“That’s how things go if I just walk away now. Scenario three is where you kill me to keep everything covered up, but that’s a rough one. I have friends and connections that will be out here going over everything. It won’t just be me you have to get rid of. Clementson, everyone on the property who saw me head in this direction. Lindover, a few people in Leust, even. Or you could run, but where are you going to go? Greenstone’s out. Probably the delta, too. Are you going to go out to one of the desert towns? The veldt? You have a full set of essences, so you could make a life for yourself, out there. If my friends don’t find you.”

Jason slapped Dean on the back.

“All of that assumes you could even kill me, which I think we both know is a sketchy proposition at best. I’m fully armed and equipped for combat, here; you’re armed and equipped for a relaxing nap. Scenario four is that you try to kill me and fail. I don’t need to explain the consequences of that one, do I?”

Jason sat back in the chair.

“It’s all up to you, Dean. Except for the one where you kill me, my contract gets completed whichever way we go. That first scenario works out best for both of us, but I can live with any of the ones where I, you know, live.”

Dean looked at Jason, reclining comfortably as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He spent a long time thinking in silence as Jason quietly waited.

“Alright,” Dean said. “It was Thadwick Mercer. He set all this up.”

“Just Thadwick?”

“Yeah. He’s been pulling in some of the less successful adventurers over the last year. He even pulled some strings to get some of us an easy ride through the assessment.”

“You?”

“No,” Dean said. “I didn’t do all that well, but I got through on my own. But it shook me, you know? Putting your life on the line. It’s not easy for adventurers who don’t want to fight monsters. People look down on you, you know? We come from decent enough families, so working under someone like Mercer is better than working for some crime lord or gang boss. At least, that’s what I thought.”

“Oh?”

“That thing where Mercer sent us after you? Kicking the crap out of you and recording it? How is that any different from working for a criminal?”

“Thadwick sent you after me?”

Dean nodded.

“He knew about the contract you’d been assigned and that you were meeting a contract in the Townhouse. We just had to hang around, waiting for you to pass through.”

Jason sighed. Using and abusing Thadwick had been a mistake from the beginning, and now he was paying for it.