Slayers - Volume 6 - Chapter 1

1: C’mon, Guys, Don’t Go Reviving on Me...

I knew I was being tailed, but I pretended not to notice as I made my way down the night road. It was pretty obvious that whoever it was had been stalking me since I left the inn.

Should I head back, or...

I immediately made up my mind to keep going, pressing on toward the city limits. It seemed there were still bars open even at this hour, and the faint sounds of merrymaking drifted by on the wind here and there. Soon enough, however, those too died away.

My stalker continued to follow me as I left the city behind. By the time I made it onto the road that led through the forest, clouds had come to smother the full moon overhead... which plunged the area into darkness. I used the opportunity to mask my presence and duck behind a nearby tree. The stalker closed in.

Before long, the moon emerged again and...

“Amelia?!”

“Waaagh?!” she yelped in surprise. “Hey, you scared me!”

“I scared you? Amelia, you freakin’ stalked me the whole way here! I thought you were a bad guy!”

“Well, I saw you slip out of the inn! I figured you were going to vanquish bandits!”

“Erk!”

She’d hit the nail square on the head so hard there that it left me a little stunned.

“I mean... yeah, of course I am! Why else would a young lady leave her inn in the middle of the night?” I said desperately. “Gourry and Zel would give me the third degree if they found out about it. They don’t understand what a girl needs, but you wouldn’t try to stop me, would you?!”

Amelia shook her head fervently, lightning flashing behind her as she declared, “No way! I’m coming with!”

Hang on a minute...

“Are you... serious?” I found myself asking.

“Of course! Bandits are evil’s conspirators, stealing from others to satisfy their own self-interest! Such wickedness cannot stand! We must vanquish them posthaste!” And with that, she began to march off on her own.

“Hey! Wait a minute!” I cried, quickly trying to stop her.

Amelia halted, turned around, and asked, “You’re not gonna tell me not to come, are you?”

“Nah,” I said, holding up a declarative finger. “But we split the treasure fifty-fifty!”

Shortly thereafter, attack spells blossomed in the midnight forest.

“Hmm... It was a smaller haul than I expected. I guess life’s tough for a bandit in the boonies,” I muttered as we walked the road back to the inn, our packs filled with loot.

Geographically speaking, we were out in the northern countryside of the Duchy of Kalmaart, a good ways away from most major cities and highways. It was the kind of place where you wouldn’t necessarily expect to run into bandits, but I guess in this day and age, you’re never completely out of evil’s reach.

There was once a time when I’d been worried that my nightly scourging of bandit gangs everywhere I went might actually turn them into an endangered species warranting state protection or something... but it seemed my fears were unfounded after all. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Eh, you be the judge.

Honestly, I was a bit bummed about this latest excursion. I’d successfully blown off some stress, but I was lacking any serious coin to show for it—meaning I’d only accomplished one of my two goals for the night. At least Amelia was in high spirits...

“You can’t let it get you down!” she insisted upon noticing my listless demeanor. “What’s important here is that we extinguished another den of evil! The day justice reigns supreme is still a long way off, but we’ve made one step in the right direction!”

Yeah, yeah... 

“Listen, Amelia... do you know where our traveling funds have been coming from lately?”

She spent some time in silent consideration, then said, “Um... you mean...”

I nodded firmly, my expression pensive.

Gourry didn’t have a care in the world, and Amelia’s only care was “justice.” Zelgadis was reserved about showing his face, and he’d long given up his badguy gig...

So who the hell else was supposed to make money for us?!

It would’ve been one thing if we were in a big city or on a main thoroughfare and we weren’t in any kind of hurry. But right now, we didn’t have time to guard caravans or play courier. With our expenses piling up, I had no choice but to slip out late at night and ice local bandit gangs in an attempt to refill our coffers.

And, yes, okay, I admit it’s a ton of fun. I also admit I take a cut for my own pocket... But, c’mon, it’s basically just a commission. A little something for my trouble, y’know?

While I was turning all this over...

“Wait, Lina,” Amelia said urgently.

Hearing that, I stopped to ask, “What is it? Need a potty break?”

She shook her head and replied, now dead serious, “Someone’s here... Or rather, something.”

I quickly looked around, reaching out with my senses. The only illumination in the night-cloaked forest came from a small Lighting spell I had floating over my head. And the only sounds I heard were insects and night birds. Nothing particularly unusual...

“I don’t sense anything, Amelia.”

“It’s there,” she assured me with confidence.

Girls who served as shrine maidens often developed a kind of extrasensory perception. Amelia, it seemed, was no exception. She was probably on the nose here. Did that mean we were up against someone with the ability to completely mask their location from both of us? I stood back to back with Amelia as I slowly drew the shortsword from my hip.

As I did... the insects went quiet. Silence fell over the dark forest, and a wave of surging hostility washed over me!

“It’s here!” she shouted.

I whipped around and spotted a shadow darting through the dark.

Wait a minute...

