When the unlikely duo reached the bottom of the stairs, Kalistra stopped Rijana. "I need to run some errands before the shops are closed for the day. I should be back by the next bell. Can you stick around until then?" the cat girl asked.

The mage smiled. "I plan to have a nice dinner on Lord Mulligan's tab. We'll be here until then," she promised.

The cat girl nodded and hurried out the door. Once she stepped out of The Wild Boar, she ran on all four paws. Her mad dash across the streets left many startled pedestrians in her path. But Kalistra had no choice because she had an important task to do right now. After a few blocks, she found the shop she sought: "The Pigeon Express." She calmly walked into the shop and took a parchment and quill from the counter. She dipped the quill into the inkwell and started writing her letter:

"Dear Papa,

It is with great pride to inform you that our dojo's representative has succeeded beyond our expectations and became a Semi-Finalist in his division in the tournament. Afterwards, we spoke with several parents who were interested in sending their children to apprentice with our school.

As expected, Lawrence has become a dual-classed Mage-Fighter. Somehow, he had set aside enough experience to rapidly advance his new profession to unlock his old class. The mayor has expressed interest in offering quests to our Liege, and I expect the local church leadership to assign tasks for him as well.

Per the terms of my Atonement, I shall remain at Lord Mulligan's side as his bodyguard for at least the next week.

Your Daughter,

Kalistra"

The cat girl wanted to write about the Double-Cross Society and their attempt to blackmail me. However, she felt that the wiser course was to discuss this matter face-to-face instead. Kalistra carefully folded the letter, placed it in an envelope, and sealed it. She addressed the envelope to "Kalistro of the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship." At the bottom of the envelope, she wrote in big letters: "TREGOME."

Kalistro returned to the counter and placed the letter on the counter.

A youthful looking elf looked at the destination on the envelope and said, "The fee is 5 silver."

The cat girl placed the coins on the counter.

The elf quickly took the money and then pulled out a small tube. He rolled up the envelope and then placed it inside the tube. He sealed the open end of the tube with wax. Then, the elf hooked the ends of the tube to a light-elven chain and hung it around the neck of a big carrier pigeon, which was waiting patiently on a shelf behind the counter. "Tregome," the elf said aloud.

"Coo-coo," the gray and white pigeon replied. The bird suddenly hopped off the shelf and flew out the open window.

"The letter should arrive tomorrow afternoon," the elf said.

Kalistra nodded and left the shop. To her chagrin, the cat girl realized that the sixth bell was approaching soon. She hurriedly ran on all four paws back to the tavern. The cat girl barely made it inside when the bell tolled six times. Kalistra rose to her full height and walked over to the doorway leading into the common room. She waved at Rijana to confirm that the cat girl had returned.

Rijana nodded and rose from her table. She made her way across the dining room with her two elf companions in tow. "We are staying at The Howling Moon," she said quietly and walked past the cat girl.

"Tell Lord Mulligan that dinner was delicious!" Bjoukia grinned, earning an elbow from her brother.

"We bid you a fair evening, Master Kalistra," Bjoukin said politely and nodded.

Once the trio left the tavern, the cat girl walked up the stairs. She stood in front of my door and knocked. "Lord Mulligan, it's Kalistra."

I heard the knocking but wanted to rest on my bed longer. My body was sore from all that running in the morning with Kalistra on my back, and then the tournament matches later in the day. By now, my adrenaline had worn off and I was dead tired. Thus, I simply ignored her.

Unfortunately, Kalistra knocked insistently and persistently on the door until I finally gave up trying to sleep.

"What?" I huffed in annoyance when I opened my door.

"You need to eat your dinner, pay off the tab, and then go to the bathhouse. You stink," Kalistra said and her whiskers twitched.

"Can't you just let me sleep and wake me up in the morning?" I yawned.

"Sorry, milord. As your instructor, I cannot turn a blind eye to your laziness. You WILL maintain the rigid and proper discipline befitting the Liege of the Butterfly School," Kalistra replied. As her eyes glowed, she poked a claw into my right shoulder.

"-2 Health." The pain jolted me awake! Ouch. I stared at my tormentor for a minute, unwilling to back down.

Unfortunately, nor did Kalistra.

"Excuse me, young ones. You're blocking the stairs," another patron said. It was an old man walking with a wooden cane.

Kalistra brushed past me and entered my guest room. She grabbed my scabbard off the floor and said, "Please attach this to your belt."

"Fine!" I snapped at her. I took the scabbard and clipped it to my belt near my left hip. After a moment of thought, I took my small leather pouch, which contained my spellbook and writing tools, and attached it near my right hip. If the Mage Guild was open 24/7, then I might drop in and check out their library.

"Are the shops closed already?" I asked.

"Yes. But I want you to walk around Bristol and get some light exercise," she replied.

"There's no curfew here?" I asked with my brows raised. I never had the opportunity to walk around at night while I was in Tregome.

"No need for it in Bristol. There are a lot more patrols at night in the city. Additionally, you weren't strong enough to survive potential encounters with thieves before," she pointed out.

"I see," I replied nonchalantly as I began to suspect what Kalistra had in mind. I started recalling the time when I was tasked with bringing a load of dirt and rocks to the northern wall of Tregome, ostensibly to patch the holes in the wall. However, Captain Maisen, Giudot, and Sankryn accosted me in front of the dojo and we, in turn, were accosted by a large group of drows. Well, it was a good thing that I regained access to my Swordsman skills then.

The two of us went downstairs to the common room. Unfortunately, the place was already crowded with patrons.

