June 23rd, year 024 Angels Descent

It had been a couple of days since the class had been taken into Lust’s estate, and they were starting to go stir-crazy. They had been forbidden from even going out into the garden. Daisy herself seemed likely to carve a groove in the carpet of her room with how much she was pacing back and forth.

Despite the class’ efforts, they could not get Daisy to calm down entirely and just resorted to the easy out of getting blind drunk each evening. Thankfully they had been told by Bak Stah’Ber that the wine cellar of Lust’s estate was extensive enough to furnish the entire capital with a winery of bottles each.

It was over the two days the class had repeatedly petitioned Lust to let them out of the estate. They were nothing but prisoners currently, and seeing their teacher free to come and go had been the straw that finally broke the camel's back. Daisy had stormed through the palace and smashed down Lust’s door.

“Speak of the devil,” Lust seemed unperturbed by the interruption.

“Would you kindly sit down, Miss Haemont,” Lust said, gesturing to the only free seat. Looking to the seat then the one occupied by a man dressed in armour, Daisy reluctantly sat down.

“Septus, this is Daisy Haemont, daughter of Peter and Ludisa.”

“My condolences,” Septus said, lowering his head in her direction. Daisy had to physically fight the bile that was racing up her throat. This man was one of the four names of people suspected behind the attack. He was the last man she wanted condolences from.

“I’m glad you are here. I have some good news; your father seems to have developed a greater vampiric trait.”

“How is this good news?” Daisy grumbled. It wouldn’t matter that her father had become a late bloomer; he was still at death's door.

“Well, it is hyper-accelerated healing. It is a very nifty trait that means…” Lust trailed off, letting her smile finish the sentence.

“My father is going to live?”

“Yes… he has already begun to heal at a rate not seen in generations. However, I will warn you not to raise your hopes up too much. He is still in a tentative spot. I have taken steps to increase security around him; we don’t want a repeat of you know what.”

“Exactly why I am here. Young miss, please talk some sense into this woman… she is refusing my offer of guards in place of her own personal militia,” Septus pleaded.

“You want me to accept your help to protect my barely alive father?”

“Yes!” Daisy glanced at Lust, who rested her chin on the heel of her palm as if she was enjoying a good show. She knew part of the reason they were being kept on the estate was Lust’s concern over Daisy pursuing a vendetta.

“I would prefer to abstain from the decision. I am young and inexperienced and will defer to my elders.”

“Pshh, a load of help you were,” Septus grumbled as he stood up from the chair.

“Lady Lust, I will bring my protest to her most august majesty. Hopefully, she will talk some sense into you.” With a flourish of his cloak, he stormed out through the broken doors.

“Good girl.”

“Hmm?”

“You did well. A big part of politics is dealing with people you would much rather drown in sewage. Now, what do I owe the pleasure of having my doors blown off their hinges?”

“Ah, that… I’m sorry about-” Lust raised a hand to stop her.

“Daisy, I am in charge of internal politics for the Dark Continent. We have a lot of heavy hitters who equate strength with political power. They are the sort to blow doors off the hinges to make a statement. Now please answer my question.”

“I want to be free to leave.”

“Ok”

“It’s just we’ve been locked up for days and have little to do and… sorry, what did you say?”

“I said ok. You are free to go out to town if you like. I don’t have the shadows to spare to keep you safe, though. But you are a bunch of big boys and girls, aren’t you?” Daisy tentatively nodded in response.

“Good here, take this. If you are in real trouble, point this arrow to the sky and pull the cord, then fight till help arrives.”

Lust put a thin metal tube about ten inches long on the table. Along the side was a bright red arrow, and at the end opposite where the arrow was pointing was a cord.

“Now, don’t get any naughty ideas, young lady. This is an emergency flare. It will signal nearby knights to help.”

“And if the knights are the ones attacking me?” Daisy asked rather bluntly. She struggled with the idea that knights would help, especially after learning how broken the guard must be.

