“Okay Teach, what is she?” Fin asked.

In a small, wooden inn room in a small town nestled in the dense jungles of the eastern side of the world of Mistrim, three people stood around a bed, overlooking a woman who was found in a box as she rested. Fin and Ange stood by, waiting for their guest, their hometown’s teacher, to shine some light on the mysterious sleeping woman’s identity.

“Right, let’s look for any distinguishing racial traits,” replied their teacher.

She wore a red scholar’s robe, highlighted with yellow loops around the sleeves and the hems. She wore it open so her frilly white shirt, buttoned up to the collar, could be seen, and so that the jewelry and pins she wore could shine proudly under the light of day. The robe only had a amethyst buckle that was loosely fastened at the waist, and her bottoms were a loose pair of silky black pants. Her hair was purple and lustrous, specks that looked like stars in the night sky twinkling across it, as the hair nicely draped her shoulders. Her skin similarly had a purplish hue, however light it was, that made her blue eyes stand out a tad more to an observer’s gaze.

Though she had many traits that could catch the eye, they all paled in comparison to the traits unique to her race. Under her eyes on each cheek, two streaks of amethyst sat, naturally growing from her body. In her hair, a tiara like head piece sat and shone brilliantly. Dangling from her bangs, tassel-like accessories, made from the amethyst that composed her body, hang.

A woman, amethyst given form, the teacher of the other two, inspected the sleeping woman, so as to ascertain her unique, identifying traits.

The buxom woman, flanked by her two students, activated the monocle she wore, a faint green stream igniting within the monocle’s intricate, steely frame.

She gently picked up the woman’s arm, and looked at it from all sides, inspecting the wrist, the arms, the palms- everything. Just as gently did she raise did she put down. She pulled the sheets that covered the woman off- causing Fin to awkwardly look away. Their teacher continued to inspect the exterior of the woman’s body, but aside from the grey skin, the two onlookers could not spot any distinguishing trait.

“Humff,” their teacher sounded, “She doesn’t have a body made of magic.” She buried her chin into her palm as she muttered her thoughts. “So she’s not an elemental type…. But she doesn’t have anything else… Might she have an Incarnate form? ”

Ange, who was standing right next to her, caught enough of what she said to ask, “Ms Deleim, what about checking her mouth or eyes?”

Deleim, hearing a good idea enthusiastically turned towards Ange, “That’s a great idea!” she resounded, patting Ange’s shoulder repeatedly. Just as quickly as she turned to Ange, she turned her head to Fin on the other side. “And what about you? Couldn’t you come up with a suggestion like that?”

Fin, still looking away, tensed up at the teacher’s words, “I was distracted,” he choked out.

Deleim, glanced towards the woman’s naked body for a tick and glanced back. Her eyes narrowed as she deduced the meaning of his words, “I bet you are,” she said, a tinge of disappointment audible in her words.

She turned back to the woman, and gently covered her up, after which she went for her mouth, careful prying her lips apart.

“Oh?” she said as she modified something on her monocle, “What do we have here?”

Both Fin and Ange, as if they were kids once more, peered closer to see what their teacher saw.

“That’s…” Fin was the first to speak as he tried to make sense of the sight, “What am I looking at actually?”

Ange released an audible sigh; Fin wasn’t good with anything beyond basic magic, but it was still painful to be reminded.

“You two can’t see it but,” Deleim started, missing Fin’s question, “Inside her mouth is a vortex of magic…. Dark element perhaps? It’s just swirling but it’s not sucking anything in or pumping anything out.”

Before the three, was just as the teacher described, a swirling mass of magic in place of where her throat and the back of her mouth would be.

“So…” Fin responded, “What does that tell us?”

Deleim let go of the woman’s mouth, gently bringing her jaw back together and straightened up her back, a heavy sigh marking a return to less tension.

“It tells us nothing,” Deleim reported, “That’s not enough for me to go on. I’m not even sure if I’ve ever heard of a swirling mouth vortex as a racial trait among the sentients of Mistrim.” Deleim placed her hands on her hips as she pondered over what the three had discovered. “I might have to go look at my books. Find a race of sentients with that trait.”

“Okay, great,” Fin replied, “Sounds like a plan, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Oh?” Deleim said, looking to the affirmative Fin, “Are you in a hurry to go somewhere? Just going to leave it to us girls?”

Deleim had caught Fin by the tail. Though in his mind, he made no indications that he was leaving the situation just yet, Deliem had caught his departure. Fin shook his head, giving up; she knew him so well.

“I’ve got to report to Impeerio.”

At the mention of the name, a reality set in, Deliem shoulders slumped and her arms fell listlessly. From behind her, Ange made a complex face, her brow, knitted.

