Aiden was just outside the area they’d fought Gangnar the starter in when he was washed by a strong feeling of forgetfulness. It was like leaving your house for a trip and being plagued with that very worrying feeling.
He frowned but didn’t stop moving. At best, his steps slowed a little as he gave the feeling some attention.
It was impossible that he was forgetting anything. Was it because of the absence of any weight against his hip?
It happened sometimes when you walked into a place with an object and forgot it. The absence of that extra weight could sometimes make your body feel unbalanced, leading to such a sensation.
Aiden looked down but couldn’t see his waist. He was met with Elaswit passed out in his arms. The princess weighed very little to him. Her weight almost made it easy to forget that she’d broken his nose, and potentially his cheek bone with two headbutts. Broken parts of him that remained broken and stung a little.
Is it because I don’t have a sword?
He’d entered the cave with a sword which had proceeded to break, then he’d entered the fight with Gangnar with another sword. That, too, had broken.
Aiden’s footsteps came to a slow halt. He frowned, the feeling chewing at him. Knowing that it was never a good idea to conclude a quest without covering all the basics, he turned back with an annoyed sigh.
He ventured back into the open space and placed Elaswit against one of the few remaining stalagmites gently. He would’ve placed her outside but that would’ve made it impossible for him to know if anything happened to her. The last time he’d checked, there were still gargoyles left to be killed on her unique quest.
Certain that she was comfortable, as comfortable as an unconscious princess could be, Aiden returned his attention to the space around him.
All he saw was chaos.
Gangnar’s remains lay at one side of the cave. The corpse was a mess, a cacophony of scars and burns. Aiden figured some of the burns might have come from the lightning enchantments had that had been used during the fight. It wasn’t always a certainty, but it wasn’t unheard of for victims to be left with burn marks after suffering the effect.
The rest of the space was a different kind of mess. Broken stones lay scattered about, rubbles that had once given the space a certain look when they’d stood as tall, proud stalagmites. The entire area was also darker now. Most of the algae and moss had grown against the surface of the stalagmites. With the stalagmites gone, most of the light had gone with them.
What am I missing? Aiden thought with worry.
Was it Gangnar’s corpse?
In his old life after every quest or monster fight, there was always a plan in place for the dead monsters. If they didn’t have a [Harvester] on hand Olstead always did something about the corpses. Monster corpses, as Elaswit had pointed out at the beginning of this scenario, were a part of Nastild’s economy.
But it wasn’t Gangnar. The corpse was quite literally useless for anything. And there was nothing he could do about it.
Aiden hated this feeling. Coupled with the continued stinging in his nose and cheeks, it was pushing him to a deep annoyance.
“I’d let you figure yourself out, if this hadn’t been a scenario,” he muttered to himself, addressing the feeling.
Walking deeper into the space, he kept his attention on a swivel. He watched the chaos, the rubble and the destruction. The aftermath of all the violence of fighting a level 49 monster.
He realized what he’d been forgetting a moment after. It came to him when his eyes settled on a portion of the walls that was broken. A rubble of earth too large for the hole in the wall rested at its feet. It had been the point of Gangnar’s first real attack. When it had tried to splatter him all over the wall with a thrown boulder.
A boulder it had thrown from where it had been sitting when they’d entered the place.
Aiden’s head turned from the wall, trailed a slow straight line, carving out the trajectory of the projectile attack. It settled on where Gangnar had been sitting.
In the beginning, when they’d arrived, it had had one of its hands in the ground. If there was one thing Aiden had learnt in his long years on Nastild, it was that quest and scenario rewards given by the system were not the only ‘rewards’ you could gain from a quest or scenario.
He walked up to where Gangnar had once been and saw the hole.
Inside it, almost two feet deep, Aiden could see something. He squatted down. Leveraging his body with one hand on the ground, he reached inside with his other hand. His body still ached from the fights and the weavings.
There’ll have to be a lot of sneaking around when we’re leaving.
His hand touched something at the bottom of the hole and his mana fluctuated. It was something hard, like a gem not a stone.
[Mana 34%]
[Mana 28%]
[Mana 31%]
He wrapped his hand around it as his mana finally stabilized to the effect of what he was holding. It was the way it was with all the summoned. Unlike the citizens of Nastild, each time the summoned came across demonic mana, their mana points eventually stabilized.
