Once the entourage of mercenaries arrived in the public square of Crey, Iloryn and Luna headed straight for the Magistrate’s office, wherever that was. Honestly, it made Liam realize that he knew very little about the city.

Before Liam and Nora could leave as well, Ekram approached them and asked, “So, Liam, you interested in officially joining?”

Having considered his options after speaking with both Noctis and Luna, Liam answered, “Would it be alright if I had an honorary member status?”

Ekram thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “What did you have in mind for that?”

“I’d be interested in joining you on jobs from time to time if you need an extra hand, but I realized officially becoming one of you would likely get in the way of some things I’ve already been tasked with accomplishing.”

Raising a brow, Ekram asked, “Understandable, but could you tell me what it is?”

“Honestly, it’s all somewhat vague, but I guess I can tell you that I’ll probably need allies down the road if I want to survive.”

Ekram raised his chin slightly at the statement, visibly curious. “Do you happen to know Doran?”

“Uh, yes?” Liam replied, caught off guard by the question. He immediately decided not to mention being an honorary member of the Thieves Guild to avoid any possible issues.

“Hmm… Let’s do this then: I’ll go talk to Doran later and get back to you with my decision a few days from now, perhaps during the evacuation depending on when that happens.”

“Sure…” Liam muttered, totally confused as to why the branch leader of the Thieves Guild would have any say in this.

“Well, I’ll let you go now. See you in a few days.”

“Yeah,” Liam said, waving farewell.

Within moments of leaving, a screen formed in front of him. The Masked Meister sat behind his desk as usual, but his chin rested in his hand, his shoulders slumped, and overall, his demeanor gave the impression of weariness.

[Hey. Sorry about last night. Had a few visitors…]

“Like who?” Liam asked, drawing a puzzled expression from Nora. From her point of view, it looked like he was speaking to thin air.

[Some supervisors. I’ll explain it some other time.] The Masked Meister extended his free hand to prevent Liam from asking anything. [Now, let’s get to your issues. Mine can wait.]

Liam glanced around at all the nearby people. As a precaution, he leaned over and whispered in Nora’s ear and whispered, “Can you pretend I’m talking to you?”

“Uh… sure? Who are you talking to, though?”

“I’ll tell you when we get home. Now,” he returned his attention to the Masked Meister, “I picked up a poison resistance skill last night.”

“Seriously?!” Nora asked, immediately reacting to the statement. The Masked Meister also perked up at the statement.

“Anyway… as I was saying, the notification said it was due to genetic modification. Is it due to my, erm, specific situation, or is it something else?”

“Uh… how should I know?” Nora responded, playing her part rather well.

[Hmm… Hard to say. My first thought also jumped to your species change, but it’s definitely not one of their species-specific traits.]

“Perhaps something you guys did?”

“What? Who?” Nora asked, totally lost at this point.

The Masked Meister remained silent for a few moments and sighed. [Not impossible, but very unlikely.]

“Explain.”

Lifting his hand from below his chin, the Masked Meister rubbed it through his hair and said, [There’s a lot that goes on here, and I think it’ll be easier to show it to you once you’re strong enough to aid me rather than say anything here.]

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Seems there’s something questionable behind the scenes… If they messed with my body without my permission…

[Along with that, though, let me research your files a bit and also the system’s memory. Maybe I can find something. For now, we’ll just have to assume the notification referred to your species change.]

“And if it isn’t?” Liam inquired.

“If it isn’t what?” Nora asked in response.

[Although this goes against my general approach, we’ll have to figure it out when we get there.]

“Hmm… I guess I’ll just leave it at that…”

[While we’re at it, I noticed you almost encountered an invading force.]

Liam nodded.

[What do you plan to do?]

“I’m leaning toward joining the evacuation.”

“Really?” Nora asked. “I kind of expected you to suggest taking advantage of it somehow.”

[Have to say I agree with your cohort, Liam.]

“If I remember correctly, I won’t be able to earn anything from killing any of them.”