“Ah. Right. Of course,” Deleim said dejectedly. “Well, off with you then. We’ll see what we can do.”

“Yeah! Who knows, maybe she’ll be awake by the time you get back!” Ange said, trying to lift the cold blanket that was thrown on the occasion.

“Right, I’ll be back soon.” Fin replied, with a strong reassuring nod.

And so, Fin left the room, leaving the glamorous teacher, the bony friend and the mysterious woman to themselves.

***

I walked out of the room and exited the inn we were staying at. The night was cool, and the stars far above twinkled brightly. Even with all the lampposts, the night was still bright.

“I hope Ange and teach don’t have too much trouble…”

It wouldn’t do good for me to worry now, but I felt guilty leaving them with such tough looks on their faces. I started to make my way down the brick paved street when I heard a voice call out from behind me.

“Hey, Fin! Wait up!”

“Huh?” I turned to see my childhood friend, Ange, running up to me, “Oh come on, Ange,” I said exasperatedly, “I need you to stay behind and keep on an eye on that lady until I talk to Impeerio.”

“I know!” she replied, puffing out her cheeks.

Whenever she would do this, I couldn’t help but see her as the girl I used to play cards with when we were younger. But now this girl of the Skull Knight race was stuck with me in this terrible life. But yet, she never seemed down.

“This is for the girl!” she said sticking out a pouch, wearing that happy-go-lucky grin she always seemed to wear without effort.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking the brown pouch in my hand.

“Money. The lady needs clothes. Don’t you think?” she winked at me from beneath the shadows of her skull and wore a devious grin.

“Right.” I said, fighting a blush. “I’ll be back then,” I tucked the pouch away into my coat and gave my friend a final nod before turning.

“Have a good meeting!” Ange yelled, waving me away.

I quickly scurried away towards my meeting.

“It should be around here somewhere…”

I walked further down the streets until I found the restaurant I was told to come to.

“Jungle Kitchen? Seems like the place.”

The restaurant seemed to take the motief and the region and go beyond it. The wood was adorned with all manners of jungle plants and had flowers growing along its trim. I came up to the wooden door, turned the knob and walked in to be greeted by a delicious fragrance and a particular greeting-

“Yoohoo, Fin, over here!”

I turned to see the man calling me over to a booth. Platinum blonde hair that draped over his sharp, fair-skinned face almost hid his bright blue eyes.

“Impeerio…” I walked over to the booth, slightly relieved to see a familiar face and took a seat across from him.

Always a spectacle, Impeerio was sitting here, sipping his tea wearing a loud, multi-colored floral print shirt- one he most likely got in town and wore a wide brimmed hat with a red flower pinned into it. I didn’t know what race Impeerio was, but I did know what he liked by now.

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The waitress, given the cat ears and tail, some type of feline beastman came to take my order-

“Great service they have here, don’t they? Wasn’t even a second and they noticed you.” Impeerio said gleefully as soon as the waitress walked away. “Looks like the guidebook was right, this is a wonderful restaurant.”

“I suppose, but Impeerio, I think I should report to you what happened.”

“Oh come now, we can shoot the breeze for a bit!” Impeerio said, dismissing my thoughts with a hand wave. “Here we are, so far east, in the deep jungles of Mistrim, a mere’s stone throw away from the mysterious mist’s boundary, in a quaint little town.” Impeerio looked out the window, seemingly admiring the sights. “Isn’t that just amazing? How far our journey has taken us.” He turned his gaze back to me and smiled, “Wouldn’t you agree, my friend?”

Impeerio, ever since I met him carried the air of a man that seemed to enjoy stopping to smell the roses along the way. That disposition however always made me curious how we could ever have intersected, and more specifically, how we could ever have come to work together.

“And that journey is still ongoing.” I said, interrupting his mood, “Which is why we need to speak about what’s happened.”

Impeerio sighed in an exaggerated manner, “Fine, fine,” he said, before beginning to sip his tea.

“We found the hideout. They were using a very small ruin, like your intel said.”

“Ahh,” he replied, “Were there Blood Hound members then?”

I pulled out from my chest pocket a few metal badges and tossed them onto the table. Badges I had picked up from the members after downing them.

“Yeah, but just small fry. The one worth talking about was a cyclops man. Seemed like he was the leader.”

“Ahh that criminal organization has grown so big that they can just send out small cells to ruins without batting an eye. Are you disappointed you didn’t find a bigger fish?”

I sighed as I took stock of just what I was feeling, “Yes and no. I had Ange with me, so in a way, I’m relieved they were targets we could handle. But still, this journey; its been long.”

