Waiters rushed to pull out an additional chair and Kaden sat, conspicuously aware of how he was the only one in armor, the only one still wet from a river, the only one who’d been doing actual adventuring.

“Cornelius, ensure our Privacy,” Flavius said.

“Of course.” The waiter bowed and brought back an artifact he set in the middle of the table. “And for the sir, Scorpion Steak? Bella mentioned you said so at the desk.”

Kaden nodded and waited until he left. “I have these Corpse Inventories—”

“Stop!” Flavius held up a hand. “Young man, do you know what I’ve learned over the centuries? Meals first. Pleasure first. Business last. Now, I don’t have a date but I do have a dinner, and we’ll get to whatever scheme you’ve cooked up this time.”

“You said we needed to talk.”

“I lied.” Flavius gave him a smile. “Always gets people. ‘I knew you’d be here. I know what you want to talk about.’ Even if I don’t, I like the reaction.”

Kaden waited impatiently. At least, until his dinner arrived, and then he dove into it with gusto. What had begun as a meal of desperation was now one of preference. The tangy bite of scorpion meat paired with garlic and mustard and a sweet honey glaze. He’d have to get the [Recipe] for the glaze. Eve would love it.

And once every last bite was done, Flavius wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Did you come for a business checkup? Or because you need something stolen?”

Kaden dropped the corpse inventories on the table and recounted the Quest, Erris’s poor decision making, and Sara’s gambit. “These. We should resurrect victims, kill the criminals, and how do we know who he was planning to ransom?”

“First, we do this.” Flavius dispatched a Messenger Bird that evaporated instead of flying away. “I want in on the shipping outpost. Pepper’s not questioning if it’s a decent idea, she’s using it to introduce Sara to the Mercari proper.”

“Can I interest you in helping resettle a Town?” Kaden asked.

Flavius picked up a Corpse Inventory. “No.”

He began to dump bodies. “Merchant. Merchant. Merchant. Employee, oh, that one’s interesting.”

The young man’s body flopped on the floor, still leaking blood from the dagger-stab to his heart. “Those hands? Never lifted a crate. Clothing is much too nice. Cornelius, can we get a resurrection here?”

The waiter hurried over, frowning as the pile of bodies in the middle of his fine dining grew. “If sir would like a cart to transport these to the temple?”

“Sir would. That pile goes to the temple, all merchants. That pile goes to the [Thieve’s Guild], these four stay here.” Flavius stood up and shouted. “Anyone got a rez skill? I’ve got five gold each for a quick rez.”

“Please!” Cornelius said, almost choking. “A Temple Healer is on the way. If Sir would be so kind?”

“Eh, I can wait.” Flavius sat back down. “Get anything good from Erris?”

Kaden began to dump stuff from Inventory. “Check out the door! It has a magic lock on it that electrocutes.”

“If you don’t bypass the lock. You at least tried to bypass the lock, right?” Flavius asked.

“Yes?”

Now was a perfectly good time to sort through the spoils of war. “See this wand? He almost killed me with this wand.”

Flavius held out a hand. “Wand of Elements, am I right? Always a favorite and the man kept it well charged. Not life changing but decent loot.”

A set of silver pendants Kaden dropped and Flavius’s eyes went wide. “Put them back in Inventory. Now. Now.”

Kaden stored them away. “They were hanging from the wall in Erris’s sleeping quarters.”

“Where they were warded. Ever met the Portal Herald? Those are hers. I’d heard rumors that she took a lover, and that he took treasures, but yeah, that’s your death, not mine.” Falvius waved. “More?”

Soon Kaden had a mound of items.

And a very angry head waiter, one who kept coughing until Kaden looked up. “I have a [Transfusionist] who can help with that cough.”

“Would sir mind not storing sir’s…door…in the dining room floor?”

Kaden shoveled it all back into Inventory.

“Look who it is! A healer!” Flavius waved to the white-robed priest of Varun. “We’ve got corpses, you’ve got skills, what a fortunate night for everyone! Ladies and Gentlemen, we have for your dining pleasure, four random corpses from the inventory of a prolific thief who didn’t pay his Guild Dues. Always pay your dues, folks.”

The dining room had fallen silent.

Kaden pulled a gold coin from Inventory and offered it to the Priest.

“What was that for?” Flavius asked.

“So you don’t claim you paid for the resurrection and get to ransom them.” Kaden dipped his head. “You’re head of [Thieves]. I have to take precautions.”

“Your Party Leader put you up to this, didn’t she?” Flavius asked. “I knew I should have prepaid. It’s a good investment! I’ve got a gold piece that says not one of these mulick-turds is going to be grateful you saved them.”

