Trust was a word with a lot of weight to it - far too much for only five letters. Tanya was offering us up information, knowing that we would probably kill her right after. Of course, some of it might be a trick or an attempt to guide us down the wrong path. Was there any true point to that? I prided myself on being able to read people, and she seemed to be on the level.

Ren and Quinn pulled up chairs beside mine, and Wolf replaced Roger as my demon sunk away back to Hell.

“Your eyes,” the elf said, her brow furrowed slightly more than usual. “They are different.”

“Purple?” I asked. They couldn’t be glowing, as I felt calm now. My energy—demonic or not—was spent.

“Yeah, but… the iris’ are purple. Like they’ve changed color. No glow.”

Hopefully she didn’t mind, as I think that was just me now. A complete person accepting of all past, present, and demonic parts. Didn’t even need to hit my head for the realization to sink through my thick skull. In saying that, I might have taken a plank or two to my brainbox while protecting the elf.

I looked between my worn and dirtied companions before giving Tanya a wry smile. “You know, we had only just had baths after going without a good wash for a few days.”

“That almost seems like a worse crime than trying to kill or capture you.” She exhaled. “Such a fanciful world, yet I miss the creature comforts of where I came from.”

“Earth or Othea?” I asked.

Her brow furrowed, and she looked at me, tilting her head. She looked pretty human, but that could mean either, as far as I knew. Cogs were whirring in her head, a pregnant pause in the air for what should be a simple answer.

“No!” She opened her mouth in surprise. “I’ve seen you before, on the television.”

My eyebrow raised, and an odd shiver ran through me. Not just because I had a potential fan that recognized me, but that she could have come from the same Earth as I had. Or at least, a different one where I was still a prominent magician. “You… know of me?”

“Barely.” She shrugged apologetically. “Magic isn’t my sort of thing, but I’ve caught you in passing. The purple suit more than anything.”

Okay, so maybe not a fan. That put her imminent death back up to a possibility again. I caught the glare of Ren from my side - but it wasn’t my fault I was famous. Ah, perhaps it was because I was losing the thread of the conversation.

“As far as I can tell,” I continued, reeling things back together. “People either came from Earth or Othea, but there appears to be different versions of each world. Well, I know there’s at least two Earths as… I had different professions in each.” Didn’t need to give her the full picture.

She nodded. “I did some time in the military and now work as a virologist.”

That explained the class ability to be resistant to curses or afflictions, I supposed. Based on her outfit, I would assume she was a battle cleric or something similar. “Is that why you joined up with the Lady, you wanted to go back?”

Tanya rubbed at her forehead. “I mean… sure, I want to go back. She seemed pretty convinced she knew how to reverse the portals or whatever.”

Ren crossed her arms. “And that is worth ensuring others can’t return, so that only those loyal could?”

A shrug was the only given response at first, before she sighed and looked up to the open sky. “At first, it didn’t seem like I’d get into too much trouble. I’d only recently joined the Party, and wasn’t privy to what they’d been up to prior. I was happy enough being an individual and just forwarding on her orders. The ‘full-Party’ rule was then mandatory recently, and I was lumped in with these halfwits.”

I nodded and steepled my fingers together. “But then she got word we were here, and she sent you after us?”

“Yeah,” she gave me a humorless smile. “She seemed to have a lot of apprehension and ire for you, and I guess it's not unwarranted, given that you practically wiped my whole Party on your own.”

My fingers flexed against each other. I saw her reasoning for wanting to talk and bare all to us now - it humanized her. Made her appear as more of a flawed but relatable person and not just a murder-hungry monster. I’d been scouring every expression and sentence uttered for a hint of betrayal or lie - and I knew Ren would be doing the same.

Quinn would… I turned my gaze toward the man. Just as expected, he looked rather smitten with the woman already - his eye alight with interest for every spoken word. Back on the other side and Wolf looked bored and annoyed. Either hoping he could eat the woman or he could get a clean and nap instead.

“Despite our proficiency, the Lady always stays several steps ahead,” I eventually said, not wanting to eat up the compliment leveled toward me.

“For now. But you know how it works, right? She is literally a cult leader that grows more powerful the more believers she has.”

I nodded - we had guessed something like that. It had been how she catapulted into the second area while we were barely getting the sand out of our boots.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“But now, we’ve been killing enough to slow her down?” Ren asked, her arms still crossed.

“She didn’t say that exactly, but that was my impression.” Tanya clicked her fingers. “In a way, I did you a favor by feeding you these imbeciles to kill.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. She was smart enough to know we wouldn’t be swayed by her trying to make it sound like she was working to our benefit. There was something about the fact that she was maintaining her composure and humor in the current situation that… I liked? Or respected, at least. I imagined that she would have seen some things in the military, and at least learned something about life and death even if her System life hadn’t been too drenched in conflict.

With a deep sigh, I sunk into my chair. I was unprepared for a sympathetic villain. Or at least an affable one. If only there was a prison… but then we’d need a court and justice system too. Neither were things I cared to take responsibility for. I couldn’t save the world and fix society at the same time.

I gestured with my hand. “Time to sing then, canary.”

She shuffled in her chair before returning a nod. The inevitable was accepted, but the human desire to not perish still remained. It was only natural.

“The Lady believes that in order to fix the System, it needs to be united. Preferably under her rule. That's why she is working her way to the Crown.” Tanya rolled her eyes. “One of her group is able to do something to convert System-created, but they're finding resistance at Candlekeep.”

