Chapter 113

After S'yne came out of the bath (wearing a towel that looked more like a quilt, but was so fluffy I was jealous and wanted SITA to steal the method to make one), I got myself into the bath and scrubbed myself clean.

Speaking of SITA, or rather, The Legendary (more like... will one day be Legendary?) Toolbox, I then brought out a specially made brush for my tails. Yes, that's right. I had a hyper-intelligent AI design super efficient brushes for my tails.

Sadly, they weren't very satisfying, just functional. But at least they wouldn't rebel on me, or get me laughed at by the nobility wandering around...

But this wasn't just for that. No. I was getting ready to have a little... chat with a couple of my prisoners. For matters of the spirit, the body must be clean, the mind must be focused.

S'yne was waiting for me, with our new arrival of Kotetsu waiting in her palms. I wasn't sure if the Vassal Mirror had chosen her, or if she was allowed some privilege as its 'guardian'. But She could go anywhere where there was a mirror with a friendly face on the other side.

Kotetsu was placed on the little desk I'd used for alchemy the last time I was here, placed the Vassal Mirror face up on the table, and curled around it. S'yne draped a white robe over my shoulders, made sure it was settled just so, and tied it closed. Then, she sat at the desk and placed a small wooden box on the table next to the mirror.

I walked the two steps towards the table slowly, watching Kotetsu place the box carefully on the mirror's surface, then made it levitate about a hand span off its surface. As I sat down opposite S'yne, the box came apart like a puzzle, revealing a crystal cube with two tiny people inside it, blinking at the sudden light and sound.

"What the hell? What did you do to us?! Let us out of here!"

I said nothing until I was fully seated, had taken a deep breath, and put my hands on either side of the cube, as if it were inside an invisible bowl and I was holding it up.

"You will answer my questions." I said, ignoring their pleas, "You are guilty of murdering a world for your own gain. And you will tell me why, how, and who you work for."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen. What's going to happen, is we're going to get out of here, and you're going to die. Then, we're going to kill the other three heroes, and... hey... ha! Well isn't this a surprise! I thought I recognized you!"

S'yne frowned slightly, but she kept silent.

"You have little choice." I said, "You cannot escape. You are no longer connected to the Status Magic. And if you do not answer my questions, you will simply exist in that little box, in the dark, in the cold, and in silence."

"Yeah yeah, sure. You don't get it lady! We earned our immortality! Got it when we won! What's a bit of quiet time? When you're gone, we'll be free, and out to play again!" Said one of them with a silly 'kya-ka-ka' laugh.

"You have no idea who you are messing with." Said the other, "Not only us, but the others. We're from the strongest world. Besides! We figured out this little box already. Sure, we can't leave, but what can you do from out there aside from turn off the lights?"

I let them talk, let the give up little bits of information.

But that was all I was getting for the moment, so I asked, "Are you sure you want to find out what I can do?"

S'yne reached across the table and held the backs of my hands gently. Then the laughing one asked, "What? You going to come in here too?"

S'yne's hands pressed my palms to either side of the crystal, and I closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, the room around me was brightening again as I stood behind the two assassins. "Yes. That is exactly what I'm going to do."

Looking through the glass walls of their prison, I could see the GIANT faces of S'yne and myself. My eyes were closed, while S'yne looked intently into the crystal. From under me, the surface of the Vassal Mirror reflected the insides of the crystal with a weird kaleidoscopic effect, while just off to the side was the concerned face of the best noodle-dragon ever.

But in front of me, the two prisoners turned around to look at me. Their appearances were different than on the outside when we'd fought. The one who held the sword, was now a squat man who looked a little overweight. His face was about the same, just chubbier, and the brown hair I caught a glimpse of under his ninja cowling was still there, but thinning.

The other... Was a thin faced teen. Complete with acne, not quite all his adult teeth, and apparently a voice not quite done changing. "The hell?!" He exclaimed, "Heh, I knew you'd fall for it."

And they were suddenly holding their weapons.

"These are soul bound weapons! Maybe not as good as the others, but no matter how many times we die, they come with us!" The older one laughed (still with the silly 'kya-ha-ha'). "But you're just in that silly black robe! You don't have the Shield, do you?!"

"I don't know how you're doing this." The younger said, "But you're not getting us to talk, in here, or out there."

