Once she heard that he was the tavern master she began to raise her hand with the letter. Before she could properly hand it over, the man had torn the letter from her hands. In a matter of seconds he had opened the letter. She waited patiently as he read the letter. Her tail twitched back and forth with slight annoyance at the man's surprising behavior. The man started talking loudly and started shouting at some poor lady. Veda's ears folded back to block out some of the noise. A woman came over to her and offered to help carry her stuff. The demon would have picked up the bag on her own, but the lady's job was to pick it up for her. There was no reason to cause the woman to get in trouble for not carrying a small bag. The floor beneath her feet felt old but sturdy. Her nose could detect traces of food mixed with the scents of living beings. She followed the lady up two flights of stairs then down a hallway. At the corner of the hallway, the lady knocked on the door before opening it up.

The room was beautiful. An enchanting purple-red carpet rested on the floor. There was a bed on the left with purple sheets while the bed on the right had magenta sheets. A dark brown shelf was shoved in a corner and was filled to the brim with colorful books on every layer. Sun shone into the window between the two beds. Underneath the window was a dark brown desk equipped with reading and writing materials. At the end of both beds were decently sized trunks to keep one's belongings. Veda's expression was a mixture of amazement and surprise. Every bone in her body was telling her to jump up and down on the bed. She somehow managed to restrain herself. Furniture was not the only thing in the room. A well dressed man was sitting the table desk was looking at the intruders. He spoke fast and was extremely direct. Veda liked this man. There was no double meanings in his words. He was direct and to the point. Or so he appeared. Veda realized that this could be some sort of trick but kept that in the back of her mind. 

"Yes Professor." Veda said firmly, "When do we start?"

"Right now. Go to the table and we will begin with the first lesson." The professor ordered. 

Throughout the next four days, there was nothing but lessons. Anybody else would have despised these lessons. Veda's burning curiosity ate it up. She wanted to know more. The demon finally released the burning curiosity etched within her mind. Eighteen years of repressed curiosity sent suddenly free was….indescribable. It was as if she was set free. The wings of her mind were no longer bound back by family burdens. Professor Robin gave her the first lesson. The letters lesson. She took to the information quickly. Sometimes she would ask questions or ask for a more detailed explanations, but the content wasn't hard for the demon to grasp. Information poured into the vault of a mind held in her head. Speaking the letters was difficult at first. However, she learned how to mimic the way that Robin was saying it. Eventually she was able to understand each letter and how to pronounce it. 

The next day, they worked on forming words and what certain words meant. Veda had little difficulty knowing what certain words meant as long as she spoke it out loud. The day was filled with practicing saying the words in her mind and out loud. At the end of the day, she was able to read full sentences without having to speak. On the third day the professor taught her about grammar. There wasn't much time left. Only two more days for her to get everything correctly. The fact that she could memorize facts and figures rapidly helped her throughout the learning process. Veda thought about the words a bit..differently. She viewed it as a pattern still. But now it was a pattern that could form images in her head as she read them. Grammar was simply a way to perfect that patter. A period meant that the sequence of letters had stopped. A capital letter at the beginning of a sentence indicated that it was the beginning of a sentence. Grammar was an easy concept for her to do. 

The fourth day was coming. Professor Robin was going over how to write a letter. He was greatly surprised by the demon's ability to pick up the massive amounts of information in only three days. Her mind was completely focused on the lesson. Even when she ate, she practiced reading and writing. The only time she didn't try to learn was when she slept. However, the Professor had a feeling that whatever Qadim was paying wasn't enough to have this much dedication. This was a lot. No amount of money or power would be able to make somebody work this much this consistently. There was something else that he couldn't describe that drove her. At the end of the fourth day she was ready. The demon could read, write, and understood how letters worked. In fact, the demon was now begging for more information. Professor Robin gave her a book that would teach her how to write a book. Then the professor escaped to fetch Qadim and tell him that the demon was done early. 

The door opened to Qadim's ship once again, watching one set of feet and as another stepped forth. "Report," the orc demanded, eyeing the professor as he adjusted his coat. He knew Robin was not much for idle chit-chat and he had been busy drilling the demon information.

"Her skills at learning are honestly quite terrifying," he remarked, "She was able to grasp concepts quite fast and power through her fumbles. She seemed eager to get started as soon as she arrived, I had to adapt my first lesson plan on the fly." Qadim took these notes into mind and piled them up with what else he learned about her, and not just from their first encounter.

"Very well. Report back to her that she can return home and, as an order, take the day off to cool off. Cram sessions are good and all, but being in constant demand makes it hard for it to stick."

