“Hey, Lloyd. How much longer are we going to have to wait?” Dan asks me.

“They’ll be here soon,” I hedge, shifting a bit in my seat. Cadius really values his comfort. He didn’t need to upholster every chair in these meeting room. Not that I’m complaining. They’re surprisingly well-maintained, considering the riffraff that frequent these spaces.

I take a cursory glance over my shoulder. As if I had sensed the approach of my idiot husband, I see a light pour forth from around a bend in one of the passageways.

“Finally,” Falur drawled.

As they rounded the corner, I could see Von at the head of the group, Roska and Hartwin behind him to either side. Gino was absent.

All three of them looked beat up, but in high spirits. Von and Roska traces of dust on their clothing and fur respectively. Hartwin seemed to be in better shape, but it was hard to tell with all that fur and armor hiding any bruises or shallow cuts.

Sighing contentedly, Von plopped down on the adjacent navy-blue couch, laying across it and propping his feet up on the arm.

Hartwin and Roska found seats of their own, with Hartwin settling over by Johan and Dan to my left, and Roska sitting between Falur and Von on my right.

Hartwin unstrapped the shield from his back, leaning it against his chair.

“Son of a Sagoth, what happened to your shield!?” Dan shouted. I leaned over to get a better view of the front of the shield. There, right in the center, was a massive dent. Perhaps it was the angle, but I could have sworn it was cracked, too. I set my jaw. How?

“I-um, It, ah,” Hartwin spoke falteringly, put-off by Dan’s outburst.

“We ran into someone named Oliver, that’s his handiwork,” Roska supplied.

“Yeah, he was absurdly strong,” Von remarked as he flipped absentmindedly through a book taken from a nearby side table.

“Oliver?” I ask.

There was a flicker of recognition in Dan’s eyes. “No… You don’t mean Oliver the Breaker!?”

Roska nodded, “I do.” Dan leaned forward with a somewhat stern expression. “Hartwin? Survived a hit from Oliver!?” he asked in disbelief.

“I- I guess so,” Hartwin scratched the back of his head with his claw-tipped fingers. Dan’s sat in stunned silence, his mouth agape.

I injected my response with just a dash of annoyance, “Can someone please fill me in? Who's Oliver?” I asked.

Roska sat up and cleared her throat and told us of Oliver the Breaker and his explosive strength and speed. She started with their initial encounter, and how, in retrospect, they were lucky to have successfully caught him off guard.

“If you knew who he was, why didn’t you tell Von?” I growled. Manipulating Von, having him face down someone far above his skill level, not warning him about it? My blood started simmering.

Von waved a hand dismissively towards me, “Relax, Lloyd. Oliver wouldn’t ever actually hurt Cadius’s Apostle, and neither would Roska. She knew I’d be fine.”

I can’t help but grumble. “That doesn’t preclude an accident from occurring. What if he came at you like he did with Hartwin? If something went wrong…”

Von scratched his chin while refusing to meet my eyes. “About that…”

I bury my head in my hands as I let out a groan. Dammit, Von!

Roska resumed her recounting of events at my request. Dan spoke up at word of Gino’s departure. “That’s odd. Gino isn’t the type of guy who would just show up and not work. Sure, he’s a grouchy old fart, and yeah, he tends to grumble at every order, but he’s a hard worker.”

“Really,” Von raised an eyebrow, sounding a bit nonplussed. “Have you worked with him before?”

Dan nods, “Yeah, twice before. I can’t say we’re friends, but we’ve talked a few times.” He shrugged, palms up. “My best guess is that something’s got him all worked up, conflicted.”

“I can attest to that,” I said, recalling Gino’s profile summary I had stored in my head. “If I’m remembering correctly, he has no complaints of insubordination on his record. I can also confirm Dan’s description as matching what I’ve read.”

Von contemplated in silence for a few moments before replying with a “Hm.”

What’s gotten into him? Every time Gino’s been brought up, Von got all standoffish. The cold tone in which he dismissed our input on Gino’s actions. Once Von’s decided he didn’t like someone, it was hard to change his mind. Few know that the surprisingly open-minded and free spirited Von has a low opinion of those who spurn his friendship. He understands not everyone can get along with him, the problem occurs when a person he honestly believed would reciprocate instead betrays that hope.

