When I awoke, I was greeted with some good news. It seemed that compared to the last few days of detailed work that wasn’t to my benefit, I had been somehow rewarded by fate. I was eating a breakfast of sausage and peppers cooked into eggs, something a little too spicy for the morning, and Philipe arrived to inform me of visitors.

Recently, I had been delegating the task of dealing with visitors to my apprentices and guards, only stepping in when I needed to. Now, my new seneschal, Fentworth Aide, could come along to be shown how I wanted certain visitors dealt with.

Fentworth carried himself with a decent amount of pomp and dignity, enough that I would be satisfied if he greeted guests on my behalf. Today, I wore a robe of dark blue with white clouds, and he somehow matched it with a suit in the same colors. This was quite the coincidence. I briefly considered asking him if he had a skill to that effect, but then shook the thought. If he did, I would no doubt have evidence of it in the future, and it was generally rude to ask about such skills.

As we approached the gates, I took measure of the multiple people outside. A group of low-level adventurers dressed barely better than peasants stood to the left, eager to pick up the corpses of beasts from my swamp under the lake. A Scout [Ranger] in the uniform, here for delivery of Asrid Flowers and to inspect my abode sat proudly on his horse. A merchant from Lark stood to the right of the scout, talking happily with Chelsea.

I frowned at that. She had to have known that I would be delegating the purchasing of sundries to my new seneschal. If she had been allowing her running mouth to spill secrets, I would need to replace her. It would be a great loss if I had to forego her baking skills, but an even greater one if any enemies learned secrets they weren’t supposed to.

Then again, what secrets did that woman really know? None that I could think of, so maybe I was overthinking the matter. It’s not as if I preferred her speaking with me instead of someone else. Letting her run her mouth out here was actually a better option than hearing it myself.

Behind them all rested three larger wagons carrying more stone I had ordered from the quarry. I had intended to use it to raise or thicken the walls, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it ready. I should have four more wagonloads coming in the near future as well.

“Mister Aide, I will first instruct you on what the normal procedure is, and then I will instruct you on what makes today special,” I began, as I eyed the Scout. She was a tall, thin woman with brown hair and green eyes, who carried herself proudly with a straight back and a raised chin.

“Yes, sir,” Fentworth answered.

“Should you accept this position, you will be responsible for greeting all guests that arrive at these gates. One of your duties will be to see to our food and supplies. The man Chelsea is speaking with is a merchant who comes by regularly,” I paused and squinted at the man to make sure. I wasn’t entirely certain as I wasn’t the one who purchased the supplies, but neither was I going to admit that to my prospective seneschal.

“The Scout in the center normally comes by on a mission to deliver flowers and to possibly purchase some of the beasts as companion animals for their [Ranger] classes. You may delegate the sale of animals to Eni, as he has a good eye for such matters. Today, though, will be a special case and I don’t expect the conversation I have with her today will occur in the future. At least I hope not.”

Fentworth eyed me curiously, but his facial expression didn’t change. I saw that as a good sign, and continued, “The adventurers on the left have a recurring quest from the guild to pick up and deliver beast corpses from a cellar behind my tower. A simple task to test their resolve. You need only greet them and point them in the direction they should go. I care not if they take more than prescribed, as I have no use for them beyond this.”

“A cellar for beast corpses, sir?” he asked, his voice sounding wary.

“Well, yes. After a beast wave, I can’t leave them out to attract other beasts, can I?” I shook my head at the thought.

“You do not simply burn them?” he asked.

“Not at the moment, but I may consider it in the future,” I answered. I didn’t care if they were burnt or buried. To be fair, I hadn’t even considered the cellar in over a year and only seeing the young men and women reminded me of it. Maybe I should consider the matter.

“And the stone?” Fentworth asked, interrupting my thoughts. I almost rebuked him for it, but I was in a forgiving mood.

“Yes, we need stone,” I answered with a nod and brushed my hand through my beard.

“I see,” he answered. Which was a good answer. I didn’t need him asking about everything that gets delivered to the tower, at least not until he accepted the position.

Since I felt satisfied that I’d explained these duties, I waved for Eni to open the gates for us and approached the Scout.

“Good morning, sir!” she called with a salute and started rustling through her packs.

“It is a better morning than you think,” I answered with a smile that caused her to stop what she was doing and blink, “If you please, I have something to show you. Please follow me. Mister Aide, you may assist Chelsea in her duties until I return.”

Without waiting on the Scout, I turned and walked back towards my tower. With a thought I allowed her passage, noting to myself to deny it to her again after she left.

“Sir, what is this concerning?” she asked as she jogged to catch up with me.

“You’ll see soon enough. I believe it is a matter of great importance,” I answered and clasped hands behind my back as I walked. She followed, pausing for only a moment outside my tower door to act like she was mustering her courage before entering. I withheld my sigh for her melodramatics and turned to my right to take the stairwell down to my laboratory.

