Duncan looked at the food that was placed in front of him. The smell of roasted poultry with a hint of something extra, he could not quite place was overwhelming him, making him salivate. His drooling was interrupted by Marykah tugging at his shirt to get his attention.

“I don’t have enough money with me,” she whispered to Duncan.

“You don’t keep all your money in your inventory?” Duncan asked with surprise in his voice.

“I spend most of it as soon as I get paid, to cover the costs of living,” she admitted.

“Either you spend a lot of your income is really low,” Duncan responded and then regretted it when he saw the look Marykah gave him.

“My income may be low, however how I spend my money is none of your business,” she replied, turning her face away from him.

“How is your sister?” Elland asked her just as she turned away from Duncan towards him.

“Better. The potion you delivered to me last week worked a lot better than the ones before,” Marykah said and smiled at Elland.

“Sister?” Duncan asked.

Marykah didn’t respond, still sulking so Elland helped out.

“Her sister’s family got attacked by a Shade a long while back. Before you got me the final ingredient I could only make potions that kept her alive but not cure her,” Elland replied.

“You got the final ingredient?” Marykah asked with surprise as she looked at Duncan once more.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Was it the Purified Shade Essence?” Duncan asked.

“Yeah. Her sister was not as lucky as Bolgar was and the Shade got enough time with her to do some real damage. The medicine I used on Bolgar worked on her just as a stopgap to keep her alive,” Elland explained.

“How did you get it?” Marykah asked with excitement in her voice.

Duncan was surprised at her changed demeanor so Wazsh jumped into their conversation.

“Let’s just say Duncan here has an uncanny ability to purify things. He purified my cellar of rats, purified Shades in the mine, and purified this town of Rathan. He also purified my cellar of all the coins that got stuck there so I am sure he can afford to buy your dinner. Am I wrong Duncan?” he said and winked in Duncan’s direction.

“Yes. You are right… I mean I am happy to pay for both of us,” Duncan replied.

“No. I really should not make myself more in debt to you as I already am,” Marykah said.

Duncan looked at her for a while and thought how stubborn she could be. before he got an idea “No worries. You can pay me back with the clothes you make for me. Charge me the same for work as your meal will cost. I did a lot less work for the money I have as you did. The money I have I just literally dug out from the ground.”

She thought about it for a few seconds and then finally agreed.

The smell of the food was well complemented by the taste and a slight smile appeared on Marykah’s face as she ate. She was holding her ripped-up dress up with one hand and using a fork with the other so it was awkward for her.

“How long would you need to repair your dress?” Duncan asked.

“A couple of minutes, why?” Marykah asked.

“I am sure Wazsh will let you use his kitchen to do that. You can put your plate in the inventory so it doesn’t get cold,” Duncan suggested.

Wazsh nodded at that and showed her the way and she quickly rushed toward the door after thanking him.

“That was rather impressive of you. I thought for sure you were waiting for her to slip and drop it,” Wazsh said as he came back.

Duncan glared at him.

“You don’t miss any opportunity to make me angry, do you Wazsh?” he said after a while and sighed.

“Well, you are an easy target to annoy and easy to calm too. You are perfect,” Wazsh said with a laugh.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“That just means he likes you,” Bolgar said and waved his hand before downing his mug of beer.

Duncan rubbed his forehead before he said, “So, what’s the plan?”

Elland replied, “We can go to my place and pick up the cleaning agent for the blood. Go clean up the scene and then dissolve the body at my place.”

“And after that?” Duncan asked.

“I think you should talk to Fenris,” Wazsh said after a while.

“Fenris?” Duncan asked.

“He is the Captain of the village guard. I am sure he will be under a lot of pressure once the Mayor finds out Rathan is missing. You better get on top of it and tell him before he finds it out by himself. I am sure with your history he would not mind making the incident become an unsolvable one,” Wazsh explained.

“Won’t Fenris object to me using him like that?” Duncan asked.

All three of them laughed at that question.

“If anything he will be grateful. Rathan would have been killed a long time ago if he would not enjoy the protection of the Mayor. He was a nasty piece of work abusing his authority in the shadows,” Bolgar explained.

Duncan shook his head.

“I can’t believe you are all so lax at me killing a man,” he muttered.

“I assure you that if you killed or tried raping Marykah, we would not be,” Elland replied.

“I would never!” Duncan exclaimed.

“We know. That is why we are so relaxed about it. If you really think about it, Rarhan was just a Shade in human form. A monster in need of purifying. Sadly there probably won’t be any use for his remains,” Wazsh said with a smile on his face.

“Well, actually I could–” Elland started talking before he noticed the others staring at him and he promptly shut up.

“Don’t go there. Let’s just dissolve him and flush him down where he belongs. In the sewers,” Wazsh finally said.

“Did you get anything useful from his body?” Bolgar asked.