The citizens of Nastild never had the benefit of having their mana adapt to the effects of demonic mana. At least most of them never did. It was part of the reason fighting the demonic war had been tough on them.
When he pulled the gem out, Aiden held in his hand a crystal of deep dark blue so dark that it was almost black. He recognized crystalized demonic mana when he saw one.
A small smile touched his lips. At least a unique skill wasn’t the only reward he would be getting out of this situation. On his own, there wasn’t anything he could really do with a crystalized form of demonic mana except he planned on selling it on the black market.
But there were other alternatives he could go for. Alternatives that weren’t monetary. For instance, he could present it to Brandis and use it as a bargaining chip.
A fair man, Brandis would not simply confiscate it. At least he’d never confiscated them in Aiden’s past life. Instead, he’d used it as something of a point system in the beginning, collecting them in exchange for money.
Aiden wouldn’t use it as a bargaining chip for money, though. Making money wasn’t going to be difficult for him since the adventure societies in the different kingdoms had more than enough adventures, both investigative and simple monster subjugation to go around.
No. He was going to use it to bargain his way to freedom if the king played too hard to get. But only as a last resort. If for some reason, releasing him to some level of autonomy was stretching the reach of Brandis’ good nature, Aiden wouldn’t want to make an enemy of the king. As weak as he was, he couldn’t afford to have powerful enemies.
There was also the [Sage]. Aiden frowned, surprised that he hadn’t thought about it since. He had already garnered the man’s attention. It meant that the [Sage] could easily take an interest in his actions unlike he did with the others.
If the bastard decides to not let me go, I won’t have a say in the matter.
On the other hand, if he was just being granted reasonable autonomy that left them believing he was still under their care, it would be easier.
Aiden’s grip tightened around the crystal. At this point, he was playing politics, being diplomatic. Personally, he always preferred doing things the easy way. And the easy way was never involved in anything political or diplomatic. All it entailed was thinking and doing.
Shaking the thought, he looked down at the crystal and used [Detect]. A simple piece of information appeared above the crystal.
[Crystalized Dimensional Mana]
[A lump of crystalized dimensional mana formed from the continuous compression of unadulterated dimensional mana.]
Okay, that’s new.
Aiden had heard of every kind of mana on Nastild and dimensional mana was not one of them. There was dimensional magic but that was simply an effect of using things like spatial mana in different ways
The thing didn’t have its own actual mana.
Aiden was faced with a new problem.
Why was his interface reading demonic mana as dimensional mana instead? And if they were the same thing, then what did it mean that demonic mana was actually dimensional mana?
He frowned at the question.
This, he thought, might be a problem.
…
They’d been doing this for an entire day now. They’d been out since sunrise and now morning was coming up again.
I can’t believe we’ve practically spent the night. Valdan looked behind him. On the ground beside the single boulder in the open space, Ventel and Nella lay quietly on the ground.
Valdan sighed. We, he corrected himself.
Nella had gone back home at some point, stating that her father would have questions if all his guests and his daughter suddenly upped and disappeared from the house. It had left Valdan alone with Ventel and two people with the actual [Enchanter] class.
But the time he’d spent in the cave wasn’t what bothered Valdan. It was the complete absence of result. They’d gone through almost fifteen people they could find in the last twenty four hours. They’d had [Enchanters] and [Rangers], [Soldiers] and [Rogues].
None met the requirements.
Valdan had gotten so frustrated that he’d almost sent an official request to the guild. By the authority of his title as a [Knight] they would be hard pressed to refuse him. Even if they were inclined to decline the request of a [Knight], he doubted that they would say no if he told them about the position of the princess in the matter.
But he had kept himself from doing so. His short time spent amongst people so enamored in politics had taught him the importance of actual life as well as social and political life. The moment anyone found out about the princess, they would eventually come to learn about Aiden.
It would be a talk for a long while. A bastard son of an unknown noble and the princess rushing away on some asinine adventure and getting themselves caught up in a mess so bad the adventure society or some random adventurer had had to save them.
It would speak to an immaturity on the princess’ part. There would be talk of scandalous behavior and whatnot. It would cause an issue for the Naranoff family as well for failing to protect the princess.