"And here I had this entire speech about 'easy way' and 'hard way'." I replied, the weight of the Shield gone from my back, and my body feeling amazingly light. It was just like when I fought the Tyrant Dragon Rex the second time. "But if you want to talk about 'weapons of the soul'...

Carefully, so I wouldn't break the crystal from the inside, I let out the smallest breath of Fenrir's soul.

Forming from the silver bands of my six tails, Fen-chan yawned and stretched himself out of me. As always, he was still 'connected' to me, but he was still twice my size. A fox the size of a tank, his silver horns and rows of chainsaw teeth gleaming as he looked at the two in front of me.

"Mine's bigger." I finished, reaching up and giving Fen-chan/myself a chin scratch.

I opened my eyes as I felt S'yne's hands clap my own over the prison. Echoing in my physical ears were the screams of the two souls held within, and the growls of a beast that hadn't been let out to play in far too long. But I was smiling. I made eye contact with S'yne, and she let my hands go. Then, I took my hands away from either side of the prison.

The clear quartz prison was now arterial red, symbolic of what had happened inside. The two souls inside had zero chance against someone with real experience, both with combat and matters of the spirit, and a giant demigod wolf.

But I saw this through the 'filter' of the Status Magic, and felt the shard of Fenrir curl up again deep inside where I couldn't reach him in this godless world. But I took comfort in the echo of his happy grumble.

When I sighed at how much I was limited here, at being locked out of every potential 'easy way' to return home, I had Kotetsu rest her head in one palm, and S'yne hold the other with both hands. "Now we know." She said, "We must be careful."

"We won't let it happen again." I nodded, "Let's get ready for dinner."

Wearing my nice 'combat kimono' that now held the designs of three different worlds and been refined over five different worlds. With S'yne's help, and her newly repaired Weapon, it was even enchanted. No where near the 'stats' of my personal suit of plate armour, it was still something on par with the best stuff from Kizuna's world, and their 'combat clothing' was far ahead of the stuff here in this one.

But I think my favourite part of my new formal outfit? Kotetsu had pockets to nap in. Just like the 'combat gown' I'd worn at Rias's gala, my 'wise man sleeves' had a double layer in them for 'sleepy dragon-noodle' storage. There was another one between my shoulder blades too, so she could stay warm while peeking over my shoulder.

This too would be adapted when I returned home. Chime and Skitters would love it I was sure, though... I'd probably have to wait for Haruhime to want children again for fox-pockets...

So, with the Book on one hip, the Hagane Red shield on my back, and Kotetsu peeking her head out of one sleeve and getting all the headpats, S'yne and I followed the nice Genmu house guard to the dining hall.

It was little surprise that Jiralis wasn't there for dinner. Considering our last meeting, I was honestly shocked he could lock eyes with me from the stairs like he did when we got into town. But, my party and I (me knowingly, they not so much) snubbed his absence by not even commenting on it.

The other change from the first time my party and I were here for dinner, was of course the other heroes. Thinking on it, this was the... third time we'd sat at an actual table together. But, like before, our parties were at the 'low table', eating the same food but split from 'politics' as before. This made our meeting four vs three, so to speak, but thankfully, my efforts to gain influence with them had protected the other three from the same 'scrutiny' as I'd gone through when they were trying to convert me to their cause.

Motoyasu was first to break the mildly uncomfortable silence of the three other heroes, "Huh, this is really different from the stuff in Melromarc."

Expert statesmen all (well, okay, the Elder Aotatsu was only pretending to be any kind of statesmen, let alone an expert one), the feather-haired Shusaku caught the topic and opened it. "Our climate is dryer than Melromarc. The spices we use are more diverse for it, but the basic fare is a little more focused on meats than fruits."

Ren, who seemed more like a 'cup noodle gamer', replied with, "I like this better than all the sweet foods."

Itsuki, however replied with, "I kind of miss rice." Whatever had happened during his recovery under Rishia's care, Itsuki seemed a little distant.

"Rice..." The lovely (and totally not pouting at me ever so slightly for not contacting her before our surprise visit) Genmu lady started, "You've mentioned it before. We do have something similar on occasion, but it is imported from Q'ten Lo."

I nodded, "You have no idea how sad that made me, to find that out." I sighed theatrically, "If things go well, maybe we can bring some back? It's plentiful in the other world, but importing it... It's also a very thirsty crop."

"We will made do with our local wheat." the Elder nodded, "Truth be told, it causes problems for me after eating too much."

