Captain Maisen waited patiently for me to step through the doorway and then closed the heavy door behind me.

"You don't have to do that for me," I said while trying to keep my annoyance out of my voice. "I could close the door on my own."

The taller woman grinned and her dark eyes danced with mischief. "I'm SO sorry, milord. I didn't realize you have 20 in Strength already," she mocked me in a squeaky voice.

I bit my lower lip and kept my mouth shut. I didn't have that much strength. Yet.

Maisen smirked at my silence. After a moment she said, "You should be thankful that I, the brave, strong, and courageous Captain of the Watch, is going on a patrol with you. Isn't that right, men?" Her eyes turned toward the two Watchmen with a raised brow.

Sankryn and Giudot nodded their heads enthusiastically, desperate to stay in her good grace.

The shorter man said, "Captain Maisen is a very busy woman with many responsibilities. We are very grateful to serve under her direct supervision."

"Indeed," his friend agreed quickly, "we are unworthy of her attention." The taller man put a hand over his heart for emphasis.

I rolled my eyes at the two. Talk about being whipped into obedience! Somehow, I managed to avoid blurting my thought aloud. "So where are we going?" I asked while folding my arms across my chest. I was keenly aware that I was the only person in the patrol unarmored. Suddenly, a wind blew across my back. I felt the cold even through my church robe and my tunic underneath. Perhaps, I should visit the clothing merchants when they reopen tomorrow.

The Captain turned her body until she was squarely facing me directly. "We're going to patrol the northern part of Tregome first. We'll also need to drop by the Watch HQ and visit the bounty office. Finally, we need hit the armory and provide you with a chest armor piece," she outlined her plan. "Do you have any questions or objections, milord?"

"None," I shook my head.

The captain nodded, satisfied with my acquiescence to her plan. She started walking north, taking big steps and that awfully fast pace again.

I sighed and started jogging after her. I was annoyed to discover that I was behind the rest of the patrol because somehow the two sycophants were able to keep up with her. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. The duo can keep up because of their stamina. Thus, I resolved to increase my stamina whenever I level up my Player Character again.

As we patrolled the streets, I noted that there was roughly half the number of pedestrians wandering about compared to a normal day. Furthermore, without carts and wares on the ground taking up precious sidewalk space, the lack of pedestrians was even more magnified.

Before I knew it, we arrived at the Watch Headquarters. I watched as the captain walked up to the guards stationed outside the front entrance in the middle of the block.

The guards recognized her and immediately saluted.

Maisen saluted back and started talking to the men. Over the course of their discussion, I noticed that she turned her head back toward me and pointed a finger at me.

However, I couldn't hear the conversation because my patrol was standing too far away from the guards. I looked at my companions but neither man seemed interested in the conversation.

Suddenly, the guards saluted again and Maisen turned away from them.

The captain returned to our group and asked, "Have you ever visited the Bounty Office?"

I shook my head.

Maisen looked at me incredulously and sighed. "Well, let's go then. I believe you have something waiting for you," she said cryptically. She started walking before I could question her. Standing on the street in front of the main entrance to HQ, she turned left and started walking along the street. She stopped in front of an open doorway on the left end of the building.

I peered inside and saw a number of Watchmen and adventurers milling about inside a spacious room. Directly across from the doorway was a window with a long line of people standing in front.

"Let's go inside," Maisen said and entered the room.

When I stepped inside, I saw that the walls to the left and right were lined with bulletin boards, all having index cards pinned to the boards. Most cards were white-colored, but there were also some red, gold, and even black cards. Occasionally, somebody removed a card, usually white-colored, from the wall. "What is this place?" I asked.

"This is the Bounty Office, milord," Giudot answered. The rumor that the nobleman was a newcomer to Tregome was apparently true. Any adventurer or Watchman would try to visit the office on a daily basis to discover new bounties. Apparently, the nobleman was here for the first time.

Sankryn caught a look and his friend and understood what the shorter man wanted him to do. Sankryn pointed at the cards. "Those cards on the walls offer assignments from the Church and the Watch. The white cards are available to all comers. The gold cards are limited to Watchmen while the red cards are limited to the clergy. The blacks are available to everyone but they are generally rated as the hardest assignments and best performed by veteran parties," he explained.

