Balthazar gave his goblin assistant a nod, and Druma promptly opehe box Madeleine and Rye had brought over. The goblin carefully slid a pte out of the carton and onto the table surface, revealing a pie, much rger than the ohe baker usually sent to the crab. Its wide crust was lightly broerfectly toasted, a glimmer of caramelized sugars coating its edges all around. The top had beely covered in thin slices of apple, eae nearly identical in size and shape, f a pattern that covered the ey of its surface like a weaved fabric.

  His breathing heavy, Balthazar nearly lost track of where he was and what he was doing for a moment, mesmerized by the sheer beauty of his beloved, as the gobliched a long ko carve it with. He could barely wait to see its insides.

  Shaking his shell away from more steamy thoughts of smoking hot pie slices, the crab tried to gather his thoughts aurn to his expnation.

  “Oh, Druma, let me help you with that,” Madeleine said, standing up and walking behind Balthazar to reach the goblin, who was struggling with the size of the pie, because of his short arms and the huge cutting knife.

  “I asked Madelei this rge… beautiful… pie for us as we gather here today, as a gesture of goodwill,” Balthazar said, addressing the table. “I know some of you probably know me for not being too keen on sharing my pastries…”

  “You don’t say?” Rob muttered under his breath from within his bush.

  “But I figured it would be fitting for me to share one of my favorite things with you all,” the crab tinued, ign the snide ent, “while sharing my pns for us to work together. Together like a team. Like a big pie.”

  Around the table, some exged g each other, but nobody said a word, while Madeleine and Druma were busy cutting and distributing slices of pie onto smaller ptes.

  “I admit, I’ve never been the best at w with others—”

  “Or at socializing,” said Madeleine, as she pced another slice of pie onto a pte held by Druma.

  “Or at having manners,” Hea croaked.

  “Or at not pining about everything and everyone,” said John with a chuckle.

  “Alright, alright!” Balthazar excimed, starting to question his own idea ing everyone around that table. “We all get it. Point is, I’ve e to learn that there is strength in numbers, and that it is best to work as a team than to stand alone against everything and everyone.”

  Across the table, Khargol gave a knowing nod of approval, despite his crossed arms in front of his chest, still giving the impression of someone displeased with being there.

  The baker and the goblin began distributing ptes of pie around the table. Balthazar couldn’t help but notice Madeleine was avoiding going anywhere om as they went around the table.

  “That’s great and all, but who or what exactly are we meant to be standing against here?” the skeleton said, as Druma pced a pte in front of him. The traveling mert looked down at the pie with a hint of fusion on his bony face, looking unsure of what to do with it.

  “Well, let’s take this by steps,” the crab responded. “And I think first, we o address the toad in the room.” He turo his left and looked at the small amphibiao Tristan. “Go on, Hea, introduce yourself and tell us about you.”

  Balthazar sat back down on his stool, gd to pass the focus to someone else for a moment, so he could tackle the slice of pie Madeleine had just served him, its delicious smell flooding his shell with desire.

  The green mert propped her fs up, sitting straight on her bench, looking nervous now that everyone’s gaze had turo her.

  “Hi, I’m Hea, and I’m a toad.”

  “Hi Hea,” most of the group said in unison, their levels of enthusiasm varying.

  She looked nervously tht, where Tristan gave her a f nod as he mouthed two words. “Go on.”

  “Well, most of y’all probably don’t know me,” the toad began, after a deep breath, “but I used to own an inn up in Ardville. I was also a human.”

  There were a few raised eyebrows, and some surprised murmuring around the table, but she carried on.

  “That was until Antoine—some of you might know he is the current master of the Merts Guild—decided he wao take over my inn and I dared say no. I don’t want to take too much of everyoime with my story, but in short, he saw it fit to get a witch to curse me into… this, and then lock me in a cage in his basement.”

  Madeleine, who had just sat back down on her chair after being done serving everyone pie, covered her mouth with both hands, muffling a loud gasp.

  Two seats tht, John slowly shook his head. “So that’s what really happeo that innkeeper. I always thought the whole story that she had sold the inn and taken off ht didn’t sound right.”

  “That man isn’t just awful. He’s a monster!” Madeleine excimed, finally moving her hands down from her mouth.

  “Indeed, and that’s one of the reasons I brought you all here,” Balthazar said, still struggling to chew and swallow the rge portion of pie he had stuffed into his mouth while the toad eaking.

  The baker frowned and gave him a disapproving gre.

  “What? I’m hungry and I already heard her story before!” said the crab.

  “That’s truly awful, I mean it,” said Tom, giving Hea a nod of sympathy, “but I’m still not sure what any of that got to do with me or why I’m here.”

  “Yeah, I don’t mean to be unpleasant or anything,” Rye said, “but we address the skeleton in the room, too?”

