"I was wondering when you were going to show up." Sir Solomon commented when Isaac and Lenna strode into his office. He was still missing an arm and had his aid, who still had both arms, filing paperwork out for him.

"Stuff happened." Isaac replied noncommittally. "I take it everything is wrapped up here? Lady Jikan said that she was going to handle the green dragon problem."

Sir Solomon nodded slowly. "Indeed. Lady Time handled the dragon single handedly. Everything is as wrapped up as it can be. I am just waiting for the replacement for myself, the Court Mage, and City Lord. The new Guard Captain will be chosen by the new Magistrate, but I will be leaving him with two recommendations." Sir Solomon explained. "I also have this for you." He added and pulled a letter out of a small stack. "It arrived at dusk."

Isaac took the offered letter as Lenna gave the Magistrate and his assistant each a nod in turn. Isaac gave the abridged version of the letter to Lenna: "Arthur says that he is taking care of it… whatever that means. Also, our bill will be deposited in our bank account in Safeharbor."

"Good." Lenna replied. "Now, I would like a pound of flesh from those two, whenever they are found."

"Speaking of, here." Sir Solomon cut in and handed the duo a pair of pieces of paper. On them were quick sketches of two people, a man and a woman. On the backs were somewhat detailed descriptions.

Morgan Ephey Age: 24 Race: Half Elf

Class: ?Mage? Level: ?14?

Height: 5' 3" Weight: ?130?

Eyes: Green Hair: Black Skin: Pale

And:

Arnold Drake Age: 28 Race: Half Elf

Class: Warrior Level: 15

Height: 5' 11" Weight: ?180?

Eyes: Brown Hair: Blonde Skin: Tan

"I am not a fan of how little information we have on her." Isaac commented. The drawings of the pair were decent enough that if Isaac or Lenna saw one of the two, they would be able to check the real faces against the drawings. The issue was that no one was really sure how powerful they actually were.

"I apologize but that is all that we have for the moment." Sir Solomon told the duo. "Now, I do have one more request."

"Go on." Isaac told him and waved him on.

"It would be very helpful if you stayed until the new Magistrate arrived. I would greatly appreciate it." He requested of the pair.

"How long?" Lenna asked. They weren't planning on staying very mu-

"Nine days." Sir Solomon replied.

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"No." Isaac said simply. "We will be out of here by midnight tomorrow night." Isaac explained. There was a certain finality in his tone that made Sir Solomon not even bother pressing.

"I see." The old Magistrate said with a sigh. "Well, thank you both for everything. I am not sure if it was your intention but you yanked most of the corruption out of hiding and into the street."

"It wasn't." Isaac replied. "But while I remember, there is something that was bothering me." Sir Solomon raised an eyebrow in question. "Why did no one catch the teleportation circle activations in the CSC's basement? They literally moved illegal merchandise in and out of there through those teleportation circles."

"They had a permit." Sir Solomon stated simply.

"What?" Isaac said in shock. He didn't even realize that it was possible to ha-

"Marquess Thronsen approved a local law that permitted registered businesses to own and use their own teleportation circles as long as they paid a three hundred gold tax whenever they used it." Sir Solomon explained.

'Well that explains that.' Isaac grumbled internally. "I see." He said aloud. "Are any of the magic shops open?"

Sir Solomon shook his head. "No. We do have some magic items that criminals have been caught with in the past. The last day of every year, we hold a public auction for all of the legal ones. Any illegal items are destroyed as soon as they are no longer needed for evidence. You can have as many as you want. I will write it off as 'payment for services rendered by an adventurer'." He offered the duo.

"That won't get you in trouble?" Lenna wondered. It really seemed like it was very easily abusable.

Sir Solomon shook his head. "No. High leveled adventurers often want to be paid in items instead of money anyway. It is not an uncommon practice." He explained.

"Then please, lead the way." Isaac said with a grin.

–

An hour later, it would have been half that long if Lenna hadn't stopped Isaac from just taking all of it, the pair bid Sir Solomon goodbye and headed off to their next target location. They had made sure to inform Sir Solomon about Arnold Drake's slave and he had promised to send some guards over to check on her and to let her know that not only was she free but since the house actually belonged to the city, she could stay there for as long as she wanted.