I quickly chanted a spell, but I didn’t finish it in time. The shadow was upon me. I swung my sword in desperation. Clink! The shadow effortlessly snapped the blade between its hands.

“Ngh!” I swiftly leaped back. The shadow’s leg lashed out, aimed right at my solar plexus. I couldn’t get out of the way!

Whoosh! The shadow suddenly flew backward without making contact.

Amelia had unleashed a kick of her own in the nick of time that had sent it sailing. It stopped where it landed and held its ground.

“Who are you?!” Amelia asked as she straightened up, but I was the one who answered.

“Hang on, I know this guy... I remember those moves,” I said, glaring at the shadow. “I really could’ve done without ever seeing you again... Zuma.”

“Are you sure?!” Amelia asked, her eyes still locked on the shadowy assassin.

C’mon, you’ve seen the guy before...

Granted, he was clad all in black with his face completely concealed except for his eyes... which was basically your standard assassin getup. It was no wonder Amelia couldn’t differentiate him from a more generic specimen.

As for this specific assassin, however, we had a history. He’d tried to kill me once and ended up in a fight with Gourry that cost him both arms. He’d fled in the end, but... he seemed to be back in fighting shape now somehow. Although I knew that high-ranked priests and such could restore limbs, I never thought failing to finish him then would lead to an encounter like this.

“What do you even want?! The person who hired you to kill me is dead! We killed him!” I knew parley was pointless, but I decided to give it a try anyway.

His response was as blunt as a cigar: “I haven’t finished the job I was paid for yet.”

Yeesh, of all the dang occupations to be a consummate professional about...

“I can see that reasoning will get us nowhere with you!” Amelia said, pointing dramatically at Zuma.

You didn’t even try reasoning with him, girl...

“Denizen of the darkness who trades human lives for money! If you cannot see the blood that stains your hands, you shall ever be denied salvation! Even if you evade the law’s judgment, I swear in heaven’s name that you shall never evade mine!”

Translated into Real Person Speak, I think she was basically saying, “Repent or I’ll kill you, stupid assassin!” Which suited me just fine, I guess.

“If you still have an ounce of human compassion—”

“Flare Arrow!” I cried, unleashing a spell that interrupted Amelia’s seemingly endless speech.

A dozen or so fiery arrows hung in the air for a second, then streaked straight toward the assassin. No way could he dodge them all!

“Guum Aeon,” he whispered... and my flaming arrows shattered midair!

“Huh?!” Amelia and I exclaimed simultaneously.

He’d probably pegged my attack and chanted that spell in advance... though I’d never seen nor heard of it before.

Next, Zuma made a beeline for me. I quickly started chanting a followup spell, but was I going to get it off in time?!

“Not so fast!”

Amelia ran forward, dashing at Zuma. When she did... Zuma suddenly changed course! He was going for her now!

“What?!” she cried in shock, her timing completely thrown off.

Whump! She took Zuma’s kick straight on and—Crash!—slammed hard into the trunk of a nearby tree.

That big jerk! He was trying to take her out first!

Zuma didn’t spare the fallen Amelia so much as a glance before going on the offensive again, his attention back on me. Too bad for him I had my spell ready now...

“Dark Mist!”

When I cast it, Zuma’s eyes went wide. It was a spell he’d used on me once before, after all. The black mist it produced engulfed the area around the approaching assassin. I couldn’t see him this way—but what mattered was that he couldn’t see me either.

I changed locations and quietly began chanting a Lighting spell. The moment Zuma emerged from my Dark Mist, I’d blind him with the light and then switch to an attack spell to finish him off!

Except... he never appeared.

“Lina! Above you!” Amelia cried out.

“Lighting!” I responded instantly.

If I’d bothered to look up, I wouldn’t have gotten the spell off in time. Instead, I just released it directly overhead! I closed my eyes and rolled away as the searing light from the zero-duration maximum-brightness flash pierced my eyelids.

Above me, I felt that same sense of surprise again. I wondered if I’d successfully managed to blind him, but before I could speculate any further, I felt something touch my right shoulder guard.

“Blast Wave!” came a voice right next to my ear.

Fa-foom! Just like that, my pauldron went boom! If not for Amelia’s warning, that could’ve been my head!

I don’t know when he’d leaped out of my Dark Mist, but Zuma had come at me from above. Still, even if it was only temporary, I knew he couldn’t see right now! I opened my eyes again and began reciting another spell...

But Zuma came straight at me! Was he following the sound of my voice as I chanted?!

“Elemekia Lance!” Amelia incanted from beside me. Hey, that’s my super alloy girl! Even after a kick straight to the gut, she was back on her feet in no time!

“Tch!” Zuma stopped ruefully in his tracks, allowing Amelia’s spell to pass right in front of his eyes.

Darn it, he sure wasn’t acting like he was blinded! Could he be going off of sounds on the wind and our presences?

Whatever! It was my turn now!

“Fireball!”