“Yeah, he spilled out his inventory like a fountain. I didn’t have time to check them yet and most of them are bloody, so it will have to wait,” Duncan replied.

As he finished Marykah came back from the kitchen and joined them at the table again. Her shoulders were covered again with fabric and looked in pristine condition.

“Good job,” Duncan said as she quietly sat down on her previous seat.

“Thank you!” she replied and brought out her plate.

She ate a bit of the meat before she said, ”This is delicious. What is it?”

Wazsh smiled at her compliment before replying, “It’s a Red-beak Eagle. You can thank Duncan for it.”

“Oh. Where did you get it?” she asked looking at Duncan.

“He got it from Shayla the guard,” Bolgar replied while belching, earning himself a double dose of stares for his manners and that tidbit of information.

“Yeah. As Bolgar said, I bought it from Shayla and sold it to Wazsh,” Duncan quickly corrected the information.

“It’s a bit gamey, but I like it,” she said with a smile.

“Yes. It’s quite the upgrade from the rat meat,” Wazsh said.

Marykah nodded and asked right after, “So, What do we do after dinner?”

“We go to Elland’s to get the cleaning agent,” Duncan replied.

“Actually, I have it with me. We can go to your place directly and clean up the mess. Then we can return to my place and dispose of the body,” Elland corrected.

“I guess that works, too,” Duncan replied, nodding his head in confirmation.

“Don’t forget Fenris,” Wazsh reminded.

“Or your loot,” Bolgar added.

“Alright. Eat up and we go,” Duncan said as he was pondering on the subject, of how his killing of a person could turn into a celebration and a formation of a conspiracy club.

Dinner was finally over as Marykah finished her meal and drank a beer.

“We should go now,” Eland said and stood up.

“Good night Wazsh. The food was excellent. I hope I can visit again sometimes,” she said as they were standing up from the table to leave.

“Good night! You can come by anytime you want. With or without Duncan,” Wazsh replied, earning himself a dissatisfied look from Duncan, at which he laughed.

“Do you need me to come with you?” Bolgar asked.

“No. You will just slow us down,” Elland hastily replied.

“As you wish. Then it’s good night from me too,” Bolgar said and walked out waving his hand.

“You could have been more tactful, Elland,” Duncan said and glared at him.

“What do you mean?” Elland asked with visible surprise on his face.

“It’s not his fault he is… vertically challenged,” Duncan replied.

“You mean short? I have never heard someone phrase it like that. He is not short at least not for a dwarf. He is drunk and therefore slow and clumsy even for a dwarf,” Elland explained.

“Bolgar is drunk?” Duncan asked.

“He drank a few before you two came and continued as fast as Wazsh would pour them later. I would say he is almost at his limit,” Elland elaborated further.

“When would you say he reached his limit?” Duncan asked with curiosity.

Elland thought about it and replied, “Usually when he turns from vertical to horizontal bouncing on his big nose. It has been a while, though.”

“Alright. Let’s go,” Duncan said as he stroked his forehead.

The trio steadily moved into the sunset towards Marykah’s workshop with a fast tempo. Soon they entered and stood in front of the crime scene. Marykah turned on some kind of magical lights. Elland quickly took out a flask and attached mini bellows on top of it.

“Please step away and don’t inhale. If you do tell me and I will give you an antidote,” Elland said before he started working.

He walked around holding the flask on the two handles of the bellows and pumped.

Duncan looked amazed as the flask turned into a spray can. The content of the flask holding the cleaning agent spread evenly all over the workshop where Rathan found his last victim.

“We can go now. There won’t be a drop of blood found anywhere where the agent reached in the morning,” Elland replied.

“Marykah, do you want to go to sleep or do you want to come with us?” Duncan asked.

“I would like to come with you two if you don’t mind,” she said after a quick thought.

“Not at all. We can talk about what’s next for your sister now that she only needs a good diet to recover her energy,” Elland quickly replied.

“You mean better food?” Duncan asked.

“It would certainly help. Duncan, you could help a lot in solving that need, with your contacts within the guard,” Elland said as they started walking out of Marykah’s workshop.

“Can’t you help with your potions?” Marykah asked Elland.

“Food is much better for that. It saddens me to admit that long-term and frequent usage of potions has its downsides,” Elland replied.

“Like what?” Duncan asked in a worried voice.

“Almost no potion is perfectly balanced. The higher the grade, the more pronounced the beneficial effects are. Also, less time is needed for the body to get rid of the unwelcome ones,” Elland replied as they reached his shop.

He quickly unlocked his door and turned around with a smile, “Now let’s flush down some garbage.”

Duncan was looking at the creepy face that Elland just made, combined with an out-of-character statement, and was even considering returning to Wazsh’s place as Marykah bravely walked forward.

Now his only choice was to follow. So he did.