It was only the second night Sayer was spending in Melogos and once again he found himself skulking through the moonlit streets. This world’s moon was different from Earth’s. Here the moon was a much deeper blue, like a sapphire marble hanging in the sky. It made the nights a little darker and dyed everything in a cold hue. It was beautiful, but it was also another reminder that Sayer was very, very far from home.

Tonight Sayer had managed to answer one of his biggest questions. It seems that he was brought here by forming a contract with one of the so-called ‘Abyssals’. But when one question was answered he simultaneously gained many more. What are the Abyssals? What do they want from him? Was he chosen purely by chance, or is there a greater reason? And what power does the Accord of Kinship hold?

Sayer’s mind was in a chaotic state. He had trouble focusing his thoughts on his immediate surroundings. Perhaps if he was more clear-headed, he might have noticed that he was not alone. 

Hiding in a dark alley just across the street, a man observed Sayer impassively. The stalker was tall with a shaved head. He wore a dark trench coat with short sleeves. His arms were hairy and muscular, and he had a tattoo of a stiletto dagger on the side of his neck. He kept one of his hands within his coat clutching something hidden.

Once Sayer had disappeared around the corner, the stalker advanced from his hiding place and continued to trail him from a distance. He licked his lips before showing the hint of a smile. This was always the best part of the job. He loved the feeling of being a hunter creeping up while his prey was unaware. It was a powerful and intoxicating experience. Even if the money wasn’t as good, he would probably still take jobs like this just for the thrill.

However, he didn’t need to worry about that. This time the money was good. Really good. The stalker didn’t know who his prey was exactly, but he must have pissed off some very powerful people. The client paid double his usual fee and they only had one requirement: The target needed to suffer before he died. To fulfill this requirement and make sure he made a good impression on such a big-spender, he prepared a very special tool for the occasion. When he thought of the thing hidden in his coat, even the stalker couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the poor bastard. 

The stalker followed Sayer all the way back to his motel and watched him disappear into one of the rooms. First he circled around the building and made sure that there was no back exit. After confirming that, the stalker found a hidden place to observe the front entrance and settled in to wait. It took around an hour before the lights in the room were snuffed out. He continued to wait for a second hour until he was certain his target would be asleep, and finally crept closer. 

The motel’s cheap locks gave him no trouble at all. He had the lock picked and the door open in under a minute. A more expensive place might have had sorcery-enhanced locks or alarms that would make things more tricky, but that wasn’t the case here. This job was almost too easy. 

The door creaked open. A single bloodshot eye peered in through the crack and scoured the interior in case of an ambush. Sayer was sleeping soundly on the bed, the covers rising and falling rhythmically with his breathing.

At this moment, the stalker removed the hand that had been within his coat and pulled out a thick glass vial. Inside the vial was a brackish liquid as well as a hideous little leech with a circular mouth of teeth and barbed spine as its tail. The stalker knew that this thing was called a brain leech and it came from the Old District. The hunters classified it as the lowest level of threat, a lesser corrupted creature, but it was still plenty horrible enough for him. Assassins and torturers used them as a particularly gruesome means of killing.  

First, the leech would inject the victim with a numbing agent so that they wouldn’t feel it as it burrowed into their body. Then it would slowly crawl, feeding on blood and viscera. The victim wouldn’t be able to feel it at first, but they could see it moving underneath their skin. Soon the numbing agent would wear off and they would begin to feel everything as the leech ate them from the inside. The leech would burrow all the way to the victim’s brain and their eyes would roll back in agony. Only then would the victim finally die.

The stalker removed the stopper from the vial and carefully poured out the liquid without disturbing the leech inside. With the liquid gone, the leech which had previously been in a state of hibernation slowly began to wake.

He stepped deeper into the room until he was looming right over Sayer’s bedside. With a twisted smirk, he tipped the vial and dropped the awakening leech directly onto Sayer’s sleeping body. The stalker stepped back out of caution. The creature should target whoever was closest when it became active, but he wasn’t about to test that.

The leech wiggled and writhed. It stood upright like a cobra as it glanced around, as if taking in the surroundings even though it had no eyes. It only took a moment before it fixated on the sleeping Sayer. The leech slithered along the bed covers until it reached his arm where some of his skin was exposed. Its instinctual hunger was awakening along with its body.

Something very strange happened. As it brushed against Sayer’s arm, the leech let out a delighted squeal. It rubbed its head against Sayer like an affectionate cat eager to be stroked by its owner. The stalker was very confused by this, but he had never used one of these brain leeches before. Perhaps this wasn’t unusual. 

Sayer stirred slightly in his sleep as he felt something nuzzling his arm. He mumbled and brushed it aside gently. The leech seemed to be disappointed to not receive any acknowledgement, but it continued to cuddle close to him. It injected its numbing venom into Sayer. Then as it rumbled a sound that could only be described as ‘purring’, it bit into him and wormed its way into his body. However instead of beginning to feast, it happily curled up and went dormant once more now that it found such a comfortable host.

The stalker let out a breath of relief. The leech acted strangely at first, but it burrowed into the target in the end. Now his fate was sealed. He would wake up within an hour and begin to suffer through an excruciating hell. By the morning, the target would already be dead. The stalker grinned as he retreated from the room and closed the door behind him. He could report the job’s completion to the client.