“Ahh I think I understand what you’re feeling, though I can’t say I’ve ever felt it myself,” Impeerio replied.

The waitress returned with a water for me and a pie for Impeerio, which he quickly started slicing and eating, even silently offering me an eighth of the pie.

“Don’t you want to ask me about treasure?” I asked, my question signifying my refusal of the pie.

“Well, I thought the conversation would naturally go there,” Impeerio replied through a full mouth.

“We didn’t find any of the Seven Treasures.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

Though Impeerio had said that, he kept eating like nothing was wrong.

“Don’t worry,” he said after noticing my discomfort, “The contract won’t penalize you or anything. You did as I requested and that was good enough.”

“Right…”

Contracts; they were one of the foundations of my world. Magical agreements that when made must be observed lest you end up with the entire world conspiring to penalize you. This man before me, Impeerio, despite looking the way he does, was an intermediary I made a contract through.

“In exchange for the power to survive and exact my vengeance, I need to follow up on the leads you dig up on the Seven Treasures your God wants you to find,” I said, reminding myself and confirming with Impeerio that I had gotten it right.

“Within a reasonable timeframe and other little things!” he interjected, “Mustn't forget the minutiae that make the contract humane.”

“Right.”

“Don’t worry about it so much! You’re in the clear! It’s thanks to your earnest efforts that we’ve secured three of the treasures so far!” Impeerio was doing his best to quell my concerns of failure and the consequences therein.

I had heard that contracts could be very cruel in how they determined what constituted a penalty or violation, but when Impeerio and I made a contract he made very sure to set up one that would be very kind to me. Thanks to that, I could afford to take long breaks between leads, although I never felt comfortable doing so. Regardless, so long as I got to the lead within a few months, I was in the clear contract wise.

“Still,” Impeerio started, “It’s odd, I was sure there was something there.”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to speak with you on.”

“Do tell,” Impeerio said, taking another entranced bite of his pie.

“We found a woman, stuffed in a box.” Impeerio stopped midway through his chew and raised a brow.

“Was she alive?!” he shouted, food spilling out from his mouth. “Oh sorry, sorry, I’ll clean that up.”

“Yes, she was alive, but she was nude with not a single item on her and we haven’t really been able to identify what race of sentient she is.”

“Wait, hold on hold on!” Impeerio said, his brow knitted into concern.

“Yes?”

“Where is she now?”

Does he know something?

“I brought her back and left her at the inn under supervision,” I replied. I realized that maybe he was concerned that I caused a commotion. That would be expected if I suddenly brought an unconscious woman into town. “We were stealthy about it, no one noticed,” I said to calm Impeerio’s concerns.

“Uhuh, I thought so. And how did your women feel?”

“My-My women?” I knew who Impeerio was talking about, but I didn’t want to think what would happen if Ange knew Impeerio referred to her as that.

“Yes! How did your women feel about you bringing a naked woman, a strange naked woman back into your group?! Were they angry?!”

“H-Huh?” Impeerio was too animated about the topic; it caught me off guard. “I suppose, Teach kind of teased me about it,” I waved my hands frantically, “But it wasn’t that big of a deal! We wrapped her up in my coat when we brought her in!” I wasn’t sure what was going on anymore.

“Oh, so nothing scandalous happened? That’s a bore. My Lord gave you a second lease on life; you should live it to the fullest,” Impeerio replied with a childish pout. “You know, between jobs,” he amended.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I yelled; I didn’t want to be stuck on this point. “More importantly, the woman!” I slapped my hands on the table to shun any steamy thought, “Do you know what might be going on here?”

He looked at me, took another bite of his pie and seemed to mull the thought over. “Can’t say I know anything for sure.” He pointed his pie covered fork towards me, flicking his wrist, “The woman might be related to the treasure in some way.”

I raised my brow. “How? On what grounds?” I asked. I was skeptical of how this random woman could be involved with an ancient treasure.

“My information indicated there was a lead here. You found a mysterious woman, mysteriously shoved into a box. It wouldn’t be any more mysterious for her to be involved.

I thought to the woman; she was naked and had yet to regain consciousness. She was stuffed into a box that she wouldn’t be able to open. She was a victim of the Blood Hounds.

“With all due respect, I think she’s a victim. If you’re sure about your info though, I’ll just head back to the ruin now and look for more clues.”

“Did you not investigate it thoroughly already?”

“I was tossed into a hidden chamber that we wouldn’t have known existed. And then we found the girl and couldn’t look further. There might be something more there.”

“Hmm.” Impeerio brought his messy fork to his chin, slathering cream on his chin in the process. “Well how about we sleep on it? Maybe we’ll have better ideas tomorrow on how to proceed. Besides, I wouldn’t want your ladies to get upset because of you being overworked.”

