With nothing left to do, I sold a few rune-crafted items to restore my funds and headed back to the hotel.

I had a few hours to kill before dinner so I went over my books on runes. I didn’t glean any new knowledge from the books but it was nice to go over them every now and then. I also browsed my notes. They needed to be updated, some of my postulations were wildly inaccurate or just plain wrong. Most of that was on my attempts at enhancing my body. Something that I had put on the back burner due to current events.

The fight had only heightened the fact that I still wasn’t strong enough. Sure I had won but I had a feeling fate stepped in to help on that after talking with Victoria.

While the Black Dragon was effectively no more, there were still dangers out there. The Stygian Order, Lord Vik’t, and all these groups moving in from other worlds. Sure they weren’t directly opposed to me, but that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. I had also noticed that wildlife was growing stronger. Not to mention the horrors at the bottom of the rift.

I needed to keep ahead of these threats and the only way to do that was to level. I knew that Martin would be leaving again to go back to his work with Houston and the Marshall once we returned. I planned on telling Fiona to stay with him this time. I didn’t care if she was bound to me, she wasn’t my slave and she deserved to be happy.

As for Ska, he would probably stick with me but I couldn’t be certain. Being alone again scared me, more so than almost dying. I couldn’t force them to stay though and decided I would have to start making more friends if that was the case.

My thoughts put me in a bit of a dark mood and I decided to focus my mind elsewhere. I pulled out some random jewelry I had purchased and started rune crafting. My initial efforts were utter garbage as I still wasn’t used to my new hand. But I slowly improved my control. I continued this work until I heard a knock at the door.

“Paul, you in?” Martin spoke from the other side.

“Yeah, one sec, I’ll get the door.”

Walking over, I unlocked the door.

“Come in, what’s up?”

“Fiona wanted me to give you this,” he said, walking over to the bed and laying out a tux.

I groaned, “do I have to wear this?”

“If I have to then so do you. I’m going to go get ready, you may want to do the same.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Where’s Ska?”

Martin shrugged, laying something on Ska’s bed. I looked at the bowtie and laughed.

I showered, trimmed my unruly mop of hair into something shoulder length and acceptable, and trimmed my beard. I now looked less like a murder hobo. The suit Fiona had picked out fit me well. I had lost any semblance of my old world paunch in the last eight months. Now my muscles were taut and deadly. It made me look rather elegant in the suit. How she had gotten my size so accurately was beyond me. I would have to thank her.

When I got out of the bathroom, Ska was sitting on the bed with the bowtie around his neck. I could tell it made him uncomfortable as he was constantly trying to adjust it.

“Just leave it alone,” Martin said, admonishing the grimalkin.

Ska hissed in annoyance, “It feels like someone is trying to choke me.”

“If you keep playing with it, it'll only make the feeling worse. Try to ignore it.”

Ska rumbled in discontent but put his arm down.

“Good, now that Paul is ready, we can go.”

When we got downstairs we found the same messenger from the morning waiting for us.

“If you would be so kind as to follow me, there is a carriage waiting outside.”

I was expecting some horse or animal-driven carriage but instead saw what looked like an early car. I realized this must be one of those mana-engine-driven carriages Fiona had told me about. The three of us piled into the back as the messenger hoped into the usual driver's seat for a carriage.

The ride was slow and I could have jogged faster than the stupid thing but eventually, we arrived at our destination. It appeared that the Lord had taken up residence along the river, in one of the larger abandoned homes. It also appeared that he had the homes around it leveled and a new residence was being erected. I just shook my head at the wasteful opulence. It said a lot about the man we were going to meet and I wasn’t thrilled about it. Even Martin had a slight frown on his face but he hid it as soon as we stopped.

We followed the silent guide into the house and into a dining room. The table wasn’t those massive oversized things that they showed in movies. It was large though probably able to seat twelve or more people.

“Please have a seat, the Lord will be with you in just a moment,” the messenger gestured to the chairs.

Before we even had time to sit, a tall skinny man wearing an elegant formal suit entered. It was more in the vein of a military-style dress uniform than a standard tuxedo and it made me feel underdressed.

“I apologize for my tardiness, I had a matter to take care of, please sit.”

“So, why are we here?” I stated flatly.

“To eat, of course, I would prefer if we discuss business after the meal.”

I sat down, deciding to enjoy the free meal, and see what this man wanted after. So long as he didn’t try poisoning us that was fine. I took the opportunity to use Identify on the man.

Lord Gabrielle Durbin | Royal Inquisitor/Expert Fencer | 22/12

The lord seemed to notice my use of the skill as he looked up and quirked his eyebrow but he said nothing.

I was honestly surprised at his low level. Another surprise was his first class of Royal Inquisitor. I assumed it was similar in scope to Miss Farley’s class. I had looked at the class when I hit twenty out of curiosity. It seemed to be a class dedicated to getting people to speak and to tell the truth. Essentially an investigator. Although, It was different from that Micheal fellow from the Black Dragons that we tossed into the abyss.

Two other people who I assumed were the staff, came in carrying trays of food. Dishes were placed in front of each of us and they made a hasty exit.

