“We tested six hundred twenty-four people and only one person came back with hypnosis,” Alma said.

“I can’t believe that the butcher was being hypnotized by the candlestick maker,” Jasper said, shaking his head.

“Smart enough to use hypnosis, dumb enough to try,” Duke said.

“I know,” replied Jasper, “the candlemaker could have gotten the butcher to write him into his will, but just decided to just get free tallow.”

Duke glared at Jasper.

“Not that I would do anything like that,” Jasper replied hastily.

The five of them had been set up by my front door for the better part of a month. At first I had been pissed that Hilda suspected me of mind control, however I realized that if I harassed them in any way I’d likely be confirming their suspicions.

Besides, I wasn’t mind controlling anyone. At least I wasn’t aware I was mind controlling anyone.

Hilda had checked, I wasn’t mind controlling anyone.

In any case, it had turned out to be an interesting novelty that had attracted some people and I suspected the recent news about the butcher and the candlestick maker might draw in some more people since I was tangentially involved.

Duke had actually started to relax around me. Hell, I’d even seen him smile a few times.

Jasper had turned out to be a smooth talker and had bought a few carts in order to connect people who had trash to people who had muscle. Jasper would rent out a cart and a laborer and the laborer would get to keep whatever I paid out for the raw materials.

It had still been mostly wood, stone, brick and the occasional metal, but I nearly had enough material and mana to expand ‘in’ again. I’d have to figure out a way to let everyone know I’d be closing for renovations again soon.

Zee had been getting along well with Alma. Most of their conversations had involved Zee borrowing Alma’s old school material to practice magic. The two of them could and had spent hours talking about magic theory, but they somehow managed to avoid talking about their personal lives.

“Thank you dear, you have nothing to worry about,” said Hilda as she took the helmet off of a young lady who couldn’t have been out of her mid teens.

The yong lady thanked her and quickly ran off to her giggling friends.

“Well that’s number six hundred and twenty-five,” Alma said, noting it down in a notebook, “with a positive result of less than one percent, I think it’s safe to say that the dungeon isn’t malicious.”

“At least any more than any other casino,” Zee said.

“Hey! My payouts have been pretty high! I’ve been forking out cash as quickly as I’ve been making it!” I said indignantly to nobody in particular.

Communication was difficult when you had to direct cats. It was honestly like combining the telephone game and charades. Fortunately, there hadn’t been any major misunderstandings.

Yet…

“Hear that, Duke?” Jasper said expectantly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Duke said dismissively.

Jasper grabbed the bottom of Duke’s coat and forced Duke to look at him.

“No, you don’t get to just ‘yeah yeah’ me. Not after all the shit I’ve had to deal with from you. We’re not sleeping in an alleyway because I convinced you to take a chance on this, and in case you forgot, I’m the one who’s been paying for our food and board,” Jasper said with a piercing stare.

Everyone went silent for a moment before Duke sighed and knelt down.

“Jasper, I’m sorry for giving you and Zee a hard time. Hell more than a hard time, I’ve got my own ghosts to deal with and I’ve been forcing them on you two and for that I apologize,” Duke said solemnly.

“And the dungeon?” Jasper asked.

Duke winced, but continued.

“I promise that I’ll try to give the dungeon a fair chance,” he continued.

Jasper gave him a long and appraising look.

“Good,” was all he said before patting Duke on the arm and walking away.

“Alma, would you and Zee mind giving Duke and I some privacy?” Hilda asked.

“Yes ma’am,” Alma said with a shocked expression before grabbing Zee’s arm and walking down the block.

“Hilda?” asked Duke.

“From our conversations, I take it you used to be an adventurer,” Hilda began.

“Same as you, if I’m not mistaken,” Duke replied.

“It doesn’t take a scholar to recognize what you’ve been through,” Hilda said as she unclasped a pendant she wore around her neck.

“I’m not hiding it, but I don’t exactly like to bring it up,” Duke said as Hilda held the pendant out.

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An illusion manifested in her hand that showed a much younger Hilda surrounded by people decked out in adventuring gear.

“Are they…?” Duke began.

“My old adventuring troupe? Yes,” Hilda replied as a forlorn look crossed her face.

“Three of the five of us were slain in the battle of Demon’s mountain. Our cleric Cynthia, like you, was haunted by what she had seen that day and went on a pilgrimage. I haven’t seen her since,” she recalled.

“I ended up pouring myself into academia and that distracted me for a time. Eventually I realized that ghosts don’t go away if you don’t face them,” she finished.

There was a long pause as Duke considered wether or not to answer in kind.

He opened his mouth but a quivering lip prevented him from speaking. Duke swallowed hard and opened his mouth again.

“We were in deep, too deep, deeper than we realized,” Duke began with a shudder to his voice, “we were in the middle of disarming a trap when we got ambushed. The trap separated us, the monsters did the rest. My friends were falling left and right when Oros, our wizard, pushed me back into the previous chamber with a wind spell and I managed to escape.”

