Megumi couldn't help but smile as they entered Seahaven. The street lamps were lit and everything was quiet, but at least they were out of that hole. She shuddered thinking about that odd seal they had run into. Who in their right minds would entrust guardianship of an ancient seal like that to kobolds of all things? 

She shook her head and wandered up the street. "There has to be an inn somewhere around here. I wonder what time it is," she mused aloud.

"There's an inn down closer to the shore that I have stayed at while here on vacation," Undine said.

"Great. Lead the way."

The former high lady gave her a sarcastic smile and then strode out in front of them, leading the way down the next street towards the ocean. Megumi had to admit that despite Undine's usual attitude, she had turned out to be extraordinarily useful. It was also good to have an expendable pawn that she could sacrifice if needed in an extreme emergency rather than having to let something bad happen to Poro-tan. 

She could hear the steady sound of waves crashing onto the shore and it was somewhat calming. The cool night air and the sight of stars was something that she couldn't get enough of either, after being trapped in that hole for so long. She was definitely not the type that enjoyed being underground. 

A few minutes later and they found themselves in front of an inn called The Mermaid's Blessing. As expected from Undine, the place was probably the fanciest resort in town, but Megumi didn't really care at this point. A hot shower, some good food, and a warm bed were her priorities now, and in that order if possible. 

As the three of them entered the establishment, a bell rung above the door to announce the fact that customers had come. Two staff members dressed in livery sat at a table to the right by the windows in the front drinking what looked to be tea. They both were eyeing the party with haughty looks on their faces. 

The two of them got up and left the room without a word to them just as a plump woman in her middle years came out from a room behind the check-in desk. The woman gave them a quick once over and frowned deeply. They certainly didn't appear to be the type of patrons who would visit an establishment like this. Megumi, for one, was covered in dirt and grime from all the crawling, and her two companions didn't look much better. She assumed that the three of them probably looked more like beggars than high-end customers to this lady. 

The woman sniffed indignantly, "The Boar's Snout is three streets over and will probably be more suit—"

"Enough. We would like one of your finest rooms," Undine cut the innkeeper off. 

Megumi couldn't help but give the noblewoman an angry glare. How the hell much would a lavish room in this place cost anyway? 

The innkeeper was taken aback for a moment and then stepped closer, squinting at Undine, and then put on a pair of spectacles that hung from a string around her neck and came even closer before letting out a surprised gasp. "L-Lady Undine? The newspapers said you were executed!"

"And as far as anyone is concerned, she still has been," Megumi cut in. "Now, how much for a room? We've had a long journey." 

The woman flicked her eyes over to Megumi and then back to Undine, as if asking for permission to respond to her. When her new pet gave a slight nod, the woman turned back to her, and with a voice sweet as honey, "Well, sweetheart, a room for the night here is 400 GP, and a suite, like the High Lady asked for is 600 GP."

Megumi had to grit her teeth together in order to keep her jaw from dropping at those outrageous prices. The place was nice enough, that was for sure, but for it to cost that much was completely insane. The stipend of money they had gotten from Reynard would not allow for them to live lavishly like this. She needed to make every GP count until they could earn some more. Just as she was about to open her mouth to object, the woman began speaking again.

"...but, in consideration for your current... circumstances, the rooms will cost 600 GP and 800 GP respectively. For my silence on the matter, you see."

"Why you evil bloodsucking—" Undine had her hands outstretched to strangle the plump woman, but Poro-tan grabbed her hands and put them down.

Megumi could also hardly believe that she was being shaken down by this woman all because of Undine. She had to struggle to not blast a hole right through the fat woman that stood before her with that smug grin on her face. There was another way to deal with the woman, however, that wouldn't end up with them on wanted posters again. 

"You don't know who I am, but suffice it to say that if word got out about Undine, you would have a very unpleasant visit from the royal guard. You will hold your tongue and you will give us a room at a discount not a price hike or you will be lucky if you live long enough to regret crossing us."

The woman's smile slipped immediately to a frown and she stepped back until she was up against the check-in desk. "I-I cannot go lower than 400 GP for the suite. You will have your silence. I cannot be blamed for trying to earn a little extra! Times are tough, you see."

Megumi reached into her coin pouch and removed four gold 100 GP coins and held them out to the woman, who snatched them up hungrily. She then scurried behind the large mahogany desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a key on a heavy chain and handed it over. 

"Your room is the 8th floor. The entire floor is yours to use, there is a magic lift over there that can take you to the top at the press of a button. We have a spa on the third floor, it opens at 8 am sharp and we also have a large breakfast buffet that begins at that time and runs until 9," the woman took a breath after spitting that all out and grimaced before finishing her speech with, "...enjoy your stay." 