There was a pregnant pause. “So? What happened next?” Johan asked in anticipation.

“Well,” Roska continued, “We decided to split up in order to delay Oliver.” Her gaze moved over to Hartwin.

“Yes, he came after me first. That’s how my shield,” he reached down and grabbed it, holding it up for us to see, “got this dent.” He wilted a bit as he spoke, “I doubt it can be repaired, the damage is too extensive. I’m going to need to get a new one,” he sighed. “I had this one custom made, but if I need one for today’s events, I suppose I can put up with a smaller one.”

Dan put a hand on Hartwin’s shoulder. “Cheer up, lad. Really, you should be proud if anything. Oliver’s strength is the real deal. If he came after you like you said he did, then you’re most likely one of the toughest guys in the country.”

Hartwin hugged his battered shield to his chest. “I guess so,” he replied meekly. Though his face was hidden behind his shield, I caught a glimpse of a subtle swish of his tail.

“And besides,” Dan continued, “Oliver gave Von the coin for you to get a new one, right? Go out there and get yourself the best damned shield money can buy. If it’s not enough, I’ll pitch in too,” he smiled.

“Dan…”

“We will too, of course,” I added.

“I’ve got connections to a master blacksmith that lives around here. If you want, I can ask around and see if any of them are willing to make a shield like yours,” Roska offered.

Hartwin blinked rapidly, clearing the moisture from his eyes. “You guys… Thank you,” he sniffled.

Dan slapped Hartwin on the back and laughed. Johan smiled wide. Falur scoffed, but I caught him suppressing a half-smile before he turned his head away.

Our sentinel, Hartwin, was such an odd person. As a Ratatoskr, physical endurance and strength are typically below-average. He didn’t appear tough with his meek demeanor and somewhat lanky form, but the truth is that he had the fortitude of a solid wall of steel.

“There are really all kinds, huh?” I mused under my breath.

Once everyone settled down, Roska soon concluded her recounting of events. I made a mental note to talk with Wolfram about Imperium at a later date.

With that done, we all went to go register for the next round.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

The skies were clear, and the sun was still high overhead as we emerged from the entrance of the Vagabond tunnel network.

Lowestoft is divided into a central district surrounded by six districts. The orange district to the northeast, red to the southeast, purple to the south, blue to the southwest, green to the northwest, and gold to the north.

The orange district is the trading hub of the city. Plenty of open space for street vendors to lay out blankets or carpets that marked their territory, or set up temporary structures for extended stays. It is also where the second round will take place.

Registration turned out to be a fairly simple process. Turn in your flag and state your identity at any of the Vagabond-manned stations scattered throughout the district. In return, you’ll get an armband of the same color as the flag and a bag containing fifty wood tokens resembling coins.

“This is for the next game, right? You think it’ll be about these tokens?” I asked.

“Ah, I think I remember this one. Cadius is going all out this year,” Roska remarked.

“C’mon, Roska!” Falur whined. “You can’t just not tell us.”

“My, my. But it’ll ruin the surprise.”

“Just give us a hint,” Dan begged.

“Yeah!” Von egged her on.

She shook her head and sighed. “Alright.” She crossed her arms. “The hint is,” the three leaned forwards in anticipation, “you don’t need to be physically skilled to win this game,” she revealed.

There were a few groans of disappointment. “That's such a lame clue,” Von whined.

“A game involving a large number of tokens, one that doesn’t involve physical activity,” I summarized.

“Maybe we need to use these coins to buy something?” guessed Hartwin.

“Actually, it kind of reminds me of gambling,” Falur mused.

We continued to exchange theories as we strolled around for a place we could all eat at.

As we sat down to eat, an unexpected guest made his entrance.

“Von, Lloyd! Fancy meeting you here!” Cadius said from right behind us. I whipped my head around.

There were startled and confused voices from the group, “L-Lord Cadius!”, “Cadius!?”, “Huh?!”

“Ah, settle down everyone, I’m just here to check on my boys.” It was then I noticed that the noise of the surrounding crowd had been cut off. Not only that, but no one outside of our table seemed to have reacted to Cadius’s presence, despite him not concealing his face. Was he invisible to everyone else? Or was it something entirely different?

