The dragon's harem

?”So…” Roberta looked toward Selica and Mira as the guards dragged the frozen thugs on large planks of wood drawn by horses. “Needed to buy anything?”

Selica looked toward Mira, “Deal with her first. I’m here on a more. Official matter,” She pointed with her head.

“Don’t tell me there is a problem with the shop?” Roberta gasped. She had bought the shop from Sena and had been using it for a while. But it wasn’t that long, and troubles could have still arisen if nobles interfered with the dead under the table.

“Nothing like that,” Selica looked toward Mira, “We’ll talk inside. So get her order done first. Our conversation might take a bit of time.” She smiled, “You don’t want us to keep you waiting, do you?”

Mira stared at her, “You sound like you don’t want me here,”

“To be blunt, that’s right.” Selica said with a straight face, “What I need to talk with Roberta about is something private. Since I don’t know if she’s okay with sharing it with others, I’ll only talk about it with her.”

“I see,” Mira sighed, waving her hand and pulling out a paper, “The order and measurements, I’ll take it if it’s a bit bigger, but not smaller,”

Roberta looked at the paper, “I see, I’ll get it in line. Should I send it to Madam Lyla’s shop? Or to Arad’s house?”

“Send it to my shop in Arad’s village.” Mira turned to leave.

“Wait a bit,” Roberta called her and then looked toward Selica, “Is it bad or good news?”

“Bad news,” Selica replied with a straight face.

“From one to ten, how bad is it?”

Selica started thinking, scratching her chin with a worried face, “Depending on what I know and feel, I’ll have to say it’s you’re fucked out of ten,” She growled. ^It’ll be a ten if it’s a mortal problem, and now that’s a devil involved, it’s only right it’s gone off the chart.^

“That bad?” Roberta gasped, “Mira, can you stay? I don’t feel like I could take the news on my own,”

“Of course, if you don’t mind,” Mira smiled, “We can get Arad to help once he wakes up. If it’s someone targeting you, I’m sure he can beat them senseless.”

Selica stared at Mira, “I doubt even Arad…” She paused for a second. ^No, I can imagine that muscle mountain dancing topless into the devil’s mansion and slapping him.^

“… could help…”

“Let’s hear what it is and then decide,” Mira smiled, walking into the shop, “The sooner you pluck that tooth out, the sooner it’ll stop hurting,”

“You’re right,” Roberta smiled as she walked behind Mira, and Selica followed her.

The three of them sat inside the shop, and Roberta closed the door, lighting some candles as they sat around a table. “So, what is it?” Mira looked toward Selica.

“To start, I don’t have all the details at hand. For those, you must head to Sena’s office and read on your own,” Selica stated, “Get ready, and don’t panic,”

“It’s this bad?” Roberta stared at her, worried.

“A devil has you chained in a contract,” Selica said with a serious face, “He demands your father’s and Princess Isdis’s lives.”

The two stared at her, puzzled for a second, “Wait? A devil?” Mira gasped.

“Are you joking?”

“Sadly, I’m not, and you know I’m not good at joking,” Selica said, “I’m as cold as a stone, or should I say a pebble,”

“A devil once tried to force Arad into a contract, and he managed to beat him, with help, yes, but he was weaker at the time.” Mira smiled, “Let’s wait for him to wake and ask him to go teach that devil a lesson,”

“I can’t stress this hard enough,” Selica stared at them, “The difference between fighting a devil without being in a contract. Or while being in one is stupidly massive.”

“We must play by the rules,” Roberta mumbled, “Is it what I think it is?”

“Your mother made you sign that contract eighteen years ago when you were a little girl. I don’t know why. But the devil showed up today to deliver a copy of the contract.” Selica looked at Roberta, “The situation is bad,”

Roberta started scratching her head, looking at the table.

Mira shifted her eyes between the two, sitting straight, “Did the contract ask for Isdis and Roberta’s father by name?”

“Yes,” Selica replied, “There is no mistaking that.”

“Did it specify anything else? Like humans, born at a certain date, or I don’t know? Or have certain marks?” Mira tapped her finger on the table.

“I don’t fully remember, but I don’t think it did. It mentioned their full name, and what the terms are…”

“Well then, it’s simple,” Mira looked around, her eyes stopping at the burning candle lighting the table.

With a gentle move, she lifted it, getting it closer to her lips. And with one blow, the flame vanished only leaving faint white smoke. “Isdis’s life snuffed out,” Mira smiled, grabbing the candle with her second hand and breaking it in half, “And her body severed into two parts.”

Selica and Roberta stared at the candle.

Mira smiled, “If he didn’t specify what they are exactly, this candle is Isdis for all we care. If someone contracted me to make a house and they were skimping on the materials expecting me to pay for them out of my pocket, they’ll get a house as per the contract. It’ll be a dog house instead of a human one, but they didn’t specify what, so they get their material’s worth,”

“We need to read the fine print before,” Selica scratched her chin, “But this might actually work. Only delivering what he asked.” She giggled.

“I’ll keep my hopes down,” Roberta sighed, “It doesn’t feel real,”

“Worry not,” Mira smiled, “This is only my idea. I bet everyone else has their own say in how to outsmart a contract. Even if my idea doesn’t work, I’ll bet Doma or Zephyr would have something to say,”

“Wind Spirit Zephyr?” Selica nodded, “You might be right, such an ancient and wise being. I’m sure she has dealt with a devil at least once,”

“You’re right,” Roberta smiled. 𝘪.

Mira stared at them, remembering Zephyr dancing at the wedding on a table, drenched in dwarven fire wine, drunker than anyone she ever saw, shaking her thin hips from left to right, chanting, ^Ay! Ay! Ay!^ With a stupid face.

^Not a single drop of wisdom in that,^ Mira sighed, “But, we have two people we could ask for help. Abel and Sara, I’m sure those two would have a lot to say,”

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