall make up the place seemed to be a dusty armory, but the items which I assumed to be the Shingu were just laying haphazardly on the ground. Nothing was properly stored.

I reached towards my right, wanting to pick up a fine looking broadsword-style Shingu that caught my interest. It looked like it could be a fine base for the weapon I had planned to to craft for myself, but before I could observe the weapon closely, an internal alarm rippled through me. Not an alarm of danger, but more like an alarm geared towards the supernatural.

I felt my Holy Shroud hum with power, before granting me increased defensive properties, which it only did under certain conditions. I served as an Executor of the Church long enough to know what that meant.

My attention turned towards the other person in the antechamber.

It's to be expected. There's a second life signature I detected from earlier, and raiding this place solo, especially with someone as unhinged as that perverted swordsman, was practically suicide. The person I was looking at defies my earlier expectations, though, both in terms of appearance and ability.

A young blonde girl with an old main-type clothing was standing there. It wasn't the modern-looking erotic one which was popular back in my world, or the elegant flair palace maid uniforms had. The design was old-fashioned, more in line with Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz' than maid cafés, with turquoise dress and a simple apron draping her thin body. The only peculiar object was the rabbit ears-shaped ribbon tied to her head, but having seen weirder articles, I took it in strides.

"Who are you supposed to be? What is Enshin doing... He's supposed to be standing guard, that idiot."

Her tone was calm, though annoyed. I understood it personally, since being partnered with someone like Enshin would drive anyone insane, but the emotion circulating through me wasn't the usual calm and warm antics. It's born out of habit, but also enforced by the situation.

There's no way I'd let a Dead Apostle leave this place alive

I appeared before her in an instant.

'I should finish this before the others arrive.'

"You should be more worried about yourself, apostle."

The surprised face quickly contorted to an agonized one as a roundhouse kick drilled into her side, launching her into a stand and knocking down several Shingus. She heaved painfully, trying her best to breathe and stand up with a side of her ribs being caved in. Truthfully, I applauded her for being able to do that much, because my current enchantments were supposed to be deadly to her kind, even with the slightest touch.

I moved forward to finish her off, but surprisingly, she still managed to launch a feeble counterattack in the form of a punch. Well, 'feeble' was an admittedly relative term, because if Yoru, Chelsea, or Spear took it, they'd be blown to pieces instantly, but to me, it's a weak and desperate attack.

I caught the tiny fist inside my hand, and again, I was astonished at the feeling of dull pain transmitted through my brain. Her strength must've been on par with a middle-class Servant, or the scaling of power didn't work the same way in this world. In any case, the strength in it was enough to send me reeling back if I wasn't Reinforced.

"You're quite strong for a little thing, aren't you, Miss Apostle?" I goaded her.

I felt her body tense through the fist I held in my hand.

"Stop calling me an 'apostle', I have no clue what the hell that is!" She growled.

Before she could try and hit me, I twisted her around and forced her body flat onto the ground, pinning her beneath me. She tried to squirm free, but was of course overpowered and in too poor of a position to truly do anything against me.

"Ah, forgive me, I guess in this world your ilk would be called vampires," I said, as realization dawned upon me.

Her body froze as soon as the word 'vampire' left my mouth.

"Would I be wrong with my assumption?" I whispered in her ear.

"How do you know?! You've never met me before," the apostle asked me, genuine concern lacing her voice. She knew at this point that her life is indeed in my hands.

However, she was stalling for time with her conversation, hoping that her teammate could possibly come and assist her out of her current predicament. A classic tactic.

"By the way, I don't know the name of your friend... associate, whatever he is. But I might as well let you know he isn't coming to save you," I told her.

"What do you mean by that? I'm not-"

I twisted her arm to the point that it would break like a twig with just a little more force. "Silence. You're obviously trying to stall me, hoping that your dead companion can come assist you with me. I'm just letting you know that no one is going to help you, so you better cooperate with me." Do I actually know if her companion is dead? No, but I fully expect him to be.

My captive's body completely relaxed, her will to struggle against me having stopped momentarily. Good to see she's not stupid.

"That's better." I gingerly patted her head with my other arm, much to her annoyance.

"First off, what do you want with these Shingu?"

Having the two of them here, being a part of a group... what was it? 'Wild Hunt', if I wasn't mistaken, meant there's someone else also trying to get their hands on a number of super-weapons. Though not to the caliber of the Teigus, the Shingus did have numerical superiority and variety, on top of more usable by normal troops. The idea of a warlord taking possession of them didn't bode well for me. I had to know their plans first before I destroy them.

"Before that, could you release me- Guh!"

I bent her arm a bit further, eliciting a groan from her and stopping her request.

"That's a 'no', if you're wondering," I said. "Like you, I don't have much time. Hurry up."

"Alright, alright!" She yelled. "I'm just a researcher, alright?! I'm here to study the condition of the Shingu for the Empire's use!"

I pressed on. "What is Wild Hunt?"

She paused in hesitation, but only for a moment. "It's a special force assembled by the son of the Prime Minister, Syura. We're... some sort of a special task force, if you like."

'Now, isn't she a bit too cooperative?' I thought. It's not a disadvantage for me, because it's one less job, but it's getting slightly suspicious how a vampire would meekly tell the truth about herself so readily.

That said, with my hand primed to exorcise her right down to her ashes, I might be wrong.

"You're surprisingly honest," I mentioned.

She smirked. "You can tell? It's just survivor instincts, good sir, despite how low the chance of me surviving, that it."

I returned her smile, then gingerly used my other arm to gently lift her chin by the neck, bending her spine backwards so we met eye-to-eye. She twitched heavily by the gesture, because the neck area was a very sensitive and personal part of the body for vampires, and letting someone touch them was akin to a motion of trust and vulnerability.

The meaning of my gesture was captured perfectly within her quivering eyes.

"How would you assess their condition? Can you repurpose them as well?"

"I'm an alchemist. It was why I was recruited to be a member of Wild Hunt. My alchemy and Dr. Stylish's research were going to be used together to improve the Empire's might. I was personally going to try and recreate the Shingu and possibly make them something more."

'Damn, she might be too valuable to kill.'

Alchemy was something I'm familiar with back in my world. Although it probably worked slightly differently here, the possibilities that could emerge with a skilled alchemist on my side are great and could save me a lot of time. Letting her go was thus not an option, and killing her would be a complete waste of her skills. Skills that could quite possibly make my life a lot easier. If I recruited her, I'd gain a capable assistant and an informant at the same time. Now how would I make sure she doesn't betray me? Wait... that could work.

The decision was near-instantaneous.

I lowered my face to almost touch hers, before smiling saintly.

Even so, her frightened gulp was still audible.

"How about we make a deal, a sort of contract, hmm?"