"And you will take Nul and me, an alien, to your home? After being terrified of Nul just a few moments ago?" Sam asked, suspicious of Parish's sudden change of heart. Then another thought struck her, "Also, what will your uncle do when he finds out the Void Slime that committed genocide on this planet is traveling with you? He's got to be over two thousand years old, and there is no way I'll believe he won't find out. He has to be over level one thousand by now, right?"

Parish pulled out a small handful of gold coins from her inventory and placed them on the table before she answered. She looked at Sam with clear eyes; the resolve and composure Sam had seen on the battlefield was back. She spoke clearly and confidently, replying, "Yes, I am willing to lead you through the Beastlands to my tribe." At Sam's suspicious look, Parish pointed to herself, saying, "Remember, my mother is an alien also. I am only half Hallistian." Sam nodded at that, so she continued, "My uncle is not as powerful as you think, but I'll explain that later. However, I know he will understand the Nul is not a threat, and as you said, the Lif that slew so many of his friends also died that day. This Nul is only the recycled spark of its soul. Plus, you also forget it was a Lif that saved the planet when all hope was lost at the end. This Nul you have summoned is a level one child that will be molded by its environment just as it was before. Only this time, it has an insane half-sister to protect it and show it how to be a force for good."

Sam and Lupie snorted in unison, then looked at each other and smiled. Parish only rolled her eyes and said, "Sam, it doesn't take a genius to tell that you are a good person. I have only known you for a day, but watching how you interact with and care for your companions regardless of their race, gender, or species tells me you have a good soul." Sam opened her mouth to protest, but Parish raised one finger and said, "Granted, I also think you are completely insane." She clapped her hands and ended the conversation with, "I know I said Nara and Naris were not in danger, but we should still make haste to let them know of the potential danger you are in and probably Lupie too since she was the one in possession of the token when we entered the Guild hall yesterday. The Guild may be neutral, but there are always bad operators in every organization, so the quicker we leave the city, the better." With that said, Parish walked to the door and pushed a small panel on the wall next to it. The runes in the room disappeared, and the door opened slowly without a sound.

An attendant rushed to meet them as they walked out, and when he glanced into the room, a frown crossed his face at the sight of the spilled wine and food scattered everywhere. The frown quickly turned into a wide grin when he saw the small pile of gold Parish had left as a tip, and he bowed his thanks to the women before slipping into the room after they exited.

Walking out of the restaurant, Sam got a party invite notification from Parish. Instead of accepting, Sam declined the invite and sent her own invitation, so Parish would be part of the Loot Hunters party she and Nara had created. When Parish accepted, Sam enabled the voice chat function for her but kept the Elf from being able to access anyone's personal information. She didn't trust her that much just yet.

Parish wasted no time and started speaking through their voice chat, "We cannot leave with a caravan out of the west gate for fear of an inspection discovering Nul. Nor can we exit as an independent adventuring party without a high-level escort. That only leaves us the option to leave the city by the eastern gate and circle around to cross the border farther south."

They were casually walking as Parish explained her plans. Still, Sam was tense. She kept her mana threads out everywhere, trying to sense if anyone was looking at them suspiciously. So far, no one had even given them a second glance. Sam was thankful the upper part of the city was less densely populated, with only a few people wandering the streets at this time in the afternoon.

Sam knew there was a good chance there were people in the city who could see her threads, so she made an effort to make it look like she was using them passively and allowed them to dissipate if they came too close to someone on the street.

Parish kept explaining her plan, and Sam could tell she was making an effort not to follow the mana threads as they walked, "We will need a high-level escort if we are to have any hope of surviving in the wilds of the Beastlands, so I will try to contact my mother once we are out of the city. I hope she is still here and has not been sent on a mission by the church."

"Are you sure that is wise? If Naris and Nara join us, won't that create a conflict of interest for her?" Sam asked.

"When I said she hates the church, I meant it, Sam. Who do you think installed the contraband detectors for the Adventurer's Guild? Although I must admit they were originally installed only for contraband, she added the enslavement contract detection as an afterthought." Parish said, ending with, "She will protect them the same as you and the Nul."

Sam curiously asked, "Why are you calling my Void Slime 'The Nul' and not just Nul?"

Parish looked at her funny, "How are you not familiar with how Voidlings progress if you are a Voidling yourself?" She corrected herself before Sam could, "I mean half-Voidling? Never mind, I will explain: A Nul is the first evolution of a pure Voidling. When a Nul is summoned, it has no name. It will usually name itself before reaching its next evolution level, usually around level ninety-nine to one hundred fifteen, from what little I have learned from my mother. However, she says that not all Voidlings choose a name; most only go by their evolution title. Anyway, on the next evolution, it will evolve into a Lif, which, according to my mother, can grow so strong it can destroy planets. She does not know what the level cap is for that evolution. The only evolution she is aware of past Lif is an Ica because that was the title of the Void Dragon that visited her planet. The only thing she will say of the Ica is her clan elder, a level fifteen thousand demi-god, prostrated himself at the dragon's feet and begged it spare his clan."

