Verres was feeling quite pleased with how he'd managed to turn this boring assignment into a potentially lucrative opportunity. The young woman before him, who seemed to be the leader of the fledgling wayfarers, looked far less happy. That was fine by him, though, who cared what the foreigners thought? Their home world would be busy dealing with the ramifications of being integrated into the Labyrinth for decades.

"This is extortion." The blonde woman growled at him. "You know what is happening to our world, and you're trying to profit from the desperation of our people? Well, that's not going to happen."

She took a step towards him, and the nobleman was momentarily taken aback by the fire and vitriol held within her eyes. One would think that he had just threatened to kill a baby. Certainly, Verres didn't expect them to be thrilled by the situation, but it was only money. Everyone knew that Labyrinth quests provided lucrative rewards, and they should have plenty of it to spare. Even if they didn't, he was in greater need of it than them due to recent, unfortunate events at an underground casino in Illysport. Events that had led his father into getting him sent out into the wilderness on this pain in the ass expedition.

Just to be safe, Verres finally took the time to pull up the groups' status windows. He relaxed upon seeing that none of them were even level 10 yet. This 'Jade' was spirited, but she wasn't a real threat to him. He realized that he'd placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, and casually shifted it to his hip instead.

"Jade..." The dark-haired woman grabbed her arm, tugging her back. She blinked, apparently only now realizing that she'd taken an aggressive step towards him. Well, at least one of them had some sense. If the prospect of earning a tidy sum hadn't put him in such a good mood, he may have had her disciplined for such disrespect. The foreigners had to learn the proper order of things here, after all.

"We're leaving." The one the Voice of the Labyrinth labelled 'Naomi' said to him, her voice cold as she pinned him with an impertinent glare of her own. "To discuss what we're going to do next."

"You're not going anywhere until you answer some questions." Verres said, gesturing towards them and frowning as his good mood began to slip away. "Captain, detain them." He ordered, nodding to the fellian mercenary.

The blonde woman stiffened, shaking free of her companion's grasp and reaching for her weapons. Verres didn't bother doing the same, confident his retainers would intervene if the foreigners decided to do anything rash. Actually, that wouldn't be such a bad outcome, as then he would have an excuse to…-

"No." Captain Mar grunted, the terse words accompanied by a baleful glare.

"Excuse me?" Verres asked, turning an incredulous look on his supposed subordinate.

"You heard me."

"I am in charge of this expedition. You will obey my commands." Verres growled at the knight. His mood had truly soured now, replaced by an intense irritation at the whole situation.

"The duke hired me to this team to protect you, Lord Ledkin, not to 'extort'" he glanced at Jade "travelers. If you are put in danger, I will do my duty and defend you. But the Onyx Shield does not exist to do your dirty work. I assume that's why you brought these 'thugs'." He finished, jerking a thumb at the fellian warrior guarding the stairway door and another lightly armored human, both lackeys that he had recruited from the Ebon Eyes guild.

Or rather, a part of him whispered, a pair that had been sent to keep an eye on him by the Matron, likely to ensure that he didn't 'forget' to hand over any wealth he happened across on his trip.

"How dare you." Verres scowled at his bodyguard. "My uncle will hear about this!"

"Yes, he will." Captain Mar replied. "From both me and Aylin as well."

Aylin, who had remained silent during the discourse, nodded tersely in agreement. The mage was giving him a scornful look, which only served to heighten Verres's frustration.

"Fine." He snapped, turning back towards the leader of the other group and stepping towards her. He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, starting to draw it. "I'll do it myse…"

Verres trailed off, slowing to a stop as he met Jade's furious glare. Something dark and frightening lay behind her eyes. Despite knowing that he was many levels higher than her and being sure of his ability to defeat her in battle, Verres found himself unwilling to put his conviction to the test. He swallowed, flushing slightly as he waved his hand brusquely at the group.

