“Played?” Lillia asked, anger and confusion mixing in her tone. “What are you talking about? Are you saying that everything that you did to my people was just a game to you?” “What? No. It wasn’t a game. We were the game. The pieces, at least,” Arwin said, speaking faster as pieces started to slot together. He wasn’t sure if they were the right ones, but they began to form a picture he couldn’t remove. “Forget me for a moment. Did your guild – or whoever it was that aided with your army and management – did they ever do anything… off?” Lillia blinked; the vexation taken from her features as she was forced to think for a moment. “Off? What are you talking about?” There was a sinking understanding in her words that told Arwin he was on the right track. He just wasn’t sure if that was something to be happy about or not. “Actions that didn’t line up with what they claimed. The guild told me they wanted me to be the strongest adventurer so I could fight off the monster horde, and yet they didn’t tell me how important getting Achievements early on was,” Arwin said. “Anything like that?” Lillia swallowed, her eyes drifting as she sifted through memories. Her features went flat. “Yes. They did the same thing. I was Count Tier before I realized that the true power in classes came from Achievements rather than pure Tiers.” “What about your army? Did they let you vet it?” “No. They always said I had–” “Other things that were far more important, such as training to defeat the Hero of Lian?” “I don’t think it’s particularly relevant.” “Let me decide that. Don’t deny me this,” Lillia begged. “I need to know. I can’t let things as they are, and every single piece of the puzzle could be vital.” It was hard to argue with that. “Fine. I’m telling you that it isn’t going to be useful, though. If anything, I think it’s just going to confuse you even more. I’m not from this world. I’m from a planet called Earth, and I got magically kidnapped and brought here as a child, specifically to fight you.” Lillia stared at Arwin. “Is that meant to be a joke?” “I told you,” Arwin said with a sigh. He took his hand off Lillia’s shoulder and made to rise, but she caught him by his wrist before he could stand. “I’m sorry. Sit back down. Please.” Arwin glanced back at her, then slowly lowered himself back to the hay. “There are other worlds?” Lillia asked. “I don’t know what in the Nine Underlands to believe anymore, so I might as well start with you,” Lillia said dryly. Her eyes narrowed and she poked him in the chest. “But if you’re screwing with me, I swear I’ll make you pay.” “I’m not. There’s not much to say, unfortunately. There’s at least one other world. Maybe it’s a different universe. I don’t know. There wasn’t magic, and I really don’t remember much of it. I was taken away when I was a child. I assume you’re native to this planet?” “As far as I’m aware, yes.” Lillia scrunched her nose. “Well, shit. You were right. All that did was give me more questions and absolutely nothing useful in terms of what I actually wanted to find out. How long have you suspected that something was awry with the war?” “I thought I’d just been betrayed, not that the entire thing was a sham,” Arwin said with a disbelieving shake of his head. “I only figured it out just now, together with you.” “So why did you come here to talk with me?” Lillia asked. “You must have thought I was a bloodthirsty monster.” “I assumed you’d finally changed your ways, and I was hoping I could ask you about the mating habits of monsters.” Lillia stared at Arwin, her cheeks tinging slightly red. “Why in the world do you want to know about that?” Arwin opened his mouth, but he’d butchered his wording so badly that he couldn’t muster up an answer before a snicker slipped out of his lips. Lillia couldn’t keep herself from matching it and they both doubled over in fits of poorly-suppressed, hysterical laughter. It took Arwin nearly five minutes to fully gather himself. Every time he started to stop laughing, he caught Lillia’s eye and started to laugh again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed this hard. It wasn’t like anything had been that funny, but he suspected his body had reached a breaking point and smashed right through it. There was only so much it could handle before emotions started to mix together and break down. “Seriously, why do you want to know that, though? I assume you meant something by it,” Lillia said, her voice wavering as she tried to compose herself. Arwin wiped away tears of mirth, forcing himself back under control. “It’s about the Wyrm in the forest. From what I know, Wyrms are ground dwellers that rarely emerge from their tunnel systems, but this one came out and tried to kill us. It was much more aggressive than I think it should have been. The rest of the forest seemed to be in mating season, and I was wondering…” “If Wyrms get worked up enough to chase people away when they’re in the mood?” Lillia asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s possible, but I can’t say I’m an expert on it. That’s like me asking you how horny old humans usually get.” “Very, but I get the point,” Arwin said. He heaved a sigh. “Damn.” “To be honest, I still can’t believe you managed to survive a Wyrm at your Tier. That should have been impossible. How’d you do it? Did you lie about your class getting changed?” “No. I’m a smith. I just have some ways to defend myself. And I wasn’t alone. If I was, I’d have died.” “Well, damn.” Lillia studied the palms of her hands. “They had to be quite some people if they helped you fend off a Wyrm. High Tier?” “Nope. Apprentice, just like me.” “And you fought off a Wyrm?” “I cracked its knee enough to mildly inconvenience it,” Arwin corrected. “That’s impressive. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to look on them fondly, but it reminds me a bit of when I still had a party,” Lillia said, a small smile crossing her face as she reminisced. I guess she’s just been sitting in this inn all day, waiting for people to show up. Sure, she’s gotten a few customers, but I’d already be insane if I were in her shoes. This sounds miserable for someone who was even more excited to be around others than I was. “You know, that really does sound like mating behavior. And if the Wyrm was mating, we might have a problem,” Lillia said. Arwin tilted his head to the side, pulled from his thoughts. “What? Why?” “Well, Wyrmlings are pretty damn destructive,” Lillia said. “And they usually have huge litters. There could be dozens of them, and they’re going to seek out the nearest food source. I don’t know about you, but I don’t fancy a miniature horde of Wyrms at my door.” “Oh, shit,” Arwin muttered. “I did not know that bit. I thought you said you didn’t know much about them.” “Everyone knows that you don’t want to be near a Wyrm when it mates.” “Evidently,” Lillia said with a snort. “That’s going to be bad. What do you think the chances are that the Adventurer's Guild does something about it?” “I don’t know if I trust the Guild,” Arwin said slowly. “I don’t know if I want any attention on this city at all. Not until we’ve learned more about what we’re up against.” “Didn’t we just agree on that?” Arwin asked. “We were both used for something, and I’m damn well going to find out what. I’ll do it with or without you, but I imagine it’s going to be really hard to figure anything out on my own. Only by putting together what we know are we going to be able to figure out where the cracks in this shit was.” Lillia’s jaw set and she nodded. “You’re right. I’m in.” “Welcome to the guild,” Arwin said, rising to his feet and holding his hand out to Lillia. “Slow down there.” She raised an eyebrow. “The guild? I didn’t say anything about that. An inn is one thing, but a whole guild? And one I’m not the leader of? Are you really inviting the Demon Queen to a human guild?” “No. I’m inviting an innkeeper,” Arwin replied. “And it’s my damn guild. I invite who I please.” Lillia snorted. “A change of topic, then. I’ve got a question.” She averted her gaze as Arwin looked to her. “Do you hate my cooking?” “What? No. It’s fantastic.”