Bwoosh! Howling wind and flame exploded at Zuma’s feet. Yet before the smoke cleared, I saw a shadow leap out of the fire. Impossible! I thought to myself as Amelia’s voice rang out once more.

“Freeze Arrow!”

Attagirl! I shouted internally. If Zuma was dodging our attacks by reading changes in the wind, then the turbulence from my Fireball should scramble his senses. No way could he dodge all dozen or so icy arrows flying toward him right now! Or so I thought...

But with a sharp exhale and a smooth change of course, Zuma evaded the frigid volley.

Okay, I’m pretty dang sure this guy isn’t blind!

Zuma was charging at me again, and as he closed in, I saw it... His eyes were closed! There was no way he should be able to see anything like that!

A chill ran up my spine. With my options few and far between, I threw the broken shortsword still in my hand at Zuma.

The assassin’s charge... came to a halt. All was silent except for the rustling grass. The next thing I knew, Zuma was leaping backward.

Huh?

“Come to Vezendi,” he said in a low voice. His tone was that of a hunter whose prey had escaped him. “If you don’t... someone will die.”

And with those words, he whipped around and vanished into the darkness.

“What in the world just happened?” I uttered, standing there in shock.

“Perhaps he feared the arrival of reinforcements?” said a voice from behind me.

“Bwuh?!” I quickly turned around and saw a black-clad figure in the moonlight. I found myself shouting, “Xellos?!”

Indeed, standing there was the mysterious priest I’d met during an unrelated incident.

“So very good to see you again, Miss Lina. You too, Miss Amelia. But you really should be able to defeat an opponent of such mettle yourself...”

“Good to see us again, huh?!” I kept shouting as I grabbed Xellos by the collar.

“Excuse me! Excuse me, Miss Lina?!”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face to us again! You’re lucky I’m such a nice and forgiving person, but Zelgadis is gonna be pissed—I assume!”

“I see... How very troubling,” he said, seeming perfectly untroubled.

“Yeesh,” I whispered as I grudgingly released his collar. It was clear that roughing him up wasn’t going to do more than exhaust me. “So? What are you here for this time? You clearly weren’t just passing by...”

“Of course, that’s—”

“A secret, right?” Amelia interrupted.

He smiled brightly in response, raising an index finger as he assented, “Precisely.”

“Okay, whatever,” I whispered. I figured pressing the issue wouldn’t get us anywhere. “Different question, then. What do you intend to do from here?”

“Travel with you for a while, Miss Lina.”

“Are you nuts?!” This time, it was Amelia who was shouting. “You... You want to travel with Lina?!”

“Hey now...”

“I mean, Master Zelgadis and I have steeled ourselves for the inevitable, and Master Gourry’s mental condition makes him oblivious to consequences. But you—”

“Hey! Amelia!”

“I don’t know what’s driven you to this, but you’re too young to throw your life away!”

“Uh, excuse me! This is slander!” I shouted in protest.

“Honestly, Lina...” she replied with a glare. “Do you really think you lead a quiet, peaceful life?”

“Guh...” She had me there. “Well, all that aside... Xellos, I take it there’s nothing Amelia and I can say to change your mind?”

“Certainly not,” he said lightly.

Realizing there was no convincing him otherwise, Amelia let out a big sigh.

“Well, the real problem is probably gonna be Zelgadis...” I whispered despondently.

“Yeah, Master Zelgadis will be furious for certain,” Amelia agreed.

“Is he really so very angry with me?”

“Yep,” Amelia and I responded in unison.

“Oh, that won’t do. A grudge is a terrible thing to hold.”

“You think that high-minded crap is gonna dissuade him?!”

“You don’t think it will? I suppose not, hahaha...” he said with an all-too-leisurely laugh. “But he should know that that manuscript only contained knowledge concerning how to create chimeras, not how to revert them.”

“You can tell him that yourself, but I can’t promise he’s gonna believe you... Good luck, I guess.”

“You won’t defend me?”

“How am I supposed to defend you when I don’t know what the heck you’re talking about?”

“I thought we had a sort of honor-among-thieves, meeting-of-the-minds camaraderie between us.”

“Yeah, dunno what the heck you’re talking about...” I grumbled.

“Don’t worry. I see now,” Amelia volunteered with a resolute nod.

“Huh?!” I gasped in surprise.

“You do?!” Xellos likewise exclaimed.

She nodded again and clarified, “Yeah, I see that trying to talk this over right now isn’t going to accomplish anything.”

“Well... that much is true,” I admitted with a sigh. “Guess we’ll call it a night and figure out the rest tomorrow.”

“Agreed.”

“Same.”

The three of us nodded to each other and then began the trek back to the inn.

But... Come to Vezendi... Zuma’s parting words continued to echo in my head. I wasn’t exactly eager to see him again. I briefly thought about pretending I hadn’t heard him... but I was sure Amelia and Xellos had, and would definitely hold me to account. If you don’t... someone will die.