"Yes, sir," Robin stated, bowing quickly before heading back to the inn where Veda sat in wait. "One last lesson before tomorrow," he stated, heading back to his books and pulling one from them, "and that is relaxing. You can return home if you wish, or you can stay here for one more night of good food and a comfortable bed. That choice is yours." His fingers cracked open the pages to his book mark before skimming along the fable he now held. "Just remember that come morning, you will be having a meeting with Qadim once more about the job he has on offer at the break of dawn. If you head home, I will not come to pick you up, and he is not one who appreciates tardiness. Again, the choice is yours."

The demon awaited her teacher's return. Her mind was a bird speeding through the sky, trying to see everything and understand everything as fast as possible. But there was nothing left. All the lessons that her teacher had taught her was finished, leaving an empty hole inside of Veda's heart. She needed more. A lust for knowledge grew inside her heart as she realized why her curiosity had been shoved down all those years. Knowledge was addicting. Joy lit up whenever she heard knew information. When the learning process stopped, the world around her seemed to move slowly. Perhaps a nap would help her calm down. Flopping down on the soft bed, she stared up at the ceiling, lost in deep thought. The door opened up and the demon sat up. 

Professor Robin stepped in and explained the situation. Her hand reached up to her chin and she looked downwards towards the floor, pondering what to do next. It didn't take her long to figure it out. Going home was extremely tempting. The thought of going home and running into the arms of her parents was an alluring but ultimately stupid idea. Veda was working for a powerful individual at the moment. Steps would have to be taken to ensure their safety. Which meant that going home was not an option. The further she stayed away from them, the better. 

"I'll stay here." She said finally, "The bed's comfortable." 

Her arms folded behind her bed as she let herself fall onto the pillow. Tomorrow her job would truly begin. The demon crawled underneath the covers then wrapped herself in them. Veda would be as ready. 

It would be an early morning for Veda; once again being woken up by Robin, not taking No as an answer before getting her cleaned up and presentable once more before guiding her back to Qadim's ship, where he had two plates of breakfast sets up: pancake stacks sided with spicy sausage and bacon, ending with a cup of fresh coffee for each. Qadim's plate was already half eaten, as he took no real need to be waiting for the meal together. "Good morning, Miss Veda," Qadim commented, taking his cup and in-taking the black brew. "I hope you have rested well. From what I have been told, you have been quite efficient with your studies.

"Now then, sit. Eat. But most importantly: pay attention." If he felt like he had to repeat himself, he would charge for the lessons right there on the spot. "A ship will be coming in come the next morning, which has a shipment I am wanting going to them, instead. So, your job should be simple: get their shipment under my name." Digging into his coat, he pulled out a new sheet of paper before sliding it across the table: A sample of what she was going to be messing with. "Of course, things will be suspicious if it goes missing completely, so you will be moving a shipment I have set to their name as well. Take a moment to study the book when you find it to see how they fix mistakes in order to  make it more believable."

Taking his fork, he pointed over to the sample and showcased a certain section. "If you didn't already know, there are some of us here that deal in illegal goods, so we use shipment numbers and codes to help hide it when we reach more lawful nations. This one here… and his one here… will be the two you will be swapping. However, don't think they will be right next to each other like on the sheet." He pulled his fork back to stab a link of sausage before popping it into his mouth, chewing thoroughly before swallowing it down.

"Oh course, the job is not as easy as you would think. Despite this being a city of thieves and pirates, the Pirate King declared a Parley Law across the land, ensuring thieves cannot publicly attack other thieves, and his off-sea crew are the governors and judges of that law. Get caught by them, and do not expect much mercy. However, do the job cleanly, and no one will bat an eye.

"Now then: Any last minute questions?"

Throughout this experience Veda had realized something very important. She hated baths. The soap was not food and the water had too many bubbles. To add insult to injury, when she tried to eat the bubbles, they would vanish! As if they never existed at all! Bubbles were frustrating. Robin then pulled a spiky stick called a brush through her hair. At the end of it, her scalp was in pain. Why did people do this to their precious hair? It hurt… Eventually she was ready and decent looking. Today she was wearing a simple black tunic and a pair of trousers. The demon was supposed to have shoes. But she took them off as soon as she was at the ship. Her claws felt the wooden ship and she felt comfortable again. Qadim was sitting in the same room again with food in front of him. She sat down in her seat and began shoving the pancakes into her mouth. She avoided the coffee and the spicy sausage. The bacon seemed good but she was busy with the pancakes.

