The three of them only had to walk a short distance from the manor, and they arrived at a massive three-story restaurant with a massive sign in neon lights that said: "Krazy Kaptain Vhlads Family Buffet." Luna chuckled when she saw a chalkboard sign by the door with a drawing of a sailor that said: "Only restaurant in the lower ring not under public health investigation!"

There was a line of people that waited outside, but the three of them just passed all of them and went in. The people in the line complained about why they were given special treatment, to which the doorman replied that Luna was the co-owner of the restaurant.

Inside, it was packed to the brim. One-half of the restaurant was dozens of large tables that could seat twenty people, and every single seat was filled with people of all races. Children ran around in costumes while Luna could see that the other half of the restaurant was for the buffet and there was a long line to wait for the massive row of food.

Glorkan, human and bestian workers manned the buffet, and a bestian waiter sat them down as they waited for a table to open. Then, out of the kitchen’s double doors came a tall figure, under a sheet that pretended to be a ghost.

When it approached, he took off his costume. Underneath was an incredibly muscular old man whose muscles were barely contained underneath his long coat. His physique was intimidating, but his face had a big smile underneath a long grey beard. He had short-styled grey hair and medium skin that was covered with light scars. One of his eyes was a machine made out of gold that whirred and whizzed as it surveyed them. The moment he revealed himself, Luna approached him and they got into a tight hug.

The old man, however, gave her a bear hug and lifted her off her feet. "Luna!"

"Vhlad!" When he put her down, Luna tried to return his bear hug, which he just laughed off.

He then saw Annie and the little girl beside her. "Well, Annie is here too!" Vhlad also gave Annie a tight hug, which she returned as well. "So how are my favorite minnows? Hang on, let me-" He stepped away and returned with a sack of candies for the three of them.

"Vhlad I want you to meet someone. This is Elizabeth." Luna introduced the child, who cautiously accepted the candy.

"Well hello there little fry, Call me your uncle Vhlad." He laughed and gave Elizabeth more candies from the bag, which made the child smile.

"Elizabeth, this is Captain Vhlad. He is a former titan slayer and a former council shadow too." The old man gave Elizabeth a curt nod.

"Enough talk. You minnows came here to eat! Pete!"

A young man with glasses approached them and wore the same coat as Vhlad. Despite being in a family restaurant, the young man was the only one that openly carried a revolver. He had unkempt and spiky brown hair that matched his very strict face, and anyone could see he hated being at the restaurant.

"Get me the best table we have! The one with a beautiful view and close to the buffet!"

"Captain, someone is still sitting on it."

"Then get me a new table and put it by the window with a view. And give them tons of drinks and starters as well." The young man then returned to the hall that led to the kitchen. "Now why don’t you all help yourselves to the food while my crew prepares your table. Eliza! Take them to the buffet!" A female waiter approached and escorted Annie and Elizabeth, while Luna stayed with Vhlad.

"So it’s been months since I last saw you. Still going?" Vhlad gestured for them to walk and talk towards the bar.

"Sadly, yes, staying still is just not for me."

"And what is with the little fish?" They watched Annie and Elizabeth line up for the buffet. "Your relative?"

"No. She is a client." He laughed.

"A bit young, isn’t she? What is she paying you with? Chocolate coins?!" Vhlad laughed harder.

"Believe it or not, Vhlad, I’m doing this for free."

"Really? For free now, is it? What is the contract then?" The bartender gave them both mugs of beer.

"An escort contract. I’m just escorting the child to Braenarim to return her to her family." Luna took a large drink and put the mug down. "Vhlad, Actually, I was hoping you could give me a discount on airship tickets?"

He snorted. "You can forget flying minnow. Didn’t you read the papers this morning? Every harbour, train and airship in Silvus has been grounded. Complete border closure. They locked down all the borders and checkpoints."

"Why?"

"No one can say. No one can get a clear answer on what happened, but they just did it. Some say it was an attack or something. Rumors say there is a blackout of all information, trade, and travel going west. Who knows, it’s the usual politics."

