One year later:

I sit in my comfy chair, enjoying a glass of wine while reading the parchment Janus brought me. I told the assassin-turned-puppet-leader that he could sample anything in the display cases, but he simply stands at attention in his dark Rainstopper robes, awaiting my verdict. Shrugging, I get back to reading:

“Merekeep.

City of Assassins.

For so many years, this was a name which commanded fear on a level that exceeded small kingdoms. It was said that if you needed somebody dead, all you needed was enough gold and a name.

However…the City of Assassins no longer deals exclusively in death. For those who fear for their lives, it is now possible to buy a detachment of assassins trained to protect, rather than kill. That is to say…a bodyguard service composed of ex-killers. If you need protection, no one else can offer, consider Merekeep next time.”

“Tch…seriously? Who came up with this crap?” I sigh, rather unhappy with the turn of events. In front of me, Janus’s usually stoic face turns a bit red. Ugh, I knew it was a mistake to let him take care of this! Meera would have done a better job…if she was here. Shaking my head, I scratch out a couple sentences on the poster and suggest revisions, “Here, here, and here. Emphasize our reputation! Say that we always stick to the contract! And mention how powerful our “bodyguards” are. Don’t use the word ‘assassin’ more than once. We need to shift our public image! We’re not killers anymore! Now we’re in the protection business!”

“Err…shift public image. Right, right.” Janus takes the paper back to me and squints awkwardly. He learns surprisingly fast, but subtlety and tact is not his strongpoint. I better keep an eye on him.

“How’s Operation Demi-Diplomacy going?” I move on to the second part of the project.

“It’s going well. We have ex-slaves reporting back from most of the anti-slavery kingdoms. As for the ones which haven’t outlawed slavery yet, our ‘diplomats’ are buying local slaves and selling our Demi’s back to the kennels in return. So far, no one suspects a thing. Within half a year, we’ll have operatives stationed throughout the entire central continent.” Janus scratches his head. I can tell he doesn’t understand why this is necessary. It’s not his fault. Rainstopper philosophy pretty much revolved around ‘grab or kill the target’ for the last couple hundred years. Give it time. You’ll see the benefits of having a good information network soon.

“Good. Now remember, I want our people everywhere.” I squint at Janus. “I hope I don’t need to remind you…no children okay? Orphans are to be sent to school, NOT used as spies. Right?” My puppet leader doesn’t flinch whatsoever under my gaze, so I trust him. If it was Jarshan, I suspect the situation would be different. “Anything other news?”

“No, Raingod. That’s it.” Janus nods solemnly and then flickers out of the shop. “I shall return to the palace. By your leave.”

Damn. After spending the last year rebuilding Merekeep, and solidifying the Sect’s position in the city, I’m getting antsy. Things haven’t always gone smoothly, but for the most part, it’s been quiet. That worries me. I didn’t think the Upper Houses would have the patience to wait this long before making a move. Perhaps they really have accepted Rainstopper control? I mean, we’re in a strong position now. The Demi’s firmly support us, and even if they’re not a real fighting force yet, there’s a lot of them. But still…I don’t trust this peace.

“Mmm…no news.” I sigh. To be honest, I already know how our growing spy network and rebranding operations are going. I was really hoping Janus might have some news from Perideen. My very first henchman sent me a letter, more than a year ago, saying he had a lead on Romy. But since then…nothing. It’s been complete radio silence. I can only assume that something’s happened to him. Even his Stone of Calling has been disconnected. When I went to the post office, they told me he’s either somewhere it won’t work, or the stone is damaged. But there’s nothing to be done except wait. “Tch…I hate being in the dark.”

*Knock Knock*

“Is there something else?” I lift my head up in surprise. Janus rarely forgets things. “Come in.”

*Tap*

Instead of my young puppet leader, an old wolf opens the door.

“Myrr, there’s news,” Jarshan strides into the lobby and stops in front of my chair with a serious expression. “I haven’t verified their identities, but you’ll want to hear this.”

“What information?” I squint. Something flutters and I realize Jarshan left the door open. “Is someone out there?”

“Better you hear it from them,” Jarshan tells me. From his expression, I don’t think that whoever’s outside is a threat. But the serious way he’s standing suggests that this might not be good news. “Alright, you two, come inside! Myrr wants to meet you!”

*Tap Tap*

Huh.

The first person to walk in takes off her hood and my eyebrows rise. It’s a type of Demi I’ve heard about before, but never seen in the Kingdom of Geisha.

A Demi-fox.

“I am Volushka.” She does a little bow. A lot of Demi’s are more attractive than regular people, however, Volushka is different. She is way more attractive than a regular person. Long black hair, blue eyes, legs which could launch ships. And classic foxy ears. I’m somewhat curious about the tail, but it’s not visible under her traveling robes. My beautiful visitor yells towards the door, “Sergei, get in here and say hello!”

