3.

Later that same day, Teresa and I followed Mr. Ward into the parlor of his massive home. Painted portraits and marble statues decorated the walls.
“Please sit, make yourselves at home” Mr. Ward said and gestured to the couch. “What is this important matter you wanted to discuss with me?”
We sat down on a couch so plush I doubted human skin had ever touched it. At the thought of skin an image of Teresa’s face full of ecstasy played in my mind. A soft smile spread on my face. Teresa nudged me with her elbow. I picked up on her hint and sat down. I had to force myself to stay focused.
“I would like to purchase the tavern from you sir,” I said confidently.
Mr. Ward looked off into the distance as he considered what I had just said. While he did that my eyes wandered around the room. Every piece of art looked more expensive than the last. There was a painting of a naked woman lying on a couch that really caught my eye. I envisioned Teresa, instead of whoever the lady actually was. That made me think about the different sounds she had made, the moans, the gasps, the whimpers, even the giggles. I never knew I could make a woman produce those reactions before.
“That’s my late wife Karol, she died of pneumonia a year ago. She was actually the one who purchased the tavern,” Mr. Ward said. He was staring at the painting with nostalgia in his eyes.
“I’m sorry to hear that, I can tell you really loved her a lot,” I said.
“Yeah, she meant everything to me, and that tavern meant everything to her. That’s also why I can't possibly sell it, it's my last connection to her” he said.
I didn’t mean to make a face, but I must have because Mr. Ward noticed I wasn’t buying it.
“Is something wrong?” He said, looking at me.
“Well sir I don’t doubt that she did love the tavern. It’s just that I’ve worked there for 30 years, and I’ve never seen her once.” I said cautiously.
“Well, no, she couldn’t be seen in that place. That doesn’t take anything away from how she felt about it,” He said.
I could feel the conversation getting away from me. I needed to play to his feelings for her. If I could make him feel like she would still be connected to the tavern maybe, he would go for it.
“What if I name it after her?” I asked excitedly.
Mr. Ward rubbed his chin as he thought.
“I could always just change the name and keep it,” he said.
I wasn’t prepared for him to counter with that. I needed time to come up with a counter for his counter. That was when we heard the banging on the door. We all jumped up and ran toward the front door. Teresa drew her sword and opened the door while Mr. Ward and I stood behind her and peered around her. When the door opened a badly wounded soldier collapsed into the house. He was carrying another that appeared to have died.
“Sir, a strange creature attacked the silver mine. One of the guys hit some kinda container in the wall. A purple gas poured out of it and then this thing appeared. We tried to fight it off, but all of our weapons just passed right through it. I was lucky to get out alive. I tried to save Burks, but he didn’t survive the trip,” the soldier said. He was completely covered in dirt, blood, and some other liquid I couldn’t recognize.
“This is horrible,” Mr. Ward said and wrung his hands together.
“We’ll clear the mine out for you,” I said. It was a bit opportunistic, but it felt right.
“I could just alert the guilds and not have to sell my tavern,” He countered. I was ready this time though.
“You could alert them, and they would all send out investigators, eventually. Then those investigators would confirm what you already told them and set up quests, eventually. Then several parties of people will venture into your mine and try to kill whatever this thing is, one of them will succeed, eventually. They probably won't even help themselves to as much of your silver as they can carry. And eventually all of this will cost you far more than the tavern makes in a year. Or you could simply give the tavern to me and have this problem handled tonight,” I said nonchalantly.
“You mean sell the tavern to you,” he said as if I misspoke.
“No, I meant give. I wanted to pay for it with gold before the prospect of dying was on the table. Now I feel like it should be a quest reward,” I said.
I knew I was risking a lot by being this brazen, but I wasn’t afraid. So, I kept it up. I offered him my hand to solidify the deal. He hesitated for a few seconds and then reluctantly shook my hand.
“You have a deal if you can get rid of whatever is in my mine,” he said.
“If I can’t, I’ll be dead, so no harm no foul. I said and smiled.
One of Mr. Ward’s servants helped the soldier carry his fallen comrade inside the house. Mr. Ward started to follow them inside as Teresa followed me out. Just before the door closed Teresa grabbed it. Mr. Ward peered through the open space at her.
“Just so we’re clear sir. We will be back, and we will be expecting the deed to the tavern. If you try to go back on your word, I will carve you into so many pieces they will never be able to find all of you.” she said without any humor in her voice.
“I understand,” Mr. Ward said and closed the door.
“Just how many levels of confidence did our session give you?” Teresa asked me the second we left Mr. Ward’s property.
I pulled up my confidence score. The number 25 flashed in front of us a few times and then changed to 26.
“That score was 5 this morning” She said and grinned. “I’m a great trainer apparently”
“Yeah 21 levels in a single day. I felt it as well, like I could do anything.” I said happily.”
“I noticed that when you offered up our lives without a second thought,” she said.
“I should’ve asked you first before volunteering your services” I said apologetically.
“Don’t be, I would gladly die to help you achieve your goals.” She said as we walked through the streets of the kingdom.
“So where is this mine and what do you think this creature inside it is?” I asked as we walked to the door of the mage’s guild.
“The Silver mine is located in the forest of silver. That’s where it got its name.” She said and took a deep breath.
“What’s wrong, and what are we doing here?” I asked.
“Well, I noticed that clear slime the soldier was covered in. If I'm not mistaken, it was ectoplasm. Only phantasms leave ectoplasm behind, and they also must be killed with silver. So, I must go in here and ask an old acquaintance if I can borrow one of her silver swords.” she said and cracked her knuckles.
“That seems easy enough, why do you seem so nervous about it?” I asked.
“The truth is we grew up together and she used to pick on me a lot. Even after we were adults, she always made fun of me and hurt my feelings. I Just never got over that feeling,” she said.
“Well let’s just ask someone else for the silver sword,” I said.
“I don’t know any other magic users, plus she's my sister,” Teresa said hesitantly.

Chapter end