The list was far longer than he'd thought. Twenty-three constituents, demanding a sum equal to most, if not all, of his current wealth in stocks.

The Devil furrowed his brow at the total sum 3,456,072 in debts accrued in the heinous crime of stiffing the tab. He was going to Burn Darwin for this, shared pain be damned.

"Mister Von Helmut?" someone called to him. He looked up. It was the Watchman who'd brought him in.

"Officer Crow wants a word with you." he said as the staunched officer in question entered the cell block and sneered at him through the bars.

The devil had taken a seat in an open cell to do his figures, calculating times and days upon which he could be reliably paid and then redistribute the money towards his. many debtors. He;d rather posses another hangman's corpse, spouting idiotic verse to necromancer fools, selling their souls for pennies on the dime in exchange for such fleeting power. And the look on Officer Crows face was all the more rotten and twisted.

It was a gloating smile. He could smell it from here, Officer Crow was proud of something. Him.

Not the Devil personally, the mask he was wearing, that of Darwin. The memories of the strange fire tickled his mind, Something about dueling scars...

"Well, if it isn't the great Darwin Von Helmut himself, resting in my cell!" the surprisingly thin man called out. The light was terrible, making the moustached man look like a gaunt twig in these shadows. He was shorter than Watchman that brought him in.

"Tell me Watchman, how many men did it take to bring him in? 10, 20? a squad?" the officer pressed, the man by the cell door stuttered moment before answering.

"Uh-uh, Just the one, sir. I think it was Demitri who got him."

"Ah, good on him. Did the prisoner put up a struggle?"

Crow said that last part more quietly, as if he were a giddy child waiting for a present, containing his excitement for the moment he could tear open the package.

"Uh, No-Sir, he didn't. No magic either. He just came along quietly when he heard about the bills."

"WHAT!?" The Officer screamed like a banshee, even if those are a myth, but he made a serious attempt at waking the dead with his outburst. The Watchman flinched again, and continued.

"Yes, Sir, he actually arrived ahead of Demitri. He wanted to see the records we had, so I showed him the petition for his arrest and-"

"And nothing. Do you know how long I've-" The Officer paused, glaring with a poisoned look into the cell as he beheld the face of his Nemesis. Crow backed away from the Watchman, whom he'd gotten rather close to putting his finger up to the poor man's nose, and swiveled to regain some dignity before addressing him directly.

"Mister Von Helmut. I see you made it easy on all of us and came quietly. I suppose I'll be returning those Warded shirts back to the Armory. No worries, I'm sure I'll be using them again to dispose of all the fractus you've caused. I'm sure you've cursed all your possessions to the nines by now, especially that cane sword you're so proud of." The grin on the smug man's face grew even wider.

"Nothing to say for yourself?" he asked mockingly. The Devil sighed and put his pen and tabulations aside. Standing up, he addressed this, Officer Crow.

"May I assume you accusing me of something, henious? Was the petition for my arrest that convincing, over a simple debt?"

Crow's face gave a twitch. "I didn't need a petition to tell me you were dangerous. I still think you had something to do with that fire, and this-" He pulled something from his jacket. An awl with an engraving on the simple wooden handle, a seven point star with a handful of lines missing at certain junctions.

"I believe this to be your handiwork. A simple tool, but quite the enchantment." Crow stated, rolling the tool in his hands. "found this in the Jeweled Crab. Did you know Gunther?"

"Briefly." the Devil responded, "he needed a loan, so I gave him one. Why has he left town? Is Gunther in some kind of trouble?"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"This Awl, has been enchanted to make Wood appear as metal, False Silver. A crime that demands the hanging of both him and the persons responsible for creating it. And only an unscrupulously failed wizard like yourself could have a chance of producing such a thing! The courts will have no trouble in finding you guilty of Illegally producing magic charms without a licence, and malicious malpractice. They might see fit to add treason to the charge, given the nature of the deception. So Yes, Gunther is in trouble as are you!"

The devil gave a contemplating look before answering. He'd been impressed. Darwin had made an absolute wreck of his life so far, and from the look of things, gotten away with it. Swapping with him may have saved the little bastard from an excruciating death or imprisonment.

It all left him with the distinct feeling of having been outwitted by a snail or a Trilobyte. Something small and scuttling underfoot, but not that clever.