Another one?

*Creaaaak*

The Demi-fox was stunning, but the next person to enter is well…shocking. When he steps through my door, I hear my floorboards groan-

“Greetings, I am Sergei!” The huge thing in front of me takes off his hood as well. Quite frankly, I have trouble believing something this big can even be a person. He carries a giant battleaxe slung over his back and his monstrous height has me craning my neck to see his face. The shop ceiling is over four meters high, but Sergei takes up more than half of it. In my last life, he would probably destroy every basketball player ever born. His face is like a rock covered in hairy moss and his voice is so deep I swear to God it’s like two boulders grinding together. Is he…? What the hell is he? Sergei, whatever a Sergei is, laughs. Or rather he makes a rumbling noise which I think is a laugh. “You’ve never seen Demi-Bear before?”

“No…I have not.” Gulping, I realize that at some point, I activated Foresight. Looking a few seconds ahead, I find out that these two are not a threat. However, their unspoken words make my heart pound. Without waiting for the future to play out in the present, I cry out, “You’ve met Perideen!”

“How’d you know that?” Jarshan seems confused. “They didn’t say anything yet.”

“Ah, it was just a guess.” I realize that in my excitement, I accidentally spoke too soon. “You said there was news…who else could it be?”

“Yea. Sure.” The grizzled Rainstopper Elder glances at me suspiciously. Eventually, he shrugs. “These two have quite the story.”

“Tell me. And help yourselves if you’re hungry.” Pointing to one of the big cheese towers, I hurriedly uncork a bottle of wine and rise from my chair. “My name is Myrr. I’m…the owner of this cheese shop by the way.”

“Err, Myrr.” Jarshan has an awkward expression. “You don’t have to hide it. They know you’re the Secthead already. Perideen told them.”

Oh.

“Well that saves time, I guess.” Feeling a bit sheepish, I gesture towards some of my comfy chairs. Pouring four glasses of wine while everyone gets settled, I resist the urge to snicker as Sergei tries to squish himself into a chair meant for humans. “Sorry, I didn’t anticipate…patrons of your…stature.”

“No matter. Happens all the time!” Sergei grins while shoving an entire block of mozzarella in his mouth. “M-M-mmm! This iz guud!”

Immediately, I realize that allowing Sergei unrestricted access to my wares was a bad idea. Oh lord…he’s going to bankrupt me. Reluctantly tearing my eyes away from the Demi-mountain destroying my store, I find Volushka clearing her throat. She sits primly, with her back straight on the edge of the chair and waits for all eyes to drift towards her. Once everyone’s paying attention, she says,

“Very well. Volushka will talk now. This is how we met Perideen.”

#

“You know the war between Geisha and Lissel, yes?” Volushka twirls a strand of her midnight hair. The Demi-Fox keeps her bright sapphire eyes on me. “Perideen says that you’re from Geisha.”

“Did he now?” Feeling mildly annoyed that Perideen gave away my personal details, I’m nevertheless still dying to know what happened to my first Rainstopper underling. Beside me, Jarshan watches silently. It seems he has no interest in talking yet, so I keep speaking, “Yes, I grew up in Geisha. Although I’ve never seen the capitol. Or really interacted with most of the kingdom.”

“Child, what do you know of Lissel?” Sergei interrupts. The big man looks at me eagerly. “Do they tell stories of our bravery in battle?”

“Err…kind of.” I hesitate. To be honest, most of what I’ve heard about Lissel is not good. Considering how many times Geisha and Lissel have been at war I assume a lot of it is propaganda though. “They do talk about your battle prowess-”

Well mostly how savage you are.

“-and also, they talk about how strong you are-”

As natural born slaves.

“-uhh and yea, that’s about it.”

…

“That’s good then!” Sergei nods happily. Not for the first time, I’m glad that Demi’s can’t seem to read human facial expressions very well.

“Sergei, enough.” Volushka harrumphs angrily and the large Demi-Bear hurriedly stuffs another block of cheese in his mouth. “Well, as I was saying, our Kingdom of Lissel has had problems with Geisha in the past. The church, as well as your bastard king refuse to…move on…with the times. Despite showing our might, and the consequences of enslaving our people…Geisha seems to…errr how do I say-”

“-They won’t capture slaves themselves,” Shrugging, I take a sip of wine and finish her sentence, “But they’ll still happily buy them from elsewhere. Does that about summarize your problems with Geisha’s slave policy?”

“It is as you say.” She nods, clasping her hands together. I see her foxy ears twitching angrily. “Now, in years past…whenever Geisha’s monarchy needed a reminder of the treaty our ancestors signed, we have taken it upon ourselves to…educate your people. Kings remember their promises after blood is spilt. For a decade or two at least.”