Kaden dropped a gold piece on the table. “One out of four? I like my odds.”

“Start with him!” Flavius said.

There were no rats.

There was no squeaking, screaming of tiny death and gasp of agony. The young man simply sat up as the wound in his chest healed, and smiled. This was not a smile of kindness. “Father will see you dead! Mother will see your family burned to ashes! Cousin Ed will made dodunk in the ashes, as he always does! Sister…who are you?”

“Kaden Birch.” He offered the man a hand. “You were killed by a thief. I fed him to some [Serpentors], recovered your cube, and had you resurrected.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I demand you let me go!” the man shouted. “I am a scion of the Galt Empire! You will suffer for not treating me with the respect I deserve! I will take a FarPortal home and return with my army to raze this city to the ground!”

Flavius leaned over and whispered to the man, who proudly marched up the stairs and out. “One down. I can feel that gold piece just crawling my way.”

“Should I go get him? Should I apologize?” Kaden asked. “Also, where is the Galt Empire?”

Flavius shrugged. “You know that desert waste you were at? Go about a hundred miles in. That’s where the capital was before the largest Mana Bomb in history turned it into a desert. If he finds an army there, he’s more resilient than he looks.”

“You told him that?”

“Absolutely not. I told him where the FarPortal was and that I’d paid the fee. I hope he brings a water bottle, it’s a really long walk in every direction.” Flavius pointed to another man. “Him! Do him!”

The Priest resurrected the second man, who took a deep breath.

And let it out as a scream, something he repeated over and over, his eyes wide with terror. After several minutes, it became clear to Kaden there wasn’t going to be anything but screaming.

If Cornelius coughed any louder, he was going to lose a lung. “Would sir mind removing the screaming guest? Perhaps to the City Asylum for treatment?”

“No worries!” Flavius cut the man’s throat. “There, there. Can’t have dinner disrupted by screaming. Take him to the Asylum, resurrect him. Two down, Hammer Man.”

Cornelius wiped bloodspray from his forehead and turned away.

Of the two remaining victims, the older lady had died with a look of peace on her face, her hands clasped together, her lips in a smile that matched the gash across her throat. “Her,” Kaden said.

The priest muttered something about insanity, and then activated his [Skill].

The older woman breathed in deeply and then let it out in a contented sigh, which was a thousand times better than a scream She opened her eyes and sat up. “Ah, it’s been a few years. Where am I?”

“Verona.” Kaden repeated his recap of rescue, recovery and resurrection.

She stood and dusted herself off. “Very well, I trust the Order of the Hearth is still in charge of Civil Matters?”

“Take the loss,” Falvius whispered under his breath. Then louder. “Of course, the city hall is past the noble section and to the right. How do you feel about this young man going to all the effort to save you?”

Kaden put his head down on the table.

“Of course he did! It’s only right! What do you want from me, boy? A cookie? I don’t have one. A copper? None, and if I had one, I’d buy a cookie. For myself.” She looked to the head waiter. “My apologies for returning to life during your dinner, sir.”

“Madam is most gracious,” he said. “May I have someone show you to the city hall?”

When Kaden looked up, the master thief watched him with a smile. “You know you can’t help hoping. One more, let’s see!”

Kaden nodded. “You heard the man. Raise her.”

The last woman had hair that was dyed blue at the ends and platinum blond at the roots and the moment the resurrection took her, she sat up cursing. Sputtering. Confused.

[Okit Von Czerk] Identify added. A commoner.

Flavius spoke before Kaden could, pointing at him. “Kaden Birch. He fed the thief to some serpentors, took your corpse cube, bought your resurrection. Feeling anything like gratitude, or should I just take that gold coin he put on the table?”

Okit’s gaze locked onto the coin. “Do I get to keep the coin if I’m grateful?”

“No!” Kaden and Flavius said at the same time.

“I am very grateful if I get the coin. I’ll need it to catch a caravan to Den Tolten.” Okit stood up and reached for the coin.

But Flavius didn’t try to stop her. “You’re going to need a lot more than a gold coin. Den Tolten? As in Rhinehelm?”

Okit nodded. “Are we far? Do I need a portal mage?”

“Distance? Half the globe. Portal mages, we’ve got. You need a chrono mage, because Den Tolten hasn’t existed for centuries. You’re a Cataclysm behind. Rhinehelm was destroyed three, maybe four thousand years ago.” Flavius offered her the gold piece. “There’s a really nice ruin where it used to be. Lots of trolls. The neighborhood has gone downhill but the architecture is stunning. The place has got good bones, you know?”

“Bones.” The woman repeated it as though stunned.