—

Sayer slept like a baby that night. It was already late into the morning by the time he finally awoke. Perhaps because of his brush with the dangerous academy prefect, his first night in Melogos hadn’t been very restful. But last night was different. Sayer couldn’t remember the last time he woke up feeling so refreshed. 

Sayer washed up and went through his morning routine, but he quickly noticed a few strange things. As he was exchanging his bandages for fresh ones Aya gave him, he discovered that he had a circular scar on his arm he didn’t remember. Then as he was leaving his motel room, he found the door was unlocked. 

He was certain that he hadn’t left it that way, so that could only mean one thing. Someone had invaded his room in the middle of the night. Nothing was stolen. Sayer didn’t even have any things worth stealing besides a handful of coins, and those were still in his coat’s pocket. So then was the intruder’s goal to harm him? He felt fine, but he did have that unfamiliar scar. Had the intruder done something to him while he was asleep? 

Sayer was chilled by this thought. He carefully inspected himself a second time, but discovered nothing else amiss. He had angered the Beaumonts, so if they sent someone to take revenge it wouldn’t be that surprising. In fact, Sayer realized he had been very careless already not to take steps against this. But if that was the case, why wouldn’t the intruder have simply killed him. Perhaps they had left a means to track him on his body. He would ask Aya if any spells could do that when he got the chance.

He couldn’t understand the intruder’s motive, but Sayer didn’t care. He wouldn’t let someone break into his place a second time no matter what they wanted. The motel could no longer be considered safe, so he would need to find a better place. That was in addition to finding a quick source of income. Sayer couldn’t help but sigh. The problems just kept piling up. 

Sayer left the motel and headed towards the square in the commercial district. This was by far the busiest area in the city. There was constant foot traffic as well as a steady trickle of carriages and wagons moving along the road. Businesses of all kinds could be found at the market square and the surrounding streets. 

As Sayer traveled, he made a mental note of any places that could be a suitable source of income. One café he passed was hiring waitresses. At first, he thought of recommending Aya. Waiting tables was a good position for students and she needed the money. Sayer tried picturing Aya as a waitress. He imagined the girl in a maid’s apron blackmailing gullible customers and arguing with everyone else. On second thought, maybe Aya wasn’t right for the service industry. 

Sayer eventually came to a large building that took up an entire block all on its own. A hand-painted sign above the entrance labeled it ‘Blackmore Hunter Guild’. The wall was covered with many flyers and a crier stood up on a soapbox actively recruiting for new members. This place caught his attention. 

He had no intention of delving into the Old District. That sounded like suicide as far as Sayer was concerned. However, a large guild like this was sure to have clerical and administration type positions in addition to their hunters. With his modern education, he figured he should be more than qualified compared to the average Melogos local for that kind of work. At any rate, he might as well try his luck.

Sayer walked up the stone steps and through a set of double doors. He entered a foyer that was decorated with various kinds of exotic weapons and ornate armor. A pretty brunette with wire-rim glasses and her hair in a ponytail sat behind a reception desk. They certainly knew how to get young men to sign up. 

“Welcome to Blackmore Hunter’s Guild! If you’re interested in joining, all it takes is a few quick questions to get started. You can receive your sign-on bonus in as little as an hour.”

“Blackmore sure is aggressive with its recruitment. Is there some big event happening soon?”

“There’s always new expeditions being planned and the competition with other guilds is fierce, so of course we’re looking to expand as much as possible. So how about it, are you brave enough to join the city’s most fearsome hunters?”

The receptionist fluttered her eyes flirtatiously as she made a challenge intended to fire up Sayer’s competitive spirit. Sayer gave the girl a meaningful smile. Surely their recruitment strategy had nothing to do with a high turnover due to deaths. 

“Actually I wanted to ask if you were hiring for any positions other than hunters.”

The girl clicked her tongue as she saw her hard sell didn’t have any effect.

“Perhaps. That will take an in-depth interview and you’ll need to have a proper education.”

Sayer was about to say that he had a physics degree, but then he remembered the confusion that caused at the banquet. So he altered it to what that man at the party misunderstood his field as.

“I used to be an astrologer. If you have any accounting positions that require proficiency in mathematics, those could be a good fit for me.”

At the mention of ‘astrologer’, the girl suddenly sat up straighter and her eyes brightened with surprise. She perked up with excitement. 

“Did you say you’re an astrologer? It just so happens that the guild leader has been looking for such a consultant!” 

“Really? That’s.. lucky. Why exactly does a hunter guild need an astrologer consultant?”

“It’s to do with an artifact that was recovered during the most recent expedition, but I’m not too sure on the details. You wait right here, I’ll go grab the boss!”

Without giving Sayer the opportunity to refuse, the girl ran off up a set of stairs behind the counter. Sayer felt conflicted as he watched her run off. Truthfully Sayer didn’t know anything about astrology. Back on Earth, it was seen as simply nonsense pseudoscience, but here it seemed to be a fairly respected profession. Sayer hoped that his knowledge in astrophysics could translate to the astrology of this world. He might be able to use some astronomy jargon to fake his way and fool these people, but he didn’t feel comfortable doing that. Even if he was desperate to make money quickly, Sayer didn’t want to be nothing but a leech.