“Err…they’re not my people. But point taken.” I do my best not to let it show that I’ve had multiple Demi-maids in the past. Listen, it wasn’t my idea, okay? “Anyways, what’s this got to do with Perideen?”

“I met him. On the battlefield!” Sergei interrupts again. “Our swordplay was legendary! Until those accursed intruders came-”

“Sergei, if you interrupt again, I will show you how slavery began.” Volushka sends a Romy-esque stare Sergei’s way, and suddenly the big Demi becomes very thirsty. He grabs his wine-

*Glug Glug Glug*

“Y-yes, Maam!” Sergei drains the glass before going back to stress eating all my cheese.

I will show you how slavery began?

Was that some sort of Demi threat?

Exchanging a confused glance with Jarshan, who has remained silent in his chair, I gesture for Volushka to continue, “If you would.”

“Of course.” She crosses her long legs after throwing one more annoyed look at her companion. “Sergei and I are…like you.” The Demi-Fox looks at me and Jarshan meaningfully. She bares a set of perfect white teeth. When we still don’t get the hint, she elaborates, “We kill for money.”

“Ah assassins! Of course.” I once again feel the need to defend myself. “You know, we don’t do that anymore! Well…not as often anyways. And by the way, we got rid of slavery last year!”

“You no longer have army?” Volushka looks concerned. “How do you defend yourselves?”

“Pfft!” Jarshan coughs loudly. Did he just giggle?

“Oh, you mean soldiers!” My ears flaming, I glare daggers at the Rainstopper elder. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Taking a deep breath, I wet my throat with some wine before continuing, “Ahem, you see, the Rainstopper Sect acts as Merekeep’s protectors now. We had to replace the Omniscient Guard due to…some problems. The city will soon be quite safe..”

“Good.” The attractive lady nods in relief. “I was worried we came all this way for nothing.” She clears her throat. “Sergei and I met Perideen while leading the campaign against Geisha. At first, we assumed that he was an enemy. However, when we were ambushed by a group of Geishans…Perideen was attacked as well. We ended up allying together to escape. Unfortunately, we had to part ways after a few nights. But he heard of our mission and directed us to find you, Myrr.”

“To see me? Why?”

“Ah, well he kept saying things like, ‘It sounds crazy, but that boy’s probably Lord of Merekeep by now’ as well as, ‘He’ll like you guys. Kid’s got a soft spot for Demi’s.” Volushka’s impression of Perideen is pretty spot on, but her accent makes it sound really funny. I scratch my head, feeling almost proud that Perideen really believed I’d take over Merekeep. Heh. Naturally my plan wasn’t going to fail. A smart guy like Perideen would have known it was inevitable.

“When did you last see Perideen?” Jarshan speaks up. “This was before we took over Merekeep? Over a year ago?”

Ah, good catch.

Volushka nods in response. “Yes, we parted ways over a year ago. The men pursuing us were carrying weapons of Geishan origin. They drove us to split up, and we lost track of each other. But as far as we’re aware, Perideen was alive and well back last year. To be honest, I expected him to be here before us. The fact that he isn’t…”

“I understand. He must have been delayed.” Glancing at Jarshan, I see he has a displeased frown on his face just like mine. “Very well. Thank you for the information. But I doubt you’d come all this way just to talk about your adventures with Perideen. Were you looking for something from the Sect?”

“Not from the Sect.” The Demi-Fox shakes her head. And points at me. “From you. We need to speak to the true leader of Merekeep. To be honest, Sergei and I thought Perideen’s talk of a boy leading the Rainstopper Sect was tall tales. However, now that I have heard of the changes taking place in this city, and seen the orphanage with my own eyes, I realize he was speaking the truth. You are the one we seek!”

“And why would that be?” My eyes narrow dangerously. Next to me, Jarshan’s chair creaks ever so slightly. “What do you want from me?”

“We…Sergei and Volushka…” Volushka leans forwards, “The Fox and Bear of Lissel, humbly request aid from the Lord of Merekeep! Please let us stay here!”

“Huh?” I squint as Jarshan bursts out laughing. “You…want to live in my shop?”

“Yes! And all over the city!” Sergei can’t contain himself. The big Demi nods emphatically. “We need a home!”

“SERGEI QUIET!” A shrill bark comes from Volushka’s direction. Immediately, the Demi-Bear guiltily shrinks into his chair. “You are confusing the boy. Do not speak again. Or else!”

…

“Err…hang on. What exactly are you asking?” Trying to defuse some tension, I pour more wine into everyone’s glasses. Looking at Sergei whose head is hung in shame, I kinda feel bad for him. Poor guy reminds me of Mark.

