Tansen stroked his goatee as he waited patiently in his office for the arrival of the dwarf’s chief negotiator. The centerpiece of this negotiation was the creation of a special door frame for the main entrances of the dorms and classrooms of the academy. This may not be a big issue for a regular door but the castle-like proportions involved meant this would be a very expensive affair. Worth every copper, and a hundred times again, considering the sheer prestige such a display would garner for the academy. But sadly, Tansen's’ mind wasn’t on the once in a lifetime opportunity because the once in a thousand years opportunity was walking around with no one but him and Aki knowing.

At least, no other humans knew.

Having the whirlwind of innumerable consequences that was Eli walk around with bare minimum supervision grated Tansen’s nerves. It wasn’t so bad at first but for days now, every time someone opened the door to his office, he half expected Agatha to burst through screeching ‘When were you going to tell me about the quad element caster?’.

And then some fucking punks who never got the good beating they needed growing up decided to mess with that storm of innumerable fucking consequences right under his very roof. Bringing in Andrew had complicated things, but it was all resolved in the end. His dependence on the Front to supplement his organization had been one of the many compromises made on the way to finishing his academy but it was at times like these that the weight of those compromises came down harsher than any tax or shortage of coin.

The arrival of the dwarves seemed to be a soothing balm to this irritant when they first arrived three days ago, but they quickly became a rash across the wound. The average person wouldn’t notice it if they didn’t see all of their conversations in a neat report like Tansen had. Over the course of days, the dwarves would visit the local taverns to drink, play games, and more importantly discuss local happenings. The one or two guild members that Tansen had employed would also just ‘happen’ to be there as well and over the course of their conversations, one subject was brought up: The Human crafter and the Kelton woman. It was just a subject that came up once or twice as the odd couple was perusing their goods earlier that day.

But two days ago, there was a sudden shift in the direction of the conversations. The odd couple was now a consistent subject in the dwarves gossiping with their human and later even Kelton drinking compatriots. Not enough to take over the conversation, but always hidden in a quick question or a remark off to the side. One of the oddities Tansen noticed when looking over the notes was the amount of interest they showed in a three-day-long stretch where Eli and Salamede had shacked up in their tower around a week and a half ago.

Afterward, the dwarves began treating Eli and Salamede differently. The couple were now receiving small bits of preferential treatment from the dwarves that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. The best cuts of meats would just so happen to come with their food orders, the dress Salamede got had a bit more effort and embroidery in it than the others, little signs of goodwill and endearment that would have never been noteworthy if you weren’t looking for them. It was all hidden in a dozen coincidences, but the trend was undeniable.

What made it all so galling was that if Tansen even so much as breathed in the couple’s direction or brought them up in conversation, it would only confirm whatever it was that drew the dwarfs interest. Did Eli have a history with them? Was he actually the result of some kind of experiment using the dwarf’s hidden techniques?

‘Nah, if they had a previous history Eli wouldn’t visit their shops.’ Tansen thought bitterly to himself.

‘To top it all off, Dior was coming by to go over the plans for setting up a new search area. I swear if-’

A knock at the door jostled Tansen out of his musings.

“Sir, the dwarf diplomat is here.” His secretary called.

“Good, good. Let him in.” Tansen called.

Through the door came a dwarf with soft red hair in a plush light blue jacket with matching pants all done up with the finest thread work. His emerald green eyes shone brightly between his slightly pudgy cheeks that peeked out beside his bushy lamb chops. The gold rings inlaid with various jewels also helped to show off the considerable wealth his craft had brought him, a trade he now began to ply in earnest.

“Ah good, good. Names Githoul. I heard you were interested in a special frame for the academy’s entrances?” He said, getting straight to the point.

