- Shari -

"So, anything you want to talk about in particular?" (Shari)

"First, take a look at this." (Gareth)

He hands me a letter but starts talking before I even get to read it.

"This was delivered last night to the lord. The messenger apparently rode without stopping. It concerns your mission." (Gareth)

I skim through the contents and am quite affected.

"Three days?" (Shari)

"Yes, your friend was far quicker than I anticipated. In three days, troops loyal to the crown will arrive in Ekoras to provide the necessary reinforcements for the operation. As we can't allow our opponents to prepare, this will be the day. I expect things to become pretty turbulent. If we don't pull this off flawlessly then it will definitely get messy." (Gareth)

It's making me slightly nervous to think that such a big thing is so close to starting.

"Keeping in mind that our time is running short, I'd very much appreciate it if you'd tell me that I didn't risk everything for no reason yesterday when I kept my subordinates conveniently out of the noble districts. So, I see you have papers with you?" (Gareth)

While I get his stance, I don't like his tone.

"Whatever we could grab. Got maybe a little messy, but we were able to bring relevant documents with us while avoiding any killing. As far as I can tell, it should be what you were looking for. How well you make use of the information is on you." (Shari)

At this, I hand the documents over.

I wouldn't even know what to do with them.

It's not like the information that Ekoras' guard is corrupt is very new and would in any way give me an advantage.

It's not like I have a handle to call the guards out on their misdeeds if their captain isn't playing along.

"Let's see. Hah, as expected. That one. Yes. Huh, to think they'd pay that much." (Gareth)

"I take it, you have what you want?" (Shari)

"This might work. It will take a while to work through everything, but I can certainly work with this. You did me a great service. Now I can at least tell who to trust." (Gareth)

"By the way, we also saw a man in the baron's estate. Elderly, white hair. Very distinctive guards around him. Scared the shit out of our good baron." (Shari)

"Hm, the man you describe could be Count Zervanis Hovari. That could be a problem. He's a highly influential individual. That he's siding with the corrupters comes sudden, but not completely unexpected." (Gareth)

"How do you mean this?" (Shari)

"The count is known to have connections to a wide array of mercenary troops. Usually, as part of the forest protection business, which is in fact how he makes a lot of his profits." (Gareth)

"Forest protection business?" (Shari)

"Right, you wouldn't know. You could see it as a legal form of demanding protection money. His contracted groups guard farms and houses all around Ekoras against monster attacks. It's more reliable and in total provides better coverage than relying on smaller adventurer groups. However, it shouldn't surprise you that there are rumors about shadier dealings. Particularly, recently one came up that his service dropped quite a bit since a while ago, as he seems to lack manpower. Of course, no one can tell where those men have left for." (Gareth)

Nobody knows what happened to those mercenaries?

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Yep, that's what I call shady.

Count Zervanis Hovari.

That reminds me, just "quite some time ago", when I was still working for Count Kahan, I got this letter into my hand.

It was signed with "Z".

Can this be a coincidence?

It might be too early to draw conclusions, but it doesn't really matter, as what I witnessed last night leaves little doubt about his general alignment.

That means I can add another powerful enemy to the list.

Just my luck!

Now we probably even have to deal with a mercenary army on top of all the trouble that comes along with bringing this town back to order.

"Do you really think you can win the fight against Ekoras' corruption? I didn't read through everything, but from what I saw there aren't few names on that list." (Shari)

"It's gonna be a challenge. I plan to make offers of amnesty to those with considerably small charges in return for their service on the fated day, and those who are unredeemable will have to get put out of the way." (Gareth)

"You think that is really going to work? What if they think that continuing to receive the little extra money is worth it?" (Shari)

"You see, many of these men have families. Some may have been threatened, some may have taken the money to keep up with the high prices to feed their children. I certainly don't intend to just trust each and every one of them. However, the alternative to not taking my offer is open rebellion. Not only is the initial bloodshed that can be expected while overtaking the town going to be bad, but if they believe that the crown is going to place Ekoras under siege even if they win, then that's a hell of a motivation. Money can't buy non-existent food. Ekoras can't sustain itself without deliveries from the capital. There's no way anyone is doing substantial farming right outside with the monsters rampant. So to say it straight, if they have brains they'll know they don't have a choice. That is if they don't have exclusive contracts and are in a position to afford this. Yet thanks to these documents I'll know who to watch out for." (Gareth)

I'm not sure how high his chances of success truly are on this, but I can only wish so.

