Yang wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but the castle had a lot of rooms to be guided through. In addition, the Ka-Sala, who had introduced himself as Salazar, apparently didn’t know much about the layout. “Y’all should probably just explore it in your free time. I don’t usually go inside that often, the whole place is typically saved for the Leviathan Council. Or, uh, was saved.”

Yang walked through a twenty-foot doorway into the fifth living room-style area, complete with a fireplace you could fit a house inside. “That’ll probably take a while, yeah. But honestly? I don’t think I’ll even need to keep all of this place for myself. I mean, look at this room alone!” She pointed at a couch with legs that came up as high as her chest. “Leviathan Council is the right word, the people who lived here must’ve been huge. I could live in this one room without issue.”

Xiao nodded. “We could always rent out the spare rooms. No city can ever have too many bed-and-breakfasts.”

“I like your thinking. You’re promoted from best friend to best best friend.”

Xiao chuckled. “Thanks, I guess.”

Salazar rubbed his snout. “I can’t believe I work for these idiots now,” he muttered to himself. “Well, you know what? As long as y’all can keep hold of this place, you do what you want with it. Don’t much care, myself.”

“Awesome.” Xiao pulled himself up onto the couch and lay down in the deep, thick fur covering it. “Oh, yeah, this is nice. Say, Salazar, what’re you gonna do now? I’d say your tour guide job is done for the day.”

“Uh… My job? The Leviathan Council can’t fire me now that they aren’t in charge here, so I guess I can go back to typical law and order stuff now that the castle doesn’t need guarding. That’s nice.”

“Oh, that’s actually great. Glad I could help stabilize the city.” Yang glanced over at Orsinus, who was standing to attention off to the side. “But, I mean, if law and order’s what we’re looking for, we’ve got a perfectly good solution right over there. We ran a few tests when we found him… like that, and those lightning powers he’s got have some serious range. Hey, Xiao, how tall would you say that Greek tower was? Before Thel smashed it, I mean.”

Xiao shrugged. “Guess from my memory? A kilometer, give or take.”

“Use a system that people actually know.”

“We’re both Turkish, you should know how Metric works better than Imperial.”

Salazar held up a hand. “Hey, um, where are we going with this? Because I seriously do have places to be.”

“Right, you’re still here.” Yang redirected her attention from her friend to her new subject (employee? Peon? Yang really didn’t like any term for their relationship that she could think of). “What I was going to suggest is that we just stick this guy on the roof of this place, and then if some crime or whatever happens, we stick some kind of notifier up there with him, and he can just zap the perpetrator into dust. Like I said, we’ve run the tests, intentionally or not. He’s got the distance, and the accuracy. We can make a notification system, right? Do you have phones down here? Weird magic spells that noticeably function exactly like phones?”

“Wait, you…” Salazar paused to process her suggestion. “...Y’all want to put this… thing, I guess… on the roof of the castle, so that he can disintegrate any and all criminals the instant they do anything wrong?”

“We wouldn’t have suggested it if we didn’t have proof that it would work,” pointed out Xiao.

“Just… One, that’s despotic; two, that would put me and my guys out of a job; three, there are way more effective ways to do something like that than just putting him on the roof. Have you just not heard of the Ley Lines?”

“The what?”

Salazar covered his face. “I should’ve seen that coming. Pillar’s sake, uh… The glowing rainbow lines covering the ground? You can probably see dozens of the out the window? They’re a focusing of the ambient magic that would be all over the city or something, inside that no-fog dome. The Council set them up so that you can’t just do magic wherever, it’s just in designated spots. I’m pretty sure they have a control room in here somewhere where you can turn off a specific line, y’all can probably hook that guy up to whatever they’re using to make the Lines and let him zap people from those. It’s still completely megalomaniacal, but at least it’s slightly less stupid than just letting him stand on the roof.”

