Shiina patiently waited at the base of the tower disguised as a dresser. She got to assassinate a lone guard that ran past in the confusion, but mostly she just watched as the palace descended into chaos.

  From what she was gathering, most of the slaves had started looking for ways to escape. However the slave soldiers and a few more violent ones had lashed out at their abusers. The guards had no idea what exactly was happening, and were trying to find someone in charge to tell them what they should do.

  The door burst open again, and Shiina perked up as Zanya moved in, axe already out. Ife and Delilah followed, each ready for a fight. They looked like they'd seen some combat already, but Delilah had healed most of the damage.

  "Hey!" Shiina announced herself before shifting and waving to her friends. "My mission went pretty good. You all okay?"

  Shiina's presence caused them to relax a bit. Delilah was first to approach. "It sucked, though we did get to tear apart the guard captain. So that should help." The half elf tapped Shiina with her staff. "Blessing of friendship. Aid of life. Strength of justice."

  The buffs washed over her and she smiled. "Thanks!" She looked over at Zanya. "What's the plan now? I wanted to help out, but I didn't have a clue what to do other than stab guards."

  Zanya motioned towards the front of the palace. "The gate. The adventurers inside the city will be trying to break into the palace proper, since that's where most of the leadership is. We let them in and effective resistance should be over."

  "Where's that catgirl by the way?" Ife asked.

  "She went out to get some personal revenge. Oh right!" Shiina pulled out the dress and silk. "I gave her the key since she helped me out, but I stole these from the treasury earlier!"

  Delilah blinked while Ife preened. "Thanks?" the half elf said.

  "That'll help with getting new gear later," Ife said. "But first let's handle the gate."

  A massive bang rang out as Shiina felt the ground ripple, almost like it was liquid. The sheer power caused her to lose form for a moment before she managed to stabilize. She focused on the others, who were picking themselves off the ground. "What the hell was that?"

  "At a guess, a high level mage finding the gate shut," Ife replied. "We might be late."

  "Let's check," Zanya replied, heading towards the stairs. Shiina did her best to keep up with Delilah as they moved to the ground floor, then worked their way towards the front doors. It was a winding mess, but fortunately the sounds of battle helped them keep their direction

  As they headed down the last hallway two guards stumbled out of a side passage. With a yell of alarm they rushed at Shiina's group. Zanya blocked the first one with the flat of her axe, while Shiina lashed out with her dagger. That caused the man to hesitate long enough for Ife to catch him. "Beauteous Radiance," she incanted, sending a beam of light through his chest.

  The death of his friend caused the other halfling to flinch, which Zanya took advantage of. A powerful overhead cut slammed through his weak guard and buried the axe well into the man's lungs. The ophidian took a moment to rip out the weapon before starting forwards again.

  As Shiina entered the entry chamber she froze. The place was a scene of carnage unfolding. The doors were broken open, blood stained the gold, and three warriors, Wessle at the front, were destroying the pitiful resistance in front of them.

  Shiina had heard about the difference between levels. How around a fifteen level gap fights turned from a struggle to a total slaughter. But she'd never really understood what that meant. The catfolk warrior casually walked forwards, his two handed sword snapping out at anyone who got in range. He didn't even bother blocking, just killing each enemy as they advanced with a speed that Shiina could barely follow. This totally eclipsed Zanya and Ife's skills.

  Soon the massacre was over. Shiina got the impression they really hadn't needed to rush here. Wessle cleaned his blade. "Good work. Do you know where the Guard Captain is? He's the last loose end."

  "He was questioning us when the spell broke," Delilah said. "I kicked him in the groin and Ife finished him."

  "Excellent," Wessle grinned. "That ends the leadership problem."

  Zanya blinked. "We don't know where the Sultana is though."

  "We do," Wessle said, pointing upward. "Someone gutted her and hung her from her own balcony using her intestines. That problem is taken care of, and the corpse is even nicely displayed."

  Shiina figured that took a lot of work. She wondered if it had been Hafsa or someone else. Still that led to her big question. "Now what?"

  "Now we clean up the rest of the mess piece by piece." He motioned to his allies. "I need to finish up here. Gather up the newly freed slave soldiers and get a proper strike squad to squash pockets of holdouts. But if you'd like to keep assisting we'll want a healer and some people to help the doctors. Of course if you wanna go around busting up resistance I won't complain, but I imagine you're done trying to fight above your level."