Quinn grunted, before remembering his manners. “Like at the fortress.”

“Oh?” She tilted her head. “You’ve been past there? No wait, let me guess. You killed them all already?”

The fixer grinned and nodded eagerly.

“They had captured a pair from one of the campground groups,” I said. “We took them back.”

“By killing them all,” Ren clarified.

Tanya nodded slowly, a wry smile at the edges of her mouth. “Impressive. I clearly hitched my horse to the wrong wagon. She told us you were important to capture, but I don’t think even she knows what you’re currently capable of.”

Ren narrowed her eyes. “Why does she want us alive?”

A shrug was given in response. “Maybe to torture you or make you suffer. Force you to convert or fight each other - who knows? That was Plan A, anyway.”

Seemed to me that such a plan was doomed to fail, which meant that… “Plan B was just to kill us?”

Tanya gave a half nod. “Naturally. Once she eventually gets wind of my group being wiped out, she’ll send one of her more competent Parties your way.”

I smiled. “That doesn’t mean much, knowing how quickly they fall.”

“Eh. She has two main groups she has with her. Actually competent and high level, with useful skills. The rest of us are spread out, doing her bidding. Those with more competant Classes are assisting at the city, but there's a few characters bumping around you wouldn't want to stumble across unaware.”

The elf still didn’t seem too content to be sitting here talking. “And you haven’t tipped anyone off so far?”

Tanya shook her head. “You’re both rather astute, correct? You’d be able to tell if I went to my Chat windows. I know when I have been bested, and I’m glad that you’re standing in opposition to the Lady. As… difficult as that may be to believe.”

It was difficult to believe. I hated that the longer we talked, the less I felt like putting a card through her neck. If anything, I was trying to find the line between distrust and paranoia. Sitting amongst the wreckage of the collapsed building while trying to make these moral decisions wasn’t helping my mood.

I rubbed at my temples and brought up my Chat, to see that I had a missed message.

[Fiona: I hope you know you’re a dick.]

Seemed pretty obvious at this point. A magical one - if the rumors were to be believed.

[Max: Did I make the right call with the paladin?]

[Fiona: …]

[Fiona: Is there really nobody else you could bother?]

[Fiona: Yes. Unless she slits my throat in the night, you did.]

[Max: You hold an important position now, and my respect. But I will no longer send you messages, as per your request.

[Fiona: Asshole, that’s not what I meant!]

[Fiona: Firstly:]

I closed the Chat down and wrinkled up my face. That didn’t really help me decide on what the right call here was.

“Calling for backup now?” Tanya asked, her eyebrow raised.

“Hmm? No. Just liaising with the one I put in charge of the first area.” I rolled out my shoulders, wishing Ren was giving them a rub again. I’d have to ask her nicely later.

“A resistance force, like a militia?” She cocked her head to the side. “You sure are full of surprises. I bet the Crimson there are having a tough time if it’s someone you trust.”

Ren shook her head. “There are no Crimson Shadow there. We killed them all before coming across the bridge.”

“And new Players have been coming across from the starter island,” I added.

“Huh.” She looked taken aback by this, some genuine surprise in her expression. “You’re… actually doing it. Fixing the System, I mean.”

I turned my head to the elf. “How many have we killed in this area so far?”

“Fourteen Crimson, four potential recruits, eight marketeers.”

Tanya blinked, her confusion now washed away to leave something completely blank. “I’m honestly at a loss for words.”

More than anything, I just wanted to have another bath. Just redo the whole nice house part, without the ambush that destroyed it. The sun had dried out all the blood and dust on me, and I just felt crusty. With Mana Exhaustion, it was like I had a large caffeine crash and my body was going to be just a husk for the next hour or so.

But I was the leader, I got to decide things. I stood from my chair and vanished it away.

“Take Tanya to the next house.” I leveled my finger toward the next intact building. “We may have to delay the Dungeon while I think on some things.”

“Like how much information is enough before you kill me?” The woman asked, maintaining eye contact.

I shrugged and gestured for Wolf and Quinn to escort her. The bear had been quiet, but he looked twice as exhausted as I felt. We needed time to heal up and mentally recover. Maybe food and a hot drink?

We walked over the warm flagstones of the small village, Ren sticking by my side more than she usually would, her glare constantly on the woman. Door open, we entered the soft shade of the interior. It was mostly the exact same as the destroyed house, albeit the furniture was arranged slightly differently.

“Alright,” I turned and placed the chair back down in the middle of the room. “You may sit and exist for a little while longer. Anything weird and Wolf has permission to eat you.”

“The bear is called Wolf?” she asked as she sat down gently.

“A story as long as my digestive tract, if you care to hear it that way,” he grumbled, before laying on the floor and staring at her.

“Ren, upstairs with me,” I ordered. “Quinn, if you could get any important map locations from Tanya, that would be appreciated.”

“Of course,” he nodded.

With little fanfare, I turned to the staircase and led the elf up. We’d need some privacy to discuss these important matters - I couldn’t make the decision alone and carry the weight inside my head any longer.

Straight in through the bedroom and then into the en-suite. Over to the bath and hit the taps. I turned back to her with arms folded as she closed the door.

“Get in,” I told her. “I’m going to scrub all that filth off of you.”

She said nothing as her face flushed, blue eyes aglow as she started to unbutton her blouse.

It felt good to be in control.