“What’s wrong?” Hannah approached Dallion after the lunch customers had left. ”The pace was off. Twice I thought you’d end the song and leave.”

Leave it to Hannah to notice these things. Dallion was aware he didn’t play at his best, but he could tell that none of the customers were close to noticing—maybe because all of the attention remained focused on Veil and Gloria. Despite that, the innkeeper had picked it up, and Dallion was certain she wasn’t an awakened.

“Just not feeling too well,” Dallion replied with a smile. “I might be coming down with something.”

“Well, you better find a way to get back up by evening.”

“I will.” Dallion sighed through his smile.

Oddly enough, he was thankful that the innkeeper was so harsh in this instance. Having her be supportive and poke around what the problem was, as when he had failed his first guild test, would have made matters far worse for him.

Just let her know and see where the dice fall, Gen said. There wasn’t really anything between you two when you were back in the village.

That much was true… to a degree. Dallion knew that he didn’t have more than a passing fancy for her. However, he still felt that might not be the case for her. The times she had asked for help could well have been to trick the awakening shrine trial and allow her to get an advantage when negotiating with her grandfather. Yet, what if he wasn’t only that? She had mentioned back then that she didn’t want to have an arranged marriage, so did that mean that—

“Dal, you ok?” Gloria asked, shattering his train of thought.

“Yep.” Dallion replied instantly, almost jumping to his feet. In fact, one instance of him did that, but the ridicule received was so great that Dallion decided to go with the alternative. “Sure. Just something on my mind.”

You think now would be a good time? He asked mentally.

No one replied.

Hello? Anyone?

What do you expect us to say? Nil grumbled. We’ve only been giving you advice on the matter for the last five days!

Right. Maybe I have delayed it a bit longer than I should.

Regardless, he was going to fix that now. All he had to do was to take Gloria somewhere private and—

“Dal, there’s a favor I need to ask,” Gloria whispered in a way that ensured that people with less than ten perceptions wouldn’t even notice. “Join me outside?”

“Sure.” This was bad. Dallion was able to hear shyness and uncertainty resonating from her. “I’ll go get Veil.” He stood up.

“No need.” She grabbed him by the sleeve. “I need to tell you alone.”

Definitely not good. All of Dallion’s plans and preparation vanished in a puff of smoke as he was dragged outside, mandolin and all. In his mind he was already going through ways to reject her request, from the blunt, to the casual, to the sympathetic one.

The two a few buildings passed the inn, to a stall that usually sold handkerchiefs. It was a stall that Dallion had seen every day and continued to wonder how they hadn’t gone out of business, considering there hardly were any customers.

“Cloud,” Gloria said. “I brought him.”

The only customer who was at the stall turned around. The moment she did, Dallion’s fight-or-flight reaction kicked in. The woman Gloria had referred to as “cloud” wasn’t a customer, she wasn’t a human either… rather, she was a fury that Dallion knew better than he hoped.

“I never doubted you for a second,” the fury laughed.

Not wearing her disguise rings, she could pass as a quite charming fury who arrived here for the festival. Quite a few people would even be hard pressed not to ask her out. Sharp ears were tucked in her crimson red hair, giving her an exotic look, though without going overboard. Having had a taste of what she was really capable of, Dallion knew to keep his distance. Having a perception of fifteen, he could also see signs of knives hidden in her clothes.

“Dal, this is Cloud. We met at the theatre.”

“She wasn’t hard to notice,” the fury laughed. “Being the only pure blonde in the room, half the people were secretly hoping she would be the one to go on stage.”

“Yeah, she has that effect,” Dallion said stiffly.

“Cloud offered to sponsor my theatre career,” Gloria said. “After a lot of thinking I decided to agree. I know it’s reckless, especially with all the responsibilities I have back home, but I wanted to at least try.”

“The worst cages are those we build for ourselves,” the fury nodded. “I’m sure your brother can handle things for a few months. At that point you’ll know if the theater is something for you or not.”

“Are you sure? That’s a pretty serious step…”

“Money isn’t an issue.” The fury smiled. “Any troupe owner would be an idiot not to have a pure blond join. I just happen to know the right people, and as a fury could teach a thing or two about grace and speed.”

As she said that, Cloud gently touched one of her knives. The Threat was clear. If Dallion were to try something stupid in the open, someone was going to pay the consequences.

“I want to try this, Dal,” Gloria said firmly. “And I don’t want my brother to know.”

“I think it’s a mistake… but if you’re sure about it.” Dallion did his best to appear calm, but underneath his heart was pounding like a drum. “I guess you want me to cover for you when you’re out performing or practicing?”

“No. I mean that too. Cloud needs a favor, and I thought—”

“A private performance,” the fury interrupted. “It’s for an old friend. Our usual bard got snatched with all the preparations of the festival starting, so I’m in desperate need of a replacement. After chatting with Gloria, she mentioned that you might be of some help.”

