Haera was assigned to the southern garrison to aid their undead brethren in the region with anything relating to magic. But her real purpose here is to monitor the border for any kind of military buildup of the Aevum empire and report it directly to the head of her kingdom’s spy ring.

While the recent rebellion had diverted much of her attention for the past few months, she had heard talks among drunk merchants and even some of the human knights guarding the border that the Aevum empire was planning to absorb her country into their sphere of influence. While she hadn’t had any luck on getting some valuable information or insight on how would those arrogant humans would bring their peaceful and quiet kingdom into their fold, she and her fellow spies were afraid that the Aevum empire will capitalize on the ongoing civil war to their advantage by either helping the rebels or helping them on the last possible minute, just so they can “persuade” their king and his council to submit to their empire.

And seeing a large force of humans dressed in dirt and green colored clothing, while also wielding strange looking muskets, confirmed their worst fear and sent a chill down her spine. She immediately blended in with the shadows and quickly retreated to the nearby mess hall that had been hastily converted to a makeshift hospital to accommodate the growing casualties from both knights and refugees.

Her personal mana reserves were still regenerating from the fight with the rebels and it's not enough for her to teleport to a nearby safehouse or even establish a psych link with her superior – Madam Lenore. She would have to rely on her natural abilities as a vampire to evade and report the developing situation to her superior before the king and his retinue of elite knights arrived in what could have been a trap for them.

Haera was still collecting her thoughts and trying to come up with a plan to escape from this stronghold, when a group of mysterious humans entered the large makeshift hospital. There were seven of them – all wearing the same strange dirt and green colored armor while also carrying a big square backpack that had a tube connected to the side of their weird looking helmet that almost covered their entire face with the exception of their eyes.

The human in the middle of their group steps forward and politely introduces himself to the doctors and apothecaries; he says that the general had given them permission to assist with the wounded and were willing to lend medical aid but they need guidance from them, as they are not familiar with working on their “kind”.

Something seems off from these humans, and it's not the strange muskets they wield nor the weird armor they wear, but the way they talk to the undead doctors. Most humans in the northern region are arrogant and boisterous; they put themselves high above the social chain and proudly look down on any other races except the elves. While there are some exceptions among them, it's almost as rare to come across a humble and respectable human as to find a large mana rock on a random digsite.

The doctors might have been thinking the same when they agreed, probably not wanting to invoke any kind of hostility from these humans and also to ease the suffering of many of the injured refugees. They quickly pointed out and guided the humans to the ones that were hastily or poorly tended to, while some of the apothecaries assured the nervous refugees as the mysterious humans walked past them. One of the humans – a female judging from her muffled voice, had begun dividing up the injured refugees and knights into separate groups, while one of them had brought out yellow bags and distributed it to the other humans who began examining the wounds of the patients.

Haera thought that they might be choosing the ideal slaves or workers to save when they inevitably sprung their trap. However, that idea was quickly dismissed when those humans began tending to those who had been severely injured first – mostly the elderly and some of the children who had been unfortunate enough to encounter Balthier’s abominations. She tried to think of any reason why these humans would do this, but couldn’t find any.

Their weird looks might have caught her eye, but the way they act is what finally piqued her interest in further observing and investigating these humans before alerting her superior. She took the opportunity to leave the makeshift hospital while the humans were distracted. The warm sunlight stabbed at her exposed skin as she stepped outside of the large stone building; she instinctively covered all of her exposed skin with her robe before noticing two of the mysterious humans walking towards her. She quickly hid behind the nearby stacks of wooden crates, hoping that the humans didn’t notice her as their muffled voices got louder as they slowly approached the door.

“Man, everything here just feels surreal.” One of the mysterious humans said just as they stopped right in front of the mess hall’s door.

“Yeah, you could say that again. I never thought I’d ever get to see a white walker in real life” the other human responded. Haera noticed that the man was carrying a different kind of musket; it was much bulkier and larger compared to the other ones, and had a long belt of brass nails attached to the side of it.

“What the hell is a white walker?” the other man asked, just as a large black insect-looking beast had flown past above them, she couldn’t get a good look at it because of the large gust of wind it leaves in its wake and the loud noise that it emitted.