“Then hope you can take enough of them with you,” Lust’s equally blunt reply surprised Daisy.

“Now go on and have a fun day on the town. Here have some pocket money,” Lust said, throwing a coin pouch on the desk with a clink.

“I’m not sure what kids are into these days… is it Dancing? Skeletons? Shoes? Tapshoe-wearing skeletons? Regardless have fun.”

Daisy picked up the pouch and walked out of the office in a daze. She had just come face to face with one of her possible targets. Now she was free to do whatever she wanted and even had funding. Returning to the rec room, the class had claimed for their own use; she explained what had happened.

“So we going to go into town then?” Tasha asked to which Daisy nodded.

“I think we need to gather intel on the names. We only have their names and professions. Not much we can do with Gabriella and Noble now.”

“Why don’t we go to the market then? Merchants will know about a few of them, won’t they?” Tasha suggested.

“You just want the candy apples Bak Stah’’Ber told you about.”

“Maxy, it is not just the candy apples!!” Tasha protested.

“She’s not wrong. Merchants live and die by information. Worst case, we just get some sweets,” Bea suggested.

The class all nodded in agreement and packed up some of their equipment. Daisy spent a few minutes trying to wrestle her slime from Sir Sparky, who had grown very attached.

“Come on, Sir Sparky. I know he’s shiny, but I need an emergency weapon,” Sparky though was still reluctant to give up his shiny till Daisy bribed him with a well-polished small bronze coin from the pouch she was given.

Immediately the duck-sized dragon let go of the slime and curled up defensively around the coin letting out a contented puff of flame. The small dragon had been a great comfort over the past few days. He had made a point to comfort Daisy any time her feelings grew too much.

Shaping the metallic slime into a bracelet, Daisy put it on and felt she was now ready to start. Heading out of her room, she found the rest of her classmates ready and waiting for her.

The class didn’t take long to make it to the city’s marketplace. Countless stalls stretched out down every street they could see, with sellers trying to draw in customers. They had almost immediately struck gold by overhearing talk of Lady Gabriella hosting a party for the city’s elite.

Following the conversations and passing mentions, they gathered that the party was going to be a masquerade ball. That only one shop provided the masks and clothes for the partygoers.

“Why don’t we crash the party?” Tasha suggested around a mouthful of caramel-coated apple.

“Tasha, that is-” Daisy cut off Maxwell’s protest.

“A perfect idea!!”

“Daisy?!!! It’s too risky!”

“Maxwell… they hurt my family, killed them… just because you got abandoned by yours, don’t act like you can understand!!!” Maxwell staggered back half a step as the rest of the class recoiled in shock.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“I am going to assume that is your grief talking and leave it at that… Daisy, we can’t guarantee we will be safe.”

“We have gotten incredibly strong already. We are some of the strongest in the school, and worst case; sir will swoop in and rescue us.”

“Still…” Maxwell hesitated to say anymore as Daisy went up to a merchant running a stall to get directions to the tailors handling the clothes for the party.

“Don’t worry, chief… if she goes too crazy, we will pull her back,” Maxwell gave a grateful nod to Gunter and the rest of the class as Daisy returned with the location of their next destination.

Arriving at the tailor shop, just the front of the shop told them this was a very expensive establishment. The clothes on display would be the kind exclusive to nobility due to not only the price but the precious stones sewn into them.

“Nornir Tailors,” Kline read the sign for the shop aloud as he paled.

“It’s just a name Kline… they aren’t the real Nornir,” Daisy said as she bruskly walked into the shop, trailed not far behind by the rest of the class.

As they entered the store, a bell above the door rang, and three figures stepped out from the doorway to the back of the shop. The first was a hunched-over elderly figure with a bald head and a grey beard down to his waist. The second was a man with bright red hair and a well-trimmed beard. Close behind him was the youngest of the trio, who similarly had red hair but was likely closer to the class’ age.