Megumi didn't have any energy left to say anything else to the woman and instead she reached over, and took the key. The three of them headed over to the lift and took it up to the 8th floor. When they reached their floor and opened up the door, they were faced with a door that required a key. Megumi unlocked it and they all stepped out into a short hallway.

There was a door to their immediate left that was marked "Utility Closet," and straight ahead there was another door. Megumi unlocked the second door and the group stepped inside. The apartment inside was lavish to say the least, and while it was nowhere near the same level as the palace they had been staying in recently, it was much more nicely decorated than any inn she had stayed in since losing her family. 

Finely woven rugs covered marble tiles across an expansive room. Beautifully woven tapestries hung from the walls along with gorgeous oil paintings here and there. A full kitchen was off to the left of the entrance and three leather stools stood up the counter-top on the side closest to them. Straight ahead was a open living room that had comfortable looking furniture and several large bookshelves. Megumi couldn't help but be impressed as she and the others continued making their way into the squite.

Beyond the main living area was a set of windows leading out to a balcony that was also finely furnished. She stepped up to the glass and looked out into the darkness. There wasn't much to see at this time of night, but she could hear the sound of waves crashing outside. After staring out into the dark for a moment, they moved on and located the bedrooms.

Two were near the front of the apartment with a bathroom between them, and the master suite was in the back with its own bathroom and balcony. Megumi couldn't wait to get cleaned up and sleep in that giant bed. She wouldn't be able to eat anything extra nice, but she wasn't even sure she had the energy to care. 

"Take whichever rooms you like, and get some rest. I want one of you guys to be up while the other rests, though. I don't trust that woman to not try something. I'm going to get cleaned up and go to sleep."

"I'll take the first watch, Undine. Go ahead and get cleaned up also. I'm going to go sit on the balcony for a little while."

"Thanks," Undine replied with a smile, and then she rushed off to the shower.

"See you in the morning, Poro-tan."

Megumi was about to go off to get cleaned up herself when Poro-tan grabbed her wrist gently. "I just... want to thank you for taking care of that golem in the cave. Undine was doing her best, but I don't think that I would've gotten away from that one."

She felt her face grow warm, but didn't turn around to face him. She knew that what she had done had been reckless and it could have ended with the entire cave falling on them, but she just couldn't let him die like that. She had become too attached to her Poro-tan to let him go easily.

"I-It was nothing. I just didn't want to lose my valuable pet."

"Whatever you say."

"I'm going to go get cleaned up now. Good night, Poro-tan."

"Good night."

Megumi stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. A tall mirror stood above the sink and she couldn't help but look at herself and wonder what she'd look like if she was her actual age. There was no use thinking about it, as far as she knew she would age slowly like this so long as she continued to use Sanguine Infusion, and not using it was not an option.

If only she had started using the skill when she was a few years older, at least then she'd be frozen in time as a young adult, or close enough to it. She decided to stop worrying about things she could do nothing about, she would just need to learn to think of him a brother or something. She could do that, right?

The warm water of the shower felt good and it was nice to finally be free of the sand that had managed to get all over her and her clothes. Living with the niceties of modern society definitely had its perks over adventuring, that was for sure. Once she was all cleaned up, she hopped out of the shower and got ready for bed. They were still a ways out from OceanSpire and she wanted to get the information she needed already.

Hopefully, there would be someone at that guild hall that was actually high enough in the hierarchy of things to get some information out of.  She climbed into the over-sized bed and rolled over to face the large window that overlooked the sea. Megumi's thoughts drifted to her family, as they often did when she tried to sleep. She pulled out her treasure and then flipped to the small portrait she kept hidden there. 

Her desire to see the entire world burn had cooled, but her quest to make everyone in her home country pay for what had happened to her family had not. The other nobles had whipped the commoners into a frenzy and the masses had overwhelmed their family in one of the most bloody coups the world had seen in generations. Would Poro-tan still be able to look her in the face when he found out what she really had planned for all those people? Did she care? Conflicting thoughts battled with one another in her head until she finally drifted off to a troubled sleep. 

***

Hideki still wasn't used to the life of being a glorified zombie. For one, he really missed being able to enjoy a long night's sleep. He sat in one of the fancy chairs on the balcony overlooking the ocean and wondered what he would be doing right now if he hadn't died. Would Megumi have taken someone else, and would things have turned out the same regardless of if he had been the one she had chosen to Soul Trap? 

The darkness inside her heart was still there, he was sure of that, but she didn't talk about it. At least she cared about doing the right thing some of the time now, and she cared enough about him to save him rather than let him die like a pawn in a game of chess. Still, it was clear that he would have his work cut out for him if he wanted to keep her on the straight and narrow. 

