The whole lot of them filed into Vetrean’s office, one by one. First was Perience, a little worse for wear, followed by Emis and Martin, basking in their victory. Then Miss Raly, faith shaken, and the mysterious leader of the Crown Infiltrators, cold and clinical in his anger. Finally, Pion, announcing her presence with unnaturally heavy footsteps. Vetrean let the whole ensemble assemble before his desk with practiced patience, mind churning with anticipation of the results of his latest gamble.

“So… how did it go?”

Perience waved his hands to indicate he felt so-so about the whole thing.

“Their main storehouse is torched, but at… a significant cost. The two groups that have joined us have sustained moderate casualties.”

“How bad is it? Give me a rundown of the headcount.”

“Around a third of the Crown Infiltrators are dead or injured and unfit for combat. Quarter of the Golden Arrows are incapacitated. I’m a little winded, but still fit for duty. Emis?”

“Used more potions than I expected, but as long as I’m no frontline fighter I think I should be able to manage. Martin’s also doing alright. Still has a lot of mana left over.”

“Of course. I haven’t been sitting on my ass all day. What do you think I’ve been doing in my ivory tower besides studying magic?”

Veteran rubbed his eyes, considering his options. If the enemy possessed other stockpiles of goods, it would be much more difficult to extinguish the flames of war that embroiled the Hammer Tribes and drove them to battle and glory. It would likely be a band aid solution, temporarily pushing them back or delaying their plans long enough for the city to have a breather. But their peace would not last long, he feared.

“But why have you lost so many? It should have been a simple stealth mission. I knew it’d be hidden outside with [Strategist’s Intuition], so you didn’t need to plan for an assault on their base. Didn’t you lead them, Perience?”

“I’m not a very stealthy guy, so we ended up splitting to comb all the forest where the storehouse could’ve been hidden. I know the two cohorts here with us each went on their own, while Emis and Martin travelled together. I went my own way since I’d slow down the others, and Pion… I don’t know where she went. Disappeared before I could say anything.”

“That is strange. Would you like to explain?”

Obviously she was not about to tell them the real reason why she left so suddenly, since dissemination of technology would be disastrous. Best to simply omit that part in her explanation to Vetrean.

“I departed to scout by myself and engaged in a skirmish with an opponent.”

“That’s very vague. What kind of enemy? Why were you fighting them? Could you not have avoided them and continued searching the area? You were supposed to help Perience perform recon, not participate in unnecessary combat.”

“He was a large, built man, with a giant warhammer larger than the average human specimen. The reason I attacked him was because—he was guarding—an auxiliary storehouse. Which I destroyed. After I defeated him.”

“The only man who could wield a hammer that large is their king, Hieft. And you say he was guarding a secondary target? Did you manage to catch his name, or did you kill him?”

“I broke his weapon, but did not eliminate the combatant. He did not tell me his name before escaping.”

“You broke his hammer? Which is made of flux metal? That shouldn’t be possible… Are you sure you did not see it incorrectly?”

“He claimed that it was his backup hammer, so it might have been made from a different material.”

“You defeated an enemy that parallels their king who was allegedly patrolling around an interest point so unimportant?”

“Correct.”

“Okay. Well. I’ll, uh, suppose I’ll file it under ‘Leads to Follow Up On Later, Maybe, Maybe Not’. How did everyone else do? I’m intrigued to hear what everyone’s contributions were.”

Thus Vetrean was treated to a deluge of monologuing and embellished battle descriptions, showcasing their heroism and why they deserved extra rewards for the excess effort they clearly invested into completing their objective.

“I’ll provide a lump sum as compensation for the families of those killed from Miss Raly’s group and those under the command of the Royal Family, but other than that I see no reason to give you more gold or other bonuses for barely completing your assigned objective. Perience, you just fought one of their scouts for a while and nearly lost your head in the process. And Emis, you left with Martin on your own and left the others by themselves. Your support could have saved many lives if you had been there to intervene earlier.”

Perience shrugged, waving his hands in a non-committal fashion.

“If I didn’t fight that scout, she could have intercepted someone else and caused a lot of chaos. Her speed isn’t something a normal person could have contended with. You should’ve seen her, dashing around erratically and running circles around me, a swordsman. She could’ve easily sliced Emis or Martin to bits in the time it takes them to throw a bottle or cast a spell.”

“Um, ackchyually,” said Emis, dripping with smug confidence, “I’ve been through quite a lot of skirmishes on the border with the Void Nest’s domain. I could definitely be quick enough on the draw to splash her with an acidic mixture or something.”

“Well, why don’t you demonstrate that for us? Could you slip a vial out of your pack or belt or whatever in a moment’s notice and throw it? And hit them?”

“I would demonstrate for you, but Vetrean’s office is not particularly conducive towards—”

Martin’s staff struck the floor with that distinctive knock-on-wood sound that anyone could recognize, drawing the attention of the other two parties.

“I have no fear of slowness when it comes to my casting! Just watch how fast I can weave a spell! [Quickfire]!”

In slow motion, the scene was almost comedic. To a spectator, the way the light spilled from the tip from his magical cane, splashing upon the hardwood flooring and dousing the bits and baubles that Vetrean accrued over the years, plastering the people in the room with bluish purple shimmering radiance. Emis’s hand outstretched, jaw dropped in surprise and the knowledge of what would happen combined with knowing he would not make it in time…

And then came the BANG. The window glass shattered from the air pressure as a burst of magic missiles were sent through the new openings in the wall like a series of fireworks, bursting into iridescent firecrackers in the air, far above the city. What wasn’t as cool was the sound of the window shards being ejected from the room to fall onto the nearby streets below, followed by shouts of anger and cursing. Vetrean sat at his desk, hands clasped, glancing around the room at the confusion on everyone’s faces, and at the trinkets fallen on the ground due to the shockwave of the secondary mana blast.

He was very tired all of a sudden waving his hand to have them dismissed.

“Just go. I’ll deal with this mess later.”

The whole gang had to do a walk of shame, down the tower stairs, all the way to the bottom floor, before filing out the door past the guards that stood in front of the entrance, watching them judgingly the whole time.