Landar looked around the room quickly, scanning for any more magical sources. Even if it didn't require her to actually look, she still did it instinctively. Those two guards outside had activated magical weapons but there were no other magical sources from them. So not true battlemages, these were probably magically trained guards who weren't good enough to actually become a knight. Not many knights would accept being a guard for a low noble like these two mayors.
On the other hand, Landar was considered very slow at combat magic and she had come unarmed. Or very nearly unarmed.
"Don't you think making threats is rather unproductive?" she said, leaning forward and crossing her hands under her spacious sleeves.
"Oh, it can be useful sometimes," Mayor Corbin said, "Especially towards an alchemist and a scholar when negotiations break down. "
The two guards came in, wearing a heavy leather armour and carrying short spears with a long blade at the end. The magical enhancement on the metal blades pulsed no less menacingly for all that they were bog standard equipment.
Landar smiled, "I'm not just any alchemist. And I am an Iris you know?"
"Your name precedes you, everyone knows how slow you are," Corbin said, "plus, we know your estrangement from your family. If it means your cooperation, we can take the risk. It's not like you brought any magic with you. "
"You mean I almost didn't bring any magic with me," Landar took out the two tubes from under her sleeves. They were fashioned like miniature bowguns, far too small to fire full sized arrows, but this one was loaded with tiny darts. Tiny non-magical darts. The only magical thing was the tube for the darts themselves and it was so weak that even Cato next to her wouldn't feel it.
"Stand back madam," guard on the left said, she pulled the mayor back. The other guard kept his weapon ready while herding the other two nobles out of the room with one hand.
As Mayor Corbin moved towards the door, Cato took the chance granted by Landar drawing all the attention to take out the tiny crossbow from under his shirt. It was too weak to penetrate any armour or have good range, but it did fit under the puffy ridiculous aristocratic shirt, at least once enough of the inner fabric had been cut away. Cato had not felt any regret at ruining the expensive clothing.
Landar watched him take aim out of the corner of her eyes, hoping he wasn't aiming at the nobles. She poured her magic down into the two dart shooters. This enchantment was the same application she used on the robot, using her own power to propel the darts instead of using the magic from the enchantment. Cato had pointed out that such a setup did not require any complex spellcasting from Landar, just raw power for which her maximum limit was very high.
The guards reacted to her threat almost immediately, swinging their weapons down to face her. The nobles hurried out of the room right when the first shot was fired, from Cato. The small bolt scraped a deep scratch in the female guard's armour but pinged back and buried itself into a bowl of dessert chokos, knocking sweet syrup over the tablecloth.
The male guard stepped up to the table and thrust the spear, narrowly missing as Cato dived to the floor. The female guard began to go around the long dinner table and flinched as Landar fired one of the dart guns at her full power. The dart zipped past the guard's face then shattered on the wall, the force behind the dart crushing the unfortunate brick into a fine powder that exploded back out over the dinner spread.
Oops, that was a bit too much power. Landar took aim with the second dart gun then had to dodge the tip of the guard's spear. The disruption magic on the tip grazed her arm and her second dart knocked out the leg on the table near the female guard, the tipping table dumping plates of warm soup onto her legs.
Landar rubbed her stinging arm and concentrated, a bubble of magic surrounding her and Cato. The guards wouldn't be able to stick their bladed spears through it without the magic on the blade hitting the bubble first. Neither would Cato nor the guards be able to walk through the wall of disruptive magic without getting a powerful magical shock, possibly strong enough to kill them or at least put them unconscious.
Pure magic wouldn't stop the spears nor Landar's darts but that was something quick and simple was all she could manage.
Cato had grabbed a knife that had fell on the floor and was furiously trying to crank his crossbow back for another shot, Landar also hastily drew out more darts from under her sleeve. The male guard had gone around the undamaged end of the table to cut them off and the female guard was approaching quickly. She leveled her spear at Landar and the magical charge on the blade flew off to impact on the bubble.
