As a member of the Grand Hall’s staff, and a senior one at that, Alyssa had her own residence. A rather nice one but a poor deal compared to the house and grounds given to Kierra. Starting with the fact that it hadn’t been gifted to her to use as she wished for as long as she wished. The instructor paid for her residence, either in service or in gold.

It also wasn’t as large as the estate gifted to the elf. A modest home all but the upper caste would be proud to call their own along a street with a dozen more houses of the same variety. She had enough space for a lawn in the front and a fenced off space twice as large behind the house for any hobbies, if she were inclined to relax outdoors. Alyssa had always been proud of it, having grown up in the tight confines of Victory, but it was hard not feel some jealously after spending so many afternoons having tea with Talia in the much larger home.

The feeling was especially bad when her home was crowded, like now. She was beyond relieved when Kierra had tracked her down in Quest, something she had several questions about, to tell her that she and Lou weren’t planning on kicking down the door of the lord of Quest and burning his estate to the ground.

Then confused when she was invited to some celebration or other. However, she knew better than to refuse all she could eat of the succubus’ cooking.

The offer to invite a few friends left her annoyed. Alyssa had several working relationships throughout the Hall and the city, but very few of them were close enough that she would consider inviting them. Unfortunately, she knew for a fact that every single of one them would want an invite into the elf’s home and would have choice words for her if they weren’t gifted the honor.

Alyssa had never bought into the social jockeying that seemed to be the norm south of Victory. While it was going to be annoying hearing countless people whine about not being invited, the future troubles hadn’t swayed her decision in the least.

Kierra hadn’t given her a hard limit of people she could invite but she didn’t want to push the boundaries of propriety too much. In the end, she settled on six.

The first three hadn’t taken any thought. She had a small group she considered close friends, or as close as she let anyone get. Two of them were fellow instructors. First was Sir Brutus, an ex-knight that grew tired of being the errand boy for his patron house and decided to become a foundation instructor. They met through the guilds. Alyssa took hunting contracts from time to time. Brutus liked to organize duels for his more advanced students against hunters. Their tactics were more varied than the more rigid teachings of the Hall and a loss wouldn’t stain their reputation amongst the other acolytes, something that allowed the young fighters to perform much better.

Despite his rough-sounding name given by a callous father, Brutus was a mild-mannered man with an equal appreciation for the finer things as he had for bashing skulls. Better, he made for a good drinking partner.

Her second guest was another instructor. Cynthia Oriole, a talented alchemist and merchant. Had she focused her talent for balms, salves, and potions on either healing or hunting, she’d be famous throughout the kingdom. Instead, she used her gift for the sake of beauty.

Her wrinkle-reducing creams and weight-loss potions were mocked by most of the scholarly alchemists, but they were valuable and were alwayssold out. Cynthia didn’t have much prestige but she had plenty of money. If not for Kierra, Alyssa would say the alchemist was the richest person she knew. She had also been trying to get closer to Kierra since the elf appeared at the Hall.

The last of the three obvious choices was Lane Macklemore. Alyssa had known the young fire caster for years. Plenty of people thought of him as her disciple but that wasn’t right. Though she had taught him for many years, he wasn’t a dedicated student. More of a hanger-on.

He’d taken every class she offered so, officially, there was nothing else for her to teach him. Yet, he continued to hang around. He asked if she needed an assistant for her classes. She did and he knew how to make himself useful so she agreed. After that, it was joining the Grand Watch, the Hall’s peacekeeping force, that she was an established member of. During a few lean months, she let him stay in her guest room in exchange for doing chores. He was just…around.

Before she knew it, Alyssa was accustomed to that. During her whole vacation, which she’d badly needed after the events of the qualifiers, she’d felt something was off but hadn’t realized it was her missing lackey until Lane had greeted her with a bottle of brandy she refused to drink.

An odd group to be her closest friends but they were what she had. The next three had taken a lot more thought. Two of the places were taken up by strangers, as she’d given leave for Sir Brutus and Cynthia to invite someone. A thought that occurred to her because Cynthia always had a date to any function and the ex-knight deserved the same opportunity. The last person she chose was a mixture of business and pleasure.

Jack was an ordinary man with the most common background in Quest. A boy from a simple background who sought fame and fortune through hunting manabeasts. He found his way to the city of adventure and joined One For All, starting from the very bottom as one of the guild’s workers as he learned the basics.

He hunted for several years on different teams until a fight injured his leg. Then he took to instructing the next generation. When he grew tired of that, he turned to working the counter, doing the boring administrative work that grew more appealing the older one got.

Alyssa had made his acquaintance before every stepping foot on the floating rock she lived on. Jack wasn’t a very powerful man, but he had a good head on his shoulders and many connections throughout the guild. He wasn’t very powerful and he had tasted defeat, his youthful recklessness beaten out of him and replaced by caution and temperance. He had no position and he had no ambition. There was nothing at all to cloud his judgment.

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That was why Alyssa wanted him at the party. In an effort to make amends for her poor behavior against Lourianne and her house, literal and metaphorical, the instructor had taken it upon herself to help in matters regarding the March. Her goal was to resolve the situation without any more violence. A hopeless goal.

She’d settle for the least amount of death she could manage. And the biggest obstacle to peace, in her opinion, was a lack of perspective on the part of the guilds. The poor hunters, with no experience with the zealotry of the north of the insanity that was Lourianne Tome, couldn’t fathom what they were up against. Because of that, they were split on their approach. Some wanted to negotiate. Some wanted to fight. No one wanted to give up and take the unexpected shafting with grit teeth, their best option for continued survival.