"What did he do to piss off a Void Dragon?" Sam asked, wondering how a demi-god could be that stupid.

"Fortunately for my ancestor and my, or I guess more accurately, my mother's clan since I am not native to her planet, it was a misunderstanding. He had found the dragon chained in a cave on a desolate planet at the edge of our empire and thought it was a death dragon. Since he is life attuned, he instantly attacked the dragon! The only thing that happened when he attacked was that his attack destroyed the chains. Then the dragon disappeared."

"Thinking no more of it, he returned to his home planet, and when he walked into his throne room, there was the dragon! It released a fraction of its true power, and my ancestor prostrated himself before its overwhelming might, along with all who were there. With a chuckle, the dragon stepped forward, saying a single thing—”

"What was it?" Lupie asked, cutting her off.

"The Ica told him thank you for breaking its chains and that the collective would be friends to his clan if they were ever in need. It told him to use the words I used on you. And if the person speaking the words was sincere, the Voidling would be compelled to assist. Then, as my ancestor prostrated himself to the Ica, it laughed and disappeared." Parish finished.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"It's not really a compulsion, more like a feeling telling me I would get a reward," Sam informed Parish, who only shrugged.

"The story has been passed down for countless generations, so I imagine it may have changed a little over the cycles."

A moment later, they arrived at the gates leading into the Guild, so they stopped their mental conversation and grew serious.

Sam was on high alert as they passed through the gates, but the guards said nothing as they passed. So, they kept walking as if there wasn't a Voidling in Lupie's backpack. The door to the hall was open, but Evan, the Chief Evaluations Officer of the branch, was there waiting for them, dressed in his usual tight pants and frilly shirt. He was standing with his back rigid, blocking the door to the hall, preventing their entry. When she realized he wouldn't let them in, Sam stopped and whipped around, suspecting an ambush. However, there was no one else around them. Still on her guard, she turned back to Evan. He addressed them in a professional tone before Sam could say anything.

"Miss Moura, seeing you are doing well is good." He spoke to Sam while staring at Lupie, "I see you have made some friends since I last saw you," He turned his attention to Sam continuing, "and you have grown in power significantly."

"Get to the point, please, Mr. Evan," Parish said from beside Sam, "we are in something of a hurry."

"Yes, yes, of course you are," Evan said sweetly. He pulled a kerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed his nose with it. As he did so, a small folded piece of paper fell to the floor. Seeming not to notice dropping the paper, he stepped to the side, allowing them entry.

With a furtive glance at Lupie and Parish, Sam stepped through the doorway and into the great hall. As she passed close to Evan, he whispered just loud enough for them to hear, "You have less than thirty minutes to get out of the city," before turning on his heels and striding off toward his office.

Sam deposited the note in her inventory by touching the paper Evan had dropped with a mana thread as she walked over it. Undoubtedly, he had dropped it for her, so she would check it out when she got to her suite.

Other than the strange encounter with Evan. Sam thought the rest of the Guild was functioning as usual, with adventurers bustling around the job boards, lounging in the couches and chairs along the walls, and carousing at the open tavern that dominated the center of the great hall. They made it to Sam's suite without further incident, and trying the door, Sam found it locked.

“Shit, I left my key on the hook by the door. I hope they didn’t go out for lunch or something.” Sam thought, knocking quietly. She whispered, "Lupie, keep a look out.

The Bloodmorph turned to scan the upper loft level of the Guild hall while Sam knocked again. She had already tried to reach Nara through their party chat without success and was getting worried about her friend, “I should have woken her up and asked if she wanted to go with us today.”

Sam didn't even realize she had spoken aloud until Parish touched her shoulder gently, saying, "It is not your fault. And the party chat function will not work from here if the spatial suite is locked."

Sam was just about to tell her it was indeed her fault when the door opened a crack. Once the person behind the door realized it was Sam, they swung it open, and Brenda grabbed her by the arm, yanking her inside, saying, "We have to talk!"

***

Cara was trying not to panic as she sprinted toward Alexander's Outfitters. Her Whisper Seekers were picking up chatter around the city that there had been a Void mage at the recent raid event outside the city and that they had lost six participants in total. She didn't want to activate Emotional Suppression because of the mana cost. It wasn't much, but she was currently connected to over thirty drones around the city. Maintaining her connections at such distances was mana-intensive, and she had to make every bit count. So far, none of her drones had detected Parish, who she could only hope was safe in the Guild Hall. It was the only place in the city other than the home of the Duke that Cara wouldn't fly her drones for fear of detection.

