Meridith let a small smile come to her lips as she stepped into the Blach Horn guild. It hadn’t changed much since she was fired a year ago. The adventurers were loud as they bragged about their feats along with the clatter of armor and gear. The board was nearly empty, and the adventurers were still here were two pints in or working out their frustrations with tavern games set up in the back. Most of them sported greying beards and hair.

“Why did we come here?” Mina said. She bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling.

“We here to advertise open positions for the tavern” Meridith said waving at the clerks behind the desk, “You’d be surprised how many adventurers are looking to retire.”

“Meridith!” a tall woman with braided black bun smiled, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see master Aberny,” Meridith said holding up a pamphlet, “I need to advertise my new tavern.”

“You’re opening a tavern,” the clerk said, “By the Virtues, how did you accomplish that?”

Meridith laughed, “It’s not actually mine Gena,” she said, “It belongs to my new employer.”

“Congratulations,” Gena said, “I’ll let master Aberny know you’re here.”

Meridith stood by the counter. The other clerks stared at her in awe, and she gave them a charming smile that caused them to start whispering. She turned around and noticed Mina squirming. Apparently, several of the younger adventurers were eyeing both women from the rim of their mugs. The two women stood out, and that was the point.

The door to the guild opened and a young man with curly red hair walked inside. His appearance stole the attention of everyone in sight. Meridith covered her mouth while Mina tried hiding behind her. She hadn’t expected Halligan to be here. Whether or not this was a blessing was yet to be seen.

Another clerk approached the counter, “How may we be of service master Halligan?”

“I’m here to see master Aberny.”

The clerk looked between him and Meridith, “I’ll let him know you’re here.”

Meridith smoothed out her dress, “The Virtues smile upon me,” she said, “I wasn’t expecting to meet the Hero of Jericho here.”

“Please ma’am,” Halligan said with a deep blush, “I’m no hero. I was simply in the right place at the right time.”

“But you are a hero good sir,” she said with a bright smile, “Had you not dispatched those disgusting ants, well, only the Virtues know. Where are my manners,” she held out her hand, “I’m Meridith, and this is my attendant, Mina.” Mina bowed behind her.

Halligan gently took her hand, “A pleasure,” he said, “And what brings you here?”

“I’m opening a tavern in the lower city,” Meridith said sliding over the pamphlet, “Since I used to work here, I was hoping that I could reestablish that connection.”

“You used to work here?”

Meridith gave a sad chuckle, “Yes, I use to be a clerk,” she said with a quivering lip, “I…used to be close to Laegyn, one of the top members,” She wiped at her eyes, “Let’s just say, I had trouble focusing after his death, and master Aberny had to let me go.”

Halligan pulled out a handkerchief, “I’m sorry,”

“Thank you,” Meridith gently took the cloth. She held his hands a few seconds longer, “You truly are a kind man.”

“Meridith, master Aberny is ready.” Gena said from the base of the stairs.

Meridith curtsied to Halligan, “I hope we meet again,”

“I’d like that,”

Meridith and Mina followed Gena up the stairs. Aberny’s office hadn’t changed much. A barrier of paperwork separated him from everyone, and a half-finished glass of scotch sat within reach. His hair was greyer and his beard unkempt. The dark circles under his eyes were the only thing that hadn’t changed about him.

Aberny looked up and gave her a warm smile, “Meridith, it’s been a long time,” he said getting up from his desk. He gave her a quick look, “You look to be doing well.”

“I am,” Meridith said returning the smile, “And you look to be as busy as usual.”

“That hasn’t changed unfortunately,” he said, “And what’s your name miss?”

“Mina sir,” she bowed, “I serve am lady Meridith’s attendant.”

Aberny looked to Meridith with wide eyes, “Lady? Attendant? You really have done well for yourself,” he said gesturing for them to sit down, “Did you find yourself a wealthy man?”

“In a way,” Meridith laughed, “I found myself a new employer. His business has been growing lately, so he acquired more staff.”

“I’m glad things worked out for you,” Aberny said, “So what brings you here?”

