The assassin read the report from Evergreen.

The Scourge? My sister’s son? How preposterous.

Sacher knew her twin had no children — and she was lost more than a decade ago.

His namesake had never been a hindrance to his operations — especially in recent years. Even when she was present, he merely took another name.

The Scourge’s use of pain irked the assassin. Pain was the mark of her sister — and the wizard’s use of it besmirched her name.

All the more reason to get rid of him — or at least his butler.

Sacher switched to another report — one about the Corner Shop™ and the butler.

Their previous attempt proved unsuccessful. Testing the waters with thugs and rabble was a mistake — but they did glean out that the butler was a mind mage.

Hired thugs failing at their duties was one thing, having spies rooted out by a boy and a snail was another.

He held up four red drops.

His spies even managed to get themselves shaken down — paying for the drops with more money than they needed to.

Perhaps he should talk to one of the farmhands? His sister wasn’t the only one with a penchant for dealing pain. Sacher embraced it wholeheartedly — even trying his hand as a torturer an inquisitor.

He shook his head. The boys mostly kept to the fields or played with the snail. They would know little on the comings and goings of the shop — much less the butler.

Why would anyone put a hit out on the butler? The Scourge, he could understand — but his butler? The assignment was a strange one.

He stood up from his desk, taking the reports and throwing them into the fireplace. A simple spell could have done the same, but he preferred to see the papers slowly curling up as they burned.

It was time to pay the butler a visit — a personal one.

***

Liliane sat in a fancy tavern having tea. She was expecting Lady Amaranth to come — not her steward.

“The lady expresses her regrets,” the man started as he sat opposite her “She is predisposed, but I speak for her when it comes to business dealings.”

“Does she even know who I am?” Liliane growled. She served under royalty — most people would bend over backwards to please her.

“She guessed that you were sent by some lord or maybe even a princeling,” the man shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. The lady does not dine with the help — even if it was a prince’s.

Liliane glowered at the man. He seemed unperturbed at her gaze — even finding it amusing.

“To business then?”

“As it should be.”

She felt unraveled by the steward. Gone were her ties to royalty and the prestige that should come with it. Now, she felt like an errand girl — and demanding respect would only make her look petty.

“Prince August would like to acquire the formula for the healing drops, the Lifesavers, and the Longsword.”

“What particular longsword does the prince want?”

“No, not an actual longsword,” Liliane sighed. “the medicine that makes men….”

“Oh, I see.” The man smiled. “I guess even a prince needs to unsheathe his longsword.”

“Careful with your words, steward.” She warned. “The prince can have your tongue for words like that.”

“We both know he can’t,” the steward’s voice turned serious. “It was said in jest — just that.”

“Nevermind then. What of the formulas?”

The steward stared at her as if confused — finally shaking his head.

“We only carry the healing drops. Our own mages have tried replicating it — but it’s not something they’ve seen before. As for the Lifesavers™, you can only get them at the Corner Shop™.”

“I thought you had dealings with the Scourge?”

“We just buy his goods and sell them in the city,” the man explained. “That’s as far as the partnership goes. We don’t even sell the Longsword — a roaming merchant does that.’

She was surprised at their limited partnership. Did the Scourge not reveal his identity as the Blackstaff’s son or his connection to the Elswind house?

“Did you even try to buy the formula? Surely, the Scourge — or maybe his butler — would have a price.”

“The Scourge is a strange one,” the steward answered. “Not right in the head, if you ask me. Lady Amaranth didn’t even consider buying the formula.”

“And the butler?”

“Loyal as can be, for all I know.”

Liliane frowned.

“This Corner Shop™ — how far is it from the city?”

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***

Jeremy fumed. The lordling was risking his men and their troop every minute they dallied. Even worse — he was hoarding the gems in the crevices.

There were gems in the crevices! Why didn’t he see them before? Last time he checked, all he saw were humanoid and animal bones.

He could have made his fortune dealing in gems instead of opening a shop.

Of course, Sebas would say something about inflation and flooding the market with goods. Too many gems would make them less valuable.

Jeremy checked the time. It was 2 minutes 47 seconds past the captain’s 5-minute limit.

They needed to get out — and soon.

He didn’t want to risk himself by opening a portal to let the captain and his men through. Doing so would be disastrous.

He was sure his earlier portal already alerted the cloud of teeth. Another one, while they were stationary, would bring the entity to their exact location.

Jeremy locked eyes with the captain — his eyes widening to convey the gravity of their situation.

The captain could only frown and shake his head — powerless against the whims of nobility.

Of course, he could just leave the lord and his men to their fates. They were already rescued from the outpost — it wasn’t his problem if they choose to stay in hell.

“I’m opening the portal,” he advised the captain. “It should lead somewhere close to Evergreen — away from the battle lines.”

“What of Lord Norwin and his men?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Not my problem if they want to stay in hell.”

