Eventually it was over. We signed the contracts, handed over the rune sequence for the teleportation circle, and I even took a quick trip down to the Duminere with some officials. It was my first time using a teleportation circle when I wasn't crammed into a stone turtle sculpture and could actually see what was happening, but of course I didn't learn anything since from my perspective it was just three people in uniforms speaking to each other in a language I didn't know and then... bam. Done. It felt somewhat similar to when I had left Earth - there was a moment where I felt weightless, a flash of disorientation, and everything had changed around me. This time my head didn't try to explode, which was obviously an upgrade.

They'd brought someone with us that had no Dumine so they could go inside and get one, thereby confirming it was the real deal - he got a dud but it was still enough to prove that I wasn't pulling some elaborate con. The other person along for the inspection had some ability to sense where we actually were, which was important because if it hadn't been within the kingdom's territory everything would have gotten way trickier - they didn't have hard borders, but if it had been in an ambiguous spot they would have needed to prepare for a challenge since they would be founding a new city over the spot to cement their control. I found myself wondering if I would have been able to insist on getting to name the city as part of the contract, but it was too late for that.

When everyone was satisfied we came back, signed even more documents, and then they handed each of us some papers covered in official seals, a case of money, and a small box with a gold nose ring. Katrin, Errod, and myself opened a safe deposit box under the 'hall of desks' to keep most of the documents in and I threw my phone in there while I was at it - I didn't have any way to charge it at the moment, and with all the messes I kept getting in it didn't seem safe to carry it with me.

The money was the same brightly colored wedges of metal as everywhere else, and they were clipped to each other to form little hexagonal plates that fit into a cylindrical locking case. I'd been thinking of the light blue ones - worth six pins - as being roughly equivalent to a dollar. But these were all dark red ones which I'd never encountered before, with each wedge being worth one thousand two hundred ninety-six pins each - an even ten thousand in base six. That meant each hexagon formed of six coins was worth seven thousand, seven hundred, and seventy-six pins. And we each had a big stack of them.

It was a truly ridiculous amount of money, and that was just our walking-around cash. We also had bank accounts with even more in them, and those accounts would continue to get a stipend deposited every month. I was going to buy so much shit. While I'd given myself the largest share by far, nobody was coming away from this unhappy. Even the kids had an account they could collect on when they were adults - I didn't want someone else spending their money.

There was still more to do, dealing with Telen's gear and the entropic sword-club from the vault, but our hired mercenaries didn't need to be around for that and so we all gathered to say our goodbyes. Mila would be leaving the capitol but not going very far, instead visiting some of the nearby cities to shop around for a place to re-open her business - she spoke Erathik and the contract had given her an extra source of income here.

"Also, I might be a wanted criminal in the Endless Empire now," she said with a sigh.

Katrin winced, and it took me a second to realize I should probably say something since her criminal status was kind of my fault. I didn't actually feel bad, but that little voice reminded me that it didn't hurt to say something. "Sorry about that, Mila."

She just smiled. "Oh it's fine dear, it happens. I came close to being banned from the Patic empire, and there's a life sentence waiting for me in Halenvar that probably isn't helped by us collecting that bounty on Telen. Oh, and I suppose the government of Markonti still wants to execute me! Haven't thought about that vacation in ages. But I have a few places left, you know, and people do forget eventually; the kingdom of Romatna had a coup about twelve years ago and I feel confident they won't try to arrest me anymore. Nobody keeps track after most of the government is beheaded."

Errod's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "And you... just run a sculpture business."

"Is that bad?"

"No," Katrin said, "I just think that most people who make statues and vases and things aren't wanted in multiple countries."

Milanata seemed to consider that for a moment, but then got distracted when she realized she wasn't sure where her bag was. Thankfully we located it - already on her back - and then it was time to say goodbye which took several attempts as she kept turning back around for something else she'd forgotten.

I awkwardly offered to buy Sige and Cyne lunch, but the job was over and both were eager to get moving - Cyne was taking most of the kids to the city of Twelve Towers to get them settled at the monastery or whatever it was until they could try to locate their parents, and Sige had some gambling debts he was extremely eager to pay off. I did get a big hug from him before he left, and a promise that if I could find him he'd gladly sign on to any other jobs I wanted done.

