A day passed and Storm followed Alvis with a slight smile. Alvis was strikingly similar to someone who he knew well, but in comparison Alvis was far easier to get along with. To think, rather than hiding he would willingly put himself in a position to be injured. It was more meaningful to Storm because he could guess the nature of his curse.

The curse of immortality was a curse created by the king of the nightmare realm, and it had plenty of downsides. The most potent downside was that all pain was enhanced several times. Mental immunities were also lowered considerably so any spells that affected the mind rather than the body would be even more effective.

Alvis seemed to have found a way around it, but Storm was still apprehensive. Why was Alvis trusting him so much when he knew Storm knew all of his weaknesses?

“You have been staring at me for quite some time,” Alvis commented, “Was there something you wanted to ask?”

“Why do you seem so comfortable around me?” Storm questioned.

Alvis chuckled. “You are wondering why I would trust you to use poisons on me without a second thought, right?” he clarified, “The answer is simple. I don’t. But, if there is one thing I have learned in my long life it is that opportunities should be taken when they arise. They rarely come back a second time.”

Storm nodded. That was an answer he could understand completely. “You seem like you have something you have been dying to ask me as well,” he prompted.

“We both know I won’t be dying anytime soon,” Alvis chuckled, “but in all seriousness, I do. Are you really okay with taking down a fellow assassin after living that life yourself?”

“Of course,” Storm answered without hesitation, “I know from experience that even prison is better than the constant fear that comes with the life of an assassin. For people like us death is the only escape. Retiring is nothing but an unrealistic dream.”

“Is that why you have come here?” Alvis asked.

“No. I have reached a height in my rank as an assassin where everything has grown boring, but here in Tethia everything is new,” Storm let a genuine smile appear on his face as he spoke, “Cassandra is the second person to treat me like a person on our first meeting, even if she did call me a summon. I suppose I am waiting for that mask of hers to crack once she finds out what I really am.”

“I suspect you will be waiting for a very long time,” Alvis mused.

Storm touched Alvis lightly to signal silence. Their target was waiting at the arranged meeting place. Now, according to the plan, Alvis would approach him alone and force him to panic. As an assassin himself, Storm doubted that any assassin would panic and show their skills in public, but Alvis seemed confident.

Alvis stepped forward and began talking to the butler. He grew more and more agitated throughout their conversation but was showing no signs of losing control just yet. Storm waited patiently and browsed some stalls while keeping an eye on the situation. The food in Lion Seaport had plenty of variety.

Suddenly, the target shouted and Alvis fell to the ground. Storm was there in a moment and saw a nasty shoulder gash just starting to close up. He quickly used a poison to make it fester, but only the target noticed.

“Interesting for an assassin prided in needles to use a knife,” Storm mused.

“Who are you?!” the butler demanded.

“Something like a mercenary?” Storm answered, “I don’t know my exact position at the moment.”

“If you have anything to do with that man, you should just die too,” he growled and Storm barely dodged the needle, and was forced to rip the knife out of the man’s hands.

“I am sorry, but I expect a higher skill level from whoever kills me eventually,” Storm told him casually, “You can try again, but I doubt it will work. Now, tell me, why did you stab him?”

The target opened his mouth and looked around to see that everyone was watching and listening. “Ha! I should have known.”

“Should have known what?” Storm prodded..

“How could a plan like this ever work against Tethia? I knew the moment that measly plant caused the parasite to panic that we would be revealed. I was going to have the boy slip a parasite or two to the princess while she was here, but I was bested by an appetizer!”

“An appetiser?” Storm asked, genuinely confused this time.

“Peppers. Those useless things are terrified of them. Even though I made sure they weren’t served with the magic eel…”

“Would you mind telling me who hired you?”

The target let out another humorless laugh. “Gaia. Who else? The rest of the alliance are too scared of Tethia to breathe too close to the border. I wonder what kind of reward you will get for catching me.”

“Cookies, probably,” Storm replied honestly.

The target shot Storm an incredulous look as Cassandra’s team came to pick him up. “You set this up for cookies?”

“They were delicious, but it was for the other food too,” Storm assured him.

That did not seem to give the fake butler any peace of mind. Once he was taken away, Storm scooped Alvis up and carried him to the prearranged hospital before dispelling the poison and allowing the wound to close. This way when they left, it would look like Alvis was healed by a healer there.

Alvis’ eyes slowly refocused. “That was a lot worse than I had anticipated,” he managed.

“You should rest,” Storm recommended.

____________________________________

“Peppers?” I questioned, “Are you certain?”

“It might not be a real solution, but that is what the target said,” Storm answered confidently, “He was quite upset about it so he was likely telling the truth.”

I thought back and froze. “I need to talk to Keane,” I realized, “He must have known what this was immediately. It may have just been rumors, but before we left for the territories he was researching a deadly disease that involved parasites, and even had people wear pepper earrings.”

“Pepper… earrings?” Storm questioned, but I just brushed past him.

Keane was there when I reached his room and immediately answered the door.

“Cassandra, How did it go?” he asked.

“Pepper earrings,” I blurted before I could catch up with my thoughts, “You knew about this!”

Keane paused. “I did,” he admitted, “Just before I was officially accepted into Nobility I visited my family. We don’t live very close to the sea, but there was a trader who often went through the Turtle Seaport. I took care of things there.”

“So it started back then at a seaport on the other side of Tethia?” I confirmed, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I did, but I was so sure I had taken care of it that I kept dismissing things. It should have been published in all of the medical journals involving magic eels that they should be eaten with peppers.”

“Not everyone follows medical advice,” I told him, but relaxed. A small part of me was worried he had betrayed Tethia.

“Sorry,” Keane apologized, “Even if it was just the smallest doubt, I should have said something.”

“No, you are the reason we figured everything out so fast,” I assured him, “but I am sure Nero will question you thoroughly about your involvement in both matters.”

“I am prepared for that,” Keane promised,

“We should probably head back to the Capital now,” I sighed, “All that is left now is cleanup, and I already contacted Nero and Maximus about the situation. I still can’t tell if this was something Gaia set up before they fell or if someone powerful is still there pulling strings.”

“Leave that sort of thing to Nero,” Keane recommended, “For now, you did a good job.”

“Thanks.”