The bubble absorbed the hit, growing thinner. Landar cursed and dropped one of the dart guns to focus on reloading the remainder. Stuffing another dart down the front, Landar looked up to find the spear coming straight at her. She fired the dart gun at it instinctively and it hit the iron blade. The iron merely dented but the wood shaft below it couldn't take the shock and shattered, sending the guard reeling backwards in a shower of splinters.
Behind her, the bubble shuddered then collapsed from the other guard's blade enchantment. There was a sound of a crossbow string thwacking and then a scream from the guard. Cato must have gotten in a clean hit.
Landar scrambled backwards to put some distance between her and the guard, forming her magic as fast as she could. The guard picked up her broken shaft of wood and charged at Landar only to stop wide-eyed when Landar pumped as much power into the hastily constructed ball of magic in front of her.
The glow in their magical sight filled the entire room, more than enough power to raise the roof off the foundations.
"Enough," Landar said, between her sharp breaths, "you're too late. You can't hope to stop bolt from killing you if I fire it. "
The chaos in the dinner room suddenly came to a halt. Landar glanced at Cato. He was standing over the wounded male guard with the bladed spear, watching the groaning guard who was clutching his leg. The dinner knife had penetrated the armour when fired at nearly point blank and stuck out of his thigh, oozing blood over the cloth carpeted floor.
The female guard dropped her spear shaft slowly and nodded, "all right, you win. "
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"That was far too close," Cato rubbed a bruise on his arm painfully, "it's a good thing one of your specials finally worked as advertised. "
"I agree," Landar said, "but what else can we do? Even if I start carrying fireball wands using this technique, we'll still end up with a reputation for packing weapons that could destroy a building. That would impolite to bring to a friendly meeting. We might as well take a charged iron staff to future dinner invitations. "
"I wouldn't call that a friendly meeting. "
Landar looked around the street, filled with people browsing the market who didn't know what had just happened in their own mayor's home. "Yes, but if another noble wants to talk to you?" she asked.
"Even so, I doubt Mayors Corbin and Selabia will just let us go like this," Cato said, "not when they work out that your final spell was just a bluff. I still can't believe you tried to bluff with nothing. "
"It was the only way, Cato," Landar said, "another second or two, that guard would have stabbed either of us. And while they know I'm slow, they couldn't know that I can barely even make the shape of a magic bolt in that time, much less shoot it. "
"In any case, we need to move. I don't care to find out if Mayor Corbin will stoop to hiring assassins but clearly she would rather us dead if we aren't going to cooperate. It will make working with the merchants difficult, but those problems can be solved. "
Landar thought for a moment then nodded, "we should lodge a case for arbitration with the Order of Knights but they won't defend us if there really are assassins. I think we need to find a patron, preferably a noble and a powerful one. "
"What about the next one up from Corbin?" Cato asked.
"Chancellor Minmay?" Landar nodded, "a good possibility. He's busy but honest. That glass window I made was actually for his daughter so we do have a working relationship. "
Cato tried to think of another angle, "What about the other chancellors? How about the nobles where your family is? Surely your name will be worthwhile there. "
"True. And Corbin certainly won't be able to get at us there, while Minmay city is right next door. On the other hand, that would mean starting over. No one there knows your name and my family can... be a bit overbearing. "
"Let us think about it for a while," Cato said finally, "there are arrangements we need to make so we can't move immediately. The knights may be able to mediate a little but we need to think about home security. "
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The tile shattered into tiny pieces on the cobblestones.
"Tsk," Danine hissed in irritation. So close. Danine glared down at the three bullies.
There was a satisfying set of yelps below in the alley though. She looked around but there were no more easily usable tiles. Prying some more off was an option but that would damage the roof.
"You again! " The big one roared.
"What are you waiting for?" The leader said, pointing up at her, "get her!"
With a yell the thin boy started to climb the wall, the fat one trying vainly to follow behind. Beside them, the leader took the short boost of a window sill and leapt upwards.
