Baret couldn’t believe the nonsense he was hearing, “He never identified himself as a member of the Emmrich family. I was merely told he was an emissary.”

“It was likely for his own protection Lord Heldermann. We are all aware of the dangers your lands house. He may have not believed it prudent to reveal such.”

His head scout responded for him, “Yet he was somehow captured anyway? If his security was such a large concern, we could have arranged for higher level guards. How did secrecy serve him?”

Raban, right hand to Jakob himself, lied through his teeth, “I can not speak to why those decisions were made. Had I been there, I would have presented myself as I did during my last visit. Unfortunately, I also can not change the decisions that have been made now. I am merely here to convey to you what was ordered of me.”

He spoke for himself, “And those orders are to not interfere with these ‘dangers my land houses’?”

“No Lord Heldermann. We are still tasked with aiding in restoring peace and prosperity to your realm. However, we must focus on searching for and rescuing the Count’s nephew first. It is simply a matter of priority.”

Baret wanted to choke the man with his deceitful words, “That is all good and well, but I do not understand why both objectives can not be completed in conjunction.”

Raban turned to a younger looking man. He stepped forward and introduced himself, “My name is Herr Emil Kunze. I am the appointed warmeister for this expedition.” Baret nodded for him to continue, “To aid in actualizing both of our directives, I had taken it upon myself to investigate the extent of your civilian's delinquency. In my investigation, I discovered that it's far more than an internal outbreak of criminality. Rogues from great distances, as far down as the Screaming Sands, have migrated here in their evasion of justice, and more crucially to your case, in hopes of establishing dens from which to operate from. It is also…”

This boy is no warmeister.

Baret didn't believe for a moment he'd seen blood and blade. He spoke like a diplomat. A seasoned warrior spouting such lengthy drivel? Nonsense. No, Baret understood the real reason for the boy’s appointment. He was an agent of confusion, here to twist truths and validate falsehoods. Nothing more.

“...lack fear of capture. As the safe return of Herr Kilian Emmrich is of the utmost importance, it is paramount that we are cautious and exact in our disruption of this precariously balanced state of affairs. If we were to impose ourselves on your realm, it could stimulate grievous reactions and—”

He had enough of the long winded speech, “Enough. Time is valuable, be concise.”

Emil coughed, “Yes, Lord Heldermann. In essence, the banditry is so rampant that we fear premature aggression from our end could lead to injury, or worse, befalling Herr Kilian. It is wiser to focus our efforts on discovery, infiltration, and extraction first, then extermination once we have him safe and secured.”

Admittedly, it was a fine ploy. His argument, once he got to the core of it and stopped dancing around the dune, was sound. Had Baret not known what he knew, he would have been forced to simply swallow his frustration and go forward with whatever plan they proposed. From there they could delay for months, years, eating his food and depleting his resources. His barony would die.

Baret knew better, though.

“Let me ask you this, if I were to retrieve Kilian myself. Would that help expedite your plans?”

Emil nodded like he would genuinely be grateful for the help, “Of course, Lord Heldermann. We see how battered and beaten your people are. We take no joy in delaying our assistance. The moment Herr Kilian’s ransomers are uncovered and we are able to secure his well-being, we would immediately commence our rogue cleansing efforts.”

“Let’s hope we can move swiftly in returning him to safety.” Baret smiled, “You mentioned something about ‘rogues migrating here’. I would like to hear more about this.”

----------------------------------------

Kaiz briefly sampled the inn's bed. It was glorious. He couldn't remember that last time he laid on a proper, soft mattress, but it had been years. Likely one of the times Lyn dragged him on an ‘adventure’ of her’s.

Viz shook his head as he let out a deep sigh, “I’m sure you can afford a mattress.”

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“You haven't seen the recent bill for my experiments have you?”

“How much?”

“Sixty-one darkgold.”

He could hear Viz's neck snap, “Sixty?”

“Don’t strain your spine. I paid every coin myself.”

Usually they, Kaiz and the crew, would split the bill four-tenths to six-tenths. The bill had never shot up to such a high figure before though, so this time Kaiz felt somewhat guilty letting them handle the lion share of the cost. Sharing five darkgold was fine, sharing almost two and a half briks would have been ridiculous of him.

