“Did you sense that?” Leila asked, turning her head towards Grimmy.

Grimmy nodded. “It felt like something important shattered,” he said and sighed. “Before, whenever I was at home, if a problem cropped up, I always had to solve it. Now, my parents aren’t even awake and a problem occurred just when I happened to come back. What are the chances of that? It’s almost like it waited for me to be here before breaking.”

“What broke?” Gloria asked. “I don’t know why, but I got the shivers just now.”

Grimmy shrugged and flapped his wings. He leaned to the side, changing his course. “We’ll fly towards whatever the event was and see what happened. If my suspicions are correct, then we’ll find your grandparents pretty soon.”

Leila furrowed her brow. “Are you hiding something?” she asked, leaning in close to whisper into Grimmy’s ear.

“Why would I hide anything?” Grimmy asked and raised an eyebrow.

Leila hummed. “If you’re anywhere near as protective of your injured parentsas you were our unhatched egg, then you must’ve boobytrapped the place.” She narrowed her eyes. “Will there be any danger?”

Grimmy snorted. “We’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s not dangerous for dragons at all. I only created traps targeting phoenixes because they’re the ones who’d want revenge. Imagine if I placed down a trap that targeted dragons and my parents woke up and wandered into it. Or imagine if I forgot about the trap and forgot about it a few centuries later. If I became the first dragon to die in his own trap, that’s what I’d be remembered for instead of destroying the southern continent.”

Leila nodded. “That makes sense,” she said. “But are you sure your traps are capable of keeping phoenixes away?”

Grimmy chuckled. “Keep them away?” he asked and grinned. “They’re capable of keeping them there forever. Everything there targets phoenixes in one way or another. I even trapped a few humans, placed a few curses on their souls, and told them phoenixes would herald the arrival of their savior. If they or their offspring ever make contact with phoenixes, terrible things will happen.”

“What kind of terrible things?” Ramon asked, his eyes lighting up.

Grimmy chuckled again. “Well, phoenixes think they’re better than everyone else. They love being heroes. If they see people trapped by an evil dragon, of course, they’ll save them and fly them off the continent. Once the humans or their offspring encounter the mana of phoenixes, the curse will awaken their bloodlust after a period of time. Enough time for the phoenix to drop them off and think there’s nothing wrong with them, leaving the phoenix reassured enough to head back towards the southern continent.”

“Isn’t that really mean?” Gloria asked. “The phoenix would’ve taken them away even if you didn’t curse them.”

Grimmy glanced at Gloria. “Yes, but while the phoenix is flying back to the southern continent, if it notices something went wrong back at home, it’d be force to come back. By cursing the humans, I waste more of the phoenix’s time, making it even safer for your grandparents.”

Gloria’s brow furrowed. “Oh,” she said. After a short pause, she nodded. “Okay.”

***

Alice stared at the nearly bald man inside the cell. There was a clear frown on her face, and her shoulders were tense. Beside her, Mr. Skelly was staring at the bald man as well. The skeleton placed his bony hand on Alice’s shoulder. “Perhaps Tafel was busy with something,” he said and gestured with his free hand. “Think of it as her trusting you. She feels comfortable enough to trust you with keeping someone locked up.”

“I have confidence in Tafel’s ability to cut down trees, but you don’t see me dumping hundreds of thousands of logs in front of her home and telling her to cut them,” Alice said, the frown on her face not easing up. “She knows I’m already stressed from planning a wedding, and she knows I still have a real job, unlike her! She’s so inconsiderate at times. Ugh!”

“Don’t worry,” Mr. Skelly said and took a step to the side, ending up behind Alice. He massaged her shoulders, forcing her muscles to relax. “Look at how docile he is. He’s not going to break out; you don’t have to personally watch over him.” Mr. Skelly glanced at the bald man. “Right?”

The bald man shook his head. “Nope. I’m going to wait right here.”

“See?”

Alice shrugged Mr. Skelly’s hands off of her shoulders. “You can’t believe him just like that,” she said. “Didn’t you hear what Tafel said? Don’t believe a single word that comes out of his mouth.”

“She also didn’t say how long you’d have to detain him for,” Mr. Skelly said. “You can just leave him here. The guards can watch over him.”

“And let him trick the guards?” Alice asked. “What if the guards accidentally forget about him, and he dies of dehydration? What if he’s strong enough to break out and overpower regular guards? If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

“You also have to realize that it’s impossible to do everything by yourself,” Mr. Skelly said. “How about this? I’ll watch over him, and you can go back to doing what you have to do. You know I don’t have to eat or sleep, and you know I’m pretty capable. This mission was practically made for me.”

“Excuse me, Guild Master Alice?”

Alice turned her head. A guard was standing at the entrance to the prison. “Yes? What is it?”

“There’s been a disturbance in the dwarven kingdom,” the guard said. “Apparently, hundreds of pale-skinned, human berserkers somehow snuck in and destroyed a city.”

Alice furrowed her brow. “And what does this have to do with me?”

“The dwarven kingdom has requested human aid,” the guard said. “Since the adventurers’ guild that you manage is the one closest to the kingdom, the other guild masters have agreed to send you to help the dwarves.”

“What the hell? I didn’t agree to this,” Alice said. “There are dozens of guild masters less busy than me. Send them instead!”

The guard blinked. “But doesn’t it make sense to send a berserker to deal with other berserkers?”

“Who the hell is a berserker!?” Alice shouted. “I’m a guardian! Gar-Dee-En!

“R-right, my apologies,” the guard said and took a step back. He saluted. “I’ll relay your words to the secretary right away!”