It was her hope that if someone the hunters trusted, someone with no possible ulterior motives, could see Lou and the threat she posed with their own eyes, then she could start making headway in convincing them. Or, at the very least, her words would carry a little more weight. So, she lured her old friend with the promise of the best food to ever grace his tongue and good drink.

They made quite the sight, all seated and standing in her living room. Alyssa was their key to enter Kierra’s domain and no one wanted to risk walking up to the front door without her. As a result, it was established they would all gather at her place before heading over to Kierra’s house together.

The first to arrive was Jack, as she grabbed him while returning from the city. The man wasn’t exactly dressed to impress, still in his work clothes and sporting a scruffy beard in need of a trim. Alyssa wasn’t sure if he was unaware of the situation he was walking into or he simply didn’t care to clean himself up. Either way, he had parked himself on one of her couches, content to sip through a bottle of Herbanacle until it was time to leave.

Lane was the next to appear. She had used a messenger service to deliver word of her invitations to her friends. Her lackey arrived at her door in under an hour. Given it would have taken at least twenty minutes for the messengers in the Grand Market to reach his room in one of the staff dormitories and another fifteen for him to reach her home, he had gotten ready in an impressive amount of time. The young man was clearly excited, something his big smile would have given away as he stood in her doorway if his timing didn’t.

“Hey boss! I—" He paused as he stepped inside and noticed the conspicuous form of Jack already seated. “Uh…”

“Jack, Lane. Lane, Jack. Take a seat, grab a drink.”

“…alright, I guess.”

The introduction hadn’t gone well. Jack was a gruff man who didn’t speak unless he had something to say, a trait Alyssa appreciated. Lane was affable enough to counter most stoic demeanors but his social charms seemed muted in the presence of the retired hunter. The young man was clearly uncomfortable with him, but Alyssa didn’t care to delve into whatever problem her lackey had with her old friend, ignoring them both as she sipped on her own cup of shroom juice.

The stiff silence lasted until the next person knocked on her door. It was Brutus. Lane had cleaned up his appearance, combing his hair and putting on a nice shirt. That was the most a poor acolyte could manage. An instructor had a lot more crowns to spend on their wardrobe.

Brutus was dressed in a tailored shirt that tightly fit his broad chest and dark pants, paired with a long jacket. Alyssa was mildly surprised that he had in fact, brought a date, a quiet woman the redhead vaguely recognized as another member of staff who introduced herself as Marie. The foundation instructor accepted a drink while they waited for the last guest to arrive, but his date refused. Jack, recognizing a kindred spirit, poured Brutus’ cup for him and they soon delved into exchanging war stories.

Alyssa wasn’t surprised that Cynthia showed up last. The woman loved drama, dramatic gestures most of all. The redhead would believe it if someone told her that the alchemist had someone watching her house, ready to inform her when everyone else had arrived so she could make the most memorable entrance. And, as expected, she brought a date.

Her usual kind; far too young, far too handsome, and oozing charm. Pretty boys with broad shoulders and soft hands. Alyssa really hated the boys her friend always entertained. They always looked at her funny, fishing to see if she shared her friend’s tastes, which she very much did not. More often than not, it led to uncomfortable atmospheres.

“Ally!” Cynthia’s greeting was undoubtedly the most spirited, wrapping the redhead in a hug before kissing her cheeks. “Have I told you how much I love you lately? Wrangling me an invite to a party hosted by our dear elf. Oh, I’m so excited! The last time was an absolute blast. Ah, don’t be shy, dear. Ally, this is Farran, an old student of mine. He was just popping around for a chat when your messenger knocked on my door.”

“Miss Filagree, it’s been some time. You might not remember me but—"

Alyssa cut off the rest of his spiel by practically dragging them both inside. Cups were handed over, Herbanacle was poured, and the pre-party preparations began. Or, the part where Alyssa subjected herself to her friends’ many questions. It wasn’t unreasonable for the attendees to be curious about their hosts. Alyssa answered them and threw out a few warnings.

“Lou is a pervert. Her wife is a pervert. Pretty sure blondie is a pervert too. Wouldn’t be shocked if her servants are perverts. Or her friends. It’s a fucking house of perverts and they’re not shy. I don’t think they’re going to bang in the middle of the room, but they are not reserved. Just letting you know. Don’t try to scold them for it. Best case, they laugh at you. Worst case, they throw you out a window.”

“Lou is pretty easy-going. Very tolerant to women. Stupidly massive flirt but completely harmless. I’m looking at you, Brutus. Don’t give me that look. I’ve seen too many men do too many stupid things because someone said the wrong thing to a woman they were interested in. Lou will probably say something but it’s really harmless. Trust me, I’ve been around it enough. Save yourself some anger.”

“There is one thing that Lou is not easy-going about. Her harem or whatever the fuck they have going on. What—don’t look at me like that, Cynthia. I don’t ask those kind of questions. I know she’s involved with Kierra, Alana James, and Umphrieltalia.

“Fuck! Don’t squeal like that! Yes, that Talia. Yeah, the rumors were right. Anyway, be extra nice to the ladies and men, hands off. Saints, eyes off just to be careful. Lou does not fuck around with her women. I’m looking at you, pretty boy. Flash that smile in the wrong direction and you’re likely to get your ass kicked. And for the love of all that is saintly, don’t try your shit on Lou. It’s just begging to get embarrassed.”

Once the warnings were delivered and everyone finished their drinks, Alyssa led them out to the carriages she’d hired for the night and the group headed off toward Kierra’s house.