The three children stared at Jin with their eyes unblinking and their fists clenched. Their friend was carefully sliding his hand under the floating polyhedron. A tiny stick was resting between his fingers.

"Please, touch the correct symbol. If we have to do it one more time I feel like I'll lose my mind," Pecker manifested himself once more and nagged the boy. The other friends immediately grabbed the serpent and held his beak shut, trying to create as silent an environment as possible so Jin could focus.

As it turned out, none of them had even the slightest idea how to rotate the Cordicon, so reaching some of the symbols was rather difficult. Not only that, but the process of touching the correct marking was also not the simplest task they've ever done, since each of the sides was tiny. One typo and they would have to start all over again. To their misfortune, Airo and Pecker then discovered that the last symbol they needed was at the very bottom of the polyhedron. They tried to reach it twelve times already and twelve times they failed. Now, all their hopes rested on Jin, whose small hands with long fingers were perfect for poking just the right sigil.

A drop of sweat dripped down the side of the boy's face when he finally prodded the correct symbol with the stick. The Cordicon lifted itself further above the pedestal and began glowing.

"Yes!" all the kids exclaimed and finally let the poor serpent go. Through their cheers, they couldn't even hear Pecker's complaining.

As soon as the portal formed, nervousness gripped their stomachs.

"Manuel said this was somewhere underground, right?" Kaili asked. "Doesn't that sound kind of... ominous?"

"Maybe it's a delivery to a wine cellar," Airo shrugged.

"Or a new equipment for miners," Cia added.

"Or just a city built beneath the surface," Jin concluded. "Not like we'll know unless we go there."

"Well, take the lead then, chief," Pecker urged him.

"No, no, no! I went first before. Someone else goes now."

The kids briefly looked at one another, before their eyes collectively turned to the serpent manifesting out of Airo's back.

"No! You kids are nuts! Release me!" Pecker screamed a few seconds later when the quartet began pulling his head towards the portal.

"Come on, you'll just take a peek and then come back," Kaili tried to persuade him.

"What if something bites me?!"

"You can't die as long as I'm alive," Airo reminded him of their symbiosis.

"But I can still feel pain!"

"Would you like to be bitten here for sure or take the chance of being bitter there?" Cia showed him her fangs.

"Okay, let me through, let me through! Just keep that lunatic away from me!"

Cia snapped her teeth at him a few times with a wide grin spread across her face. The serpent did not hesitate after that and quickly stuck his head through the jelly-like surface of the portal. He stayed there for a couple of seconds before pulling himself back out.

"So?"

"That ain't no wine cellar," he muttered. "No mine either. Looks almost like a temple."

"A temple? As in a place of worship?" Airo asked.

"Nah, more like the place of a blood sacrifice. Looked empty though. Not a soul in sight."

The kids shrugged. Even though Pecker's reconnaissance revealed some rather alarming news, they all doubted that Manuel would send them to a place where they would be in direct danger. After a brief period of not-so-polite discussion, it was decided, through a professional democratic method of rock paper scissors, that Cia would be the one to step through the portal first.

"Don't move!" she yelled at the rest of the friends as soon as they arrived as well. "Gravity is normal. Don't move!" That was a lot easier said than done. It all seemed as though they were standing at the edge of the cliff, leaning over so much they were about to fall.

Kaili quickly wrapped her arms around the two boys, and it didn't take long for them to do the same, holding each other upright and preventing themselves from falling to the stone floor. Unfortunately, it seemed that Manuel only prepared a comfortable landing at the first location.

While the first place they visited was a marvellous city of white, this place could only be described as a catacomb of darkness. The entire area was damp and cold. A couple of torches were flickering on the eight pillars placed around the room. Even though their light was sufficient, it wasn't exactly bright. The walls had surely seen better days. It seemed that they could've once been covered with beautiful carvings of all sorts of important figures, but now they were cracked and broken beyond recognition. Apart from that and two doors on the opposite sides, there was nothing else in that long and creepy room.

"Are you okay?" Kaili asked, pointing at Cia's scraped and bleeding knee.

"Yeah. That's why I said you shouldn't move. I did and then came lots of regrets.

The young dryad crouched beside her little friend and extended her hand towards the wound. The wines covering her arm came undone and wrapped themselves around Cia's knee, stopping the bleeding.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Ugh, gross," the little imp complained. "That's like a part of your body, no?"

"Beggars can't be choosers," Jin said and helped her up onto his back. "Be glad you're so light, or you'd be walking on your own."

Cia thanked him. Despite his frequent complaints when she forced him to carry her, she knew that if push came to shove, he wouldn't leave her hanging.

"Oh look at that butterfly!" Pecker exclaimed and extended its body towards it, eventually reaching his maximum length, so he pulled Airo along.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" the Cloudfolk protested. "We don't know what that is!"

"It's a beautiful bug, that's what it is. Ever wonder what it might taste like?" His head approached the insect.

In the very next moment, a loud bang shook the entire room. Jin crouched, trying to not let Cia fall off of his back. Pecker disappeared so quickly that Airo barely managed to register his sudden absence. A flash of light briefly blinded them as a massive lightning bolt shot through the room, incinerating the butterfly.

"Sheesh, why the hell are young snotters here? You wanna get a bite from the fliers or what?" A man spoke to them from one end of the room. As soon as their eyes recovered from the lightning bolt flash, the kids noticed that he wasn't alone. A group of five other people were standing behind him, each of them looking like they could challenge Manuel in a fashion contest. Some looked like mages, with highly decorated robes with stars or moons woven into their fabrics. Others sported massive sets of armour that would be fitting for the most important of soldiers, and then finally, the man who spoke to them wore a cape whose end seemed to continuously dissolve into a dark mist. A similar effect happened as he pulled his hood off. It took a moment before the cloud over his head dissipated and revealed his curly hair.

