Li sat on one end of a round table. It reminded him of a coffee table except the people of Soleil didn’t regularly drink coffee. That was a rare import from the west and reserved for the aristocracy or wealthy. Instead, he took a wooden cup in his hand and sipped some beer.

It tasted like wheat-flavored water. Far more diluted than modern beer, but Li had never drunk beer for the taste anyway, so he just drank it in appreciation of the fact that the builder was willing to pour out a glass for him.

The builder sat opposite from Li and he downed his beer in one big gulp before taking a shaking hand to take a pitcher and refill the foamy golden liquid as quickly as it had gone.

Li raised a brow. “We’re still negotiating here, you know. You can’t get all drunk on me now.”

“Apologies, sir, just easing the nerves,” said the builder.

“You always call people sir? My name’s Li, and I’m getting a little tired of just calling you, well, ‘you’.”

“Charles, sir, and forgive me, it’s habit from working a service job.” The builder took a sip of his beer.

“If you don’t mind, I’d still like to call you sir. Professionalism and all.”

“Fine by me.” Li shrugged. “It won’t make me ask for any less, though.”

“I’m fine with that, sir,” said the builder as his eyes wandered again.

“You’re still worried? Relax. You’re in the comfort and privacy of your home,” said Li as his eyes

wandered, taking in the builder’s cottage. It lay at the very edge of the main road, right when the dusty path merged with the towering trees of the Winterwood. Despite its relative remoteness, its walls were built with brick and its roofs shingled with tiles. In contrast, the average cottage made do with mud brick walls and thatch roofing. “This is a surprisingly nice place, too. Build it yourself?”

Charles nodded several times as he flashed his chipped-tooth smile. “Aye, sir. All my handiwork. And me crew, of course. They’re as important as my hands.”

“Your crew must miss you. I can’t imagine you can go to work with this whole monster situation.”

“Another reason why I beseech you for your aid, sir. My crew, they’re talented with their hands, but they need someone to give them directions. Without me, they lose focus. A few days gone, aye, they can manage, but a week? Just two days ago, they botched a roof repair. Big hole in the roof – a thunderstrike – and they patched it up right beautifully but used the wrong wood. Soft wood. Already starting to rot.”

“Then it’s best we get this over with quickly, no? Every second you spend holed up in here is a second you lose making money.” Li moved his beer aside. “Let’s get this straight. What are you putting on the table for me to solve your problem?”

“Anything.”

Zero hesitation. Li nodded slowly as he read the builder’s expression. Charles truly was desperate. His wide eyes, even in his own home, shifted about with wary energy, as if the beast was about to just burst through the walls and claw at his throat. Dark bags that spoke of sleeplessness underlined each of his eyes. His fingers tapped rapidly against the beer mug he held close to his chest.

“Okay, now I don’t understand. If you’re this desperate, why haven’t you moved out yet?” said Li. He was going to just keep pressuring Charles, laying out what he wanted and then telling him that he had to do it all unless he wanted to face constant torment, but his sheer desperation was pitiable. “You could move closer to the city. That’s where you have most of your business, isn’t it?”

“The land closer to the city is much too expensive, I’m afraid,” said Charles. “The crown does subsidize much of the price of land for those wishing to land to farmland, but I come from a line of craftsmen, sir. I’ve no idea how to farm.”

Li raised his hand in suggestion. “You could sell this cottage and use the coin to buy a place directly in the city. You’d be living somewhere much smaller, for sure, but atleast you wouldn’t have to go by horseback for almost an hour every day to get to work.”

“Not possible, sir.” As if to explain, Charles raised his voice and called out, “Remy! Rosa! Our honorable guest wishes to see you. Come and give your greetings!”

A door squeaked open from a room in the cottage and two children – a boy and a girl about five old – ran out. They ran until they stood in front of Li, at which point they stopped abruptly and looked at each other nervously before staring at Charles for help.

“Say, ‘hello, sir,’ for me,” said Charles gently.

The boy’s mouth opened and closed several times as his eyes, wide like his father’s, narrowed in focus. “Hello…sir,” he said, enunciating each word slowly as if they were unfamiliar.

“Good, Remy” said Charles with a smile. He turned his gaze to the girl and said, “Go on, Rosa, say hello like you usually do.”

The girl took a nervous look at Charles, then to Li, then to her brother before she mustered enough courage to slightly lower her head in a bow.

“That was wonderful!” Charles clapped his hands. “You can go to your room again. Make sure to keep quiet for papa, though, he’s talking with an important man.”

The children nodded and ran back to their room as quickly as they had come out. They took a wondering peek at Li before they closed the door behind them.

“My children can’t stand the city,” said Charles. “They were both born of a Rivieran tavern wench, but when I heard she had birthed my children and wanted to send them to the orphanage, I took them in, but alas, the gods have punished me for my ill-begotten decisions.

Remy, my son, he was born with stunted mind. The priests say he will never think as a proper man, but I see him as whole as any boy his age. But can you imagine? The city is merciless – the boys there will see his face, his drooping eyelids, his slurred speech, and bear down on him with bullying. Rosa, as a mute, will fare no better. I cannot stand to my own blood treated so. Both love animals as well, so I prefer to be out here where the nature is.”

“I understand,” said Li. “Look, in my book, a good father is a good man, and if there’s anything that can make an impression on me, its family. I still need my stall built, but I will tell you now that I can absolutely guarantee that this issue of yours, this monster problem? I’ll handle it. You will not have to live a single extra day fearing for your children’s lives. Now give me the details.”

Charles started tapping his foot against the wooden floor. “I, ah, well, sir, it’s quite serious.”

Li crossed his arms. “Believe me, nothing will faze me.”

Charles paused for a moment, the silence punctuated by his tapping foot. He stared at his children’s room and then back at the table. He sighed. “A wraith’s haunting me, sir. Come midnight, it stalks this house, rattles on my windows, on my door, and leaves me deathly afraid for my life and for my children. Not even Triple Threat, the silver ranked adventurer team, could kill the spirit completely. They had the power to beat it away, but it always comes back somehow.”

“You didn’t think to ask the temple for help?” said Li. He knew by now that the temple offered to exorcise errant spirits. Where the adventurer’s guild dealt with monsters, the temple dealt with ghosts.

“Not enough coin for that either,” said Charles. “Triple Threat are known for their generosity and pro-bono work, so I could get them for free, but when they found themselves stumped, I had no options left.”

“I don’t need to hear anymore.” Li stood up. He knew that wraiths were troublesome enemies in that they could respawn infinitely unless killed with powerful magic, and there didn’t seem to be a dedicated mage among Jeanne, Sylvie, or Azhar, explaining the difficulty with the wraith. But that wasn’t the case with Li. “I’ll come by this midnight and this wraith will trouble you and your children no more.”

As Li left, he noticed that Charles still stared at the table, lips pursed in worried thought.