After exiting the mansion, Jack, standing in front of the green carriage, was a man dressed in a strange frilly pink outfit. It was so bright pink, that he almost felt he could see it if he closed his eyes. The man greeted them, "Hello Sir Jack."

Yukali growled and said "Teraka, what do you want?"

"My mistress wishes to have a word with Sir Jack before he leaves. If that would be okay Sir Jack?" Teracka said, looking a bit disdainfully at Yukali.

While Yukali snorted Jack asked Teraka "Who might I ask is your mistress?"

"Lady Niadas," Teraka said proudly.

Yukali said "She is Lord Attomas's sister."

"Very, I have a bit of time I could speak with her. " Jack said, Veronica started to follow behind.

Teraka said "She wishes to speak with Sir Jack alone."

Jack thought for a moment and turned to Veronica "Stay here Veronica, I will be fine. While I'm gone, try to speak with Yukali and find out more about this expedition."

Jack followed behind Teraka as they headed into the hedge medge in the garden. The tall hedges were at least eight feet tall, and the pathway was lined in a red brick. Jack could hear birds tweeting in the air, and the smell of flowers from the garden washed over him.

They seemed to walk in circles in the maze, until finally they arrived at a gazebo. In this gazebo was a young woman in an overwhelmingly pink dress, Jack could swear he didn't know that there were so many shades of pink. Even her face had pink makeup from her pinked up lips, to the eyeshadow. In fact the only other color on her was from her brown hair.

She gestured for him to sit across from her. "Hello Sir Jack." She said.

"Lady Niadas, you wished to speak with me?" Jack asked.

Looking at Jack, she said "You are definitely not a noble from the Empire of Tiaran."

"Yes, I said as much to your brother, yet I got the distinct feeling he did not believe me." Jack said.

Niadas let out a small laugh and said "Yes, my brother has issues trusting others, and once he heard there was a Empire noble in the city, his paranoia worked him up."

"Your brother has offered me a position as a partner in your expedition, most likely based on that erroneous belief." Jack said.

"He would not believe me if I told him. Besides you will work as a suitable decoy." Lady Niadas said simply.

"Decoy?" Jack said a little confused.

Smiling Lady Niadas said "Yes, I have reached an agreement with the real Empire agent. They will be coming with us, and shall aid me in return for sharing some of the magical gear we find. You will work as a decent decoy to keep my brothers and enemies eyes off the true Empire Noble."

"You wish to use me as a distraction?" Jack said a little annoyed.

"That and the fact you hold a very large spatial storage. While my brother Attomas is focused on the knowledge he might gain from this expedition, I wish for a more mercantile venture. My other brother Jadai is just focused on the adventure. It is up to me to make this expedition profitable." Lady Niadas said.

Jack said pointedly "Speaking of profits, I failed to see how this would be worth my time."

"Simple, Lord Attomas would offer fifteen percent to you of whatever you store in your inventory. Of course that would be the last pick. Lord attomas would get forty five percent, Jadai and I would only get twenty percent each. What I am offering is Twenty five percent for each of us." She said simply.

Jack said "What about your Empire friend?"

"They have several shielded spatial storage bags that will work in the lost city. They have agreed to give me forty percent of what they find." Lady Niadas said.

Thinking on it Jack said "Your deal does seem more appealing. Are you sure Lord Attomas would agree to this?"

"He will have no choice. If he makes you a partner, it will be your vote and mine against his, and Jadai will listen to me." Lady Niadas said, picking a pink cookie off a plate next to her and eating it.

"Very well, your offer does seem to be worth my time. However if I am going to be a decoy, should I not be alerted to the risks I face? This is something that needs to be addressed in our deal as well." Jack said.

Smirking Lady Niadas said "You have no need to fear for your safety Sir Jack. For in fact by acting as an Empire Noble, most others would become hesitant to enact their plans. The Empire is very protective of their nobles, and should one fall to a scheme, why they might go to war with a Kingdom over it."

"If that is the case, why would your Empire friend be worried about cover?" Jack asked.

Lady Niadas said "Because they are a fugitive from the Empire. They hope to use what they gain from the city to 'buy' their way back into the empire. They can't act in the open."

"I see. Why must I then act as Empire Noble if they want to remain hidden? Would it not draw more eyes to them?" Jack said.

"Because the Empire is aware of the Lost city. They have already likely sent a party to gather what they can before our kingdom closes it off. You are meant to act as the decoy for them" Lady Niadas said. "They will get in contact with you to see if you really are an Empire Noble. If they believe you, they will back off, giving us time to search the city."