"Fine. No matter." He grunted, trying to save face. "Not worth my time. If you don't want to pay, then get out of here."

They didn't need to be told twice. Their male companion began ushering them away from the camp, saying something softly to Jade. The woman nodded, keeping her eyes locked on his as they left. Even as they disappeared through the trees, Verres could swear that he could still feel her watching him.

----------------------------------------

"Damn, Jade." Luis said as they stopped. "I thought you were going to attack him."

Jade exhaled slowly, and some of the tension left her body. Siora had found a spot near the edge of the woodland where three hills formed a small valley. They rested there now, unsure of what to do next.

"I had half a mind to." Jade replied tersely, understating how close she had been to drawing steel on the insufferable nobleman. If the man was as well connected as he seemed, though, that would have been a mistake. "Thanks for calming me down, Naomi."

They had travelled to a whole different world and the people in power were still the same. Arrogant, self-serving, and generally deplorable. Jade wished she was surprised by the revelation.

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"Another few moments, and I would've been right there with you." Her friend said darkly, eliciting surprised looks from the rest of them.

"What?" Naomi protested, looking around.

"You just don't seem like the type to start a fight." Luis said with a raised eyebrow. "That's more in Jade's wheelhouse."

"Hey." Jade gave him a flat look, causing Luis to hold up his hands in defense. "Before I came here, I'd never been in a fight in my life."

"I might be a little reserved." Naomi crossed her arms and scowled. "But I'm not a saint. That 'Verres' guy is asking for it. No decent person acts like that. I know the type. You know who preys on desperate people? Thugs. He may dress nicer than the ones back home, but they're still the same."

From the sound of it, Naomi's life had been more challenging than Jade had imagined. None of them had spent much time talking about their homes or families since they'd started travelling together. Jade resolved to change that when the opportunity arose. They'd been together for almost two weeks now, and it was high time that they started getting to know basic details about the people they relied on.

"I don't think his own people like him, either." Siora said, perching cross-legged on a small boulder beside Jade. The elf had calmed somewhat, but clearly remained upset. "Duke Ledkin is very respected, I've never heard anyone speak ill of him or his family."

"Looks like we got stuck with their black sheep." Jade said bitterly. "Just how important is this duke person, Siora?"

Maybe they could get away with killing him, if even his own attendants were against what he was doing…

No. Stop. Jade shook her head, suddenly disgusted with herself. Was she really considering killing a man just because she found his actions detestable? Yes, it was a crisis, but that felt like a slippery slope to start down. She forced herself to take a few more deep breaths, trying to center herself.

"Hmm…" The elf cocked her head, oblivious to Jade's internal struggle as she thought. "He's probably one of the most important people on the third floor. Illysport isn't quite the largest city in these parts, but everyone passes through there. It's the main trading hub for all goods coming to and from The Labyrinth."

"Of course it is." Jade was finding it hard to stay calm. "Then it would be a bad idea to make enemies with them."

"I wish I could disagree, but..."

"Why can't anything just be easy for once?" Naomi complained. "We fought our way across the entire floor to get here. Is it too much to ask that something actually goes our way?"

"At least we got a quest out of this bullshit." Luis grunted, leaning back against the rock Siora was sitting on and looking uncharacteristically despondent. The three wayfarers had received a quest, 'Ascension: Part 1', upon finding their path to the second floor impeded. It was a simple quest, requiring only that they reach the next level of the Labyrinth. She found it odd that it had taken so long for the Labyrinth to issue it, but that didn't really matter right now.

Jade didn't interrupt their complaints. She knew the importance of venting frustrations from her days as an athlete. When something didn't go your way, rushing right back into it all heated up and angry wasn't helpful. It was best to get it all out first. Only then could you approach the problem with a clear head.

I really should take my own advice. Jade reflected, self-aware enough to recognize that she was usually the reckless one.

After a few minutes, everyone had calmed down enough to discuss actual solutions to their predicament.

