First The Wind Fills The Heart, Second The Mind Sets A Goal
“It's no surprise Redrin hasn't gotten the word, because . . . No, the captain insists on politeness. For good reasons, too. Already I'm a better person than a moment ago. Now. Normally history and art aren't for me, and so a showing of old icons and things is precisely what I don't care to attend, but this one promises to be truly exceptional. There's this rich man from Yosrobzi Vugri down south on Dosoroz. He's a man of great status in his homeland. I don't remember his name. Starts with a V. He was seized by a desire to display his collection outside his own continent, much like Wessolp was seized by Mr. Dirant here.” Tlenk took a break from his narrative to slap Mr. Dirant there on the back a few more times.
“Mr. V has such a collection it will amaze everyone. So many pieces in a condition intact enough that you don't have to rely on some academic's description of it, I'm told. Far unlike when you read about some wall inscription that depicts a funeral procession with the priests in front and so on, but when you look yourself it's a couple of indistinct blobs hovering around a stool.”
“So it's not just me?” Audnauj asked.
Takki took a conciliatory approach. “They do look like that sometimes, but we can't expect to make out all the details with a glance or two. That's why we have experts spend more time on it.”
Tlenk laughed, and if Dirant had wondered why the periodicals inevitably described the mannerisms of mercenaries as hearty, he did no longer. “More time inventing tales so they can continue to publish and so. I do trust the collection is astonishing. Most exciting are the unique artifacts, and not just the ones I mentioned, either. They're so valuable of course that he could never entrust them to a ship with the Eubosh Ashurit pirate situation as it was, but we took care of that. I do mean we, though of course Baosnesk and other states funded the endeavor. And Stegzi, so there it is again in this story. Well, of course Mr. V will display his collection there in that colony as it were of his own country, but his views are so broad and nice that he is resolved to show it somewhere on the continent proper.
“The rumors say he wanted to go to Redrin as it is so close to Yean Defiafi, the country everyone down south believes is the most sophisticated country on Egillen. Ha! That's only a tourism strategy. Baosnesk applied to him to change his mind. Dittsen is such a wonderful city, so sophisticated, all Greater Enloffenkir would be there, Chtrebliseu and Beriskirofen are within easy reach and Yean Defiafi is just a backwater with skill in promotion really. That sort of thing. He doubted their grand claims, but the way they managed the pirates was quite convincing. Then when word got out of how Redrin had its warship plans stolen, what choice was there to make? Here's to Redrin's security!” He pretended to choke himself, a gesture which counted as polite in the mercenary world.
“That only just happened when we were in Swachtipl! A week ago, wasn't it? The way news gets around in our modern era is astonishing,” Takki marveled.
“Humiliating too.” Audnauj did not seem terribly humiliated when he added that, though people handle such feelings in various ways. “Dittsen, eh? A wonderful city, you say?”
“I've never been there, but everyone says it is so,” Tlenk admitted.
Dirant backed him up. “The Crown of the South it is called, and not only by its residents. Baosnesk is one of the more prosperous states by itself, and more than that, a dozen or so Ottkir states vote with it dependably. Political observers have labeled the arrangement a confederation within the confederation. Some decades ago, Baosnesk decided to overhaul its great port city altogether that it might properly reflect the prestige of that state. They say Dittsen now is nothing but marble and unmissable social events. All that is well established. What I want to hear more about is the nature of that marvelous globe.”
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“Dirant Rikelta, I knew you were born with a sense of the important as far back as when I pretended to check you and the captain for contraband!” The mercenary seized him by the shoulder and shook him like a tiger does its prey, possibly. Only a Tiger Knight would be able to approve or reject the comparison. The act startled some employees who had entered the cafeteria for a little refreshment, but they relaxed upon realizing who was doing it to whom. Adabans and their savage displays were best left alone. “Relics like that are the only indispensable thing in this world. Now the nature of the globe is that it shows the world exactly as it is at all times. They say it's about the size of your head, which makes it much smaller than the old captain's head. Don't tell me you don't want to look at it. I hate lies.”
That settled the matter. The meeting of Picker and globe must be brought about, and transporting the former over to the latter by means of a voyage of three days or so seemed the easier course compared to convincing the owner to visit Dwecosptichdeu. Yet how to accomplish it? Dirant could not conceive where to begin. Realizing that, he decided to blurt out his desire in the hope that an astonishingly convenient occurrence would solve the problem, which seemed more expectation than hope with things going as they were. “What I really want is for a Picker with Edition Freeze to look at it. Doing so will facilitate a ritual intended to slow the degradation of reality which may be conducted only by a Ritualist possessing a level no lower than 50. One such colleague who lives on another continent requested I look into the matter on his behalf.”
Though other listeners debated with themselves whether Dirant was making an Adaban joke, Takki took it seriously from the start. She had always considered Ritualists enigmatic, and his bold claims fit in with her conception of the class. “Are you sure about all that, Ressi? Oh, I also want to see it, of course. What I mean is, is all that true?”
“It's true for certain that I spoke to a 50 Ritualist who requests that I find a Picker with Edition Freeze for him. He is inquiring into the globe's location himself, or so he asserts, and must be surprised when I tell him I learned it. I believe also, with less confidence however, that he lives on another continent, that he wishes to perform a genuine ritual, and that he believes the Picker and the globe are desired for it, though they are not explicit components of the ritual. It is likely he is correct in all this. However, I must proffer this caution that while a Ritualist is able to determine whether a ritual presented to him will function, by no method whatsoever can we guarantee the actual result of it beforehand. The requester of the ritual must accept all consequences for its successful completion, preferably in writing.”
“Ressi, I want you to know that really sounds mysterious.” Takki appeared to be vibrating in her seat.
“It does, but what's that about a puzzle?” Audnauj listened to Tlenk's fuller description while Dirant and Takki caught the Yumins up on all that Adaban talk.
“I have Edition Freeze.” An employee sitting farther down the table behind a glass of water crowned by a single chunk of ice, another product of wondrous ritualism so expensive that most employees retired without ever being permitted two chunks at a time, raised his right hand when he heard that. The left held a straw hat he was using to fan himself, an action he considered more important than its usual role of covering his thinning brown hair. “And the family would love a trip to Dittsen. Too bad I could never afford it.” He sighed, an action that seemed habitual for him though usually caused by low-quality eardron.
Dirant dropped his translation and stared at the man. Without changing the target of his gaze he said, “Lord Audnauj, I must make an unreasonable request.”
“No need for that. I'll see what I can do. You know, metals aside, Chunawm Metals might go into the iced tea trade. Mm.”