  “Yes, please. A moving and talking skeleton makes me way too nervous,” Madeleine said, gng at the skeleton in tatters across the table.

  “Well, there’s a talking tht there and I don’t see ya being nervous about her!” Tom said with a shrug.

  “Because she’s adorable!” the girl retorted.

  “Alright, enough bickering!” Balthazar yelled. “We’re all supposed to be on the same side here.”

  “Pfft, what is she talking about? I’m adorable as hell,” the skeleton muttered to himself, crossing his arms and looking away.

  “Look, I hear you, Balthazar,” Rye started, “but you must uand it’s a bit odd to be sitting at the same table as a skeleton when I’m used to, you know… shoot at them all the time while delving into dungeons.”

  “Oh, those things?” Tom asked, pointing at the arrows in the adventurer’s quiver. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Really, they’re barely an invenience for us. We don’t take it personally either.”

  Rye squinted with a fused expression, but Balthazar spoke before the young man could say anything else.

  “Tom over here is from a nearby dungeon. Without getting into too much detail, he’s also a trader of sorts, and I’ve been doing business with him for a while. He es by at night, when most adventurers are gone, arade. I trust him. He has good bones.”

  Balthazar looked at the two humans to his right. Both Madeleine and Rye gave an awkward shrug of acceptance before the crab tinued.

  “And simir situation goes for Khargol over there. We do business every few days. Don’t let his charming personality and friendly looks fool you. He drives a hard bargain in most trades, but he’s a fair orc.”

  The chieftai out a quiet grunt, and for just a brief fsh, Balthazar could almost swear he saw a hint of a smile form in the er of his mouth.

  “Now, as for why I wahe two of them here with us,” the golden crab tinued, “the reason is that I see a lot of business potential with the non-human poputions out there. Adventurer money is all nid good, but I see no reason I shouldn’t expand and diversify. I’m in a privileged position, as being a crab, I am beloved by all!”

  Balthazar opened his arms wide, looking at the group with a wide smile.

  Everyone looked around in different dires, some clearing their throat quietly, others adjusting their colrs, a few eveending to examiheir nails. From within the bush came a quiet snickering.

  “Well, anyway,” the crab said, the smile fading away from his face, “I already have the business from one duhanks to Tom over there, and I have dealings with Khargol’s tribe. He also tells me of this settlement of lizardfolk far to the south. I’d like to do business with them and many more iure, maybe. There are only two problems with that. One is that this side of my business would have to be run during night hours, and as dedicated of a mert as I am, even I still o sleep.”

  The group around the table was now listening with a lot more i, the orc chieftain having gone as far as uncrossing his arms and leaning forward on his chair at the mention of the lizardfolk.

  “So, what did you have in mind?” Tom asked, tapping his skull’s with a pointy finger.

  “I’d need someone else to run that side of the business at night,” Balthazar answered, turning to his left. “And who better than a noal toad?”

  “Actually, did you know not all toads are noal?” Rye said, raising his hand, as if requesting permission to speak.

  “Nht now, Rye,” Madeleine whispered, shaking her head at him.

  The young man slowly lowered his hand, returning his now embarrassed gaze to the pte of pie in front of him.

  Trying to ighe unsolicited piece of trivia, Balthazar carried on.

  “Hea and I had a discussion and decided to set our differences aside to make the most of our skills and join our forces towards a on goal.”

  “Make more ?” asked Tom.

  “Well, yes, that too,” the crab responded. “But mainly I meant the sed problem: our on enemy, Antoine.”

  “Again, I agree this Anthony guy, or whatever, sounds like a douche,” the skeleton said, “but that’s got little to do with me, or even Khargol over here.”

  “Maybe not yet,” Balthazar said, “but I take it you two would be ied iing in on the possibility of using this pce as a nighttime bazaar where all sorts of non-human races could gather to do business, would you not?”

  The ord the skeleton exged quices at each other before nodding slightly.

  “Well, Antoine seems to have a problem with my business, and wants to put ao it by whatever means necessary. If he has his way, no Balthazar’s Bazaar for you or anyone. So if we all here want to do busiogether, we o accept he will be our on enemy.”

  “I do not see this as an impediment,” Khargol said. “If this puny human mert poses any kind of trouble to me or mine, I shall simply crush him like any other fool who stands up against me.”

  “As much as I like your thinking,” said Balthazar, “this guy is the guildmaster of the merts in town and a pretty important figure. Getting rid of him that way would bring a world of trouble down on all of us that we ’t really afford. Do you really want a war between your tribe and the humans? Because I certainly don’t want the guards ing dowo arrest me for murder. I’m not made to live in a cage!”

  “Fair point,” the orc said, reing ba his chair and crossing his arms again. “Then what do you have in mind?”

  “Simple, my orcish friend,” the gilded crusta replied with a sly smile. “An indepe settlement.”

  H0st