The Mercenaries of Mayhem were enjoying yet another rare peaceful day at their mansion.
Bob was stacking gold coins into a pyramid.
Jim was soaking in a barrel of water, calling it a bath despite the fact that it was definitely not clean.
Marcus was modifying his crossbow, probably making it more dangerous.
Derek was meditating, trying to ignore everyone.
Bam was—actually, no one really knew what Bam was doing.
Then—a loud knock on the door.
Bob groaned. "Ugh. That's never a good sign."
Jim muttered, "Maybe if we ignore it, they'll go away."
Derek opened the door anyway.
A town messenger stood there, panting, holding a sealed letter.
"The mayor demands your presence immediately."
Jim sighed. "Yup. There it is."
Bob stretched. "Alright, let's go see what nonsense this is about."
The group strolled into the mayor's office, where Mayor Joff was pacing back and forth, red-faced and fuming.
"YOU!" he shouted, pointing at them.
Jim immediately pointed at Bob. "If it's about money, he handles that."
Bob grinned. "I do!"
The mayor ignored them. "A dragon has been spotted again in the mountains—setting trees on fire!"
The group blinked.
Derek frowned. "And… why is that our problem?"
The mayor slammed his hands on his desk. "BECAUSE YOU LIED! YOU SAID YOU KILLED IT!"
Silence.
Then Bob scratched his head. "Uh… no, we didn't."
The mayor glared. "YES, YOU DID!"
Jim leaned forward. "Nooo, we said we fought it and injured it."
Marcus nodded. "The killing part? That was your assumption."
The mayor's eye twitched.
Derek sighed. "Look, if you misunderstood, that's not really our fault."
The mayor groaned, rubbing his forehead. "The entire town believes you are heroes for slaying a dragon!"
Jim grinned. "Cool, cool. We are not correcting them."
The mayor glared. "And now that same dragon is burning the forests again. People are panicking."
Bob shrugged. "Well, that's a dragon for you."
The mayor pointed at them. "You're going back up that mountain. And this time, you will slay it for real."
Silence.
Jim turned to Bob. "Well, buddy, this is your fault."
Bob sighed. "Yeah, yeah."
Derek crossed his arms. "So we're doing this again?"
The mayor narrowed his eyes. "Yes. And this time, there better not be any misunderstandings."
Bob stretched his arms. "Alright, team! Dragon slaying mission!"
Jim groaned. "I swear if this thing is still reading books when we get there, I'm gonna lose my mind."
And with that, the Mercenaries of Mayhem once again headed toward the mountain, believing it would be easy job.