“What the fuck?”

It was the young man — Andric — who spoke. Remaining seated on the couch, he raised his arms in a gesture of bewilderment. He glanced back and forth between Zoe and the woman — Lily — before speaking again.

“You can’t just invite her without asking me.”

“Actually, I can.”

Straightening herself up to her full height — which wasn’t actually very impressive — Lily strutted over to the right armchair and flopped down. Instead of sitting in it normally, she sat sideways, with her legs hanging over one armrest and her back propped up against the other.

“Come, take a seat,” she said. “It’ll be more comfortable than standing around like that.”

After a moment, Zoe obliged. Although a stray thought popped into her head that Lily’s position didn’t seem particularly comfortable either. She took her own seat more gently. She still only had a blanket to cover her, so she took a moment to make sure that it wasn’t going to slip down inappropriately.

“You can’t keep doing this,” Andric complained. “Ever since the elders paired us up together you’ve just done things without consulting me.”

“Yeah, because if I asked you, you might say no.”

Andric glowered. “And that’s somehow better?”

“Yeah, cause I always get away with it.”

The young man sulked, and Zoe took a moment to analyze him.

{Alchemist - 33}

Yeah, that tracked.

As the two glared at each other, Zoe wondered what typical levels were like in this world. Both of them seemed fairly young — about her age — and yet they were about the same level as most of the cultists, who seemed a bit older.

And then there was the fact that it hadn’t even been a day and yet she was level nineteen.

“So, little demon.” Lily’s sweet voice snapped Zoe’s attention back to the conversation. She smirked. “We told you our names. I don’t believe you ever told us yours.”

Zoe pursed her lips. She thought for a few seconds before answering truthfully. “Zoe.” Lily inclined her head, and Zoe nodded. “Just Zoe.”

“Alright then, Zoe. I presume you’re likely wondering why we’re interested in working with you. After all, we were hired to kill you.”

Zoe just stared. Partly because she didn’t want to give them anything, but also because she just didn’t know what to say. Also, how we’re they hired to kill her? Ignoring the question of why, Zoe just didn’t understand how it was possible. She had only arrived about half a day ago, and the entire time had been spent isolated underground.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

So, many mysteries. But Lily was clearly waiting for something, so Zoe rose to the bait.

“I’d like to know how you found me. I didn’t even know I was going to end up in that cultist lair myself.” She deliberately phrased it so that she wouldn’t let on that she was from another world. That seemed smart.

Andric shrugged. “No clue. The elders just told us to infiltrate Basil’s cult and to, in their words, ‘snuff out the worldwalker.’”

Zoe stiffened. They knew? How the fuck did people know? Then again, the paladin had known immediately as well. Was that something she was going to have to deal with regularly? So many questions.

“And yet you didn’t.”

Andric nodded. “We did not.”

“The man who hired us is a fellow worldwalker,” Lily explained. “An independent contractor with a modest degree of reputation.” She shrugged. “No idea why he wanted you dead, or how he knew about you — but we found out that he’s already betrayed our sect.”

“He killed one of our fellow juniors after we outbid his representative at an auction,” Andric explained. “Which, you should know, is grounds for outright war.”

Zoe nodded. “I would assume so. I mean, killing innocent kids is kind of bad.”

Lily blinked. “What? No.”

“Oh that happens all the time,” Andric continued. “But auctions are sacrosanct. They’re useful for everyone, but what would be the point if you could just shank the winner and take their stuff?”

“Yeah,” Lily added, “if it weren’t a taboo, everyone would do it. And then that would just be war and everyone would lose.”

“Oh.” Zoe frowned. “So you want me to join your sect or whatever?”

Andric sucked in his teeth and Lily grinned. “Exactly.” Andric groaned and flopped back, and Lily sat upright with a predatory gleam in her eyes. “However, there’s no way the sect elders would accept you right away. Even as a worldwalker.”

She held up one finger. “But. Help the two of us kill the guy who sent us to kill you…”

“And what, then your elders will let me join?”

“Precisely.”

Zoe narrowed her eyes. She assumed that being part of a so-called ‘sect’ might offer some degree of benefits and protection — assuming they were telling the truth, of course. But there was still something that didn’t make sense. “What’s in it for you? I mean the two of you.”

“I have no fucking clue,” Andric muttered.

Lily rolled her eyes. “We could both just return and inform the elders. That would work out just fine, and we’d definitely be rewarded. But playing tattletale doesn’t gain you true respect or advancement.” She paused. “So…”

“We decided to gank the fucker ourselves,” Andric finished.

Lily nodded. “And while the elders might not accept even a worldwalker right away, the two of us aren’t quite so stuck up.”

Aldric groaned. “You should stop saying that.”

“But it’s true. Anyway!” She clapped her hands together. “You’re strong. It’s been what, half a day? And you’ve already killed a paladin and reached level nineteen? Even for a worldwalker, that’s kind of ridiculous.”

Zoe pursed her lips. “So let me make sure I have all of this straight. Another ‘worldwalker’ hired the two of you to kill me. For some unknown reason. But you found out that he also killed one of your sect’s juniors because he lost an auction. So now the two of you are going to try to kill him instead so that you can advance within your sect. And you want me to help because you think I’m good at fighting, and you think that I’ll say yes because he wanted to kill me.”

Lily beamed. “Exactly!”

Zoe shook her head. This was madness. Absolute madness. What kind of idiot would get themselves into something like this?

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Lily squealed. Andric groaned.

“I knew it. She’s fucking crazy.”