Duke took in a long breath to steady himself.

Hilda waited patiently for Duke to continue.

“I took an oath to defend people, defend my friends. The gods saw fit to give me their blessings and I ran away,” Duke whispered in a horse voice, “I haven’t tried to call on the blessing since.”

The dam broke and Duke buried his face in his hands.

Hilda reached into her purse and pulled out a handkerchief before slowly rubbing Duke’s back while he silently sobbed.

After a long moment, Duke composed himself and accepted the handkerchief.

“I know how difficult it is to lose someone so suddenly and so violently,” Hilda began, “I also know how difficult it is to open up about it. Thank you for trusting me, Duke.”

“Call me Alexander," Duke said.

“Duke was just a stupid nickname after I wound up here. I think it started from rumors that I was some disgraced nobility. ‘Duke of the slums’ they would say,” he chuckled as he wiped tears out of his eyes.

“Well it’s quite a memorable nickname,” remarked Hilda in a cheerier tone, “Thank you Alexander.”

“No Hilda, thank you for listening. All this time I was wondering if this was some sort of test the gods had given me to atone, or just some cruel irony to twist the knife. Now I think I know what I need to do,” Duke replied as he looked toward my warehouse doors.

“Oh shit,” was all I could think as he got up and began to walk.

***

“So Zee, that’s an interesting name,” Alma began awkwardly in the wake of the recent argument.

“It’s actually short for Zeenfaloth,” said Zee.

“Zee- Zeenfal…” Alma tried to say.

“Don’t bother,” Zee chuckled, “normal elvish is hard enough to pronounce and my name is in deep elvish.”

“Does it mean anything?” Alma asked.

“It refers to the specific feeling some deep elves feel when they see the sun for the first time,” Zee replied.

“Oh wow, I haven't ever thought about that,” Alma said.

“Yeah…” was all Zee said before trailing off into silence.

“So I don’t mean to pry, but you said that the reason you came to Harmony was to join the academy. You have more than enough talent to pass the entry exam, so why haven’t you tried to take it?” Alma asked.

Zee chuckled again.

“I ended up moving here shortly after the dragon attack,” Zee began, “of course I didn’t know a dragon had just attacked Harmony city and I spent most of my money moving out here. A lot of housing ended up getting destroyed and as a result, prices went up higher than I could afford.”

Alma had a contemplative and slightly embarrassed look on her face while Zee continued.

“It’s not exactly feasible to have a three hour commute one way, so I kind of got stuck by the docks. I met up with Duke and Jasper shortly after and I’ve been here ever since,” he finished.

“The dragon attack was 8 years ago and you've been living in the docks district all that time?” Alma asked.

“It hasn't been that long,” Zee shrugged, “barely even been a decade.”

“Right, I forgot that elves have a different sense of time,” Alma muttered to herself.

“How about you? How did you end up as Hilda’s apprentice?” Zee asked.

“The academy has a program that allows students to apprentice under a wizard who is in good standing and previously graduated from their program,” Alma explained, “fortunately my grades and accomplishments must have stood out enough, because Hilda scouted me herself.”

“Well your notes are so well organized that I’d be surprised if you weren’t a top student,” Zee said.

“Alma, we’re done for the day,” Hilda called from across the street.

“Oh, that’s Hilda. See you tomorrow, Zee,” Alma said as she waved good bye.

“See you tomorrow,” Zee waved back.

Zee stood there for a moment and watched her leave before letting out a sigh.

“Your notes are so well organized that I’d be surprised if you weren’t a top student,” Came a familiar voice in a mocking tone.

“GAH!” Zee exclaimed, “Jasper! How long have you been there?”

“Long enough,” Jasper said with a smirk, “being shorter than most everyone else comes in handy on occasion.”

“So why didn't you say anything?” asked Zee.

“You two seemed like you were having a nice conversation about something besides magic,” he said.

“Ugh shut up Jasper,” Zee moaned.

“You know, if you need some recommendations for a nice place to eat, I know a few places,” Jasper teased.

“I said shut up,” Zee exclaimed.

***

Duke walked down the street towards my door.

I had never been good at awkward situations and this one looked like it would be really heavy as well.

I was frozen in place as Duke opened the door and stepped inside.

“So I assume you heard all of that? Your cats are everywhere,” Duke began.

Sweat would have been rolling down my face if I had a body right now.

“It's fine if you don't answer. In fact, it's better if you just listen for now,” he said as he paced back and forth.

“You haven't been killing people, you've only hurt someone in self defense, and this isn't some long con where you end up using mind control magic to gather an army or whatever ridiculousness I can come up with,” Duke said before stopping and looking deep into the warehouse.

“I’m sorry I've been less than kind to you,” he said sincerely.

Silence thundered around us as the reality of what happened shook me to my core.

“I wish that you had a voice, that would make this so much easier,” Duke said before turning around and leaving.

“Wait, I can get a voice?” was all I could think as Duke slid the warehouse door behind him.