Isaac and Lenna left with an almost brand new Bottomless Backpack, a few vials of powder that would return items to the way that they had been thirty hours before, a map of the entire country, and a few rocks that would constantly generate a warm heat.

Their next stop was the Court Mage's tower where they expected Jala to be. However, when they got there, they were not met with Jala but rather an entirely empty tower save for a lone Alexander. The young wizard in question was lazily reading through the Court Mage's research notes. He looked dead inside. He was obviously tired but couldn't sleep for one reason or another.

"Alexander, are you alright?" Lenna asked the Court Mage that had helped them so much.

Alexander jerked and sat up straight. "I, uh, yes, probably." He replied and turned to regard Isaac and Lenna. "Should you both be up and about?"

"We were cleared for light activity." Isaac told him. "But you, I feel like you should be asleep. Do you know where Jala went?"

Alexander's eyes widened in horror and surprise in equal measure. "Did she not go home?" He asked with obvious panic that was heavily suppressed by exhaustion.

Isaac shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't been in contact with her since she left the warehouse." He explained.

Alexander immediately closed his eyes and focused. A moment later his eyes opened again. "She's not-" He cut himself off as he got some kind of message from either her or his tower. "Never mind. She is there… I do not believe that she was there a moment ago."

Isaac sighed. "Alexander, we all were decently certain that she couldn't easily escape. We have all been informed that she simply wasn't going to leave, for good anyway. I think the best that we can hope for is that she hasn't been causing any trouble." He consoled the wizard with a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it's fine. Thank you for letting us know that she went home. You should go home and get some rest too. Who knows when the next time we will need a Court Mage of the second highest order."

"Third." Alexander corrected him. "There are two orders above me. But yes, I would like to. Unfortunately I must wait until someone from the Royal Mage Corps arrives to secure the tower."

"When will that be?" Isaac wondered.

"Sometime within the next week." Alexander replied dryly. He took a breath and seemed to gain some of his life back. "I take it you are both resuming your journey."

"We are." Lenna told him. "Have you learned anything new about the magic item maker?"

Alexander shook his head. "No. Once someone arrives to relieve me, I will be heading over to the CSC island that Lady Time assaulted to help go through all of the documentation there. I would be there right now if the tower could be protected by anyone of lower rank or power." He added the last part with a grumble. "I wish you good speed, great fights, and amazing views on your journey."

Isaac nodded. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Lenna replied. "Set up some temporary wards and get some rest." She told him.

Alexander nodded. "I will. Thank you both."

—

The next place that the duo arrived at was the Adventurers' Guild. When they arrived, they were met with respectful nods and quietly raised glasses from the three dozen adventurers that filled the tavern section of the Guild Hall. Isaac gave them all a quick glance and a slight but perceptible nod. Lenna's gaze panned over all of them as if she was taking in all of their faces in turn. When she was done, she gave them nod and then turned to focus on what Isaac had focused on, the Bounty Board.

"A Land Shark sounds fun." Isaac commented.

"Cattle missing in the night? Sounds like a hungry predator." Lenna said as she looked at another bounty. Both of the bounties in question took them towards the capital. The pair needed to visit the capital and the royals therein before they went any further. If they didn't, it could very easily be perceived as an insult.

"Same creature?" Isaac wondered.

Lenna chuckled. "Wouldn't it be funny if it was a Tunnel Horror that got lost towards the surface?"

Isaac groaned. "We've killed like a dozen Tunnel Horrors already. Can't it be something normal?"

"Like what?" Lenna asked.

"Like a…" Isaac's voice trailed off as he thought about all of the legendary creatures that they had battled with over the previous year. There had been a lich, a dragon, a skeleton army, a mushroomancer, a mushroom assassin, a legendary paladin, a legendary spellsword, a dozen Tunnel Horrors, a master sorceress, three entire underground organizations, spies, guards, nobles, thieves, chimeras, wolves, snakes, and more spiders than they could count. What was left? "a… a griffon?"

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