“Hey, Cadius. We’re doing good. Lloyd had it easy, but my team went up against a guy who goes by the name Oliver. Nearly got blown to bits,” he joked.

“Oliver? I didn’t expect that. You actually came out on top? No offense, but I really hadn’t expected that.”

“None taken. Honestly, the most impressive was Hartwin over here.”

“Hm?” said Cadius.

“He took a direct blow from Oliver and stood his ground.”

“Huh!?” Cadius’s eyes bugged out. “Seriously?!”

Hartwin, the poor soul, was frozen solid from the crushing social pressure he was currently experiencing. I half expected him to fall over unconscious from the stress.

Dan came to his rescue, shaking Hartwin and answering for him, “He may be shy now, but he’s as tough as steel when it comes down to it.” Good job, Dan!

“I’m actually upset I missed that. I’ll have to hear it from Oliver later. Congratulations, Hartwin.” Cadius circled around towards Hartwin. Cadius gave the battered shield at his back a cursory glance. “I’ll have my finest blacksmith forge you a new shield. Honestly, if what you said is true, you deserve a shield that can keep up with you.”

Hartwin, having only just regained his senses, was once again rendered immobile by the torrent of demi-deific praise.

“Cadius, I think you need to work on your tact,” I chided him.

“What?” he yelped, sensing the approaching storm.

“Look at him,” I pointed to Hartwin, “he’s so overwhelmed, I’m not even sure he’s still conscious.”

Dan leaned over and waved a hand in front of Hartwin’s face. There was no reaction from the Ratatoskr.

“See?!”

“What was I supposed to do?” he whined as his expression pleaded with me for mercy.

Zero tact and no forethought.

“Act a bit more, you know, dignified?” I started my rant, “normal people freak out when the resident demigod drops in unannounced and hands out praise typically reserved for national heroes! When it’s someone as meek as Hartwin? You’re lucky his heart didn’t burst from the stress! Please, just think before you speak, it’s bad enough dealing with one reckless fool,” I shot Von a hostile glare as I concluded the impromptu lecture.

The entire table fell silent, mortified that someone just scolded a demigod not unlike a mother would their petulant child. It had to be done. He’s just like Von; you need to keep a tight leash on him, or he’ll start to run wild.

Cadius huffed. “Well, that ruined the mood.” He shrugged, though I could see that my words had some effect on him, judging from how his shoulders slumped subtlety and the well-hid downcast look in his eyes. “Anyways, that’s it for me. I’ve got some things to take care of, so I’ll be off. Have fun in the next round!” Cadius said as he vanished into thin air and the ambient noise took his place.

I sighed and went back to my food. Seconds passed before I realized that no one else was eating. “Don’t let it get cold. I paid good money for that,” I said in between bites. Slowly, the group started to stir.

Roska shook herself. “I knew Cadius was a bit of a free spirit but that was… uh…” she mumbled.

“Lord Cadius is a bit different than I imagined,” Falur remarked in a daze.

“I dunno, he seems like a fun guy to be around!” said Johan.

Hartwin was still frozen in place. Von leaned over and slapped him awake. “Buh!?” he yelped. “What just happened?” he asked as he surveyed his surroundings.

“Cadius showed up and we talked briefly. When we told him about what happened with you and Oliver, he started raving about how amazing you are,” Von answered casually.

“Um,” Hartwin looked around at the other for confirmation. Each nod seemed to drive a spike through his gut.

“Relax, Hartwin. Cadius didn’t mind. In fact, most of us, myself excluded, nearly had a stroke when Lloyd put him through the wringer for being such an idiot,” said Von.

I shook my head. “Von, you’re not helping.” I turned to Hartwin. “Just forget about it. The only thing that matters is that you did a good job and Cadius is impressed. No need to worry about upsetting him, he’s not the kind of person to get all bent out of shape over stuff like that.”

“O-ok,” he muttered.

We soon returned to our meal, eating as we shared our thoughts on the next round and what we might do to prepare. Using Roska’s hint as a base, the game is definitely going to revolve around these tokens we were given. There’s only one type of token, even between players. There’s also quite a few, so it must be that we’re expected to use them multiple times, either as payment or for something like betting. When it comes to games of lies and deceptions, it’s best to let Von take the lead. As much as it pains me to say it.