Tansen appreciated the lack of time being wasted on pleasantries and got right to the point of the meeting. They pushed and pulled on various points and prices for a while but then something odd happened. Dior had arrived in his typical attire of brown vest and pants with a green robe as he moved directly into the room with no announcement, clearly having brushed past the secretary. The blond-haired elf with nominally human skin obviously saw Tansen and the dwarf but instead of saying anything he looked around the room with his deep green eyes, as if trying to find something. His sharp cheek bones showed some lines as he scrunched up his eyes while looking around.

“Ah Dior, good to see ya,” The dwarf negotiator put in as he put out a hand to shake.

Dior suddenly pulled back with a hand to his chest as mock surprise played across his face.

“My, I can see the dwarf’s skill at secrecy and subterfuge is as sharp as ever. We elves may be supreme in magic, but even we fall short of such mastery in the arts of hidden games” Dior said with a dramatic flair.

The dwarf burst out laughing.

“Same insolent cur as always. I heard you were out here… looking for your brother?” Githoul said between small chortles.

Tansen grew a faint smile at the exchange.

“Yes” Dior said with a clicked tongue of disappointment before adopting a lighter tone, “But as mundane as it can be, the woods here have fewer ears and I must admit it is less exhausting than having to deal with fathers court. I will come back to finish on that particular item when you’re done.” Dior said with a light bow before heading back out the door to wait.

The rest of the negotiations concluded a few minutes later. Afterward, Dior came in, this time showing more of the cold, aloofness more typical of the elves. His main focus was setting up the men he was being given to replace Aki with in a more effective manner. It was a short and concise affair with agreements reached that the men would be switched to leather armor and carry more camping supplies for longer journeys. The prospect of running into orcs didn’t seem to phase him at all but Dior promised to be careful in how he used his soldiers.

When the meeting ended, Tansen was left with nothing but his own thoughts for the rest of the day until the early afternoon when Aki came in with his reports.

“Is this really all?” Tansen asked Aki, his older friend who was standing to his right.

“We still have a few more threads to follow but the trail gets muddy when you get to Dunwich. So far, we know he used the blacksmith's shop for one-morning session and had some exchange with a magical items salesman. Aside from that, well we’re still teasing out gossips and going over some conversations he had but so far, it’s like he dropped out of nowhere. No history of selling grains or farm animals, no connections to any of the local mines, no jobs spent working the taverns or stables. We’re –“ A knock at the door interrupted Aki.

“Come in,” Tansen called as he quickly stuffed the reports into the desk.

A guard opened it to let in the newest addition to the dwarf’s retinue, Gashton. The dwarf had grey hair done up in a long ponytail and a large amount of facial hair that covered his whole face aside from the sharp cheek bones, bulbous nose and his emerald eyes.

The dwarf was wearing his regular attire of simple leather armor with a white undershirt and an ax slung across his back.

“’Ello, I desperately need to discuss some matters of security for a wee bit.” He started, “Just wanted to know more about the horse regulations of this place. Also, we had a few golems we needed leather for and we were wondering-“Another knock at the door interrupted Gashton this time as the secretary came through the door.

“Sir! Um… the head of the Fronts eastern branch is here with an announcement.” The brown-haired woman with glasses squeaked.

Then the person in question pushed on past the door and moved the secretary obstructing her path with a rude shove. Kristan, if Tansen's’ memory served him well, was dressed in a black suit top with a white undershirt. Her black skirt flowed below her knees while coming up short of her expensive black leather boots. Her sharp cheeks helped accentuate her amber eyes, which were left unobstructed as the flowing black hair of the mid 30’s woman flowed freely down her backside.

“Hello, Tansen. I’ve come to personally instruct you in the importance of the magical hierarchy.” She said with an aloof air of superiority.

Aki and Tansen both looked at each other for a brief moment but got hard expressions as they turned back towards this intruder.

“What exactly are you-“ Tansen was interrupted by Agatha coming through the door. A piece of paper was covering her face with nothing but her blond bun of hair showing above the item that had captivated her interest.