It was funny to think that once upon a time Valdan would never have considered all that. He would’ve tried to get behind the wall, failed, then gone seeking out any help he could to save the princess.
It was growth. What he didn’t know was if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Putting someone’s social life on an almost equal level as their actual life just never felt right. Even now.
Staring directly at the cracks in the wall, frustration built within Valdan. It bubbled up like some unnatural concoction in the wrong cauldron. The last of the people who Ventel and Nella had been able to bring in had left half an hour ago after failing to meet the requirement to do whatever the wall needed them to do.
So what’s the problem? Valdan thought with a frown.
In the beginning he’d been so sure that the [Enchant] skill was the solution. Aiden had the [Enchant] skill even if he wasn’t an [Enchanter]. Then the first person with the [Enchant] skill had tried and failed and Valdan had started worrying.
Then an [Enchanter] had failed. The enchanter’s failure had led Valdan to consider other options. He’d been working on the assumption on Aiden being the one to meet the requirements for accessing the place because of how assured of being able to gain from the [Unique Quest] that he’d had no doubt of it.
At some point he’d started to wonder if he’d overestimated Aiden, made assumptions simply because of how enigmatic the boy was. What if the person that had gained access had been the princess?
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Then he’d extended his requirement to the strength classes since all he knew about the princess was that her class was strength based. Powerful.
The few he’d been able to get had failed just as well.
Right now, he was wondering if he needed someone of royal blood like the princess. Sometimes they had titles gained by birth that the system recognized.
“Why is this so complicated!” he hissed.
Unable to hold himself, he drew his blade and struck at the wall. He pulled his swing at the last moment. He turned his wrist and adjusted his stance so that the edge of his sword drew a shallow cut along the side of the wall, only barely missing the cracks.
Control yourself, he chided himself. What will you do if this only causes more problems?
Behind him, Ventel sat up with a touch of worry.
“That bad, Dan?” he asked.
Valdan looked back at the adventurer. “It could be worse.”
Honestly, it was worse. He’d always had an issue with his temper. Sometimes, it got the best of him when he knew it shouldn’t. Even now, he had almost made a mess of everything. Who knew what would’ve happened if his sword had scratched the markings on the wall. What if it had ended up trapping them inside?
He’d been getting better at handling his temper, though. It had never been so bad that he would punish others for what they did not do. He wasn’t one to get angry at a superior only to take it out on a subordinate. No. But growing up, he’d had difficulties holding himself back.
Some problems, he had learnt, didn’t need a reaction. They didn’t deserve one. But that hadn’t been the man he’d been growing up. In his earlier years if you annoyed him, he reacted.
He had learned to control himself over the years, but every now and again, that man would peek from under his control. Now was one of such times.
Valdan sheathed his sword, listening to the sound of Ventel approaching him. He waited patiently for the man, knowing it wasn’t as if he could avoid him.
Ventel came to a stop beside him. He looked up at the wall. “It must be tough.”
The boy had no idea. “It is.”
“I can only imagine what would happen if the knights and servants tasked with protecting her found out about this,” Ventel said, solemnly.
Valdan looked at him. There’s no way he knows.
It was impossible. Well, impossible wasn’t the word he was looking for. As much as he felt Nella was mature enough to know what piece of information she wasn’t supposed to share, love often led people to doing things they shouldn’t.
Besides, you aren’t her designated guardian. You’re Aiden’s plus one.
Valdan almost groaned at the taste in his mouth at thinking of himself as a plus one in the current situation.
“I think we should keep looking for a way,” Ventel continued. “Get more hands.”
Valdan agreed. “That’s true.”
“But this secrecy thing won’t let us get the people we need, though.”
Valdan also agreed with that.
“What if,” Ventel began, approaching a territory Valdan did not agree with. “What if we told more people. We could contact the adventure society, have them grant us better assistance with adventurers sworn to secrecy.”
Valdan was already shaking his head before Ventel was even done. It would not work. He would not trust anyone who wasn’t sworn to secrecy under the system. And you did not simply ask someone to swear themselves to secrecy under the system.
The people that had helped so far were people Valdan had no issues with trusting for two reasons. The first was that he had to allow someone. The second was because they were people of almost no significance. Only one or two of them had been past level thirty, and none had grazed the heel of level forty.
