Arthur agreed with Clark. “Right. We just need to find 813 on this road and we’ll be good.”

“813?” Both man and cricket turned to the source of the noise. It was a nearby older man with a rough gray beard and even worse looking clothes. From the looks of things, the guy was probably homeless and had just finished drinking some water from the fountain. “I know where that is, but you’ll have to pay me.”

“We don’t have any gold, sorry” was Arthur’s response.

“Well damn you and your bug.” He said this last word with obvious disdain and anger. “You’ll be looking for that casino forever, then.”

Arthur put a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder, [i]thinking this guy isn’t worth it. Let’s go to this casino.[/i] Clark nodded in agreeance.

It turned out that the Golden Eye Casino was actually really close to where they were, so it was easy to find. It was a massive building, oval in shape and made out of bricks that were painted gold. The entrance was an open archway with Romanesque columns on each side; on the top of the arch was the words “Golden Eye Casino.” Below those was the address “813 Charity Lane,” confirming that the two had found the right place.

The inside of it was less grand; the bricks in there weren’t even painted and the place seemed to be one big room, filled to the brim with assorted games of chance. Card games, roulette, and more were being played by people with and without gold to spare. There was an open circular window in the direct middle of the place, providing sunlight and a way for the smoke of people’s cigarettes to escape the building.

By the entrance, there was a bored-looking man in a Golden Eye Casino uniform who appeared to be some kind of guard, judging from the door behind him. Clark seemed to examine him for a second, then nudged Arthur to get him to talk to the man.

“Excuse me sir,” Arthur asked the bored man, “Would you happen to know where Delia Toujours is?”

The guardsman looked wary of them both for once, not just Clark. “What do you want from her?” 

“We have a delivery for her.” Saying this, Arthur held up the jar of red powder he got from the doctor.

The guard’s face changed instantly, suddenly becoming far more friendly and polite. “Oh! Sure. Go through the door and up the stairs, then talk to the secretary. Their desk will be the first one you see.” He then opened the door so the pair could enter.

“Thank you,” Arthur replied as he and Clark did the first two parts of what the man said. At the top was a sparse waiting room with a few chairs and an older looking woman. Arthur walked up to her and asked the same question he asked the guard, this time holding up the jar to save a bit of time.

“Oh, I can give that to her. Off you go.” Her attitude appeared to be quite in line with the guard’s initial one. Before Arthur could give the jar to her, Clark held his hand in front of it.

“No thank you,” the cricket said, “we’d be glad to do it ourselves.” Clark simply stared at the clerical worker, letting time win his case for him.

After waiting what felt to Arthur like minutes, the lady assented. “Fine. Her office is in the back, last door on the right.”

Clark thanked her, then both of them walked towards the office. “Why’d you ask to do this yourself?” Arthur whispered.

“So we can maybe get some money for your food, plus that lady would’ve stolen some of it,” the cricket responded equally quietly.

Arthur nodded. As they were about to knock on Delia’s door, he heard a voice on the other side. “Come in.” The pair looked at one another, shrugged, then opened the door and walked in. 

Delia’s office was significantly nicer than the lobby before it. She had a nice wooden desk with matching shelves, along with big picture windows that presented a nice view of the city. Delia herself was a slender woman in her mid-30s with long, dark red hair. She wore a formal red dress that matched her hair. In an instant, anyone looking at this woman would know she was more sophisticated than most of the people in the casino.

 “Please close the door behind you,” she asked of Clark, “and hand me the jar please” she asked Arthur. Both of them complied with these requests, then sat down.

A moment later, the woman said “you’re right, it usually isn’t this full. Thank you.”

Both men were visibly surprised, so Delia took it upon herself to explain. “I have good hearing.” Arthur was still perplexed, but Clark nodded as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. 

“Wait a minute,” the woman just realized, being as surprised as Arthur was, “you’re the guy who fought the frog, right? Yeah, not many people travel with crickets around here.”

Seeing that the pair’s expressions were as surprised as they were a few moments ago, Delia explained again. “I was able to found this place” she waved her hand around the room to indicate the building “by being well informed, so I like to stay that way. This also includes knowing you need money for food. Would you two be interested in work?”

Arthur didn’t know what else to say, so he just asked “what kind of work?”

“I need two bodyguards for a meeting tomorrow. My usual people are on vacation, so I need trustworthy individuals for this.”

“And you trust us, even though we only met just now?”

“Well, Doctor Smith sent you, so yeah. It will only take a few hours and I’ll pay you well - 25 gold each, with 5 gold each paid up front.”

Once again, Clark seemed to be much more accepting of the logic than Arthur was. The amnesiac had to wonder just how this business leader and the doctor knew each other. He also had to wonder what kind of meeting this was that required this lady to have bodyguards. But he didn’t have to wonder whether or not he wanted to do this; in this case, the reward was worth the risk, and if things got too sketchy he could protect his friend while they left. “I’ll do it.”

The cricket wasn’t interested in this sort of work, but he also knew Arthur had no money and knew this woman wanted [i]two[/i] bodyguards. If he refused this job, his friend could be out of work as well. “Same here.”

“Splendid! Be here at 8 AM tomorrow. Thank you so much, that will be all!”