  Delilah looked at Ife and Zanya. "I think I'd like healing more than sacking the city."

  "Less rewarding, but much safer," Ife said. "I'd be fine with it."

  "Shiina?" Zanya asked.

  "Sure!" Shiina pulled out her diary. "I've got questions for doctors anyway! Never really got to meet one."

  Zanya nodded. "Just do it in between work." She looked to Wessle. "Where's the medical station?"

  "Main square." He paused then bowed his head. "And damn fine work. Keep the payment we loaned you. You earned it."

  "Needle." the elf doctor said, holding out her hand. Shiina took the small knife the woman had been carrying and replaced it with the requested needle. She watched as the woman sewed up the wound before waving to Delilah. "Patient is ready."

  Delilah walked over and held her staff over the wound. "Charitable healing." The flesh fused under her attention, the wound fading to a faint line before vanishing entirely. The patient had been unconscious for the whole time, so they couldn't say if they were doing okay. But Shiina saw their color improve.

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  The doctor cut the stitches and carefully pulled the thin thread out. "Anyone else?" she asked as she finished the procedure.

  Shiina turned her attention to the front of the tent. It didn't seem like anyone new had been brought in. "Nope!"

  The elven woman moved over to a seat and flopped down. "Thank the gods. That's more work than I've had in a month." She looked at Delilah. "And thanks for your help, child. So many magical healers get touchy when asked to fix up after a doctor's mess."

  "I'm not stupid enough to try to deal with splinters and shrapnel with my current healing," Delilah replied. "And it's much easier to have a professional do the surgery so I can focus on the cleanup."

  The doctor turned to Shiina. "And thank you for your help as an assistant." She smiled. "Even if your bedside manner needs a bit of work."

  "I promise not to ask to lick the knives next time," Shiina replied politely. She'd still do it. It was good for cleaning! But she'd word it differently. "I learned a lot about humanoids too!" Anatomy books were useful but actually seeing the insides gave her a much deeper understanding. It was so messy, disorganized, and kinda amazing.

  After a bit of rest the doctor stood up. "Well, you two kids can get back to your friends. The local healers can handle the rest, and I'm going to need to drill the basics into their heads. As well as keep an eye on my nurses. You deserve some time to sleep, and maybe a bit of relaxation after all this chaos." She gave another friendly smile. "Though if you're ever in need of a spare coin don't hesitate to visit my office. I'll probably move on in a century or so but that's plenty of time."

  "Thank you," Delilah said with a bow.

  They headed out into the night towards where Ife and Zanya were standing with the other guards. "So that kid thing, is that because elves just think we're all kids, or because you're a half elf," Shiina asked.

  "Probably a bit of both," Delilah replied. "They vaguely understand other races grow up faster, but they have a harder time with half elf ages. It's one of the many reasons why elven parents and half elf kids usually end up estranged." She sighed, before shaking her thoughts off. "She seemed very nice though. More focused than most. I've never heard of an elf willingly sticking around a city for more than four decades."

  Shiina nodded as she internalized the info. Elves were one of the strangest humanoid groups, and she'd never really gotten to interact with one much.

  Zanya and Ife were relaxing at the guard post when they arrived. It seemed there were plenty of spare troops to keep the place safe, so most were just relaxing while a few kept watch. "Done?" Zanya asked.

  "Yeah," Delilah replied. "So now what do we do?"

  Ife stood and brushed off her tail. "I got us a room back at the inn we were staying at yesterday. So I say we enjoy a big meal and a long rest."

  "It's open?" Shiina asked. Normally an invasion caused a bit of disruption in trade.

  "No slaves on staff," Ife said with a shrug. "They were offering free drinks to newly freed citizens outside last I saw. And recruiting staff on the side. I imagine the owner is planning to expand."

  Shiina blinked. That was impressive in a kinda cold way. Then again she was planning on taking a nap while the rich villas finished getting sacked so she probably didn't get to judge. "And our plan after that?"

  "Start looking for a way to leave town," Zanya said.

  "Are we really planning on destroying their entire social structure and running?" Delilah asked.

  Ife's ears twitched. "Well, that's what we usually do."

  "Better to disappear into legend then become a well known name," Zanya added. "We're lucky only a few people know we're responsible for this mess. Most will just guess we were here by accident."