The “someone” in question probably wasn’t any of us, but a denizen of Vezendi. In other words, Zuma was willing to make his point with the life of an innocent bystander.

Welp, guess I know where we’re headed next!

I desperately steeled my resolve as we walked down the dark night road.

“Morning, everyone!”

This enthusiastic greeting came from Gourry, who was up before Zelgadis the next day. All you need to know about Gourry is that he’s an excellent swordsman with nothin’ but jelly between his ears.

We were currently at the eatery on the first floor of our inn. Gourry took a seat at the table with me, Amelia, and Xellos like everything was perfectly normal.

“Boy, I slept like a log last night. What’s for breakfast, you guys?” he continued.

“Uh...”

“What is it, Lina?” he asked.

“Come on!” I said, pointing emphatically at Xellos. “Could you please use what passes for your brain to notice him?!”

“What passes for his brain?” Xellos whispered, but I ignored him.

“At least give us the obligatory, ‘You! What are you doing here?!’ Or, ‘How dare you show your face again!’ Something! Anything!”

“Er... please stop, Miss Lina. You’re hurting my feelings...”

“No way! Listen, there are things in this world—”

“Hang on a minute, Lina,” Gourry interjected, stopping me before I could go any further. “Before I can freak out to your standards, there’s something I need you to explain.”

“Wait, don’t tell me...”

Gourry pensively peered at Xellos and asked, “Who’s this guy?”

Splat! Xellos pitched over, chair and all.

“Are... Are you being serious?!” Xellos clamored, straightening up.

Amelia responded with a wince, “Always is, unfortunately...”

“Come on, Gourry! Don’t tell me you forgot him!” I railed.

“Please, Master Gourry! Remember when we fought that evil cult?!” Amelia joined in.

Gourry thought a minute, then clapped his hands together in realization.

“Oh! That guy!” he exclaimed with a dramatic nod. “What was your name again?”

Blarghsplat! Xellos fell over a second time. He seemed to have a penchant for theatrics.

“You don’t remember him at all?” I asked.

“Well, I mean...” Gourry hemmed, scratching his head, “I don’t think we were ever formally introduced.”

Huh... Dude had a point there. Xellos parted ways with us not too long after Gourry rejoined the party. They’d only seen each other maybe twice, and both meetings were brief affairs. There’d never been time for proper introductions.

On top of that, I’d told Xellos plenty about Gourry, but I hadn’t bothered telling Gourry about Xellos. I just assumed it’d be a waste of breath, y’know? Come to think of it, I suppose it would’ve been more remarkable if Gourry had remembered him...

“M-My name is Xellos, then. A pleasure,” he said weakly.

“Likewise. I’m Gourry,” the big lug responded lightly.

Boy, oh boy... I was already exhausted and we hadn’t even gotten to Zelgadis yet. But just as that thought crossed my mind...

“You! What are you doing here?!” bellowed a voice from behind me.

“Zel!”

He was dressed in white pants and a matching coat, with a low hood and scarf that hid his face except for his eyes. Zelgadis was a spellsword who’d been fused with a golem and a brow daemon by a sorcerer a long time ago. He’d spent a while doing the “lone wanderer” thing in search of a way to restore his humanity, but he’d been rolling with us of late.

And right now, he was stalking toward Xellos.

“Hey, Zel! Calm down! Think this over!” I urged.

“Master Zelgadis! Let’s not be hasty!” Amelia followed suit.

Ignoring our pleas, he continued to walk forward with slow and steady steps, coming to a stop right in front of the priest.

“How dare you show your face again?!” he roared... then turned away and indifferently took a seat next to Gourry. He pulled the scarf down from his mouth and asked, “Now, what’s for breakfast?”

“Wait, what? Zel...?” I whispered.

He replied with a quirk of his lips, “Just going through the motions for your sake.”

Hey...

“So you were listening to my conversation with Gourry?!”

“Sorta,” he said teasingly.

Say, when did this guy become a comedian? You continue to amaze me, Zelgadis!

“You aren’t angry?” Amelia asked hesitantly.

He responded casually, “It’s not as if I can force an apology out of him. I’d just be riling myself up for nothing.”

“Aww,” Amelia whimpered, sounding disappointed. Did she want there to be a scene or something?

“Er...” Xellos piped up. “Is it just my imagination, or am I being ignored?”

“Ignored, for sure,” I said plainly.

Xellos then began idly stirring his stew with a spoon, muttering to himself. Pouting, I guess.

“Besides, this is what I was really after,” Zelgadis said casually.

“What is?” I asked.

“That,” he said with a directional nod. “I decided I might find leads faster traveling with you than wandering around on my own. And presto, here’s Xellos.”

Of course...

“And so... Master Xellos,” Zel said, turning back to the priest. An almost imperceptible change colored his tone. “I want you to answer honestly. Were those papers you burned really useless to me?”