"Well, Officer, I must admit, this is a problem. Seeing as I'm accused of Counterfeiting, aiding a criminal enterprise and producing magic without legal permission or right. I'd say it's a right mess."

He could see that evil smile widening across Officer Crow's face,

"If I had anything at all to do with it, that is. I'll bet you could find that same enchantment in a dozen places if you look hard enough." He replied. Crow didn't like that.

"This design isn't public, only a trained magician could create this design, unless your're accusing the Guilds instead." the Officer pointed, his smile was back.

"it's actually a simple adjustment to a common enchantment, the Vanity mirror, claims to make a girl look her best, but only in that reflection, any casual wizard of Guildsman could make one." The Devil countered. Crow huffed like a spring trap closing.

"Nice try, Darwin, but I know Gunther wasn't a part of any guild and wouldn't have had access to those kinds of records or design engravings. So who gave he couldn't have made it himself."

"Possible, but it's also possible a commissioner provided the design."

Crow "What?! But Gunther was a Jeweler, not a Wood carver." Crow shouted.

"But his father trained him as a toolmaker. He only recently became a jeweler because of the drop in business. Nobody wants a hammer when they can have magic." The Devil expanded, first part was probably a lie. Job mobility has always been a problem, but that last part about the hammer was giving him ideas.

Enchanted Toolmaking, he'd make a mint. If someone didn't beat him to it.

The Devil shook his head as explained his feint to Crow, "It's not uncommon for a custom design to come in with a large or intricate pattern. It's feasible to believe it could conceal an enchantment from scrutiny. Especially if the client has a sketch to serve as a reference. If you're not looking for it, or not trained in magic, it would be easy for an outside viewer to spot. Unless you used a dowsing test."

Not entirely untrue, Most of Darwin's commissions were exactly that, as far as he could tell, until Guildsmen showed up with a billy club, anyway.

"But how would they know what designs to put forth? The Order doesn't share its secrets with everyone, and the Guilds are worse," Crow countered. The Devil laughed a little before replying.

"I've found old manuals thrown out by the Order and it's college that contain some of the wildest enchantments you could think of. And the guilds steal designs from each other all the time, I wouldn't be surprised if the handle belonged to such a spy." He took a pause to lean closer to the Officer, who'd lost his smile.

"I bought quite a few of those manuals when I began my training with the Order. I can even show you a few places- "

"No! er, No, I'd rather not" Crow reacted.You'd think he'd been offered a bribe.

Devil chuffed at the borrowed recollection. Darwin's early life read like a trashy novel, all brim and bluster. Suitably tragic for the weepish kind of reader. He lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Makes you wonder how many of these manuals are being used right now by some foolhardy child playing pretend as a wizard. Only to find out that old dusty book in the garbage is the real deal. What do you call them? They're not real wizards, Maybe, Half Wizards? Demi-Magicians? Idiots?"

It was a joy to watch Crow's face pale a little as he spoke.

"But what of Pneuma? They have to be awakened to use it, even to use magic items you have to-" he protested, the Devil tutted to himself

"A Seeing stone is a common as candy. People love using magic objects, even if they're not wizards. Besides, it's an awful lot of money to pass on. Who knows how many Half Wizards there are, how many of them building things just like that little awl in your pocket"

Officer Crow Shook his head, trying to dislodge the dawning realization he'd just had. The Devil let himself out of the cell. As the shocked and confused man tried to say something to the watchman next to him.

"Get out."

"Sorry? what was that?" the devil asked. Crow repeated himself

"Get Out!, Pay your bloody debt and get out. I've- I've got some errands to run." he sputtered. The Devil gave a small nod and started to leave the room. Crow whispered to himself.

"when did you get so clever, you bastard?"

The Demon turned and smiled. "Oh, I've been feeling like a different man recently. But I see you're about to be very busy. As am I, call if you require anything more, and I'll have the money at the courthouse in three days. Good Day, Officer." And with that, he left.

He really had thought that would take longer, but it seemed Officer Crow's grudge wasn't as great as his paranoia. Perhaps he'd learn more later on.

Till then, Business, he still had time to make the trading square before closings and could snap up a few loose deals before the day's end, and he had to go visit a banker to help settle these debts. This petition held a lot of names to go through.