"Speaking of. We've sent messengers out, and if nothing goes wrong, a ship will be ready by tomorrow afternoon." The Shusaku added, "Though... Are you sure? They hardly tolerate us when it is trade season."

"They've sent..." Motoyasu started, catching himself before he outright gave the 'problem' away. But I nodded, and he continued, "Little Raphtalia there, she's apparently... what? Exiled royalty? Yeah..."

The three politicians at the table paused their eating at the exact same moment, "This is connected to your little... camp fire down the road?" The Shusaku asked.

"Yes. Either someone forgot to call them off, or was just waiting for some kind of excuse. But we're going there to talk to the one in charge." I said, politely wording it, but not hiding the intent. "They also tried to kill me, and my fellow heroes, just by proximity."

"They had strange weapons too. Ones that seemed to be just to fight us." Ren mumbled.

The three 'worldly' ones at the table looked thoughtful, but shook their heads, "Sadly, their isolationist nature limits what we know of them past their exotic goods." The Shusaku sighed.

I gave Motoyasu a look, and after a moment he said, "I have no idea either. I don't even remember this place being mentioned. Ren? Itsuki?"

It took them a moment to figure out what he meant, but they also shook their heads. Huh... Q'ten Lo didn't even get mentioned in their games? But then Ren swallowed his mouthful and said, "Maybe they hid it?"

The four of us shared a look, while the three politicians gave us five degree head tilts, "They?" The Genmu asked.

"We found a hidden chamber in Melromarc castle." Itsuki said, "We were captured while going through it, and the next time we went there it was empty."

"Not just empty, but clean." Ren emphasized, "It was cleaner than the hallway outside and striped to the stone floors."

"Disturbing indeed." The Aotatsu said, frowning. "But..." He looked around meaningfully, the various maids and servants orbiting the tables, "A topic for a smaller room I think."

We nodded, and returned to eating.

After dinner, after the tables were cleared and everyone started to stand, the three representatives motioned for everyone to gather around for a word.

And the first thing they said, was "Thank you, noble heroes and their companions, for protecting our world."

"To those visiting for the first time, or returning under... better circumstances... We are thankful you are at the forefront of the efforts to save our world." The Genmu continued.

The Shusaku representative motioned to one of the doors leading out of the dining hall, though it wasn't the one that led towards the guest (actual guest, not 'barred windows' guest) rooms. "While not near the level of support Melromarc has given you, if you wished to follow me to our armoury, we have our best equipment and weapons available to you, if you wish."

"If not, then please, enjoy your rest, and perhaps when this is over you may visit as proper tourists, and not rushing off to save the world." The Aotatsu chuckled dryly, "Drake knows it's past my bed time, certainly."

I looked around to everyone, "Just remember you are guests, but enjoy your evening." I said.

And we started breaking off into little groups. Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu, as well as Rishia, Kuro and Erhard followed the Shusaku representative. Solitaire, in true cat/dog/wolf fashion skipped all that and went to the nearest couch, gathered a few pillows from other couches, transformed into his animal form (getting a few surprised gasps) and flopped onto his new comfy place.

Tetsu, with Kotetsu hiding in her wild hair, as well as Clive Alta and Fohl and SITA, followed the Aotatsu Elder out. The dragons I expected, but Clive was a surprise. Atla and Fohl were a little bit of a surprise as well, but of all the 'house heads' the old dragon was the best storyteller, and most likely to know anything they might ask. I couldn't really help them when it came to 'family history' or anything else from their past. Just punch the heads off whatever might have bothered them from their past. As for SITA, well, she was probably going to ask about dragon related relics... you know... for science.

Raphtalia, S'yne and Sadeena headed to the guest rooms ahead of myself and Usa. With the nice Genmu lady in the lead, I idly listened to some 'girl talk' while Usa walked beside me a few paces behind the other four.

"Sometimes..." He mumbled quietly, "Having good hearing is embarrassing."

I could only catch a few words from those ahead, but with Sadeena and S'yne laughing, Raphtalia blushing, and the Genmu tittering behind a hand, I could tell they were teasing the poor raccoon.

Unable to help myself, though I did give his shoulder a pat to hopefully make it clear I was teasing him, "My wife and I had to pad the walls of our room, to keep the rest of the Manor from hearing. But you still have the little amulet I gave you, right?"