“I wanted to catch up with my old colleague,” Meridith said pulling out the pamphlet, “And, promote my employer’s new business. He’s opening a tavern.”

Aberny slapped his knee, “And who better to sell alcohol to than adventurers,” he said, “Or are you trying to steal away my talent?”

“A bit of both,”

He scratched at his beard with a sly smile, “I’ll allow it, for a thirty percent discount.”

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“Ten,”

“Twenty,”

“Fifteen,”

Aberny held out his hand, “Eighteen,”

Meridith reached out but held it apart, “Fifteen,”

“Deal,” Aberny said, “I’m glad you still know how to haggle.”

“I learned from the best,”

“I’ll see to it that everyone knows about your new tavern,” Aberny said taking the pamphlet.

Meridith rose with a smile, “Thank you,” she said, “I won’t take up more of your time. Thank you for seeing me, master Aberny.”

“Please come see me again Meridith,” Aberny said escorting them to the door.

“I will,”

Meridith and Mina headed downstairs and out of the guild. The sun hadn’t reached its peak in the sky.

“What should we do now?” Mina said.

“We need to start planning on the menu for the tavern,” Meridith said, “Let’s go buy a few cookbooks and try out a few recipes. I’m certain Kogna will be hungry after his patrol.”

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Kogna sighed heavily as his stomach growled. He was walking down the streets surrounding the tavern construction site. The street kids loitering in the alley ran off when came in sight. They kept their heads down as they looked back at him. Looks like they learned their lesson.

The people looked at him cautiously, but none approached. Kogna’s left hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and his eyes darted across the road with his eyes half closed. So far, nothing stood out to him. Kogna turned the corner and stopped.

A girl, several years younger than Mina, sat on the steps of a house crying. Her hair was filthy and disheveled dark brown hair, and her patchwork dress hung loosely off her shoulders. Bruises ran along her arms and legs.

“Where are you!” The girl jumped and ran into a nearby alley. A large man with a big nose stormed out of the house and searched down the road. “Damn brat, where’d you go!” The man stomped down the road passing by the little girls hiding place.

Kogna’s gaze lingered on the alley. I shouldn’t get involved. He made his way to the alley, there was nothing there except a tarp covered crate and a broken barrel. This will cause problems for the master. He stopped by the crate. He could hear crying, but the girl was nowhere in sight. What am I doing?

He gently knocked on the crate, “Come on out, he’s gone.”

The tarp pulled to the side, and a dull blue eye stared up at him. Slowly, the girl poked her head out and checked down the alley before climbing out of the crate. She was shorter than Kogna expected, despite her age.

“Are you all right?” Kogna said looking over the girl. She stared at the floor and nodded. “What’s your name kid?”

“Vaera,”

Kogna sighed and gave the girl a silver coin, “Here, this should cool his temper,” he said. “Be safe kid.”

“Thanks mister!”

“What am I doing?” Kogna said under his breath.

Kogna finished his patrol and returned to the tavern. It was coming along nicely. The stone walls on the first floor transitioned to wood for the second and third. The red clay shingles on the roof made it stand out against the plain wooden roofs of the surrounding buildings. The inside itself was bare but the overall construction was done. Thankfully with a little extra coin, they were able to speed up the construction. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the furniture. Meridith and Mina stood by the bar leaning over a book.

“This one looks good,” Meridith said, “And the recipe is simple, so we can make it a staple.”

“True, but would it satisfy the customers?” Mina said, “We should think about what our customers would want.”

“Well, I’m hoping most of our clientele will be adventurers.”

“Then you should focus on meat dishes,” Kogna said leaning against the bar, “The dishes should consist of fatty meats. They’ll need to replenish their energy after a hard day’s work.”

“Adventurers are primarily carnivorous anyway,” Meridith said, “And we should focus on stronger drinks as well. How did your patrol go?”

Kogna rubbed his thumb against his sword hilt, “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Excellent,” Meridith said, “Hopefully we won’t have anymore issues until after the tavern is finished.”

“How long will that take?”

“We’re waiting on the furniture, so maybe two weeks,” Meridith said, “We should be able to open by that time.”