“You know – from the Game of Thrones series?” The man carrying the bulky musket replied as he looked towards a group of undead knights nearby that was watching them closely. She was again surprised to see that the undead knights were still armed and had not been detained or tied up by the mysterious humans, maybe because they didn't need to, judging by how easily they drove off the rebels that any resistance from them would be swiftly dealt with.

“Nah, I haven’t seen that one yet.” The other human casually replied as he leaned his back against the wall and joined his friend in watching the group of knights in the distance. “Is it any good though? I hate to waste my time on a shitty television show.”

“It's good – well, mostly good. You should definitely watch it! I heard one of the POG’s back at main has a copy of all the episodes. I’ll ask around when we get back.” The man carrying the bulky musket enthusiastically replied before the door they were guarding opened, and the man from earlier had stepped out.

“Hey, you two, run back to Sierra 1 and grab a couple bags of medical supplies in the back!” the man ordered as the two humans stood to attention.

“Yes sarge!” The two of them replied before they jogged back towards the broken gate, leaving their leader all by himself as he unslung his weird looking musket and stood guard. She noticed that the man’s big square bag had some kind of small banner stitched onto it and the words KERRY written just below it.

Haera contemplated the idea of subduing the man and dragging him to a safe place where she could probe his mind for more information regarding their plans and their true intent on them. but decided not to after the human’s black dragonfly flew past above her again. She already felt her mana had recovered enough to establish a psych link with her superior, and that risking herself and possibly the entire garrison for a glimpse of the human’s plans and motives was not worth it for the time being. She can only hope that another opportunity will present itself later on after she has informed her superiors.

She quietly sneaked away from both humans and undead patrols and towards one of the abandoned stone watchtowers that was damaged from the recent battle; the area around it was quiet, which made it a perfect place to initiate a psych link. Dust greeted her as she entered the watchtower; she quickly locked the heavy wooden door and began meditating in the middle of the room.

“Madam Lenore, can you hear me?” She called out in the dark void, after which a soft voice acknowledged her presence.

“Haera, What’s the situation there?” The voice of Madam Lenore echoed in her mind.

“The southern garrison is no longer under siege by the rebels, madam. But we have a large group of humans – possibly an army, who have driven off the rebel army with ease and are now inside our garrison.”

“Humans? Tsk, I knew they'd make their move sooner or later. Retreat back to the nearest safehouse. I’ll inform Lord Drakul with th- ” Madam Lenore said before Haera cut her off mid sentence.

“Pardon me, madam, but I don’t think these humans are from the Empire nor the Vurisian kingdom.” She interjected, “They wore strange looking armor and wielded strange looking muskets that were way too different than the ones we’ve seen. The way they spoke and acted towards our undead brethren is very different – almost radical from the way humans in our region do towards us.”

“Could they be from the eastern lands? Or perhaps this is all an elaborate ruse to strike at us when we least expect it.” Madam Lenore suggested, with a noticeable annoyance from her tone. “Could you at least describe what these men look like?”

“They are wearing some kind of clothing that covers their entire body, and a sand-colored helmet with a mask that muffles their voices and hides most of their face except for their eyes.” Haera explained as she recalled her observations on the mysterious humans. “They also wielded some kind of strange musket that was much shorter than the ones that the Aevum Empire’s elite guard uses; it had strange looking parts sticking out all over it.”

“That’s not much to go about, Haera. Is there anything else that could point us to their true identity?” Madam Lenore asked again.

“I saw some kind of symbol on their large backpacks they were carrying; it looked like a flag that had red and white stripes running across it and a small blue box filled with stars on the top left of it.” Haera further recalled her close encounter with one of the mysterious men.

“Are you sure that you saw that flag clearly?” Madam Lenore asked, her voice now shifting to a more serious tone.

“Y-yes Madam Lenore, I am sure of it!” Haera nervously replied, having been caught off guard by the sudden shift in her superior’s tone.

“Listen to me carefully, Haera. Under no circumstances should you or anyone else provoke these humans. Continue observing them but remain in the shadows; we might have another transference event on our hands.” Madam Lenore said with a hint of nervousness in her voice. “I have to bring this matter to the king’s attention.”

“As you will, Madam Lenore.” Haera replied before severing the psych link with her, dust fell off from the broken ceiling of the watchtower just as she heard a faint rumbling sound outside.

