[40th Year of Foresai, Upper Fire Month, Day 4]

The buzz and hums of insects filled the night. Cart wheels collided with the stones below, producing thuds. Low voices talked, remarking on the still lurking heat of the day. It was a beautiful sound, all the mirth and joy of the summer umbra elevating into a symphony. Renner found it far more palatable euphonia than the one she had just left.

How unbearable.

She and Lakyus had needed a cover to meet, so they elected upon a play. It was a comedy, a story meant to be popular among nobles. A story of courtship with a blundering lead pursuing two women and failing in increasingly humorous ways. It was now thankfully finished, and Renner and Lakyus were now idling outside, waiting for their driver to rouse their horses. He was a relatively new servant, and Renner mused that as the cause for his tardiness.

I’ve been run thin; faking muted laughter the last few hours. Lakyus seemed to enjoy it, but her mind is elsewhere. Gods, how terribly tedious this was. I never want to see one of these again.

A few yells indicated it was time to depart from the theater, as the cart driver finally arrived. She introspected on this, departing the theater entranceway with Lakyus. Renner was not averse to walking to the theater, but the demand for secrecy had imposed such a method of transport upon her and Lakyus. It was an enclosed space that would be difficult for anyone but the most adept of skulks to spy upon.

Perfect for the discussion of ruinous things. Lakyus, what did you bring me?

The pair alighted the steps of the carriage, and slipped inside. Resting, they faced opposite each other. They stayed silent for a time, waiting for their driver to find an opportunity to depart. The noise of its motion was a necessary caution to begin spilling intrigues. A jerk of horses told them it was time.

“Lakyus. What mandated this?”

“Five nights ago we hit the den in Re-Alberg.”

“The one we pieced together from the interrogation testimony?”

“Yes. It was crawling with members of the gambling division, as well as a few… uh, personal-slaves who we believe may have been owned by the gambling division.”

That’s more interdivisional cooperation than I expected. I’ll need to adjust estimates.

“A joint effort?”

“Yes, but that's not the point. Renner, we got something big.”

“Tell me.”

“In addition to the gambling hall, there was a small cluster of offices in the back. While I was clearing them, I got into a melee with a man who was defending his room.”

“How harrowing.”

“I killed him… with a thinner margin than I would like to admit. Renner, I think he was a Captain.”

“Gods, what a boon.”

What luck we’ve had recently. Gods, a captain! That’s-

“Yes, I was happy about it.”

“Yes. Still, why are we meeting here? You could have told me that in the palace.”

“Because we found something.”

Lakyus set her hand under the seat next to her, and lifted it. Secret compartments were the business of royalty, and this carriage was no exception. She withdrew a locked box, two spans across. Holding it gingerly, rather than inserting a key, brought it near her mouth.

“Azure.”

Following the passphrase, a click indicated the latch slacked, the lid shuddering ajar. Lakyus slowly torqued the lid upward. Reaching in, she retrieved a large book, and presented it to Renner. She felt her pulse pound as she opened.

“Lakyus, is this what I think it is?”

“Yes.”

Transaction records. Transaction records for the entire division. No, there are records in here from slavery. This is incredible.

Renner began to flip through it unsteadily, then frantically. It became difficult to suppress her excitement. She wanted to jump for joy, to shout to the heavens. Unbridled happiness over brimmed in her soul, washing away all the agonies and tepidities of the last month.

This is progress, significant progress!

“Lakyus, this is-”

“Horrible. It’s horrible.”

Eh?

Renner looked up from the ledger to see a solemn and distraught look on Lakyus’s face.

“No, it’s downright horrifying. To think Eight Fingers is that large, is that profitable. That’s only two months worth of transactions, and yet it fills that large of a tome. To think of how many total destructions are recorded in that book. How many ruins bestowed upon innocents. Families bankrupted. People killed. Your Highness- Renner, I did not want to ask because I was afraid to know; but now the question burns me. How large is Eight Fingers?”

Renner needed a moment to recover. In truth, she had completely failed to generate any of the sympathy in her heart that Lakyus had just spoken.

Ah. I suppose that would have been the normal reaction. I got too excited, and I let it overwhelm me. Of course Lakyus would find this tragic. Heart wrenching even. Even though she’s a hardened adventurer, the magnitude of these records were too much for her to bear. Pity.