"So, who in the devil's bottom are you?" He asked, letting his long staff rest over his shoulder. Tiny blue sparks were dripping down from its metal tip.

"Umm... delivery service?" Jin eventually managed to mutter.

"Oh! Bringers! Super!" His cautious attitude was suddenly thrown into the wind and he approached the kids with much enthusiasm.

Kaili gave him the papers to sign, to which the man didn't seem to object. After that, he practically tore the box open. For a moment, Cia wondered if this would turn out to be the strange glowing chest as well. To her surprise, however, it was only full of potions.

"Ah, finally, I really needed this," he said and downed one entire flask of a bright red liquid, finishing it with a satisfied sigh. "Ah, that can really keep the reaper on the neighbour's threshold. You're lifesavers." He went and shook everyone's hands before he proceeded to say his goodbyes and carried the box over to his companions, who all seemed to dive right into drinking.

"Well, I'm not sure if that was less or more weird," Cia pondered as soon as they stepped through the portal once more.

"I suppose the only people who want to trust Manuel's service are similar fools like him." Airo shrugged.

"Hey, you okay?" the little imp asked Jin, whose gaze suggested he was rather absent-minded.

"Yeah. Just... Did you see that man in the back? The one in the dark blue robe with stars on it?"

"I guess. What about him?"

"Didn't he look a bit like the guy who spoke to us in the first city? You know, the one who showed us the way?"

Everyone tried their best to recall the appearances of the people they just met but since everyone looked so extravagant, it was hard to remember anything but their clothing.

"Sorry, I can't really recall. But I know for sure he didn't have the same spots on his skin, so it couldn't have been him," said Kaili.

"I suppose so. Probably just looked similar," Jin brushed it off, yet part of his mind refused to completely leave it be. Given what he experienced with Manuel and the small pastry they had to deliver the day before, he couldn't help but think that the wizard wasn't telling them everything about the deliveries.

"I'm honestly more interested in what they were doing there," Airo asked. "Those people didn't look like some pushovers. That was some powerful magic that one used. And just to kill a butterfly? Seems like a terrible overkill."

The others took a moment to think. "Good point. Who did we even make the delivery for? Potions for some powerful wizards hiding in an old crypt? That doesn't sound very good. And they sure didn't look like historians who'd be there for research," said Cia.

"I'm sure Manuel checks that we wouldn't be delivering weapons to some bad guys," Jin argued. "But something about this job just feels off. Like–"

"Like you're only seeing a part of the picture?" Kaili's words precisely described what everyone was thinking.

"Exactly. Maybe we should ask more questions. Like why the people ordered their package or what the contents are. Not everyone might tell us, of course, but since the two previous clients were okay with opening the parcels in front of us, then maybe some would even tell us more." They agreed with Airo's plan. A simple question here and there wouldn't hurt. After all, the worst the people could say was that it was a private matter.

"There's one thing I want to know from Manuel too though," Jin said and yelled at the top of his lungs: "Oi! Manuel!"

"Yes?" the wizard's voice came from right in front of him, where Manuel materialized in a flash of light. Just as the boy expected, it was beyond easy to contact their almost omnipresent employer.

"Are you watching us when we work?" he asked the wizard as directly as possible.

"No, I am not, but I do know if you call for me or require my help, so do not hesitate to give me a quick shout. May I ask what prompted such a question?"

"Oh! Um... Really just a quick thought. With how fast you appeared, it seemed almost like you were waiting for us," the boy quickly came up with the most logical explanation his mind could offer.

"How flattering. Thank you, I do try to be fast. After all, how could I be anyone's saviour if I would arrive late?" He gave the boy a wink. Jin had to admit that although the wizard's mannerisms seemed interestingly eccentric at first, now he was starting to find them more and more unsettling. "Now, why did you call me? I doubt it was just for this question if it was such a quick thought."

"Yeah. Umm... Of course. We, I mean some of us, or technically all of us wanted to ask... eh..." Although his brain was quick to offer him an excuse for the question before, it was now unwilling to provide any more suitable answers.

"There's been some trouble with the last delivery," Kaili took over. "Cia banged up her knee. You got any disinfectant or something like that?"

Manuel waved his hand. "Oh please, a scratched knee? That is barely a challenge." He walked past them and swung his arm over the girl's leg. With that single motion, Kaili's makeshift bandages came off, revealing not only a completely healed knee but also a fixed hole in the imp's shorts.

"Whoa... Is it really that easy?" Airo marvelled at the deed.

"It is. Physical wounds are barely a problem with the aid of magic. Just as I said, it is easier to fix you, than the packages." He gave them another wink. "Well, if that will be all, I shall leave you to your travels."

"Wait!" Kaili stopped him. "Before you go, tell us how to use the Cordicon! We've spent so long trying to input the address last time."

"Well, just memorize where the symbols are."

"Easy for you, maybe. But how do we rotate it around?" She frowned at him.

The wizard stepped towards the pedestal and demonstrated. "Hands around the object. Both of them. Slightly curled, as if you were trying to hold water in your palms. Fingers closely together. Spin, then let go. Easy." He waved at the young dryad to try it herself, however, her attempts were barely enough to rotate the polyhedron a few degrees to one side.

"Never mind, I shall make an exception and input the address for you." Manuel sighed and quickly pressed the necessary symbols. The speed at which he was able to do so was astonishing.

"Okay," Jin said once the wizard left them to their work once more. "Guess it's time to find out what's inside package number three."