“Is this not an urgent matter? Securing the treasure?”

“You’re the only one that makes it urgent. I give you room to breathe.”

“But what if the Blood Hounds take it while I’m off breathing?”

“Then you go find the Blood Hounds.” He stuck his thumb into the air and grinned, “I believe in you.”

“R-Right.” I wasn’t good with such direct declarations; I looked out the window without noticing. I could hear Impeerio snickering in the meantime. “W-Well, if that’s decided, I’m going to leave now.”

“Huh?!” Impeerio gasped, offended, “What do you mean leave?! At least run the gab with me while I finish my pie.”

“No, I’ve got to go do an errand.”

“What could be more important than chatting out with your friend?!” Impeerio’s sounded even more offended than before; his hand had already clutched his chest.

“I’ve got to go buy the woman some clothes. The girls asked me to.”

“Oh?” Impeerio slapped his hands against the table and leaned over so forcefully I thought the table was about to tip. “I’ll come with you then!” he yelled. His eyes were beaming.

“Why though? I’ll be fine on my own.”

Impeerio wore a smug look, “Did you get her measurements? Do you know all the best places to shop?”

I stopped in my tracks; I was about to answer, but I knew I had no answer. Impeerio however took my silence as the answer.

“Then that does it! Let’s head out, Fin! To buy the lovely lady some clothes!”

***

“Alright, the pouch is empty. Good work.” Impeerio said before tossing the empty pouch towards me. That pouch fell straight to the ground; I couldn’t catch it.

“Impeerio. My hands are full! How did you expect me to catch that?”

Truthfully, they were; I could hold no more bags. This was the product of a shopping trip that took three hours. Impeerio had taken me all around the town, down dark streets and safe looking streets both, and everytime he bought something for the sleeping woman, he had me carry it.

“No, no, no what do you know about fashion,” he would say. “Since you can’t contribute to the purchases, you will carry the loot,” he would justify.

With just my vague description of her size he went about picking all manner of colorful clothing. Occasionally I heard him say that if it were left to me, I would have bought the woman a black potato sack.

What was most surprising however was how much Impeerio was able to buy for so little. Part of me believed he stuck some of his own gold in there in order to be able to buy enough such that my hands were full with bags.

“Use your big ogre arms! You know the big ones.” Impeerio said, framing the size of my arm in the air.

“Impeerio, you know that tires me out,” I complained, I wasn’t going to unleash my race’s Incarnate form for a shopping trip. As an Ogre Variant, my Incarnate form, the form people call the true form of a race, that form would allow me a strength that far surpassed my standard form. But using that form totally would make me grow twice or thrice my size, I wouldn’t fit anywhere, I’d get tired easily and I’d have trouble coordinating my body. That and I felt sure that if I did, Impeerio would’ve bought heavier things. “My form’s not made for walking and shopping in a town, Impeerio.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Impeerio complained, slapping a long, gaudy feather across my face; he went shopping too. He was now wearing a pink boa and red framed sunglasses. “Nevertheless, the trip is done. I’m sure that woman will enjoy the beautiful clothes you so kindly got to her.”

I peered into the bag. “Beautiful?” I scoffed under my breath.

In the bag was a literal rainbow, the assortment of colors covered so much of the spectrum. I looked back up to the smug looking Impeerio. “Right.” I was sure she would hate them if she saw them. “I’ll let you know,” but I wasn’t going to let him know what I thought.

We walked together down a street until we reached a crossroads; my inn was just down the one of the streets.

“Well, come find me tomorrow morning, we can meet here.” Impeerio said as he observed the environment, “We can decide the next course of action then, maybe you’ll have a new perspective on what to do.”

“Okay, understood,” I said with a nod. “I’ll be off then.”

“Great, see you,” impeerio replied, waving.

Before I took my first step, I looked back at Impeerio; I had something to say to him.

“Thank you by the way.”

“For what?” he asked, dropping his glasses lower down his nose.

“For telling me about the Blood Hounds.”

This wasn’t the first time that Impeerio handed me information on the Blood Hounds, but our contract had nothing to do with them. I had gotten the power I needed a long time ago, but the intel that Impeerio gave me, that was an extra I never imagined I would receive. Even though the focus should have been on finding Impeerio’s Seven Treasures, very often he would tell me where Blood Hound activity was likely and let me take the time to investigate without penalty. This time, it just so happened that our interests aligned.

Impeerio seemed to be confused as he looked at me before eventually waving me appreciation away saying, “No problem at all. We help each other out when we can!” he said with a smile.

I smiled back at him before I could notice I did, and then took my leave.