At least, it doesn't sound like he didn't give it enough thought.

It can work.

"Well, as long as you keep your part." (Shari)

"I expect you'll do so as well." (Gareth)

Excuse me!?

"Sorry, but I thought we already did!" (Shari)

I point at the documents.

"As much as it pains me to admit this, currently you and your partner are probably our most valuable assets. Your station as a royal agent allows you to act more freely than I could. Not to forget that it's in your power to apply the authority that comes with that title." (Gareth)

"What exactly are you expecting from us?" (Shari)

"Nothing special. However, if I would hand you some names of problematic officers and their addresses within the city, it might not be too complicated to visit them, possibly at untimely hours, and call them out on their misdeeds, letting them know that it might be a good time to turn over a new leaf in life." (Gareth)

Is he seriously telling me to go out and terrify his subordinates?

"I'm not really sure about that plan." (Shari)

"Why not? According to my lord, you can be hella convincing if you need to. I'll keep any investigations directed the other way. Therefore, the affected officers won't know who to turn to and all the more appreciate a working law enforcement system." (Gareth)

I can see his thought process.

This way, we'd show them that the crown still has executive power.

We can find them in their homes and pass judgment on them.

It's not like revolters can hope to get a proper security system going anytime soon.

Of course, I don't plan on harming their families, but the threat alone should make the majority of them compliant.

"I can see the merit of your plan, but the fact that we're basically working overtime doesn't sit well with me. I hope when the time comes you'll remember to return the favor. Because you certainly owe us, Gareth." (Shari)

Can't hurt to have him on our side if we'll eventually get openly exposed.

"Yeah, yeah. Save that for the officers." (Gareth)

No idea how he can remain so casual, despite knowing what I am.

Maybe it's the clothes.

Probably makes me appear less monstrous.

"Fine, I'll see what I can do." (Shari)

I don't really want to become the crown's ferocious hound and serve as threat potential, but Gareth is right that it would be a good thing to get some of the outliers on our side.

If we can do this in advance, before the campaign starts, this could make everything go more smoothly and save lives.

Also, the better this works out, the better it will look to the queen when I give my report, and it may possibly convince her to overlook small things like me building up a business as a side job.

Maybe I'll actually get paid then.

"Great. Here are the first names. I'd appreciate it if you'd get through with them as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I'll have to view every one of them as a risk and have to get them out of the way instead." (Gareth)

Wow, he didn't joke about not wasting time, as fast as he wrote this.

"Before I go, I want to say that I'd appreciate it if you tell your guild leader friend that you don't want to see me on his blackboard." (Shari)

I don't exactly know what kind of past they have, but it looked like they knew each other.

"I can't command the guild, but I'm rather sure that Sir Elkon wouldn't attack a confirmed royal agent. It would mean a direct attack on the crown. He'd never make this kind of political statement." (Gareth)

I can only hope that's going to be the case.

"You seem to know quite a lot about the inner workings of the guild." (Shari)

"My time with them was quite some time ago, but it's not like everything I picked up back then suddenly became false." (Gareth)

I also think he knew Jacob, but that's probably his private matter.

"If that was all, I'll be on my way then." (Shari)

"I appreciate your cooperation." (Gareth)

With this, I head back to my shop.

It's good that this all went rather well.

It also feels rather good that I don't need to worry too much about being attacked on the street, as this talk was somewhat reassuring.

Though, I'll admit that I almost forgot to put my mask back on.

That wouldn't have ended too well.

So I enter my shop again, only to have a certain slime coming running at me.

"You're back!" (Liqu)

"Hey, Liqu. Nice to see you." (Shari)

Well, there are worse things than someone being happy about you coming home.