He made a bit of a strangled coughing noise and I thought I might have gone just a tiny bit too far with the teasing as he stopped suddenly to stammer out a word or two that wouldn't set off the slave curse for trying to 'deny' something.

My hand came off his shoulder as he stopped, and I turned to face him, "Hey re..."

But he was gone.

I turned back quickly, but the hallway was empty save for me. I was suddenly alone in the hallway of guest room doors and flickering lamps. Looking at my Status screen, I saw various icons telling me that teleport and other such skills were blocked. And when I took my next step, the sound it made was... flat... like the walls were lined with carpet instead of stone.

"Illusion magic." I said, my voice sounding muted as well. "But-"

Then my status screen went to static for a moment, and I felt the Book and Shield take on real weight, and change to their basic forms.

"You made a fool of me last time you were here. Let's see how you do without any of your tricks or toys." Jiralis's voice was clear to me, but came from all around me.

No inventory, no magic, no Weapons... Just me, my fancy dress, and a few magic trinkets.

"I thought I made it clear what would happen if you caused trouble for me." I said, my hands up my sleeves, counting the few potions I had hidden (never leave home without them, no matter what world you were in!), then to my pouches. Nothing I had outside of the Shield's inventory would get me out of here.

"Yes yes, threaten me all you wish." He chuckled, "No not that door."

I opened the nearest door, then twisted to the side as it exploded with blades, spears and all manner of sharp objects. The stone wall opposite was pounded by metal points and edges, before all of it retracted back into the doorway, the door slamming shut afterwards.

"It's a shame we didn't get along." He continued, "Of the four, you are just so much more capable. Yet you have this stubborn refusal to accept authority."

I walked carefully down the hall towards the next door, "I always look into 'why' when it comes to tradition." I replied, "Your 'authority' would stop me from doing my job."

"A shame, yes." He chuckled as I reached for the door.

Fire erupted from the door as I touched the lever. Pain lanced up my arm, and the smell of cooking meat wafted through the air as I yanked my hand backwards. I cradled my hand up the sleeve of my robe, wincing as Jiralis laughed.

"Who needs heroes, honestly?" He said, "Our world would be better off without them ever showing up. With all the foolish pride in being 'descended from a Hero' and the wasted resources thrown at them to bring them up to something resembling competence..."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. "What changed Jiralis? Are you saying that because I made you piss yourself? Or because I've been fixing the other problems this world has?"

I kicked open the next door, and while it didn't spit flame or sprout weapons, there was nothing, absolutely nothing on the other side.

"This world doesn't need heroes." He growled, the sound coming from directly behind me, yet my tails didn't react to anything. "Especially self righteous ones who try and go above and beyond their 'duty'."

"Why do you sound like you're trying to convince yourself, more than me? Have you forgotten I hate it here? If there was a way back home, right now? I'd take it." I shook my head. "But if you don't let me out of this illusion, right now, I'm going to add another step to my escape plan."

"Illusion? Oh no, hero, this is very real." Jiralis insisted. "And if you were so apathetic towards your task as 'hero' why are you going out of your way to try so hard? Hmm? Slaves, rebuilding, trading, your efforts-"

"I get bored easily." I laughed, "And want to hear something funny? Your illusions suck." I pointed to the 'nothing' beyond the door with my unburnt hand, "It's clear you have no imagination." I went to the next door, "Let me guess, when I open this, there's going to be a giant scary monster with pink fur and spiky hair."

I booted open the door, and yes, for a moment there WAS a monster with spiky pink hair behind the door. But a second later, it changed to something with more teeth than you could count, with weeping skin and no fur at all.

"You really are trash at this illusion thing." I laughed, "Falling for such an easy trick!"

Jiralis growled, the monster in front of me snarling in time with him. "You! You dare insult my technique!"

"My name is Kodori Haruhime. And when I compare you to the illusions and mind manipulation abilities of someone I've slept with, and of someone who very essence is made of dreams and light who lived inside my head?" I held up both my hands, one undamaged, the other burnt to a crisp, "You're 'technique' is no better than someone using a stone to hammer a nail."

I made a fist with both hands, the 'damage' fading from my hand. I concentrated, listening to my own heartbeat, then pushing the clarity of that internal sound, to the outside around me. I let the taste of tonight's dinner still inside my mouth filter up through my sense of smell, and enforced that realism over the scent of charred flesh that could never have happened.

Then I clapped my hands, the brief sting of real pain between my palms clearing the lingering sense of wrongness around me.