Hideki closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath of the wet sea air. Fog was rolling in now and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore in the near distance was soothing. I can't let myself relax too much, that innkeeper is definitely up to something. She gave in too easy.

He decided that it would be best to go inside and kill some time reading. There was a pretty large collection of books in the seating room, there had to be something interesting to read there. As he browsed through the room's library, he found that there wasn't really anything interesting to him there. Most of the books fell into two categories: romance novels, and history books. 

Reading wasn't exactly his favorite pastime anyway, and those two categories didn't interest him much. In his limited experience, he had found that romance books were written for women, and history novels were only good for putting him to sleep. This is the worst part of being dead. I only need a little sleep and so I spend every night keeping watch while being bored out of my damned mind.

He flipped through some of the books even though they hadn't really interested him, and after a couple hours had passed by, he had had enough. I'm going to go back outside, it's almost time for Undine to take her watch anyway.

As he was going to get up, he heard the sound of footsteps outside the entryway. No one should be up here, the lift had required a key to even get off at this level, which meant that whoever was outside the door had either been given a special key by the innkeeper or had killed her and took one.

Do I wake the others, or wait and see what happens?

Hideki could hear hushed voices on the other side of the door, but couldn't make them out. It sounded like there were three or four people out there. He had no intention of being caught off guard in an inn ever again after their experience with the bard. There wouldn't be time to wake the others before the intruders broke inside and he didn't want to alert them to the fact that he was awake. 

Undine's room was close to the entrance, just like his was, and Megumi's was in the back end of the suite. He needed to find a spot to hide for a moment to get the drop on them, and he needed to do so quickly. Hideki's mind raced as he considered his options for places to hide, and after glancing around quickly he decided on hiding in the kitchen behind the counter. 

Moving as silently as he could, he got into position and waited. The muffled voices outside stopped a moment later and then he heard the sound of a key going into the lock and the doorknob turning. Here they come.

Hideki slowed his breathing and listened. Once they moved past the kitchen, he would catch them from behind. His sword was gripped tightly in his hand and he crouched, waiting to hear them come inside. Nothing happened. He didn't dare stand up, the door was open for sure. What are they doing? Do they know I'm here? Maybe they're using a spell or maybe I was too loud when I moved.

After a few more long moments of waiting, he heard the sound of feet shuffling around and he heard the ring of steel leaving a scabbard. They know I'm here. I need to move.

Just as he was about to stand up and face his foes, he heard a muffled cry, as though through a gag, and then there was a loud thud as something heavy hit the tiled floor of the room. What the hell is going on?

"Get the gag and let's go," the soft voice of a woman whispered. 

"I know, I know. This isn't my first day on the job you know," a male voice whispered back in a clipped, irritated tone. 

Hideki had enough of waiting and stood to stop whatever was happening, but when he did, there wasn't anyone there anymore. The door had closed and on the floor in front of the door was the innkeeper, bleeding out all over the place. Her eyes twitched slightly when she saw him and she died before she could even get out a single word. We're being set up!

"Megumi! Undine! Get up. We have a problem."

Rather than waiting for them to get up, he rushed to the door and pulled it open. The enemies were not in the hallway and the lift was closed. They needed to get their things and get out of here. He and Megumi were adventurers, so maybe they would be given the benefit of the doubt? He didn't want to find out. Whoever had done this must've known who they were and reasoned that they would not be believed for some reason. 

He turned and went back inside, finding a groggy Megumi and a shocked looking Undine both staring at the body. 

"Hideki, what have you done?" Undine gasped.

"I didn't do it. Someone broke in here and killed her on the spot. We need to leave."

"I'll grab my things." Megumi darted off towards her room again.  

Hideki paced back and forth impatiently in front of the body while the others grabbed their things. He hadn't even unpacked anything, so he was ready to go already. Luck was just not ever on his side, just when things were looking up, and they had this nice place to stay, they suddenly found themselves in a situation where they would have to run like thieves in the night.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of the lift door opening out in the hallway. Fuck. What do we do?

Heavy footsteps and the sound of clinking mail were coming down the hallway and he had no way of knowing if the murderers came back, or if it was the guards or some assassin coming when the door suddenly was kicked in by a heavy boot. A dozen guards came rushing into the room with their weapons drawn, and in their midst were two mages holding glowing staves.

