I went in search of Gorver, the Guild master, but he was away. So, I wrote a note and gave it to the receptionist to give to him when he got back. I checked on Aldra and Fralley, who were doing fine, healing anyone who asked. The Adventurers Guild would be in good hands with them. While they couldn’t replace limbs, they could handle 90% of the healing needed. The Adventurers Guild could come get me for the other 10%.

  I gathered up my books and got ready to leave. I waited for Fabia and Rodof to finish up their conversations before waiving them over. I had accomplished what I wanted to, and it was time to go home. After all, I had a new spell book to read.

  We left walking at a brisk pace. Maybe too brisk. Fabia had to run for a few steps to stop from being left behind. My exuberant mood translated into a fast pace. After the third time Fabia had to run to keep up, I slowed down and we continued at the slower pace.

  As we turned the corner onto the Covern House street, I stopped suddenly. I don’t want to call it a danger sense, and definitely not spider sense, but I just knew something was wrong. As I activated Magic Sight, Fabia asked “Why did you stop?”

  “Something is wrong. I don’t know what, but something. Spread out,” I said. Fabia and Rodof both moved away from me. Even with my magic sight working, I was unable to see anything wrong. I started slowly moving towards Covern House again. As I got closer, the feeling of dread increased. Fabia and Rodof were on high alert and scanning for traps.

  “On the rooftops” Rodof yelled and pointed toward the nearest building. I looked up just in time to see someone shoot an arrow at me. I started to dodge, when my UI lit up with a message: Arem’s Defense has stopped a ranged attack.

  Arem’s Defense never leave home with it, I thought. I continued to move to the side, while casting Mana Dart at the shooter. Rodof also threw a dagger at the target. My Mana Dart hit, then the dagger. It was enough to throw off the assassin’s balance, and he fell off the roof. I scanned the other roofs for more assassins while Rodof and Fabia ran to confront the assassin. No other assassins appeared on the rooftops, and my feeling of dread disappeared. I ran to join Rodof and Fabia. By the time I got there, the assassin was already subdued. It turned out the assassin was a woman. “The Assassins Guild, an equal opportunity employer,” I sarcastically thought to myself.

  Rodof and Fabia tied up the assassin, then picked her up and carried her between themselves. We started moving toward Covern House. We hadn’t taken 6 steps, when two arrows sprouted of our assassin’s chest, killing her. Rodof dropped her immediately and pointed toward the narrow alley between two houses, then took off running. Fabia followed shortly. I grabbed the now dead assassin and put them in my storage ring. I wanted to search her for clues later. I ran to the edge of the alley, where Fabia and Rodof had stopped.

  Rodof whispered “I can see through their stealth. Get ready to cast a spell, which I break it.”

  I got Mana Dart ready and whispered back “ready”.

  Rodof took a dagger and threw it at the side of the alley. The assassin dodged and broke stealth. As soon as he was visible, I release the spell, cued up another one and cast it also. The first spell hit him full on in the back, causing him to stumble. The second hit him in the head. He fell down and we raced in and subdued him. He tried to put up a struggle, but the Mana Dart to the head made that impossible. Rodof laid into him like a wild animal. Hitting and punching, so he couldn’t get his shit together. Then Rodof started hitting him in the face, breaking his nose, blackening his eyes, and busting his lips. I had to drag Rodof off. Soon, Fabia and I had him tied up so tight, he was barely able to breathe, let alone move.

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  I grabbed him by his jaw (which was probably broke) and asked “Which chapter are you from? I know you are from the Assassins Guild, but which chapter?” I was hoping it was the Decharte City chapter and only they were after me. However, I was shocked at his reply.

  “I am not from any Assassin’s Guild. I am a Death Merchant. Your death has been paid for. We will not stop coming until you are dead.”

  “Death Merchant? What the fuck is a death merchant? Do you buy and sell death potions?”

  The Death Merchant seemed confused because I didn’t know who or what death merchants were. “The Death Merchants are priest for the god of Death. Our lives are for him to spend, and he has sent us to kill you. We will never stop until our god says so. No matter what you do, no matter where you run. We will find you and kill you. Settle your affairs for you are dead.”

  I looked down on him. “It seems that I am very much alive, so not dead.” At which point I stomped on his balls. Was that petty of me. Probably, but I was pretty pissed off. Assassins were bad enough, now I got Death Merchants after me.

  Fabia and Rodof lifted him up and dragged/carried him to Covern House. They weren’t gentle about it either. I am sure Rodof hit him when I wasn’t looking.

  When we got inside, I had Gabriel check to make sure everyone was safe and then send a note asking the Captain of the Guard to come to Covern House to take charge of a Death Merchant prisoner. Fabia and Rodof took him into the garden. Even though I knew I wasn’t going to get anything from him, I tried anyway. He just started spouting off about the Death Gods almighty reach and power. I got pissed off and kicked him in the balls again. He shut up after that but I have to admit, I felt better. I put a gag in his mouth to quiet the groans.

  Fabia and Rodof pretty much stripped him of any equipment, including his shoes and most of his clothes. He lay on the ground only in his small clothes (what I called underwear). His body didn’t have any marks or tattoos unless they were on his ass or groin, and I wasn’t going to check there. I sent them to retrieve the body of the other one. While they were doing that, I went through everything. I found a storage ring, which was bonded so I couldn’t get into it. Maybe Eldro could help with that later. I also found a non-magical medallion. It looked like a religious item, but nothing else was interesting.

  Fabia and Rodof brought the body into the garden. Together we went through everything it had. One storage ring and one medallion. Same as the other. Of course, the storage ring’s bond was broken, so I could bond it, if I wanted, but decided now was not the time.

  The Captain of the Guard showed up. A different one than from before. This was Captain Willop. He was a short man, 5’ 6” at most, but powerfully built. He looked like he could lift a car, even though cars aren’t a thing here. He spoke like a well-educated person and had me lead him through the event. He asked pertinent questions and took notes. The captain was professional and treated everyone with respect.

  He had been accompanied by six guardsmen. Now, they were tall, well built, and seemed ready for violence at the drop of a hat. They each had to look of people who were used to violence and maybe even preferred it. They reminded me of my Delta Force acquaintances on Earth. Even without weapons, these people would be scary, and they were armed to the hilt. So, the scare factor was even higher. Respect to the Captain who led these men was very much a given.

  He was very interested when I described how the two arrows ended up in the dead body. When I finished, he called one guard over and whispered to him. The guard motioned to another and they both left.

  While Captain Willop’s remaining team gathered up the Death Merchant’s equipment (except for the Storage Rings, which I kept), body, and prisoner, there was a commotion from outside. Captain Willop just smiled and told me “Don’t worry about it. My men are taking care of the problem.” He made to leave, and I accompanied him to the front door. When I opened it, I saw the two guards from earlier. They were holding an unconscious Death Merchant between them. “Death Merchants tend to operate in groups of three. The two bolts in the dead one confirmed my suspicions.” Captain Willop said. He bade me farewell and left, his team following him.