“Welcome to Nornir Tailors. I am Past Tailor, the previous head of the shop,” the elderly man wheezed out.

“I am Present Tailor, the current owner,” the man added.

“And I am Future Tailor; I am currently apprenticed under my father.”

“They have clearly done a lot to get here,” Past said as he looked over a monocle at the class.

“That much is obvious,” Present said as he reached into a pocket and took out a pair of spectacles.

“I will get their purchases bagged right away, father,” Future said as he returned to the backroom.

“You still sure they aren’t the Norns?” Kline asked.

“You do seem to get the red-haired men fond of you,” Bea teased.

“Excuse me, but we haven’t made any purchases,” Maxwell said.

“Not yet, lad, but it is written you would.”

“Written?” Both men burst into a light fit of laughter at this question.

“Yes, it is written,” Past said between chuckles.

“Ok, they might actually be the Norns,” Bea muttered as she stepped forwards.

“Gentlemen, I wonder if one of you happens to be a ‘tailor’?” The quotation marks were loud and clear for all to hear.

“Bea, what are you on about?” Daisy asked, annoyed.

“You know how accountants can also be used to mean assassin?”

“I told you my parents were just clerks!”

“No, I mean tailor can also mean information merchants. I’m asking if they can sell us information.”

“Alas, we are but humble purveyors of clothing. Though our boss is a ‘tailor’ and may be of assistance,” Past explained as Present stepped out from behind the counter and past the class, locking the door behind them and flipping the sign to closed.

“Please follow,” he said with a gesture of his chin towards the backroom.

Reluctantly the class followed each preparing defensive spell. As they made their way through the backroom, they were guided upstairs to a door marked with a sign saying, ‘Knock before entering!!’. Knocking on the door, Present waited till they heard a faint voice reply.

Opening the door, the class walked into a dimly lit room with a large leather chair in the middle. Along the walls were numerous crystalline plates. This surprised them as crystalline plates were expensive and were usually reserved for the highest of nobles. Often used in conference chambers or to remotely view locations.

Looking at some of the screens, they could see they all showed different locations. A few they even recognised, like Port Staine and Academy City. The one that immediately caught Bea’s attention was one where she could see Mimi and Serena training.

Serena and Mimi were facing a phalanx of spearmen. Mimi was dodging and weaving around and over spears being thrust at her. But Serena wasn’t as lucky and was impaled by nearly a dozen spears. Despite knowing this was nothing to Serena, she still couldn’t help but wince. Then the display stuttered, and it returned to the way it had before the exercise had begun.

“Yes, interesting one, isn’t it? It always stutters when that one gets hurt badly,” A casual high pitched voice stated as the chair in the middle of the room spun around.

In the chair was a girl who looked about twelve years old. She had deep bags under her eyes, and her red hair was tied up into a ponytail. She looked very much like someone who had very little sleep.

“Oracle, these are customers,” Present explained as he gestured to the class.

“Oracle?”

“Yes, I am an Oracle. I can see the future, yadda-yadda. I also go by the merchant of wisdom and knowledge.”

“What’s the difference?” Tasha innocently asked.

“If you need to ask that, you are clearly not ready to know.”

“Listen here, kid, I may not be a smarty-pants, but I know when someone is talking down to me!”

“Kid? Little one, I am over four thousand years old. Don’t assume I am a child. Now I will explain the rules. I am a merchant, so everything from now on has a cost. Three costs, to be precise,” she held up three fingers to demonstrate this.

“You can ask any questions you want, and I will quote three prices. One cheap which will provide a vague answer; one average priced, which will provide a reasonable answer and finally, one expensive, which will give you all the details you seek.”

“So we can ask any question?” Tasha asked.

“One small bronze, One small silver or one large gold.”

“But that wasn’t a question!”

“No, it was Tash,” Maxwell replied. “Ok, Daisy, ask your question.”

“Who is responsible for the attack that killed my mother?”

“One small bronze, one small silver, one small gold.”

