They reached the end of the row without event and found a brick wall that presumably led to the Mermaid on the other side, though this was where the roof ceased to connect. There was a soft murmur of voices a short ways behind them, which Gunnar expected was from one of the apartments they’d passed over. Someone either up super late, or incredibly early.

“The pub must have got tacked onto this building after this whole complex was built,” Em said just above a whisper.

“I bet a lot of these old buildings were built that way,” Gunnar said. “Or designed to look that way I guess.”

Em shook her head. “Gotta hand it to them. The devs might be a bag of dicks, but they pay attention to detail.”

Gunnar’s Mana was running low, so they both paused for a minute in the darkness and let it replenish.

“You’ve got Dark Sight too, then,” Gunnar said.

“Chimera,” Em said. “You get some perks from being part animal shifter. And yet, to most in Thailen, I just look like any other human.”

“Must be nice.”

“Oh, it definitely is, you could probably say I’m superior in every way.”

“Except in humility.”

“So, you’re declaring yourself the greatest at humility?”

“Something like that.”

“Is that even a skill?”

“Probably not in this world.”

Em chuckled softly. “So we get in through the ceiling, and then what?”

“Get to the basement somehow. Check the back rooms first, I think.”

“Your Mana good?”

“Yeah, yours?”

“Let’s go.”

They inspected the ceiling below them. It was arranged in panels that fit into some sort of wooden frame. They looked too flimsy to support them, but Gunnar was tall enough to reach one of the tiles, while hanging from the support beams.

He had no idea where this would lead, but they were above the second story and outside the main hall. The place was large enough that they could still be above the far section of the dining area, but all Gunnar could do was hope for the best. Carefully, he shifted the panel up and managed to wedge his fingers under the thin sheet of wood. It was heavier than he expected and pinched his fingers until he got both hands under. Then, he carefully moved the panel over.

The space below was completely dark, except for a soft light creeping under the door. It did not seem to be a hall or a part of the dining area, as he’d expected, but a small room, barely larger than a closet. There was a small chaise lounge, an end table, and a coat rack—nothing else.

Odd things for a room at the Mermaid.

For a second, he worried he’d misread the layout, and they were dropping into someone’s bedroom. He could still hear soft indistinguishable voices from the chambers beyond. But a bedroom didn’t make sense either.

Then, another set of voices resounded nearby, followed by the soft thud of footsteps.

“Sykes runs a slick operation, I’ll give him that,” someone said, right outside the door.

Gunnar froze, still dangling from the rafter, with Em holding his legs steady, as the door opened below them, easily visible with half the panel shifted.

A man and woman entered the room. The man was pudgy but very well-dressed—a dark suit and top hat—the woman was short and curvy, and Gunnar immediately recognized her as Jiselle, one of Sykes’ waitresses at the Mermaid.

What the hell is she doing here this late? Gunnar wondered, and then, immediately stopped wondering.

Jiselle lit an oil lamp with a crimson shade, and the man inspected the chaise lounge, which was draped with a silky red sheet.

The man frowned. “You don’t have anything larger do you? Always preferred an actual bed.”

Jiselle nodded. “There’s one down the hall. It’ll cost you extra, though.”

The man shrugged. “Not a problem at all. Say, it’d be a shame to let this room go to waste, though. What do you say to a little warm up? I’ve developed a bit of an appetite for elves of late, but I don’t mind a human every now and again. Elves just don’t quite have the same…”

The man pinched her ass, and she jolted back.

“I’m not a whore,” Jiselle said through clenched teeth. “Keep it sheathed till your elf wench is ready.”

The man grinned in the low light. “Feisty. I like that. Come now, you can’t tell me a lovely girl like you doesn’t run a little tease from time to time for some extra cash under the table. I won’t tell Sykes.”

Jiselle moved back to the hall. “I get paid just fine for what I do. Your bed is two doors down, Lord Glavinstone. Shall I show you or would you rather let yourself in?”

“Alright, alright,” Glavinstone said on a sigh.

He followed her out, and the door shut.

Gunnar and Em both breathed a sigh of relief.

“A fucking whore house,” Em muttered.

“I mean he is the guy who enslaves mermaids for a strip club.”

“And I bet these girls are no less free. It makes me sick.”

“Not going to make this any easier for us. Johns coming in and out and whatnot. I thought this place would be dead this time of night.”

“Can’t be too high traffic, else we’d have heard about it. This seems covert.”

“Why, do you think?”

“High profile clients,” Em said. “Lord Glavinstone is damn high lord. My guess, they don’t want to be seen going to a known after-hours operation.”

“Hell of a side hustle,” Gunnar said. “Gotta hand it to him, Sykes is resourceful.”

“He’s scum is what he is.”

Gunnar nodded. All things considered, it seemed like a strong reaction for someone to have to debauchery in a game. Though he was also the guy who’d defied the Nighthawks to free a bunch of slaves he didn’t even know. Still, he wondered what prompted such a strong reaction toward the slaves here at the Mermaid in particular. Something from Em’s actual past?

“Well, we should probably go for it,” Gunnar said. “Before the next guy comes in here.”

Em nodded.

Gunnar hastily removed the ceiling panel and slid it over enough so that they could both drop onto the chaise lounge. Em dropped first, barely making a sound, and Gunnar followed. The furniture was softer than any bed he’d ever owned IRL, and between that and his Stealth and natural dusk elf Agility, he landed almost as smoothly.

Em motioned to the panel above and made a lifting motion with both her hands. Gunnar moved beneath the panel and clasped his fingers together to form a sort of step, then heaved her as high as he could. Supporting herself by his shoulder, she reached up and managed to shift the ceiling back the way they’d found it.

He lowered her down, and she lingered close for just a moment. She pressed a palm against his chest, which rose and fell with quick breaths, a combination of nerves from the quest, as well as the jitters he’d begun to have any time she drew near to him.

Em: You good?

Gunnar: Let’s go save a mermaid princess.

He crossed the room, knelt beside the door, and pressed his ear against the wood. There were distant muffled moans echoing from one of the other rooms, but as best he could tell, there was no one out in the hall. Carefully, he opened the door.

They emerged in a narrow low lit hall that was lined with a red runner of carpet and led to a door, which Gunnar presumed opened to the main dining hall of the Mermaid. Oil lamps flickered every ten feet, encased with thick smoky glass that kept the light dim. The hall was empty, but still, the exposure unnerved him.

This quest was all about building up skills, so he focused his Mana and cast Dragon’s Breath on the nearest flame. Energy surged as it left him, and in an instant, he could feel the flame like some sort of metaphysical hand in the wind. He made no actual contact, yet the flame was in his control, and he could do with it what he wanted. At least to a small extent with a small flame.

He concentrated hard, forcing the flame to grow narrower and narrower. The light dimmed, flickered, and then went out all together.

Em: Not bad.

Gunnar proceeded with the remaining flames in the hall. It was remarkable the subtle difference in his awareness, as though he’d been color blind for years and now saw the world with new clarity. As he cast, he could dimly sense flames in the rooms beyond this hall as well, like seeing distant pinpricks of light across the city.

Soon, they stood in complete darkness, and proceeded down the corridor.

Em: Earth magic is better. Obviously. But I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a spell like that.

Gunnar: You know, you can just give a compliment now and again.

Em: What’s the fun in that?

They’d nearly reached the end of the hall when they heard footsteps echoing from the main hall.

Gunnar froze.

Em pointed to the nearest door, and they both slipped inside, just before the door to the main hall opened.