If they talked, that was all they would be. Talkers. If a nobody spread stories of some odd encounters in a cave, people would summarize it to be attention seeking. Besides, none of them knew what exactly they were trying to do.
Unless he was wrong about Ventel and Nella, Valdan didn’t think they’d told any of the people they’d brought about the princess.
“We can’t get in there without more help,” Ventel said. “Think about it, Dan. I’ve reached out to all my contacts that were willing to come to the cave.” He gestured at Nella where she was still lying down, staring at the night sky above in worry. “Nella has used up all her contacts as well.”
Valdan almost pitied the young lady. She looked like she was about to cry. It made him remember that she wasn’t just saving her family’s reputation and the princess of her kingdom. She was also trying to save her friend.
Things couldn’t be any easy for her.
Still, he shook his head. “Matters surrounding royalty can be extremely sensitive.”
“Sensitive enough to risk the princess’ life?” Ventel snapped. “To risk the life of a friend? What is with nobles this misguided line of thought. Someone’s life is at stake and you’re more concerned about keeping the fact that their life is at stake a secret even when it only makes matters worse.”
“I understand your frustration,” Valdan said, and he really did. “But some things are just the way they are.”
Ventel stepped up to Valdan. For a moment, he seemed to have forgotten the level disparity between them.
“It’s eating Nella alive.” He stared Valdan down with sharp eyes, angry eyes. “And I know what kind of person Nella is. This was not her idea. She’s not like the other nobles. For the sake of unnecessary secrecy, you would let her friend die.”
There was an accusation in his voice. His worry for Nella’s state of mind was leading him to ignore logical actions. It was common sense not to challenge an opponent significantly stronger than you in level unless you had some kind of trump card.
At level 49, though, Valdan wasn’t truly superior. It didn’t seem like very much, but the difference between level 49 and level 50 was greater than level 48 and level 49. Levels became truly separated every 50 levels, and it was part of the reason people did everything they could to venture into level 50.
He met Ventel’s eyes. Righteous anger was beginning to boil behind those light brown pupils.
“Is there no one else we can get?” he asked hopelessly. There was nothing else he could do. He wasn’t going to tell the man that he didn’t understand. The fact that there were intricacies to the high class did not make the man wrong in how he thought.
By the gods, Valdan missed being that type of man. He didn’t like being a man that had to balance a person’s life the way he was currently doing.
“It’s the middle of the night, Dan,” Ventel snorted in annoyance. “What do you think?”
It wasn’t the middle of the night. It was early morning. By Valdan’s estimate, it was merely an hour or two to day break.
Ventel’s frown deepened. “At this point we don’t even know if they’re still alive.”
A tiny sob pierced the air from where Nella was and Valdan watched Ventel’s face crumble. He’d made Nella cry and he knew it, and it had broken him.
But Ventel didn’t go to her immediately. He was young, still full of some level of youthful exuberance. He had enough pent up anger directed at Valdan and needed to let it out even if he knew he shouldn’t.
He stepped up to Valdan, occupied his personal space. “Does your mask even crack? Do you even care for anything beyond saving face?”
Without giving Valdan a chance to respond—not that Valdan was going to—he stomped away, muttering something about how all nobles were the same.
As he left, going to comfort Nella, Valdan had a feeling the man just might have a personal issue with nobility. It wouldn’t be far fetched to think a noble had offended him deeply at one point in his life.
It was the way with some of the nobles, but not all of them. If you spent enough time around them, someone would eventually do you wrong. For instance, if it had been someone important to Ventel behind those walls and Valdan was putting the social life of the princess on the same importance as their safety, it would brew enmity.
“The adventurers that were lost or died,” Valdan called out to Ventel as the adventurer squatted beside Nella, “what levels were they?”
Ventel sat next to Nella, consoling her with his very presence.
“Twenties to thirties,” he answered. “Before this mess, higher levels didn’t really get the unique quest for some reason. And they don’t generally bother with things like this.”
Level thirty, Valdan mused.
Maybe he was biased, but since they’d gotten here, he just hadn’t been able to see Aiden dying here. Even if the boy couldn’t win an unfair fight, he couldn’t see the boy failing to survive.
Those were good odds.
However, he couldn’t depend on his faith in Aiden. Faith was something reserved for the gods, and there was a reason for that. So he had to make a decision. He had put the princess’ social status on he same with the risk of her life for too long. Personally, he thought that had been completely stupid of him.
