Trouble ahead

Ying Qingchi sat holding her head, crying, reliving the nightmare in Errit's mind. His death, ten thousand times, the grief, the friends he had lost. Then, his awakening, the pain. It caused her to cry out.

Errit put the mask back on.

"What have you done?" Ho held onto Qingchi and glared at Errit ready to tear him apart.

Qingchi held out her hand. "Its okay beloved, the pain has passed. You, Kin..Errit, are resurrected?" She said it like it was a question, Errit nodded. "You escaped such a thing. I commend that." She held her head, it would take some time to shake off the feelings of dread, despair and fear from her mind.

"Chancellor Ho, I've revealed myself to your Truther, your beloved. Now, please, reveal to me what you intend to do with your visit? I think you've been informed, like Luimei has said." Errit adjusted the mask a bit and waited.

The Demon Prince was not very pleased with Errit's tone but it was a taunt, clear and true. "You certainly seem confident, Qingchi would have told me if you were a vile thing by now. I can assume her judgement of you will stand for the future as well. This Kingdom is one of many, given to the Elders by the Emperor for their distinguished service and position." Ho started getting down to business, he said, "However, no matter how hard we try, a scourge will always appear. It is the nature of balance, and it is the nature of this world. I spent thousands of years on Earth, I know your people better than you may imagine."

"Yes, so I've heard." Errit looked Ho over, he was admiring the wings. They were a new addition, along with the horns. Ho was considerably older looking and more mature. He no longer resembled that childlike, unfathomable existence.

Qingchi was somewhat phasing, her abilities translated very differently as an elemental than she originally thought. Her body was essentially a spirit vessel, unique and strong. The pressure she gave when she arrived in the building was a key indicator of her growth and change.

Errit smiled, though, she would only know if he told her. "Please get on with it." His voice sounded tired, he was being arrogant, twirling his fingers like he was running out of patience.

Ho's facial expression turned into a deep scowl. "While I will accept that you may be in a predicament that leaves you guarded, you will not treat me with disrespect unearned. I have come today to discuss the missing auctions, your evidence of foul play and Chief Luimei's proposal."

'Proposal?' Errit was confused, he listened intently, waiting for an explanation that didn't seem to come fast enough.

"Luimei, please present your argument. I'm growing annoyed with the small talk, its keeping us sidetracked." The Chancellor asked for the evidence and started to go over the first few pages.

His look changed a few more times during the stack of paper. Errit pulled out another book, it contained a combination of the ledgers and a full accounting of items that no longer showed up in the auction house's registered inventory. There were well over 10000 items missing from that year and roughly the same amount of missing items throughout the last twenty years of records.

"Preposterous! How could this go overlooked." Ho slammed his fist on the table, it turned to ash.

"HEY!" Errit put his hands out in a 'WTF' gesture.

Qingchi settled him down by placing her hand on his back. The Demon Prince's rage was well known to her, she flicked a ring over. "This was prepared in case your claims were not full of shit. My brother tells me that the chances of a successful resurrection is beyond impossible, your existence is a question we'll have to approach later. To return to life always steals the soul."

"You know of my origins, you know how I came to this world?" Errit stood up.

Ho did the same, "Sit down. We are not done." He pointed to the chair and watched Errit sit. "I understand what you want. We have some of that information, I will not hold it away from you but please allow me to discuss the rest of our business before."

Errit nodded, Luimei crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. They began signing an agreement between them.

Kinky Company was given the official rights to their income. The auction house and depository would remain closed for a month as part of the change, giving Kinky Company enough time to establish themselves in full as auction house, trade center and depository. The City Depository would agree not to undercut products by a margin larger than 1% and Errit would no longer interfere with their work.

Errit cringed, the overall changes were dramatic. The depository also agreed not to undercut lower tiered herbs in any way. The prices would be set across the board, Luitian had done the math and sent it along with his Sister. "So what do we do about the attempt on Luimei's life?" He would settle the score if it went unchecked.

"The Magister? He is missing. Rest assured, we'll do everything in our power to find him. My first stop in the Capital was to arrive in his home. There was a stench of black magic, evil lurks in dark corners.. we will find him. He likely received word of our being contacted, its no surprise. The Truthers are very feared and my wife is very skilled at getting information." Ho smiled.

Luimei smiled too, the atmosphere in the room turned awkward.

"Here are the reports on the group we believe is involved in your resurrection. The woman you killed, she was one of your captors. Jahfi brought the information to the Empire and into the open. His investigation brought him to an empty room and a pile of bodies. Many of them had brand marks on their foreheads and slit throats." Demon Prince Ho gave his opinion based on the facts. "We are sure beyond a doubt, at least now, that you're not to blame. Your awakening would have been significantly violent given the manner in which you died and spent your afterlife."

Ho looked to Qingchi, nodded and stood up. "Promise day is this coming week, I will do all that I can to provide the Capital with Wine, however It can only flow so fast. The Cheng Brothers have been filling vats non-stop everyday but the amount drank every year increases."

"Is Promise day really that big of a celebration?" Errit asked a simple question.

It didn't have a simple answer. "Its like if America's fourth of July, Oktoberfest and a fighting competition were rolled into one. You can thank the Cheng Twins for their enthusiastic addition to this worlds culture." Ho put his hands up in a 'What can you do?' manner and then started to channel a teleportation circle.

"When we meet again, show me what you can do with Official authority." He grabbed Qingchi by the ass, asserting his dominance a little in the room and then left. Qingchi's expression at the end was priceless.