Yang tensed at the word ‘megalomaniacal’. “I mean, hey, sure, uh… That’s a lot of your job done for you, so that’s a plus, but not every punishment has to be a capital one. I could, um, we could do some kind of bounty system! Y’know, community service. That way, you only bring in the perps who aren’t worth getting blasted, and you get a whole extra job! Sounds like a plan, don’t you say?”

“If I tell you it’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard, would y’all do something else?”

Xiao shook his head behind Yang’s back.

Salazar sighed. “Okay, then. It’s been a long day, so I’m gonna go home and rethink my life choices. Y’all can go do things, I guess. I’m just… I’m tapped out for the day.”

Xiao slithered down from the couch. “Well, on that note, I’m gonna go find the optimal place to start my new bed-and-breakfast chain.”

Yang blinked at him in confusion. “Wait, were you serious about that?”

“Yeah, you calling me a liar?”

“N-uh… Actually, sure. Waking up to actually acceptable food sounds cool. You do that. I’m just gonna lie around in here, though. Bask in the luxury.”

“Have fun.” Xiao exited through the same comically large doorway Salazar had taken, leaving Yang alone in the room with Orsinus.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Immediately after Xiao was out of earshot, Yang heard another, unfamiliar voice from somewhere behind her. “Greetings, Miss Yang.”

Yang whipped around to see someone she had… Someone she was 90% sure she’d never seen before. She got a vague impression of familiarity, but that was it. That thought was buried in the back of her mind, however, ignored by the questions of how this stranger had even gotten in.

The stranger was covered up from head to toe by a cloak not unlike the one Yang herself had disguised herself in during her entrance earlier that day. The one part of their body not draped in darkness was their face, which was covered by a white mask, blank save for a hole in the shape of a reptilian eye, which contained nothing but darkness. The mask looked like it was immaculately sculpted from the world’s biggest pearl. And was that a sword strapped to their back?

“Wha- Who are you?! How’d you..?” Yang was baffled by the sudden appearance of the stranger, seemingly from out of the fireplace. She held up a hand poised to snap. “That guy over there’s gonna blast you to dust if you don’t back off.”

The stranger’s head turned almost imperceptibly to look at Orsinus for a moment, then back to Yang. Presumably. It was ultimately impossible to tell what they were looking at under the mask. Could they even see through that thing? The question was muddled further by the fact that the stranger’s voice was perfectly clear under there, like the mask wasn’t even there. “Any attempts of utilizing that asset will amount to nothing. I do not recommend it, but it is not discouraged.”

Hesitantly, Yang snapped. Orsinus did not blast the stranger into nothing, or make a move, or even show any sort of proof that he had heard Yang snap. She tried again, louder and closer to Orsinus’ head, only to elicit the exact same lack of a response.

The stranger began to speak once more after Yang’s third attempt. “As long as I wish, all such attempts will prove futile. Now, I have a particular point to discuss with you, Miss Yang.”

“How do you know my name?” Yang backed away from them, also keeping her distance from Orsinus. “Who are you?”

“I am afraid that I am currently operating under a tight schedule. Introductions will be skipped, and we are to cover all relevant topics as soon as possible.”

Yang watched the stranger lean against a leg of the sofa, body still engulfed in the folds of their cloak. She mimicked their pose, still ready to bolt for the door. “Fine, then. If you’re gonna be so tight-lipped about who you’re supposed to be, I’ll bite. At least for now. Why are you here?”

“First of all, I have come to the decision to commend you on your ability. You have proven quite capable of utilizing tools at your disposal to attain a favorable position, and you are to be congratulated for such a feat.”

Yang saw Orsinus slowly begin walking to the stranger’s side. “Cool, I’ve got a fan. I… guess. So, did you put on all that fancy getup and break into my new house just to congratulate me? You probably could have just mailed me something. But I guess that would’ve taken away the flair of turning off my guy.”