"Not bad." I heard from behind me again, but this time, my tails did react. I pushed myself around with my left foot, then pushed myself backwards with my right foot, "You are just as good as the rumours say."

Jiralis, just as I remembered him, was standing in front of me. But, the person before me was far too close to the image I remembered, and he certainly wouldn't be wearing the same thing after what I did to him...

"You're not Jiralis." I said, "Just like me, your eyes don't lie. And unless your memory is even worse than your skill with illusions? You wouldn't be relying on rumours."

"Would you like me to try, then?" He laughed, his body melting away and revealing...

A woman. No, not just a woman... A Kitsune. Golden eyes like mine, pointed ears that were neither cat, nor wolf, and two tails. What was most eye-catching however, was the red and white Miko robes she wore, and the contrast it had with her long black hair.

Next time I saw Akeno, I'd ask her to wear some fox ears.

"I wonder." I said with a smile, setting aside my surprise as quickly as possible and hoping she didn't see it on my face, "I wonder how it feels to be so bad at being mysterious, that someone who has been given the title of 'Kodori who hits things' is better at it than you are?"

Her pretty face twisted with rage for a moment, but then she smiled, "You would make a wondrous addition to-"

"A charm? Really?" I waved away the sudden attempt to infiltrate my mind, the attempt blunt and crude compared to even Rias's effort that one night. "This is how you do it." I took a single step forward, "When I'm done with Q'ten Lo, I'm going to hunt you down. And when I find you, no illusions, no magic, no fire, no swords, no spears... nothing will stop me." I took another step, my fingers linking together as I moved, "And when I catch you, you are going to submit, or die."

I stopped just out of arms reach of the woman and loomed over her, "Now tell me your name, and I will add you to my collection next time we see each other."

She started to blush, "Tul-" But caught herself before she spoke her name, backing off a half step suddenly...

And vanishing.

Everything around me, her, the walls, the doors, the lamps, all seemed to 'bleed' upwards...

And I found myself looking into the blank face of Usa, his eyes rolled up into his head. As I put a hand on his shoulder, all the error messages for the Shield and Book vanished as well.

From behind me, I heard Raphtalia say, "S'yne? Wake up! Sadeena? What's... oh!" She spotted me, "Everyone just suddenly..."

Usa snapped back into awareness, and I caught him as his legs wobbled, "wha... I heard a sound then..."

The Genmu Representative started to stir, Raphtalia helping her to sit up, "What happened?"

I hugged Usa's head to my shoulder, just to make sure all the illusions were gone, "Jiralis isn't Jiralis. It was another Kitsune like me..." Poor Usa's ears were starting to blush, and I made sure to watch the little capillaries fill with blood for just a moment longer before letting him go. "Where did you say he vanished to after I left?"

The Genmu lady blinked, then replied with a slow, "We... suspected Faubrey. But... Then... Oh dear..." She gave me a look that banished any hopes of a peaceful night.

Sadly, it seemed my night wouldn't have any sort of happy ending. "Let's make sure everyone is okay. Maybe put the place on high alert or whatever..." I sighed, getting my sound stones out of the Shield's inventory. "And I'm going to have to keep these out now..."

It seemed that the entire building had suffered through a few minutes of 'lost time'. Everyone, except SITA and Kotetsu (who watched over the others near them for danger) had simply stopped what they were doing, then wondered what they were doing a moment later. SITA, being a nearly pure machine mind, and Kotetsu with the Vassal Mirror, were immune to such things. But still... a castle wide illusion...

Once more, I was thankful for the people who had taught me about this kind of thing. I was still holding on to that idea of putting fox ears on Akeno though.

All of us abandoned the 'individual rooms' idea, and instead set up in a small ballroom. Considering that our enemy was a master of illusions, this was about the only way to be sure we'd all be able to watch over each other.

Finally though, it seemed whomever she was had really left.

"I see. Very well." The Shusaku Representative said to a guard before turning and closing the door to the ballroom quietly. "Lady Kodori... We found him."

"Jiralis?" I said quietly, watching those of our group attempting to sleep. It was no surprise that Sadeena was sleeping, she was capable and confident. But so were the three heroes. Not so confident now, but mentally exhausted I was sure.

"Until now, we had trusted the word of his servants, and the few visitors allowed in since your last encounter with him reported nothing wrong. Now though... It was clear someone was murdered in his chambers, and his fireplace wasn't hot enough to dispose of everything..."