"Maybe we should just find another stairway." Luis suggested halfheartedly.

"It could take days to reach one." Siora said glumly. "They aren't flowers in a meadow."

"They aren't what?" Jade asked, confused.

"Sorry… I meant they aren't common." The elf apologized, once again finding the limitation of the Labyrinth's ability to translate idioms.

"We are not running away from this." Naomi declared with a fierceness that surprised Jade. "Do you know what kind of impression that'd give them? Do we want them to think that people from Earth will just roll over and take whatever ridiculous demands they come up with?"

That was an excellent point, and one that Jade hadn't even considered. Not only did they need to avoid antagonizing a powerful faction, but it would be a mistake to appear weak before them as well.

"Good thinking, Naomi." Jade gave her a nod. "That means we shouldn't just pay them off, either. Even if we had the money to do it with."

"Maybe we could wait for nightfall, and then try to sneak past them?" Siora suggested. "All we have to do is get through the door. It doesn't take long to open."

"I'd be shocked if they didn't leave someone watching it. Verres's underlings seemed happy enough to go along with this farce."

"They'll definitely have lookouts." Luis agreed. "Even we do that, and we're brand new here."

"I could try charming him." Jade suggested. "But that could make things a lot worse if it doesn't work. Siora, how do you think they'd react if they saw my true body?"

"I don't know…" The elf hesitated, biting her lower lip. "I don't think they'd attack you, but they'd probably be hostile."

She'd been afraid of that. Whatever they did, transforming into her demon form would have to be a last resort.

"My charm doesn't work nearly as well while I'm disguised. With how high level they are, it might not even take." Jade sighed. "And fighting them is out of the question. Even if it wouldn't have consequences, they're far stronger than us."

She briefly considered attempting to seduce the nobleman in some manner but quickly discounted the idea. Not only was it distasteful to contemplate, but Jade had little experience with sultry temptations. If she couldn't rely on her charm magic, she doubted she'd find any success with that kind of approach.

"We need to avoid a confrontation. What if we distract them?" Luis said thoughtfully. "Cause a commotion to lure them away?"

"What could we do that would make all of them leave?" Naomi asked.

"Maybe Jade's magic bag has something that could help?"

"It won't be ready for a while longer." Jade reminded him. "You used it last night before dinner and got those weird seasonings, remember?"

"Oh, right… Those were actually pretty good."

Jade had lent her lottery bag to Luis the previous evening after he'd expressed a desire to get ahold of some food that wasn't the bland non-perishables the Labyrinth sanctuaries provided. Thinking about the vials of seasoning stirred a memory of another collection of ingredients they had, however, and the beginnings of an idea started to form in her mind.

"Wait…" Jade started slowly. "Maybe we can use that…"

"What? The seasoning? It wasn't that good." Luis chuckled. "I don't think we could pay them off with it."

"No, not that. Well, sort of." Jade said, trying to put the concept in her mind into words. "We could combine some of these ideas. I'd need a distraction that occupies all of them for at least a few minutes."

"What are you thinking?" Siora asked.

"Well, they have that big pot cooking over the fire, and I bet they're going to have dinner in the next hour or two." Jade started, the plan coming together as she spoke. "Siora, do you still have those agility potions you've been experimenting with?"

"Huh?" The elf looked confused. "Yes, why?"

"Do you think you could make some adjustments to them? Maybe increase that drowsy effect?"

"That wouldn't be hard, the sedative is a primary component of the spider egg extract. I've been working on neutralizing it, it's much more potent in its natural form."

"How long would it take you to prepare some?"

"Not long at all. I already have plenty of unprocessed extract." The elf shrugged.

"I think I see where this is going…" Naomi groaned. "And I don't like it."

"I do." Luis grinned, leaning forward. "But how do we pull it off?"

"With Naomi's help." Jade said, starting to sketch a diagram in the dirt with her knife. "Here's what I have in mind…"