I woke up in my room in the castle. This was concerning, as the last thing I remembered was the sweet taste of 'Catgirl Whiskey'. Strange name, as I'm pretty sure it wasn't even close to whiskey.

Oddly enough, I was lacking the migraine that usually accompanies large gaps in memory involving alcohol, I felt fine. More than fine, really.

I immediately checked my weapons. I still had my revolvers, and I could see my sawed-off on the bedside table, as well as my rifle leaning against it. I really do appreciate the fact that being armed to the teeth is completely normal around here, though I'm surprised none of my weapons were stolen.

I was interrupted by a knock on the door, immediately proceeded by the sound of it opening. In stepped the 'Inquisitor', Hound.

"Rise and shine, Mr. Jones," he said, voice cheery. "We've got work to do."

This is where I would have groaned and complained, had I not been feeling suspiciously chipper. I opened my mouth to ask why, but Hound beat me to it.

"We had a Priest cast a low-level cura on you. Took care of the...damage."

Oh lord. "Damage? The hell happened last night?"

Hound stepped into the room, glancing around at nothing. "You said 'Surprise me', didn't you? Rookie mistake. 'Catgirl Whiskey' is not meant for humans."

I groaned. "What's it for then?"

"Catgirls."

"Exclusively?"

"Yes, actually. Do you want a lesson in biology?"

I rolled my eyes. "I've heard your lessons, and I ain't impressed. You're worse than Jeff."

He held a hand to his chest and flinched backward exaggeratedly. "You wound me! I'll have you know that I'm very well-respected around here."

I sat up, looking around for my boots. "Did I at least have the decency to pass out before I got too rowdy?"

He laughed, somewhat awkwardly. "No."

I stopped hand halfway to worn boot. "What?"

He shrugged. "It was a wild night for everybody involved."

Aw hell, not again. "What did I do?"

He smiled. "It's going to be way more fun if I don't tell you. Also, I made the adventurers swear to secrecy, so don't even bother."

"...What?"

He stepped back behind the doorway. "Meet me in the courtyard in 30. Clothes are in the dresser, ask a maid for directions."

"Wait-" I yelled, but he had already slammed the door shut.

I sat there, one hand reaching for a boot, the other towards the entrance. I felt deeply wronged and wasn't entirely sure why.

I just sighed, and let the hands fall limp. I suppose it didn't really matter. I was itching to get back in the saddle again, and I had a feeling that I would be mounted up within the hour.

Might as well try to look nice anyway. I stood up, walking towards the ridiculously oversized closet. I threw it open, finding all of the clothes that I had stolen from the late Mr. Woodswork. I quickly threw together a decent outfit. I forgoed a coat and set aside a black vest over a white shirt. The vest had tasteful wine-colored Damask patterns and went well with a loose-fit red tie. Brown pants, grey riding gloves, and my hat completed the outfit. I set the pile of clothes with the rest of my things.

I'm not going to bother shaving my ever-growing beard, though I will have the decency to clean it. The damn room had an entire bathroom in it, and this time I was pretty sure it was an actual bath. The tub itself was enough for three people and had several knobs along the rim. I quickly figured out that they drained and refilled the water respectively. Probably through magic.

I dipped in and was surprised when the water didn't turn noxious. I'm almost certain I've never taken two baths so close together.

A few minutes later, I found myself staring in the mirror, water dripping to the floor. Most of my old scars have almost faded, and my skin was clearer than ever. My hair was clean and straight, and my beard was somehow naturally even. I looked objectively good.

I still didn't like what I saw. A bastard stared back at me.

I wasn't fooling anybody. It was a thin veneer hiding an ugly truth. No amount of fashion sense or magic skin would hide it from anyone with eyes. I should have just kept riding, but here I was, being paraded around like a pariah, and being made a fool out of on my very first day in town. These people expected much of me, but I wasn't good for nothing but indiscriminate killing. Everywhere I go ends up worse than if I had just stayed away, and this place would be no different.

And yet, I would play along anyway. Maybe this time would be different. Maybe I could do more good than bad, for once in my life.

Probably not.

I finished my morning ritual of self-hatred and got dressed.

