“What got you into the business?” It was the first real question Balros had asked him—at least, the first that made an attempt at anything more than drunken conversation.

“It’s a long story,” Alrynn tried. “One I don’t feel like sharing, and one I don’t feel like you have the right to know.”

Veru—the most drunk of the three—pushed her half-finished cup towards him. “Not even for the rest of this? It’s good stuff, I promise.” Not as subtly as she might’ve thought she was being, she leaned towards Balros and just-barely-whispered, “Psst, why are you so interested in this guy, anyway? He’s just another merc. We see folks like him all the time. If you ask me, he’s just competition, and you know I don’t back down from a fight…”

Balros swatted her away from him. “This guy’s more than just competition. I can see it in every motion he’s made, from when we met him to right now. He’s got potential. And while you don’t back down from a fight, I don’t let these kinds of prosperous opportunities pass me by.”

“So,” Alrynn began, taking a sip from his own glass, “are you asking what I think you might be?”

“Aye, but only once I know how you got here. I need to make sure any future business partner doesn’t have a criminal record, you see—we’ve got a reputation to uphold. Does that make you any more willing to talk?”

Alrynn shrugged. There was no harm in a bit of conversation, even if it ended up being pointless. “I’ve been a merc for… must be about eighteen years now. Kept traveling from one group to another, honing my skills as I went.”

“So you’re telling me that someone with the kinds of skills you have just… picked them up somewhere?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Never went to the Knight’s Academy?”

“Could never gather the funds or pass the tests meant to fail people like me.”

“Why am I finding this all a little hard to believe?”

“Well, it’s not exactly something everyone can say. But I’m not lying to you, either. If you don’t believe me, then that’s your loss.”

“They say seeing is believing, and I either made up everything you did back there, or you’re telling the truth. And I’ve got an offer that I’m hoping you’ll realize you’ll want to follow through with. Why don’t you hear it?”

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…

That was how he joined Balros and Veru’s mercenary band. It turns out they came from the same tribe, and that tribe had been full of sellswords—offering their aid to whatever warring tribes would give them what they wanted. The two of them, once they learned of their heritage, set out to become mercenaries. It was by chance that their most recent commission led them to cross paths with Alrynn—who’d recently been attempting to go solo—and decided to ask him to join. He liked the company, and they seemed like nice people, so he decided to tentatively agree.

And they, by far, ended up being the group he’d spent the longest with.

Sure, they had their handful of ups and downs, but he trusted them. He actually thought they’d be different from the others—that, maybe, he’d stay with them until his adventuring days were over. And that didn’t change when Balros bought all three of them a drink in a bar, which over time had become shorthand for suggesting something was wrong.

So, Alrynn decided it was better to cut straight to the chase. “What did you screw up this time? No point in dancing around the situation.”

“Yeah,” Veru said with a nod. “The sooner we all know, the sooner we can figure out a solution. I’m assuming there’s a solution, anyway—there always is one, if you look hard enough.”

Balros let out a nervous laugh. “You’re both in a no-games mood today. You’re right, we’ve… got a situation. I hadn’t planned for that last commission to take that much resources or for the commissioner to not compensate us. If we don’t get another good commission soon, we’re practically done for. Whatever it is, it’s got to pay well and, preferably, take less resources than we still have. Any ideas?”

Veru took a long sip from her cup. “I’m guessing anything for merchants is probably out of the question? Some of those guys are willing to pay a lot for overall pretty tame jobs.”

“Yeah, I had the same idea too,” Balros said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, most of them are out of the city. There definitely aren’t a lot that fit our very specific needs right now…”

“Is there anything simple?” Alrynn prompted after a moment’s consideration. “I get that you prefer fighting, but that isn’t the only option.”

“Our ancestors never did any charity work, why should we?”

“It’s not charity work if we get paid in the end. Nobles and scientists are usually pretty eager to find some people to help them. It might be ‘boring’ but it’s certainly better than some of the other things we could try to do instead.”

Balros hesitated when he heard it, but was quick to act like it wasn’t a problem. “I’ll… think it over, I guess. I just don’t want our name to get mixed in with the softies. We’ve got a reputation to uphold, you know? And that’s pretty important for all of our future commissions. I’ll check in with my info people again, then we can start the best one I find tomorrow morning.”

Alrynn didn’t have a problem with that; he trusted Balros’s judgment enough not to worry too much. What was mildly troubling, though, was how Balros dug into his coat pocket and pulled out his half-empty pack of cigarettes.

“Why don’t you take a quick smoke break?” he asked. He pulled one out and handed it to Alrynn. “You’ve already finished your glass, so you can ask around for some commissions, too. I’m going to give Veru pretty similar instructions in a minute. We’ll all meet back here at sundown. Alright?”

Cautiously, Alrynn nodded and accepted the cigarette. “I’ll see you then.”