Renner felt nothing. She could rouse no anguish for the citizens of the Kingdom, nor desired to place herself in their suffering. She was simply incapable of such a thing. Heartbreak at the behest of another's pain was simply another emotion she had learned to fake. Actress would be a generous term for what she was. She was a deceiver.

Which voice to put on? Perhaps a demure one.

“Thirty-thousand, at least.”

“Gods above.”

“Perhaps two legions of fighting men, although they could never bring them to bear at once. Still, their flesh is worth more than the men of the Kingdom. Many are hardened fighters, and much of the peasantry can’t say the same thing.”

Lakyus buried her head in her hands. She was not weeping, but was caught in an internal struggle. Renner, long adept at such performance, forced a few tears from her eyes. Lowering her head, she continued to devour the transaction records. As she was about to flip the current page, her mind snagged on something.

This says “payment delivered to Cescsu”. Strange name, and no last name is listed. Why does that seem familiar? Could that be a fake name? Oh, oh my Gods. There’s no chance that it’s-

Renner began to flip back and forth rapidly, searching for the name Cescsu. She found several more transactions, all listed to him. The most recent of these was exactly eighteen days ago, with strict sixteen day gaps all the way till the end of the record. Her mind spun faster.

It says the payments were delivered to him in the capital. There’s no chance-

Renner froze. While her outer face remained wet, tears streaming gently down it, her inner self twisted into a maniacal visage.

These records are only up till the 29th, but following that sixteen day pattern, that means that “Cescsu” would have received a payment on the second. “Cescsu” is a scramble, each vowel and consonant forward one position. The name it encodes is Barbro. Barbro was angry two days ago at a messenger. Barbro is getting payments from Eight Fingers.

Elation. Rapture beyond comprehension. Renner was subsumed in this flood of emotion.

There’s no reason not to share this with Lakyus now. I need to make sure I develop an enmity between the Blue Roses and Barbro. This is a useful tool. What fiendish luck has gripped me this day?

—

“Lakyus.”

She’s distraught. I can only imagine what it’s like being a princess and knowing these horrible things are happening to her charges.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“I need some time to read through this, to confirm, but I have a horrid suspicion. I think Barbro is getting payment from Eight Fingers.”

“What?! The Crown Prince?”

Lakyus was stunned.

I have no love for the Crown Prince, but to think he’s engaging in treason! That’s another matter entirely. Still, how did she divine that by reading through it? Evileye and I read through it in detail and we couldn't find anything relating to Barbro?

“H-how can you tell?”

“His name is encoded via a split-row imperial substitution cipher. They just use each consonant and vowel one position ahead. Look.”

Renner shifted in her seat, bringing the ledger near Lakyus. She ran her fingers along a set of entries.

“The name here, Cescsu. Payments are listed as being delivered in the capital, but with one delivered out in E-Rantel a month ago. It's a simple cipher. Honestly it’s a mistake for them to have done this like this. They should have just given him a codename. Or…”

She figured that out in the last few minutes? I thought she was just flipping through it, not reading it in such detail. How did she even make that connection? Gods, she’s sharp.

Renner paused, her finger stopped on an entry. Lakyus thought she might have been reading it, but her eyes were darting around, indicating she was merely lost in thought.

“Lakyus. Tell me in detail how you found this ledger.”

“Huh? I just found it on the desk of the Captain I killed.”

“Just lying on his desk?”

“Yes, I think he was working on it and didn’t have time to hide it when we burst in.”

Renner fanned the pages forward. She overshot, going into the blank pages that had yet to be filled inked with the fruits of suffering. Slowly reversing, Renner finally landed on the page that was still being worked when Lakyus had burst in. It had her blood on it, stains that had been made when he had contused her. Lakyus rubbed her jaw at the memory, the wound still emitting a dull pain to her prods.

“Lakyus, how well guarded was the site?”

She’s obviously divining some morsel of knowledge from this. It’s just going to be easier to answer her questions and get an answer from her afterwards as to what she’s thinking.

“It was under heavier protection than we had expected. We had claimed around a score of Eight Fingers men.”

“Enough for the protection of a Captain?”

“...That’s hard to say. We don’t have much experience hunting marks like that. Further, that can change between divisions and so forth.”

