“Now Cira, just take a deep breath,” The witch tried to comfort her.

“I will have justice.” Cira pointed at the old man in his window.

With no tact, Lomp decided to join in, “Can’t you just make another one? You stole it in the first place.”

“From a criminal! And I had just grown attached!” Cira cried, “What about all my potions?!”

Lomp gulped, “They should be invisible still…”

“Ugh, you’re the worst! I trusted you, Lomp!” She glared at him.

Meanwhile, Nanri patted her on the back, “Now, now. We’ll get it back, don’t worry. Then we can go fix the plague.”

Cira grumbled and turned away, forcing the group to follow her up the city. One look at her face and people steered clear of the witches and their party. Though, everyone else was just hurrying to keep up while listening to complaints about stairs.

“So, you must be Cira’s friend!” Nanri introduced herself to Chip and offered a smile.

“Uh, Chip…” He tensed up, “It’s nice to meet you, er, madam witch?”

“Just Nanri.” She chuckled and caught up to Cira.

They made their way through Uren remarkably fast until finally they arrived at the overseer’s office—or just below it, that is.

“Stupid elevators…” Cira had devolved into sulking at this point. It had turned into an awkward elevator ride. Even Nina looked like she was judging her. “What?”

Of course, the nymph just disappeared again to avoid confrontation and they all arrived at the top of the elevator. A short hallway brought them to a door that a nervous man in glasses was standing in front of. Cira looked at him, then he looked at Lomp, who shook his head apologetically. The man stepped aside, and she pushed open the door.

“Pappy, what the hell?!”

He looked up at her from his desk with a baffled look on his face, “You tell me! The hell’s yer problem?! What do ya’ think yer doin’ bringing all these—Madam witch!” He crawled up from his seat and fell to his knees as Nanri entered.

“Come on, is she really that scary?” Cira looked at the witch in question who jumped. “Get up and tell me where my damn boat is! Do you realize how much work I’ve been doing for you?”

Pappy painstakingly got up by climbing his desk and growled, “And what work is that?! All I see’s more dyin’ people!”

Now Cira held her hands out in a gesture of utter incredulity, “They were already there, you old idiot! Now you can see them from your window!”

“And what’re you doin’ about it?!” The old man demanded, “I saw you playin’ around in the garden with yer’ little friend! Don’t even get me started on the worms, who the hell is the Hidden Witch?!”

“You jackass—!” Cira was about to go on a tirade until Lomp stepped in the middle.

“Both of you hold on!” Two glares landed squarely on him, but support came in the form of a witch.

“Cira, I think your servant is right. Everybody needs to calm down.”

While some of that statement confused the overseer, he had a troubled glare he already committed to. Pappy didn’t want to offend the witch, so he looked at the ground. Cira held her gaze thoughtfully and considered her words.

In truth, she had stolen the boat in the first place. To her eyes though, it was a justified acquisition, especially if it was going to Earth Vein for no reason. They had the smugger, who didn’t even steal anything. The whole matter was sorted as far as Cira was concerned.

“So, what’s the problem then?” she asked, “What are they going to do with the boat?”

Pappy scoffed, “Impound it ‘n destroy it, I reckon, but I don’t want Earth Vein up in my ass just ‘cause you want a free boat! It ain’t even that big!”

Cira sighed, “Well if this cure works, Earth Vein is going to be up, in, and around your ass for the foreseeable future since I won’t be sticking around. Unless you think they’ll ignore the cure and let everyone die…?” She looked at him, sincerely beckoning for an answer.

“Huh?! Yer sayin’ there’s actually a cure?!” Cira buried her face in her hands and Nanri stepped in to explain the last day and a half worth of their endeavors. The wrinkled overseer sat back in his chair dumfounded, “Deritium again. I… I don’t believe it. And yer sayin’ you can cure that?”

“Aaaaaand,” Cira cut in, “That’s why among many other things, Uren needs worms. Can I get an update on that order?”

“Quit yer cryin’, I told ‘em to bring the worms. Whoever this hidden witch is, I doubt they wanna defy her.” He waved her off, “Whaddya need for the cure? Worms?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“No, that’s just for the starving patients, though you should figure out some worm farms for the surface. Come to think of it… is the smuggler around or did they take him already?”

“No, he’ll be here ‘til the auditor comes around. Just upstairs…” He looked at her suspiciously, “Why?”

“Now that I’ve discovered the plague’s source, I have some questions for a morally questionable degenerate such as himself.”

“Bah, whatever. Lomp, you know where he is, go show ‘er. Glasses, follow ‘em and figure out what’s goin’ on.” He waved his hand to scoot everybody out.

Cira welcomed the gesture, and let Lomp lead the way, which took them back to the elevator. It brought them up one last level. This is where various things would get prepared for Earth Vein to ship up the Noose. Including but not limited to prisoners and salt, evidently.

They passed through storerooms with piles of salt or frustratingly untouched food stockpiles. There were a lot of Earth Vein staff moving boxes around or picking up scoops of salt with strange, specialized boats Cira had never seen before. Nanri nervously watched her inspect them, “You gave up on the boat easier than I thought.”

