The Mook Maker

I learned to dread the nightmares that came back to haunt me each time I tried to close my eyes, filled with the vague flashing images of the traumatic scenes that had transpired to this point. It made me wake up in fright, my heart pumping, with no rest, and no respite, until I searched once again for the comforting embrace of my girls. 

 

The warmth of their bodies was reassuring, their care unconditional, our bodies, our minds, our souls as one. 

 

It brought the relief I desperately sought. 

 

There was something soothing in watching the plant’s accelerated growth from the tiny, green, very Earth-like sapling to the massive barrier of twisted, thorny shrubbery, forming the rows of the entangling thorn brush not unlike a kind of living barbed wire that spread further and further along the riverbanks covered in the light haze of morning fog burning away.

 

Far inland, the ‘Ravagers’ toiled to raise the earthworks and the palisade, creating yet another layer of defences around our recently acquired castle, and the future dwelling places, even the ‘Purifiers’ helped to dig with surprising enthusiasm I’ve seen only when it involved torching things down. 

 

The ‘Corruptors’ and ‘Defilers’ took turns expanding the growing thorn barriers along the river, and where some worked their magic, others slumped in the grass waiting for their powers to recharge to renew their struggle to convert the land further away from the castle along the river.

 

Some of them snoozed in peaceful slumber in between their shifts while ‘Eviscerators’ took watch, and then we dreamed together, we dreamed of fire and metal, and flesh and trees, and the world without the dangers that brought us so much pain, united in minds and vision, lulled by the serenade of voices that assured us we were safe - the nightmares couldn’t reach us, for we were many. 

 

I came to in the embrace of fur and scales and looked at the beams of light penetrating the grating that made the room’s windows, then at my surroundings. 

 

As far I could tell, we were in what must have been one of the better rooms within the castle, reserved for either the lord of the land himself or his important guests at the very least, since, unlike the barren huts of nights prior, this chamber retained its furnishings and decor. 

 

Whether the bed fit my luxurious expectations, I wasn’t quite able to tell as my back rested not against the sheets or pillows, but against the soft now pale fur of Ekaterina, my bear girl, while Mai rose to sit up on my lap looking at me with a sultry gaze, showing up her perfect curves. 

 

Despite the fact that Mai was, like the entire ‘Corruptors’ breed, an anthropomorphic warm-blooded lizard, she had a very curvy figure with an ample bosom as the unseen force that made my girls into what they were considered a difference between mammal and a reptile a matter of debate, rather than biological facts. Her scales, soft on touch on the belly and the breasts, were now snow white, except on her sides, hands and thighs where they gained the dark, almost black outline that looked like the small fashionable cracks rather than flaws in the scaled exterior. 

 

I looked into her eyes, which, albeit still reptilian in nature, glowed with hidden power. She shook her head, almost as if she wanted to put her expansive mane of feathers in order, and leaned for a kiss.

 

The system didn’t acknowledge our bonding with yet another gamified overlay message, but I had no doubt it had transpired during that difficult, confusing time I was overwhelmed by the newly formed connection between me and the rest of the host. 

 

I returned the kiss. Despite the fact that Mai was an anthropomorphic reptile, her tongue was very soft and dexterous, and it felt more natural than it had any right to be. 

 

The feeling that I couldn’t be without them any more than they could be without me was a strange, but comforting sensation, even if it meant that the ever-present chatter of their telepathic host was lingering at the edge of the consciousness, not heard, but still noticed. 

 

“Nesting time, my Master?” She suggested when she raised her head again, however, this time Tama crawled into my view instead, nudging herself in with her own muzzle.  

 

I kissed the vixen too.

 

She returned the kiss and then grinned with the vulpine grin, very fitting her form. 

 

“Isn’t this entire castle our nest, or something like that?” I asked, 

 

“You took the task of filling the land with your progeny very seriously, Master.” She remarked, sparing the teasing glance to the other girls, then simply snuggled to my side, almost as if sharing the bed with more females was always an intended feature rather than anything she should be concerned over. 

 

“Yes-yes, there is a place for so many young, Master.” Narita confirmed, “We are raising the defences already.” 

 

On the other side, my rat-girl companion demanded her morning attention as well, and I gave it to her even though I was starting to question my life decision the moment I looked up at the ursine face of Ekaterina also bearing the signs of the transformation that usually followed the major bonding, considering her ursine head was now adored by bull-like horns.

