I didn't sleep for long, but it was enough to calm my nerves. The clock on the wall was showing three hours in the afternoon when I finally opened my eyes. That was a decent time for some action. I sprung myself up onto my feet, only to be almost immediately forced to sit down again. The sight of the small visitor in my room sent my heart back into my stomach.

"AAAAAA! What the fuck are you doing in here?! This is my room!" I yelled at the tiny gray lizard. It was the exact same one I first saw in the barn.

"Shhhh! I'm hiding!"

"Hiding?! From who?!"

"Jack."

"Jack?" That was enough to spark my interest. "You know him?"

"Yeah. We used to work together."

I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously? But you are so..." I was looking for the right word. "You seem like a child. How could you work with him?"

"Ah, I was once a powerful dragon, you know? Hehe, what a mighty being I was. But... thanks to Jack, well... I'm stuck now. You are right that I am still pretty young, but even someone my age should be a lot more powerful."

"Well, I also have problems with Jack. Maybe I could help you somehow?"

"Nah. Someone like you has no chance. I advise you not to cross him too much. Nor that gorilla he drags around. They are both really scary."

"You mean the Gunslinger?"

"Yeah! Exactly that one! A real bastard that is. Killed a lot of people already. No, what I need is just a place to hide from time to time. Mind if I join you here?"

I looked around the room. It was too tiny, pretty much consisting of only a single bedroom and a small bathroom, but I simply couldn't say no to such a small and fragile creature. "Okay, it's a deal then." I extended my hand toward him. With his tiny arms, he grabbed my finger and we shook on it.

"I'm Foof, by the way."

"Heh, a pleasure to meet you. I'm Eddie." I had to really hold myself back to not giggle at a name like that. A small dragon named Foof. Sounded like something out of a fairy tale. This thought quickly reminded me of a rather dark truth, however. I did not know him either. Whoever he was, he did not belong to the roster of named characters. Probably just a background citizen of one of my words, dragged here by Jack and then abandoned.

After our introduction, the minuscule reptile retreated back under the bed, where it seemed to reside, and I lay down once again, giving myself a treat of just a little more rest. The heat coming through a broken window wasn't helping it though. I just hoped that it didn't give me a heat stroke while I slept. A few minutes passed before I finally decided that my duties were more important than napping. I slowly wobbled my way to the sink in the bathroom, praying: "Please, be a clear water." I turned the valve and a stream of brown liquid started running down the tap. I sighed.

"Rust. Great." There were always water problems in this town, but I never thought it would be this bad. Drinking such a muck would definitely give me at least five different diseases.

Since there was no water to drink here, I decided to head over to the saloon. I could get a drink there for free once a day if I would use that specific method from my story. It was all about the language. Everyone respected a man whose voice sounded like that of a native. I decided that wasting time in the hotel can't be good for anything, so it would be better to just head outside. But as soon as I opened the door, my whole body froze. Jack was standing right in the hallway, waiting for me to open. He didn't do anything like jumping on me or trying to kill me straight away, as I suspected he would. Instead, he just calmly pulled out his pocket watch, flipped the lid open, and checked the time.

"Hmm... I expected you to open ten minutes ago. You're slower than I anticipated." I didn't know what to say to that. It was almost as if this guy was predicting my every move. "I see you got room number 286. How unfortunate. You see, this is the only place my company didn't manage to get water to just yet. But don't worry, in about..." he looked at his watch again. "...half an hour, the lady in the pub will pour you something cold and refreshing." He closed the watch and put it back into his pocket.

"Well, I'll see you later. And again, so sorry for the inconvenience with the water. I'll have my boys come over and fix it as soon as possible. Here, get some drink on me." He threw me another small bag of coins. I didn't know what to think about this guy. What was he after? Did he just want to piss me off? Why didn't he kill me yet? Was this his way of torture? There were many questions and not enough answers. For the time being, I decided to let it be and ask about Jack around the town. There had to be something about him that I could use as a weakness. If the citizens knew him, then perhaps there was something I could use as leverage.

I entered the saloon in my silent way again. Nobody even noticed me. On my way inside, I saw Tomi's body. Nobody really bothered to drag it away from the street. I knew that somebody would start to care only when the smell would become unbearable. This town was making me sick. Why did I even create such a place? I tapped the bar twice and used the same old phrase again: "Howdy Mish! Bloomin' today as every day, ya pretty little flower. Mind fetchin' this old bastard a drink or two?" But this time, when Misha turned around, she wasn't blushing or smiling. Her expression was angry. She frowned at me and I saw her eyes dance around as she inspected my apparel closely.

"Ya ain't gettin' shit from me! I know ya've just been usin' me. So, pay up!"

Although I was hoping to get a drink for free, I didn't mind paying for it. After all, I still had Jack's money with me. As long as she did not demand my payment in freshly knocked out teeth, I was fine. I pulled out a single golden coin, put it on the bar, and pointed to the cheapest drink on the menu behind Misha. There was no reason to spend more money than necessary. She took the coin, inspected it, and bit into it to see if it was real gold. I decided to use the time for a little conversation.

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"How did you figure out that trick of mine?" I asked her politely.

"Jack told me," she replied, threw the coin into her dress, and leaned against the bar.

"One more." The way she started moving her thumb against the index and middle finger made it noticeably clear that she wants more money.

"Why? I just wanted that one. See, one gold." I pointed to the sign that said, "Swamp Splash - 1 SWG." No need to be worried, it had nothing to do with an actual swamp. It was a lightly alcoholic beverage with a color that only seemed like water from a marsh. Because of its not-so-pretty look, it was so cheap.