“Yes. That’s why the Necromancers love to go there. Great bones. Not feeling as much gratitude, are we?” Flavius took the coin she hadn’t accepted and put it away. “Better luck next time.”

Kaden knew the look. Had seen it on a dozen orphan’s faces. And knew what to do. He dispatched the [FalCrow] with a message and then focused on Okit. “One of these kind men is going to show you to the front desk, where they’ll put you in a room for the night. Tomorrow, you’re going to go to Devish’s Summoning Services. Ask to see James Dervish. Tell him you need a job and I sent you.” Kaden waved for a waiter and repeated his orders. He would have bet at least one would be grateful. He’d bet it again.

“Oh, to be young and stupid. You still planning to try and resettle that town?” Flavius asked.

“I am. Tomorrow I’m going to go hunting to make sure it’s cleared. And I’m taking faction Quests to build up—hey. Faction Quests. Should I make a list? We found what happened to your caravans, found the source of the problem, fed the source to some Serpentors, recovered a bunch of cargo, some merchants, some thieves—”

Flavius cut him off with a glare. “You didn’t ask for a Quest for the other stuff. But I’ll grant you the problem one. Everything else you did for favor. Four faction tokens and that’s it.”

“And.” Kaden said it as a demand. “I want to practice binding your [Mapping Demon].”

It had been the only reason Kaden accepted the Quest. The Mercari had a [Mapping Demon] who could show them the routes. Kaden had used his [Binding Mark] skill on every normal kind of Demon to grow it and only gained a single level.

“You can’t keep it. But yes, come to the Merchant’s Guild tomorrow. We’ll give you as much time as you need.” Flavius waved as if it were already done. “You wanted to know how we’re doing at BirchHaven?”

Kaden nodded. “We’re making money, right?”

“So much gold. Of course, it cost another two hundred thousand to open up that next set of suites—hey, don’t look like that. Focus on the long term!” Flavius snapped his fingers. “Long term. Years. Decades. Centuries. This is nothing.”

“Then you’d be interested in financing a Town—”

“No.” Flavius ordered desert from a menu. “I still can’t believe you convinced the Stateri to back off on the plan to burn it down. Actually, take that back. Ignus is right, you have a way of winding up in the middle of disasters.”

“Speaking of long term investments—”

“No. Towns are a lot of work. You need to learn this lesson, so I’m letting you. What’s so special about this town? Is it the body count? You looking to make a love nest? There are cheaper ways to do that. Or is it about the power? Power is always fun, can’t blame you there.” Flavius waited.

The answer was complex. “It wasn’t about the buildings. It was about always losing. About demons taking and taking and taking more. Corrupting townspeople Stealing lives. Destroying a place where commoners felt safe.”

“They’re safe here in Verona,” Flavius said. “As long as they stay out of the way and watch their mouth and keep their heads down, perfectly safe. Honestly, growing up in fear is good for them.”

That was exactly why such places mattered. “I don’t want to rule it. I want it to be a place where people can live without worrying about offending some Adventurer who’s going to kick down their house.”

To his surprise, Flavius nodded. “Huh. I really thought it was about the power. I’ve been there. Once founded a hidden city in a cave network as the ‘home of the thieves.’ Had to burn it to the ground a century later because the ungrateful bastards kept stealing from me, the city, everyone. Best of luck, and remember, matches are cheap and so are [Fire Mages]. No more business, desert.” The Centurion’s pronouncement was final.

Kaden sent the FalCrow to let Eve know he wouldn’t be home tonight, and booked a room at BirchHome. A simple side room with no view and little decoration, it was a servant’s quarters. The room atop the Gryphon’s tree was best used for those who would pay gold by the bucket. Some of that bucket would filter down to Kaden, and one day, more of that bucket. So much more.

In the quiet, Kaden summoned Trinity, even though the TriTerror didn’t really fit. She layed her armored head down on one side of the bed and rested the serpentine head across her back. “Sorry, we can’t cook tonight.”

Trinity’s rumble wasn’t something [Beast Soul] could translate but the feeling was of missing a pot full of blood and a blazing fire and some chunks of a previously living creature.

“We’re going to the Emerald Isles and getting a [Ruby Hydra.] The perfect lieutenant for a TriTerror.”

Trinity didn’t answer but Kaden’s mind was made up. And he’d almost fallen asleep when the notification came in.

Your Business S&K Holdings has expanded to: Shipping Station Operation.

He couldn’t help smiling. It really had never been fair to the Mercari Centurions, leaving them to Sara’s mercies. Trella would have laughed so hard. And she would. Tomorrow was the next step.

Or, the fears he wouldn’t speak answered, the last.