“I know that you had a run in with the Academy,” Hannah said. “I had hoped that you’d be the one to tell me that.”

The comment didn’t make Dallion look away, though it wasn’t something he felt happy about. The reason was that he couldn’t discuss the Academy without touching upon the Jiroh, and that was a can of worms in itself. He had been contemplating doing so for months. Jiroh hadn’t died, she had simply returned to her own world. People were supposed to be happy for her since she’d beaten the odds and achieved what she wanted. Unfortunately, life didn’t work like that. Even Dallion, who’d actually gotten to wish her goodbye and even get trapped in her own world, felt the fury’s absence.

“Maybe I should have told you a lot of things,” Dallion said, then took a sip of the expensive drink he’d bought. The taste was strange, constantly shifting so as to complement itself. No wonder it was considered valued stuff. “I should have told you about Jiroh.”

Jiroh was the first person the innkeeper had helped since arriving in Nerosal. That was one of the innkeeper’s faults: her tendency to help people; not just any people, but people that didn’t belong to this world. It was unclear whether she did that as a sort of penance, or simply out of desire to give a hand to those who had no one reliable to turn to, but so far, she had risked a lot to help the only four otherworlders in Nerosal. Jiroh was one, as were Eury and Dallion. What was more, Hannah had even granted shelter to a member of the banished copyette race, who, millennia ago, had attempted to take over the world.

“Sorry. I—”

“Keep on topic,” the woman said in a harsh tone. “The Academy isn’t something you want to mess with. Stronger people had had their lives ruined for less.”

“I know all about the apprentice mage incident that happened a while back,” Dallion replied instinctively. Frankly speaking, he thought the conversation would focus on Jiroh.

“One incident is chance, two are coincidence. You’ve created a pattern. They have no choice but to keep an eye on you now. That’s their nature. They’ll remain quitter for a while, maybe years, methodically gathering information, figuring out what exactly to do with you. For the moment, they have bigger problems, but each annoyance you cause will make them decide faster, and you’re not ready for that.”

There was no argument regarding that. So far, Dallion had faced off a mage twice. The first time was a mere warning, but the second time… If it hadn’t been for the help and exceedingly good fortune Dallion had received, he wouldn’t be here to talk about it.

“Is that why you asked me to stay here? To warn me?”

“You’ll be having dinner here, because that’s what a certain captain asked me to,” Hannah raised her voice.

Concern made Dallion split into instances and look around the room. Strangely enough, no one seemed to be paying any interest in their conversation. It was almost as if Dallion and Hannah weren’t even there.

“Don’t worry, they can’t see or hear us,” the innkeeper said, seeing his reaction. “You’re not the only one in good relations with the guardian of this inn.”

“You’re an awakened…” I knew it!

“When did I say that?” Hannah frowned. “I’m just saying that I’ve picked up a few trinkets throughout the years. That is the reason I wanted to have a chat with you before the rest arrive. And given everything that’s happened, you owe me at least that much.”

“I know.” I owe you a whole lot more, Hannah.

“You know that Jiroh wasn’t just doing hunter missions when she went into the wilderness.”

“She spent a lot of time searching for her cloud citadel.”

“Yes, but she also went on a few jobs for me.”

Dallion had a suspicion that to be the case. While working for Hannah, he had seen Jiroh giving her parcels upon returning from her hunting trips. A year ago, the whole of Nerosal had gone crazy for artifacts. They had flooded the city in such large numbers that even common people had obtained a few. Every awakened guild was working frantically to explore and unlock the artifacts so their owners could sell them at a profit. It was natural to think that Hannah might have joined in on the action. Apparently, that hadn’t been the case.

“I’d like you to take over,” the innkeeper said. This wasn’t the first time she had offered him a job, though not to this degree. “Terms are simple. You find me certain items and in exchange, I’ll owe you a favor.”

This was a rather unusual offer. Dallion could feel her sincerity.

Anything to add? Dallion asked.

It’s not my place, dear boy. All I can say is that it’s an opportunity. As you yourself know, favors are more valuable than coins.

Just how much do you know, old man?

More than you think, less than you’d like, the echo said. With luck, you’d learn sooner than you think.

Pouring himself another drink, Dallion listened to the details. It turned out that Dallion’s role would be more of a courier than an actual hunter. All that he was supposed to do—and by assumption Jiroh had done before him—was to occasionally take certain items and bring them back to the Gremlin’s Timepiece. There was to be no trading, no barter, or stealing. Everything was supposedly arranged. All that Dallion had to do was to guard the item.

Dallion tried to find out more, including why Hannah couldn’t hire someone else for the job. However, all he got was flawed logic and irrelevant answers. If the request was made by anyone else, he’d have left long ago, but since it was Hannah, he decided to humor her. After all, the innkeeper had assured him that he was going to do all that while he was doing other things. She didn’t have the means or desire to pay him for a full exclusive work, so this was more in the “by the way” category.

