The situation was this: I had been crouched by the person Arne sent to kidnap me after having downed them rather easily in a narrow as fuck alleyway in broad daylight. Just a few steps away from us, the men who'd tried to take me before Arne's person showed up were dead and bleeding out in bright red.

Now my situation included thirty people with an assortment of weapons coming at us from in front of us and behind us, so there wasn't anywhere to run. I was still sore as fuck, too, so fighting them wasn't my best option either.

"Gerard Viscoti," one of the men said as I stood slowly. He had salt-and-pepper hair and very thin lips. He wasn't the biggest, but his voice was deep, rumbling through the alley. Was that a skill? "We just want to talk. Come with us and no one has to get hurt."

"Oh, I've used that line before. Sure, let me check my schedule." When I reached into my pocket as a joke, I got a quick arrow to the wrist. I caught it instead, but my reflexes were lagging a bit. Really not great for me. "Will you at least tell me what you want to talk about?"

Predictably, the man ignored my question. "Follow me. And take that one with you." He crooked a thumb toward Arne's person, who was still on the ground. Maybe I went a little too hard on them. I should've saved that energy.

"Why would I go with you?" the person sneered. Their voice was rough and angry, but I thought it sounded familiar. Not Rose or Alis. Someone else who I'd spoken to recently.

"You don't have a choice," the thin-lipped man said.

The people who'd been slowly crowding us now took that as a sign to descend on us. Two people grabbed me by the shoulder, once again guiding me down the alleyway to Ket'ha knew were. One picked up Arne's person by the arm roughly, and although they groaned, they found their feet quickly and grabbed their arm back.

We were led through this alleyway and through a maze that would've been impossible to remember if I hadn't been as familiar with Brugge as I was thanks to all the time I spent hunting down the Triam Drana. Deep in the slums, we stopped outside of an abandoned warehouse near the murkiest waters of the bay. The sign above the door read: MARTINO'S STORAGE.

As we entered, I got a distinct impression that there had probably never been an operational business here storing anything at all. Rather, it looked like a prison. Dark, cramped, dilapidated. Narrow halls with flickering candlelight. The smell of mold and rat droppings. At what seemed like the end of the hall, a door was ajar. We were shoved inside.

I couldn't see anything past a few steps until someone lit a candle with magic. The room was as small as a cell with a wooden table in the middle and a woman sitting with her legs crossed, leaned back in her chair, her eyes closed. I clenched my jaw. She opened them when I was made to sit in one of two chairs across from her.

"Welcome," Dina said as both I and Arne's person were tied to our chairs.

[Notice] Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by .05%.

I wasn't expecting [Demeot Eyes] to increase when there weren't any demons around, but perhaps Dina had some demon blood I didn't know about. It'd done the same thing while I was with Rajal.

I had also not been expecting to see Dina again, I had to admit. But here she was, sitting in front of us with a smile. When she’d approached me when I was drinking alone at a tavern in the red light district when I first arrived. She’d simply sat down across from me and asked if I had a moment to talk. She’d shown me around and we’d had a worthwhile time together.

Dina was in a much more expensive dress this time, crimson silks with detailed stitching that Lando would’ve loved, and her dark hair was in an intricate style only the aristocracy or nobility had time to do. Or, rather, the money to hire someone to take the time to do it. Either she'd recently picked up a high-paying client or she had approached me under false pretenses. Annoying.

At least I didn't think it was likely that Father had hired her, but that didn't mean I wasn't in danger. What could she possibly want with me to hire two dozen people to escort me here of all places?

All but one oversized man had left the room. Very intimate, especially since there were a bunch of whips and the like. We were either in a poorly set up torture room or I'd been invited to something I could check off my bucket list.

"Gerard Viscoti, we meet again," Dina said, giving me a bright smile. "It seems fate has brought us together once more. I'm glad."

"Fate indeed," I said.

