"Then what happened?" Alina asked.
"Well, Callum got them shut down." Salem laughed as he remembered the indignant expressions on the staff's and owner's faces. "He and our attorney managed to get enough of the children to admit that they were abused and beaten. The orphanage and any of its branches were promptly shut down."
"Those bastards deserved it." Ruby said angrily. "Why would they make children suffer?"
"Who knows." Salem responded. "Either way, it's the past now. We have more pressing issues than history. Look."
As Salem was speaking one of his bugs had been tripped and he pulled a screen up to show them a small search party that was rapidly closing in on their location.
"They aren't very fast.'' Alina noted. "Think we could take them?"
"Probably, but I want to figure out why they're here first." Salem said, creating a wooden chair and sitting in it. "I'd rather not beat it out of them, but I'd be a fool to wait and not prepare. Both of you should hide yourselves."
Both girls nodded and retreated into the treeline.
Salem made three more chairs for every member of the search party.
Salem leaned back as he constructed a small, single-room home around himself.
From the outside it looked like little more than a shack, but from the inside it was a warmly lit home complete with a small table and chairs, a small bed, a warm fireplace and a desk that Salem constructed to look like it had been stuffed with papers.
He had a reason for this. He knew that when someone noted something that seemed too clean it tended to set off a warning in their mind. By adding a bit of mess, it would make them feel less on edge.
The entire home was constructed to make them feel less vigilant.
The three people continued on their way to Salem's location while he impassively listened to their conversation.
"To think that I, the great Douche, took such a simple mission." The man leading the party sighed. "What a waste of time.''
The man paused and closed his eyes for a moment before leading them in the same direction once more.
"Well, you're getting paid." One of the other men muttered irritably. "Far more than I am."
"But I am superior to you two plebeians." Douche laughed heartily. "You are simply lesser."
Both men glared at him angrily, but kept their mouths shut.
"Say, would this dragon have a fully human form?" Douche saw the little home that sat upon the hill in the middle of a clearing. "No dragon in history has accomplished this! Incredible!"
"We don't know if it's the actual dragon." One of the men doused Douche cold water.
"But the aura directly leads here." Douche said defensively. "Do you think I, the great Douche, would make this sort of mistake?"
Salem grinned as the man referred to himself as 'Douche'.
He put a kettle on the fireplace and relaxedly reclined in his chair while waited patiently for the group to arrive.
"Do you think this is a trap?" One of the men asked when Douche raised his hand to knock.
Douche turned and was about to yell at the man when Salem pushed the door open and greeted them.
"Greetings. I have been expecting you." Salem said. "You took longer than I anticipated. Care for tea?"
The tea kettle he had placed upon the fireplace had started whistling almost a minute before they had arrived.
"Take a seat." Salem gestured with a hand for them to take a seat as he got up and began making tea for the three of them.
None of the three men even considered attacking Salem. They were told just how powerful the dragon was thought to be.
They sat in a row with Douche in the center, awkwardly sitting as they waited to be served their tea.
Salem handed each of them a small glass cup with intricate and wavy patterns etched into the clear glass.
Douche seemed ill-at-ease as he held the cup like one would hold a live grenade.
Salem sipped the fruity tea he had prepared as he reclined against his chair, pleased with how it turned out.
Salem let the three men sit in silence as he slowly sipped at his tea.
"Are you really a dragon?" The man on Douche's right blurted out when he could no longer bear the heavy silence.
"No, I am not." Salem chuckled. "Though the dragons do take after my kind."
Douche paled. He fully understood the implications behind Salem's words, even though Salem didn't.
"Has anyone offended you during your stay in our world?" Douche asked fearfully, any shred of his former arrogance had vanished as if it was a mere illusion. "If anyone has offended you, let me know and I will remove them from the face of our planet."
"Now, why would you do that?" Salem asked as he poured himself another cup of tea.
"Because if you were angered it would be a nightmare for humankind." Douche felt more at ease after Salem stopped moving. He was afraid Salem would sneak attack him.
"Everyone wants to avoid their nightmares." Salem smiled slightly. "But night always comes."
Douche opened his mouth but quickly shut it when Salem continued speaking.
"I already dealt with the people who went after me for the sake of coin." Salem smiled. "Now, tell me, why did you come here, searching for me?"
"The city lord of Ciudad is after your heart." Douche admitted.
"So he wasn't the one who ordered my and my companions' capture to be dragged to the master's tournament?" Salem inquired.
"No, not at all!" Douche exclaimed. "I don't know who would be foolish enough to order an Ancient such as yourself."
"They sent someone who had a space cultivation method." Salem described the lady and her companion.
"I can't think of a family who has a cultivation method like that." Douche responded, lamenting to himself tat he couldn't help such a powerful being. "I'll do my best to figure this out, though."
"No. It won't matter to me soon, anyway." Salem refused the man's offer. "I'm leaving the continent soon. Any who pursue with the intent to harm will perish, however."