“Such disrespect will not be tolerated.” The stranger took several steps towards Yang, who backed away nervously before bumping into the other leg of the sofa. “You are not to act in such an indifferent manner to such a display of consideration, especially when taking into account all that has been granted to facilitate your development. Significant preparation has been undertaken in order to bring me into your presence. You possess little experience with the effort needed to plan routes, develop spells and orchestrate the appropriate events. Gratitude is expected by some for me taking the time to speak with you on my way to more important events.”

Yang mulled over their words for a brief moment. “...And what’ll you do if I don’t feel like thanking you for gracing me with your presence, O beloved mystery figure?”

The stranger did not move, but Yang still felt like she was suddenly in much more danger than she had been a few seconds prior. “It is unwise to belittle me while your sole defense is non-functional.” They nodded in Orsinus’ direction. “You would do well to make note of current power dynamics. However, I am willing to ignore prior errors, due to the fact that I still have a request for you.”

“Whatever it is, it probably should have gone in front of you praising me out of nowhere, because that feels like-”

“Enough. These diversions are irrelevant, and I have limited time to do what is needed here. We are moving on immediately.”

“...Also, this conversation has been really weird so far.” Yang eyed the door. “Honestly, I agree. You should really start hurrying this up, because I’m starting to think about getting Salazar to get you out of here, hijacked lightning guy or no.”

The stranger did not at all react physically to Yang’s threat. “Acceptable. You are to be informed that there are Primoi in the city.”

“...Okay? I mean, that’s a little weird, but I don’t see why I should do anything with that. And I assume you mean Primoi besides the one in the room with us.”

“The identities of these Primoi are relevant to you,” continued the stranger. “One of them are Horan and his human pet. The two involved with the collapse of your first attempt at a rise to power, at least to an extent. In addition, they are in the company of numerous additional Primoi, some of whom were also witness to your initial failure. The group arrived right around the same time you did, and I am here to warn you of their presence.”

“Good to know, I guess.” Yang smirked. “And warn me of what? They saw me take over and are planning their revenge or something?”

“False, to an extent.” They began to drift over to the oversized fireplace, while Orsinus remained in place. “Information regarding events that do not concern you are located in the main conference hall in the castle in the form of a map. The group came to Tragnil in order to obtain said information, and they fully intend to dispatch you before you manage to eliminate them. As a recommendation, you are to eliminate them before they pose any sort of threat to you.”

Yang watched the stranger subtly shift their stance in their cloak as they prepared to make use of a series of handholds in the fireplace’s brickwork, which had seemingly been molded to fit their fingers inside like a bowling ball. “I’ll, um… Keep that in mind. See you later, I guess.”

The stranger took one last look at Yang. Presumably. “In addition, it would be ideal if this conversation was not mentioned to others, and the source of the information granted to you is not to be discussed. Consequences shall arise from any deviations from this agreement.” And with that, they were up the chimney and gone from sight.

Yang stared at the space the stranger had been in, then snapped. Orsinus was at her side within seconds. There was that, at least.

Now, on the one hand, the Primoi the stranger had listed off really didn’t seem like much of a threat in Yang’s eyes. During both times she was face-to-face with them, it had been the Greeks who had bailed them out. And who was even to say that they were the ones who had taken out Thel? Yang and Xiao had visited the body when they woke up in the wreckage of the tower, and he had just been lying there in the snow. The Greeks could easily have just killed him and left him there…

After he had effortlessly reduced their home to rubble. And from her reconnaissance, none of the more notable Greeks were prone to leaving stab wounds in someone’s neck. And she did make note of a scarily large knife tucked into that one human’s belt in the gas station, she had made a note of that. And she had heard stories of her predecessor Erlani getting throat-stabbed by a human in Istanbul right after they had broken Horan out of captivity…

Wow, that human had a serious track record.

Yang decided to go track down Salazar. There were better things she and Xiao could do with Orsinus, but it would do the Ka-Sala some good to prove that he wouldn’t be at his most useful out of a job.