“Why has Eli been censured Tan- Oh. I’m so sorry Kristan. I would have prepared –“

Tansen felt his heart pound like a troll was using it for a drum.

“Wait… What did you say?” Tansen asked in a voice so quite it almost came out like a whisper.

It was Kristan who answered.

“Your boy toy has been censored with the support of the military head, Marvin.” The impossibly stupid bitch said with a smile plastered over a smug face that held not an thimbles worth of brains behind it.

Gashton stood off to the left, not engaging in the conversation. At least not with his voice. Tansen, however, made sure to catch a quick look at the dwarf when Kristan’s gaze shifted to Aki. The dwarf’s eyes lit up for the barest moment, not in sorrow, surprise, or amusement, but greed.

‘Those conniving midgets! They know. I don’t know how or when, but they know, and he made sure to be here to ‘discuss’ that meaningless bullshit when she arrived’ Tansen thought as a boulder dropped into his stomach. ‘Well, no point in keeping this façade up any longer. Hopefully Aki can come up with a quick and dirty story on his trip bringing Eli up here’

“Aki, get Eli in here,” Tansen growled between bared teeth.

The older man stormed out of the room like his life depended on it.

Tansen stuck his hand out towards Agatha, who obliged him the paper. He read over the notice that he was sure was being posted around the notice boards and markets even as he read it.

‘A notice of censure by the powers invested by the Front, with the written support of the military, Eli No-Name, is from this day forward censored. Any business found doing business with him aside from those needed for his studies to complete his magic certification will also fall under the censure order and be denied any government aid or contracts. Any individual associating with Eli No-Name, outside of circumstances with the direst need, will also fall under the censure order. Any woman coming to bear his child after the censure order will not qualify for government benefits or recognition as a mages child’ Tansen finished reading as his gut twisted into knots of every description and make.

‘This isn’t even the worst part. There’s no way to- FUCK!’ Tansen internally screamed as the weight of doom invading his every emotional crevice. Agatha’s voice registered but it felt like she was talking a mile away from the ringing that was currently pounding in Tansens ears.

“Kristan, when I requested some action be taken, I put down something more along the lines of an official reprimand or fine. Going after another student to get back at Tansen is far too severe and quite unfair.” She said in a placating tone.

Kristan scoffed dismissively.

“That attitude is probably why you only got one child,” Kristan said with venom clear in her voice. But she continued as Agatha only looked at the floor with her face a hard mask. “You’ve let things get to the point where Tansen felt comfortable disrupting a scions breeding environment. A scion, Agatha. I’m here to right this wayward ship.”

“But going after someone not even involved in this is absurd!” Tansen yelled, his voice now found as he leaned forward on the desk.

Agatha jerked up, clearly surprised at such an outburst, while Kristan got a determined face as she stepped forward.

“Oh please, this is merely an inconvenience for him, once-“ Aki chose that moment to come back through the door at a mad sprint as his white robe fluttered around him.

“He’s gone!” Aki said as he shoved Kristan aside with an indignant squeak.

“What?” Tansen asked in an emotionless voice as his face drained of color while Aki explained his statement.

“Eli is gone. According to the staff member who was keeping an eye on the tower where Eli lives and was currently in, Salamede must have seen the notices and ran to Eli. Staying inside for only a few minutes, she came out of the tower and ran back towards town. After little bit, she came go back to the tower while carrying a small amount of food and simple clothes. Then the staff member tried to knock on the door to tell him to go to your office, but the damn guard took her to the side and started arguing about enforcing the censure.

I found them at that point and explained to the guards that I would cut them in half if they tried to stop me or any other staff member from interacting with him again. But Eli had already gone unwatched for a while by then and when I knocked on his door he didn’t answer. I think he’s gone” Aki finished as he took a deep breath.

A sense of numbness bloomed from Tansen's gut as it spread through the rest of his body.