That seemed to only inflate Viz’s shock though, “Where did you get sixty darkgold from?”

“By not having a mattress.”

“Right… well I was going to tell you that we planned to start fully covering your research and experimentation. But now I’m not so sure…”

Kaiz rolled his eyes at the attempt to pique his curiosity. He’d already made peace with that demon.

“Anyway.” He reluctantly left the cushion’s grasp, “We should head out. I want to get a better look around before we get to Heldermann.”

“I’ll talk to Red.”

Ten minutes later, they were talking about her instead.

Kaiz peaked at the trio of pickpockets squatting down at the far end of an alley, “It seems she’s a wyvern at night and a gecko during the day.”

“Makes her perfect, no?”

His eyes drifted to the sole chameleon rider coming down the street, “In a manner of speaking.”

Viz’s eyes followed a couple holding their two children close to them, “You can forgive her a few secrets, it's not like we don’t keep our own. Her ability and execution are what matter.”

Kaiz matched him, but stared at the boarded up storefront behind them instead, “True.” There was a fire inside, “I just find it hard to trust anything about her. Which will make working together.. complicated.”

The rider passed them. It was a young woman. Well dressed, elegant, pungent. Out of place.

Her appearance refocused Kaiz on the urgent issues, “How many came to the party?”

“Fifty heads. Ten watched from the bar, thirty got down on the dance floor, and the rest just made up the numbers.”

500 soldiers. 100 long range of some kind. 300 close range. 100 unidentified, likely support and auxiliary.

His eyes met a patrolling officer’s, “Small party, huh?”

Viz’s did as well, “I hear there was another one somewhere else. Don’t know how many went to that one.”

They split? To grab his nephew?

The officer intercepted their path, “Halt. Remove your head covers and identify yourselves.”

Viz showed him a badge given to him by the Baron, “We’re on official business, sanctioned by Baron Heldermann himself. Make way.”

The officer quickly stepped aside, “I apologize. Be on your way.”

They both nodded and continued.

Once they’d made some distance, Viz nudged him, “See?”

Kaiz didn’t need the jab. He very well understood how having the ruling Lord’s support came with great benefits.

“I wear a mask, not a blindfold.” Viz chuckled, but Kaiz got serious, “I can make a guess where the others went and I think they’re going to ruin your plans of performing at two parties.”

“You do? I’m not so sure.”

“How—” Kaiz paused.

Ahh. Right. If Emmrich is planning something, why would he be in a rush to remove a reason to stay here?

…

We need to figure out his plan.

Forty minutes later, they’d finished their circuitous route through the town and sat in semi-abandoned study. Whoever owned the home that featured it seemed to have left it for the dust. Kaiz and Viz handled it just fine, but the guard at the door had sneezed four times. Just as the fifth geared up for its release, the door suddenly swung it open.

A bright red man, seemingly Baron Heldermann, walked in, “What’s this? An—”

The sneeze arrived.

“—other one.”

They all looked at the guard. Kaiz didn’t know if there was some sort of noble etiquette that the man had just broken, but Viz seemed like he was desperately holding back a laugh.

Heldermann didn’t appear bothered though. He let his laugh loose.

“Thank you for blessing this meeting Wim.” He clasped the man's shoulder, “Go get some fresh air.”

“Yes, my Lord. I apologize, my Lord.”

The man quickly fled and was replaced by two others. They were both bright green. One casted a concealment spell. Viz seemed to recognize them so Kaiz simply committed their appearance to memory and thought nothing more.

Heldermann leaned on the main desk once everyone was settled, “Now then. We know the Mistress of Misfortune is in attendance. And you know me. Yet, not only do I not know who you are, you’ve brought a friend.”

Viz had a surprising amount of cheek in his voice, “Getting to know each other is the best part of a new partnership.” Then he did the insane. He took off his headgear, which was daft to begin with, but Viz never liked to be anything less than truly mad, “My name is Lovis Wilhelm. You can call me Viz. And for you, my friend here might be the most important man in the barony.”