25 minutes later, I met Hound at the exit.

He looked me up and down. "Damn. You clean up well. I'm not familiar with the fashion, but I can tell you own it. Maybe you should open a tailor?"

"Maybe you should shut up?"

He laughed. "Not violent enough? You'd be surprised just how cutthroat the business is."

I suppose the only way to shut him up was with a bullet, and that wasn't quite worth it. Yet. So I changed the subject instead. "Where are we headed?"

He gestured towards the gates. Men in armor stood on either side, pretending that we didn't exist. "Follow me."

I did so. I found Jeff and...Snowy, if I recall correctly, standing outside. We wordlessly mounted up and started on a trail along the side of the interior walls. Jeff was oddly silent.

I patted him. "How did it go?" I asked. I suspect I already knew the answer.

He whinnied quietly. "I don't want to talk about it."

I wasn't about to press him, so I let it go.

It only took a few minutes for us to arrive. We were in a clearing on the outside of the castle walls, though still inside the city. Before us were about two dozen soldiers lined up in perfect rows, and another two dozen or so people milling about in a vague mob. I recognized some of the 'features' from the bar. A tail here, a pair of cat ears there, and somebody with a disproportionate amount of fur. I wasn't quite sure what they were doing here, but I wasn't quite sure what I was doing here either.

Heading the group of soldiers was Amelie, looking as serious as ever. She spotted us immediately, and her eyes glanced right over me and landed on Hound. She held a hand over her heart, their version of a salute, and roared as loud as she could. "ATTENTION!"

The soldiers were already at attention, and nobody else cared, so it was somewhat pointless. Still, now everybody knew we were here. I spotted Luo Liang standing off to the side, with a small, hooded figure standing next to him. We made eye contact, and he clasped his fists together and bowed, soft smile on his face. The figure next to him didn't so much as twitch.

I almost went to join the locals, but Hound gestured to follow, and I did so, begrudgingly. We dismounted and came to stand in front of the large group.

Hound cleared his throat, and the talking died down instantly. He began to speak, becoming the man I met in the throne room. His voice carried unnaturally, probably using the skill I've seen him use before. "You all know why you are here, but I'm going to go over it anyway. During her most recent journey, Her Royal Highness was attacked by a Carrier: a spawn of the Corruption."

He paused for a moment, as some of the crowd made noises of surprise. Apparently it wasn't common knowledge.

"She was assisted by our guest, Lord Jones."

Lord? Seriously? I was a mister a few minutes ago. The crowd didn't even glance at me. Apparently this was common knowledge.

"Lord Jones has obtained Silver core and is a warrior is some repute. It has been decided that he will join the expedition as an advisor, and assist in the scouting of the nearby source of corruption."

An advisor? The hell was I supposed to advise, where to shoot a man so he bleeds the most?

"We will split into two teams. Amelie will head the guards, and I will head the adventurers and volunteers," said Hound, nodding towards Luo Liang with the last word. "Any questions?"

Somebody stepped forward from the crowd of 'Adventurers'. It was the Wolfman. I expected him to glower at me, and find something to complain about. He did no such thing. Instead, he gave me a nod of respect and turned to Hound. "Excuse me, Lord Inquisitor. I'm afraid our two parties are infamous for our poor relations. May I ask why you are having us work together?" he asked, voice low and respectful.

Of course the fucker could speak better than me. Why did he act like such a fool before?

Hound nodded. "To be frank, the reckoning took too much of our forces. The adventurers lost all their A-listers, and the castle lost all but one of the royal guard."

I noticed Amelie bite her lip, much like her princess does.

"We simply don't have enough people for us to not play nice. I won't pretend the generations of oppression didn't happen, but..."

A bit of his real personality slipped through, and he shrugged. "Most of the Purists are dead now, and the rest will soon go 'missing' thanks to Lord Jone's 'political maneuvering'"

That caused more than a few murmurs from both sides. The Wolfman might have raised an eyebrow, but I wasn't sure if he even had one. "Can you elaborate on your last statement?"

Aw hell, I'm not sure I like where this is going. Hound let out a genuine smile and gestured towards me.

"He killed Huffman."

It was silent for a moment. Then it wasn't.