Luna clicked her tongue. “Damn, I need to find another way to Braenarim then."

“Well, the only way left is to go by land travel, and I am sure the travel restrictions don’t apply to you."

Suddenly, a pimple-ridden teenager approached them.

"Captain Vhlad, there is a clog in the toilet again and it’s starting to flood the restroom."

"Not again. I need to take care of this. Luna, go ahead and enjoy yourself. I'll join you all at your table later." The teenager then led Vhlad to the restrooms.

"Please wash your arms and hands before you get out of there." Luna said to him, which just caused Vhlad to laugh.

=0o0=

Baldric parked his automobile at the manor. When he arrived, Baxter told him where everyone was, and he made his way towards the restaurant. Along the way, he thought about what to say to Luna. Both of them agreed to never take contracts that involved children and animals, and he just technically broke the first part of the rule.

It will be fine. I mean, I only agreed on the parent, not the child. Baldric hated how the devil was in the details.

The doorman opened the door, and the inside was packed. It was early evening, and the dinner menu was already spread out. At the same time he came in, a clown came down the stairs to entertain the children. Some of them cheered as the clown handed them balloon animals on strings. Baldric surveyed the restaurant and found Luna at a table in the middle of the room.

"I knew I would find you here. I hope they did not run out of those spicy deep-fried chicken wings." He sat down beside her, and Luna greeted him with their intricate secret handshake.

"Annie said you’d be back late." Luna signaled at the bar for a drink for him, and the bartender across the room acknowledged her with a nod.

“Well, I finished early. I was only there to collect your payment."

Both of them watched the clown perform magic tricks, which earned applause from the customers. Baldric then saw Annie in the crowd.

"Any good news while I was gone?" Luna continued to eat her meal.

“Well, not really. Profits are down for the emporium actually, but who cares about that because boy do I have good news for you!" He reached into his pocket and placed a cha ingot on the table. The bright green metal made Luna drop her knife and fork.

Luna carefully picked up the metal, and it felt unnaturally cold in her fingers. She'd seen it before, but she'd never handled a real cha ingot. It was the elusive Midas ore that, when used with a special device, can turn anything into gold. And according to rumors, it can do other miraculous things as well.

"Baldric… this is Cha. This is a genuine Cha ingot. Where on Pandora did you get this?!"

"I got two, actually." He pulled another one from his pocket. Luna looked at him with pure astonishment.

"I… What…How?"

"It was a down deposit for a contract that was too good to pass up. And the reward for the contract is even better."

"Wait." Luna carefully put the ingot on the table as though it were made of delicate glass. "You signed us up for a new contract?"

Yeah, what’s the matter? You finished Solomon’s contract."

Luna looked at Annie and Elizabeth, who were watching the magic show. Elizabeth was handed a balloon animal by the clown, and it made her smile. “Actually, I have a contract going on right now."

"So what’s the matter? We can do multiple ones at the same time. Remember when we were in the contest with Theobald and we handled ten bounties at one time? We did not sleep for days, but we did it."

"Baldric, this is... different." At some point, Luna had to tell him and as if right on cue, the magic show ended as Annie and Elizabeth walked back to their table.

"Different how?"

"Well...”

Annie, and a golden-haired little girl with sparkling blue eyes, approached their table.

"Baldric, well... this is Elizabeth and she is my... our client."

=0o0=

After their dinner, all of them went back to the manor. Luna and Baldric decided to sit down and have a drink around the fire on the back lawn. Annie had escorted Elizabeth to their room and the two of them had retired for the night.

Vhlad soon arrived and joined them as well. He brought with him a cask of alcohol and leftovers from their restaurant. As they drank, Baldric first told them about Asterion’s contract, then Luna told both of them what had happened in the past couple of days. By the end, Baldric and Vhlad watched as Luna finished a mug of beer in one drink.

"That’s quite a tale, minnow." Vhlad smoked his pipe.