When the Watchman finished talking, Maisen tapped my shoulder to draw my attention. "I want you to wait on line and visit the bounty window," she requested.

"Why? I didn't take any assignment from the wall," I protested.

Maisen rolled her eyes and replied, "I'm ORDERING you to go to the line." She stared deep into my eyes and dared me to disobey her.

Uh-oh! I suddenly recalled her player screen and remembered how powerful she was. I also noticed that everyone had turned their heads in our direction. I quickly joined the back of the long line. Against the wall was a teller window that was similar to the window at the Bank of Britannia. There was a glass partition and underneath was a coin counter. Beneath that was a slot. Next to the coin counter was a truth stone.

While waiting on line, I decided to spend the time clearing out my backlog of pop-ups. They started piling up when Giudot tripped me at The Noble Lady and we subsequently had a trial by combat that I won:

"Dexterity saving throw MADE. +50 XP, -2 Health."

"Incoming attack BLOCKED. +50 XP, -0 Health." Giudot charged right out of the gate and swung first during our duel, but somehow I managed to block his sneak attack. If I recall correctly, the chance of blocking an attack was the same as scoring a critical hit, which was 5% in my case. Small wonder I received experience out of the feat.

"-5 Damage (HALVED)." "-4 Damage (HALVED)." "Critical hit! -13 Damage (HALVED). +50 XP. Condition INFLICTED: Unconscious. +50 XP." These were my three hits to win the trial by combat. I was very surprised to see that my damage was halved simply by leaving my sword sheathed. My last hit was directed at Giudot's head and it knocked him out. The experience points for achieving this feat was unexpected but nonetheless welcome.

"Duel WON! +200 Reputation. +400 XP." My eyes bulged at the increase in reputation. No wonder Giudot and Sankryn immediately dropped their condescending attitudes toward me!

"-2 Health." This was when the evil cat girl, Kalistra, jabbed my shoulder as a token form of retaliation for leaving that ugly scar on her forehead. I chuckled inwardly at the image in my head. Frankly, if the roles were reversed I wasn't sure if my retribution would be this restrained. Thankfully, Kalistra's father was nearby and his mere presence evidently prevented her from doing anything more to me.

When I finally cleared all the notifications, I was dismayed to see that I hadn't reached the window yet. However, I WAS close enough to the front to see the teller manning that window now. The man bore a striking resemblance to the teller at the bank. I wondered if the two were brothers or the similarities were merely racial in nature as this teller was also a gnome.

The two men in front of me finished their business with the teller, and it was my turn. But before I could say anything, Maisen butted in.

"Lawrence Eugene Mulligan is here to collect his bounty on Ebenthal's head," the captain told the teller.

I confirmed my identity by pressing my palm against the truth stone on the wall.

The gnome looked at us for a moment through his tiny glasses which hung on the edge of his enormous nose and seemed dangerously close to falling off his face. The strange man muttered to himself as he adjusted his glasses and started flipping through a roll book behind the counter. "That's bounty pouch 'B-348,'" the teller noted and stepped away from the counter. He disappeared into a room behind him. It took a few minutes for the man to return with a heavy looking yellow sack. Without a word, he somehow squeezed the sack into the slot under the coin counter.

I quickly checked the gnome's caption and saw that his name was "Munej'Rihej." "Thank you," I said as I took the money. Cognizant of the long line behind me, I quickly stepped away from the window and walked over to an unoccupied corner of the bounty office.

"How much did you get?" Giudot asked me as his eyes were pinned on the sack of coins sitting on my right palm.

"I don't know. I haven't opened it," I replied. "I didn't know there was a bounty on Ebenthal," I admitted.

"I know how much he received," Maisen grinned.

I looked at her and saw the mischief in her eyes. Uh-oh!

"Anyone care to make a wager and guess?" she asked. "To make it fair for everyone, I will allow you to feel the weight of the sack on the palm of your hand. But you CANNOT open the bag and see what's inside. If your guess is correct, I'll give you one gold coin," Maisen proposed.

