All was quiet in the small living room. Not the comfortable sort of quiet, but the kind of quiet that hid a tense energy.

Zee had his head down in some tome and appeared to be deep in thought. Jasper was reading an article in the paper that was almost as big as he was, and Duke looked like he was trying to bore a hole in the table with his gaze.

This was after Duke had made breakfast for the three of them, cleaned the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned up most of the apartment, and gone for a jog.

“You really need to get a hobby,” Jasper said, finally breaking the silence.

“What makes you say that?” Duke replied with a bit of an edge to his voice.

“Well, most of the people we know have a roof over their heads, the local markets are starting to pick back up, but it’s going to take a while before things start to really start showing any results, and nothing is in any immediate danger,” Jasper explained, “in short, there isn’t anyone that needs your help for the foreseeable future. You’ve never been the ‘take it easy and relax’ type as long as I’ve known you, so you need to find something to do.”

Duke worked his mouth silently for a moment, trying to come up with a reply.

“It’s true,” Zee agreed, “I’ve got my studies, Jasper is working on getting back into the merchant business and you’ve been stuck doing nothing since everyone’s started to get back on their feet.”

“You might be right. Maybe-” Duke began before he was interrupted by a pawing at the window.

The three of them looked over only to see a cat with a scroll case on its back.

Duke immediately stood up and opened the window and took the scroll from the cat.

“It’s a message from Mr. House. He might need our help!” Duke exclaimed.

Jasper let out a quiet sigh before folding the paper and joining Duke by the window.

Duke’s eyes blazed across the paper before his face fell a little.

“It’s addressed to all of us, but Mr. House specifically asked for you,” Duke said before handing the piece of parchment to Jasper.

“Me?” asked Jasper as he began to read the letter.

Jasper’s expression became more and more incredulous the further he got into the letter before he flipped it over to the other side where Duke hadn’t read.

“Why does Mr. House think that I know how to commit tax fraud!” Jasper exclaimed.

***

“Maybe we should have phrased things a bit more delicately?” I mused as I watched Jasper march forward with a frown followed by Duke and Zee.

“You’ve got to admit though, it was effective,” Selina said with a grin.

“Next time, remind me to ask you to read the letter back to me after I ask you to write something,” I said as I opened the door and let the three of them in.

I couldn’t argue with the results and besides it was a little funny.

“Care to explain why you thought that I know how to commit tax fraud?” demanded Jasper.

“You are a self admitted burglar,” Selina replied bluntly, “you must have done a bit of fraud before you got caught.”

“That’s- Why are you asking in the first place?” asked Jasper.

“Truth be told, we were confronted by a tax collector who seemed a bit suspect and we needed to know if it was a legitimate attempt at collection or if he was just trying to extort us,” Selina explained.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Well you could have just said that,” grumbled Jasper.

Selina just gave Jasper a cheshire grin in response.

“Anyway, what makes you think that the tax collector was trying to extort you?” asked Jasper.

“The man in question is named Ingrid. He just presented an invoice for an exorbitant amount of gold. We don’t know how things work around here, but that doesn’t sound official,” Selina explained.

“Yeah, he should have presented you with an official letter from the lord of Harmony City as well as a notice from the office of the city council,” Jasper said, “both of which would have a magical seal to prevent forgery.”

“Are you sure he was a tax collecter in the first place?” Duke asked.

“Mr. House has means of magically determining that,” Selina said without much explanation.

“Okay…” Zee said warily.

“It’s not outside the realm of possibilities,” Duke explained, “Some dungeons will purposely send certain enemies that a group might have trouble with even if other monsters have been documented in the dungeon.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Zee agreed.

“Back to the topic at hand,” Jasper said, “that does sound like Ingrid was trying to con you. It’s not uncommon, but occasionally tax collectors will try to add on a fake fee or two and pocket the extra, but I’ve never heard of one that tried to take the whole month’s taxes.”

“It’s probably because he’s the only government official that knows about us,” I said.

“Mr. House believes that he may be the only government official that knows about this dungeon,” repeated Selina.

“Ingrid probably expected to cow Mr. House because he was operating a business without a permit,” Zee suggested.

“Some bureaucrats can be little tyrants in that regard,” Jasper agreed, “there was one time I heard of one of these guys shutting down an orphanage’s bake sale because they didn’t have a business permit. It’d make sense if the Skisfinks had him on payroll to screw over struggling businesses.”

“Thank you for assisting us,” Selina said.

“No offense Mr. House, but dungeon creatures can subsist on the mana provided by the dungeon core. The rest of us need food and shelter and I think I can speak for almost everyone, but I’d really hate it if we were forced to return to that way of life,” he said.

“So how do we go about fixing this problem?” Jasper asked.

“I don’t think we can pull a Karen and ask to see his manager without things getting more complicated than they already are,” I said.

“We could find out where he lives,” Midnight suggested.

“I can see if anyone else knows about this Ingrid fellow,” Duke suggested, oblivious to Midnight’s implication.

“Brother, how many times must we have this conversation? We can’t just go around terrorizing people,” Carmen chided, “right Mr. House?”

“Hmm,” I mused for a moment.

“It’s a long shot, but maybe I can ask Alma and Hilda if they have any suggestions,” added Zee.

“Mr. House?” Carmen asked with a note of concern.

“Let’s table that as plan ‘C’ for now,” I said, “maybe we can scare him off without immediately getting violent.”

“Selina, does Mr. House have any suggestions?” asked Duke.

Selina gave herself a moment to compose herself by clearing her throat.

“Mr. House is taking everything into account before deciding on a plan of action. We should act once we have more information about the situation,” Selina said diplomatically.

“That makes sense?” Duke said with a curious look.

“Well we’re not getting anywhere standing around,” Jasper barked, “I’m not letting the slum’s, and by extension our only source of income get snatched up by the crown. Duke, start poking around and see if anyone knows anything about Ingrid. Zee, call up Alma on your crystal ball or whatever. House, er, don’t give any money to Ingrid, I guess. I’ve still got some contacts I can check in with. Let’s go everyone!”

Galvanized by Jasper’s sudden burst of energy, I quickly found myself in an empty casino once again.

“Well that sure was informative,” Selina noted.

“Yeah it’s a good thing we asked around first,” I agreed.

“Well what should we do when he comes back?” Midnight asked.

“He didn’t exactly strike me as a fighter,” I replied, “let’s just keep the door closed the next time he comes back.”

“And if he has a dungeon key?” asked Carmen.

“Well then we’ll just have to counter-sue him for breaking and entering,” I replied.

“Ugh, I do not want to have to speak for you in court,” Selina groaned.

“I still say we should find out where he lives and pay him a visit,” Midnight commented with a flick of his tail.

“Plan ‘C’ Midnight, plan ‘C’” I said reassuringly.