The conversation gradually devolved into recent events, city politics, and… Jiroh. Since Hannah hadn’t had that conversation until now, it was like opening the floodgates. Most of the facts Dallion already knew, but there were a lot of insignificant trivialities that made him smile. It was no wonder how the fury had left her mark on so many people.

Several hours later, the first scheduled guest arrived. To Dallion’s surprise, it wasn’t March, but his very own girlfriend. Seeing Eury enter Hannah’s inn was an event in itself. The only times Dallion had known her to do so was back when she was still flirting with him, and even then, she preferred to leave as quickly as possible. This time, she entered calmly and—after receiving a nod from Hannah—made her way to the table Hannah had set up for the meeting.

After a few seconds, Dallion took his half-empty bottle from the bar counter and joined her.

“Hey,” Dallion said, giving Eury a quick peck on the cheek before he sat down. As usual, the gorgon reciprocated.

“I found the creatures you brought,” she said with a calm smile. Her relaxed expression suggested that she wasn’t bothered by her surroundings, although Dallion couldn’t be perfectly sure. Euryala was wearing a blocking ring that made it impossible to detect her emotions using music skills. “Cute, but pesky.”

“You say that about everything. I’ll release them in a few weeks. I just need to train them a bit first.”

Hannah arrived with a platter of food. The cook had put in a lot of effort this time, making a dish that Dallion hadn’t seen before. The ingredients were familiar. In fact, they were far less exotic than the inn usually offered, but the way they were prepared was unexpected to say the least. It was quickly noticed that a third dish was added to the table, in front of the empty chair.

“You can talk,” the innkeeper said. “No one will hear you.” And with that, she disappeared in the kitchen.

“The witch really needs to hire some help,” Eury said. “Having to serve herself is ridiculous.”

“I went to the guild today.” Dallion changed the topic. “March wants me for another expedition.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“I know. She already told me about it. I was going to tell you when you got back.” The gorgon took a bite of her food. “How did you learn about it?”

“Nil told me, so when I saw you were out, I went to check things out. Did anything interesting happen on your end?”

“Nothing much. Now that the countess’ army has relocated here the overseer doesn’t need me much. They’re sealing off the passages to the ruins again, so I had to help with that.”

As always, that’s a terrible idea coming from the countess, Nil grumbled. If there’s something strong enough to cause a mess down there, a few feet of stone won’t stop it. That’s the problem with the countess. She’s grown so paranoid in her old age that it’s affecting her reasoning.

She’s alive, at least, Dallion said. Her guest isn’t.

“Have you decided whether to go?” Eury asked.

“March’s request? Not yet. She told me I had a few months to think about it. Looks like she changed her mind.”

“Maybe she just wants to be sure that you’ll say yes.”

“As usual, you think too highly of her,” a familiar voice said. Dallion’s first reaction was to reply mentally, thinking he was talking to Nil. However, it quickly dawned on him, that the person who had suddenly appeared a step away from the table wasn’t the echo gained real-world form, but the person who had originally made it.

“Captain Adzorg?” Dallion asked, surprised.

“Why so shocked, dear boy?”

The man took his seat and was instantly served a bottle of rather expensive-looking brandy. Unlike Dallion, though, he wasn’t asked to pay for it. Even after all this time, Dallion had no idea what Hannah idolized the old man to such a degree. Given that this was Nerosal and that neither Adzorg or Hannah were originally from here, a few thoughts came to mind, although Dallion decided to keep them to himself.

“I trust you know what this meeting is about,” the man said rather than asked, rolling up his sleeves.

“I have a gist—” Dallion began, but was quickly interrupted.

“Not a clue,” Euryale said.

“Oh. Well, let me get straight to it, then. I know you’ve both been offered to go to the provincial capital Lanitol. I’d advise that you take the job and while there, do a small job for me as well.”

“For you?” Dallion glanced at Hannah. That wasn’t at all what they had been discussing up to now. Was she actually acting as the old man’s front?

“There is a certain rather peculiar statuette I’d like obtained,” the captain continued. “I’m not asking you to do the negotiations. I’ll do that myself.” He placed two simple looking rings on the table. “Once there, just give this to the people I tell you to and then pick up the parcel they provide. Quite simple, really. All you need to do is to act as my eyes and hands. The echoes I’ve put inside will make sure the item is real. You just need to bring it back here.”

“If it were so simple, you’d have done it already.” The snakes on Eury’s head stirred.

“All that perception and you only see the obvious.” The old man sighed. “The reason I’m asking you is because you’re the only otherwolders I’m willing to trust.”

Things suddenly made a lot more sense, but also a bit less. If there were artifacts that were only meant to be used by awakened from other worlds, why was the captain so intent on obtaining them? More importantly, could that mean that Dallion’s grandfather was involved in the whole mess in some way? There was no way to be certain whether Adzorg had been in the city forty years ago, but given the level of conflict that had ripped the province, it was a distinct possibility. Not to mention that according to Dallion’s grandfather, there had been someone else who had come from Earth…