-Giovanni-
Leo’s office was messy as always. Papers, clipped together loosely by subject, were piled on the desk with pens and other accoutrements. A dagger was lodged in the wall just left of the door, and Vanni pulled it out—wrinkling his nose at the black residue still on the blade.
“Leo!” He shouted, “Are you in?”
There was a loud clatter followed by swearing.
“By Laurus, my liege!” Vanni’s closest lieutenant responded. “Would it kill you to use the door?”
The man stumbled into the room; arms full of reports. Leo had messy blonde hair that should have been tamed into curls but was instead left to go frizzy. His lanky, skinny frame had a perpetual awkwardness to it that made you think of a baby deer, and it made most people think he was harmless.
He wasn’t harmless.
“If you don’t like me using the window, put an enchantment on it.” Vanni responded.
“This is the third floor!”
Vanni picked at the residue on the dagger unhappily. “You should clean your weapons, Leo. This is unsanitary.”
Leo piled his work onto his desk—turning the various stacks of paper into one big pile.
“And when are you going to organize this place?” The prince continued, “It’s astonishing you get anything done.”
Huffing, Leo turned the pile into several, smaller piles. He had to rescue a few reports after they fell on the ground. “My liege, I know how to find everything, alright? Just consider it a way to discourage thievery.”
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“Well, consider me discouraged.”
His underling continued, unphased by the comment, “But you know what would really up my productivity? More help! I’m swamped, Vanni!”
Vanni snickered at his friend’s wide-eyed emphasis.
“I’m not joking!” Leo cleared a seat across from the desk and collapsed into it. “I need an assistant.”
Sitting in the chair behind the desk, Vanni frowned. “You have a lot of help, Leo. Hell, Remi joined us just last week. He’s going to be tremendous when it comes to the fighting-- ”
“Yes, I have great faith in the gang leader you scrounged up.”
“--And scouting—and he agreed to have our schools on his turf, so that’s a hundred potential bureaucrats like that.” He snapped his fingers to emphasize the last word.
Leo groaned. “But I’m tired now my liege!”
Honestly, there wasn’t much Vanni could say to that. Any proper assistant would be educated by the nobility—and therefore a security risk.
“Well…” He leaned back, resting his feet on the everlasting pile of papers. “I don’t have an assistant for you, but what would you say to more funds?”
Leo glared at him suspiciously. “From where?”
“Hey, what’s that look for?” The prince pulled a handkerchief out and polished the now residue-free dagger. “It’s from a legitimate source!”
A breeze rattled the window. They paused their conversation so Vanni could stand and make sure there were no eavesdroppers.
“It’s a new dungeon.” He admitted to Leo, “So we’ll still have to sell things on the black market if we want to keep things on the down low.”
Leo stared at him with narrowed eyes.
“What?” The prince said, feigning hurt at the suspicion.
“If it’s new, how did you hear of it?”
At this, Vanni perked up. “I got a new skill. It’s the first tier of an information gathering passive.” He grinned smugly.
Leo looked impressed. Ran a hand through his frizzy hair. “That’s… that’s really good.”
Vanni handed Leo his dagger, which was now gleaming in the dusk light. His vassal examined it thoughtfully.
“I’ll go check it out.” The prince said, “And I’ll come back with actual funding—no more begging our allies.”
Leo nodded. Put his blade in his coat pocket.
The window bucked in a sudden wind as Vanni opened it. “And we’ll get an enchantment for your window, alright?”
Chuckling, Leo stood and bowed to his liege—who was now hopping onto the windowsill like a madman. “As you will it, Your Majesty.”
The [Incipient Tyrant] grinned and made his exit.