Livia and Oscar were heading out to the house of the three siblings, but they were a lot better prepared than when going to the brewery the day before.

They had actually bribed Salman for some tidbits about the sibling they had seen working at his general store. Oscar had seen her working at several places, but at Salman’s most of all, so he presumed she had a [Trader] Class.

What they learned was that the siblings had lost both parents, one to a raid when they were young and another to the ensuing loneliness once they were no longer children. Haggling over such information may have seemed cold, but Salman told them just as much to make sure they remained respectful and did not put their foot in their mouth.

The rest he had on offer Oscar already knew through friends, except her [Class], but Salman priced what he knew of it higher than their family history even.

The third sibling’s Class he did not know with any certainty, but presumably it was something to do with the forest because his sister brought his things for the store to sell, mostly herbs, mushrooms and medicinal plants but not exclusively.

Needless to say the siblings were inseparable, and lived together on one of the smaller farms surrounding Salcret proper. Livia and Oscar walked up, both with fluttering butterflies in their bellies after what happened yesterday.

They lacked the support of having either of the Casters–or Sten–with them, but they hoped this would keep their prospective members from feeling outnumbered and putting their backs up and maybe not even hearing them out.

There were animals in the yard, and they seemed to have been fed recently. They decided to holler since it might be intrusive walking all the way across the yard to knock. It took a few minutes but eventually a woman around Harold’s age looked out the previously shuttered window and waved them in.

“Hello, sorry to intrude, my name’s Livia and this is Oscar.” They closed the door before shaking the light snow off their shoulders and reaching in for a handshake. “Name's Elin, nice to meet you.” Oscar noted that she had the ink-smudged hands of a scholar.

As they looked around they saw it was a slightly messy house, but comfy and with pages of notes all over the place. “We’re actually here to talk to you too, but we mostly wanted to offer to help your brother, the aspiring [Enchanter]?”

Elin’s brows raised at this. “Uh, sure, but you know he doesn’t have the Class right?”

They were interrupted by the banging door and the chill wind making its entrance, together with said sibling they had just been speaking of. The young man was huddled and trembling, with a face like thunder.

He stomped past them with nary a glance, walking up to the hearth and warming his hands while muttering darkly under his breath.

Livia had Albert from yesterday fresh in her mind, and decided that a little small talk with Elin until their target had warmed up a bit was the move.

Elin caught on quickly and muttered under her breath. “You got him, that’s Felix.” She was a dark blonde girl, with rosy and round cheeks. She could have been a cousin of the girl with lit candles in her hair from christmas.

Felix suddenly spoke up from over by the fire, not to them, just a little too loudly for it to be to himself. “Bastard strangers don’t even have the sense to close the door when they come to visit, do you not feel the cold or something?” Apparently he had forgotten he was the last one in.

A disbelieving stare from three sets of eyes quickly reminded him of that fact, and now at least his face was warming faster.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He avoided looking at them and muttered a barely audible Sorry when he passed to go shut the door.

Elin spoke up on their behalf. “This is Livia, and Oscar. They came here to speak to you and me about something,”

Livia stepped up to bat. “Yes precisely, we are forming a [Guild] and traveling to Dormata. We’re looking for talented people with Classes of every kind,”

Oscar took the baton. “We know you do not have the Class yet, but an [Enchanter] from Salcret could certainly find a place among us once their school obligations are completed.” Livia brought it home. “We would supply you with materials to level, and eventually build you a workshop within the [Guild] compound, not to mention make sure to try and recruit whatever auxiliary Classes you might be in need of working with,”

The dark blonde, rather short guy was looking at them calmly, but with open interest.

Oscar ended on the key note. “Would you be interested? We would have spots for your siblings as well, of course.”

Felix’ face had been lighting up brighter and brighter as the pair spoke. That’s why the words that came next actually made Livia’s jaw drop for once. “No thanks, but hey that’s perfect! Elin, you guys should join them!”

Oscar was barely surprised, he had figured the happy face that had slowly come across the rather obnoxious guy’s face was too good to be true.

“And then I can go to the Albernautics Academy and finally get the Class I am destined for, without you guys having to live too far away without me!”

Elin was sneering at the idea and turned to their two guests. “See what he’s like? Trust me, you would not want him in your [Guild].”

Felix just rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, we’ve been waiting for something like this, you go with them and we can all move to Dormata together,”

His sister just rolled her eyes right back and went back in the kitchen to make herself food while calling over her back. “If they pay enough I’ll consider it, I’m not moving anywhere without a job.”

They were left alone with Felix. Oscar was sick of being careful and so just asked what was on his mind. “Uhm, what even is your sister’s Class, a specialist [Trader]?”

The Classless guy looked surprised at this. “No, she’s an [Accountant],”

And that’s when the door flew up the second time and a smaller version of Felix quickly huddled inside, closing the door carefully. “Uh, hi guys, who’s this? New friends?”

“Guess what Alfred, we’re moving to Dormata!”

Elin yelled from the kitchen area. "No, we are not!"

Oscar immediately identified a kindred soul in the youngest brother. The forgotten one.

He chuckled at his own melodrama.

There was still plenty of arguing to do, that much was clear, but it looked like they had secured their next few members for the coming spring expedition, if not yet the [Guild].

At least it was not a repeat of the Albert situation, Oscar was actually looking forward to getting to know these siblings, however temporary the arrangement may turn out to be.