The wizard’s portal began to manifest. Unlike his butler’s elegant doorway, his was the usual circular tear in the fabric of reality.

The sound of a hundred beasts roaring in fury erupted from the heavens.

Jeremy scanned the skies with the soldiers — one of them pointing to the direction they came from.

“Oh, it was close,” Jeremy mused. His portal was timely, seeing as the cloud was on its way. The only problem now was the lordling.

“Time to go,” he gestured at the portal. “Things are going to get a lot more interesting.”

The captain moved to the wizard, even as his men crossed the portal. Two of them crossed back, informing the captain that the exit was west of Evergreen’s walls — away from the fighting.

The captain nodded as he urged his men forward.

“How long until that thing reaches us?”

“The cloud?” Jeremy glanced at the sky. “Around ten — maybe, fifteen minutes.”

“Lord Norwin and his men are a quarter of a mile out!”

“Yes, and you told them five minutes,” Jeremy shrugged. “They should be running.”

The two stared toward the lord and his men. To their credit, a few of them were running.

They were a minute out, judging by their pace. The captain decided to run towards them, to find out why the others weren’t moving.

Jeremy stayed near the portal. He didn’t need to — but the captain didn’t know that. Running was so undignified — one wrong step and you’d be called trippy or manure face, depending on how bad you landed. No, this wizard was not running.

The captain soon returned with the gasping men — another reason not to go with them, since they arrived at the same time anyway.

“Norwin’s men said the others couldn’t even see the cloud. They didn’t even heed their warnings.”

Jeremy frowned. The cloud thing was ten minutes out and it would take him two minutes to reach Norwin and his men.

“Well, we tried.”

The captain called to one of his men — giving him his spear as he loosened the straps of his armor.

“You’re still trying to save them?”

“I have to — at least the lordling,” the captain spat. “Otherwise my men would be censured — or worse.”

“I’ll go with you then.”

“What of the portal? Don’t you need to keep it open?”

“It’s too late to bring them back,” Jeremy answered as he watched the last of the men pass through. “I’ll just have to open a portal there — but we won’t be going anyplace friendly.

The captain nodded before he started sprinting. Jeremy stayed for a moment to make sure his portal closed properly — he didn’t want the cloud or anything from this place entering his world.

Jeremy followed the captain. His smaller strides were different from the captain’s larger ones. He probably used mana to propel himself further with every stride — quite inefficient considering how long he spent in the air.

It took them a minute to reach the lordling. He was standing there smiling as his men were digging the crevices for gems.

“Lord Norwin,” the captain shook the standing idiot. “The cloud! Can’t you see the cloud?”

“What are you talking about captain?” The noble seemed confused and irritated. He batted the captain’s hands away and once again stared greedily at his men. “We’re all safe here.”

Jeremy wondered why some of the lord’s men ran while the ones here didn’t. Was it the crevice? But the lordling didn’t go there. Was it the gems?

“Hand me one of the gems.”

“Why?” the lordling retreated, his grip on his pouch tightening as he held it close to his chest “The gems are mine.”

Jeremy forced his hands into the man’s pouch, struggling with the lord until the captain intervened by holding him by the arms.

He took out a gem — dropping it almost instantly.

The gem was dangerous — most especially to him.

It lulled its bearer into a false sense of security — promising safety no matter what was happening.

To Jeremy, who had a multitude of demons assaulting his mind, that sense of security would have destroyed him.

“Don’t touch the gem. It makes you feel warm and safe,” he shivered.

The captain stopped, almost picking up the dropped gem — which was hastily taken by the lordling.

“We have five minutes to get them back to the —“

Jeremy stared at the cloud of teeth. They didn’t have five minutes — they didn’t even have two. The entity was flying at a rate he hadn’t seen before — possibly drawn by the promise of docile food.

The lord had more than two dozen men in the crevices. He could probably take six people using a hasty portal.

“Captain, we need to bring the lord to the crevice — so we can save a handful of his men.”

“A handful? There’s more than a score of them.”

“We either save a few or die with everyone else. Your choice, captain.”

He watched as the captain sighed as he dragged the struggling lord towards the crevice. Jeremy turned his eyes upward towards the cloud and its multitude of teeth. It was close — too close.

It was probably a creature — hidden by some sort of miasma that surrounded it. Jeremy discarded the thought, preferring to think of the entity as a cloud of teeth. It was more idyllic that way.

The captain lost his patience, pushing the struggling lordling into the crevice and jumping after him.

Jeremy smiled at the scene, as he followed after the two.

He counted four. Together with the captain and the lordling, only four were close enough for his spell. The others would die horrible deaths. Hopefully, their souls would not spend an eternity in this place.

The wizard opened a portal. Instead of a tear in reality, this one manifested as a globe of fire that encased the seven of them.

It was his least favorite portal — especially since their current location would lead them to Tartrasil or Hell number 202-A, home of flying bugs the size of horses.