"I have spent the last month constantly dealing with your pathetic excuses and accusations. At any instance of providing help, you bitch and moan. But the moment we say no? You have the gall to get pissy?" Garret's voice boomed throughout the room. "Pathetic. Remember that we don't care whose head sits on the throne. Your lives are worthless."

Whatever Garret wanted to happen, the nobles reacted. They turned their ire from Devon to him. I ignored the heads and found the king watching our reactions. He gave a tight smile and looked away.

What are you thinking?

"Enough," Devon commanded. "Make no mistake, we'll hunt down any who threaten the seals. But we came to the capital to complete this hunt. You will help us. Or we'll find value out of your corpse."

"That won't be a problem, sir Devon! The kingdom's resources are at your disposal. As the king of this land, I swear to you. And it shall be formally issued to all nobles," Mulren thundered over the grumbling.

The nobles soured, but it was probably for the best. Throughout the next hour, we were briefed on all findings from the villages under the houses' control. Over thirty percent was nothing more than humans being humans. The rest involved monsters of some kind or ancient magic interfering with the settlements.

Nothing so far related to what we were dealing with. But the nobles were more subdued and actually provided extensive reports. Slowly, we tracked three potential problem areas worth investigating.

"Do we have a map?" Devon asked.

Ulren hopped into action and rushed out of the room before racing back with a large scroll tucked in his arms. Marcus used one of the side tables, cleared it of decorations, and took the scroll, unraveling it across the table. Ulren pointed to the third district, the one at the opposite end of where the Ashtons were staying.

"Between this area and this area is where an unusual number of murders have taken place."

Redmire snorted. "That is hardly unusual. A few vagrants go missing, and nobody bats an eye."

"This is not the slums. That is a restaurant owned by House Baathan. And those surrounding buildings are ours. We do not allow murder on our doorstep, Redmire," the older noble spat.

"Bah. Then you should explain why there have been fourteen cases within the last few months.

My eyes widened. Fourteen was small compared to the city's population, but that was a lot for a place with decent traffic.

"Maybe we should ask House Vertus."

The mousey noble backed away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Eddus. We do not have time for games. The crown is well aware of your underground guilds. Tell us, do they know anything about this? Are they responsible?" Mulren interjected.

His shoulders slumped when it was obvious the noble wouldn't get away with not answering. Surprisingly, when he reapproached the table, he looked calm, if annoyed.

He pointed to an alleyway beyond the Baathan restaurant.

"No. The guilds have searched and run their own investigations. But even they are baffled. The murders are bloody, each corpse barely a body as their limbs were hacked apart and blood drained away," he explained while pointedly looking at Baathan. "Most of the guilds have banned their members from approaching the area, and some of the more magically attuned have sensed hostile mana. The remnants of rituals and other such spellcasting."

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That was a bombshell.

The old lady turned to face him and pointed an accusing finger. "Have they lost control of their tools? Did a slave escape their bindings and go rogue?"

Vertus calmly met her finger and brushed it aside. "You know the rules involving magic users. All sorcerers and sorceresses are bound to the guilds. They know the risk and wouldn't compromise."

There was a stare-off, but Mulren hopped off the throne and separated them.

"We will discuss the magic users later. What about the other areas?"

"Right," Ulren cleared his throat. "The next one is in the slums. It's less credible, and based on what Vertus provided, I believe it's a monster of some kind using the sewers as a nest."

"And the third?"

"Unknown, sir. The village to the north, under Redmire's lands, has reported a need for trade goods. If it's the same as Preltervale and perhaps the mountain pass, then it is worth investigating."

"I have already sent my son to the village. We should have word sent back within the week," Redmire said.

"Good, good. That leaves us with investigating the city. Sir Devon, sir Garret. My knights are at your disposal, as well as the city guard. What are your plans?" Mulren said.

Devon pointed to the area with the murders. "We'll investigate here on our own. Our senses are better than yours, so we might find something you missed. And Garret can join your knights and investigate the slums."

Garret growled, causing the humans to back away. But Devon silenced him with a look, and he backed off.

Eddus crossed his arms. "The guilds won't like the royal knights in their area. It will cause an uproar."

"Then silence it. I dare not go against the orders of a Grimm. Do you, Eddus?"

He sighed but shook his head. "No. The threat of a red cloak will suffice. But expect them to act out in the coming months. They will want to make their grievances known."

"Fine. Just make sure they are not in the way of the investigation," Mulren declared. Eddus nodded, and Mulren clapped his hands. "Is there anything else you require of us?"

I pointed to Renner, who had hung back with Krenlow and chatted quietly throughout the discussion. There was little for the Ashton noble to do once the discussion centered around the city. Like him, I had been snacking and observing everyone's reactions. And Renner looked excited.

"We wanted to talk with him, right?" I asked Devon.

Devon nodded. "Yes."

"Very well. Renner, go with the Grimms and answer their questions. For now, the meeting is adjourned. We all have our tasks. Eddus, please prepare your people for when the Grimms arrive."

Vertus bowed, and then the other nobles shuffled away. I snagged a massive platter of meats and cheeses and caught up to Alice as she hung back from where Devon was being led by Renner. Marcus followed behind us, but he might as well have been a shadow.

"Food?" I offered.

"Still hungry? I saw you snack throughout the meeting," she asked before taking several slices of meat and cheese and wrapping them together.

"Yeah. It was offered, so I might as well take advantage. Good seasoning."

She nodded and snacked away. "I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Did Garret say something to you?"

I nearly choked and hid it by swallowing more food. "What do you mean?"

"His smell was in your room."

Ahh, that makes sense. Gotta play it cool.

"He came by to have a talk. Things got heated, and he destroyed my door, but that's all. It's… Not surprising, considering how closely he talks about Elias."

Alice's fist tightened, but her face remained passive. I knew her well enough by now to understand that was equivalent to being annoyed.

"Uh, why are you bringing this up now?" I asked. "Why not earlier when you noticed the smell?"

We turned the corner, and Devon stopped along with Renner. He glanced back and noticed Alice's fists before looking away and watching Renner pull out a ring of keys.

"It was comfortable," Alice whispered.

"Comfortable?"

She nodded. "Yes. I didn't want to disturb that."

Oh. It feels even worse knowing I would have to lie if you ask what Garret wanted to discuss.

"Well, my door is always open if you need to talk. If anything, Freki could use another person to scratch him."

She nodded again and entered the room.

I sighed and turned to Marcus. "Can you, put this somewhere?"

He took it and held it. The man was still dressed in armor and stood there like a statue, holding the silver plate stacked with snacks. I turned around and chose to ignore the oddity and follow Alice.

The moment I stepped within the doorframe, someone screamed as Alice lifted a man by his collar and held him against the wall.