“King Asharon the ninth, we give our blessings unto you for this bountiful feast, and may your reign be long and enlightened. Now… let us eat.”

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes as I took the ornate silver cover off my plate.

***

Despite the pomp and overly formal start, the food was delicious. Leave it to people with too much money and a whole bunch of free time to take food to the next level.

The meal was three courses, with the staff clearing our plates and bringing in new ones quickly. The meal was mostly a silent affair, broken only by the sound of chewing food. Mostly from Ska. Grimalkin aren't the chew quietly type but the Lord didn’t raise a fuss over it, making me think he had more tact or had dinned with beastkin before. A server kept our drinks full, one some sort of wine and the other water. I chose to stick to the water, not wanting to muddle my head for the discussion that came after.

Martin didn’t seem to share my sentiment as he enjoyed a few glasses of the beverage. But I had seen the cajun put away a twelve-pack without it hampering him, so I wasn’t worried.

The meal ended and the staff cleared up the remaining food and dishes.

“Thank you for the company, it is rare that I get to enjoy it. Now, I can imagine you have questions. I will answer the one you asked before. I’m curious as to why someone of your level, or that of your friends, are in this neck of the woods. While I personally find the area outside of little challenge, it is undoubtedly wildly dangerous for most. I doubt the orcs are enough of a challenge to bring you here, so why?”

I noticed he didn’t really answer my question but instead asked one of his own. I decided to give him my version of the truth. “I used to live here, well a bit to the east but in the town all the same.”

“Oh… how fascinating. Have you come far to return to your old home?”

“So your only reason for bringing us out of curiosity?” I asked instead.

“Not entirely,” the man smiled slightly. “Although as you can imagine with my class, solving riddles is quite enjoyable for me. But I have to temper that by keeping my subjects safe.”

“So you just come in and take over and nobody gets a say in the matter?” I said raising my voice and seeing Martin wince.

Lord Durbin only laughed lightly, “hardly. Do you know what state this city was in when I arrived? It was anarchy. I doubt there were enough fighters to protect even a few blocks of the city. Through great expense, I brought over capable men to help secure the city and raise a defensible wall. Everyone is free to leave if they so choose, but those who chose to stay need to conform to the rules of law as written down in the Asharon Kingdom.”

“You will excuse my friend,” Martin added, cutting off my next tirade. “Our old country was very patriotic. It’s difficult to see it being cut up and parceled off like so.”

“I took no offense. And I can understand his sentiment. But that was the past, and this is now. Even in my world, the strong rule over the weak. Be glad it was the Asharon Kingdom and not one of the other countries. There are far worse things than being ruled over.”

“Yes, there are,” Martin added quietly.

“But we have gotten off-topic. I brought you here in part to determine if you were a threat to my city, or if you could be an asset.”

“I don’t plan on sticking around long.”

“That’s, fine… and honestly, probably for the best. High-level people tend to make others nervous. Just you being here will cause trouble, whether you want to or not. But since you are in the area, I was wondering if you could do something for me?”

“It depends on what that something is. But my rate isn’t cheap and I am a recognized bounty hunter by the enchanters guild.”

The Lord’s demeanor turned a bit sour at the mention of the enchanters guild.

“I had hoped they had not gotten a foothold yet, but I guess that was wishful thinking on my part. And payment shouldn’t be an issue. My first request is for you to eliminate the Orc leadership, they are starting to become a nuisance and people have gone missing.”

“Why not just put a bounty board up and have the locals take a crack at him?”

The Lord frowned, “they have, none have come back. If you hadn’t shown up I was prepared to hire a contractor from the Bazaar to take care of the problem.”

I mulled over the request. I didn’t much care for the orcs, but I didn’t wish them all dead either. Then again, they were sentient and I might gain some new skills out of it.

“And what of the other request?”

“Simple, retrieve the Kingdom’s crest from a wayward garrison.”

I internally winced at this, knowing exactly what he was talking about. That might be the more difficult request.

“And I suppose they are just going to hand it over?”

The Lord laughed, “probably not, but the man is if nothing else, loyal to his king. I will give you my seal and with that in hand, he should turn it over. Otherwise, he risks being labeled a traitor.”

“Why not send them a message and have them bring it here?”

“I have tried, but the messages go unreturned. Without my seal to prove I am who I say I am he is not breaking any laws of the kingdom.”

“And you haven’t gone there because…?”

“Because I have a city to run and very few people loyal to the crown to help me do so.”

“But you trust me to do this?”

“Heavens no, I was going to have someone go with you, but the fact that you have a guild-approved seal means you are at least worthy of some trust. So, what say you?”

I looked at Martin and Ska, Martin shrugged noncommittally and Ska nodded his head, wanting a fight.

“Alright, we’ll take on this mission.”

The next few minutes were spent settling on the price of our cooperation. For most, the ten thousand credits would be a sizable amount, for me, it was not as important. I had Martin and Ska split the money. Fiona still couldn’t hold anything in her ghostly form other than her old sword. I figured it was due to the sword belonging to her.

I knew the man was just using me for his goals but I didn’t care. It played into what I was planning on doing and we were going that way anyway. The orc issue was just the frosting on the cake.