Hideki gripped his sword as he decided whether or not to fight when one of the mages pointed their staff towards him and before he could move to dodge, a thick wave of air slammed him against the nearby wall and held him in place. He was completely unable to move other than to turn his head. Megumi and Undine came back into the room in a rush and the lead guard who had a red plume sticking up out of his helm, yelled at them, "Halt and surrender immediately or we will use deadly force. You three are under arrest for the murder of this woman and four other staff members."

"We've been in our room all night! We didn't kill anyone. Some people came in and killed this woman and dropped her here. We're being set up." Megumi shouted.

"This is outrageous! We are paying guests here," Undine added.

"Really, now? Why is it that you look to be all packed up and ready to run, then? You seem pretty guilty looking to me. Not only that, but we have two eye-witnesses that have come forward attesting that they saw you threatening Belinda for a room and then they have said that they saw you drag her to the lift. Come quietly and you will have your day in court."

Hideki could see Megumi visibly struggling to contain her rage from the corner of his vision. They may or may not be able to take on these guards, but it would land them in even more hot water. Would they even be able to prove their innocence? Could Reynard bail them out of this mess somehow if they could get word to him? Megumi was gripping her staff tightly and he could see her hands clenched on the bone shaft of the staff. 

"Drop the weapon, girl, I will not warn you again. There are only two ways you leave this room, make your decision. I will not ask again." 

Megumi must have thought the same thing he did about Reynard bailing them out and dropped her staff to the ground. "Fine. Just know, that you'll pay for this insult. I am a close friend of the king and he will not stand for this."

One of the other guards snickered and sarcastically remarked, "Oh yeah? And I'm the king's best friend. We were just playing a game of chess the other day over at my estate near the beach."

"Enough. Take them into custody. Don't forget to get their belongings and I want all three of them collared. We don't want any funny business," the leader barked.

Six of the guards stepped forward and placed the magic inhibitor collars around the necks of the women and then him. The guards taking care of him made sure to grab his sword and his belt knife before shackling his hands and feet with chains before he felt the wall of air that had him plastered against the wall disappear. The guards silently gathered up all of their belongings and put them into a bag of holding, before handing that bag off to one of the mages.

"Good. Get them to Numbwater Bay and get them in a cell. The rest of us are going to clean up this mess and collect the evidence."

"Sir!" 

Their escort of six soldiers and the mage who had their belongings led them to the lift and down to the bottom floor. Hideki's eyes opened wide as he saw the gruesome scene laid out in the lobby. Four mangled bodies lie around the room like some twisted serial killer's masterpiece of a painting. The victims had all been pretty much torn apart, save for one, that had a hole burned straight through its chest. 

Hideki and the others were led out into the cold night air and he was surprised when they were lead down to the docks. A ship stood at the ready and they were loaded roughly on board and chained to the main mast. 

A man at the helm of the ship talked with the mage for a moment and then shouted to the crew, "Ready the sails, we are taking a trip down the coast to Numbwater Bay." 

"Aye!" A crew of men shouted in unison before getting to work. 

Megumi let out a groan as the ship pulled out of the port and onto the churning waves of the ocean. Hideki remembered how their last sea voyage had gone, and didn't think Megumi would be having nearly as good a time this time around. Idly he wondered how long a journey this would be. The city didn't have a place to put prisoners on site? The place was supposed to be a tourist location, maybe having something as unsightly as a prison around would ruin the atmosphere?

Hideki kept an eye on things as the ship rocked back and forth in the darkness. The mage's staff glowed as it had inside the hotel room wind quickly filled the sails of the ship, shooting them off across the sea in a southern direction. Over the next hour or so by his guess, they traveled roughly across the sea until he saw the light of a lighthouse ahead in the middle of the ocean.

Megumi stood against the mast next to him, vomit covering her dress and stuck to her chin. The smell was horrible and he felt bad for her. If they got out of this mess in one piece, he imagined that she wouldn't be wanting to go on a boat again for a very long time. 

"Hang in there, Megumi. We're almost there."

She nodded weakly.

"They're seriously sending us to Numbwater Bay? Its one of the highest security prisons on the continent. I hope you two have a plan, or we're never going to see the light of day again once we go in that place."

Hideki frowned and continued staring at the beacon of light in the darkness. "Just keep your heads on straight. We didn't do anything wrong, we will get out of this. I have to believe that." The boat continued to push through the sea at a clip and before they knew it, they pulled into port. 

Before them lie a humongous keep built directly into the stone of the small island that jutted out of the sea. Waves crashed against the rocks violently and they were dragged roughly from the ship and tossed down the plank to some guards waiting on the docks. Hideki was dragged to his feet by one of the guards and as he was being taken inside the dungeon, the mage came along and the ship was already heading back out to sea, leaving them trapped on this rock awaiting their fate.