"What- what do we do?" Tam trembled, "they're going to kill us! "
Hyperbole surely. Danine sniffed, "look at them try, we could climb this faster than any of them. If you're still scared, you can feel free to run. "
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She didn't look at Tim, there was no sound of feet over roof tiles. Clearly he felt that he couldn't run away leaving Danine to get beaten up.
She wasn't planning on letting them. With a familiar burst of concentration, a colorless ball of raw magic collected above her open palm, a few finger widths across. She tweaked it a little and it turned an angry red to mirror her mood. Tam gaped beside her. Danine had only ever showed him minor magical exercises, there was no point drawing on her maximum safe limit in exercises meant to train finesse.
Hrm, how did she move the ball around again? Oh right that. She pushed the magic inside the ball and a wave built up in the magic. Right when it hit the bottom of the spell, Danine let the ball go and it flew down at the leader.
"What is that-" "Magic?!" "Aaaah!"
The leader of the trio screamed as the ball splashed over him. His clothing didn't catch fire, to Danine's disappointment, but it made him flinch. That turned out to be a bad idea when he was clinging to the brick wall half way up. With another scream, he fell down to the alley and landed with a sharp crack.
The thin boy paused in shock and that was his undoing. By the time he started moving again, to the shouts of the fat one below him, Danine had summoned another ball of magic, this time raw disruptive magic.
The thin boy flailed as the ball hit his face, magical shock from lifeforce damage stunning him temporarily. Then he fell and together with the fat bully landed heavily in the alley again.
The three of them groaned in varying degrees as they lay there for a good few moments. Then Danine's laughter from above them brought the fat one up, shaking a fist at her.
"You'll remember this! His father is in the Redwater gang and you'll-"
"The Redwater gang who got shredded the last time I saw them?" Danine sniffed, "I'd say you are the one who should be prepared. How many of them are still around anyway?"
"Grr!" the thin boy gritted his teeth and stumbled to his feet at the provocation.
With various yelps and curses, the three of them ran off down the alley. Another magical bolt arced after them but missed and buried itself into the ground. Danine sighed as they disappeared into the street outside.
She sank to the rooftop with a sigh of relief. Her legs felt like jelly and the chilly wind bit through her thin clothing. Danine wrapped her tail around her waist and laughed, "I did it! That showed them!"
"Won't they come back? They will find you," Tam said, horror building in his voice, "the Redwater are ruthless and they'll-"
"That part was true, you know?" Danine said, shivering on the roof, "the Redwater gang tried to attack Cato's work and Landar fought them. Slaughtered them, actually. "
"Are you talking about the Red River incident?" Tam asked, "there's a rumour going around that some street gang tried to attack a powerful mage and he painted the street with their blood in a sacrificial ritual before the knights stopped him. You saw that?!"
"Is that what they're calling it?" Danine shook her head, "it's not so dramatic. Landar was defending the warehouse while inside a giant robot she built and blasted them once with her arm cannon. Those arrows shredded them, broke them into little pieces. I think that's where the Red River name comes from, the blood must have sprayed across the street. "
She stopped when Tam started to look a little pale. "I guess that's pretty dramatic too," she added.
Tam gulped and looked back down at the alley. "Landar won't fight the Redwater for us unless they attack you. She might even defend me if she sees it happen but there are more Fuka than just me or my mother. They might not attack you but I wouldn't dare to go out alone anymore. "
Danine blinked. She hadn't thought of that. That whatever was left of Redwater would attack other Fukas because they didn't dare to incur Landar's wrath. And there were undoubtedly more Fuka in Corbin than just Tam.
She looked up at the cloudy sky, feeling rather small and powerless not for the first time.
Despite using the magical attacks Danine didn't feel sleepy, but she failed to note it in her bleak mood. After all, a small but constant growth was hard to notice.
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Cato tapped the notepad, one of the first of its kind in Inath. Landar's springs might not hold a lot of tension but they still had their uses, and pressed against a stiff board of light wood, they worked admirably as a portable document holder. Kalny had already ordered twenty notepads, paper not included. Other merchants were also expressing interest, with the Ironworkers sniffing around Landar trying to understand how to make the springs.