"Ya're payin' double! Consider it a tax for foolin' me." I didn't have much of a choice. Surviving this place without water or anything to drink was pretty much impossible.

After a few minutes, Misha brought me what I ordered. Before she could turn away from me, I grabbed her attention by snapping my fingers. "Listen, I need some information and I'm willing to pay for it," I whispered.

"Ten G and I'll tell ya whatchu want."

I reached into the bag with coins and pulled out ten of them. She quickly scooped them into her massive hand and leaned closer.

"So, what is it?" she asked me.

"I want you to tell me what you know about Jack." She seemed a lot calmer after I told her what exactly I want to know.

"Jack? That boy showed up 'ere a few months ago. He's brought water back to us. Clean, fresh, healthy, and even cold. Set up a purification factory not too far from 'ere. Plus, he lends folks money if they need it."

"And what if they don't pay back?"

"Well, ya don't see them around anymore then."

"Any idea about his origin, where he came from, what his motives are?"

"Lad, ya're dumb or what? He came 'ere to make money and get rich. He did that. Coin drives that man. Nothing else. End of story."

After that, Misha didn't want to answer any more questions. I finished my drink with great disappointment. I was hoping to learn something useful. Something that could reveal Jack's weakness. But at least I got a lead. A water purification factory. Misha told me where it is after I stuffed another gold coin into her hand. Thirteen gold coins spent. I counted my remaining finances. It was a total of 167 gold. I could go on with this for quite a while.

After I stepped out of the saloon. I started to plan where to begin looking for the crystal. The town wasn't big, but as far as I knew, it could've been hiding deep under the ground in the mineshafts as well. The possibilities were endless. My eye stopped when I saw Jack enter the mixed goods store at the end of the street. Curiosity didn't give me any rest. That man was clearly working against me, but I still didn't know why. At that time, I thought that following him would be a good idea. I entered the store. As the door opened, the bell above them made everyone inside aware of my presence. Fortunately, there was only Jack and the shopkeeper.

"Ah, Mr. Wright, how nice to see you again. Are you here for that special item as well?" I didn't know what to say.

"Special item?" My question made Jack roll his eyes.

"Bucky, would you please show your exclusive wares to Mr. Wright here?"

Bucky was the name of the storekeeper. Before this place existed, he noticed that people in Sunwalley were trading various items with each other. They often found all kinds of trinkets lying in the desert or in old and abandoned bandit camps. And so, he had the idea of starting a shop that would sell and buy these items. People would come here, and he'd put a "professional's" price tag on anything they brought him. Then, when the item got sold, he wanted 20% out of the profit. Because of that, he gained enough money to start buying items himself. He often lied and deceived people, telling them, for example, that rat bones are the last remains of the great "Ratturskrs," which used to run wild in this desert more than a million years ago. Of course, none of that was true and no Ratturskrs ever existed in the first place, but his stories were so captivating the people of Sunwalley with their lower-than-average intelligence believed them without any doubts. And of course, anyone would want to have "such an old artifact." He was a fraud, but a great businessman. I guess that's one thing he had in common with Jack.

"Here's the exclusive item you wanted to buy, Jack." Bucky's speech suddenly sounded so official, as if he transformed into an esteemed British lord.

His hands reached under the counter and pulled out something that nearly made my heart stop. It was a glowing azure crystal, sitting in a glass display box.

"Beautiful peace, truly," Jack exclaimed and turned to me.

"You see, Mr. Wright, I really wanted to buy this one, but since it seems so... special for you, judging by your surprised expression, I will allow you to buy it in my place. After all, I do not need it as much as you do." That surprised me. I didn't know what to expect. My first thought was that it was a fake one, but when I touched the box, I could feel the cold aura it was releasing. That was definitely the one I'd been looking for. But it seemed so easy. I looked at Jack again, but he just gave me a shrug and waved towards the crystal, showing me that I'm free to buy it.

"Fine, I'll take it," I told Bucky.

"Alright, that'll be 180 gold pal." I looked into the coin bag. No matter how many times I counted, I only had 167.

"Oh, you can't afford it? That's a real shame. Don't feel bad though Mr. Wright. After all, things like these are often expensive. It's quite unfortunate that you spent all those coins in the saloon. You could've gotten this beautiful gem. Indeed, a great shame." With those words, he threw a bag of coins onto the counter. "I'll be taking it, Bucky."

The shopkeeper counted the money and handed the glass container to Jack. He tipped his hat as a sign of gratitude.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Bucky. Oh, and here." He handed me another bag of money.

"So you can buy yourself something pretty next time." And with a wink, he headed towards the door. I had enough. That man was getting on my nerves.

"This was all YOUR doing, wasn't it?! You planned this all from the start! You clearly work for Ifrit, yet you don't want to kill me. So, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!?!" I shouted at Jack across the whole store. He stopped for a while but didn't turn around to face me.

"Have you ever been hunting, Mr. Wright?"

"WHAT?! What does that have to do with me?!"

"Everything, I'm afraid. You see, there is simply no better feeling than when you see the animal running away from you, thinking about how it outsmarted you, only to fall into a trap. And if that happens over and over again, its spirit gets shattered. It no longer runs. It welcomes the bullet. It welcomes the embrace of death. I'll make you welcome yours, Mr. Wright. But for that, there is enough time. Let's take a break for a while." He opened the doors. The bell above the frame moved, but it didn't make any sound. Nor did the doors. Nothing did. It was as if the entire world went silent for a while. "And do be careful where you step. Wouldn't want to find yet another trap." He closed the door after him. Only now did the sounds catch up. The door creaked and the bell rang, despite not moving at all. I stood there, staring into the wooden wall. He had me bested from the very start.