  Shiina thought over it for a bit. It did seem kinda bad to change everything then run. But Zanya had a good point. And they'd changed things for the better! "It's too bad we can't see how it all turns out. And I'd kinda wanted to try a dungeon run too."

  "That was never going to happen," Ife said, tail drooping. "You saw how they run their dungeons here. Too bad though because there's lots of materials we could have gathered."

  "Well I mean, since the old guild was government run they're gonna be gone," Shiina said. "Nothing's stopping us from just doing a dungeon run."

  All the humanoids stopped and looked back at her with wide eyes. Eventually Ife turned to Zanya. "She's got a point."

  "Forbidden Tombs?" Zanya said.

  "Forbidden Tombs," Ife replied.

  "What are the Forbidden Tombs?" Delilah asked.

  Zanya's eyes shimmered in the moonlight. "A dungeon. The only dungeon in the area that forms Sun Tears."

  Shiina tried to think through all the rare materials she knew about, but she couldn't remember hearing anything about those. "I don't think I've heard of those."

  "They're teardrop shaped gems of condensed light," Ife said. "Actually common in most areas because they form in lower level dungeons. But they're the sultanate's gem, so harvesting and export have been banned. Meaning they're fairly rare here."

  "They're also perfect for equipment that boosts enhancement spells," Zanya added. "And unlike the other dungeons, not many other people will get the idea to harvest from the tombs, so we likely won't have as much competition."

  Delilah perked up. "That does sound much better than fighting one of the desperate groups trying to farm gold and gems. What level is it?"

  "The main path is level fourteen I think," Zanya replied. Shiina considered that. Fourteen was similar to the low level dungeons near Shiina's home. So this should be a cakewalk.

  Ife grinned. "We'll set out tomorrow."

  The Forbidden Tombs were not in the cemetery like Shiina thought they should be, but actually ten minutes outside the city, in a rocky chunk of the desert. A flat slab lay on a small rise, with stars in the middle leading down. The smoldering wreckage of a small outpost sat beside it, probably a remnant of the tribes' push to the city.

  "Doesn't really look impressive," Shiina said as they reached the entrance.

  "It's not," Ife admitted. "If it weren't for Al Jirtea sending assassins to murder anyone who tried to sell or own Sun Tears taken from here it would be just another dungeon."

  Delilah frowned. "Hm, so by the time people know it's safe to buy these gems they'll know the supply has been freed up."

  Zanya nodded. "No get rich quick scheme for us. Just semi-valuable stones, a good dungeon run, and crafting materials for later."

  "Eh, that's fine. We've still got those bags of holding filled with gold," Shiina said. She'd be buying fancy meals for a year at least!

  They headed down the stairs, the stone walls taking an ancient worn look as they descended. Wall art depicting lions, sunbursts, and halflings standing tall over groveling humans started to appear.

  The stairs opened up into a large entry passage, with the murals all around the room, leading to an intricately carved stone door. Shiina's attention was drawn instead to the catgirl doing stretches in the middle of the room.

  Hasfa jumped to her feet at their party's entrance, hands going to her swords before she blinked in confusion. "What the hell are you doing here?"

  I've said before elves are one of the weirdest races on the planet, and meeting a normal elf kinda showed why. Elves have two main characteristics. Because they're functionally immortal their sense of time is totally skewed. One of my 'jobs' helping was to remind her the patient was still bleeding if she got caught up in something and took too long. I've heard stories of elves sharpening their blades mid fight, and at least one of them has multiple witnesses.

  Which leads to the other points about elves. Elves have the shortest attention spans of any sentient being in creation. If something manages to catch an elf's interest they will almost certainly chase after it. What might catch any specific elf's interest is purely random, so it can't easily be used against them. But it's almost certain to happen.

  This leads to what's considered the 'usual elf cycle.' An elf will arrive somewhere, find something they want to learn, spend fifty to a hundred years getting good at it, then pack up and move out overnight on a whim. Most towns rapidly learn to never let an elf hold a vital job because one day they will be gone. At the very least they force the elf to train up an apprentice to take over.

  Elven cities are held by those few elves that can practice some form of delayed gratification, like the doctor we worked with. Instead of just running off they'll wait a few decades for someone competent to come back so they can hand off responsibilities. The rest of the population however just wanders in and out. Most elven cities are now multiracial, just because the elves don't stick around to actually live in them full time.