Whack!

Ow! Something slammed against my skull, jolting me awake! "-5 Health." My fight-or-flight response immediately forced me to pull my head off the table, and I put up my dukes for good measures. A moment later, I finally noticed Hanseg standing next to me, with his treatise in hand.

The librarian was mildly amused by my reaction. "You are full of surprises, aren't you?" he said. "That fancy scabbard of yours isn't just for show," he noted. "Here you are, ready to fight me for smacking your noggin." The gnome chuckled. "The library is closing shortly. And I'm retrieving my book. If you can't make it past chapter one without falling asleep, then there is little hope for you as a tinkerer. I would quiz you on the spot on the discussion of mana and efficient transference, but you need to leave at once."

I finally lowered my fists. I saw that Kalistra was already on her feet and ready to leave. I gave her a dirty look. Thanks for waking me up, you evil minx!

The cat girl yawned, casually showing off her sharp teeth.

I rose from my seat and bowed deeply to Hanseg. To my chagrin, I was not making a good impression on him. Thankfully, I did not lose any reputation or experience even though the gnome was evidently disappointed in me over my poor concentration in handling his precious treatise. Well, I had an opportunity to slay the dragon another day, so to speak.

Seeing that I was still standing at the table, the librarian pulling out a stick from his waist and started twirling it.

I looked at the item in his hand closely. It was white and appeared to be made of plastic. Actually, when I looked at the stick longer, I saw that it was more like a baton than a stick. I read the caption: "Wand of Teleportation." Ah! This was how the librarian tossed out patrons who refused to leave the library at closing. By teleporting them! Taking the hint, I quickly walked toward the exit.

"Have a pleasant evening," Hanseg waved as I opened the door and left the library.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick," I said to myself as I stood in front of the library.

"What does that mean?" Kalistra asked.

"It's an expression from my world," I replied. "It means that while you can warn someone politely to do or not do something, you should also have the ability to enforce the desired outcome by force if necessary." In other words, the freedom of choice in this situation was really illusory.

The cat girl nodded in understanding. The librarian was showing off the Wand of Teleportation to show how he planned to deal with patrons lingering in the library beyond the closing time. As a creature of Law, Kalistra appreciated the elegance of this solution of voluntary compliance. "That's a nice attitude," she remarked as her whiskers twitched.

Rolling my eyes at her, I turned around and stared at the corridor. It seemed to run on forever. I suddenly remembered that I needed the magic word to leave here because apparently, teleportation was the sole method of going from floor to floor inside the Mage Guild. Unfortunately, I had no idea what the magic word was to leave the building. Fortunately, I knew just who to ask. Chagrined, I opened the door and stuck my head inside. Thankfully, I saw that Hanseng was still in the reception area. "What's the magic word to leave the building?" I asked with embarrassment.

"It's 'abitus,'" the gnome answered smugly. He had been waiting for me to come back and ask. New guild members were so predictable!

"Thank you, Hanseng!" I bowed deeply and then closed the door again. I turned toward Kalistra and held out my hand. Once she took my hand, I said aloud, "Abitus!"

The world lost focus for a moment as we teleported.

I became nauseated as my body traveled through another plane. The feeling disappeared in an instant when I returned to the gaming world.

Suddenly, we found ourselves standing in front of the sliding doors.

"How long are you going to hold my hand?" Kalistra said.

Oh! I quickly released her paw before the cat girl decided to punish me.

When the sliding doors opened, I quickly walked through and left the building.

Cthunk! A throwing star came straight for my face!

Somehow, Kalistra was able to intercept it in time with her scabbard. The cat girl looked around and quickly noticed movement on the roof of a store across the street. Without a word to me, she dashed across the street, jumped onto the roof, and started running after the retreating figure.

I ran on the street after the two. From my vantage point, I saw that my attacker was dressed in the same black ninja outfit as the one who had ambushed Kalistra before we reached Bristol. Or at least, that was the description from Bjoukin. In other words, we were probably chasing after a member of The Double Cross Society. Furthermore, I realized that the cat girl had been trying to lure him out in the open. Possibly to retaliate for the humiliating ambush. Now that her prey had appeared, Kalistra was in her hunter mode and I knew that it was pointless to ask the cat girl to let him go.

The ninja navigated through the uneven rooftops without ever breaking his stride. He was clearly familiar with the city and its rooftop pitfalls.

Kalistra, on the other hand, was unfamiliar with the terrain and she was forced to run on all four paws in order to keep up.

Surprisingly, the ninja was running toward a watchtower! As he ran closer and closer to the edge of the rooftop, the ninja took out a grappling hook and started swinging it in a vertical circle. Finally, the hook was released and grappled onto a narrow window. The ninja jumped off the rooftop, swung from the rope, and smashed into the wall.

Somehow, the audacious ninja was able to retain his grip on the rope despite his body's impact with the tower. Taking a moment to regain his bearings, the ninja started scaling the tower like a spider until he reached the top. Then he pulled something out of his wrappings and it quickly expanded into a glider! The ninja turned around, gave us a salute, and then jumped off the top of the watchtower. With the glider, the ninja flew into the darkness.