 

I was starting to question the whole decision considering ‘progeny’ as Tama put it.

 

“Master?” The voice of Miwah suddenly interrupted my thoughts

 

My devoted werewolf girl was the only one who didn’t push herself closer to me, making me wonder whether she felt jealous, or disappointed with me, but it didn’t seem to be the case, as I was, somehow, able to sense her surface emotion and would-likely hear her thoughts should the ever delicate mind-marble broke and the chatter of the host poured into my brain.

 

“Yes, Miwah,” I asked carefully, rather than worried by something she could only see through her telepathic link with her sisters.

 

I could sense their conversation lingering somewhere at the edge of my consciousness but I hesitated to reach towards it to find my own answers within the storm of voices, afraid of what it would cause. 

 

Miwah looked at me, with her deep azure eyes, loving as always, but it soon became less of my worry. 

 

Dozens of minds, all united, all lurking in the shadows, scouring the human city, looking for dangers and avoiding being noticed by the humans. 

 

I would rather communicate this in words, rather than the telepathy I wasn’t quite able to control. 

 

“We searched the city, Master - there are no wards, no barriers, but there is something wrong…” She explained, briefly gazing away almost as if she were confirming something elsewhere. 

 

“What it is?” I pressed, 

 

“There is only one priest. He says the dragon wants to speak with you, Master.” She said

 

“What?” 

 

***************************************************************************

 

The portals dropped us in the middle of the typical Eastern Asian decorative garden, complete with exotic-looking red maple trees even Mai hadn’t tried to replicate yet, immaculately groomed bushes, and even a small koi pond, all enclosed within the high palace walls with its typical hip-and-gable roofs. 

 

Apperance-wise, it was all that I would expect from the noble’s mansion, or palace, within the vaguely eastern aesthetics typical for this land, and by my admittedly limited experiences it was quite fitting for the local lord. 

 

Except, it was empty. Not only was the owner of this place absent, but there were no human guards to raise alarms nor servants terrified by our sudden, and quite unnatural, arrival. 

 

“Ari’s acolytes had closed the gates to the palace, Master,” Miwah reported, “We won’t be disturbed.” 

 

Acolytes? I was uncertain of the term but left it hanging there, aware of the more pressing concerns.

 

“Not even the Viceroy?” I asked, “This is his mansion, isn’t it?” 

 

“Yes, Master. He retreated to his chambers, he will not interfere, it seems.” The pale werewolf confirmed, scanning the area for potential threats. 

 

“There was a lot of yelling yesterday, but humans seem to have worked their differences for now, Master.” 

 

The rest of my retinue, consisting of the handful named representatives from every breed, spread to cover the area, trampling over the immaculate perfection of the garden to search every corner and cranny there might be for the concealed threats and hidden ambushers, making me question my decision to come there. Only the ‘Fleshspeaker’ hesitated to take to the skies, to not invite more attention to our presence. 

 

I wasn’t sure if the attacks under the flag of truce were indeed a common practice here, but the pressure to assure at least relative safety for my growing horde over the following days, weeks, or even months was still a priority. 

 

The worry that the offer would pass should we delay made me rush, we dressed and equipped ourselves, and called for the ‘Displacers’ to teleport us, without anything more than the assurances from the ‘Eviscerators’ that the landing area was clear. 

 

My brain had quickly switched to concern over my girls’ well-being rather than puzzlement over the deepening connection between me and the, quite literally, several thousand-strong hordes of the monster girls. 

 

The only people present before we arrived seemed to be Ari, flanked by the two ‘Eviscerators’ outfitted with the typical lamellar armour, and the man in that colourful priest garb sitting on the stairs which supposedly led to the shrine’s gate. 

 

The mere sight of the outfit stirred my ire - I knew he was going to be there, yet, it still angered me to just look at the symbol of what caused my host so much pain and suffering. 

 

However, aside from the colourful robes of the office, the man didn’t look threatening or even hostile. He was a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a thinning beard, with the typical Asian features present among the locals, entirely unconscious if it wasn’t for the clothing.

 

Until recently, I thought that the human clergy was exclusively female.  

 

Nevertheless, the man did nothing to endanger us, didn’t attempt to cast any magic, he didn’t even move, just stared at the ‘Eviscerator’ almost as if he was captivated by the wolf girl. 

