The carriage carrying Doreen, Rufus, and Edward reached old man Haufen's bar. Rufus woke up and they inside. Haley was waiting for them who was still a little bit out of it after almost getting caught by the unknown man.
"You okay Haley," Rufus asked as a worried brother.
Haley then looked at the three of them. All of them were badly wounded and then realized that she shouldn't let the encounter pull her down. All of them had been through hell today.
"I'm fine of course. What happened to you guys? Weren't you supposed to just follow them and find their meeting place?"
After they explained the situation, they realized that the prince's mission to overthrow the monarchy was becoming more and more dangerous and unlikely. Dorothy had proven herself as even stronger than Doreen, Rufus, and Edward put together. To add to the problems Haley mentioned the person he had seen inside the Milene mansion.
Doreen knew that man well. He was duke Eivar Mihalh. He was no doubt the richest person in the Jacob kingdom. He controlled the city of Sofia, a rich city that is said to be even more wealthy than the capital city itself.
~ ~
A little while later the prince entered the bar accompanied by August.
"Oh seems like you all had a fun day," the prince said with a large smile.
No one was in the mood for jokes.
After explaining the situation to the prince he had gotten a pretty good understanding of the situation.
"Well, I think we can say pretty confidentially that the real leader of the Milene family and the assassins were being led by this Dorothy. To make it worse she is working with Eivar Mihalh." explained the prince.
"The future missions your going to give us will become even more dangerous because of this," Haley said.
Prince Markus dropped a big sack of money on the table. Haley started drooling over the big sack of money.
"Here is your today's pay. I added an extra `I was about to die' bonus also into the sack. You are of course free to stop doing these missions."
"WE WILL DO THEM!" Haley screamed with dollar signs in her eyes.
The prince looked happy but was about the only one who looked pleased.
"What do you think Rufus?" Edward asked.
Rufus took a while to answer. He was thinking of Dorothy. Such a woman with immense power and on top of that killing her sister without hesitation. There was such a monster now as an enemy but Rufus was not afraid of her.
"We will do it. But I must remind you. We have our own motives."
Everyone looked at Haley who had started to count the money.
They all knew what Haley's motive was...…
"Well then. I will contact you later if we need you guys," the prince said who was just about to leave the bar.
The prince left the bar and old man Haufen then entered the bar from the back door.
"I have a feeling I again missed someone really important," thought old man Haufen to himself reading the mood of the air.
When Doreen, prince Markus, and August left the bar prince Markus whispered at Doreen.
"Oh, Doreen, unfortunately, your cover has been blown. So, you mind working from now on with these guys?" the prince said looking at her.
"It is no problem, my prince," Doreen said obediently.
The prince and August were surprised at how well Doreen took the command without any reluctance. The prince left and Doreen was standing alone on the porch of the bar. Rufus came out seeing her standing there alone.
"I happen to hear you would be working with us now for good. Are you okay with that? Hanging with people like us."
"I was told by my grandfather that the best part of his life was when he fought with his comrades in the phalanx. That feeling when you know your brother in arms will have your back no matter what. I think I now understand him a bit better."
"Eh…Phalanx? What's that?"
"It doesn't really matter does it, and I am pretty similar to you guys. An outcast in this country. My grandparents moved into this country from the world Olympia. I have been treated as an outcast by everyone in my life because I am of immigrant descent. Only the prince didn't care about my past. He just cared if I could get things done. That's all that mattered to him."
"Ooooh really. The prince seems a bit that way. Only caring about results." Rufus said annoyingly.
"What kind of world is Olympia anyway," asked a curious Rufus.
"It is apparently a beautiful world with no winter. It is ruled by a god, unlike this world. A god called Zeuz. An almighty being who controls the skies.
"The fields bring out great harvests all year long and they produce the best wine in the entire universe. Strong soldiers called hoplites, protect the people and fight for the gods and their countries. At least that's what I heard from my grandfather. Don't know why he then decided to come here."
"Hmmm…A god. I wonder what kind of people gods are," thought Rufus to himself.