I Will Never Let You Go

Sunderland approached William with a strange smile on her beautiful face. Sensitive little Mishaer hid behind her brother, clearly sensing the magistrate's ill intent.

William had no desire to entangle himself further with this woman and asked, "Lady Sunderland, you are always busy with official business. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Ever since Mr. William arrived in Mirabar, our citizens have been in a state of unease! Your presence puts the Council in a very difficult position!" The woman with the squinting blue eyes spoke as if she were describing a heinous crime.

William frowned and asked, "What does that have to do with me? I don't believe I've ever done anything I shouldn't have!"

Sunderland feigned displeasure. "Your act of impersonating a dragon is utterly disgraceful! Because of Mr. William's prank, many..."

"Wait! When did I ever say I was a dragon? I cannot accept such slander from you, Magistrate! And this method of accusation is simply ridiculous!" William interrupted her, crying out in feigned innocence.

"This..." Sunderland was left speechless. Damn it! Am I supposed to let the noble Lady Starglim admit that all of this was caused by her own botched prank? Never! Besides, that would be too humiliating! And no one even knows that the Magistrate of Mirabar is a mysterious mage! At least no one in this city knows! Except for the local lord, Marquis Erastu Larim!

The arrogant woman's beautiful eyes darted around. She surveyed the house and said, "Fine! Let's set aside the topic of impersonating a dragon for now! But we really should discuss the ownership of this house! The gods don't just hand out bread to farmers for no reason (a Faerunian proverb, similar to 'there's no such thing as a free lunch')!"

William thought, Here it comes, but he didn't respond to the magistrate's prompt, wanting to see what kind of game she was playing.

Seeing that William remained silent, the woman, who smiled like a fox that had just stolen a chicken, continued on her own: "A house like this is worth thousands of gold coins in Mirabar! Does Mr. William intend to occupy it for free? That does not conform to the restrictions of the Lord's Decree!"

William asked back with a smirk, "And what is the Magistrate's suggestion? How should this matter be resolved?"

Sunderland pretended to inspect the house, and she was somewhat surprised to see the Winter Wolf pelt on the bed. Pointing at it, she said to William, who was following behind her, "I see this wolf pelt is the only thing of value here, but it is still not enough to cover the value of this house." The magistrate circled the group, then pointed nonchalantly at Mishaer's little head. "Just give me this helmet! Although it's not worth much, it is a rather unique little trinket! I can persuade the City Hall to let you pay the remaining balance later! How about that? I am a kind-hearted philanthropist!" Sunderland's tone made it sound as if she were bestowing a great favor upon William's family.

Before William, who was extremely repulsed by Sunderland's tone, could speak, the two little girls reacted like mother beasts whose cubs had been threatened. They immediately went wild, baring their claws and firing back at the "hypocritical" woman:

"You nasty villain! Don't you dare lay a finger on my 'Valkyrie Crown'! Brother William will never agree to it!"

"Greedy woman! Give up your covetous designs on my treasure! Beautiful Aelf will not let you succeed!"

"Annoying elf! What do you mean 'your' treasure? It's clearly my thing!"

"Heh heh! What's yours is mine! Even if it isn't now, it will fall into my hands sooner or later! Heh heh heh--!"

Well, the two "little enemies" had started infighting before they had even driven away the "foreign invader."

The self-assured Sunderland ignored the girls' nonsense. She looked at William with confidence and said, "What do you think, Mr. William? This is a rare opportunity. Even if the great merchants from the south offered several times the price, it would be extremely difficult to obtain such a house in Mirabar! You shouldn't miss this chance!"

William feigned difficulty. "You can take the Winter Wolf pelt! As for the helmet, well, you heard her! Mishaer doesn't agree, and there is nothing I can do!"

"She's just an ignorant little brat! Why pay her any mind? Just give me the helmet, and I can even persuade the City Hall to waive the remaining balance after offsetting the pelt!" Sunderland glanced disdainfully at the little girl, who was brawling with the elf girl, and continued to sweeten the deal.