Qadim had been commenting about the speed of her learning. However, when he said to pay attention, she decided to pay attention. Somewhat. Her ears were perked forwards to listen and she gulped the chewed food down. She listened quietly as he described what he would need her to do. The job was clearly illegal. But that wasn't really something Veda was terribly concerned about. Technically everything was illegal somewhere. He pushed the new sheet of paper towards her and she plucked it up from the table. Her eyes inspected the paper, observing every single detail.

Now she could understand the pattern of words. It made sense to her finally. However, that did not stop her from picking up on every single detail of the handwriting. It was still a code. But she could understand what the code meant. The demon knew that shipment numbers and codes helped with illegal goods. Her elder brother was a low level pirate but he had told her some of these things on a visit home. Pirate King. She had heard that title many times before. He was dangerous. Veda could not get herself caught. No matter what. The price of the job outweighed the danger she faced. Placing the paper back on the table, she looked up to the orc. 

"I understand." She said, "Where will I find this paperwork? And when do you want this job done?"

Two essential questions….

Qadim's fork pointed out into the shipyard, over to one of the few buildings that seemed more like a tower than any of the warehouses. "It will most likely be in one of those watch towers. After all, that is where they watch to make sure the cargo is being moved as should be. As for which one, it is hard to tell as it is moved constantly for safety's sake, meaning research or praying to Goddess Shiloh that you made the right choice. If the rumors are true, then there are also fakes laced with ensnaring or disabling enchantments to those that dare mess with them.

"As for time, you have two days, at most, remaining to get this job done. Once the ship has landed, the timer is up and everything should already be finished." He let his fork stab through three layers of pancakes as he talked before having the knife part the portion away from the left, taking his new captives and imprisoning them in his maw before his belly soon after.

"Oh, and one last thing: You will not be reporting right after the job is done. In fact, there is even the chance this may be the last time we meet like this… if this is our last business together," Qadim told her. "Give time to pass to ensure the job is done right and for the goods to be loaded  before we even talk about pay. But don't worry: If done right, I will ensure your share that we talked about." He dug his hand under the table before pulling out the bag of coins once more, resting them on top. "After all: I am a  man of my word."

The demon had finished with her meal, although she left the meat and coffee untouched. Two days. Two days to figure out where the documents were and how to get them. There wasn't a lot of time. Her left hand cupped underneath her chin as she thought about the options. An idea popped into her mind. She had a….friend who would be able to offer her a magical spell in exchange for information. A smile appeared on her lips. There was no garment that this would work. But she had a plan and a schedule within her mind that she could follow. Qadim pulled out a bag of coins and set them on the table. As if taunting her with the possible coins she could earn. Standing up from her chair, she looked at him.

"Alright." The demon said, "It is a deal then. Oh… by the way. You should probably watch out for eavesdroppers."

She walked over to the door and slammed it open suddenly. The door whacked an eavesdropper in the face. Walking over to him, the demon snatched him by the ear and dragged him to the orc. Veda's expression was a mixture of fury, curiosity, and excitement. The man was clearly not a part of the crew. His outfit was too fancy to be a crew member. But he looked too poor and cowardly to be anybody of importance. The smell radiating from him didn't carry anything from the people on Qadim's ship. Whomever this was, it was clear that he didn't belong here. A look of fear was stabled on the eavesdropper's face once he realized that he had been caught. Whether it was fear of Qadim or Veda was debatable. She threw him onto the floor, not caring whether or not the man was injured. He had been listening to their meeting. Which meant that he could have listened to any of their meetings earlier. The last thing she wanted was to get unnecessary people involved in this deal.

"Is he yours?" She asked bluntly.

"No, not really," Qadim stated as he pulled himself from his seat and paced himself over to the frightened man, "though I am sure I know who he is associated with. Its a shame really. I thought he would have been much more amusing than this."

"Y-You think this is a game?!' the can cried out, though his voice seemed forced as he tried to break through the nerves. "The hell do you even want from him?! What can you even get out of–" a swift kick to the face was enough to shut him up. Standing above him, the orc snapped his fingers, causing the rogue from before to step out of the shadows.

"Bring me the file of one Eacidal Ingrid." A nod came from her as she vanished for only a moment before bringing out a new document. Kneeling down, Qadim lifted the man from his air, locking his eyes into the other before demanding, "Name." With a small flash from behind the monocle, the man's eyes grew dull before muttering out who he was like a mindless doll. "Who do you work for?" Another name escaped his lips before his head was dropped onto the deck floor. He was allowed to force himself back up, but instead of trying to counteract the rude treatment, he merely sat in front of the orc, like a mindless dog with an empty stare in his eyes.

