“Hello! Good afternoon. How’s everyone doing, this fine day?” Llewyn flashed his salesman smile up at them.

Shopkeep, Wisp, and Ike stared down at him, silent.

“I’ll take that for a yes. I’m here to call on a debt you owe me, for several thousand puppets. I sold them to you and your villagers some decades ago. Due to extenuating circumstances, I was unable to collect the debt until now. A sum total of two million, seven hundred and fifty eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty two gold is owed to me. If you cannot pay at this moment, surrender equivalent property to me, and I will consider your debt paid. If you cannot pay, then…” He spread his hands, gesturing at the black-robed mages. “I will collect.”

Shopkeep scoffed. “You want me to pay for you murdering my citizens? Pay for the honor of having my town destroyed at your hands?”

Llewyn shrugged. “What you did with the technology I gave you is your own prerogative. I can’t be blamed for your citizens’ mistakes. If they used them wisely, within the limitations—”

“What limitations? You built them to take over and replace my citizens.”

Llewyn scoffed. “The mad claims of a man who knows he’s too far in debt to pay it off. Of course. You’ll say anything to get out of paying what you owe.” He turned to Ike. “Do you believe this man?”

“I don’t believe you,” Ike replied flatly. Sure, my only other source of information was the puppet show Lord Nors showed me, but between trusting someone who tried to kill me and Llewyn, I’m trusting the person who tried to kill me. I know how Llewyn operates. I know his goals. He’s here to turn everyone into puppets by hook or by crook. Even if Lord Nors has been lying to me this whole time, even if he really owes Llewyn a huge debt, I’m still on Lord Nors’ side.

Llewyn laughed. “What about you, young lady?”

“The fuck do you think you’re talking to? We’ve seen your creepy puppet armies all over this place! Go fuck yourself, asshat!” Wisp shouted down.

Ike looked at Wisp. He raised his brows and whistled.

She shrugged at him. “I don’t know why you held back.”

“Yeah… fair,” Ike said, shrugging.

Llewyn shook his head. “Hard crowd.”

“I’m impressed you’re shameless enough to attempt to collect a debt for your puppets, after they killed everyone in Lord Nors’ domain,” Ike pointed out.

Llewyn stared up at Ike, shocked. “My puppets did what? I think you’ll find the citizens made many foolish individual decisions that had nothing to do with my puppets. It’s absolutely ludicrous that you would blame the downfall of a city on my innocent tools of entertainment.”

Ike laughed. “As if we haven’t seen them in action. Who are you fooling, Llewyn? Yourself?”

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Llewyn’s expression suddenly changed. He laughed, throwing his head back. “Have you heard of message crystals? They can record a scene and replay it later. If you’re skilled, you can even edit the message you recorded. I can now present the insane claims of a couple of madmen who attacked me unilaterally. I can show the king how your Lord Nors, who was known to have lost his mind, randomly accused a poor salesman of killing his citizens, when the whole world already knows that Lord Nors trapped them himself.”

Ike raised his brows. He wanted to refute Llewyn’s claims, but he couldn’t. After all, Lord Nors had trapped him and Wisp in his village of his own prerogative. Even tried to adapt them into dolls. Trying to explain the nuances of Lord Nors and Shopkeep… compared to the simple narrative Llewyn presented, of a madman who rounded on a travelling salesman as a scapegoat, he could already feel himself losing the argument.

He tensed, rolling out his arms. At the end of the day, might makes right. If we defeat Llewyn here, his message crystal will never make its way to the king. If he defeats us, on the other hand, he’s free to tell whatever tale he wishes.

Shopkeep spread his arms. “Enough talk. I owe you nothing, but to return the knife you put in my back. If you wish to collect, then do your worst.”

Llewyn chuckled darkly. “I shall.” He snapped his fingers.

On the far side of the city, outside of the walls, his puppets burst through the ground. They looked around, then paused, realizing they were nowhere near Shopkeep, Ike, or anyone.

Ike laughed. Wisp slapped her thighs, almost crying with laughter. Shopkeep managed a grin. He shook his head regretfully at Llewyn. “What was that? Are you working on an excavations project? How strange. It is an impressive hole, I suppose.”

Llewyn scowled. “Your pathetic Tower reaches that deep?”

“I am the land, and the land ‘tis I,” Shopkeep said, spreading his hands.

Ike snapped around. He stared at Shopkeep. Something about that… The words spun in his head. The image of Mont appeared in his head. Shawn, borrowing others’ mana veins to survive. The mountains. The land spirits. Beings who were one with the earth, and the immense power they required to exist. His aether stirred, swirling in tune with the thought.

And then it slowed. The thought lingered, but it failed to coalesce into one concept. He felt as if he had almost grasped something very important, only for it to slip through his fingers like sand. He shook his head, forcing himself to focus. Whatever that thought was—let’s hold onto it. Even if I haven’t understood it, let’s keep it for later. I haven’t understood it, but I can understand that, whatever it was, it was important.

Wisp waved her hand in front of Ike’s face. “Yoo-hoo.”

“Sorry. I got lost in my thoughts.” Ike grinned. He nodded at Wisp. “Where were we?”

“Just about done with the talking part and ready to start the fighting, I think. I hope.” Wisp glanced at Shopkeep.

He chuckled. “Yes, I do think we were just about done with talking. In fact, I think there’s nothing left to say.”

“I feel the same.” Llewyn stepped back. He snapped his fingers again.

The black mages leaped into formation. They ran left and right, forming a strange shape on the ground. Mana ran between them, drawing lines on the earth. From one mage to the next, connecting all their points into one, bright blue mana conduits formed the shape of a magic circle. It was a savage shape, something rough and untamed. Something Ike had never seen before. Not the simple, upright form of the teleportation circle, but something aggressive. Something that wanted to hurt.

Mana circulated around the mages’ circle. With every passing second, it grew stronger. Stronger, and stronger, and stronger, emanating so much power that it made Ike’s heart shake. Subconsciously, he tensed his fists. Fear shook inside of him. That thing was a weapon, made to destroy.

Shopkeep rested a hand on Ike’s shoulder. He smiled. “Don’t fear. The barrier should hold against that.”

“But how many will it hold against?” Ike asked.

Shopkeep’s smile thinned. He shook his head. “At least one.”

Wisp punched her fist into her hand. “And then, at long last, it’s fightin’ time.”

Ike nodded at Wisp. “It takes time to charge. After they fire the first shot…”

“Already there,” Wisp said, grinning.