Zae Zin Nim gave Kai a strange look. "You don't recognize them? I thought you knew every group on Deadwaste."

"Most of the continent borders the Frontier, but not every part." Kai shook his head, still watching the red-caped fighters. "I honestly don't know. Foreign mercenaries, maybe? I'm surprised Irun lets them operate here."

"It's strange to know more than you about Deadwaste." Omilaena cast him a glance and then shrugged. "Birtaegal is a smaller nation on the east of the continent. Their ships aren't bad; they trade with the Coiled Empire and Flaeren Dominion."

"They're from Birtaegal? I've heard the name, but I guess they never get through Irun."

"As far as I can tell, they wish they weren't associated with the rest of Deadwaste."

After examining them for a while, Zae Zin Nim just shook her head. "Are we going to find out there are a bunch of other places in Deadwaste I haven't heard about?"

"Uh, not too many," Kai said. "Way south of Goralia there's a whole region we call the Southern Reach. They're generally decent allies, but they don't border the Frontier so they've never been as tied to all our problems."

They watched the new group simply because they were the most striking part of the city, the first thing that stood out from the otherwise orderly patterns. The longer he watched, the less Kai liked what he saw. These guards, who he was increasingly sure were mercenaries, were raucous and disruptive. When they entered a restaurant, they threw down money and demanded to be served first, then harassed the servers who were helping them.

Nothing they'd done was exactly a crime, and the Irunians seemed to tolerate their behavior, but it was beginning to get under Kai's skin. He took a deeper glance at one of the average mercenaries.

<

Name: ???

Total Power: 112

Manalance: 21 (41)

Physique Level: F-6 (42)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

Chakra Armor (+20)

>

Their primary ability was unfamiliar to him, something called "Manalance" that he hadn't seen before. Otherwise they had decent Physique and Soul, plus some sort of chakra armor. All told, this random mercenary had a little over 100 Power, which made them unusually strong for Deadwaste.

All the others seemed to be similarly strong. Kai searched for others and found them to be all similar until he examined a scarred woman bullying a street vendor into selling all his steel at a discount. Her armor had an insignia suggesting she was a leader and she had a soul to match.

<

Name: ???

Total Power: 209

Manasphere: 53 (73)

Physique Level: E-0 (80)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

Chakra Armor (+40)

>

She had similar abilities, except for a "Manasphere" Class-like power, but all of them were at a higher level. That put her at over 200 Power, making her one of the strongest people in the entire city if not for them. There might be some elite Irunians who could deal with her, but it wasn't many.

And when she felt his spiritual sight she turned toward him irritably.

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"Is there gonna be a problem here?" she demanded. She took a step toward them and lowered her hand to a dark red sphere at her belt.

"Just watching you push a hard bargain," Kai said. He might not start a fight here, but he wasn't going to approve.

"Ha, they should be grateful. The whole place would be taken over if not for us." The mercenary took another step closer, eyeing their group. "You don't look like you belong here. One of our jobs is to keep out the riffraff who don't belong, so I suggest you move along."

The merchant at the stall just looked terrified that violence would break out, so Kai backed down.

"That's right! Run away, coward!"

Zae Zin Nim started to turn around and Kai caught her arm before she could. "It's not worth it," he told her. "We're not starting a fight over this."

"He insulted you. All of us." Zae Zin Nim eventually relaxed her arm and moved along with him. "You're just going to let her say that?"

"They seem to be here legally, so we can't just murder them."

"We can't be seen to murder them," Omilaena pointed out with a wink. "But we could take care of her pretty easily."

"No murdering!" Kai insisted. "This isn't our country and we don't know what's going on. Just acting out could do more harm than good."

Over the next several days he felt like more of a coward, though. Every time they saw the mercenaries they seemed to be lording it over the Irunians, and if their presence was tolerated it was definitely not enjoyed. Inafay had heard something about Irun officially hiring mercenary companies from Birtaegal but didn't know the details.