"You know, I hear that Eacidal was a hard-working man. Dedicated to get things done nice and efficiently to be able to tend to his family. In fact, I heard that his wife is getting ready to deliver a sixth child. Unfortunately, a work accident caused a massive injury to his back, causing his boss to have him take some time off to recover. A shame, really, seeing how this document details the account of his injury, making it too harsh to continue with such hard labor. Poor man." With a wave of his hand, the ink began to pull itself away from the paper before reorienting itself in a new fashion. "And now you are the one guilty of causing it." Handing it off, the rogue was off. "I am sure it will cost him his job, but such intent may cost you prison, or worse, your life. You understand?" A nod came from him as he began to pull himself back up to his feet, slowly turning around, before finally slowly walking out, as if some kind of entranced zombie.

"And with that, the eavesdropper is dealt with," Qadim smirked, eying Veda as if he knew what he just did… and to whom.

A warning message to her if she failed…

The minute she heard the name of her father, she knew exactly what she needed to do. This orc would use them to manipulate her. Anger grew wild within her. Fear was the only thing that could battle it. Her jaw clenched as she looked away from the eavesdropper and Qadim. The Golden eyes once filled with curiosity now seemed as though they were ready to go to war. Every bone in her body was ready to do anything. Everything. There was something that the orc didn't know. The will to live had lost this girl's body the minute she could say the word mother. There was only one true reason why she continued on. And he had just threatened that reason. Her world. Her life. Her sole. The thing that she would do anything for. Anything. Even if they didn't realize that it was good for them. A man with desire to live was dangerous. A man without the desire to live was deadly. A smile replaced the frown that had previously been attached to her face.

"I'd better get to work." She said in a calm manner, "I only have two days to get everything done."

With that, she bolted out of the ship. The first place she needed to go was to her…friend's shop. Bursting through the door, she went straight to the shopkeeper. A woman with bright blonde hair and brown eyes stared at her in surprise. Anne. A girl who had been obsessed with the demon's elder brother since the age of five. Anne had been unlucky with love and desperately wanted to know about Othame. For years, she had been denied any sort of information. Murderous intent filled Veda's golden eyes. The shopkeeper stepped several paces backwards.

"You wanted information about my brother." The demon stated, "I need a spell that will transform me into a rat for a day. I also need a spell that can open up a portal to anywhere I choose. Along with a parchment paper and ink."

Anne's fear melted away and was replaced with joy. This was the girl's chance to figure out what Othame wanted in a girlfriend!

"Promise?" Anne stuttered.

"I swear on my life."

The shopkeeper raced behind the counter and pulled out two spell scrolls along with some parchment, ink, and a quill.

"All you need to do is recite the words on the scroll and the spell will be cast. I made it for non-spell users. The portal will open up one time and will take you to wherever you have been before already. As for the transformation spell, it will turn you into a rat for 24hrs or when you decide to turn back. Both of these scrolls can only be used once." Anne explained happily.

She handed both scrolls to Veda with the rest of the materials. Veda inspected the scrolls to verify that they were real. Her attention then turned to the parchment. Dipping the quill in the ink, she began to write a letter in her own handwriting. Once she was done she waited for the letter to dry then folded it up and placed it in an envelope. Anne was waiting for her information. A smile spread across the demon's lips.

"My brother likes women with a curvy figure, black hair, and deep green eyes. In fact, he has a girlfriend who is already like this." She said cruelly, "You would never be worthy of him, you coffin dodging oxygen thief. Anyone who ever said they loved you was lying. In fact, I'm certain that you will be utterly forgotten by the rest of the world. The only way to improve yourself would be to die."

The words stabbed the woman through the heart. Veda and Anne were never extremely close but for the longest time they had been friendly towards one another. Tears dropped from her eyes as she fell to the ground. For Anne's entire life, all she ever wanted was to be with Othame. Not only did he have a girlfriend but it appeared that his family hated the shopkeeper. Devastation was not a strong enough word for her state. The girl's mind clouded with pain and agony. It was a perfect time for this. The demon reached up to a rope that Anne had up for sale and handed it to the woman with a smile.

"But if you kill yourself, all this pain will go away." Veda said, "And maybe your corpse can be used for something. It would be the best time to make yourself useful for once."