 

“For Master!” She argued with him, but I doubted he understood what she was saying. Yet he replied something in the local tongue, one I wasn’t still able to understand, which the canine didn’t like.

 

“For Master!” She protested, unhappy, but the further rather one-sided argument was interrupted at our arrival, at which he dropped to his knees and bowed down to the ground, something which only Ari had done before. 

 

Ari, of course, bowed deeply as well, though she wasn’t kneeling as I already explained to her that I wasn’t going to demand any outward displays of submission and allegiance, albeit I wasn’t quite sure she had understood. 

 

I quickly reminded myself why I was there - I was supposed to enter the shrine, in order to start the negotiation, supposedly, though the message relayed to us was rather scarce in details about what it would entail. 

 

It was suspicious. Yet, I still couldn’t stop being a little bit curious, and continued up the stairs, just to peek inside the walled temple, just to stop just in the half of the stairs and turn back to the only friendly human.

 

She, unlike my girls, wouldn’t be outwardly affected by the ‘sealing’ magic as she was, after all, a human, 

 

“Ari, could you please accompany me?” I asked, without realizing that there was a language barrier, and even if brighter than most other humans she still was just speaking in the local tongue. 

 

“For Master!” Ari replied, seemingly understanding what I was saying only after a brief moment of hesitation almost as she waited for the translation to come in. 

 

I made a few steps up, to the very border of the shrine as symbolised by the typical roofed gate, with the text in the local stript carved into its pillar and as well as the sign that hung overhead, neither of which I could read. 

 

Still, I peeked inside, assuming that this place worked similarly to the one I encountered in the south; with danger lurking within the strictly defined area of effect. 

 

While there was no barrier that would prevent us from visiting this garden, there was no telling what kind of enchantment could be woven into the shrine’s area, especially if it was already walled off either for privacy, protection or both. 

 

There weren’t any guards and the priest itself didn’t look like he would attempt to stop us, but that didn’t preclude the potential for harm. 

 

I was about to order Tama to stay back in range and torch this place down should anything strange occur, but I didn’t have a chance to do so.

 

“The Root and The Serpent. You are excruciatingly persistent, aren’t you?” 

 

The voice boomed out of nowhere, eerily similar to the voice of the dragon I had already heard in the southern shrine, thunderous and overwhelming, yet somehow distinctively feminine compared to the previous one. It sounded like it was coming from a distance, the boundary of the shrine likely limiting where it would manifest, yet unrestricted by the normal way the sound would spread. 

 

It caused me to hesitate to take a step forward immediately.

 

My experience already confirmed that the celestial dragons, or whatever they were actually called in the local tongue, the natives worshipped were not only very real but also not approving of my presence, possibly even sending all those priestesses after us. Even knowing that I was expected to meet under the metaphorical white flag, I couldn’t help myself to threaten it with mistrust and scepticism.

 

It seems to fail in the ‘voice from the heavens’ though - whether it was because we didn’t stoop on the hallowed grounds proper was a question 

 

“Alas, it isn’t of my concern anymore. We should… talk. I have no interest in fighting you. Come …closer” the disembodied voice of the dragon said, almost as it sensed my uncertainty, and added: “I am willing to make… concessions.” 

 

Unlike the previous dragon with the distinctively masculine tone of its tone, for disembodied apparition at least, this one spoke with the voice of an older woman, with the occasional long pauses, as if she weighed certain words and considered the options as she went on. 

 

“What concessions?” I asked, almost in a whisper, but the voice of the dragon haunting the shrine was seemingly capable of hearing me anyway.

 

“On, straight to the point! This land? Surrounding lands? All souls within it even should be … necessary?” The voice of the dragoness replied, a short pause between the suggestions almost as if she was rethinking some unspoken plan: “Yes, it could be acceptable for what I am in need of … I am getting tired of my idiotic brother. He was always short-sighted .. and jealous.”

 

She sounded like she was talking to herself, rather than addressing me specifically, her tone gave the impression that the older lady was quite enamoured with her own musings, even if she now existed mostly as a disembodied voice, and much less like the some-form of inscrutable dragon deity. 

 

She, unlike the mortals that served her, spoke English which was quite a mystery on its own - or was it even a sound, or an actual telepathy, or work of the arcane forces beyond my comprehension?

