“So, you’re finally here. I thought you forgot about us.”

Tafel scratched her head and glanced to the side. In front of her, Alice was standing with her arms crossed, the guild master’s right foot pointed at an angle to the side. “I didn’t forget,” Tafel said and cleared her throat. She made eye contact with the diminutive guild master. “I was just busy.”

“Busy. Right.” Alice nodded, her right foot slowly tapping against the ground. “First, you dropped someone off that I’m still not fully convinced you didn’t kidnap, and then, according to the dwarves, the people you sent as refugees into their kingdom turned into berserkers that nearly destroyed the kingdom. If it wasn’t for Mary’s timely appearance, a lot of people would’ve died.”

Tafel blinked. “There was a problem with those pale people?”

“You didn’t know?” Alice asked, raising an eyebrow.

A frown appeared on Tafel’s face. “I picked them up from….” She stopped speaking and turned towards Vur, who was standing next to her. He was looking up at the sky with a blank expression. “Do you think Grimmy did something to those people we saved?”

Vur lowered his head before shrugging. “Maybe he locked them up because they were dangerous,” he said. “They were near the evil-sealing tower. That area could’ve been another part of it.”

Tafel scratched her head and gave Alice an awkward smile. “You said Mary solved the problem?”

“Right,” Alice said. “She came over and slapped everyone who had been turned into a berserker. Her anti-magic abilities must’ve removed something like a curse or a spell to cure them.”

“Where’d she go after that?” Tafel asked. “We were looking for her.”

Alice shrugged. “She said something about saving Mary Jr. by killing a dragon. I didn’t ask too many questions; after all, the more I know, the more likely I’d be roped into some weird shenanigans. I’m too busy for that.” She stared at Tafel. “You know, with wedding planning and all that. I’m really glad you had me watch over someone you kidnapped for a week.”

Tafel cleared her throat. “Didn’t we tell you? That person’s pretty important for our wedding gift to you,” she said. “He’s able to….”

Alice raised an eyebrow. “Able to?”

Tafel nudged Vur with her elbow. “You explain it.”

Vur glanced down and tapped the tattoo on his chest. Stella poked her head out. “Are you really too lazy to say a few words?” the fairy queen asked, staring up at Vur. He nodded, and she sighed before looking at Alice. “That researcher is a really smart guy. He’s capable of doing a lot of things—except figuring out how to regrow people’s lost hair—and one of those things includes building bodies. If you give him enough time and resources, I’m sure he’ll be able to build a fleshy body for Mr. Skelly. He’ll be like a human again: capable of feeling, eating, sleeping and all that.”

Alice’s eyes widened. “That’s an awfully large claim you’re making,” she said and glanced at Tafel. “Is this true?”

“I’m not sure,” Tafel said. “Vur found him for you, not me.”

Vur nodded. “The man made a lot of strange things,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, we can get you another present.”

Alice shook her head. “I suppose it’s the thought that counts,” she said. “Although a body for Nate sounds like a great gift, I’m not going to tell him until after there’s some verified results.” A frown appeared on her face as her forehead scrunched up. “Is it up to me to get the researcher started on this project? I’ve treated him a little poorly, so he might have some objections.”

“I believe in your capabilities,” Tafel said and nodded. “Vur and I still have a few more people to visit. It was nice seeing you again, bye!”

Before Alice could respond, a portal appeared by Tafel’s side, and the demon hopped through. A second later, her arm extended out of the portal and grabbed Vur, pulling him inside. Once he was gone, the portal winked out of existence, leaving Alice standing by herself with a dark expression on her face. Why hadn’t Tafel told her about the researcher’s abilities before he was imprisoned? A groan escaped from Alice’s mouth as she ran her fingers through her hair. “Alright, fine, whatever,” she said to herself as she readjusted her state of mind. She was more than capable of handling a researcher.

***

Joseph stared at Mary. She was hanging from the branch of a tree by her feet, all of her weight placed on her insteps. Her eyes were closed, and her arms were crossed in front of her chest. Her hair pointed straight at the ground, but she was far enough above it that the dark-red strands didn’t make contact with the grass.

“What are you doing?” Joseph asked in a soft voice. He might not have known what Mary was doing, but he knew the results wouldn’t be good if he interrupted whatever it was.

Mary opened her eyes. She bent her knees, curling her body upwards before unflexing her feet. She rotated as she fell to the ground and landed with her legs straight. “Did you find the location?”

Joseph cleared his throat. “We didn’t find its exact location, but we did gather a lot of intel. Although Keith might be a blabbermouth, he’s not bad at locating things. He brought us back a lot of reports on black dragons: where they were last seen, the size of them, any suspicious magic in the area. After searching through all the information, we think we figured out where Grimmoldesser is: he was last seen flying towards the southern continent, and there weren’t any sightings of him from other continents, so it’s safe to assume he’s still in the south.”

“Next time, use less words,” Mary said. “You could’ve just told me he was in the southern continent. Don’t make excuses. Prepare everything to hunt a dragon down there: transportation, rations, weaponry.”

“I suppose we’re footing the bill for this too?” Joseph asked with a bitter expression.

“Don’t look so reluctant,” Mary said. “As long as we succeed, I’ll give you as many riches as you want when we return to my home.”

Joseph sighed. He’d have to be a fool to believe Mary, but what could he do? He didn’t want to die, and he believed Mary was more than capable of slaughtering him.