I groaned inwardly. Maisen may be the new captain of the Watch, but she was still a gambler at heart and apparently, she will never change that bad habit. I started praying to Lady Luck that this won't result in another duel.

Giudot's eyes lit up at the proposal and then looked down at his feet. "Unfortunately, I don't have a spare gold coin to wager," he sighed.

"Oh, I don't need your coin," Maisen waved her hand dismissively. "I COULD, however, ask you for a favor."

"What kind of favor?" he asked suspiciously. Why would anyone pass up a chance to get a gold coin?

"Let's just say there's something I might need you to do for me," Maisen replied mysteriously. Adding fuel to the flame, she casually fished out a gold coin from her pocket and started flipping it in the air and catching it.

I barely resisted the urge to facepalm. Maisen was so EVIL that I bet she would be best pals with Lord Bane if she ever discovered that the demon was in town. I sighed and waited for the inevitable.

"Milord, please pass me your sack," Giudot requested.

I put the sack into his hand and watched as Giudot massaged the bottom of the bag with his fingers and then pushed his hand up and down to judge the weight.

"There's definitely some gold coins inside," the judge commented. "But I can't see how milord can get an entire sack full of gold coins from a bounty reward, even for a wererat leader. There have to be some silver and copper coins mixed in that I couldn't feel because the gold coins were placed at the very bottom. My guess is the sack contains the equivalent of one hundred gold coins," Giudot assessed.

Maisen kept her face neutral and turned toward Sankryn. "Would you care to take the bet?" she asked.

"Why don't you join in?" Giudot urged as he returned the sack to me.

The taller Watchman shook his head slightly but held out his hand. "I know I'm going to regret this," he said. When Sankryn received the sack from me, he mimicked his friend's prodding of the bag with his palm and fingers. His eyes narrowed in concentration and he shook his head again. "I'm sorry, Giu, but I think you're way under in your estimate of the gold in this bag. I think there are only gold coins inside. I would have to double your guess to two hundred gold coins." Sankryn returned the sack to me.

Maisen nodded. "So Giudot thinks there are one hundred gold coins inside while Sankryn thinks it's two hundred gold instead. Is this correct, gentlemen?" she asked.

Both Watchmen nodded.

The captain grinned like a shark. "Bishop Canterbury determined that the threat of the wererats to Tregome was so high that it was rated level 'A-,'" she began.

The two men's jaws dropped at her opening remark.

Maisen shrugged. "I personally didn't think the threat level was that great, perhaps level 'B-' at best. But I'm not going to overrule the boss when it comes to setting bounties. Isn't this guy lucky?" she added while pointing a finger at me.

Both men looked at me and scowled. They both realized that they already lost the bet.

The mischievous woman was thoroughly enjoying the miseries that the two suckers were experiencing but mercifully decided to cut it short. After all, both men will be part of her patrol this afternoon and it was unwise to make them feel depressed for the rest of the day. "It turned out that the Bishop decided to be generous and he set the bounty for the wererat leader at five hundred gold coins," she revealed finally.

"WHAT!" both men blurted out in unison as they stared at the sack in my hand.

"BUT," Maisen quickly held up her hand, "that isn't the ACTUAL number of coins inside the sack. Since this Lord Mulligan is a member of the Church, it is subject to a tithe at the standard ten percent. In addition, the recipient of the award is also a member of the Butterfly School and therefore, he has to return another ten percent as a separate fee to the dojo. I already arranged for the bounty office to collect the fees for the Church and the school. Thus, the sack contains four hundred gold coins in total," she concluded and grinned widely like a shark.

Sankryn and Giudot looked at her with long, sad faces.

"What favor do we owe you?" Giudot asked.

"I may need you to do something for me on your next off-days," the captain replied casually.

The two men groaned. Out of a seven-day week, members of the Watch were on-duty for five straight days and then given two days off-duty unless an emergency situation arises, such as the wererat invasion for example. The duo was looking forward to doing a little hunting and fishing during their next off-days.

"It's either that or paying me a gold coin," she reminded them.

The two men exchanged glances. "Fine," they admitted their defeat.

"What do you want us to do?" Sankryn asked.

"I'll let you know soon," Maisen promised.