"It wouldn't be. You'd need fire hot enough to melt steel for that." I looked sideways at him, "A little hotter, actually, but don't ask how I know that."

"Ah..." Despite the situation, flustering him made me smile a little. "Well... It is clear that his manor hasn't had real activity inside for a while. And while likely not adequate, our mages are putting measures in place to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"All the same, we will stay here the night. The ship?"

He frowned, then shook his head, "Ah... We found the captain, but negotiations..."

"They want to talk to me directly?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Thank you." I sighed, "This isn't your fault. So do not worry about 'repercussions'."

He flustered a little, but sighed, "It's true, I was worried this might-"

"It's past my bed time. No need for flowery speech. This is a hero problem, not a merchant problem. Let's keep it that way, please." This time I looked at him directly, smiled, and made a polite shooing motion, "Get some sleep."

He looked relieved as he nodded, turned, and slipped through the doors as quietly as possible. A moment later, I felt a pair of eyes on me, and a wave of big sister energy focusing on me. Across the room, sitting up next to Sadeena's sleeping form, was Raphtalia.

I took a stuffed Hagane doll out of the Shield (a gift from S'yne) and found a spot to curl up.

The next morning, after the lot of us woke, ate (Siltvelt had an amazing version of bacon and eggs) and saw to what ever personal needs we needed to, we started to leave.

But not before I caught part of a conversation between the three House leaders and the tiger siblings as we (everyone else) filtered towards the main hall and the exit back into the city.

"-you would technically be in line to succeed as the Hakuko head." The Genmu lady said.

"But... we were exiled?" Fohl replied with the same endearing head scratch, "We were even exempted from taxes!"

"Truth be told, it was partly due to, ah, Lady Kodori." The Shusaku representative smiled as I got closer, "Partly to make her happy." He motioned to me, "But now that there is no one holding the power of the house, at least, no one of note..."

"The Hakuko will need someone in charge, even if it's just to say 'someone is in charge'." The Aotatsu Elder sighed, clearly not caring much for topic and more concerned with giving his dragon-noodle Silver chin scratches while he peeked out of the sleeve of his robe.

The siblings looked at me, and I shrugged, "I won't stop you. And if you want my endorsement, you have it. Any time." This was of course followed with a pat on the shoulder. "You're both smart enough to succeed."

"The late Jiralis wouldn't be a hard bar to surpass." Atla smiled, "But... I think we will decide when we return?" She looked up to me.

"Yes, we want to help Miss Raphtalia first." Fohl nodded, "Then, maybe. Politics sound kind of boring..."

"They are." The three representatives said together.

"But people need direction. And while you left your life behind here, your father would be proud of you, if you took up the mantle he once carried." The Genmu said with a smile, "But I agree. Finish your business abroad first. Jiralis hardly ran anything even when he hadn't been replaced by... whomever that was."

The docks weren't actually part of the capital city. Not really. There was a couple of kilometres or so of nice cobblestone road between the 'political seat' and all its nice walls, and the 'merchant heart' of Siltvelt. Part of the road there was bordered by vast farmland, the fields vanishing over the hills with only the occasional house or packed dirt road interrupting the view of growing crops.

The port itself, was much like you would expect for a successful trade hub. Bustling, noisy, filled with the scents of fish and people...

Of course, this made me curious, and after everyone laughed at Tetsu's ironic comment of, "It's weird to be sitting in a wagon instead of pulling one!" I turned to Sadeena.

"You've been here, right?"

"It was a long while ago, yeah. And it was only long enough to get a wagon..." She sighed, hooking an arm around Raphtalia, making her squeak at the sudden hug, "Had to get away, as fast as possible. So honestly, 'been through here' would be more accurate."

"Well, I've been here." Erhard said, "Met my master here. After I gave up mercenary work in Zeltobe, I wandered around a while, and met him..." We hadn't gotten far past the walls of the port city, but he was looking around trying to spot something familiar, "Well... It's been a while. I hardly recognize anything."

Our driver spoke up, "We'll be letting you off soon. The Captain will be waiting just inside the biggest dockside pub. Can't miss it."

"Well, THAT place I remember... oh boy." Erhard sighed, "Hope they're reasonable."

NOTES!

Well well, seems someone new is on the list. But they lost their nerve after a little Amazon styled flirting.

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