By the time Ghul finished his second cup of tea, he heard the sound of the front door crashing open and then slammed shut. Rapid footsteps made their way towards the kitchen, and an exhausted looking teenage girl came through the door.

Thagi gently put down his cup, and looked the girl up and down. She had grass stains on her shoes and some leaves stuck in her hair. "I thought you said you were getting your brother?"

Jabrax inclined her head and looked up with a bashful look, poking the tips of her index fingers together. "Um... about that... I tried to chase him down in the woods but he said he's too scared to come in because of the scary looking-" She looked directly at the Association Leader and cringe slightly. "Um, I mean, he's scared of strangers."

Walking quickly past Thagi, the girl approached the large kitchen window and pushed aside the curtain. "He said that he would talk to you if he didn't have to come inside, though."

Ghul looked outside into the treetops. It took only a moment for his sharp eyes to spot it. Sitting on a high branch, and gripping three other nearby branches with strange tentacle-like appendages. The things, which Ghul assumed was Jabrax's brother, had a very strange appearance. He seemed to be about as large as a normal adolescent old boy, or perhaps a little younger. It was hard to tell his exact shape, as he had draped himself with a heavy black cloth, which had been ripped into thick ribbons at the bottom edge. Each ribbon seemed to move about independent of the others, as though they had a life of their own. The face of the boy was obscured by a clay mask with two deep eye holes, the only markings being three large red painted eyes, in the style of the Vision Rune. Considering the boy's uncle, it was likely those were active Runes and the mask was a magic item.

The tree the boy sat on was roughly fifty units away, so even for the Association Leader's excellent sense of sight, it was difficult to make out more details through the heavy garb. Keeping his eyes on the boy, Thagi turned his head towards Meld. "Is that what you saw before?"

Meld, eyes also locked on the strange child, nodded. "Yes, sir. Those strange movements, the dark coloration, and the red painted eye are exactly as I remember. I believe he had his hood down last time, but this is definitely our guy."

Suzy hopped up from her chair and placed her hands on the window. "The stalker was just some little kid like that? Why's he way over there though? He should just come inside."

"The Leader's really scary, you know~? He probably scares kids all the time! I bet a lot of them run away when they see you in town, right?" Ovis turned cheerfully towards the giant in question.

Thagi's face tightened then fell. "That's... not untrue." Before he could continue, Ghul caught a whiff of Mind mana entering the room through the window. Taking a few deep sniffs, he noticed a connection being sent to everyone in the room. To make so many connections at once, this kid certainly had some decent Processing.

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As the Leader allowed the amateurish illusion to take hold, the monotone voice of a young boy suddenly became audible.

"Hello. I am Mud. I am Jabrax's brother. I accidently hurt these h- this party with my spell. I am sorry. Do not kill me or wipe my mind."

At the last line everyone present, even Jabrax, was slightly shocked. Did he think they would kill him just for overcharging a spell? No wonder the kid was spooked. Moments later, Jabrax tried to back up her brother.

"Please understand, he never knew how to talk. His doesn't really understand how to change his tone of voice yet... um, as for killing him or wiping his mind, I'm not sure where he got that idea..."

Thagi laughed it off lightly and stood up. "Don't worry, I understand. He probably heard recently about how bandits are dealt with in this country and got confused. As long as he learned his lesson this is no big deal." The Leader walked towards the kitchen door, and motioned for the rest of the party to follow him. "Thank you for your hospitality, Jabrax. I think the boy has punished himself enough if he's that terrified. We'll be heading back to town now."

As he walked out the front door, Ghul looked out into the woods where the boy had been sitting. As expected, he was already gone. The large man turned back towards the door as the last of the group exited, smiling warmly to Jabrax. "One more thing, before we go. You may have heard, but there's a dungeon wave festival in town five days from now. You and your brother should attend. It's a good way for young magic users like yourself to gain some practical experience, and to meet the people in town."

The teenage girl smiled back. "Thank you, Leader Ghul. Good bye, everyone." Before they could reply, she slammed the door shut.

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Sometime later, when all the humans were long gone, a golem in a heavy black cloak crawled to the mansion door.

Once the door was shut and the blinds closed, Mud took off his ragged improvised robe and carefully stowed it on a shelf near the door. Sensing the location of the demon, the golem slithered towards the kitchen.

Jabrax made a toothy smile towards Mud as it entered the room. "Oh, hello there 'brother'." Her smile shrunk into a much more smug form. "My plan worked flawlessly. They don't suspect a thing, and with this our possibilities have been expanded. While humans are pathetic and weak, they can be very useful as pawns. There are many things which are easier to get through Sapient society than to obtain on your own." Looking into the air and dreaming of luxuries that were unknown to the young golem, she lifted her cup and took a slow sip of tea.

Suddenly, all of Muds normal movements froze. Its posture straightened in a rapid motion and all three of its eyes swiveled to stare rigidly at the demon. Although Mud wasn't moving, its entire body seemed to almost vibrate with barely contained energy.

Jabrax was slightly disturbed by this strange behavior of her already strange contractor. Suddenly, the golems right arm shot upwards and pointed at her teacup. "What. Is. That."

"Huh?" Jabrax looked down at her cup of tea. "It's some tea I made."

At that comment Mud began to visibly vibrate. "Those. Are. The. Master's. Leaves."

Large droplets of sweat began to form on Jabrax's forehead. "W-well yes, but you said that as long as they're used for their intended function, it's fine to use-"

"Silence."

Jabrax gagged as her ability to speak was forcibly suppressed mid-sentence. The illusory voice was painfully loud now.

"The Master's tea leaves have been destroyed. It seems you do not understand. This mistake cannot be allowed to happen again. You need to be punished."

The demon’s reeducation went on long into the night.