You walk over to the skinny man and and ask,


"Mind if I sit next to you?"


He is startled by your presence and jumps up a bit. He mutters something incomprehensible before saying,


"I don't mind."


The hot soup burns your tongue as you eat a spoonful.


"So what's this town's name again?"


"Ashton, why do you ask?"


"You might not believe me, but I came face to face with a demon. When I finally got away, I ran to the city walls."


"Trust me, I believe you. I encountered a demon while on guard duty."


You tell him about how you passed out and met a succubus.


"That's wild."


"Sure is, now tell me about the demon you met."


He grits what few teeth he has and begins,


"He wasn't pleasant at all like the one you met. I was going for a walk in the forest. I know, it's not the smartest thing to do in times like these, but it's one of my few sanctities."


His voice gets lower as he describes,


"I knew something was off the moment I entered. An unholy energy made me feel weak and tired. I started hearing voices and couldn't tell what was real. It was like I was in a trance."


"Did you actually see a demon?"


"No, but he made his presence known. He tired to coerce me into letting him take over my mind. I almost did it too, but something broke me out of my trance."


He pauses for dramatic effect,


"A bird fucking shat on my head!"


You stare at his head and notice white flakes clumped in his hair.


"Once I realized what I was about to do I ran like hell. I wasn't thinking straight and went the opposite direction which I came in. I'm lucky I ended up here."


His experience is vastly different to your own. You suppose he encountered a demonic sprit, rather than a full fledge demon.


"Perhaps this all was for the best. My city was running low on food, hence my frail appearance."


"Are you planning on staying in Ashton?"


"I don't know. I would need to get a job and a place to sleep at night. Would you be able to help me out in any way?"


When your about to answer you hear someone call your name. It's Captain Dario and he wants to speak with you immediately. You get up and tell the thin man,


"It was nice talking to you."


"I hope you can come back when you're done. My name's Eric by the way."


You wave goodbye and follow the captain into his private quarters.


A rush of anxiety hits you as your still not sure if the captain bought your story. What if Lars told him the truth?


"Please, take a seat."


You sit and find yourself starring at the gray haired captain. He stares back, unblinking as you both wait to see who makes the first move.


"First things first, you're not fired."


"That's a relief."


"I'm sure it is, but what I say next may not be. I have no intention of re-hiring Lars."


"Wait what? Like I said in my letter, he did the smart thing and could have died had he stayed."


The captain sighs and says,


"While that may be true, I've been wanting to fire him for awhile. He's lazy and incompetent. The only reason he still had a job was because guards are in high demand right now. The problem now is finding a replacement."


"What happens if you don't?"


Dario frowns and bitterly says,


"Then I might have to rehire Lars."


You could mention your new acquaintance, Eric, and vouch for him to replace Lars. On the other hand, who knows how Lars will react if he finds out you played a role in replacing him. There may be no reasoning with him.

You defend Lars

"Lars might not be the best guard, but he's the best option available. On the bright side, we at least seem to get along."


Dario's face turns dark red as he spits out,


"If he's the best option, then this city might burn in flames tonight. None of us are safe with him on duty."


"So I take it that you won't be rehiring him?"


The captains sighs deeply out of frustration.


"Look, tell him he can guard tonight. However, if he messes up one more time, he's out for good."


You do a small fist bump out of celebration.


"Not so fast sonny, you're going with him."


"Really? Even after what happened the last time we were on guard duty together?"


"You said it yourself, you two get along. Now, get out and get to work."


You leave in a pissed off mood, however the captain adds one thing before you slam his door shut.


"I brought fur coats for the both of you. They're in your lockers and it's best if you wear them tonight."


You leave in a slightly less pissed off mood and slam the door. Eric does a one tooth smile as you walk over to him.


"What was that all about?"


"Nothing too important. I have to go now, it was nice meeting you."


Nice meeting you too..."


You leave and head over to Lars house. It's best to tell him the good news as soon as you can. You get there shortly and he answers the door right away.


"So did you do it? Did you tell the captain what really happened."


"I convinced the captain to give you your job back, that's all that matters."


Lars looks like he wants to argue, but holds back.


"I'm just happy my family won't starve to death. Oh, and that I won't have to kill you," he says with a wink.


"Yeah it's great news, now follow me. The captain brought fur coats for both of us."

A month later

Lars is an incompetent fucktard who can't even hold a bow. You're very lucky the last month has been quiet for you, however demon sighting are getting more common. Sooner than later you're going to encounter one. You put on your fur coat and walk to the city walls.


5 hours later


It's been a quiet night so far and warmer than usual. Lars stands up and points his sword towards the forest.


"Do you see something?"


"Maybe, unless the booze is fucking with my vision. It looks like a bat but much larger, and...sexier."


You look where he's pointing and something comes into view. It's a succubus, but unlike the one you met before, it no longer resembles a human. It has blood stained skin and humongous bat wings. 


"Holy shit."


Don't just stand there, defend yourself."


"Nah fuck that," Lars says while running away.


You unleash a flurry of arrows at the creature as Lars makes his escape. It manages to dodge almost everything, but one arrow grazes its foot.


"HOW DARE YOU!"


The succubus releases a bolt of dark energy at you. It hits you in the chest and you collapse. As you sit there about to pass out, a thought comes to you. One month ago a succubus saved your life, now another ends it.


"Tell Catia I said hi..."