While Agatha and Kristan looked on with a raised eyebrow, Tansen got up so fast his chair slammed down into the floor as he ran out of the room, shoving aside the two women without a word. He went down the staircase to the right of his office door and kept going down until he got to the floor directly below and jumped out of the immediate window to his left. He registered a cry behind him, either from his secretary or one of the Front women. As he fell through the air, he summoned a block of water below him that shot upwards and pushed against his body. It softened the impact as he hit the grass with a solid thud that caused his black kimono to shake its sapphire wave as his equally black hair wildly swung around the ensemble. Running past the guards with not a thought in his head but sheer speed, he felt the electric sensation of a spirit connection as his familiar sensed something was wrong.

The blue bird with a black beak and silver eyes came out of the woods to his left and stayed up in the air just in eyesight. Tansen’s emotions were aggravating the magic of the water bird and it was causing a large cloud to leak out of the familiar, even going as far as to summon a light drizzle to take place in the middle of the otherwise bright, sunny day.

He came up to the squat tower and knocked on the door.

“Eli! I know you have questions and I’m here to help. Just let me in!” Tansen yelled as he knocked on the door again.

The only sound he heard was the faint drizzle falling over his clothes as a sense of rising panic clawed up his throat.

“Eli, you’ve been through some shit and I know it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better, but it will. You just need to trust the people who want to help you.” He yelled with another solid thump against the door. Now he heard the footsteps coming up behind him.

“Eli, if you don’t say anything, I’m going to assume you’re in danger and bust down this door,” Tansen said with yet another pound on the dark oak door.

“Honestly so much drama over-“ Kristan started to say before Tansen summoned a solid square of water and flung it against the door with all the force he could muster. The door was reduced to a shower of splinters and kindling as Tansen stepped forward to see… nothing. The last time he had visited this place he had seen a hammock on the far side and a crossbow in the corner along with several chests along the left wall behind Eli’s back.

Looking at it all now, there wasn’t anything but the dead grey stonework. No signs of having been lived in or used aside from the lack of weeds in the floor. A ball of black rage curdled in the academy heads' stomach as the light around him dimmed further. Standing in the doorway, his shoulders shook as his mind tried to come to terms with what he was seeing.

“Tansen, what is going on?” Agatha called from across the lawn of grass with Kristan to her left as Aki came up towards the tower. Tansen turned around and walked towards Agatha with a face that wouldn’t be out of place on a torturer visiting his chamber.

“PFF! It’s just some personal crap he let-“ Kristan’s disdainful remark was cut short as Gatra, feeling the tide of emotion from her partner, dived out of the now darkened sky and proceeded to tear into the leader of the Front’s entire eastern branch like an alley rat with a loud screech.

Agatha pulled back with a hand to her mouth in horror as the furious bird ripped her clothing and cut the skin of its victim. Agatha turned left only to find Tansen looming over her with a few inches between her and the expressionless brown eyes of Tansen's pallid face. He stared her in the eyes for a second before his voice, cold as death yet still displaying hints of the molten anger beneath, cut through Kristan’s pleas for help.

“You will send out every. Single. Member. Of the Front who has a functioning pair of eyes to go find him. I will begin coordinating with the guild and I swear, I swear to all the ancestors and all the known and unknown gods, if you dare to obstruct me on this issue you will find out what a messy divorce between the Diamond academy and the Front would look like. Do you fucking understand?” He said, never once raising his voice or making a threatening gesture.

Without waiting for a reply, he walked off with his familiar now taking to the skies as he and Aki made their way back to his office to begin planning for the coming days. To top it all off, when word of this event spread, Tansen’s men noticed some of the dwarves who had been guarding the caravans had up and left after Gashton had dismissed himself from that meeting he had so desperately needed to have. Later it was revealed that Gashton had gotten ahead of Kristan’s carriage because a dwarf carriage started having golem problems along her path into town, a ploy as simple as they come but still so devastatingly effective.

This sprawling puke of conspiracy and bureaucratic cruelty only added to Tansen’s already crippling headache.