Through the silent night and the misty air over the bay, the Marquessian Dame sailed toward a small pier oskirts of town.

  “Are you certain they didn’t follow us?” Balthazar asked as he finished pig off bits of algae from his joints.

  “Those bandits would have to be incredible swimmers or rowers to keep up with the Dame,” Captain Leander responded. “And even if they went out to the harbor and got on a ship to follow us, trust me, they don’t have the skills to navigate the al at night. We’re safe.”

  “For now, at least,” the crab added as he twisted his eyestalks back. “Ah, darn it, there’s a piece of gum stuy underside!”

  As the ship he dock, Balthazar noticed a couple of human figures with torches approag it.

  “Crap! Are those town guards?!”

  “Calm down,” the mayor’s right-hand man said. “They are my guys. They might be a minority now, but there are still a few good guards left in this city.”

  The men on nd helped dock the Dame and lower the gangway while Leander furled the sails.

  As the crab’s group left the ship and walked the pier, Suze pointed up at a small house atop the winding road ahead of them. “What’s that pce?”

  “Leander’s little retreat,” said Olivia. “It’s his secret spot to take some time off and do some fishing. Nobody should find us here, and if they did, we’d see them ing from up there.”

  “Hey, by the way,” Balthazar quietly said to the young woman. “Thanks for the rescue. Again.”

  “You should thank the cap,” the mayor’s niece said. “By the time I fielling him everything, he was already on his way out to the ship. Holy, I think he was just excited to have an excuse t her out again on a daring escape missioirement doesn’t suit him.”

  The crab chuckled as they climbed the path up the hill. “Heh, still, just like earlier with the ander, you showed up just in time, so… appreciate it.”

  Olivia nodded with a smirk. “I thought my aunt made a deal for you to solve this mess, but it seems like I’m the one who has to keep bailing you out from the ones you keep getting tangled up in, eh?”

  The group had reached the old ’s door and Balthazar exhaled sharply.

  “Don’t worry, I’m going to uphold my end of the bargain soon. I think I finally got enough to crack this case.”

  The girl gnced down at his cws and her eyebrows rose slightly. “I believe you.”

  “Well, what are you waiting fo on inside,” Captain Leander said as he caught up to them. “Just make sure to wipe your feet o first. I dusted the floor just this m.”

  The was small but cozy, with a fire pit already burning by a er and a few salted fish sitting on a grill o it, just waiting to be put to cook. With wooden walls all around, the many trophies, mounted fish, and even a few medals hanging from them told the story of a life full of achievements by the seasoned veteran. Even his wooden floors said a lot, with all the animal pelt rugs c them. Thankfully Balthazar saw no mounted shells anywhere.

  “Make yourselves at home a,” the man said. “After the day you all had, you must .”

  “We ’t waste time, though,” Balthazar quickly said. “I know where the stolen mangoes are, as well as the one responsible for all of this. We must head there immediately.”

  “Must we, now?” the smiling captain said.

  “Balthazar is right,” Olivia excimed. “If he knows where this… her that is trolling the bandits and turhe city guard is hiding then we have to… to act…”

  A big, overp yawn forced its way through the girl’s words, making her involuntarily open her mouth and stretch her arms.

  “You all need some rest, that’s what you need before anything else,” the old man said.

  “But…” started the crab.

  “All of you,” the other insisted, nodding to the sofa closest to the fire pit.

  Balthazar looked in the dire he ointing with his head and he saw Druma, Blue, and Suze already falling asleep he warm glow of the fmes, with the girl and the goblin both led up against the drake’s body.

  The crab sighed. He didn’t have it in him to wake them up and say they had to go running out again.

  Not because he cared, obviously.

  They just might demara pay for overtime, and there was no way the mert would risk that.

  More importantly, the crab’s body was starting to ache with a fury now that he had stopped for a moment after the whirlwind that was his day.

  “Alright, fine,” Balthazar said. “We rest for now, but tomorrow we set out to finish this.”

  “Good,” said Leander. “It won’t be long before the sun is up anyway. I’ll set my men up around the area to make sure no one sneaks up on us, and then I’ll take the Dame to a hidden grotto nearby so that nobody spots it out there once m es.”

  “I’ll go with you to help,” Olivia enthusiastically said, heading back to the door.

  The captain opened his mouth tue, but his face told that his wisdom knew better than to bother.

  After the door closed behind them, the mert found himself alone in the , his three fellow troublemakers now fast asleep he warmth of the burning logs.

  Balthazar sat back against another sofa close to the fire. Some sleep sounded nice, but there was one more thing he o do.

  Reag into his Backpack of Holding, the crab retrieved the Scroll of Potential he had iated from the Thieves Guild master.

  Now that we finally have a moment alone, let’s see what you’re hiding, little scroll.

  He unfurled the piece of part with both pincers as a white glow grew over his eyes.

  Please be something useful. I’m going to need all the help I get tomorrow.

  Lines and glyphs appeared across Balthazar’s eyes as words formed on his system s.

  [Revealing skill…]

  [Copycrab]

  [Skill - B tier]

  [Requirements: 40 CHA, 15 INT]

  [Cost: 10 mana]

  [Be a little more like those around you. For 5 minutes, gain the properties of a urait from a nearby ally.]

  [Would you like to learn this skill?]

  [Yes] [No]

  Huh… Iing.

  Staring at the fmes of the fire pit through the letters in his eyes, the crab pohe skill revealed to him.

  I guess it could be useful. I’m just not sure how I’d use it right now. No reason not to take it, though.

  With a flick, he firmed the prompt and learhe skill, making the scroll glow more intensely before furling itself bad dropping to the floor, pin and unlit again.

  Allies… Balthazar mused as he looked at the moon outside the ’s window.

  I guess I’ve been amassing a colle of those tely, haven’t I?

  As his eyes grew heavier, the crab recalled a time not so long ago when he would have disliked the mere presence of another being in the viity of his pond. And now there he was casually running around a city with a paisfits in tow, wheeling and dealing, causing trouble and iing with all manner of strange new characters.

  He was not just a long way from his home, he was also a long way from the anti-social crab he once was.

  Even if he still found other people to be annoyances most of the time.

  His body rexed uhe f warmth of the crag fire nearby, and his gaze wao the sleepy heads oher sofa.

  I suppose some of them are alright. Sometimes.

  A long sigh escaped the mert as the dang fmes of the roasting pit lulled him to sleep.

  Tomorroill rescue those poor, deliangoes from her evil clutches… Oh, the pies they will make… Hmm…

  With a smile on his face, the crab drifted off into a slumber filled with dreams of pies and golden s.