Cyne would be taking the kids through Heregie, the living plane. It was how we had originally planned on departing from Good Charl, and much like in that case there was an established road between Erathik and Twelve Towers. I walked them to the planar station but didn't try to go in, still feeling like until I was actually stopped by the guards I could pretend they were just going to let me go. I thanked Cyne and said goodbye no problem, and then looked down at the kids and felt like I was going to pass out.

I was sending them to what was basically an orphanage, all with their meager belongings in little backpacks. I was firmly in the role of Child Protective Services here - well, not really, I had rescued them from kidnappers and gotten them access to magic and set up a trust fund and... none of that mattered. I was handing them off to their case worker and washing my hands of them and I wanted to throw up.

I tried to say something to them but it came out as a jumbled mess of tears and snot and I finally had to force myself to smile and wave. I turned and walked away before they were even through the archway into the station, hurrying towards our hotel and pretending I couldn't hear Tig trying to call to me. Katrin and Errod didn't try to catch me, which I was grateful for - even moreso since they had Elba with them. I'd convinced them to take her back to her family, since she was the only one who still knew the name of her town, and they had in turn optimistically planned the trip as if I'd be able to come along.

They'd be going South through a mountain pass into the Free States and to the city of Sentortzi, which was the closest big city to Elba's family. It was also one of the best places in the world to purchase magic items, so if I somehow made it that far I'd also be going on a shopping spree. Then if I'd been detained in Erathik Katrin and Errod would head back, and if we were all together we would instead go to somewhere off in the wilderness where the mana was high and camp out, killing monsters and meditating to try and build up our Dumines.

Stolen story; please report.

There was one silver lining to the most likely scenario where I was stuck under guard, which was that I wouldn't have to worry about the possibility that Elba's parents had moved away or died. I couldn't imagine a conversation I was less qualified for. And what would we do with her after that? We would need to find a way to get her to Twelve Towers, or... keep a kid with us while we trained in the wilderness?

Elba was about ten years old, in Earth years, and reminded me a lot of some of the kids I'd known in foster care. She was cheerful enough, and would play games with the others and joke around and seem like a typical kid - and then she would sit there muttering to herself about Sahrger and running her thumb across the blade of her knife, staring off into the distance. She would probably need some therapy, but I wasn't exactly going to be the one to throw stones there. I liked her well enough, but... I didn't want her with us long term.

We did a little shopping around the city, and I liked the Erathi people more with every passing second. There was music everywhere, which was a welcome change from Theramas even if I couldn't understand the words, and the food was almost as good - although it seemed like it all had this bitter green veggie in it that I wasn't crazy about. I also was having a little trouble adjusting to the casual public nudity - nothing obscene, but shirts were clearly considered optional and we passed a sort of huge complicated fountain that was being used by a whole crowd to do their laundry where a few folks had just stripped down entirely.

On a similar note, there was also a lot of... touching. I got a lot of cheek kisses, and a lot of hugs, and even some affectionate slaps on the ass. Much like the nudity it didn't seem sexual, and while the ass-slaps in particular might have normally had me stabbing someone it was so clearly just a cultural norm that I couldn't be offended and instead just slapped them right back. It also helped that it didn't seem to be gendered; if it had only been men touching me I would have gotten completely different vibes, but everyone was all over everyone else. Hugh had been more reserved, but then again he would be used to behaving himself around various other cultures. I had to wonder if at home he was goosing people and kissing everyone on the cheeks all the time.

More important than the people, however, were the dinosaurs. They were everywhere, mostly moskar like the ones we'd ridden after Yallowsben but also some other varieties. They were all the same basic velociraptor-y shape, but that was like comparing a pony and a buffalo. Some were beasts of burden, some were riding mounts, and some were clearly pets, with little decorative harnesses on them.

We spend the next day and a half wandering the streets and going to various appointments. We had to talk to some officials about Telen and come to an agreement about his armor, sword, and Dumine. We had to figure out what to do with that fucking sword-club from the vault - Mila had needed to make a stone box for it and we'd knocked it in with Errod's sword, because reaching too close to it without some kind of barrier made your fingers go numb. That was going to be auctioned off, which was more paperwork and more meetings.