 

Maybe it was the seemingly unexpected absence of any language barrier whatsoever which made me reconsider my previous approach and I was suddenly not quite so eager to step into what could easily turn into an obvious trap. 

 

If they could do this all that time, what had changed now? 

 

After all, they already did try to lure me into the heavily enchanted, or maybe consecrated area, causing me quite a lot of pain and sealing a large number of my girls in the process. 

 

Opting to remain silent, I chose to inspect the area of the shrine from a distance, noting the similarities in the design from the one in ‘Southern Maiville’. 

 

It was quite similar, just a little grander in its design, with fewer expenses spared in its construction, but shared an overall similar theme. It was largely open-air, surrounded by tall, stone walls, the only roofed area that was reserved for the intricately carved statues of the local deities in the likeness of the Asian-styled dragons perhaps in greater detail and with much more flare and decoration fitting the palace this was supposed to be. 

 

Except, in this case, someone put a great effort into destroying most, if not all of it, before we even arrived. 

 

I looked at my companions. Both Miwah and Tama seemed wary of their surroundings, as did the rest of my current retinue. Perhaps except for Ekaterina who was unphased, and Mai fascinated by the garden almost as if she just realised she could turn the leaves red too, despite the fact it was a slightly less impossible colour than what she would have done. 

 

The remainder were searching for possible traps or ambushes, but all was still and silent, even the noise of the bustling city didn’t reach us. 

 

The only humans present were Ari and the strange priest, with no sign of foul play from the latter. 

 

The priest, unlike his female colleagues, seemed more curious than hostile. 

 

While he surreptitiously glanced at us as he bowed, he didn’t try any tricks, magical or otherwise. If he understood the tongue the dragon was speaking in, he didn’t show it.

 

A random ‘Purifier’ seems to have caught his interest instead. Meanwhile, the dragon seemed patient with us just standing at the edge of the grounds, and was silent for the moment while I was re-thinking my options. 

 

“Why should I trust you?” I asked, carefully. 

 

The ‘Eviscerators’ streamed in, searching the premises, purposefully causing a ruckus within the shrine, but nothing happened. 

 

The voice, supposedly belonging to the dragon associated with this vandalized shrine, just laughed, which echoed in the surroundings. I wasn’t certain if everyone - even the priest - heard it. Miwah and Tama did, at the very least, but I didn’t look behind me further to check on others. 

 

“That is a… good question. Disagreement between us has lasted for ages. Nevertheless, I am willing to make the necessary steps to ease the suspicion and make a great effort to remove all wards around this shrine… and even the city.” The unseen dragoness seems amused, rather than anything else: “Your spawns were sniffing around for the entire night for you to know it is no trap.” 

 

“You sealed my girls, Dragon.” 

 

“My brother’s followers did.” The dragon admitted, shifting blame: “I am not as … irascible as my brother.” 

 

Ekaterina lost patience and strode past me into the shrine herself, to test the place's defences the same way as she dared to absorb the clearly enchanted staff before, heedless of the danger it may pose to her.

 

I didn’t know what I would do if she was sealed here and now. She was covered from head to toe by the carapaced metal armour she had created for herself, but I wasn’t certain if it had any effect against the more magical threats. 

 

There were changes in her form, aside from the muscle, fur colour and the new bull horns, combined with the greatly improved control over her powers, yet there was no way of telling whether it rendered her immune. 

 

Neither she nor the several ‘Eviscerators’ within the boundary of the shrine seemed affected by any magic whatsoever, and the voice, still sounding as if it was out of nowhere, remarked with idle curiosity: “I am not sure … the wards may not work on her anymore. It is what you needed those souls for?” 

 

The dragon’s voice paused. 

 

“Innovative!” The disembodied voice praised and went silent, but whether it was a sign of surprise remained a question. 

 

I waited for a few seconds, then a minute, then some more, yet there didn’t seem to be any reaction from the shrine and the invisible dragon spirit haunting it, and no subsequent attempt to lure me inside emerged. It waited, and it felt like the dragon studied what we had done rather than argue, convince us, or converse. 

 

In the meantime, Ekaterina even tried to absorb the gold from the heavily damaged dragon idol which faced the entrance and succeeded without any apparent backslash again doing so, it does not even elicit a reaction from the voice that tried to talk with us before. 

