Miki was helping Reddy in the stables. Spartacus was enjoying her pats and the bowls of cooked meat she had poured into his feeding trough.

A foul smell wafted up Spartacus’s nose that made him pause his eating, he looked up and saw 669 headed for them.

“Milord. You smell bad.” He bluntly stated of the human man.

Miki casually went to greet 669, but paused and began to shiver with fear.

“It’s okay Miki. I won’t hurt you.”

“No.” She shook her head and pointed her finger at his belt pouch.

He looked down and pulled out the doll he had found.

Miki screamed and collapsed on the ground with fear before the doll. “Dolls. They all. Dead. Demons. Dead. Dolls hurt.”

669 bagged the doll and went to the nearby water barrel. He grabbed a bucket and scooped up water, then doused himself with it. It made him shivering with cold, but it would get rid of the lingering scent of Corpse Puppet Resin from him.

“Spartacus, do I still smell bad?”

Spartacus sniffed his body and shook his head. “Although, Milord, you’re dripping water.”

Miki was cowering in Reddy’s arms, clearly frightened from something she remembered.

“Reddy take her inside. It’s late, and she needs to sleep well.”

“Got it. Let’s go Miki. I’ll make your bath and give you some warm milk.” Reddy calmly helped the girl stand and supported her as they made their way back to the living tower.

“Spartacus. Do you remember the time I found you in the Corpse Forest of Amesgai?”

The harse nodded and flinched with fear at the thought. “You carry that same stench as back then. If you hadn’t saved me from those undead beasts, I would probably would’ve ended up as one myself.”

Back then 789, 777 and himself had stumbled upon rogue henchmen who were using necromancy to revive Holy Order demon hunters and their soul beasts they had felled for their revenge against their superiors. And now someone was planning to use the same twisted power in the Dessert Barren Lands and Borrowman Hills. But for what reason, and what connection did they have with these merchant young lords?

“What the hell is going on?” 669 couldn’t help but feel this case was throwing them into a pit of madness and soon situations would spiral out of control. And at the middle of it all was Miki, a pure and innocent victim.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Regardless, if he and his company didn’t help the Royal Guard solve the case soon, he feared a catastrophe would happen to bring the Majestic Peace High Magistrate on their heads. No one would want a god to intervene on their lives and timelines.

“I have to speak to the Royal Guard again.”

669 hurried back to the living tower and his bedroom where he dried up and redressed in his rogue armor, making sure he carried enough healing potions in his pouches.

“If you’re planning to do some fighting, I’ll come with you,” 789 coolly said as she leaned against his doorway.

“Thanks. I plan to head to the Royal Guard. I think there’s some connection with the Corpse Forest of Amesgai.”

“Seriously?”

“Spartacus smelt the Corpse Puppet Resin on me. When I showed Miki the doll I found at the Miller’s Mansion, she became afraid and spoke of demon dolls.”

“So the Miller corpses you found…”

“I think we interrupted a necromancer’s casting of Corpse Puppets.”

“Right. Let’s go.”

“I’m coming too.” 777 yawned as he came up behind 789, fully dressed in his travel armor.

669 nodded and patted their shoulders as he made his way out of his room.

As they were strolling toward the stable, 789 stopped them as she faced them with a scheming smirk on her face.

“Why don’t we fly this time?”

“What, on a sword?” 669 gulped.

“Who flies on a sword? Nope!” 789 whipped out her latest, ingenious, invention. It had only caused her bedroom wall to shatter with explosion three times. Fortunately, Reddy was able to fix the wall as good as new each time.

She handed them a miniature metal sculpture of wings, which were made of tiny cogs and magic gems.

“Rub the blue gem to activate the air magic in it. Green gem to make it shrink and go to sleep.”

“The what and what?” 777 groaned and scratched his head at the tiny thing in his palm.

“Boss, you can use your brain for more than earning money you know.” 789 wryly said and eagerly gave them a demonstration.

The blue and green gems formed eyes on the wings’ central body. The men yelped when she rubbed the teeny tiny blue gem eye and saw the wings instantly become big and snap open: they were flapping up some air. She positioned the wing’s central body on her back, which seemed to fix itself in place between her shoulder blades. Soon she was flying in the air.

“Channel some of your virya into the gems to set it to your energies. That way you can control the wing flow.”

Getting a good grasp of how it worked, the men channeled some of their magic to the blue gem to activate it, then fitted the device on their backs. Soon they were flying in the air.

789 led their flight through the night sky for the Royal Guard tower at the village’s far end.

“I think I just swallowed a bug.” 669 cursed and spluttered.

“Keep your mouth closed.” 789 chuckled and pushed herself to go faster.

It was well into midnight when they landed before the Royal Guard’s front gates.

Naturally, there was a night watch to greet them.