At first light, I’m sending a letter to the adventure society.
He had tried and failed to figure out how to get behind the wall. It was time for someone with a greater knowledge on the matter to have a go at it. Whatever repercussions came from it, he would do his best to bear alone so that the Naranoff family would not suffer for actions he indirectly allowed to happen.
As long as the princess and Aiden were alright, he would probably come out okay. His standing amongst the nobles would likely take a nose dive, but if he was being honest, the only standing he had amongst the nobles was the standing that came with his title. Valdan had never been one for court intrigue so he had no personal relationship with any of them. No personal encounter that was capable of going through any suffering.
He was still contemplating when a sudden tremor shook the ground. It was powerful, like a ground surge. But it didn’t feel like one.
The wall before Valdan shook slightly. A jagged line ran up the wall from within the shrubbery that covered its foot. It went high until it reached the top and Valdan took a few steps away from it.
Please be alright, he prayed. Please be alright.
When the first crack opened up and the wall shifted, separating to both sides, a sigh left Valdan’s lips.
The first sight he was greeted to through the small slit was the brown of Aiden Lacheart’s hair. It carried a smattering of red that didn’t seem too alarming. However, the wider the opening became, the more a touch of worry filled Valdan.
Aiden looked a terrible mess. His clothes were a ragged mess, torn and hanging from loose seams. It was also stained in blood at varying places. He had no sword at his hip, instead, the hilt of a massive cleaver poked out from behind his shoulder.
Valdan knew that Aiden only wore his sword on his hip.
Then the crack opened wider and he saw the princess. She had an arm draped over Aiden’s shoulder and Aiden seemed to be struggling to keep her upright. Though her attire wasn’t as bad as Aiden’s it was still not something that spoke of any good experience. Her head hung down and the side of her body not supported by Aiden drooped like the unconscious.
He really hoped she was still alive.
But what truly spiked Valdan’s alarm was Aiden. The boy kept looking behind him, lips moving in an inaudible whisper.
Valdan read his lips.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
Something had the boy spooked, and Valdan had no idea what it could possibly be. Regardless, as the crack continued to widen, the wall opening, Valdan was already stepping forward. He moved on instinct and loyalty to the crown. Nothing else.
At least that was what he told himself.
The moment the opening was wide enough for two people, Aiden was dragging him and the princess through. Still, he kept an eye behind him.
The moment he was out, he finally looked forward and Valdan was met with a bigger mess than he’d thought. Aiden’s nose was broken at a terrible angle, covered in caked blood. One of his eyes was swollen and so red that Valdan feared Aiden wasn’t seeing out of it. Beneath the eye was a terribly swollen cheek. Torn with loose skin hanging from it.
Just what kind of monster had the boy fought to leave him so bruised.
Aiden saw him and his eyes widened in surprise and relief, at least they widened as far as they could.
“Do you have mana?” he asked Valdan. Then he shook his head as if it was a stupid question. “What am I saying. Of course you do. Just attack.”
After putting him through an entire day of worries, the boy just comes back and starts making requests without even giving him the time to ask questions. It was madness.
It was also Aiden Lacheart.
Valdan was surprised when a smile touched his lips as his feet continued to carry him forward. Aiden was a lot of things, but for some reason, Valdan felt he could trust the boy to not get anyone killed.
“I have questions,” he said simply as he passed Aiden.
Aiden stumbled past him. “I think I have a concussion.”
A relieved laugh spilled from Valdan’s lips. He couldn’t help himself. He’d known he’d been worried but he didn’t know he’d been this worried. There was just something about seeing Aiden and hearing the boy speak, that relieved him. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulder.
Then there was the dry humor.
Valdan shook his head as he got to the still widening wall. Aiden had said attack, so attack he would.
He stepped unto the line the wall created from opening and held his sword out to the side. Slowly, he was welcome to the slow crescendo of approaching foot steps. He counted at least five pairs of feet.
They didn’t sound human. The walls within were covered in glowing plants, green and blue and yellow. Illuminated unlike the rest of the cave. He used them to see.
When his quarry arrived, Valdan hesitated. There were seven of them, rushing forward at break neck pace. They ran on four legs, monsters he did not recognize at a glance.