 

Half-expecting a trap, I looked behind me, but the priest also didn’t react in any meaningful way, even though he dared to raise his head this time, he just kept staring somewhat awkwardly at the ‘Defiler’ on my retinue instead of attempting even the token resistance against our presence. 

 

Whether he remained completely ignorant of what had been said, I couldn’t tell, but he certainly looked so.

 

He bowed once Narita turned her attention upon him, and lowered his gaze one more. 

 

If there was going to be any attempt to strike at us, he didn’t seem to be one that was going to spring that trap, as the man seemed to be more interested in leering at my girls than doing anything meaningful. 

 

Nevertheless, the time was ticking away, and struggling with my innate impatience I decided to do something very stupid - I stepped into the area of the shrine. 

 

“You look different.” The disembodied dragon commented. I could nearly see the dragon’s visage leaning closer almost as if it was about to sniff me as a curious dog would, but the image was gone the moment I blinked, as if it never happened. 

 

I looked around. The shrine was, once again, devoid of any movement, or other life that wasn’t us for what mattered. The presence, lurking somewhere beyond my notice, was still present, unsettling me. 

 

“Did you sacrifice a portion of your power to make more of your spawn so quickly?” The disembodied voice mused, “Or is it the work of the scroll?”

 

I tried to pay it to mind, watching my surroundings with a watchful eye expecting an ambush now they lured me within the area of the shrine - again - but this time nothing happened. 

 

My girls even checked behind the statues. 

 

This place appeared to be a major temple dedicated not only to the single dragon we encountered previously but to the entire pantheon of them, each one differentiated by colour. The gold one held in a prominent position sitting above the red, white, black and blue-green flanking him, all looking down from their perches on the ornate pedestrians in the manner of receiving a petitioner in the courtyard where we stood. 

 

At least, that was the original intent behind this place. 

 

It seemed like some vandal had thoughtfully destroyed the idols except the blue-green dragon on the side.

 

The sites in both ‘Maiville’ and ‘Southern Maiville’ had, as far as I was able to recall, the red one instead. This explained why the voice itself sounded different - it was a different dragon. What their colours symbolized was anyone's guess. 

 

This temple had the red one too, in fact, but someone had taken a hammer to it, defacing the idol already, saving me from the effort to destroy it by my own hands for all the suffering it brought down to my girl. 

 

The blue-green one doesn’t seem interested in fighting, for whatever reason, making me wonder what the overall attitude of those other dragons was, and what kind of logic, or laws, they even followed when trying to mess with me and mine.  

 

“Yes, it is the scroll…” The dragon - or rather dragoness - continued with her vocal contemplation around, her voice echoing in the temple walls and the statue that supposedly represented her, “...and not only one.”

 

I once again glanced over my shoulder. Ari was there and part of my retinue had split, some to enter into the shrine entirely unopposed, while others kept their distance to blast this place should the dragon or their hidden clergy attempt another sealing spell. Our worries didn’t come to be. 

 

“But it works perfectly for me!” The voice exclaimed, and when I looked back in the direction of the blue-green idol, I was suddenly staring right into the nozzle of the dragon, and then, all of a sudden, it was gone. It felt like the invisible, and intangible, being was moving between the blinks of my eyes, and it was quite unsettling as it had the tendency to quite literally appear and disappear out of nowhere. 

 

“Say, Root, would you … and your annoying little sibling here… accept to be a new guardian of the scrolls in exchange for the … reasonable concessions?” She-dragon offered.

 

“A sibling?” I asked, perplexed, unsure what the dragon had been referring to. My girls considered each other siblings, but …

 

“You mean Ari?” 

 

I could feel the dragon’s statue shifting almost as if it was going to sniff Ari instead, but the moment I blinked the idol was once again nothing more than the carving of stone, painted in colour, entirely devoid of life. 

 

“Your Chosen. No. Not quite. She is still very much herself.” The voice explained calmly, “The Serpent is, just as always, hiding in your shadow. Perhaps he wants to have a vessel, born through her child.” 

 

I looked at Ari. 

 

“Coward the Serpent is, stupid he is not.” The voice continued musing in the voice of the old lady, “But the offers extend to you both! It’s not like he will not try to bring you back each time you perish…” 

 

“... but it matters not.” The dragon dismissed the thoughts with the gesture of the claws and then - then it was statue again - it was getting on my nerves, but the disembodied speaker cared not: “You would both be guardians of the scrolls!” 