----------

The area around the battered garrison could be compared to a hellscape as viscera, blood and destroyed trees had littered the scorched ground; it was a stark contrast to the lush and serene forest they had just left. Lord Drakul could smell the stench of death as they walked past the gruesome scene; even the captain of his royal knights had flinched at the sight of the dead abominations. To call this the aftermath of a battle is a joke; it was a massacre. If what Lenore had told him is true, then he has to be very careful when talking to these mysterious powerful humans.

As they got closer, he saw the banner of his kingdom flying proudly at the gates of the castle, and with it was his close friend – General Boros, who was waving at him. Drakul dismounted his steed and walked towards the smiling undead general while his royal knights followed closely behind him with their swords and shields ready incase something bad happened.

“Lord Drakul. It’s good to see you personally again, my king.” General Boros greeted him as the knights guarding the general stood to attention while others bowed their heads, Drakul could hear a faint rumbling sound emanating from the other side of the castle.

“Likewise General“ Drakul coldly replied, wanting to focus on the problems at hand rather than catch up with an old friend. “I’ve been informed that a large group of humans have driven back my brother’s army and are giving you aid for the wounded; is this true?”

“Yes, indeed my lord. I don’t know where these humans came from, but I’m glad that they’ve helped us. I don’t think we could’ve held out any longer if they hadn’t intervened in the battle.” Boros replied as they walked side by side towards the inner courtyard of the castle. “Their leader, a human named “Colonel Armstrong” requests an audience with you, my lord. He said that they have something important to discuss with someone of significant authority on our land. I was planning to step up and act as representative, but I already mentioned that you and your royal knights were already nearby.”

“Then let us not make them wait any longer.” Drakul said as he picked up the pace of his walking, they passed by a dozen battleworn knights resting on any surface that was comfortable to sit on. “How’s your men, general?”

“We’ve only suffered a low casualty rate throughout the battle, my lord. The rebels might have the numbers, but my men are more determined and led by good officers!” Boros boasted to the delight of the officers and knights standing nearby. “Though something had been buggering me from that battle… Those abominations that your brother had made, they didn’t fight cohesively as they did when we last fought them.”

“What do you mean, general?” Drakul asked. He knows that those abominations we’re not exactly the best fighters but what makes them terrifying on the battlefield is the fear they instill in their enemies and their extreme coordination under the psychic command of his brother or his lieutenants.

“They were feral; it’s like something must have broken the psych link between them and your brother, my lord.” The general replied, the sound of the rumbling getting louder as they got closer to the other side of the large courtyard. “And when those humans arrived, most of them had totally lost control of themselves and started to retreat away from them – they threw themselves on our defenses as a desperate attempt to get away from those humans.”

Drakul thought that the rebels must have encountered these mysterious humans recently, and something bad must have happened to instill that much terror in those wretched abominations. “Do you think they are from the Aevum empire, general?” He asked, fearing that warnings from his lover and the head of their kingdom’s spy ring were coming to fruition.

“I highly doubt it, my lord. Their appearance, their weapons, and even their attitude towards us are very different from those bastards down our border.” The general scoffed as they passed through a short tunnel connecting the northern and southern courtyards of the castle. They emerged on the other side and were greeted with a tense atmosphere between the defenders and the mysterious humans standing inside their garrison; the general pointed towards the humans standing at the broken gate.

Their appearances were indeed strange and peculiar, as the general had said; they all wore the same clothing with a pattern that would definitely help them blend in the forest around them, a bulky vest that had multiple pockets varying in shape and sizes, a round smooth helmet that were very reminiscent to the one’s fielded by nations on the east lands, and an unusual mask that hides most of their facial features except their eyes which can be seen clearly through a large eye slit that is protected by what looks like clear glass. As he got closer to them, he quickly noticed a familiar flag on their shoulders, something that he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Greetings Lord Drakul! I’m Colonel Armstrong, the highest ranking military officer currently present at the moment, and we came here on behalf of the NATO Forces of MOB Razor to establish peaceful contact with your kingdom, my lord.” The man standing in front of a large brown carriage and flanked by a couple of the strangely dressed men, happily introduces himself to him before bowing down his head.

“Nay-toe? I’m not familiar with any country that goes by that name. Are you from the eastern lands? Perhaps from the southern regions of Terra?” Drakul asked. Even though he was already convinced that they were another victim of a transference event, he wanted to see if this man was truly honest, and not just merely pretending as this wasn’t the first time this method was used to deceive a gullible foe before stabbing them in the back.