William sneered inwardly: So, it was the girl's helmet she was after all along! Who would have thought that a little trinket snatched from the hands of the lowliest Goblin would be so attractive! No wonder the little elf was so obsessed with it! I thought the strange little thing was just picking a fight with the girl on purpose! This woman really thinks I'm an idiot! He feigned regret as he rejected the magistrate's "kindness."

Sunderland was starting to grow impatient. With an incredulous expression, she shouted, "You won't even agree to this? Are you an idiot? Fine, just give me that helmet! I'll even forgo the precious Winter Wolf pelt!"

William replied in a maddeningly mournful tone, "Oh! Thank you so much! Generous Lady Sunderland Starglim! I truly want to accept your terms! But! Sigh--!" He sighed, turned around, and instantly changed to a cheerful face, shouting, "Phinia! Mishaer! Go pack your things! We're moving!" The group laughed and rolled up their simple bedding, ready to leave. The two little ones even stuck out their tongues and made faces at the magistrate.

"William! You--!" Trembling with rage, Sunderland's face turned beet red. The woman, blinded by her own frustration, lost all her usual shrewdness. She screamed, ignoring all decorum, and lunged at the little girl. "Don't you leave! The Horn of Kor belongs to me!"

William sneered and stepped in her way. The frantic magistrate slammed headfirst into his solid chest. The poor woman immediately clutched her nose and crouched on the ground, whimpering. Her nose ached unbearably, and tears streamed down her face. William crouched down as well, feigning deep sorrow to further irritate her. "Alas! Generous lady! You are truly too kind! I really wanted to agree with you! Ah! What a wonderful house! You should keep it for yourself to play with!" With that, he stood up and led the three of them out of the house, leaving Lady Sunderland behind to cry even more bitterly.

"You wretch! You bastard! I will never let you get away with this!" William, already walking away, pretended not to hear the magistrate's curses. The group walked across the street, laughing, and arrived at old Singers' blacksmith shop.

"Old Singers! We're going to be staying with you from now on! Are we welcome? Hahaha!" William laughed and shook the old dwarf awake.

Singers opened his confused left eye, mumbled sleepily, "Who are you? Oh! William! Is it dawn yet? Damn it! You're too early! Let me sleep!" The muddled old dwarf closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

William ignored him and said to the three, "Don't mind him! Let's get our living quarters sorted first!" The four of them went to the third-floor room, which was a cluttered storage area. Behind the two larger halls were three small rooms connected in a row. By the time the one-eyed dwarf was woken by hunger, William and the others had almost finished organizing their living space. Singers looked at the transformed room in shock and shouted, "William, you damn fellow! Look at what you've done to old Singers' house!"

Although the old dwarf was very dissatisfied with the changes to the house, William, Phinia, and the others stayed anyway. Although the lonely Singers didn't say it out loud, he was actually quite happy to have more people living in his home, especially the two mischievous little ones, whose constant need for scolding and nagging kept him entertained every day.

The next day, the energetic dwarf prepared to enter the underground tunnels to mine again. The dozen or so pieces of low-quality ore they had harvested last time were simply too little, and Singers blushed just thinking about it. However, this mining trip included three new members: Phinia, Mishaer, and the elf Aelf. Because they had offended Sunderland, William didn't feel safe leaving the three of them alone.

This time, William and Singers made more thorough preparations: high-quality toasted bread, smoked meat, sausages, vegetables, salt, fresh water, ale, a stew pot, and other food and utensils, enough to sustain the five of them underground for several days. Dozens of pints of lamp oil, torches, and lanterns meant they wouldn't have to worry about lighting for nearly half a month. There were also large pickaxes, sleeping bags, and blankets. The old dwarf was incredibly envious of William's magic bag.

When Sunderland, looking to cause trouble for William, arrived at the one-eyed dwarf's residence with guards in tow, the blacksmith shop was already empty. The furious magistrate gritted her teeth and shouted at the vacant room, "Damn you, William! Don't think that just because you've hidden in the tunnels, I can't deal with you! I will never let you go!"