 

“Scrolls?” about both the artefacts I was planning to search for, and the mention of the sibling I didn’t know I had, and it was all quite unsettling. 

 

“Yes. Yes, the mortals call them a scroll of Pho-us-kah at the moment. All secrets of creation, in the small, convenient packages, for the foolish mortals to toy with and to destroy themselves with, for all the eternity.” The dragoness continued in an exhausted tone that sounded like she was describing the most tedious task in existence: “I am tired of all the struggle to keep the balance, with our incompetent ruler and the endless squabbles amongst my brothers” 

 

“Balance?” 

 

“Yes, the balance. As you know, this world is one of many.” Was the reply, “It remains under our firm influence, however, as long as we don’t extend our powers too much, threatening to destroy its isolation, and robbing us of our entire playground in the instant some other beings step in our domain…” 

I remained silent, trying to absorb the information, trying to make sense of it all, while still wondering whether it wasn’t all just a deceit, driven by motives I wasn’t able to see or understand.

 

“Scrolls, however … urge us to use our powers to destroy them … either we bring our might down on them, shattering the divide between the worlds, or someone uses them to connect this world with others ending our domain over this realm.” The explanation continued, even if it made very little sense. 

 

I thought - and paused. 

 

“Why? What are those scrolls anyway?”

 

“We don’t know.” I could almost feel the invisible dragon shrug, in the most annoying mirage of moving statues ever.

 

“You don’t know?” I said in disbelief. 

 

“We know what the scrolls are, and how they work. We just don’t know how to get rid of them.” She replied, “For all of our might, their primordial power is beyond our control, they are the key which we can’t use, to the locks we don’t want open. We tried to destroy them so many times, and they are always, always recreated, only to threaten us once more. We punish the scholars that scribble them, we bury them, we have our followers guard them, we bless Chosen ones, and all our struggles seem to be in vain.”

 

There was a clear hint of frustration in the dragon’s expression, even if it tried to emit calmness, I could even see it between the blinks of my eyes as the mirage surrounding its statue shifted uncomfortably before it once again became the very ordinary piece of carved stone, painted in the bright colours. 

 

I made a few steps forward again, but the dragon didn’t seem to particularly care and as far I was able to tell, didn’t do anything to smite me down either. 

 

“I don’t understand how it involves me?” I asked, “So far you were consistently trying to kill me, and worse, harm my girls!” 

 

“My brothers did, never willing to share their domains. He can’t even get over the fact that some people look up to the Serpent.” The voice allowed, “You, despite my brother's pointless attempts to kill you, you always come back. Your persistence is what you share with the scrolls.” 

 

She sighed, “Unlike the scrolls, however, you can’t breach the divide between realms. After all, you are still here, instead of infesting other worlds with your spawn, even now with the power of the Scroll.”

 

I frowned. 

 

“You can’t have your own world. You are locked here with us.” The she-dragon taunted, then admitted: “But we can’t have more either, so I think we have to share the toys …and be friends.

 

The dragon laughed, amused by something I didn’t quite understand, and continued her speech in a calm, dispassionate tone, even if I could feel it could burst out anytime.

 

“I am willing to share this world with you. It’s big enough for two of us … three if you include your annoying Serpent sibling… and in return, you will become a jailer to the only force we can’t control. It may even be fun, with more than just humans around there.” 

 

“And you trust I wouldn’t use these Scrolls against you?” I queried. It seemed logical, and I couldn’t show that I didn’t quite understand what she was speaking about.

 

“Yes. Quite!” The voice of the dragon echoed in confidence immediately. 

 

“Why?” 

 

“Because you are the Root we know.” She said, “I much prefer having you around forever than risk the fight with whatever lay beyond the boundaries we had erected so long ago.”

 

The statue, once again, moved, gesturing with its talons in gestures almost as if she wanted to play with something equally unseen as her true form, and then the idol became inanimate again. 

 

“I share toys so I can use toys.” She said, in an increasingly creepy tone, with an unseen grin: “We might not even need my brothers, Root.” 

 

I didn’t say anything. 

 

Dragon, however, pressed:

 

“Would you like to make an arrangement?”