He picked up the crumbs of bread that had fallen on the paper and tossed them back into the pan. Razzi might give him a discount rate, but that didn't mean paper was cheap.
"I still don't see a way to introduce better farming tools or even fertilizer to the farmers without having to go through the nobles," Cato said, "you are sure the farmers aren't organized in any way?"
"The nobles wouldn't let them," Landar shook her head and took a bite out of her sandwich. She swallowed, "you could say the nobles are the people who organize them. "
Cato sniffed, "and the same nobles are the people who want to kill us. Or belong to those who do. Why does everything have to be so hierarchical around here?"
Landar waved the bit of bread at Cato, "because otherwise people like you will try to get around them. No, not even Kalny will be able to sell to the farmers he buys food from, the nobles own the land and the peasants won't have any money to buy it. They don't own much of the food anyway, why would they buy it?"
"The nobles will buy it?"
"Yes, of course they will, but those under Corbin are subject to her whims," Landar sighed, "I don't think she likes you very much now. Besides, don't we have bigger issues to worry about? Like how to defend ourselves from potential assassins?"
Cato was about to reply when the door opened.
A slightly disheveled Danine and Tam stood in the doorway. "What happened to you?" Cato asked, slightly shocked. Her clothing was even torn in a few places, she looked like she had got into a fight.
"I have a problem," Danine said, leading Tam into the house and closing the door behind her. "It was my fault," she admitted.
"Before that," Landar asked, "tell us what happened. "
"I fought the bullies Tam told us about before," Danine said, looking at Cato directly as if daring him to criticize her. Cato merely nodded for her to go on. "The leader guy had attacked Tam's friend and she was so frightened! I fought them off, with magic. "
"You don't need to justify yourself. Remember I said that your actions have consequences and they are your own," Cato said, "so what do you need help with?"
Tam and Landar looked at him strangely but Danine took a breath and seemed to stand straighter. "One of the bullies is the son of a Redwater gang member," she said, "Tam thinks that the Redwater gang will now attack Fukas in Corbin, which is my fault. "
Danine appeared to deflate again as she talked but Cato's words seemed to give her hope again. He noted how her tail bobbed up and down with her mood, amusing to him but probably not to her. "So how many Fukas are there in Corbin?" he asked Tam, "and how much time do they have?"
"Time?" Tam asked, "what do you mean? And I know of at least twenty families. "
"I meant time they don't have to spend working," Cato said.
"We would to like to spend more time working," Tam explained, "but often we can't sell enough. We're barely getting by as it is. I don't know how it is for other Fuka families but all my friends are like me. "
"Do the Fukas talk to each other? Or work closely in any way?" Cato asked.
Tam shook his head, "how can I expect them to help me when I can't even feed myself well enough to help them?"
Cato nodded and looked at Danine, "the Redwater gang can threaten the Fukas because they are organized. "
Danine thought for a long moment, "so we should break up their organization. "
"Or organize the Fukas," Cato said, "I expect most of the families stay far apart from each other? Yes, wherever they can find space I assume. That makes things harder but you have the luxury of free time. "
"I see, I think. I managed to fight off the three bullies, even if I just shot them while they were trying to climb a wall. What could have happened if you joined in?" she asked Tam, "and your friends? Their parents might even be willing to help, when they're not busy. We could even make our own gang!"
Danine paced around Tam, who looked increasingly bewildered, "imagine that! And I can try to teach you magic too! If the Fukas in Corbin can do this, we could give this Redwater gang a warning that the others won't forget. We can even secure other Fukas from threats!"
Cato raised a hand as Danine regained her usual cheer and then some, "that's not quite what I-... never mind. "
He caught Landar's eye as Danine ran out of the house, pulling Tam along with her. Landar merely raised an eyebrow and swallowed the last of her sandwich. She had watched the entire exchange with an amused look. "I think you have a very bad effect on people, Cato," Landar said, "Putting myself aside, I think Danine is too young to be exposed to your ideas. The excitement will make her head explode someday. "
Cato sighed and waved a hand vaguely, "we'll deal with that when it happens. "