Christina and I pass through the gates of Deshawn City, the stone walls gloomily looming over us, cracks lining its surface. No one bothers manning or even maintaining the wall anymore, it had lost its purpose ever since the railway terminal had been built. The terminal needed to be connected to the portal gate and that meant a large section of the wall had been demolished to make way for the track and power cables. And with a big gaping hole already present in the defenses, the wall as a whole had effectively lost its purpose. There was talk about rebuilding the demolished section and adding a portcullis to let the trains in and out, but once again, no one really could be arsed about it.

The war with the demons was over. Why spend money on a white elephant?

Our horses slow to a comfortable canter and Christina and I begin breezing through the City's main drag, towering over the passersby on our steeds. Not many people today, the shops and pubs are looking pretty quiet. You could almost hear the old buildings creak from a combination of age and boredom.

"Lots of history in this place." I muse, observing the weather worn buildings. Someone really should clean the place up. The open sewers have gotten clogged up again.

"Hm? Deshawn City is one of the oldest cities in the world." Christina hums back with the pride of a native, "Founded by one of the very first adventurers even."

"Deshawn. I know." I grunt, not really interested in the conversation. Deshawn led his guild here centuries ago and laid down roots. The man himself had been lost to history, but the popular theory floating around is that the royal family claims descent from the guild Deshawn was originally part of.

"This is a land of heroes." Christina smiles broadly, her eyes drinking in her hometown.

"Yup." I agree blandly as both of us reach an intersection in the road. I guide my horse toward the branch leading to the railyard while giving Christina a lazy wave goodbye.

"Remember to file that letter from Mills." I remind her. Christina waves back and soon disappears down the broad road that heads toward the heart of Deshawn City itself.

The already scanty crowd begins to thin out further as my horse trots along the well used path, carriage tracks worn into the surface. The road to the railyard saw heavy usage, with heavy goods carriages moving to and fro. I probably had been lucky to arrive back at Deshawn City during a dead hour. On most days this road would be clogged up like the drains at the main drag. I'm actually making good time toward my destination.

I had been lying to Christina when I told her about my so called appointment. I didn't actually have one, but the train that passed us on the way back from the Beyond had given me an idea. There was a sideline I had been running for sometime now, and I might as well check on it now that I have an apprentice to run errands for me back at the keep.

A passing foot patrol of gendarme salute me and I return the gesture, before realizing that immediately behind them were several members of the royal guard. Unlike the regular gendarme, royal guard were all magic knights, and they had superior status to most Knightly Houses to boot. Saluting them from a horse was very much a faux pas. I immediately prepare to dismount and apologize but the royal guard merely wave me off before wandering away with the rest of the gendarme patrol. Breathing a sigh of relief, I continue my way toward the railyard eyes straight forward, locked on to the weeds growing by the side of the road. I did not want to attract any scrutiny to myself, not now.

The king had been cultivating his own force of magic knights obviously to prevent the rest of us from getting out of hand. But you don't see them doing mundane stuff like foot patrol. Royal guard protect the palace and the Very Important People. So what gives? Why are they trooping about with the gendarme?

Could a Very Important Person be about to visit the railyard? I hope not, my business really could do without an Important Person being present.

Meh, if an Important Person is there I'll just abort and come back another day. This isn't my first rodeo, I know how to keep my nose clean.

......

The smell of oil wafts toward me as I sneeze from the coal dust drifting about. Hitching my horse to the stables, I make my way into the depot run by the House of Robeur, the workers not giving me a second glance. A pair of trains slumber inside the terminal, their cargoes already fully unloaded. Being given royal assent was the equivalent of being able to mint money of your own. Trains gave you an effective monopoly of whatever trade goods that particular route yielded. The cargo the trains carry would be sent to the merchants under the House's control, and from there the profits would be split with the royals.

A neat arrangement.

I arrive at a door marked "No entry" and open it without preamble. Striding into the nondescript office, a broad shouldered man stands from his chair in outrage before he recognizes me.

"Mac, I didn't think you would be dropping by today." Guy sighs in relief as he wipes his glasses, "You missed our last appointment."

"I was on assignment in the Beyond." I explain, "Do you have the carriage ready?"

"Yes. Yes. I had been waiting for you after all." Guy leaves his desk and begins pulling out a pair of empty luggage trunks from underneath. Handing the pair of trunks to me, Guy takes another pair of his own and the two of us leave the office without any further ado.

Guy and I go back, way, way back. I had first met him during one of my first assignments for the House, guarding the railyard. Guy was the apprentice civil mage, learning how to maintain the power lines and generators that keep the portal gate running. And like good juniors, we quickly understood what our seniors were getting up to when the bosses weren't watching.

Guy leads me to a small warehouse that had been converted to a dump for all the equipment that was either broken or surplus. Opening the door and leading me inside, both of us are soon surrounded on all sides by miscellaneous garbage.

"Stock has been building up." Guy mutters as he pulls aside a few piles of crap, "Was worried this stash would be discovered."

So the civil mages and their magic knights had something of a racket going on here. Every time a train comes in to be unloaded, the shipment passes through customs. Once customs confirms the shipment is in order, the goods are meant to be stashed in a holding facility for the Knights to take over transport. All this stuff was incredibly valuable, you don't allow just anyone to protect or escort the goods to the merchants.

"Tah dah." Guy says theatrically as he pulls an old cloth aside, revealing several crates of stolen gemstones, fresh off the trains.

What the civil mage does is that he skims something from each shipment and stashes it away. Its easy for him, since he has ready access to the entire facility thanks to being in charge of maintenance. Then a Knight is brought in to serve as a bogus escort when the goods are ready to be smuggled out. Guy and I had learned about this scam a long time ago. And when we were promoted to full members of the House, we began taking part in it ourselves.

"Let's get to it." I nod and begin loading the gems into the trunks brought for just this purpose. There's plenty of stolen merchandise this time, Guy wasn't kidding when he said stock had been building up. We won't be able to safely move all this in a single go. I can only escort a small amount without raising suspicion.

"Fill up the luggage trunks." Guy responds, "I'll go prep the horses and bring the carriage around."

"Hey, one thing." I ask, as a bad feeling suddenly strikes, "You know there are royal guard patrolling with the gendarme these days?"

"They started showing up recently." Guy answers over his back as he picks his way out of the storeroom, "After that ruckus about the serial killer. The Midnight Stabber."

"That nut?" I huff, "He's just some crazy who shanked a couple of people right?"

"The Stabber's graduated to nobles." Guy responds, "Some people say Knight apprentices have also been killed. Thrown the powers that be into quite a fit."

"Figures." I agree, "The royal guard wouldn't show up otherwise."

I hear the door close as Guy leaves without answering. Bending back to my task, I continue filling the trunks with the gems. Its a crime you know, for the House to keep all the good stuff for itself. Each gem had been infused with magical energy, making them sparkle even in the gloom of the storeroom. That was why Guy needed to bury the goods under so many layers of garbage.

The gems could be used as decoration, but the number of flaws makes it clear that this shipment was originally meant for more mundane use. Crush the gems and mix the dust into a herbal concoction and you get a magic booster or healing potion, depending on the formulation. Incredibly hard to get, with the constant demand from the Knightly Houses and the sheer number of gems that need to be used for a single dose.

That was why the gems needed to be imported. Most regular folks had to be incredibly wealthy to afford such potions. I couldn't afford one myself and neither did I have the rank to requisition such a potion either. It was why I kept a regular first aid kit as part of my gear. So what Guy and I are doing is really a good thing. Its only right to make such a gift available for everyone.

At a reasonable price of course.