Valdan discarded his surprise at seeing new monsters on Nastild and attacked. He charged his skill until his sword glowed a sharp yellow then swung his sword twice. Each swing was strong and powerful. Quick. They followed each other to form a cross.
[You have used class skill Aura Strike]
Two long slashes of deep yellow crackled through the air. They brightened the entire cave walls as they shot forward, lightning crackling through them. The first slash, cut the gargoyles in its part in unequal halves. Some got out of the way in time, ducking to the side.
The second slash, horizontal as it was, cleaved the rest in another set of unequal halves. They crashed to the ground and Valdan’s interface brought up a set of notifications.
[Congratulations! You have slain Gargoyle Lvl 29!]
[Congratulations! You have slain Gargoyle Lvl 25!]
[Congratulations! You have slain Gargoyle Lvl 30!]
[Congratulations! You have slain Gargoyle Lvl 22!]
[Congratulations! You have slain Gargoyle Lvl 21!]
[Congratulations! You have slain Gargoyle Lvl 28!]
[Congratulations! You have slain Gargoyle Lvl 32!]
[Congratulations! You have slain Gargoyle Lvl 29!]
Valdan frowned at the notifications.
Just how many of these things had Aiden and the princess had to face inside there? For an entire day and more.
And what the hell was going on? Weren’t gargoyles monsters from the scriptures? He thought the world still had a little more time before they had to deal with the demon king problem. This was something he would have to report to the king immediately.
The gargoyles crashed to the ground, severed corpses, then turned to stone. Valdan took a single step back out but remained just in front of the wall.
It wasn’t closing.
“How do we close it, Aiden?” he asked, trying to put as much confidence in his voice as possible.
When no answer came, he looked behind him. Nella and Ventel were with Aiden and the princess. Ventel kept a watchful eye on Aiden while Nella fawned and doted over Elaswit’s unconscious body like a worried mother.
Aiden ignored Ventel and Nella and rose sluggishly to his feet. He took a few steps forward, then moved his hand to his back. The cleaver strapped to his back fell off and hit the ground with a thud.
Aiden staggered the rest of the way to Valdan, not saying anything. When he got to him, Aiden leaned to the side and placed a hand on the wall. The cracks on that side of the wall lit up in a soft blue. The light spread to the top of the wall, then the cracks on the other side of the wall lit up.
Valdan watched unable to lie to himself. He was impressed by the sight. Then the lights dimmed and Aiden took his hand from the wall.
It started closing.
Aiden stood beside Valdan, watching as it closed. He looked like a tired old man for some reason.
“Who’s the kid?” he asked in a weak voice.
Valdan almost had to strain to hear him. “A friend of Nella’s. An adventurer. Ventel.”
“Oh.” Aiden frowned. With all his injuries, it made his face look like something from a bad bedtime story. “Can we trust him?”
“Nella trusts him.”
Even now, despite his state and his lucky escape, he was thinking of other things besides himself. If his experience with Aiden hadn’t already taught him that while the young lord was not a bad person, he wasn’t a good person either, Valdan would’ve interpreted it as some form of nobleness.
“The princess and I have had too many potions already,” Aiden said after a moment. “And I’ve had too many enchantments. So don’t let them feed us anything they shouldn’t. Also, no one should handle me but you. Get me to the room and just dump me on my bed. No clothes off, no nothing.”
Valdan understood what Aiden was saying. Due to the toxicity that came with potions, too much could have terrible side effects. For the princess they would need to call in a Healer. As for Aiden, since he’d also used too many enchantments, Valdan doubted a Healer would help.
For Aiden, he would have to sleep off the effects of the enchantments and potions, allow his body work towards natural healing before they could allow him any more potions or healing.
Only when Valdan nodded, did Aiden speak again. It was two words. A single phrase.
“Thank you.”
Valdan and Aiden stood side by side a little longer, in comfortable silence, until the wall closed. Then Aiden turned to him once more.
“I’m sure of it now,” he said.
“Sure of what?” Valdan asked, confused.
“I have a concussion.” Aiden teetered on his feet. “Catch me.”
Then he fell.
Valdan moved quickly and caught him before he hit the ground.
He stared down at a battered and bruised Aiden and wondered just how much they had gone through inside and why he was far more battered and bruised than the princess.
I really hope the reward was worth all this.