Edited by Solyom, Netlord

Marika emptied her mug and forcefully put it down on her table.

- “NEXT!” she yelled, demanding another dose of alcohol.

- “Slow down with that Marika, it’s your 6th mug already, and you know how you get drunk easily.” The barman said, quite concerned.

- “Me hear you! Me don’t care!” she yelled, surely in a bad mood.

- “Something happened?” he kept prying as he was refilling the fairy’s mug.

- “I don’t even want to talk about it.” She whined while massaging her forehead.

- “I’m a barman, it’s my job and moral duty to hear you out.” The man showed her a reassuring smile. “Pyrox?”

He asked.

- “Pyrox.” The fairy nodded, exhausted.

- “What did he do this time?”

- “We were hired to get rid of monsters that nested in an old well at a noble’s mansion, located at the foot of a mountain, quite far from here. Such a little, old, rural mansion. As we got in there we saw that the monsters brought in more, infesting not only the well, but also the warehouse, the stable, and the mansion itself. And what do you think, what did he do?”

- “He blew everything up?” everyone in the guild already knew what kind of action the insane pyromancer enjoyed most.

- “HE BLEW EVERYTHING UP!” she jumped from her chair sweeping her arms in the air. “EV-ERY-THING! The well, the warehouse, hell, even the mansion itself! He blew it all up, only leaving ash!!”

- “You scolded him?”

- “OF COURSE I SCOLDED HIM! We were supposed to get a few silver coins for this quest, but if we were to pay for the damages done, we would have lost everything, and then we would still be in debt!”

- “You said if we were to, which means that you didn’t?” the older man raised his brow.

- “We had more luck than brain, that noble was overjoyed after seeing Pyrox’s cleaning.”

- “He burned his property and he was happy?”

- “he told us the house was old and he wanted to destroy it to build a new one, he said that this way he will save quite a lot on workers that would deconstructed his old house. Bah! We even got some extra to our payment!”

- “So… what’s wrong?”

- “HIS ATTITUDE, he only thinks about himself! He wants to have fun and he isn’t concerned about anything nor anyone around him! He causes so much trouble that…”

In that moment Pyrox entered guild, he looked a little sad and was holding something behind his back, he looked quickly all over the room trying to locate someone, as soon as his gaze fell upon Marika he started walking towards her.

- “No… please, not again! He will boast about himself again! Look! Because of us we got more money! Pyrox is smart! Pyrox is hot! Hur-dur, jerk…”

In that moment, he approached them.

- “What’s up, buddy? Want a drink?” the barman asked fire mage with a friendly voice.

- “No. Pyrox not drinking today… Pyrox came because of a different matter…” he looked at the fairy and opened his mouth as if trying to say something, yet he closed his mouth right after, seeming to struggle to say something.

- “Pyrox is… Pyrox is sorry, Mari.” he finally said.

- “I beg your pardon? What did you say?” the fairy squinted her eyes in disbelief.

- “Pyrox knows that Pyrox causes trouble to Mari. Pyrox is sorry, but when Pyrox sees something flammable… Pyrox can’t control himself. Big Boss said that Pyrox needs to learn how to control himself and that Mari will be able to help Pyrox… but until now Pyrox only annoyed Mari, isn’t that true?”

- “W-w-w-w-what?” this fire mage was always cocky and full of himself. He never admitted his mistakes. If somebody would tell her an hour ago that HE was able to apologize for ANYTHING, she would treat it as a joke. An unfunny one.

- “I will leave the two of you alone, I’ve got more customers who need ale.” the barman said while leaving them.

- “Pyrox is sorry that he burned the wolf’s fur we were supposed to deliver. Or when he burned the flower on the field that Mari liked… or that Pyrox acts and then thinks… or doesn’t think at all… Big Boss said that Mari likes blue flowers… so… um…”

He turned away his gaze as he pulled a huge bouquet of flowers, all in the shades of blue and violet.

- “I don’t know what to say… it’s… it’s very nice of you…” she took the flowers, truly speechless. “These are quite beautiful…”

- “It’s not all!” fire mage happy after seeing Marika’s expression put his hand into pocket and pulled out a little seedling. “Mari likes flowers, so Pyrox thought that Marika may like growing them in her room! Pyrox doesn’t know a lot about plants, so he asked at the herb-store. Pyrox asked for a beautiful flower that may not require lots of attention, because Mari travels a lot… The gardener said that it has a nice smell after blooming and only needs to be watered from time to time so….”

- “Pyrox.”

- “Yes?”

- “That’s really sweet of you… thank you.”

All her anger from the last mission literally evaporated.

- “Pyrox was wondering… if Marika still wants to work with Pyrox… NOT NOW! Pyrox knows that Mari is still angry at Pyrox… but maybe… in future…”

- “Next Friday?”

- “… Maybe when Mari would forgive, Pyrox is ready to wait those few months if it means that Mari won’t be angry anymore… What did you say?”

- “I want to rest a little and meet with friends, but I spend my money bit too quickly so I will have to take another quest soon. Are you busy next Friday?”

- “PYROX IS READY! PYROX IS ALREADY ALL FIRED UP MERELY THINKING ABOUT NEW ADVENTURE WITH MARI!... I mean… it’s not that Pyrox is happy precisely because it would be with Mari… I mean… It’s not like Pyrox isn’t looking toward Mari for company…. I mean…”

- “Pyrox.”

- “YES?!”

- “See you on Friday.”