"Yeah." Baldric nibbled on some leftover roasted meats. "If guilt is your weapon to convince me, then I say it worked perfectly. But then again, I would be a hypocrite if I got upset as well after what I signed us up for. "

"So you’re alright with this?" Luna asked.

"I’m not a monster. Of course, we can escort her to Braenarim. It’s in the way anyway, so we might as well do that." Baldric offered her some meat, which Luna took.

"I still do not understand why Asterion would go to the bounty hunters to hunt down mages." Vhlad puffed out smoke.

"I can understand his caution, seeing how the huntsmen treat unregulated mages." Luna took a bite off of a chicken leg. "And it is better if we are the ones who can find them."

"Yarr it still feels wrong though. Something about all this feels wrong."

"This is the life we chose Vhlad." Baldric offered him some meat, which the old man declined.

"You also need to be careful with the child as well, minnow. She might be young, but she is still a mage."

"This child is different Vhlad I can feel it."

"Hmmm, that’s your empathy talking, not common sense. If you do find her family, tell them they should be careful about hiding their daughter. And I don’t need to tell you what will happen if the huntsmen find you, both of you, with a mage. They won’t hesitate to take you down as well."

"They can try Vhlad." Baldric cracked his knuckles. "I have been waiting to get even with those huntsmen bastards anyway."

"So when are you two heading out?"

"Hopefully by tomorrow." Luna threw the chicken bone into the fire.

“Tomorrow? Already?”

"Yeah, the longer we stay, the more we will be caught by the border restrictions. I want to avoid the closure, so we need to slip past as soon as possible."

"Damn Silvus making life harder for everyone. Maybe I should sabotage this contract as payback." Baldric drank from his mug.

"What about Annie? You want me to watch over her while you two are gone?"

"I was thinking... Why don’t we take Annie with us and make this our vacation?"

"What?!" Baldric and Vhlad said it in unison.

"We have been meaning to get a vacation for months now. Plus, there is no end time for this contract. And it’s from Silvus, so let’s take our time."

"I believe you've had your fill for the night, almighty leader." Baldric said.

"I’m serious. A road trip to Braenarim will be just what we need; we can even take the scenic route. Pass by hiking trails, camping, swimming in waterfalls and rivers. Then we can meet up with Ferris in Vanir. It will be fun. Also, it will be perfect because Annie needs to see her future campus. It’s genius."

"Mixing work and pleasure?" Vhlad puffed from his pipe. "There is a word for people like you, Luna, workaholics."

"I think you mean masochist." Baldric said as he reached for more meat.

"Well, when are we going on our vacation then?" Luna crossed her arms.

"True. Plus, I really need a break from doing your work."

"Excuse you? My work?! You are a shadow too, you know!"

Vhlad smiled as he watched both of them argue. "Alright, alright, that’s enough of that. Also, if you are set on leaving tomorrow, don’t worry about food and supplies. I got that for you. I’ll have the crew deliver it by dawn."

"You’re the best, Vhlad." Luna reached for more meat.

"But I will be asking for a cut from the reward from the contract, though."

"Woah, woah. How much?" Baldric put down his mug.

"Twenty percent of the total reward."

Baldric spat out his drink. “You are going to get twenty million credits?! Just for that?! That's highway robbery, old man!"

"Deal." Luna said without even looking up from her meal.

"What?!" Baldric looked at her as if she had sprouted a second head.

"But in exchange Vhlad, I have a grocery list. You need to give us good quality supplies, barrels of water and wine, medical supplies, a medical automaton, clothes, camping equipment, magicores, and tons of ammo."

Vhlad simply laughed at her. "Done and done. And I mean done."

“Also, Vhlad, this is short notice, but do you think you can get a... silencer to come tomorrow morning before we leave? One you can trust?"

“Yarr, that’s a tall order, but I can do that. And just to help you all out, I will give you tons of extras as well."

"As I said, you are the best, Vhlad."

He laughed at her remark as they continued to feast under the stars.