Mary’s eyes shot open. The first thing that greeted her vision was a stalactite positioned over her head like a spear. She sat upright as she groped around for her sword, taking in her surroundings. …And groped around some more. Her expression stiffened as she lowered her head, her gaze traveling down towards the empty space by the side of her waist. Her forearms and shins were showing, and her sword was nowhere to be found. She bit her trembling lip, and her eyes widened as she leapt to her feet. After making sure she hadn’t slept on her sword, she collapsed to her knees. “Where…?”

“Oh? You’re awake?” a voice asked from the cave’s entrance. Susan hopped into the cave, tilting her head at Mary. “We thought you weren’t going to wake up.”

Mary raised her head, meeting the phoenix’s gaze with bloodshot eyes. “Where’s my sword?”

“Um, Lindyss took it,” Susan said. “She’s the elf lady who beat you up.”

Mary bit her lower lip until blood came out, dying her teeth red. “Where’s my armor?”

“Grimmy took that,” Susan said. “He’s the black dragon.”

“He didn’t even defeat me! How dare he take spoils from me?” Mary’s eyes lit up as she clenched her hands, veins bulging along her skin. “Where are they?”

Susan’s head tilted the other way. “Are you … mad? What are you going to do once you find them?”

“I’m going to beg for my stuff back,” Mary said, nodding twice. “It’s clear I can’t beat them, but I can’t give up my sword and armor.”

“Well, you’re in luck!” a voice boomed from behind her. Mary stiffened as her torso straightened, her body twisting towards the back of the cave. Grimmy was lying against the cave walls, but he was unnoticeable earlier because his eyes were closed. A pair of red eyes gleamed at Mary through the darkness. “For the cheap price of being my servant for fifty years, I’ll return your sword and armor to you. Not only that, but I’ll throw in some bonuses to help you get stronger. What do you say?”

“Servant?” Mary asked, crossing her arms to hide the goosebumps on her skin. “What do you want me to do as your servant?”

“Oh, you know,” Grimmy said as his head inched forward, coming out of the darkness. A grin was plastered on his face. “This and that. Act now while supplies last. This offer won’t be available forever, you know? In fact, you have about twenty seconds to make up your mind.”

“Can—”

“Ten seconds left,” Grimmy said, tapping his claws against the ground. He pushed forward a piece of paper. “Here’s the contract that you should sign. Take your time and read it over. Oh, there are five second left by the way.”

Mary stared at the piece of paper that was taller and wider than herself. Thousands of lines of ink were scrawled upon it, and they were written in the most convoluted font she had ever seen. She raised her head and met Grimmy’s gaze. “That’s a lot of words to spell out this and that,” she said.

“Two seconds.”

Mary shook her head. “I don’t like being blackmailed.”

Grimmy raised an eyebrow. “…You don’t want your armor back? I guess you don’t want your precious sword back either. Hmm, so much for begging, huh?”

“Please, look deep within your heart and dig out every ounce of kindness that you can,” Mary said, lowering her head. “I’d greatly appreciate it if you returned my armor set to me. They mean a lot to me.”

Grimmy blinked and looked down at his chest. He poked himself with a claw before raising his head again. “I looked, but I couldn’t find anything called kindness. Sorry. But you know what I did find?” He reached behind his wing and pulled out Mary’s gauntlets and sabatons. “A few pieces of armor that belong to me. Really high-quality stuff, I’ll take them over kindness any day.”

Mary’s eyes trembled as she stretched her arms out, palms facing the ceiling of the cave. “Please.”

Grimmy chuckled as he stuffed the armor pieces away. Then he pointed at the contract. “All you have to do is sign. You don’t even have to read it.”

“What are you trying to make this poor girl do?” Lindyss asked as she walked into the cave, causing Mary to flinch and turn around. Their gazes locked. “He didn’t do anything strange to you, right?”

“…He’s bullying me,” Mary said and pouted.

“I’m not,” Grimmy said, shaking his head. “I’m just trying to get her to willingly give up her soul to me. If that’s bullying, then call me evil.”

Lindyss shook her head. “Alright, kid,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “What’s your relationship with Vur and Tafel? The phoenixes said you knew them.”

“Tafel’s a good friend of mine,” Mary said. “We had a duel and I won. Then I gave her encouragement.” Her hair fluttered as she bobbed her head up and down. “But I don’t like Vur. He cheats when we fight.”

“Vur? Cheats?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are we talking about the same person? He’s a stickler for honor, isn’t he?”

Mary’s expression dimmed. “No. When we had a staring contest, he cheated by making Tafel make me blink.”

“Staring contest?”

“It’s when you stare into each other’s eyes, and whoever blinks first loses.”

“Why did you get into a staring contest with Vur?”

“The skeleton said it was an ancient tradition amongst the undead to have staring contests to determine their rankings.”

Lindyss’ expression darkened. “You know skeletons don’t have eyelids, right? They can’t blink. That skeleton was just messing with you.”

Mary’s eyes widened. “No way….”

“Are you really the same person who attacked me a week ago?” Lindyss asked, furrowing her brow. “You seem different.”

“That’s because you beat her to near death,” Emile whispered from the cave entrance. “Anyone would change their attitude after that.”

Lindyss leaned over and picked up Susan. Then she smiled at the phoenix before throwing her at her brother. “As I was saying,” Lindyss said, dusting flames off of her hands, “you seem different. You’re not going to try to take your sword back from me?”

“If I couldn’t beat you with my sword, I can’t beat you without it,” Mary said, shaking her head. “Did you say our fight was a week ago?”

“Around that,” Lindyss said and shrugged. “Days aren’t really important when you can live forever. Maybe it’s been longer?”

“…My banquet,” Mary said, lowering her head. “Did I miss it? I hope Tafel doesn’t think I stood her up.”