“Apologies, Myrr.” Volushka gently smooths the wrinkles in her skirt. “What we mean to say…is that while Lissel is winning the war with Geisha, there are many towns in-between our borders which have been affected by the conflict. So many refugees, our kingdom is struggling to feed them all. When we heard that the free city of Merekeep had changed its policies on Demi’s, we thought it might be a trap to capture more slaves. However, it seems Perideen did not lie. You are civilized. Perhaps you are the answer we’ve been seeking.”

“Mhm. Very civilized.” Taking a bite of cheese and washing it down with wine, I think it through. “So you want me to allow Demi refugees from the war to stay in Merekeep?”

“Exactly.” The Demi’s nod in unison. Both Volushka and Sergei stand and then go on their hands and knees in front of me. Prostrating until their heads touch the floor, they beg, “Please, please accept our people! They have nowhere else to go!”

“H-Hey, that isn’t necessary!” Hurriedly, I stand up. For a moment, I’m not sure what to do. But then I look over at Jarshan. His face has the exact same happy expression as mine. This is…

A goddamn goldmine!

“Volushka, Sergei, rest assured.” I do my best to hide my excitement. Ahh, more workers to prop up the economy err…I mean citizens. “All Demi’s are welcome in Merekeep. Send as many as you want!”

“T-Thank you! After tonight, you are my brother in spirit, if not blood-”

“Lord Myrr, Lissel will not forget this! All of Demi-kind is grateful-”

…

“Yes, yes, please, we’re friends here.” Shaking Volushka’s hand, I blush as she gives me a hug. The Demi-Fox smells irresistible, and I remember Glacia warning me that some of the Demi races used to prey on humans before the Age of Magic. Looking at Volushka’s innocent face, I wonder if she knows how attractive she is. Did I just get honeypotted? I think it over. Yea, definitely. But who cares. Jokes on them. After so many of the Upper Houses left, this city’s economy has been trash. Some hardworking Demi refugees are exactly what we need. Pulling away, I boldly declare, “Spread the word. Any Demi who wishes for a new home will find food and shelter in Merekeep. We accept all races! And the city is safe!”

Mostly safe.

“Alright, now who wants more wine!”

“I luv this boy!”

“Sergei, I told you to shut up!”

…

The Demi’s agree to stay the night here, since I have an extra bedroom. It turns into a bit of a party once Elina and Nya come back from the farm. Lately, my youngest employee has been spending a lot of time with the animals that help produce our cheese, as well as helping out at the orphanage, and I’m hopeful that the work will do her good. She seems alright tonight. A drunken Sergei starts to pour the young Demi a cup of wine which Elina hastily waters down. Nya sips at it and makes a face. Hehe, her first drink.

Later on, Janus knocks on the door, though he doesn’t stay long. I introduce him to Sergei and Volushka, but he leaves with Jarshan to deal with something regarding the sewers. Not my problem tonight. As the night goes on, I keep an eye out for Natalia, but can’t find her. Doubtless, she’s watching us from somewhere, maybe outside the shop, but is too shy to show herself. It’s a shame. I wanted to introduce her to more Demi’s, but I’m not surprised. She rarely talks to anyone besides me. The guilt from what she did to Kisa is still strong. Not for the first time, I wonder if I should tell Nya what really happened in the Silent Tower. But then I’d have to reveal the real identity of her sister’s killer. And that’s a conversation I really don’t want to have. For now, it’s better if she doesn’t know.

The night winds down once Volushka says she’s tired from the road. I see Elina shepherding Nya off to bed. The Healer looks grossed out by the number of empty wine bottles on the table but I don’t care. Most of it’s not mine.

Damn, Sergei drinks a lot.

And Volushka too.

“We are going to bed now.” The two drunken Demi’s stumble away with red smiles. I put them in the guestroom for tonight.

“Have a good night!” I wave, but stop as Volushka turns to me.

“Myrr, thank you for everything.” The Demi-Fox’s gaze is sharp despite all the booze. She leans in and whispers to me, “In the morning, we will leave and go back to the fight! But there is something you should know first...”

“What’s that?” Suddenly, the pleasant buzz of the alcohol fades away. I listen closely.

“Perideen said…” Volushka’s voice is soft. Her breath smells like wine, mixed with something else. I’m not sure what. “Before those men started chasing us, he was investigating someone. A Geishan myth. Or perhaps, a folk hero of sorts. The soldiers in the bastard king’s army call her the Wailing Witch. They believe that she will come to save them when all is lost. However…Perideen suspected that she might once have gone under another name. He thought…that she might be…the Eastern Raingoddess.”

What.

Did.

You.

Just.

Say?