The cat girl jumped to the ground and landed next to me. "Damn ninja and his sneaky tricks!" Kalistra grumbled. This was the third time he ambushed us and got away. The cat girl was extremely annoyed at him.

I shook my head. Something felt off about these encounters with the mysterious ninja. Why did he purposely announce his presence with the throwing star? If he truly wanted to harm us, he could have sneaked up on us for a backstab with a poisoned blade. The ninja did not do that. Instead, he was purposely goading Kalistra, as if he wanted her to chase him and show that she was powerless against him. Besides the taunt, he was sending us a subtle message. But we were missing something to decipher it.

Suddenly, a lantern appeared before us and its light shone in our faces. "Why are you standing in front of the watchtower?" a harsh voice demanded to know.

I held up my hand over my eyes. Taking a moment for my eyes to adjust to the illumination, I saw a group of fighters in chain mail armor and carrying shields and swords. The shields all carried the same silhouette of a flying eagle, which was on the flag above the Mayor's Office. Obviously, these men were part of the Watch! "Sir, we were chasing a ninja who had ambushed us," I began to explain.

"A ninja?" the Watchman interrupted me with narrowed eyes. "Where is he now?"

"He flew off your watchtower," Kalistra replied with her paw mimicking the flight path of the ninja.

"By the Law and Order, you will return to Watch Headquarters and give your truth sworn testimony to our clergy," the Watchman ordered.

His cohorts quickly surrounded the two of us to ensure our cooperation.

Without waiting for my response, the Watchmen started marching back to their HQ. As I expected, their headquarters was located right next to the church and a block away from the Mayor's Office.

According to his caption, the Watchman who spoke to us was named, "Menlote." He marched us to a small office inside the HQ. "Have a seat," he ordered and then left the two of us in the room, closing the door behind him.

I looked around the room. It was roughly six feet wide and four feet long. There was a table in the middle of the room; the table partitioned one chair behind and four chairs in front of the table. There was a stack of parchments, a quill and an inkwell on the table. In a corner, there was a wooden cabinet. Two lit torches were on the wall, held in place by torch holders, to provide illumination for what was apparently an interrogation room.

A few minutes later, the door opened again and a middle-aged cleric in a white robe walked in. He had a medium build and his blonde hair was shortly cropped. "Good evening, my children of the Law and Order," the man spoke as he walked past us to take his seat behind the table.

I saw the truth stone around his neck and quickly looked up; his caption indicated the cleric's name was "Danfoss."

"Good evening, Brother Danfoss," I replied with a slight nod. When I saw the cleric's brows raised, I pulled out my own truth stone from under my tunic.

Danfoss stared at the relic for a moment and then he slowly returned my nod. He leaned forward with his hands on the table and said, "Please tell me what happened."

"Aren't you going to make us take the truth oath?" Kalistra interrupted.

The cleric finally noticed her and smirked with condescension. "Brother Mulligan is the holder of a sacred truth stone. The Gods of the Law and Order will punish him if he fails to tell the truth," he explained.

Eek! I didn't realize the relic would compel me to tell the truth. But then again, I hadn't tried to deceive anybody so far. I guessed this was part of the reason why I wasn't suited to follow Chaos, according to Bishop Canterbury. Nonetheless, I turned toward my companion. I held up my own truth stone and made the truth oath.

Kalistra followed my lead since she was acting as my servant while in Bristol.

When I turned my attention back to Brother Danfoss, I saw that he held a quill in his hand and was prepared to record my statement. "I left the Mage Guild building shortly before ten this evening when someone threw a morning star at my face. My bodyguard intercepted the projectile with her scabbard and then gave chase. The attacker was dressed in black wrappings. Kalistra chased him on the roof until he used a grappling hook to climb a watchtower. When he reached the rooftop, he took out something that turned into a glider. He flew on the glider and escaped."

Kalistra quickly gave a similar account.

When we were both finished providing our testimonies, Brother Danfoss asked, "Where are you staying?"

"At The Wild Boar," I replied.

The cleric added the note at the bottom of the parchment. The brother had more questions for me, but the interrogation room wasn't the appropriate venue for questions of a more personal nature. He rose to his feet and said, "Thank you for your truthful testimonies. Per Watch custom, we require you to stay in Bristol for the next 24 hours while the Watch investigates this incident. They may have further questions for you. In the meantime, I will ask a Watch patrol to escort you back to The Wild Boar."

"Thank you, Brother Danfoss," I bowed.

"The Church takes care of its own," the cleric replied as he reciprocated my bow. He then opened the door and gave instructions to the guard standing outside.

The Watchman turned toward us and said, "Please follow me." As we walked, he waved for a young page and gave the boy instructions.

The boy quickly ran off.

When we exited the Watch Headquarters a few minutes later, a patrol of Watchmen was waiting outside.

I recognized Menlote standing with the group.

The Watchman stepped up and said, "We will escort you back to The Wild Boar."

His companions surrounded me and Kalistra, and the group escorted us back to our inn.