By the time Vur got back to the island, the sun was already beginning to set. The nobles and adventurers were leaving the auction house, and they gasped when Vur landed nearby with a loud thump. He glanced at them before shrinking, his scales retracting into his body as he stood upright. His wings were sucked into his back, and his pointy claws turned into fingers. No one who saw his transformation process was able to take their eyes off of him. When he was done, Vur scratched his belly and turned towards the nearest noble. “Is the auction over?”

“Y-yes, Your Majesty,” the noble said, bobbing his head up and down.

“Oh,” Vur said. “Is the Recordkeeper still inside?”

The noble lowered his head. “I apologize, Your Majesty, but I’m not sure who that is.”

The woman by the noble’s side made a small sound, attracting Vur’s attention. “If Your Majesty is referring to your winged companion, she’s still inside the central VIP booth with your wife.”

Vur blinked and tilted his head. “Tafel’s here?” He didn’t wait for the woman to respond before walking past her and the rest of the leaving attendees. They moved out of the way when they saw he was approaching, mumbling or saying with their heads lowered, “Your Majesty,” as he passed by. Vur nodded at them as he made his way past, not recognizing any of their faces.

“Ah! Your Majesty, welcome back!” A well-dressed skeleton bowed at Vur. Behind him, there were two women: Tafel and the Recordkeeper. “Since you’re here, I don’t think my presence is required any longer.” He nodded at the two women and Vur before stepping to the side, pressing his back to the wall. He stood completely still, and if anyone wasn’t paying attention, they’d think he was part of the décor.

“Hi, Tafel,” Vur said and stepped forward. He wrapped his arms around his wife, completely ignoring the Recordkeeper. He nestled his chin against Tafel’s shoulder, not minding the horns poking his head.

“Hello, Vur,” Tafel said and hugged her arms around Vur. The muscles on her shoulders and back relaxed. She hadn’t even realized they were tense before now. A sigh escaped from her mouth, and she closed her eyes, savoring the feeling. However, the peace didn’t last very long.

“You’re in a public space,” the Recordkeeper said. “A lot of humans dislike public displays of affection such as this one, and I didn’t really understand it before, but I think I’m starting to now.”

Tafel opened her eyes and glanced at the Recordkeeper before releasing Vur. She inspected him from head to toe, focusing particularly on his lips. Vur wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, but there wasn’t anything there. Tafel chuckled. “I was just looking for signs of a battle. You didn’t eat the Dragon Slayers, right? That skeleton over there told me everything.”

Vur snorted. “You know I don’t eat humans,” he said. “The Dragon Slayers weren’t on the boat.” He turned his head to the side and waved at Ed, gesturing for the skeleton to come over. “Can you tell Auntie Lindyss to search for the Dragon Slayers?”

“I can certainly try; however, she usually ignores the messages I send. I’m not even sure she reads them,” Ed Edward said. “But if I send a message as your representative, I’m sure she’ll pay more attention to it.”

***

On top of the ocean, an elf was sitting on top of a large fish. There was nothing else in sight but an endless sea of blue. The fish raised its head out of the waves and spat water out of its mouth. “Shouldn’t this be the other way around?” the fish asked in a voice suspiciously similar to a certain fairy queen. “I’m smaller. You’re the one who should be the fish mount.”

“You’re always riding on my head,” Lindyss said with a blank expression. “It’s about time you repaid the favor.”

“Hmm.” Erin made a sound neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Lindyss’ statement. “So, what’s the plan? Where are we going?”

“The plan is extremely simple,” Lindyss said. “It’s to get on land and not be on the same continent as Kondra. Do you think you can manage that?”

“That’s easy, but is that really the plan?” Erin asked. “Shouldn’t you find a way to turn Lulu back to normal to gain Kondra’s forgiveness? Or, shouldn’t you find a way to make her not want to hunt you down?”

“It’s fine,” Lindyss said. “Grimmy will take care of Lulu’s problem, and my relationship with Kondra is already tenuous at best. As long as I don’t encroach on her territory, she won’t make things difficult for me.”

“You’re sure she won’t hunt you down?”

Lindyss rolled her eyes despite the fact Erin couldn’t see her face. “Do you see her following us right now? If she really wanted to kill me, she would’ve given chase instead of letting us go free.” A sigh escaped from her lips. “The only downside is we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. I can’t even get into contact with any of my skeletons to send a boat over.” She looked down. “Be careful, alright? Don’t get eaten; I don’t want to swim across the ocean by myself.”

“Yeah, sure, thanks for the concern,” Erin said and snorted. “Are you sure you don’t want to be the fish? You know what people say: if you want something done right, do it yourself.”

“Didn’t I just say I didn’t want to swim across the ocean by myself?” Lindyss asked.

“You wouldn’t be by yourself,” Erin said. “I’d be sitting on top of your head.”

Lindyss snorted. An icicle condensed in her hand, and she stabbed it into the water. She lifted her arm, and the icicle surfaced with a fish speared on the end. It had rows of razor-sharp teeth. “Would you be able to do something like this if you were riding on my back? It’s safer this way.”