Liam looked back and forth between Foss and Lyria. “Did you say… virility?”

Lyria averted her gaze, but Foss nodded in acknowledgement.

“Indeed. And if you are in need of someone to help you test the effects of the potion, that could be arranged as well.”

Liam tensed up. “You’re trying to peddle me some type of V-potion!?”

“W–We mean you no offense, I assure you. If such a potion would not be of use to you, perhaps someone else could make use of it. We don’t expect anything in return for the potion.”

“Hey, Liam,” Sylara called from her spot by the computer. “Are you impotent?”

“No!”

“He doesn’t need the potion.” She focused on her game again.

“I see… Well, I’m delighted to learn that you are not even in need of such alchemical aids,” concluded Foss.

“Just to check,” said Liam, “what effect does this type of potion have on women?”

“Women?” Foss gazed at the ceiling for a moment in thought. “Personally, I have no experience with such matters, but I believe women would not need this potion. Perhaps it would improve their mood, if you catch my meaning?”

“Take it back with you,” Liam said coldly. “I don’t need any guests drinking it or slipping it into my food or whatever.”

“Very well.” Foss took back the potion. “As thanks for all that great information you shared with us about disease, allow me to tell you a bit about the circumstances in our world.”

Liam perked up. “Oh, I’m actually interested in that.”

“I believe you already know that we are opposed by enemies led by demons. As you can see here, and based on having met Thane Stoveson, elves and dwarfs are our staunch allies. Records of the conflict go back thousands of years.”

“And there’s no diplomacy whatsoever, right?” Hopefully, sharing things he learned from Lilith wouldn’t cause a problem.

“Correct. We have no common tongue or way to communicate. If you ever encounter the forces of darkness, your only choices are to run or fight and win.”

Liam knew that wasn’t quite true. Lilith was a demon, after all. He didn’t think now was the time to bring that up. He’d discuss it with Sylara later.

“In our world on the other side of the invisible door, we are supported by our patron gods. The god of humans is closely aligned with the god of elves and god of dwarves.”

Liam groaned. “Gods, huh?”

“Yes. I’m not sure if the magus Elizabeth explained it to you not, but it is the blessing of the gods that allows us to summon a hero.”

“That is not fully understood,” Lyria interjected. “The link between the magical summoning ritual and the gods is not confirmed. All we know is that ancient texts credit the gods with supporting our hero summoning ritual.”

“Ah, thank you for that clarification,” said Foss. “Do you have any questions so far, Liam?”

“Do the demons and their allies also have patron gods who support them?”

“They do.”

Liam slammed his forehead into the table, startling Foss and Lyria. “Great…”

“Is that a problem?” asked Foss.

“Honestly, in this world we have enough problems with proxy wars without any gods getting directly involved. The situation on your end seems like ten times worse.”

“I… I see.”

“Do your gods communicate with you or provide any other tangible aid?”

“Yes. We have soothsayers who receive divine revelations. Beyond that, only the hero summoning ritual, which Lyria already pointed out is not necessarily linked directly to the gods.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Liam was curious. “Did the soothsayers say anything about me or about this round’s hero summoning ritual?”

“Not yet,” Foss admitted. “Or at least, not that I’m aware of. The revelations are unpredictable to say the least.”

“So in the short term, you’re looking for any other help I can offer to assist you in beating back the advancing forces of darkness?”

“Yes, we are in desperate need of your assistance. His Majesty personally asked me to emphasize with you that time is short.”

“All right. Please bring me the gold we discussed as soon as you can so I can look into exchanging it. Then give me a day to think about how I can help and also get my personal affairs, uh, in order.”

“Liam.”

He turned to look at Lyria.

“You delayed this meeting because you were completing your examinations, correct?”

“Yes. They’re done now.”

“Please pardon me for being blunt, but if you were aware that the lives of all our people on the other side of the invisible door are at stake, then why did you prioritize completing examinations over addressing our conflict?”

Liam laughed. “You say that while your rogue eats my food and plays my games because she likes them more than battling on your side of the invisible door.”

“I am… very sorry about that,” said Lyria. “I will obtain a notice of apology directly from the elf king for this.”

