getting it right meant carefully preparing it with my trusty dictionary in hand. Even if it was at night when everyone else was sleeping and the only light I had came from the crescent moon.

Shiro grumbled somewhere on the ship when we docked after nightfall and let a hooded stranger in.

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it either, even for an immortal," I remarked as Kuro grumbled next to me.

"What does even make those art supplies so special, aside from being taken from a crypt and some creeps cursing you over getting it?" one of the twins, Hif, asked.

"What's up with him?" Tymon asked. "A curse," the man explained. "Was retrieving this," he gestured to the coffer he had brought, "from a crypt when some creeps attacked me from behind. Been dripping this sludge since then."

I walked to Myrial's quarters to report that the ship was functioning and ready to depart. However, when I got there, I noticed my captain looking at old photos I had seen only once before: photos of the old crew, Heyiadl just like Myrial.

What? All this, to make me ready for interrogation?!

I swallowed. "What exactly is this place?" Myrial's grin grew toothier. "You'll see soon enough."