“No Lord Drakul. Ummm, how do I put this? We're not from here, not from this world to be exact.” Colonel Armstrong replied, “Our military base had been somehow transported to this world...”

A base? He had heard stories of large groups of humans being transported into their world, but this was the first time that he had heard that an entire location was transferred. If their base was inside his borders, then he could curry their favor in exchange for their vast otherworldly knowledge. Both the United Elven Alliance and Aevum kingdom had benefited from the information given to them by humans from another world for the past century; this could be his only chance to make his kingdom a powerhouse in their region.

“When did your transference happen? And where is your military base located?” Drakul asked. He still has to confirm if they indeed fall under his kingdom’s domain before making any moves to be on their good side.

“Two days ago, Lord Drakul. As for the location… I can’t exactly tell you just yet.” Armstrong replied as he shifted his weight to the side as he uttered the last phrase.

“Why not?” he glared at the colonel, who quickly broke their eye contact momentarily as he looked downwards for a second before looking back at him again. He had to be reminded somehow that he was talking to a king while standing in his homeland..

“Forgive me Lord Drakul but my commander is still concerned with the overall security of our base after we’ve been attacked by those things.” Armstrong explained, before pointing towards a small pile of dead abominations nearby. “We managed to drive them back but without taking losses.”

“Impressive… only a handful of groups had held their ground against them.” Drakul remarked. “You said that you have a commander; is he the one in charge of you all?”

“Yes, that man would be Major General Collins.” Armstrong replied. “If you want to talk to him, then that could be arranged. My men had set up a temporary outpost in the village just south of here, and from there we could set you up for a meeting with the general.”

“Then let’s make our way there, but be warned human. Should you try anything to harm me or my subjects, then I'll personally make sure that none of you will ever leave our land alive.” Drakul warned the colonel which made the other humans nearby tense.

“Understood Lord Drakul. But that goes both ways too, should you attack any of us then we’ll kindly respond with self defense.”

----------

Sunlight pierced through the colorful ornate windows – creating a beautiful mix of colors that lit up the halls of this sacred church; the wooden pews were set aside as the men and women wearing bulky green clothing had converted the peaceful sanctuary into a makeshift hospital. Emma Becker was sitting beside her sleeping siblings and unconscious adoptive father as she drank water from a flimsy transparent container that was given to her by the mysterious humans; she was still examining the strange flask when she noticed her father’s eyes opening and his hands slowly moving.

“Father! Thank heavens you’re finally awake!” Emma hugged him as he slowly adjusted to the small green bed he was lying on.

“W-what happened Emma? Where are your brothers?” He asked her as he sat up straight and looked around him. He felt something sharp stabbing at his wrists and noticed a strange looking wire embedded within it; he tried to remove it, but he immediately heard a muffled shout from one of the mysterious figures nearby.

“Hey! Please don’t touch that, sir!” One of the humans in one of those weird green and dirt-colored uniforms with a strange mask had approached them. His shoulder tensed as he tried to grab some mana stones in his pocket just in case they had to make a quick getaway, only to find it completely empty.

“It’s okay father, they’re here to help” Emma assured him as the man checked the bag of water hanging over him which the wires on his wrists were connected to, he relaxed a little bit as his daughter held his other hand.

“Can you tell me your name sir?” the man asked.

“I’m Joseph Engel, devout priest of the lady” He replied before glancing towards the wooden statue hanging high above the altar, her divine presence radiating over them.

“Okay Joseph, do not remove that wire on your wrists. It’s giving you the nutrients and electrolytes you need.” The man explained as he heard faint loud bangs outside, “Ms. Emma here told us that you’ve been trapped here since yesterday without food or water and had collapsed due to exhaustion. If you didn’t regain those lost nutrients, then your current condition could worsen.”

Even though he didn’t understand some of the things the man had said, he could clearly deduce that the man was some kind of doctor or apothecary.

“I see. How can we repay you for your services?” Joseph asked.

“Oh no, no, no, you don’t have to pay anything, sir. We’re just doing our best to help any-” The man declined before he was interrupted by something. “Hold up, sir”

“Shit, are you serious? Yeah, I’ll prep the table, just double time it here” The man nervously mumbled to himself before leaving in a hurry.