“Ok, how much do we have?” Bea asked as they all took out their coin pouches.

“One small bronze, One small silver, one large silver.”

“That wasn’t a question aimed at you!”

“Ok, we got enough,” Daisy muttered, seeing a considerable amount of silvers in the pouch Lust had given her.

“Here is the silver for my question,” Daisy said, handing the coin to the Oracle. The Oracle accepted the coin, examined it and put it away.

“The ones responsible for your mother's death were members of the city guard.”

“I already know that!!!! I want to know who hired them?” The Oracle smiled and held up three fingers.

“One large gold, ten platinum, ten mithril.”

“WHY IS IT SO MUCH?!!!”

“One small bronze, one large bronze, one small silver.”

“WHY, YOU LITTLE!” Daisy was promptly restrained by Gunter while Maxwell paid the silver for the expensive answer.

“People can pay me to protect their information, they pay me a set amount, and unless that amount is overcome, then their information is protected. You, however, have requested the details on a large number of potential suspects, and collectively their prices add up to what I quoted.”

“So they are rich?”

“One silver, one gold, one platinum.”

“SHUT UP!!!”

“Daisy! Calm down. Yelling won’t get us anywhere… sorry miss Oracle,” Maxwell said, bowing his head in apology.

“It’s fine; it happens often. People usually catch on soon enough to the way it works. Though why haven’t you?”

“One gold, one platinum, ten mithril,” Bea replied.

“Hah!! I like you… For the laugh you gave me, have a freebie extra… I highly recommend you go to Lady Gabriella's party this evening. I can all but guarantee the one responsible will be present.”

“So Gabriella is responsible?!!” The Oracle just smiled and held up three fingers.

“Never mind,” Bea grumbled, seeing the futility.

With their path now set, the class filed out of the room, leaving the Oracle in the dim light of the crystalline tablets. Daisy was seething at the young appearing girl messing with her, but they now had a solid lead. The one responsible would be at the party.

“Here are your masks and clothes for the party along with invitations, which will be fifty small silvers and eighteen small bronzes,” Future said as he placed size bags on the counter just as they walked past it.

“How much do we have?” Bea asked as they looked at their pooled money. To their shock, their total added up precisely to the cost quoted.

“How did you know how much we have?… and don’t you dare quote three prices,” Daisy asked.

“We received this from the boss this morning,” Future explained, rolling out an order sheet. On it was a request for six costumes and invitations for Gabriella's party. Most concerning was that their measurements were next to each of their names. Even the price they were to charge them. The class collectively shuddered at the sheer display of foresight the Oracle had displayed just with this alone.

“Thank you for your assistance,” Maxwell said as Gunter collected the bags, and they returned to Lust’s estate to prepare for the party that evening.

Watching the class leave, Future walked up to the Oracle's room and knocked. A tired voice said it was ok for him to enter. Entering there in her usual seat was his boss.

“I haven’t had such fun in a long while.”

“I must be difficult, boss.”

“Well, it is. I am one of the best data analysts on the continent. The ‘Researchers’ hire me all the time. But I get my real kicks when I convince people I can actually see the future.”

“Can’t you, boss?”

“Future, you are young, but learn this sooner rather than later. I am just very good at reading data and extrapolating it. Their measurements were guessed thanks to pictures of them. I just make myself seem omniscient.”

“Why, though?”

“Why? Because I can twist information when it isn’t for national security to make a big show for me to enjoy. That reminds me, I need to prepare for that bitch’s party tonight.”

“You’re actually going?”

“Yes, that lot now knows their enemy will be there. I want to be on the front row with popcorn when they inevitably screw up.”

“Will their enemy actually be there, though?”

“Future!” Present snarled, arriving behind his son to slap him on the head.

“The boss never gives false information. She just gives it in a way to let the recipient interpret their own way,” Past explained as he entered.

“This should hopefully be fun,” the Oracle said as she rubbed her hands together and let her chair spin around.