As I entered the laboratory, the smell was the first thing I noticed. I cast a cleaning spell as quickly as I could, slightly embarrassed that I had forgotten to provide for a chamberpot. My embarrassment was quickly lost, however, when I heard the sound of a knife being drawn.

I turned to look at the woman behind me, who was pointing her blade at me with two shaking hands. I had been startled with the sound, thinking that the Scout was an assassin in disguise, but her shaking hands and the words that followed disabused me of that.

“You—you fiend! You’re kidnapping women for some evil torture! They were right to suspect you!”

She wasn’t an assassin. She was an idiot. I couldn’t hold back my sigh and barely held back asking how many head injuries she had suffered.

I raised a finger in the air to address her concerns, but before I could speak, I heard one of the Furing women answer on my behalf.

“Hey! Want me to kill this twit for ya?” the one on the left shouted as she began cracking her bones in a disturbingly threatening manner.

“What?” the Scout whispered.

“Child, what’s your name?” I asked.

“Why, does that give you power over me? I’ll not tell you my name!” she said and backed away, still holding the knife between us.

I turned and began walking towards the woman that spoke. The other was still huddling in her corner.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Milliki, second daughter of Louwreni. Hunter Mistress of Furing,” she announced with pride, standing tall.

“Milliki, if I offered you a chance to tell the Scouts of Sena everything you know from your time as a slave of Mirktal, would you take it?” I asked, loudly enough that all could hear.

“Aye! Any chance to hurt those slaving rats is a chance I’ll take. If the Scouts of Sena don’t wanna listen, then give me a knife and I’ll go myself!” she answered, just as confident and as boisterous as before.

I turned around to the woman standing behind me, who was looking at us in surprise. “Would you accept the task of delivering this woman to your commander? I also have a copy of the spellwork needed to disenchant the new slave collars.”

She looked from me to Milliki and back before her eyes fell on the other woman. She pointed at the woman with her knife, “What about her? Is she coming, too?”

The second freed slave must have been listening because she threw herself at the wards containing her in her cell screaming, “No! No! I won’t go! I won’t say anything. Kill me! Please!”

Milliki tsked.

The Scout turned to look at me with a question on her face and I could only grimace as I answered, “The trials of slavery affect the mind. She seems to have suffered more during her time in chains than others. It may be some time before she is ready to speak.”

“I won’t talk! You can’t make me!” she screamed and I ignored her.

“Will you convey Milliki, second daughter of Louwreni, to the Scout Commander? This will be a mission of the utmost importance and must be carried out swiftly,” I spoke, hoping she agreed. I didn’t fancy keeping war prisoners any longer than needed.

The woman finally sheathed her knife and bowed low, “I will accept your quest.”

I waved my hand, allowing the wards in front of the cell I held Milliki in to collapse. She stepped out proudly and saluted me in the Furing fashion, her left hand grasping her shoulder, “I will not forget this.”

I nodded and answered, “You may repay any debt to the Kingdom of Sena with your knowledge.” I didn’t want a repeat of what happened with House Shielding.

I saw them off, more so to make sure they were actually leaving than for any sentimental reason. It also allowed me to ascertain how Fentworth was taking to his new duties. As the two women left, I was approached by Fentworth and Kine, both of who seemed eager to speak with me.

“Master,” Kine bowed.

“Sir,” Fentworth bowed, intentionally just a little lower.

I nodded and glanced around. The adventurers and the merchant had finished their tasks and were waiting for the [Wagoneers] to complete the unloading of the stone I purchased. Both Kine and Fentworth had waited until I looked back at them before they spoke.

“Master, I wanted to ask about your plans with that stone,” Kine began.

Ah, he wanted the stone for the construction of his village I assumed. Yet, why assume when I could ask, “Why?”

“Master, I was hoping to use it to aid in the construction of the village. I am willing to purchase it from you if needed.”

“Hmmm,” I answered and glanced towards Fentworth, “And you?”

“Sir, I wanted to know if such a decision would be within my purview,” he answered with a second bow. I wasn’t certain of the purpose of the second bow, but perhaps it was a social affection that had recently come about.

“Very well. Kine, you may purchase the stone at cost from me. You may also task either of my assistants with helping in construction so that they may practice their [Earth Manipulation]. Fentworth, should you accept this position you would be responsible for collecting this payment and securing additional stone to replace what was sold.”

“Thank you, master,” Kine gave me a relieved smile.

“Yes, sir,” Fentworth answered with a nod.

I left them there, to discuss the matter and returned towards my tower. I had a prisoner with a very fragile mind that I needed to somehow dispense with so that I could continue my work. The sooner I had a solution to the woman’s situation, the better.