He was radiating hostility now. Not good. If Xellos wasn’t careful...

“Naturally.” Despite my fears, Xellos said exactly the right thing. “Think of it this way: even a recipe for the most delicious juice cocktail won’t tell you how to extract only the orange juice from the final product.”

Zel stared directly into Xellos’s eyes for a time. He then finally said with a small smirk, “Yeah, that makes sense. I’ll accept that—for now. So, what are you doing here?”

“That’s... a secret,” Xellos proclaimed with his usual pose, finger outstretched.

“He said he wants to travel with us. Or with Lina, more specifically,” Amelia added helpfully.

“What?!” Zel and Gourry shouted in perfect sync.

“Hey, hey... Are you crazy?!”

“Yeah... I can’t say I recommend it.”

“Agreed. I’m not obligated to warn you, but I will anyway: Don’t do this.”

“He’s right. Why throw your life away?”

Seriously... what is with you guys?

“There’s just one problem,” I said after we’d all gotten breakfast and everyone had come to accept that Xellos was sticking around. No matter how they tried to dissuade and discourage him, he replied with calm insistence that he’d be coming with us—even though he wouldn’t say why. In the end, Gourry and Zel both gave up.

“Whazzat?” Gourry asked while munching on a bacon and veggie sandwich.

I hesitated a moment before I replied, “Well... I slipped out last night, actually...”

“More bandit bullying?” he asked in exasperation, and I nodded meekly.

“Do you really enjoy rolling around in trash like that?” Zel inquired.

“Yes. Lots,” I answered without hesitation, to which he had no response. “Anyway, Amelia ended up tagging along. And on our way back from busting up the local bandits... we got a little visit.”

“From Xellos, you mean?” Gourry asked.

“Xellos too, but...” I waited a long minute. “I meant Zuma.”

“Say whaaat?!” Gourry and Zel exclaimed in the same breath.

Hey, wouldja look at that! Gourry actually remembered a name for once! It seemed Zel had heard of him too.

“Zuma... That Zuma?!” Gourry asked.

“The very one,” I responded.

“But... what about his arms?”

“All present and accounted for.”

“I see... he’s got two arms...” Gourry said to no one in particular, mussing his own hair.

Ignoring him, I continued, “Yeah, so, he fled the scene when Xellos arrived... but he said something before he left: ‘Come to Vezendi. If you don’t, someone will die.’”

“We have to go!” It was Amelia—go figure—who rose to her feet, fists clenched. “If we don’t, he’s going to murder an innocent because of us!”

“H-Hey, Amelia! Keep it down, will you?! People are staring!”

I’m not sure if she heard me or not, but she continued on regardless: “We can’t abide such terrorism! We’re the only ones in the world who can stop him!”

“I know that, Amelia! We’re going, so calm down already! Gourry! Zel! Xellos! Don’t just sit there, get her back in her seat already!”

And so our group set a course for Vezendi.

Vezendi was a sizable city on the west side of Kalmaart. It sat on the intersection of roads that stretched one way to Ralteague and the other to Dils. As such, it had prospered for ages as a trading hotspot.

“I’m not feeling great about this...” Zelgadis groaned the moment the city came into view.

“What’s the problem?” I asked without stopping.

We were currently on the main thoroughfare that led into the city, and we could already see the buildings of Vezendi on the other side of the hill. We’d reached a particularly well-tended stretch of road, with people and carriages headed in both directions around us. Zel, naturally, had his face hidden beneath his hood and scarf.

“I told you before,” he said. “I’ve done some awful things in my time. I have no business waltzing into a big city.”

Ah, of course...

“You’ll be fine!” Amelia declared (baselessly, per usual). “As long as you carry justice in your heart, the world’s your oyster!”

“Untrue,” Zel denied readily, and she fell glumly silent.

“Hey, don’t be so sensitive,” chimed in Gourry. “Just keep your face covered like you’re doing now, and no one’ll notice. If I passed you on a busy city street like that, I wouldn’t even blink.”

You’re the only one who wouldn’t... Didn’t anyone here understand basic persuasion? Or vocabulary, for that matter?! Unsure how to respond to our idiot companions (I feel you, man), Zelgadis fell silent, his brow furrowed.

“You could always stay outside the city,” Xellos offered unsympathetically.

“Seriously, man?!”

“But if you think you’d be better off with Miss Lina and the others, I’m sure it’s safe to go in. I don’t know what kind of infamy your name carries, but there are surely inns here that will provide lodging in exchange for suitable compensation. But of course, the choice is yours.”

Zel snorted lightly in response... Smirking, I imagined.

“You’re right,” he said. “Completely right. Fine, I’ll go in.”

“I’m so glad you came around!” Amelia declared, nodding in satisfaction.

No thanks to you...

I thought I could hear murmuring among the crowds coming and going along on the road. We were almost inside Vezendi City now. There was a girl selling flowers, a gent running a stall, a young man walking by... and they all seemed to be staring at us.