“Are you thirsty, father? The humans gave us refreshing water in these weird containers.” Emma offered him some kind of transparent bottle.

“No, I’m good, Emma. Just save it for you and your brothers” Joseph declined as he took some time looking at the state of his church; thankfully the humans hadn’t vandalized or stolen any of his religious idols and artifacts.

Emma set aside the flimsy water bottle and stood up to check on her sleeping brothers, when suddenly the double doors of the church burst open and two of the mysterious humans were carrying another one of their own who was bleeding profusely on the neck.

“Get him on that bed!” The man who they had just talked to, rushed towards to aid the men carrying the wounded man.

“Fuck he’s bleeding heavily, doc!” One of the humans carrying the injured man exclaimed as he carefully set down the injured man on one of the thin green beds nearby.

“Where’s the goddamn medevac?!” The other human – a female, exclaimed before she took off the injured man’s helmet and mask and threw it aside. A small blood puddle was already forming below the green bed.

“It’s already on its way, Sanchez! Go pop a green smoke outside!” The human doctor ordered, before grabbing a bandage from one of the yellow packs on the nearby table, and pressing it on the wounded man’s neck. She could hear the poor man choking when she felt a strong tug on her hand.

“Emma! Go grab the bottle of healing potion under the altar and help them out!” her father instructed her.

“Y-Yes father!” she stammered before quickly running to the altar. She remembered the time when a traveler gave it away after a deal with her adoptive father; while they couldn’t use the potion themselves, it was still very potent and could be used to help injured human or demi-human travelers who stumbled on their town from time to time.

She quickly found and grabbed the health potion; it still had about a quarter of its contents left.

“Carlos! Keep holding that pressure. I’ll grab the surgical kit!” The doctor shouted before running to a pile of strange looking bags near the church’s double doors; she nervously approached the wounded man and his colleague, who was holding down a blood-soaked bandage over the wounded man’s slashed neck.

“You’re gonna be fine, Allen! Just stay with me, okay? Just stay with me!” The man comforted the injured man. He didn’t seem to notice her as she got so close to them that she could finally see the wounded man’s face; he was just a young man who was barely clinging to life.

“Hey! Get away from ther-'' She heard the doctor shout at her, which made her hastily pour the entirety of the health potion on the young man’s wound. The man holding the bandage jumps back and draws his short brown musket on her. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“I-I just gave your friend a health potion, h-he will be fine.” She stammered, her body was shaking so much that she could barely hold the empty bottle in her hands. It was the very same feeling when the humans discovered them last night.

“Health potion?! What do you mean health potio-” The man furiously asked her, before the sudden coughing of the wounded man caught his attention. The large slash on the young man’s neck was rapidly closing up as the healing potion seeped into the open wound.

“What the actual fuck?” The man muttered as he slightly lowered his short musket; the doctor quickly checked on the man and was equally shocked to see the result of the health potion. “What the hell?”

The young man sat down, still coughing as his wounds finally healed back. “Fuck me that hurts!” he blurted it out before he turned towards her and smiled. “Thanks kid. I don’t know what you did, but I owe you one.”

----------

His retinue had finally reached Bredon after an hour of following tailing behind the human’s loud metal carriage; he saw more of the humans and their strange horseless carriages patrolling and guarding key positions in and around the town as they entered through main dirt road that leads to the town square. He immediately saw signs of a recent skirmish as they entered Bredon; dried blood puddles, broken wheelbarrows, and bullet holes could be seen on every street and corner they turned to. Drakul could only imagine the battle that took place here.

They passed by a lot of abandoned or burned down buildings on their way to the town square. Some of the more damaged buildings have multiple long black sacks lining the outside, with a couple of human soldiers standing guard near it. His heart sank when he noticed the faint humanoid silhouette on the long black sacks; he could only pray that his fellow countrymen would forgive him for letting the citizens of Bredon perish under his rule. Drakul could only steel himself and hope that he could bring the otherworlders to his side so things like this would never happen again.

They arrived at the town square, which was heavily fortified by the humans with large brown sacks that were stacked on top of each other and the infamous metal thorns that painfully entraps anyone who is unfortunate enough to cross it. The human’s horseless carriage stopped just right outside the fortifications, and the human colonel climbed out of its back alongside two of his human bodyguards.