[Ah, you mean the guideline about not murdering the denizens of this world. There’s something of a loophole when it comes to war. There’s actually a lot of loopholes for you to take advantage of, though some won’t last past accomplishing my goal.]

Liam raised a brow at both the implications of earning experience from killing the invaders and the Meister mentioning such a detail about his goals. Setting aside the possibility of what the Meister’s goal might be, the thought of getting something out of a possible war perked his interest.

[You don’t need to follow my advice on this, but the way I see it, you could either join the defense officially or go off on your own and sabotage them or something. Can’t really say any of this is my area of expertise, though.]

“I’ll keep my options in mind,” Liam said.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, back on the coast of Azgara, a light rain began to pelt the decks of the Zhulisian ships. Plodding along the upper decks, a young man barely over the age of twenty approached two older men near the bow. Clad in lightweight yet incredibly durable armor, his powerful strides gave the impression of a rugged regality. His steel helmet, accented with gold protrusions circling off his forehead like a sharply angled crescent moon, covered most of his head save for his right eye. A certain level of innocence showed within the iris, purple like the sky during sunset. Several silver hairs protruded from beneath the upper edge of the orifice. In contrast, the helmet covered his left eye, leaving only an oval-shaped opening filled by a glowing red stone. Warm breaths blew through the vented metal covering the lower half of his face and fogged the cool air in front of his face. A red scarf was wrapped haphazardly around his neck and fluttered behind him in the wind. Two darksteel swords rested in rather unassuming sheaths bolted the back of his armor. The hilts of both were carved to look like dragon heads.

Each of the men he passed struggled not to bow out of reflex. Some still did so from time to time, which usually brought a swift, albeit light, punishment. The young man made it abundantly clear when they embarked on this campaign that he would not be treated as royalty until he earned their trust. That line alone earned more than his fair share of the men’s respect whether he knew it or not.

Upon reaching the two elders at the bow, the young man nodded respectfully to the shorter of the two and with voice slightly muffled by the vents said, “Good evening, Commander Baylich,” then he faced the second, taller man and smiled, “and Uncle.”

“What brings you to my ship, my Prince?” The Commander asked, bowing ever so slightly. The man’s voice carried the heavy and grave tone of a hardened sailor, as would be the case for the Armada’s eldest Naval Commander. An eyepatch covered his left eye with three claw-shaped scars extending above and below it. His weathered face had long since wrinkled from years of briny mist and the harsh winds of the open seas.

The second man, incredibly tall by Zhulisian standards and the only one of the three with both eyes visible, looked down at the prince and said, “I could ask the same as this old geezer. I thought you were down on shore with Commander Sennich.”

“I got sick of his complaints, so I left him to sort out the housing and occupation organization,” the prince dryly explained.

“Hah! Serves that green upstart right!” The Prince’s uncle proudly exclaimed, chuckling in exhilaration.

Commander Baylich rolled his eye and said, “I’d prefer you didn’t laugh at the expense of my fellow Commanders.” Then, he quietly added, “Can’t say the man doesn’t need to be put in his place every once in a while, though…”

The prince sighed and said, “Either way, he said the illusion has yet to go away. Anyone that enters the city ends up unable to escape.”

“I have to say I’m rather impressed,” Baylich said, turning to look out over Azgara Bay. “As far as I know, nobody back home has reached such a frightening level in that area.”

“A well-placed punch from me should send ‘em to hell,” the prince’s uncle said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’ll never understand why you refer to the Land of the Dead as such,” Baylich muttered.

“Well, moving on to what I actually came here for,” the prince said, “Uncle, I wanted to get your opinion on whether or not we should mobilize the main ground force to take the nearby settlements while we wait for the mess with the illusion to be resolved.”

“It’s a good idea, but will have to wait until the scouts return. After all, none of our people have traversed these lands for a thousand years.”

“Very well. Then, would the two of you care to join me for dinner?”

“I’d be honored,” Baylich answered.

The prince’s uncle simply laughed and said, “Of course, you nimrod. How could I not want to share a meal with my precious nephew?”