Katrin continued to find reasons to hang around Lute - advice on how to deal with the auction house since we weren't planning on sticking around until the auction, questions about the bank accounts, all pretty transparent excuses - so I tried to do some shopping while Errod hung out with Elba. Unfortunately, at the very first place I stopped I once again got that old feeling. It was just like I remember from being a little kid and thinking about my mom's room, about how she'd told me I wasn't allowed in. Or that one foster home Bill had tried to set up for me before he quit, or the little potion shop right before I met Errod. I wasn't sure what about these places reminded me so strongly of fearing my mom's disapproval, but I didn't want to give myself a migraine so I just gave up.

"You okay?" Errod asked, still fidgeting with his glove.

"Yeah. Something was bugging me, but it's fine. It's... I have all this fucked up shit, and most of it I even know where it comes from but that doesn't help. Like... you guys called me out of getting strange whenever you go somewhere without me, and I know that's silly and I know I only have a problem with it because my mom used to abandon me places - don't ask - but knowing does absolutely nothing. I'm still going to keep having a problem with it.

"Same thing with me always wanting to run away, or half the times I do something stupid and impulsive. And sometimes... I don't know, sometimes there's a place that reminds me of my mom's room for some reason, maybe it's a smell or something, and I just... feel like I'm not allowed in there. And it's stupid, and it's not fair that knowing why I have all these issues doesn't ever help me not have them."

Errod sighed. "I'm sorry. There are people you could talk to about it, people who have developed magic specifically to help change behaviors and things. I know you're hesitant to let anyone else see your memories though."

"Yeah, still not sure how many people know about Earth. I need to go through Connie's notebook and see if I can figure out what all Hammersmith agreed to, but I doubt she kept it a secret. I guess she won't do anything until after the war though, so... huh. You know what I just realized? I've only been here for sixty days - give or take. That's nuts."

Errod smiled, and finally stopped poking at this glove. "It does feel like longer - and I've known you even less than that. We left Yallowsben - what, two weeks after you arrived? Or as you would say, two ridiculous too-short weeks."

"A week should be seven days, not six."

"You have to know how stupid that sounds. You said you use tens like we use sixes. How does seven come into it? Shouldn't your weeks be either five or ten days?"

"I can't spend all my time explaining why the Earth method is better. Anyway. What I'm saying is, I've only been here for sixty days and I've visited multiple planes and learned magic - well, gained the ability to learn magic - and made enough money that I could just retire."

"But instead," Errod said with a grin, "you're going to try to evade the authorities again and travel around with us until you're forced to go to a plane that's been cursed and abandoned, where you will end a war and possibly save the world. Not too bad."

We had purchased two vardo wagons that were charming as fuck and made me feel as if I was some sort of mysterious fortune teller at a carnival. They were like extremely cramped mobile homes, with two narrow beds - one of them folded out from the wall over the other - and a little desk thing and cupboards and a washbasin and... I loved it. It made me deliriously happy. Each was pulled by two moskar, though these were a bit slower and stronger than the ones we'd ridden before. They had the same flat bony faces as if they had evolved to ram people, and the same beneficial ability to eat practically any plant they came across.

The plan was for me to share my wagon with Elba, and have Katrin and Errod split the other. Of course what I actually expected was that Errod would soon have his own wagon and I'd be under protective custody, but whatever. Katrin was late getting to us and looked... flustered... but I decided I wasn't going to ask about it. Probably Lute had kissed her or something, and while I was willing to smile and nod along if she wanted to share I wasn't going to go out of my way to hear about it.

We got on the road and approached the main gate of Erathik, where there was a bit of a traffic jam. It appeared the guards were being a little more... thorough... than usual. Great. I stayed hidden in the back of my wagon, peeking out ahead through one of the little windows, and watched us get closer and closer to the checkpoint.

Just before we arrived, all the guards walked away in a clump. It looked like they were escorting someone, but I couldn't get a good look and they quickly disappeared down a side street. And that was it. The remaining guards seemed to be in a hurry to clear the jam, and barely said anything to Katrin and Errod before letting them pass. I waited almost fifteen minutes before coming out just to be safe, but the road was clear and there was no sign of pursuit.

"I'm not complaining," I said to Katrin, "but what the fuck just happened?"