I bet you did, Dallion thought.

“Sorry for imposing on you like this, but I really don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“No worries.” Dallion forced his smile wider. “When’s this supposed to happen?”

“This evening. Or rather, tonight. I don’t want to get you in trouble with your innkeeper, after all.”

That was to be expected. From the little Dallion knew about the mirror poll, they acted in the very last moment, and only showed their hand when they had to.

“Not a problem.”

“Thanks, Dal!” Gloria hugged him, though his mind was not on that. “I’ll let you two discuss details. You’re really a lifesaver.” She let him go and walked away figuratively walking on air.

“I gotta hand it to you, you have interesting friends,” the fury whispered as Gloria disappeared back in the inn.

“If you—”

“Tut, tut, tut.” Cloud interrupted. “Ring first. We don’t want there to be any confusion during our conversation.”

Dallion hesitated for a few seconds, then slid on the blocker ring.

“Better,” the fury said.

“Isn’t this a bit too public?”

“The pool owns this stall and several like it. Great to keep an eye on things and set up discreet meetings in the open when needed.”

“I take it you’re not afraid to go against two hunters?”

“The deal was that you’re out of bounds. Your friends are a different matter. Don’t get me wrong, I like them much more than I like you, so I won’t do anything unless you make me.”

Dallion didn’t comment. They had him and he knew it. Now the question was how much down would he have to be dragged.

“Now that we understand each other. My boss wants you to clear the item in question. Tonight. Given the familiar you have, that shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

They already knew about Lux? That was incredibly fast. Dallion’s suspicions instantly fell on the party members he’d been with on the sanitation job. Thinking about it, though, they weren’t the only ones who knew about Lux. The Luors also had seen the familiar in action, as had Vade, not to mention the noble. Considering the bet, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that the old woman had blabbered out to all her friends, possibly in the presence of a servant or two. Either way, Dallion was at a disadvantage.

“I guess this is an offer I cannot refuse?” Dallion asked.

“What?” the fury blinked.

“Never mind.” Sadly, some phrases weren’t universal. “I just have to go there and clear the item. Anything else?”

“You aren’t going to ask for details?” The fury arched a brow.

“You’re going to give me any?”

“Kid, we’re going through all this trouble and humiliation because we want you to get the job done. What do you take us for?”

Dallion suddenly felt stupid. Of course, this would be important for them. If they purely wanted to punish him, there were other ways, and they wouldn’t have to go all cloak and dagger about it.

“Right.”

The fury rolled her eyes.

“Seriously, I’ve no idea what anyone sees in you, especially Jiroh. Anyway, as I said before, a few people tried to clear it and in all cases things ended badly. Not as bad as they could have gotten, but one person can no longer walk in a straight line and three more are in a sleep state.”

“How could things have ended worse, exactly?”

“We’re very interested in the item, just as we want to know what’s the thing killing off our awakened.”

“Will I get paid?”

The question caught the fury by surprise. Dallion felt the emotion burst through her, replaced shortly later by a grain of respect. Apparently, showing he had the stones for it was enough to get him some respect.

“That depends on your performance. Solve this, and you definitely will. Merely survive and most likely not.”

“When do you pick me up?”

“When you finish your evening shift, go to your room, prep your equipment and open the window. I’ll take you from there.”

“I’ll be blindfolded, I assume?”

“Why?” The fury stared at him. “You’ll be in far more trouble if you go to the guard. Besides, the order changes buildings whenever there’s a risk. How do you think we’ve survived so long?”

Luck? Dallion thought, but didn't dare say it out loud. Being reckless was one thing, having his common-sense glands removed—something completely different.

“Anything else?”

“One thing,” Dallion said. “How many others did you get to try?”

“This item? One. Other items… over a dozen.”

“And all of them died?”

“Strictly speaking only four of them died. A few others died as a result of their mess-up, but don’t worry, that won’t happen to you. You’re still protected by the hunter’s deal. As long as you don’t bullshit us everything will be fine. There are no guaranteed jobs, as you’ve shown me… Do anything funny, though, and we won’t go against you. We’ll go against your friends.”

“So that’s how the mirror pool works?”

“That’s how the world works.” The fury took a handkerchief from the stall, then tossed a silver coin to the seller.

Dallion was familiar with the girl. They’d greet each other throughout the day, Dallion even had a conversation on how handkerchiefs were selling. All this time, he had never suspected she was linked to the mirror pool. It just went to show that there was much more under the shiny surface of Nerosal that Dallion knew.

Slowly, Dallion took off his ring.

How bad is it? Nil asked instantly when the link to the awakening realm was restored.

Pretty bad, Dallion replied.

Given the person you were talking to, I already assumed that, dear boy. A few details on the matter will be greatly appreciated.

Remember the real-life effects you told me were unlikely for me to come across? Well… I’ll need to know a bit more about them.