“What about staffing?” Oria stepped off the stairs.

“Put some clothes on!” Meridith said through gritted teeth.

Oria’s wore nothing but woolen undergarments with her messy blonde hair covering her chest, “This is what I sleep in,” she said with a lopsided smile, “You’re the one who wanted me and my boys to sleep here so we could watch over the place at night.” Meridith growled, which caused Oria’s smile to grow.

“Are we done?” Kogna said. Meridith nodded, and Kogna headed downstairs.

“Kogna,” he turned to see Oria running her hands through her hair, “Care to join me instead?”

Kogna huffed, “No.”

“Asshole.”

----------------------------------------

Kogna patrolled the same street once again. Meridith and Mina were out shopping for ingredients so that they could try the dishes that they would serve, and Oria was out gathering information. Everyone gave Kogna wide berth like they always did.

“Windman!” Kogna turned to see a group of young adults approach. They had a tattoo of a bull and hammer on their upper arm. “What’ cha doing?”

“Patrolling,”

The thugs started laughing, “What, is this your territory?”

Kogna shifted his posture, “It is.”

“Well, that’s a problem,” the lead thug said, “Because Samon Blackhammer controls the slums. And there’s a toll of three gold to walk the streets.”

Kogna took in all of them, “That’s a problem,” he said, “Because your lives aren’t worth three gold.”

The thugs scowled, but before they could move, Kogna drew his sword. A gust of wind blew the four thugs away and they fell to the floor. Their heads hit the ground with a sickening crack. The crowd turned away but kept their eyes on the lone swordsman.

Kogna went back to his patrol. He retained the sharp glare that kept the people at bay. The last thing he wanted was another confrontation. He turned a corner and found Vaera sitting on the steps of her house. Her eyes were glued to the stone streets. The door opened behind her and the man from yesterday stepped out.

“Why are you just sitting there, you damn brat,” he said picking her up and throwing her on the street, “You’re supposed to be earning us money.”

“I’m sorry,” Vaera cried covering her head.

“You’re just as useless as your mother,” the man raised his fist. Kogna grabbed onto his wrist, and he turned his gaze towards him, “What do you want.”

Kogna squeezed the man’s wrist and forced his fist open. Kogna slapped a silver coin into the man’s hand.

“I’ll be taking the girl for the day.” Kogna said throwing him off.

The man looked at the coin with a smile, “Fine by me,” he turned to Vaera, “Don’t mess this up.”

“Let’s go kid,” Kogna said picking Vaera up.

She fell in step behind him, “Where are we going?”

“A tavern.”

Vaera stared at the floor, and mumbled something that Kogna couldn’t hear. Kogna led the way through the streets to the tavern and pushed his way inside, but Vaera stopped right outside. Kogna turned and stared at her, which caused her steps to stumble.

Vaera stood in the center of the room with her face downward. Her arms shook violently as she stared at her bruises. Her hands gripped tightly at her ragged dress. Kogna stared at the girl with a cocked eyebrow.

“Brother! What did you do!”

Something hard struck Kogna in the back of his head, and Mina rushed forwards to kneel in front of Vaera. A rolling pin rolled underneath a table.

“Are you alright dear?” Mina said raising the girls face, “Why are you covered in bruises?”

Kogna rubbed the back of his head, “Was that necessary?”

“Yes,” Mina said giving him a stern glare, “Who is this girl?”

“He paid…for me,” Vaera said. Mina hugged the girl tightly.

“I hired her to work in the tavern.” Vaera and Mina stared at him with wide eyes.

“What,” the girl said.

Kogna sighed, “This tavern is going to be opening soon,” he said, “We need people to staff it, and you need to make money.”

“So, you hired her to help out,” Mina stared at him, “Then why didn’t you say so!”

“I didn’t think I need to,” Kogna said which caused Mina to sigh, “I’ll leave her to you. I have something I need to report to the master.”

Kogna headed downstairs. He didn’t want to get hit again, and he needed to report about Samon’s thug attacking him. A headache started forming where Mina hit him.