“This way Lord Drakul” Armstrong motioned at him; he waited for his royal knight captain to catch up with him before they entered the heavily fortified town square. Drakul saw many green tents of varying sizes that were set up all around the place; there was also a tall metal post that was erected near the memorial fountain where the famous poppies stained by the blood of the damned grow. They were led to the large tent beside the tall metal post.

“The video feed is live and ready, sir!” An enthusiastic muffled voice greeted the human colonel; as Drakul and his royal knight captain entered the tent, they were directed towards a large table at the center of the tent that had a strange device placed on top of it.

The device was almost identical to the ones found destroyed at the ancient ruins all around his kingdom; he contemplated the idea of these humans being the ancients themselves but quickly dismisses it after realizing that the ancient’s remains do not match up with the physical bodies of these humans. A voice called out for him, seemingly coming from the strange bright device that was laid upon the table.

“Lord Drakul, it is a pleasure to finally speak with you, sir. I am Major General Andrew Collins of the United States Armed Forces. Unfortunately, I cannot be present right there at the moment due to the dire circumstances we found ourselves in.” A clear image of an old man dressed in the same clothing as the humans in the tent, greeted him. He deduced that the strange device must have probably operated on the same principle as a two-way mana communication glass that most of the kingdoms in their region use.

“The pleasure is all mine, Major General Andrew Collins. It is truly a great blessing that the gods had yet again bestowed our world with another group of otherworlders.” He did his best to flatter the human general. After all, he still remembered a particular phrase that a previous otherworlder told him when he was approached by him on behalf of the UEA. First impressions last.

“You can just call me General Collins, Lord Drakul. And what do you mean by another group of otherworlders? Are there other people besides us that were transported to this world?” The general asked.

“Yes, General Collins. There were many others before you; there are tales and legends of brave and powerful warriors that mysteriously appeared during a great time of crisis on this land.” He answered before pointing at the red, white and blue banner that was hanging on the tent’s wall. “And all of them proudly bore that flag you’re carrying.”

Murmurs from humans inside the tent began to pick up before being shushed by Colonel Armstrong.

“Where are these humans now?” The general asked after being silent for a minute.

“Well, most of them are gone now. Leaving relics and artifacts from your world to the countries that took them in.” He replied, “Though there was still one otherworld alive that I know of, but I do not know his current whereabouts. I’ll have my men search for him.”

“That would be very much appreciated, Lord Drakul. Thank you, your highness.” The general smiled just as the clear image distorted for a second before returning to it’s crystal clear quality.

“Now, may I inquire about the location of your base, General Collins?” Drakul asked, which made the general’s slight grin revert back to a straight face. “I have three battalions of my finest men combing the entire southern region of my kingdom for any rebel camps. I only wish to avoid any kind of serious misunderstanding, should they come across your base.” He added, which made the general’s posture even more tense.

“Give us a moment, if you will, your highness.“ The major general replied, before the sound coming from the strange device suddenly cuts off, he sees the white-haired general talking to someone he can’t see. After a minute of awkward silence, the human general finally turned his attention back to him and sighed. “Our base is located about three miles or about 5 kilometers east of that town you're in, Lord Drakul.”

“I hope you can understand our own predicament too, General Collins.” He replied, to which the general was about to say something, but chose to nod at his reply instead. “I’ve heard from Colonel Armstrong that your base had been attacked by the rebels after you’ve been transferred to our world, is this true?”

“Yes, that is correct, your highness. They attacked us without provocation, but we managed to push them back after killing their leader.” General Collins replied.

“Their leader? Y-You’ve managed to kill my brother?” He stammered after the general’s answer caught him off guard. He already had suspicions that something bad must’ve happened to his brother for him to not show up during the battle at the southern garrison, but he wasn’t expecting that the otherworlders had already done the terrible deed of ending his brother for him.

“We are not aware that he was your brother, your highness. I-I’m deeply sorry, Lord Drakul.” The general anxiously replied.

“No. It's okay General Collins. He was a threat to you and my people, and you’ve done the Zorenth kingdom a service by taking care of him.” He assured the general. “Where is his body right now, General Collins?”

“It’s currently inside one of our secured buildings being examined by our medical personnel.”

“Can I visit his remains alongside my men?” He asked for permission. “Even though he went down a dark path in his life, he still deserves a rite of passage to the afterlife.”

“That could be arranged, your highness.”