Minerva stood over a stone tablet. Her talon glowed orange as she used it to carve letters into the smooth surface. In front of her, placed on a branch, there was the Trickster’s Book. Minerva glanced at the book every so often before continuing to write. A few minutes passed before Minerva retrieved her foot and stared down at the side where a demon was staring at the stone tablet with unblinking eyes. Minerva cleared her throat. “Are you just going to stare at me as I translate this? Don’t you have other things you need to do?”

Tafel shook her head. “I don’t have any responsibilities right now,” she said. “Everything’s taken care of.”

“What about Vur?” Minerva asked. “Doesn’t he need your attention?”

Tafel shook her head again. “Vur isn’t very needy,” she said. Her head tilted to the side. “Actually, he’s not needy at all. As long as he’s fed, he’s happy, and he doesn’t need me to feed him.”

“So…, you’re saying he’s happier without you?” Minerva asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Tafel said and furrowed her brow. “You’re twisting my words.” She glanced down at the stone tablet. “Speaking of words….” Her eyes glanced back up at Minerva. Although the demon didn’t finish her sentence, Minerva knew what Tafel wanted her to do.

“Alright,” Minerva said. “There isn’t anything you need to do, but isn’t there something you’d rather do than watch me translate a book?”

Tafel shook her head again. “Nope.”

Minerva’s eyes flashed with a golden light. Her feathery brow furrowed. “Maybe Emile was right,” she said. “You do have a problem, but I just can’t see it.”

Tafel rolled her eyes. “I just really want to know the contents of the book.”

“Well, you’re making me self-conscious,” Minerva said. “Go wait somewhere else. I’ll be done in a week.”

Tafel blinked. “How am I making you self-conscious?” she asked. “I wasn’t even making any noise.”

“You just are,” Minerva said. “I’m not used to people staring at me while I work.”

“What if I stare at the stone tablet?”

“Get out,” Minerva said.

Tafel pursed her lips as she took a few steps away from the stone tablet.

“Further,” Minerva said.

Tafel took a few more steps back.

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“Keep going.”

Tafel sighed and turned around, walking past a tree. The two of them were already outside. Where was she supposed to go when Minerva told her to get out?

“I can still see your horns peeking out from behind the tree.”

Tafel’s expression darkened, and she went even further away. Her horns glowed silver, and a portal appeared beside her. She stared into it, but didn’t reach in to take anything. An ancient-yet-young sounding voice rang out of the portal. “No spying with portals either! If you don’t leave me alone for a whole week, I won’t translate this book for you.”

Tafel exhaled as her horns dimmed, the portal fading out of existence. What was she going to do for a whole week? Her brow furrowed as she stared at the ground. Maybe she’d find Vur. Although she didn’t know where he was, couldn’t she just ask Sera? If Minerva could provide a golden feather to track down Emile and Susan, couldn’t Sera provide something similar like a golden scale to track down Vur?

***

Ed Edward’s expression remained unchanged as his butler whispered into his ear. Then again, he was wearing a mask, so it was impossible to see his skull anyway. After the butler finished speaking, Ed nodded and dismissed him. The well-dressed skeleton went up to Vur and knelt down. “I have failed you, Your Majesty. The Dragon Slayers defeated my guards and escaped. Please, punish me as you see fit.”

Vur lowered his head, taking his eyes off the auction stage. “Where’d they go?”

“After defeating my guards barehanded, they retrieved their weapons and armors. Then, they hijacked a boat and fled the island. They were last seen heading west, but they may have changed directions while at sea.”

Vur scratched his head. Instead of taking a nap, he should’ve brought the Dragon Slayers to Grimmy while waiting for the auction to begin. Was this what Tafel meant by he shouldn’t always be sleeping? Probably. “I’ll go after them,” Vur said and stood up. So far, he hadn’t seen anything up for auction that interested him. He only stayed for so long because of the seemingly endless supply of meat the maid had. He glanced at the four differently colored boulders; they were sitting on the ground around a catalogue. “Do any of you want anything from the auction?”

Sheryl’s eyes lit up as she raised her head. “Can I have this lava beast’s heart? I have a feeling it’ll help me get stronger.”

Zilphy flipped through the catalogue and pointed at an item. “Can you get me this elemental trap? I’m going to use it on Mistle whenever she gets close to Deedee.”

“I don’t want anything from the auction,” Mistle said, “but I do request for you to not fulfill Zilphy’s request.”

Vur glanced at the brown boulder that hadn’t spoken. Diamant shook his head, which was also his body, and said, “There’s nothing I want either. Can I ask for some vacation time instead? It feels like I’ve been doing more work than everyone else.”

“That’s because you’re more useful,” Stella said. “You should be proud about doing more work.”

Vur turned his head towards Ed. “Save me the heart that she wants,” he said and pointed at Sheryl. “I’ll be back later.”

“Are you sure you’ll be back?” the Recordkeeper asked. “If you leave me here, I’m pretty sure the next time you attend a noble’s auction, I’ll be one of the items listed for sale.”

“Who do you think Vur is?” Stella asked and pointed at the Recordkeeper. “He’s an honest dragon. If he says he’ll be back later, then he’ll be back later.”

The Recordkeeper pursed her lips. “But who knows how long later will be?” she asked. “If he comes back in ten years, he’ll still be back later, but I’ll be long gone, trapped in a cellar somewhere.” She blinked upon seeing Stella’s expression. “Alright, I understand. I’ll come with you. I won’t be of any help, and I’ll most definitely be a liability, but at least you won’t forget about me. Again.”