Mia shook her head like a rattle.
"I'm not going!"
"Absolutely not! Those pirates stink, they're filthy, and they kill without batting an eye! I'll end up as fish food! I know I will!"
Veylin simply watched her calmly without a word.
Seeing that her verbal threats had no effect, Mia resorted to her ultimate weapon.
She plopped down on the floor, then rolled over and began throwing a tantrum on the dust-covered ground.
"I'm just a poor, weak, helpless succubus! I can't do anything! Boo-hoo, Master doesn't want me anymore! He's sending me off to feed the pirates..."
As she wailed, she secretly watched Veylin's reaction out of the corner of her eye.
Yet Veylin remained as unruffled as ever.
Watching Mia roll back and forth on the floor, making her already shabby clothes even dirtier, he found it rather amusing.
Three minutes later, Mia's wailing gradually faded, and her rolling slowed to a feeble wriggle.
"Moonlight Candy," Veylin said matter-of-factly. "The highest-grade finished product from the Elf Workshop. Made from Moonflower nectar that crystallizes on the night of a full moon. Each piece is simmered by hand with morning dew from Newborn Moon Primrose, then given its final enchantment by a Moonlight Singer. Most of what's available on the market has a purity of around seventy percent."
Gulp.
Mia swallowed, her throat making an audible sound.
Silver Moon Forest... the Elf Workshop... a Moonlight Singer...
Those words together had a far greater impact on her than "the Bloodsail Brotherhood" or "Church witch hunters."
"Complete the mission," Veylin continued, "and you'll get a whole crate of the finest quality, with a purity of over ninety-eight percent."
Her survival instincts and appetite waged a fierce battle in her mind.
On one side stood vicious pirates and witch hunters; on the