Jack asked "If they don't?"

"Then they will think you are scamming us, and laugh at our stupidity." Lady Niadas said.

Jack said "Or they will attack me for impersonating. If I am to risk conflict with the Empire, I will need to be compensated for it."

"I see" Lady Niadas said. She pulled from her side a pink purse and pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Jack.

Looking over the paper Jack was startled to find it was a deed to a building within the city. He looked at her and said "You are offering to give this property to me?"

"Yes, it's one of the unowned mansions left in the city. I just recently renovated it." Lady Niadas said.

Thinking for a moment, Jack had no use for a place for himself, but for his Users, it would be good to have a base. In fact in the future when he has mastered making a dungeon, it would be the ideal spot for it in the city. "Alright. I accept." Jack said.

"Alright, Just sign here, and the deed will become yours on the completion of the expedition." Lady Niadas said, handing another sheet of paper to him. This paper had some divine power within it, and taking a look over it Jack could tell it the contractees would be bound to stipulations within the contract.

Making sure the contract was as she said he reviewed it. Then taking the writing implement he signed it, and returned the document to her. "Alright, it was a pleasure doing business with you." Lady Niadas said.

"It was, will I see you again tomorrow at the auction?" Jack asked.

Nodding she said "At that time, I will let Lord Attomas know of our agreement to the share of the spoils."

Standing, Jack said "Farewell Lady Niadas." Jack made a move to exit, when Lady Niadas held out her hand.

"While we have finished our business dealings, I still have some personal dealings with you." Lady Niadas said.

Confused Jack said "What do you mean?"

"You have the air of nobility, yet you are not one. Perhaps somewhere in your lineage there is one. In any event your stock interests me." Niadas said.

Jack said "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Your seed. Your appearance, poise, and wit make me think your seed is of top quality. I wish to have you breed one of my serving girls."

Sucking in his breath and letting it out. "What?"

"I'm planning to have children, and I wish to raise new servants for them. Your seed will produce high quality servants." Lady Niadas waved her hand and a young girl wearing a short pink dress and pulled it up and leaned against a bench showing her bare ass.

Unable to form a thought for a second, Jack said "I'm afraid I must decline Lady Niadas."

Frowning she said "A shame, oh very well. Show him the way out Teraka."

Quickly Jack left the gazebo behind Teraka. As they went through the maze Teraka said "Perhaps Sir Jack would be more comfortable if I collected the stock?"

"No thank you." Jack said, keeping himself from freaking out.

When they reached the carriage, Jack could see both Veronica and Yukali looked a bit scuffed up. Yukali opened the carriage and Jack entered it. As they rode Jack asked Veronica "What happened to you two?"

"My Lord we got into a disagreement. We however managed to sort out our differences." Veronica said proudly. "What did you and Lady Niadas speak about?"

Jack sighed and said "I reached an agreement with her over the expedition. Now I'm second guessing it, she is far more strange then I first thought. When I was leaving she asked me to impregnate one of her servants."

"Oh, so will I taste her juice off your cock tonight?" Veronica asked.

Shaking his head "No, I declined her offer. She not only wanted me to impregnate her servant, she was going to raise them to serve her future kids."

Veronica scoffed and said "My Lord, how arrogant, if she knew who you are, she would spread her legs open and beg you to be the father of her children."

"I have no desire to touch that woman. I signed a contract with her so I will go on this expedition, but I will not meet with her in private anymore. Another thing- wait a moment...." Jack said confused.

"What is it My Lord?" Veronica said worried.

Jack said "I just got another user?"

Lost within the horrific nightmares, Carol stumbled across a blue window. Stunned by how bright it shone in this hellscape of darkness and terrifying whispers, she stopped and read it's message.

For a long time Carol just stood in front of this message, confused. Slowly the fog surrounding her threatened to lift, and she felt something start to creep through, and once again took off down into the nightmares to flee. Several times she repeated this, growing more and more weary each time she made it back to this message.

She felt trapped and could never escape what was coming for her in the fog, and the nightmares were tearing her mind apart. Once again something started to reach through the fog, terrified she found she could no longer flee from it. Feeling like she was going to lose herself, she chose to yes on the message.

The second she did so, fear and terror seemed to be lifted off her shoulders. The nightmares around her were pushed away, she could still see them, yet they no longer threatened to overwhelm her. A voice said "User Profile Updating.... Updated."

By the time the status screen appeared, she began to feel a lot calmer. Taking a look at her status she realized the calmness came from the Mental Stability skill. Overly strong emotions were smoothed back down. She could still feel the terror within her, but she felt she could withstand it.