Arriving at Alexander's, Cara burst through the front door. Letting her eyes adjust for an instant, she spied Bradly tending the counter and ran over to the Imp. "Bradley, I have to see Alexander. Is he in?"

Bradley looked up from a ledger he was writing in and frowned, saying, "Oh, it's you." He slammed the ledger shut and stood up, "Well, come on, let's get this over with."

***

"What the hell did you do?" Brenda asked Sam accusatively, "The freaking royal guard showed up a few hours after you left and demanded to see you and Lupie immediately! Sir Chadwick had to step in to keep them from taking Nara and Naris into custody! So instead, they grabbed Sir Chadwick and marched him out of the Guild to take him to his father so he could explain!" Brenda was waving her arms around as she talked. She finished her frantic explanation, stating: "And it was just when things were heating up between Nara and Chad!" She stopped waving her arms and pointed at Sam, "You better have a good explanation! I've never seen the Royal Guard grow big enough balls to actually enter the Guild Hall before!" That's when Brenda noticed Parish step from behind Sam. Her presence calmed the Berserker a little, and she stepped back to give them some space.

"Brenda," Parish started, "I cannot explain without endangering you and your sisters, but please trust me when I say: Sam and Lupie have done nothing wrong."

Brenda opened her mouth to speak, but Sam spoke first, asking, "Are Nara and Naris here?" Nara came running from the other side of the room where she had been piling clothes into her inventory from one of the dressers, and slipping between the crowding berserkers, she jumped into Sam's arms.

"I know what happened," Nara whispered into Sam's ear. "Naris reminded me what you are now. I did not think they would find out. It is not like there aren't void users here on Hallista."

Hugging her friend back, Sam sent her the answer through their chat function, "It was the summon token. Lupie and I are going to flee the city to the Beastlands. Parish said we could seek asylum there with her family. Are you willing to come with us?" Nara nodded vigorously into Sam's shoulder, still embracing her.

Releasing the hug, Sam said to the group, "We may not have done anything wrong, but the longer I stay here, the more danger all of you are in. Thank you all for hanging out and sticking with Nara. Please tell Sir Chad—" Sam stopped when she realized what Brenda said, "Wait, did you say Nara was getting it on with Chad?" She gasped, "And the Royal Guard interrupted you! Fucking assholes! I'm so sorry, Nara; I know you had the hots for him."

Brenda snorted, "Don't be; I think they were on round three by then. Woke us all up with all the splashing!" Brenda guffawed, and Nara's grey cheeks went darker with embarrassment.

"Well, at least you got some then," Sam said with a chuckle. Then, she got back to business. She asked, "Parish, does the Guild have a hall in the Beastlands?" When Parish shook her head no, Sam decided to reward the people who had obviously gone out of their way to defend Nara from the Royal Guard, so she pointed to the key still hanging by the door and said, "Everyone who was at the event with me can use this room free of charge until I get back. On the off chance I don't come back, you can do as you wish with it. Around a week ago, the maintenance fee was paid for the cycle."

Nina stepped forward and said, "We will keep it ready for your safe return."

Brenda laughed and slapped the archer on the back, saying, "I call the couch!" She gave Sam a quick hug, lifting her off her feet. Setting the now wheezing Pathfinder down, Brenda stomped off to her couch and plopped down.

Everyone offered their thanks, and the small crowd of adventurers dispersed through the room. Sam noticed Naris had been awfully quiet and realized why when she saw Nina slip him a piece of paper with misty eyes. “Holy shit, people hit it off quick in this world.” Sam thought, then remembered her own note from Evan. Pulling it out, she read the beautiful penmanship:

“Miss Moura, please excuse the manner in which you are receiving this message, but openly speaking of this will bring unwanted attention to you and your kind.

All I intend to say on the matter is there is a division among the Adventurers Guild council regarding those like you and the token you possess. I advise you to trust no one below platinum rank should you meet them. Also, the Beastlands are the only country on the planet that will be relatively safe for you.

I do not know who leaked your true identity from the scan yesterday, but rest assured, whoever did it will be dealt with when I find out. The Guild takes care of its own!

I have told the Royal Guard I would inform them of your arrival. Too bad it took me thirty minutes to notice you.

It was nice meeting you, outworlder. -Evan

“So, there was a snitch,” Sam thought as the words on the note faded away once she finished reading. Crumpling the paper, she threw it in the fire to be safe.