“Are we the center of attention, or is it just me?” Amelia muttered.

“I’d say you’re spot on there, yeah,” Zelgadis whispered with a nod, caution in his voice.

Gourry and Xellos, however, strode forward unconcerned. Granted, it was probably more accurate to say Gourry simply wasn’t paying any attention.

Anyway, we walked a bit farther until...

“Hey.” A boy of twelve or thirteen, still young enough that his voice hadn’t changed yet, called out to me. He seemed like your typical rapscallion, right about the age that makes you want to push ’em over for no particular reason.

“What is it?” I stopped and asked him.

He stared at me for a while, then asked curtly, “Are you Lina Inverse?”

This was followed by another wave of murmurs... People were talking all around us again.

What the heck? I’d had my name on a wanted poster before (just some jerk holding a grudge, if you’re curious), and this was starting to give me déjà vu. Was it possible...

“I am,” I responded, still on high alert.

At that, clear commotion broke out in the crowd. What in the world?! Everyone was gawking now!

“I knew it! I wasn’t sure on account of you got one extra person in your group...” The boy kept jabbering on, despite my growing unease.

Wait a second... If someone’d put out wanted posters for us again, there’s no way a kid would come up to me on the street like this.

While I was trying to make heads or tails of the situation, the rubberneckers continued to flock around us.

“So, lady, I gotta ask—”

“Hang on, kid.” Before the boy even finished, a sleazy-looking man stepped out of the crowd. Didn’t seem particularly tough, thankfully. “I’m the one who saw her first.”

“Ridiculous!” shouted an old lady next. She was on the plump side, and dressed in flashy pink clothing that didn’t suit her at all. “I saw her before you did!”

And following that...

“Hey, I spotted her before you!”

“No, I did!”

“I did!”

More and more voices joined the clamoring.

“Wait! Hey! What’s going on here?!” I found myself asking, but no one was listening. “Hello? Anyone?!”

“It was me!”

“No, I was first!”

Grr...

“I saw them two lengths back!”

“I saw them from the city entrance—”

“Burst Rondo!”

Vruumbldmbldrrr!

Boy, that spell silenced the crowd but good! You could hear a pin drop now. Burst Rondo is great for shutting people up, by the way... It’s flashy, but not particularly powerful.

Well, okay, so maybe it had left the sleazy dude in a charred, twitching heap... but I was betting no one would notice if I didn’t point it out. Probably.

“So?” I looked out over the throng of people, hands on my hips. They stepped back en masse. “What do you want with us? What’s all the fighting about?”

Crickets.

“Well... see...” said a timid voice at last. It was the boy who’d first approached me. His eyes were full of fear now, and he made sure to keep his distance this time. “Th-The truth is... Master Laddock said he’d reward whoever brought him Lina Inverse...”

There, he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and nervously handed it to me. And just like he’d said, it promised a monetary reward for whoever delivered Lina Inverse and her companions to the specified address. The amount itself wasn’t especially impressive, but it was probably a tempting sum for your average peasant.

Below the offer were a few sentences describing me, Gourry, Amelia, and Zel. Sort of, anyway. Real “broadest terms possible” type stuff. The only thing it said about Zelgadis, for instance, was that he was a “tall male dressed in white.” There was also no mention, of course, of Xellos, who had only just joined our party two days ago.

Now, when I got to reading my description...

“Let’s go.” I crumpled the paper up into a ball as I gave the order, my voice steely. “Show me the way, kid. Take me to this Laddock fellow.”

The boy nodded firmly in response, fear still glinting in his eyes.

“C’mon, guys, let’s go pay him a visit!” I said. I turned back to the group... and was promptly struck dumb.

My so-called teammates were huddled behind a far-off tree, only leaning out to occasionally sneak a glance. They’d probably run for cover when I unleashed my spell.

Don’t pretend like we’re not together, you guys!

“This is the place,” the boy announced as we arrived at a mansion.

It was grand enough that even Gourry couldn’t help but let out a noise of surprise. On top of that, it didn’t have one shred of that “nouveau riche” feel you usually saw in places like this. Apparently the guy had taste to go with his money. I wondered if he had a lot of friends who badmouthed him behind his back too...

On the way here, the boy had explained to us that the mansion’s owner, Laddock Lanzard, was one of the city’s leading merchants. The story went that, about ten years ago, his father had been known as the city’s greatest merchant. Your typical “second generation can’t quite cut the mustard” situation, I guess.

“I’ll take my leave here,” Zelgadis said just as we approached the gate.

“Wait, Zel—”

“Think about it,” he said, interrupting me. “If I go in and they offer us food and drink, I’ll have to take off my scarf. I’d like to avoid showing my face as much as possible.”

Okay, that’s fair...

“Right. Then go find yourself an inn somewhere. After we’re finished inside, we’ll make our exit and meet back up with you here. That work?”

“Sure,” he agreed, then turned to leave.

“All right! Onward!” I announced.