- “PYROX WILL BE WAITING, MISS!”

The crazy mage left the inn section and moved toward his room on the floor. After a few moments, the barman returned to the fairy.

- “He isn’t that bad, is he?” he asked, looking at the bouquet that covered most of the fairy’s tiny body.

- “… He is still an airhead that causes a lot of trouble…”

- “But?”

- “But maybe there is a chance of fixing him? A little one?”

The barman smiled widely, hearing her words. It was some kind of progress, wasn’t it?

Same time. Jericho’s office.

- “I am more than sure, that you had more than enough liquor!” Alesia said, gazing at the barely conscious men sitting by the table. Usually this table was covered from top to bottom with reports and papers, but not this time. Instead, it was covered with bottles and glasses.

- “You think so milady?” Jason looked in her direction. More or less in her direction, because instead of looking at the secretary, he looked at the cabinet two meters away from her.

- “I am afraid that my dearest friend may be partly right…” Jericho burped loudly. “Still, it’s nice to see somebody that can keep up with me.”

- “HA! You saw nothing yet, old man! I could out-drink two men like you!”

- “Not this again…” Alesia covered her face with her palm.

- “HOOO OOOOH?! Yar challenging me, lad? Know your limits!”

- “I know them fairly well! They are far above yours! My casual drinking is like your alcohol poisoning!”

- “I am not going to watch it. Get yourself somebody else to take care of your corpses!” she left the room, slamming the door behind her loudly.

The behavior of the two alcoholics changed right away.

- “She is gone, what do you want to tell me.” The photomancer asked the guild leader.

- “We may have a quest for somebody with your abilities.”

- “Where’s the catch? If it was that simple, you would simply register it as a formal, dedicated quest.”

- “It may not be completely legal, it may not be completely safe, if you were to be caught, this conversation never happened and we would cut all connections with you.”

- “Hooo? You need somebody for dirty work? And a scapegoat that you could forsake if something went wrong?”

- “And somebody we can trust. As you can see, it’s hard to find somebody that fits our requirements.”

- “Let’s talk about my favorite part, what will I get from this quest?”

- “The stability of the kingdom, prosperity and peace. And if you are not interested in these shitty, political excuses, you will be rained down upon with gold. Not right away, the gold transfer needs to be hidden well, so you will get your money in parts. Let’s just say that if you would dream of a nice house somewhere far away in the rural district, where you could live your life in peace and prosperity, you could afford it.”

- “Who is the quest-giver? Not any shady thugs I hope?”

- “The worst scum in this kingdom – the king himself.” Jericho smiled widely.

- “You are offending me, Jeremy.” A familiar voice sounded in the room

A person appeared out of thin air.

- “Say whatever you want, but those invisibility potions are surely useful. For its cost, I could hire a garrison for a month, but still, useful is useful.”

- “Offending you? I was merely answering the boy’s question!” The guildmaster smiled. “Nice to see you, Arthur. I thought you came to me last time because you reminded yourself about your best friend, but not! Of course that not! It was all about businesses!”

- “Later, Jeremy, later. I think I have to talk with this lad here…” he gazed over Jason from head to toe “I am about to throw a party, my daughter is having her birthday soon. Every noble will be at my palace. The problem is, that one, maybe a few of them, betrayed me.”

- “You want me to break into their properties as they wouldn’t be home and look for evidence?”

- “The boy has a head between his ears… as an adventurer, it is quite the achievement. I thought that this Zari-boy is the only exception in your herd, Jeremy. Yes, I want you to look for evidence, but I will leave the methods to you. Break into their houses, check their banks accounts… bribe their staff, kidnap their family members… torture them…”

Jason whistled quietly.

- “My-my. Quite a job you are giving me.”

- “You can’t get caught. If they give you to the city guards, we could arrange a prison break, but I highly doubt this would be the case, richer nobles have their own dungeons, you know.”

- “Just let me ask, are you sure that any treachery actually took place, or you simply want to improve your position?”

- “Do you remember when Zariel ended up in the same prison as you? He was kidnapped from my country by a squad of Paladins. From Zariel’s report, they had barely any equipment and food. It was a greatly planned action, every grain of food was calculated. Do you know what would have happened if they were spotted by any border-patrolling squad?”

- “Their whole action would have failed.”

- “And do you know how frequently the borders are being patrolled?”

- “Very frequently, I presume.”

- “Which means?”

- “That they knew when and where each patrol would appear?”

- “Exactly. And this information is known only by the Grand-houses. I took my time, sniffing around, gathering data. They’ve hidden their moves greatly, but not completely. I am more than 99% sure, that one of the families is working with the Church. Jason Jasny, I am sorry to say that, but you are a friend of my friend… yet you are a stranger that used to live in the Holy Kingdom, which means…”

- “That in case of a fiasco you could simply use me to shatter the connections between the family and the church? Disguise me as an assassin from the church, sent to get rid of the nobles? No matter if I would succeed or fail, you will gain.”

- “Indeed, son, indeed.”

- “What if I found evidence, yet found myself in a not very comfortable spot to…”

- “If you would be sure who betrayed me, you are free to kill them and everyone who works for them. After delivering the evidence, we would make you a hero.”

- “No-no-no-no. Not a hero. This word leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

- “Then a tool of justice. Or whatever. No legal action would be taken against you. Told you, you are a shadow. You do not exist.”

Jason exhaled air loudly, emptied his glass and closed his eyes, thinking deeply for minute or so.

- “Where do I start?” he finally asked.