“Ah. Yes, sorry I apologize. Let me rephrase. Do you think it reasonable that a ledger for the transactions of an entire branch of the syndicate would end up in a town in Re-Alberg, being worked on by a single captain? That such a record would only be under the guard of a platoon of men?”

Wait. What is she saying? Does she think that this was leaked intentionally?

“Your Highness, are you saying what I think you are?”

“Yes. I think there's a distinct possibility they handed this over to us willingly.”

Lakyus leaned back, and for the second time this night rubbed her head in consternation. Removing her hands from her face, she stared aimlessly for a few seconds, trying to formulate a response. It took some time, but she drew forth the appropriate feelings within herself and crafted them into words.

“No, they didn’t.”

Renner cocked her head, clearly intrigued by Lakyus’s pushback.

“Eh? Why?”

“Your Highness, that raid was rough. They fought hard. Harder than I’ve seen them fight before. I mentioned it was a tight melee, but they were using area-destruction spells at close range. I was nearly caught in a roof collapse when one loosed a fireball at me.”

“...Haunting.”

“It was close. Had I moved half a second later, I may not have been here to have this conversation. One blindingly charged me, knife in hand, directly onto my blade. I think that was a base they had no intention of losing.”

“But to leave such a valuable item in such a place-”

“You’re overthinking this. It should have been under heavier guard. But had I been in charge of the Gambling Division, I wouldn’t have thought the defensive complement there was over-light. Renner, I don’t mean this to be humble, but as truth. Our enemies are not as smart as you are. Eight Fingers does not think like you do. Our enemies will make mistakes like this. You need to exploit them.”

Silence hung in the cabin, the only noise being the clacks of horse hooves and wagon wheels upon the ground. Renner did not speak, and simply turned to look out the window. Lakyus thought for a moment she caught a glint of melancholy in Renner eyes, but it was gone too quickly for her to have accepted as reality

“...Yes, you’re right. Sorry Lakyus. Sometimes I fall into a pit of conspiracy. It can be difficult for me to see things otherwise.”

Her intelligence is a gift. A major ally for us in this war. But, I wonder for her sometimes. Is it a burden for her?

—

A stupid mistake. I guess it’s true. How utterly depressing.

Renner most of her joy sap out of her. She imagined those feelings seeping into the wood, and dripping out onto the road below, where they would be wicked and split among the pores of the stone below. She imagined it seeping into the ground, soaking the soil, and rejoining the rest of the world in its cycles of nature. She was unable to hold onto victories like this, losing them in the wind and the rain. Loneliness gripped her.

I suppose it's a foolish fantasy. To think, no, hope that someone competent would be at the head of Eight Fingers. Someone intelligent. Someone who could think like me. It’s a cruelty.

“Your Highness. Something lighter to discuss.”

“Yes?”

“We completed Climb’s armor. We’ll have it shipped to the palace in a few days.”

“Ah, that’s wonderful! Thank you Lakyus. I’ll have payment proper for you soon.”

“Again, like we discussed, no payment.”

Renner gave a small pout. It was necessary humor for Lakyus, whose mind had been caught in turmoil and anxiety surrounding Eight Fingers, and she gave a polite laugh.

“Let me do something nice for you. You’re the one who’s provided us with target lists and locations in such detail that we could not have dreamed of. I could have provided you with half of that ledger and you could still devise everything you’ve done today just the same. You’re the backbone of this entire war.”

Renner blushed, admitting a simple defeat in the realm of courtesy.

“Besides, I don’t even have a proper gift picked out for your birthday. Gods, I can’t fathom that you’re only turning sixteen.”

That was itself only three days away. Renner had, in typical fashion, forgotten to give it much thought. Despite her regal bearing, she didn’t desire many material things. Her physical needs were already completely accounted for, and as a child she had no shortage of pastimes and toys, although she found little pleasure in their use. At most, she asked for exotic teas.

“The armor is a gift enough. Thank you Lakyus.”

Lakyus raised an eyebrow at that, pondering the true depth of Renner’s relationship with her bodyguard. Lakyus always knew Renner had a fancy for him, but it was still humorous to see young love in action. Renner feigned embarrassment and gave a shrug.

Lakyus, I value you.

“You’ve done so much work for the Kingdom, Lakyus. Please accept my thanks, both in word and coin. Without your heroics, none of this would have been possible.

Lakyus simply smiled, and taking Renner’s hand, kissed it in response.