Anne couldn't even speak as the rope was placed into her hand. With that, Veda took her supplies and left the shop. The poor girl was left alone with nothing but a rope and pure misery. After a few minutes, anybody who came into the shop would find Anne hanging alone. The demon headed towards her little shack. Her parents would be happy to see her again. Veda's mind wandered back to Anne. The girl was nice but she knew too much. It was best that she had been disposed of in a way that wouldn't attract suspicion. After all, this was Vilpamolan city. Death and murder happened constantly. Especially self inflicted death. The demon arrived at her little shack. The moment she stepped into the building, both her mother and father embraced her.

"We were so worried about you!" Her father said.

"Where were you?!" Her mother added.

Veda simply smiled and looked at the scroll. She began saying the words to cast the spell. Behind Ishna and Eacidal, a portal opened. She reached up to embrace both of her parents. They were unaware of the portal that had opened behind them. Veda took this chance to shove the envelope into her mother's pocket. Freeing her parents from the hug, she shoved both of them into the portal. They screamed as they fell into the unknown. The portal closed behind them. A sigh escaped Veda's lips. They would be safe now. Although massively confused. She turned and left her old home. It was time to abandon this place. Her siblings didn't live at the home. They lived in other places of the city. If necessary, she would find them too. Save them from any pain. Whether they want to be saved or not. The demon tore up the scroll that had the portal spell on it into tiny pieces and scattered them in the wind.

Taking up the other scroll, she decided to try to find the first tower. Now her work would truly begin. It didn't take her long to find the tower. The tall building was one of the taller buildings in the city. She hid in an alley way and began speaking the spell from the scroll. Her body morphed and changed into a rat. As a rat, she took this chance to scratch up the scroll and destroy it. There would be no traces left behind. She was at war. Nothing would stop her from her goal. Veda would still fulfill the job, for the sake of her family and for the money. But at least now she had less reason to worry. Hopefully. The little rat scurried towards the tall tower and entered through a hole that had been made long ago by other rats. People went in and out of the tower but did not notice her. As a rat, she could travel almost anywhere without being noticed.

The rat demon traveled throughout the tower searching for the documents. She even squeezed herself into some cabinets to look for any information. As a rat she was able to gnaw on the wood until she was able to get in. However, it seemed that other rats had already been there looking for cheese or some other food. The documents were not in this tower. Veda escaped from the first tower and went on to the next. She went from tower to tower until she finally found the one that she had been looking for. It was the tower closest to the docks. After a huge amount of searching, Veda finally found the documents she was looking for. Even as a rat she was able to understand and read the paperwork. She took the time to memorize every word and letter.

Somebody was entering through the door. The rat leaped off of the desk where she had found the papers and raced to a hiding place underneath a dresser. A man stepped into the room and sat at his desk, looking over the text written on the parchment. Then he flopped down on the bed to take a nap. Veda observed the room around her. There was one window above the bed that could fit a person. The door was on the left and was cracked slightly open. She sneaked across the room and out of the door. Trying to learn the layout of the tower, she went through the halls and each room to learn more about it. The sun was starting to set. The demon would need a place to rest. She made her escape as a rat and crawled into the wooden walls of the tower. There, she made her way to the bottom floor and escaped through a hole in the wall. When the demon got to the alleyway, she transformed back into her regular self. Tomorrow would be the day that she finished the task.

The hours were late when a knock echoed through the room. "Enter," he said, watching the door open as another woman stepped through. "So then, Celeste, what's today's report?"

"It was as you expected: the demon girl cohered a woman to suicide after doing business with her for magic scrolls before ensuring her family's safety." After all, demons were often ruthless beings. Always housing a darker side to them if you push the right buttons. Torment and destruction was in their blood, after all, even if they tried to be kind spirits to the public.

"If I may ask," Robin brought up quickly, "can you really affect her father's work like that?" A bold laugh was her reply.

"Of course not. After all, Eacidal worked with a 'rival' company in these docks. it didn't change the fact that he had major injuries affecting his performance, which caused him to lose his work a couple days ago. Its not my fault that she was taken out of the loop as she was hard to the nose with her books during that time. It did not change what the end result even was, isn't that right," Qadim's vision peered over his shoulder to a man leaning along the wall. The man who he kicked in the face and whose mind he destroyed, "my sacrificial pawn?"

~~~~~~~

As the rat left the tower, a knock rattled the door, causing the man to stir awake. "Ugh, I just got here," he worker muttered before he opened the door. "Is it that time already?" A yawn escaped his lips as he stepped over to the table, taking the ledger that rested upon the desk and trading it with the one the man at the door had for him. The covers of each of them looked the same, as if it was the exact same one, yet the internal contents were much different, as this one held a nasty little secret…