Someone noticed the two of us standing at the doorway and quickly offered his seat. The commoner nudged his companion, a young boy, to do the same. "We just finished, Lord Mulligan. Please come take the seat," the man graciously offered.

The man wore a bright yellow tunic and black hoses. I looked at his caption and saw the name, "Wehjel."

"Thank you, Wehjel," I nodded politely.

The man, who appeared to be a merchant, bowed deeply. He left some coins on the table and then dragged his assistant away from the table.

A barmaid quickly cleaned up the table for us. "What would you like, milord?" she asked with a smile. She had dark brown hair and similar colored eyes. She was older than the other maids. Her caption revealed her name as "Jola."

"Two daily specials and honey mead," I ordered.

Jola nodded and hurried back into the kitchen with a tray full of dirty dishes.

When we were seated, Kalistra spoke up. "Do you know what you just ordered?" she asked in a low voice.

"Today's special," I replied.

The cat girl sighed loudly and her ears were downcast.

Uh-oh!

A few minutes later, Jola returned with a tray. She placed our honey mead, our buttered bread, and then our specials on the table.

In front of me, I saw a bowl of clear soup containing two chicken feet, some herbs, lima beans, and two clumps of roasted pork each the size of a finger. I drew my nose closer and noticed a bitter smell drifting from the soup. Honestly, the soup was similar to a Chinese herbal soup, which I tasted one time during a visit to Chinatown. "You don't like chicken feet?" I asked.

"Too many tiny bones," Kalistra complained.

I tried my best to hide my giddiness. THIS WAS PAYBACK, YOU EVIL MINX! If I had my way, I would try to order this herbal soup for EVERY MEAL and watch in delight as Kalistra ate it in misery. I started munching on the chicken feet. The soup was as bitter as I expected because of the extra ginger sitting at the bottom of my bowl. When I saw my bodyguard wince as she drank her soup, I finally took pity on her. "I'll trade you my pork for your chicken feet," I offered.

In a blur, the cat girl dumped her chicken feet into my bowl and then fished out the pork with her spoon. As she ate the meat, Kalistra started purring.

After we finished our meals, the gnomish tavern keeper came over to our table. "You owe 10 silvers," Deun'Luye said.

I nodded. The gnome was referring to my tab; I had promised to pay for the dinners of Rijana, Bjoukia, and Bjoukin. I quickly took out a gold coin and received 90 silvers as the change from Deun'Luye.

Kalistra left some coins for her own meal on the table, and then she pointed at the doorway.

We left our table and our seats were quickly claimed by other hungry patrons.

I followed Kalistra out the door and she continued walking. Mindful of my position as a nobleman, I walked a little faster until I was walking to her left, rather than behind her. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're just taking an evening stroll," she replied casually.

I rolled my eyes at her evasive answer. I followed her as we walked past streets full of closed shops until we eventually reached the water fountain at the center of the Public Square. I reached into my waist pouch to take out a copper piece. I tossed the coin into the fountain for good luck.

Suddenly, a boy in rags appeared and he ran right into me! And before I knew it, he had cut my pouch of gold coins loose!

However, before the little thief could get away, Kalistra snatched the pouch out of his hands! At the same time, she pressed against the back of his left knee and made the boy fall to the ground. She then returned my pouch, which I tied back to my belt.

When the would-be thief tried to rise from the ground, Kalistra dug her heel into his back, forcing the boy back on the ground.

A group of boys in rags started to surround us in the Public Square.

The other commoners saw what was happening and quickly disappeared. Soon, it was just the boys, Kalistra, and myself standing in the square.

Someone snapped his fingers, and the group started pelting us with stones!

Since we were surrounded in front of the water fountain, there was no place for me to hide from the assault. I tried my best to duck and avoid the stones but I was still getting hit periodically. Thankfully, the stones were only doing 1 Health in damage each. While under this assault, I tried to decide what to do. However, I realized that I did NOT want to attack these children with my blade or my magic. Thus, I tried my best to avoid the stones and buy time for the Watch to show up eventually.

Kalistra, on the other hand, was relishing the challenge. She used her incredible speed to grab the stones thrown at her, and then threw them right back at the original throwers! Some of the boys were whacked in the head so hard that they were stunned. Slowly but surely, the number of throwers was whittled down from a good two dozen to less than a handful. Finally, Kalistra released her hold on the young thief on the ground.

The boy quickly scrambled away, and the rest of his pack retreated with him.

Soon, it was just the two of us standing in the Public Square. Or so we thought.

*Clap-clap-clap*

We turned toward the source of the clapping, and we saw a person dressed in black wrappings like a ninja. The newcomer casually flickered a throwing star at Kalistra and then ran off.

The cat girl pulled out her scabbard and the star became embedded in the wood. Upon a closer inspection, Kalistra saw the double-cross mark on one end of the star. However, she noted that it was not poisoned.

"You were using me as bait," I grumbled. Captain Maisen was doing the same thing in luring the drows to attack us back in Tregome.

Kalistra pulled the throwing star from her scabbard and showed me the mark. "I was hoping to make contact with The Double-Cross Society," she explained.

I nodded in confirmation. It was indeed the mark of the secretive Thieves' Guild. "Why?" I asked.

"I was hoping to discover who put the contract on you to prevent you from taking part in the Melee Tournament," the cat girl replied. "At least now I have confirmed that they have a base of operations here in Bristol."

"Do those boys work for the guild?" I asked.

"Who knows?" she shrugged. "Let's continue walking."