For those days Kai just threw himself into irritable training. Even his own patience was about to boil over, egged on by his companions, when they were abruptly called in to the Frontier outpost. Kai went irritably, wondering what errand they'd be sent on this time.

Except when he arrived, he met Tusquo Agyama. The man seemed to have aged more than the rest of them, his features set in hard lines. He was wearing a fancier Irunian outfit this time and there was chain mail glittering underneath his dark tunic. When he saw them, he smiled in what was the Irunian equivalent of joy.

"This is quite a reunion," he said mildly. "I'm glad to see you again, Inafay, but Kai Clanless... I thought I might never see you again."

"Sometimes I wasn't sure myself." Kai stepped forward and they clasped wrists firmly. "I can't believe this is the first time I'm visiting Irun."

"You're certainly welcome. I came as soon as I got your message." Tusquo gestured to the whole group and led them from the outpost toward a steel-domed building. "I only wish that we had better hospitality for you. I'm afraid that you've come at a bad time, as the Frontier elite know."

"We tried to help out in the Earth Union," Inafay said. "I'm guessing that there are Irunians who wanted to ally with them, though."

"There are always some who believe our situation is hopeless. Better to negotiate a subservient position than to stand alone and fall to somewhere far worse. But come along, in here."

The domed structure seemed to be a governmental building, staffed with many Irunians dutifully moving between desks and records chambers. Tusquo took them all past the main rooms and apparently the staff at Brasyan knew him by sight, because they only glanced at him briefly before letting them pass.

While they walked, Kai realized that he'd forgotten to examine the man's soul.

<

Name: Tusquo Agyama of Irun

Total Power: 191

Manablade Class: 36 (46)

Physique Level: F-9 (48)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

Path of Steel: Steel 2 (61)

>

Tusquo had grown to almost 200 Power, helped above the standard Irunian limits by the Manablade Class he'd earned at the Hunter Trial so long ago. But his Path of Steel was actually the most impressive, because after being labeled "Iron" for so long it had actually advanced to Steel, granting over 60 Power on its own. Presumably the weapons and armor he could create now would be truly impressive.

Yet compared to the mercenaries... if this was the Power of someone with a mature Path of Steel, Kai could see why Irun needed help. It was the same problem of low ceilings that had come up time and time again.

"There's a sitting room here," Tusquo said as he opened a door. "I want to hear about everything that's happened to all of you, and make the acquaintance of the new faces."

"I'd love that too," Inafay said, "but we're also here on business. Why are there Birtaegalese mercenaries everywhere? Can they really just do whatever they want?"

Tusquo's expression darkened. "I'm afraid that's the deal that's been struck by the leaders of Irun. Without them, we would be struggling more with monsters in the wake of the incursion."

"What? I thought the elites-"

"The strongest have all been hunted, yes. I am referring to the simpler monsters who can still threaten merchants or travelers. There are risks associated with allowing so many mercenaries into Irun, but the risks of relying on the Elemental Nations or Goralia are higher."

Even though they'd entered the sitting room, a small chamber with a few stools and chairs, none of them actually sat down.

"We aren't that bad," Raghi said. "Are we?"

"I believe that many of you have the best of intentions." Tusquo gave a short bow to the Tonjin brothers. "But if Goralia offers protection, it will soon offer more, and we'll become so entangled that we become a vassal state. Whereas the Birtaegalese mercenaries aren't interested in anything except our money."

"But the mercenaries are abusing their authority," Kai said. "I'm sure you've seen it for yourself."

Tusquo shook his head. "It's regrettable, but common. Many of them have become little better than bandits and should be eradicated from our nation. If you've seen this company abuse their power, we can document the cases and file an official report with the Irunian council, which will-"

"Tusquo." Inafay sighed and then put her hands on his shoulders. "Tusquo, that will take forever. You have Frontier trainees here and we're willing to do anything to help. Are you sure you want to use us to file reports?"

The Irunian man looked around the group slowly, meeting their eyes one at a time, then the stiffness in his posture eased. "Well... I suppose we could... expedite the process..."