“Right!” The boy nodded in response and called out to the gatekeeper. “I brought that Lina lady to see Mr. Laddock!”

Our group was then shown inside. The boy received his reward from the gatekeeper and ran off looking very pleased indeed.

Once inside, we were escorted to a place a bit like a drawing room, where we were left waiting for a while—make that a long while—without so much as an offer of tea.

Eventually, the door opened and an old man entered.

“Master Laddock shall soon arrive,” he declared right before I could complain about our treatment, then took his place in a corner of the room and eyed our group carefully. He was most likely the guy’s butler... Not sure if I would’ve called his hair silver or white, but the old gent wore it neatly slicked back.

“If he doesn’t want to talk to us, we can just leave...”

“Presenting Master Laddock,” the butler announced as he opened the door again, ignoring me completely.

“So you’re Lina Inverse, are you?!”

The man who entered with a combative air was presumably the master of the house, Laddock Lanzard. He looked just over forty, his hair black with a single streak of white. He was on the handsome side, slender for his age, and gripping a piece of paper in his right hand like his life depended on it. A young man trailed in behind him. He appeared to be about twenty, give or take. He was attractive, had black hair, and looked a lot like the middle-aged man who’d entered first... The guy’s son, maybe?

The older man walked straight up to us and—Wham!—slammed the paper he was clutching onto the table.

“I am Laddock Lanzard!” He spoke with a tone that bordered on loathing as he sat down in an open chair. He then slid the paper closer to me and demanded, “Now explain this!”

“What are you talking about?”

Annoyed, I picked up the sheet and promptly fell silent as I ran my eyes across the words: Laddock Lanzard. I am going to kill you. If you don’t want to die, hire Lina Inverse. -Zuma. At the bottom was a description of our group, Xellos excepted.

“Even I have heard of Zuma the assassin,” Laddock said. “Judging from this note, he’s using me as bait to get you here! I certainly hope you have an explanation!”

Ugh. Talk about a domineering jerk...

“I’ve fought him before,” I said, tossing the paper back onto the table. “He was hired to kill me, but never finished the job. Guess he’s still after me.”

“You guess?!” Laddock screamed, pounding the table. “This is outrageous! Your recklessness has put my life in danger, so it’s up to you to stop this!” he declared as if it was an inarguable fact.

You old asshole! Fine, if that’s the attitude you’re gonna take...

I stood up and said in as icy a voice as I could muster, “I’m not obligated to help you. Let’s get out of here, guys.”

“What?!” Laddock howled, his face purpling with anger.

“Hang on a minute, Lina!”

“That’s a little harsh...”

“Think about it!” I cut off Gourry and Amelia’s protests, and pointed back at Laddock. “Why would an assassin send you that threat?”

“Well... obviously, because he knew it was within my means to find you!”

“Are you sure about that?”

“What are you insinuating?!”

“It’s true you’re one of the city’s wealthiest men, and sure, you had the resources to track me down. I’ll even admit that the reward you offered is ultimately what brought us here! But if all Zuma’s after is me... why didn’t he send the threat to the richest man in town?”

Laddock blustered for a moment. “How should I know?!” he said contemptuously.

“Here’s my theory: he’s after you too.”

“Huh?” he uttered dumbly.

“Zuma’s a pain in the ass, but he’s a pro—both in skill and in attitude. He doesn’t go around taking innocent people hostage. In other words, someone else has hired him to kill you, and he’s decided to use the opportunity to lure me in too. And once we’re together, he intends to take out two birds with one stone.”

“Wait a minute!” Laddock shrieked as he caught on to my logic. “You mean... even with you guarding me, he’s still going to kill me?!”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “If I’m guarding you, he’ll come for me first. If he kills you first, see, I’ll be free to run off. In other words, he won’t touch you until I’m dead. That is... assuming I agree to guard you in the first place.”

“You have to!”

“Reality check, man. I know you think you’re the most important man alive, but putting my life on the line to save a world-class dick falls outside the realm of things I’d consider doing out of the kindness of my heart. You follow?” I pressed him.

He was silent for a while, and then finally...

“Fine...” he whispered angrily. “I shall officially hire you to be my bodyguard, with pay. Is that acceptable?”

“Now you’re talking,” I replied.

Of course, I would’ve taken the job pro bono if the guy hadn’t been such a jerk, and if the flyer he’d sent around town hadn’t referred to me as “flat-chested.” I mean, he was probably just repeating what was written in Zuma’s letter, but still!

Curse you, Zuma! You’ll pay for this!

I glanced at the butler who still stood silently behind Laddock, then at the young man who hadn’t said a word this entire time. The latter was just slumped against the wall watching our conversation sourly.

“By the way, who’re they?” I asked.

“My butler Raltark, and my son Abel. Actually... one of your group has changed, no?”

“Oh. Yeah, stuff happened. This is Xellos, just your friendly neighborhood mysterious priest,” I said, introducing the man. Xellos gave him a small, cheerful nod on cue. “You’ll probably be fine as long as you don’t provoke him.”

