The whole room was quiet as Ajax went through telling them all that happened today. He didn’t go into his beekeeping as that hardly seemed like the point on which they needed to focus. Hatchet’s joking expression from the beginning was now gone and he was looking towards Luna for an answer, after all he had never been this deep into it with the nobles back when he was an adventurer.
“So, you’re saying that you killed all five of them?” Luna finally asked after waiting for him to finish his entire story.
“Yes.” Ajax confirmed “I didn’t expect them to continue with their plan once they saw the Healing Union’s uniform.”
“House Steelboot has been on the decline for years, once a noble house starts falling it’s very hard for it to pick itself back up. Without good terms it is very hard for them to attract any new talents without using less than pleasant means.” She shook her head as she sipped her wine. “They most likely saw you as a chance at a full revival. Your young age and high level could have been enough for them to build a long term foundation that would see them rise again. They were a marquis house more than a century ago.”
“So what will happen now, should House Steelboot bring this forward will the Healing Union back me up?” Ajax asked, looking to the future.
“They are desperate enough to try and bring this forward in hopes that something comes of it.” Luna said as she looked up, thinking through all of the information she had gathered to try and predict what would come next.
“With no direct witnesses beside you and wolves cleaning up behind you they won’t have any ground to stand on.” she said confidently. “You looting them could be seen as a noticeable slight but considering that all you did was refuse an offer to join and they chased you down to attack you it’s clear self defense.”
“Will a judge also see it like that?” Hatchet asked knowing that the truth wasn’t always what won the day.
“The royal family has been cracking down on corruption, especially on cases where forced recruitment by a noble house is concerned to stop the rampant spread of it following the peace treaty with The Republic. House Steelboot wouldn’t have enough pull to do anything with such a cut and dry case even if you were completely unaffiliated.” Luna confirmed.
“Then everything’s going to be alright, will he be imprisoned at all awaiting trial?” Hatchet sounded more relieved now.
“No, at most he’ll be arrested and taken for questioning.” Luna said. “ Depending on how deep the inquisitor decides to look into it he’ll be out in a few hours at most.”
“Would showing this help my case?” Ajax asks as he pulls out the contract he was offered to sign. Despite the flowery language that it was written in, anyone with any knowledge on contracts could tell that it was basically slavery.
“Oh, that definitely changes things.” Luna said as her eyes tracked the contract from top to bottom. “You killing them could have come with a few minor punishments even if they attacked you first, winning in a one vs five without a single injury excessive defense could be argued. It wouldn’t amount to anything more than a few weeks of boring work cleaning up some backlogged missions, but with that everything is justified.”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t have killed them?” Ajax asked, surprised.
“Killing them did nothing for you.” Alfred affirmed.
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“Had you simply taken the contract and then ran back to the city, perhaps entering using a different gate you would have been able to demand so much more of them than the gear you looted.” Luna explained.
“I was worried about a quick process favoring a noble with a corrupt judge.” Ajax tried to explain his logic.
“That might have been an issue had you been unaffiliated, but as part of the Healing Union no judge would have dared try anything.” Luna corrected him. “That you are so worried about corruption makes me question what is happening in the more remote regions of our kingdom.”
A quiet covered the table as Ajax found himself cursing his own paranoia. He knew he had some good reasons for it but now it had cost him a reward and created a few deep enemies with a noble house. Luna was also deep in thought, she was wondering how she could apply pressure from within the Healing Union so that the royal family might look to enforce their anti-corruption push in the more remote areas.
“Will house Steelboot even bother with this then?” Ajax asked. “They have to know this is how it will go down.”
“Yes, they will.” Luna let out a heavy sigh. “They won’t bring it up immediately, you have a few days for sure while they do their own investigation into what happened, but they will definitely pursue it.”
“Why?” Both Ajax and Hatchet asked this.
“They are desperate,” Alfred said with a sigh. “Even before this they had a decade left as a baron house at most, the five you killed were probably the best relatively young people they had. Getting something on you is their last hope not to fall back into knighthood and obscurity.”
“So how do you see this trial going?” Hatchet asks.
“Since a member of the Healing Union was involved the royal family will have some sort of representative in attendance.” Luna explained. “The moment that contract is brought to light it will be an open and shut case. They will lose their Baron title and most of their remaining wealth, since you have killed the retairs all of it will be collected as taxes.”
“Will this have any effect on me?” Ajax asked, what he was most worried about was that the royal family would attempt something similar to the baron.
“Yes and no.” Luna said. “Directly it will have almost no impact on you. Sure the royal family will do their best to try and recruit you once they learn how strong you really are.”
She took a pause and shook her head, she was still in a slight shock from Ajax’s recounting of the story. That someone his age was level thirty-one was a major event, maybe once in ten thousand years. That he also had access to mana surprised her but it was to be expected with the number of skills a commoner would have needed to reach so high so young . But the ability to fight and kill five people in their mid forties was simply outrageous.
“All the three current archdukes and the royal family have taken a strong stance against corruption, you won’t have to worry about them trying to force your hand in joining them.” She says and Ajax breathes out a sigh he had been holding the entire day.
“But our deal will also fall through I’m afraid.” She continued and Ajax shot her a confused look. “While minor, our understanding for getting you a slot in our delves can also be seen as corruption.”
“Will I be able to get a slot in other ways?” Ajax asked.
“Now with the healing union.” Luna shook her head. “The royal family will offer you some extremely favorable deals. Once you turn them down they will have no incentive to let you have a slot in the delve when it could go to someone more committed to rising in our ranks.”
“So, I’m back to where I started?” Ajax asked.
“Almost, yes.” Luna answered. “This won’t be brought up before the delve leaving three days from now. So I will still be able to get you a spot there like we agreed but there will be no more afterwards with the Healing Union.”
“If I could suggest a different course.” Alfred interjected. “While the royal family and shortly afterward all notable nobles keeping an eye on you may seem troublesome, I think this situation has turned out better for you.”
“How’s that?” Ajax retorts with a bit of bite to his words. He quickly looks down, not heavy meant to snap at the butler.
“With everyone paying such close attention to you nobody is going to try anything shady. You’re free to use your full abilities in the open. I would personally suggest getting hired by the Adventurer’s Guild or joining the Academy as a teacher’s aid.” Alfred said.
“How is any of that better than my previous situation?” Ajax asked, though his words didn’t have any bite at all and were more curious now.
“Because your previous situation wasn’t as great as you think.” Luna said “You’ll see this in the upcoming delve but you will be joined by people in their low thirties, they won’t be going to the second floor of the dungeon even. Working your way up secretly delving with our teams would have been a slow crawl for you with minimal progress.”
“As a direct employee of the Guild you’ll be granted access to some of their delve slots to join teams that are appropriate for your level of strength and your employment will go far with people trusting you to take on their requests.” Hatchet also joined in.
“While your growth will be faster with the guild.” Alfred continues. “I think working at the Academy will be better in the long term. You won’t have access to as many delve slots or jobs, but the knowledge and connections you can make there will likely prove invaluable in the future. Like it or not, as your power grows you’ll find yourself having to work with nobles and their retinues or slowing down your own growth substantially due to safety risks. Better you start working on those relationships now.”