"That's all you have to say to me? Come on, Gerard. We know each other better than that, don't we? Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Overjoyed. Are you going to tell me why you brought me here?"

"We'll get to that. First, though..." Dina looked at the person who Arne had sent after me. "Let's remove your mask. Rila, isn't it?"

The other man in the room pulled off her mask for her when she made no move to take it off herself. She didn't stop them from taking it off, though, and she didn't waver from glowering at Dina. No wonder I'd recognized her voice. She attended Caemor.

"Rila Arne," Dina started, folding her leg over the other one now and sitting forward. "Second daughter of Alric Arne, the boss of the Triam Drana. Or I suppose you'd prefer going by your alias, the Black Thorn. The name really suits you."

Rila rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. "I didn't ask nor do I care for your opinion, Lady Rashania."

So Arne had sent one of his daughters to kidnap me and Dina was the Lady Rashania that Arne had mentioned. That meant this wasn't about the Viscoti family at all; this was about Rashania and Co. What did they want with Gerard Viscoti, though? As far as I knew, I hadn't done shit to piss them off as Gerard.

Dina got up and sat next to Rila. She stroked her cheek and then hissed as if pricked. Then she laughed. "So cute! You look exactly like him. So innocent, yet so full of rage. And power. Oh, how I love seeing powerful young women like you come undone."

[Notice] Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by .05%.

This certainly was not how Dina had acted when I'd met her before. She took her seat again, then addressed me again. "I work for Rashania and Co. I'd prefer if you called me Lady Rashania here. They've sent me to talk to you, Gerard, about your magic shop business that you've so generously funded with your father's money."

"That's what all this is for?" I laughed.

She sighed, tilted her head and crossed her arms under her chest as if disappointed in me or something. "You don't understand, do you? It's simple, really. Your little 'business' will get in the way of Rashania and Co's sales. Unless you do what they ask. Otherwise, they'll get rid of you here and now."

I couldn't stop laughing. They were shaking me down? For a little magic shop? Hilarious.

"You don't believe me?" she asked, tone amused and eyes fluttering playfully.

"Why wouldn't I? Have you lied to me yet?"

She smiled again, her red lipstick looking like a kiss of blood. "Of course not. I haven't even started lying to you and I can tell you that I won't lie to you today at all. I promise never to speak a single word unless it is truthfully spoken or absolutely necessary."

[Notice] Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by .05%.

I chuckled. "And how long until that becomes an issue?" These knots were good, but they weren't quite good enough. At the very least, I didn't think that I needed to use something like [Synchronize] to kill everyone here. I was sore, and I'd probably sustain a few minor injuries, but I was always prepared for that.

"Tell me about your magic shop, Gerard. Please, for your sake. I'd like to see you again someday."

Time to stall.

"That's nice," I said. "I would've liked that even. Before this little stunt, of course, but perhaps if this plays out well, I'll hire you again. What do you want to know about the business? What we'll be selling? I think it's in the name. Want to know when we'll open? Hopefully within a month's time. Do we plan on making a killing? Obviously. Your monopoly on the potion market, for example, is an easy place to start, don't you think?"

Her smile faded slightly. "Please take this seriously."

"Oh, I'm taking it seriously. Very seriously, in fact. I am a Viscoti, am I not? I'm the son of a duke--one of the most famous dukes on the continent, in fact. You know of him, I'm sure. You probably fear him as everyone does. Money is very important to me and my family. More important even for Father. Yet you've kidnapped me, spirited me away to some abandoned warehouse, and now you're shaking me down. For what?"

"Listen," she said. "You need to pay Rashania and Co a small business licensing fee, but you can wait for that just before you open. They also need you to fix your prices based on their model. That's all there is to it. If you agree, I'll have you sign a magic-binding contract, and you'll be free to go with Rila. The Viscoti family holds no power in Broweathen, and so Rashania and Co has no fear of them. You must understand, Gerard. You have no choice here."

No choice? I'd like to test that theory.

[Notice] Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by .05%.