“Not an especially reassuring introduction...” Laddock grimaced. “But, ah well. Starting today, you’ll be my live-in security.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s what it comes down to...”

By the time I’d gotten Zel up to speed, the sky outside the window was darkening.

We were currently in the slums of Vezendi, a truly seedy part of the city where Zelgadis had managed to secure himself a room. The walls, ceiling, and lamps were all dingy, and the floors squeaked beneath every step. Even for a single occupancy, the place was cramped. It took some work to squeeze in me, Gourry, Zel, and Amelia all together.

This was apparently the kind of place Xellos had mentioned that would “put you up in exchange for suitable compensation,” except that “suitable compensation” clearly meant “an absolute ripoff.” They were charging Zel close to double what a regular inn would ask for a room twice as nice.

Anyhoo, enough about the accommodations.

After we’d finished negotiating our price with Laddock, the lot of us—sans Xellos—left the mansion to report to Zel. We found him already waiting for us outside. We offered to let him in on the bodyguarding gig, but he said that staying at Laddock’s would just mean exposing his face eventually. So we then proceeded back here to his room to talk more.

“But are you sure about this?” Zel muttered as I finished my tale.

“Sure about what?”

“This Laddock guy... He’s your client now, right? Can you really afford to leave him alone while you catch me up?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” I waved my hand dismissively. “I’m sure Zuma’ll come for me first, and I left Xellos at the guy’s house to play guard dog just in case. Besides, I needed to know where you’re staying in case I need to get in touch with you later.”

“Fair enough,” Zel whispered thoughtfully.

“That said, I guess it is about time to head back,” I announced, rising from the rock-hard bed I’d been sitting on. “Laddock’ll lose his mind if we’re gone too long.”

“You’re right about that,” Gourry said, standing up from the wall he was leaning against. “And most importantly... it’s almost dinnertime.”

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up there,” I said with a laugh as I opened the door. “I don’t think he likes us very much. He’ll probably stick us at the end of a sumptuously lined banquet table and serve us seven courses of gruel.”

I then stepped out into the hall and—

“What’s wrong, Lina?” Amelia asked from behind me.

“Dunno...” I responded vaguely.

I was struck with a strange feeling for a second... Had it just been my imagination? Gourry and Amelia followed me out into the hall. Zel followed suit, pulling his scarf up and his hood down.

“Seeing us out?” I asked.

“Going downstairs for dinner,” he replied.

Of course. Inns like this always served food and drink on the first floor. I felt bad for Zel, though. I couldn’t imagine the fare was any good here...

“That’s too bad. I’d feel a lot more confident with you around, Zel...” I said back to him as I walked down the dark, empty hallway. “Hey, I know! You got a flute or something?”

“A flute?” he asked suspiciously.

“Yeah. Something I could just blow to summon you. Y’know, like where you’d come running to bail us out in a pinch. That kind of thing.”

“Hang on a minute. Do you really think of me as some kind of magical item at your beck and call?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Hahh...” Zelgadis let out a deep, heavy sigh, then put a hand on Gourry’s shoulder. “How do you do it? How do you travel with her?”

“Well, I am a patient man.”

That wasn’t flattery, Gourry!

The banter continued as we made our way downstairs... where we all froze up in unison. The first floor was dimly lit, and it didn’t look especially clean. There were simple wooden tables lined up through the room.

That much was fine... But why was it totally deserted?!

“What’s going on here?” Gourry whispered.

“That would be the doing of our barrier,” responded an unfamiliar female voice.

Across the room, in the thick of the shadows, I saw something white hovering in the air, roughly at eye level. Long, disheveled black hair coiled around it like darkness incarnate. The woman(?) was slightly hunchbacked and dressed in a black robe. As she stepped forward, I could see that her face had the deathly pallor of a drowning victim. Moreover, that she had no eyes or nose—just a red mouth carved into a smile.

“A demon?!” Amelia squeaked.

“Call me Guduza...” it responded in an old woman’s voice. “And the one atop the stairs is Duguld.”

I found myself looking back at the staircase we’d just descended. At the apex stood a dark figure in a black cape of a curious design. He also wore a black, brimmed hat in some strange parody of style. His head looked like a hard, black egg with no face and no hair.

He seemed to notice my gaze and tipped his hat with the smallest motion of his right hand. Iffy fashion sense aside, I doubted this character was one we could take lightly.

“And? What do you demons want with us?” I asked, turning back to Guduza.

“They’re helping me,” said a third voice from the front door to the inn—but this one was familiar.

It can’t be...

The door swung open with a long, stuttering creak.

“They’re old friends of mine.”

He stood there silently, silhouetted by the red twilight sky behind him, his cape fluttering in the wind. His design had changed since the last time we saw him, but beneath the turban that crowned his head was the same white devil’s mask.

Seigram!