Lomp was silently waving his hands around trying to keep her from reminding the sorcerer, “What, did you think I forgot? And I haven’t given it up at all.” Cira found arguing with the old man to be pointless. She decided she was going to leave with the boat, so that was all she had to worry about, “I’ve already located it.”

This wasn’t a lie—Cira started casting Spatial Sense as soon as they entered the building. Nanri was surprised though, “You have? Where is it?”

“Not far. It’s near the man we’ve come to speak with. On that note, Lomp, what happened to the boy? Did he ever make it out?”

“I heard he shipped out this morning.” Lomp replied, “Guess Rudo made sure to expedite it.”

“Well, that was nice of him.”

They arrived at a room and Glasses unlocked the door, letting them in. It was a dim chamber lit only by a window on the side and there was a row of cages with multiple prisoners in them. It took her a moment to zero in on the one she captured but when they locked eyes he gulped, shrinking back in his cell.

Cira looked down at the ragged man wearing a dusty jumpsuit. They’d apparently taken his clothes and thrown him in something nondescript. As she got closer, he backed up into a corner, taking nervous glances her way.

“Smuggler.” He winced when she addressed him and replied meekly.

“Y-yes, madam witch?”

“Sorcerer.” She got close and knelt down to eye level, “I’ve got some questions for you.”

He looked at her with fear, “What…. What is it?”

After looking at the small collection of unsavory individuals Pappy had accumulated, she realized they didn’t look far off from the smuggler before her, “These guys remind me of you. Where do they like to hang out?”

“Wh-what?! How should I know?!”

“Think harder. I’m looking for the smugglers’ den. There must be one somewhere down there.”

The man’s face was troubled, and he looked around anxiously. Cira noticed a lot of the other prisoners seemed to be listening in. “Who cares about those guys? They can’t do anything to you from behind those bars.”

“But they can up there!” He pointed above him, “We’re all goin’ to the same place, Witch!”

“Hmm…” Cira looked up to ponder, “I suppose that is a predicament. But a lot of people could die if you don’t help me.”

He looked up from behind his knees, “And what’s in it for me then? You gonna let me out of here?”

Looking over her companions for a moment, she considered what to do about him. She couldn’t just let him free, of course. Nanri looked equally stumped, and Lomp shook his head while staring at her with a disapproving face. I wasn’t going to let him out just like that!

Glasses hid behind his superior, and the other two looked out of place. Chip and Rosalie seemed uncomfortable, like they didn’t really want to be there, and Cira couldn’t blame them. It’s not like she invited them, she just said she needed to get her boat real quick. They could have waited.

“We both know I can’t just let you out. You’ll just wrangle up more children to commit crimes for you.” He crumpled under the weight of her judgmental gaze, “I’ll just go ask the others. I’m sure one of them will be more open to helping out.”

She started walking away towards a cage that housed a large man who sat there innocently smiling at her, eager to answer any questions. He probably thought she’d put a good word in on his sentence, but she hadn’t thought that far, nor was she associated with those that meant to imprison him. Not really, at least.

“Wait!” The smuggler called out behind her, now reaching through the bars, “Don’t be so hasty! Can’t we talk about this?!”

Cira paid him no mind and kept walking, but he didn’t stop, “I’m a changed man! I’ll never do wrong again, you gotta believe me! I’ll do anything you ask, just please give me a chance!”

And with his truly desperate cries, Cira found herself stopped. She didn’t know what fate was waiting for him, but she did think death would be a tad overkill. It seemed his crime was quite serious, and it had nothing to do with what Cira was upset about at him about—the kid. As far as she was concerned, Earth Vein wasn’t punishing him for anything that mattered much, so whatever she came up with would ostensibly be a better punishment anyway.

She turned around to face him again, “You think I’ll believe you that easily? You’ve changed that greatly in just two days? Are you truly willing to do anything?”

“I swear it!” His face contacted the floor as he pleaded, “I… I knew it was wrong, okay?! I just wanted the money, but I know it was wrong! Whatever you want, I’ll do it! Please, just let me out, I’ll prove myself!”

Cira sighed deeply, and Lomp figured it was his duty to say something, “Cira, you can’t just—”

“This is actually perfect.” He had more skills than the average resident of Fount Salt in that he could cast magic.

The smuggler’s eyes were filled with hope, but Lomp put his foot down, “You can’t just let him out! Even for you, that’s going too far!”

Another guard that seemed to be posted there had been awkwardly avoiding the witches and chose this moment to say his piece, “Um, I’m going to have to agree with Mr. Lomp. This man is already registered as Earth Vein’s prisoner.”

Hope left the poor man’s eyes, but Cira hit Lomp with an instant K.O. “How many more magic users do you have on hand? How fast can you gather them? Trust me, you’ll appreciate this man’s help in the coming days.”

“With what?!” He was at his wit’s end, “If you’re going to throw responsibilities at me, at least tell me what they are!”

“Tch.” Cira turned away, “That’s rich coming from you. I already said, the details are coming soon. I don’t want to have to explain it twice.”

The sorcerer cleared her throat and addressed the room, “Do any of you prisoners possess the ability to wield magic or above average combat skills?”

Everybody in the room began shouting, rattling at the bars. They reached out of their cells trying to convince her they were the strongest.

“Cira!” Lomp cried, “You can’t do this!”