After arranging a second meal for their new guest who refused to leave, the sun had long since set. They all decided it was for the best to stay the night at the beach house and head back to Lion Seaport in the morning. With his new Winter problem, Alois seemed more than eager to return despite his earlier hesitation.

  Technically it was more than possible to return a summon against their will, but that would only help this time. Next time Alois tried summoning magic there was a high chance he would end up summoning Winter again and there would be no avoiding the consequences.

  Despite his earlier threatening behavior, Winter was surprisingly well behaved. It turned out that he was the kind of person who only messed with people who crossed him first. Cassandra found it hard to believe that this lethargic man was the same who had caused the massacre at Gaia's secret base in the Draconis mountains. Then again, she did have her own highly dangerous, but lazy companion.

  "The carriages here are slow," Winter commented as they traveled back to Lion Seaport.

  "We can't exactly travel quickly without a proper road to travel on," Cassandra pointed out. That being said, she thought they were making pretty good speed for a carriage. Sure, it was nothing like a car, but a car wouldn't be able to go very fast on rough seaside terrain either. Just what kind of carriages did Winter have in his world?

  "When I visited Beraud they had something called a steam engine that allowed for faster travel as long as it was on a specialized track," Alois said, "Unfortunately, we don't have anything like that in Tethia. At least magic makes the carriages a smoother ride than the standard carriage in Kalorvia or Beraud."

  "My summoner sure has travelled a lot," Winter commented, "Why are you so nervous about visiting the seaport? Scared of curses."

  Alois grimaced. "No. I just don't want to run into my family," he replied begrudgingly, "I took something like a family heirloom, even if it was illegal."

  Winter's eyes immediately moved to the eyepatch. "Is that all? If they lost it so easily then surely they don't stand a chance. You could wipe them out in an instant."

  "Mass murder is out of the question," Caleb piped in, "We are officials of Tethia, so we must set an example by obeying and enforcing the laws."

  "How boring," Winter commented, though he still seemed more amused than anything, "If you need me to go on a rampage just let me know. I am already known and feared as a rogue summon."

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  "Actually, I have some questions about that," Wayde asked suddenly, "How much do you remember about the time you were being controlled?"

  The air in the carriage filled with tension as Winter’s expression grew cold and grim. Wayde flinched back at the intensity of his gaze before Winter slowly closed his eyes and leaned back with a sigh.

  “Most of it,” he finally answered, “If not all of it. But if you are expecting me to have insider information, I don’t have much. The old man kept me locked up most of the time and I don’t know enough about this world to make sense of what little I did witness. All I know for sure is that he was consorting with at least three separate opposing factions with the intention to side with whoever came out on top. I didn’t bother to ask for details before I killed him.”

  It was impossible to forget the scene of the massacre. In fact, Cassandra had a growing concern about how Keane and Autumn might react when they suddenly sprung their unexpected guest on them. Sure he had promised to help, if he felt like it, but there was no denying he was an incredibly dangerous individual. Her thoughts must have been too wary because Cassandra felt Yuki stir.

  “Are you really joining us just to enjoy a vacation?” Cassandra asked skeptically, since she could tell it was already too late to hide her wariness, “I find it hard to believe, especially after hearing we may be getting involved with your previous captor’s old friends.”

  “I won’t pretend I am uninterested in getting a bit more revenge,” Winter admitted, “but this world truly is like a vacation to me. Even when I was held captive, it wasn’t like there were any immortal idiots who could see the future ordering me about.”

  Alois stiffened. “Your world has something like that?” he asked, “Is Alvis involved there too?”

  “Alvis? So your world does have one,” Winter noted, “I wonder how he differs from the Black Wolf.”

  The conversation tapered off as they were quickly touching on topics neither side dared to ask or speak about. Winter kept eyeing Yuki as he had the first time, but he never asked anything. Yuki continued to pretend to be an absolutely ordinary fox, and they were able to eat lunch during their break without incident.

  “If someone needs to try that fish you keep talking about, I am quite curious about it,” Winter spoke up suddenly as they finished their meal, “I want to see how the parasite and the curse makes it to be the most delicious fish in existence.”

  “That would be up to Keane, though I am against it,” Caleb warned, “There is no telling what effect the curse will have on you, especially with you being a summon. It’s not worth the risk.”

  “Then I will have to ask him,” Winter replied, not discouraged in the slightest, “We seemed to understand each other when we last spoke.”

  There wasn’t any time to dissuade him at this point since they had already entered the walls of Lion Seaport. Not that Cassandra thought they could successfully do so. Instead, she chose to warn Keane as much in advance as she could manage about their eager guest and his plans.