“So you elves really don’t know how to control your unruly teenagers?”

Liam could hear the clicking cease over where Sylara was sitting. He looked in her direction and saw her resume playing the game a couple of seconds later.

“As to my question…”

“I actually have a good answer,” Liam assured Lyria. “Right now, it’s important for me to keep the unusual circumstances of my toilet a secret. If I didn’t complete those exams properly it would have drawn a lot of unwanted attention.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you for clarifying that, Liam.”

Liam turned to Minister Foss. “Please provide the pieces of gold as quick as you can and follow up a day later.”

“We’ll take care of it right away. Lyria and I will return now, but…” Foss glanced at Sylara. “What are your intentions regarding her?”

“Eh, I promised to get her a certain dog which will take a few days. She can stay for a little while, but I’ll need that gold to help pay for her.”

Lyria called out to Sylara. “Sylara, don’t do anything else that would bring shame to our people.”

“Actually, that reminds me.” Sylara paused the game and turned to Liam. “You called it a bathroom, but there’s no bath. How do you bathe here?”

“Instead of bathing, I shower, which gets you clean.”

“Oh, show me next time you’re doing it.”

Lyria jumped to her feet. “Sylara! That is incredibly inappropriate!”

“Oh relax, Lyria. I just mean he should show me how it works, not that he should invite me to join in while he’s naked and cleaning himself.”

“That’s better, but…” Lyria continued to glare at Sylara. “Must you speak in such an uncouth manner?”

“It’s no big deal.” Sylara resumed playing the game.

“I suppose we should leave. Thank you for your time, Liam.” Minister Foss and Lyria followed Liam back to the bathroom, where they each passed through the invisible door.

----------------------------------------

After Foss and Lyria departed, Lilith emerged from the closet and returned to her game. “Oh, Liam, show me that shower of yours later, too.”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Whether you’re using the shower or not while you show me how to operate it is of no consequence.”

“I won’t be using it!”

Sylara provided Lilith a few tips about how to proceed through the game’s levels Lilith missed because she had been hiding in the closet.

A few minutes later, he could hear a jingle from the bathroom.

“Nobody came through,” Sylara called out lazily.

Liam investigated and found several chunks of gold sitting on the floor next to the toilet. They must have gathered them in a hurry and slipped them through the invisible door before immediately returning. He decided his first task was to hide the gold in several places around the house.

Liam carried them to the kitchen and placed them in sealed plastic bags in pairs. He hid one bag in the cupboard above the refrigerator, one in the back of a drawer with videogames, one in the shoebox under the bed in the guest bedroom, one in the box with his old clothing steamer that he kept under the sink in the guest bathroom, and carried the final bag to the master bathroom.

Liam decided to hide the final bag in the water tank of the toilet. Even if the other bags got stolen, it was unlikely anyone would find this one. He lifted the porcelain cover off the toilet’s water tank. He held the heavy cover aloft while trying to decide where to put it down temporarily.

Right at that moment, a head emerged from the toilet. Liam was positioned behind the toilet, so the head was facing away from him. Still, he could tell at a glance that the head was not human. Elves and dwarves weren’t human either, so non-human arrivals weren’t necessarily enemies. However, the green hue of the man’s skin strongly suggested that this guy was an ally of the demons.

Liam froze, momentarily unsure of what to do. He silently monitored the green man, moving his eyes only. He continued to hold the heavy toilet tank up in the air, although his arms were starting to get tired. As he watched the man nimbly climb out of the toilet, he got the sense that the man was a rogue or an assassin similar to Sylara and Lilith. In fact, he had a bladed weapon in his right hand, at the ready. Likely, only a highly trained agent of the forces of darkness could make it through the invisible door like Lilith had. By some miracle, the man hadn’t noticed Liam standing right behind him yet.

It was possible the man would react just as Lilith had when they first met, or instead he might simply slay Liam on sight. Liam made a decision not to find out. He lifted the toilet tank cover a bit higher, then thrust it down with all his strength into the man’s head.

The man didn’t see it coming. He collapsed to the floor. He struggled for a moment, mumbling, “You have no presence…” before collapsing fully.