{-Seldir-}
Mercenaries often needed to learn a specific set of skills—one of them being the ability to read a situation. They needed to know how to poke their head just enough in something they weren’t supposed to, in case it would lead to a commission; at the same time, they also had to steer clear of anything that made them far more involved in issues that they really shouldn’t be. His parents had often settled such debates by determining if the commissioner was part of the nobility, then if that house had any conflicts with any others that the commission might be linked to. But that had been in Kositeia, where disputes of that kind were often settled before they began, and things tended to be solved peacefully.
This was Astiri—where, if rumors were to be believed, feuds could span generations and they certainly weren’t above paying someone to get their hands dirty for them. And it wasn’t just a couple of nobles that the five of them were dealing with.
It was the king and his council, which was far, far worse.
Since there was no backing out of it—not when they needed the Goddess’s Shield—Seldir just decided he’d have to be careful. They’d gather the information they needed, get what they came here for, and hopefully be done before they get pulled into royal family drama.
Lyrei had to have understood that part of Seldir’s cautiousness to the whole ordeal and he was starting to think that, slowly, Noa was getting there too. Not like the kid could be blamed for thinking they had to get more involved, not really. A noble like him, even from a peaceful nation like Ilatenes, had to have seen some disputes every now and again; he had to have known, too, what those kinds of conflicts could lead to.
But Seldir felt like being completely honest about the whole ordeal wasn’t going to help things, either. That was just going to cause a whole other set of problems that were truly best to avoid.
Being in the lead once they got to the house, Seldir was the one to knock on the door. He liked it that way, anyway; it seemed better that whoever was on the other side didn’t just think they were curious kids.
An older man opened the door, squinting at each of the three. “Good morning. What can I do for you kids? I’m guessing you got turned around somewhere—dunno why, but you got the air of foreigners to me. Need some help finding your way back home?”
“We actually have a couple of questions we wanted to ask,” Lyrei remarked. “We wanted to ask a couple of questions about Lady Mira, and we were told you’d know the answers!”
Noa, though a bit nervous at first, nodded and added, “We are travelers—we came here because we wanted to meet with her, but it didn’t sound like she was here anymore…”
“If that’s all you’re here for, then I really would advise you head on home,” the man remarked. Still, he gestured them inside. “I have a feeling that some real serious shit is going to go down, with Lady Mira and Merith right in the center of it. I’d stay out of that kind of thing if I were you.”
Seldir sighed. “Trust me, I think we would if any other bit of the circumstances were different. But suffice to say, we have some business with her, so we can’t just leave.” He paused, then cautiously asked, “What do you think is going to happen between them? Something like a power struggle, or..?”
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“Eh, I suppose you could call it something like that.” The man shrugged. “You see, Lady Mira got us thinking… all we’ve ever been trying to do was live our lives. Everyone else in all the other nations don’t have to worry about the political scandal of the day, or what some noble decided that would only benefit him. Even Empress Shaerra sides with them instead of us, because to the outsiders, that’s what keeps everyone happy. Only Lady Mira stands up for us. And if there becomes a time when she can’t, then we’re just going to have to stand up for ourselves, and you better believe our ‘king’ is the first to go.”
Oh, turns out it was exactly what Seldir had been afraid of.
“Y-you don’t think, ah, diplomacy is going to do anything..?” Noa suggested nervously. “You know, petitions? Peaceful protesting? Anything that… doesn’t involve possibly assassinating someone..?”
And there was the second thing. Well, not much of a fear as an annoyance, but it still only made Seldir’s opinion on the situation worse.
The man laughed, far harder and longer than anyone who actually would’ve taken Noa’s suggestion seriously. “Where the hell do you think we are, kid? And did you listen to anything I just said? Amuse me, how do you think something like that would work, when we have a king that can and will walk all over us to get what he wants?”
“Ignore him,” Seldir quickly said, gently swatting Noa. “We picked him up from a sheltered place in Ilatenes, he doesn’t really understand what he’s talking about.” Even if it made Noa look offended, it calmed the man down somewhat, so Seldir continued, “We just want to know what you might’ve heard about Lady Mira’s current location.”
Slowly, the man nodded. “Alright. That’s what you came here for, so I’d be a pretty rude host not to tell you, wouldn’t I? Lady Mira came by here a day or two ago. She did her usual—talked to the people, helped out the poor, that kind of thing—and left again.”
“Did she mention at all where she might’ve gone after that?”
“I didn’t hear anything myself but, usually, ours is the last town in the rounds she makes around the capital. She visits surrounding towns about once a month, you see, and then heads back to the castle for a time. If I had to guess, she’s probably made her way back home by now.” The man paused. “Unless there’s another reason for all of these questions, and there’s a lot more to this than you’re telling me?”
“Of course not,” Lyrei said quickly. She had all of Seldir’s admiration for not even slightly showing panic; she calmly looked at the other two. “If that’s where she is, then we should probably start heading there, right? We don’t want to lose her again.”
Noa slowly nodded. “Y-yeah, we probably should. No use in staying here longer than we’re welcome…”
Seldir opened the door for them, then glanced back over at the man. “Thank you for talking with us. Your help is much appreciated.”
“No problem,” the man returned after a moment. “Stay safe out there. Remember what I told you before—I hope you’re ready to pack your bags and head home as soon as things get worse. Don’t want to get outsiders like you involved.”
“Yeah. We’ll definitely keep an eye on the situation. Thanks for the tip.”
Seldir practically ushered the other two back out. From there, he guided them to a street where no one else seemed to be. At the very least, it looked to be one of the best places that they could talk without worrying too much about eavesdroppers.
“You know, I keep thinking I can’t get more nervous, and then I do…” Noa mumbled.
“We’re going to have to be careful, whatever we do,” Lyrei agreed. “Where do you think Rennyn and Kaylin went..? It’ll probably be better to tell them what we learned sooner rather than later…”
Seldir sighed. “I have no clue. I can’t even give a guess as to whatever the hell they’re doing. The best thing to do would be to stay here and wait for them to come back… and try not to draw anyone’s attention until then.”