“Do you have any idea where it might be?” Chen asked Lucas after the tale of the General’s men confiscating the loot from the Scenario dungeon. Lucas intended to go back to New Flame and give a new task to his spy network, voiding his previous plans to finish the other dungeon in the vicinity, in part motivated by his new quest and a desire to start finding clues on how to solve it.

“Well, no. But that is the point, I want to find out” Lucas responded as patiently as he could, frustrated a bit that others weren’t as willing to drop everything to go on a detour, no matter how slight it was.

“We should finish the dungeon first. After that, we have to go back anyways to see with Bruce is there any new information. He will hopefully solve the chaos we left him with by that time” Chen said. Lucas hated to admit he did have a point, but he was still adamant on going back.

“If he has anything new for us, we better hear it sooner than later. Besides, there may be something for us if find it, and not just loot from the Lucas’s dungeon. The General really like to search for valuables and I can only guess he hoarded them extensively” Margaret swoop to rescue Lucas. Her words did made the rest of the party consider the course of action Lucas was agitating for, especially taking in consideration Margaret gear status and the fact she just started her upgrade process. There might legitimately be some good stuff for her in the hoard.

“Okay, I give up. Let’s go back” Chen finally relented and with that, the discussion was settled, siblings sighing in relief they wouldn’t have to be the decisive vote. Quickly packing the camp up, they plotted their course back to New Flame, Lucas mentally sorting through his tasks, scowling at the fact he would probably be forced to dabble in some more politics, aftermath of his action in his previous visit waiting to hit him in full force. In almost complete silence, broken only by some bouts of small talk and general chatter, they found themselves back at the New Flame’s gate in about half a day. After some dallying which frustrated Lucas, the guards at the gate finally recognized him and let them through.

“If you want, you can take a break. I guess there is a lot boring management talks awaiting me before I get to the good stuff” Lucas said, his party relived to get some free time in a proper civilization. Bidding their goodbyes, they quickly went to do infinitely more fun stuff than Lucas was about, which gave him a pang of jealousy, making him almost blew everything off and join them. His internal battle lasted a few moments, before he let out a heavy sigh and forced himself to go towards the Chancellor’s mansion.

“Prince was definitely quick in taking control” Lucas though as he approached the main administrative building of New Flame, surrounded by the armed men and women carrying the symbol he remembered seeing back in the mansion of the new Chancellor. Finding himself in front of the door, he knocked softly, but deliberately, hoping to get over this quickly.

“You are an unexpected sight, especially after the little stunt you pulled” a familiar voice boomed as soon as the door opened, frame of Prince appearing in Lucas’s vision.

“Glad to see you in your new deserving role, mister Prince” Lucas simply said, trying his best to avoid sounding sarcastic.

“It would be much better if you did as I asked and gutted the Families” Prince said bitterly.

“You presume to much, Chancellor. I’m the one giving orders here” Lucas said, anger flashing in him. He did become an errand boy for the slimy bastard, but that was just the quickest way to achieve his goals in New Flame and Prince would do well to remember that.

The Chancellor did eye him angrily for a few moment before forcing himself to calm down and apologizing for his remarks, letting Lucas into his office.

“I hope this office serves you better than your predecessor and I certainly hope you serve better than your predecessor” Lucas said, accentuating the word “serve” very carefully, making sure Prince got the message.

“Of course. I’m just a little on my nerves, as my business ventures are taking quite a hit, my business rivals having a wrong impression about my involvement in their fall from grace” Prince said, his words measured.

“Good, that is what I hoped. Keep your scheming home, snake” Lucas thought while his mouth automatically expressed worry and regret at the hardships Prince was having.

“Anyway, Chancellor, I regrettably have to cut this conversation short. I would hope you could tell me is the governor still here or I would have to perhaps try our new teleportation network?” Lucas said, feeling a sudden need for shower for the amount of sliminess he was displaying. God, how much he hates politics.

Prince measured him with his gaze, anger still present in them before informing Lucas that Bruce had made some kind of semi – permanent residence in the building that housed the teleportation stone. That was enough for Lucas, who said his goodbyes to the Chancellor and immediately went toward the center of the city. Right in the middle of it stood a heavily defended building, with constant traffic inside and out of it, confirming to Lucas he was at his intended location. He quickly entered the building, the man guarding it, mostly from Camp Hearth, immediately recognizing him and letting him through. Finding himself in the proximity of the teleportation stone and the queue of people who waited to use it, Lucas oriented himself, noticing a small room at the far side of the building. He arrived at the door and knocked, Bruce’s voice from the other side telling him to come in.

“You looking for retirement home?” Lucas asked as soon as he was in the room, failing to spot a young woman sitting opposite of Bruce.

“Well, I certainly though about it after the state you left me here. I think about everyone of note here is furious with you” Bruce responded.

“Governor, if you want we can finish later?” the woman said, startling Lucas who just now noticed her.

“Please, no. Lucas, this brilliant young woman and I were just in middle of planning for the early warning system for our shoreline” Bruce explained to Lucas.

“Well yes, it actually based on pre – System Earth and reconfigured … “the woman started, Lucas quickly raise her hand to interrupt her.

“Will it work?” he simply asked, not in the mood to listen to things he had no hope of understanding. The woman looked at him in shock, before nodding.

“Then do it” Lucas said, finishing the topic. The woman stared at him for a few moments before getting the hint and quickly standing up, exiting the office.

“You should play a little nicer. I think we just found our master engineer” Bruce said with a sigh.

“I just came from Prince, I have little patience for… well for everything, to be honest” Lucas responded.

“Was this also a case few nights ago? Because you made a mess, Lucas” Bruce said.

“It was better than the alternative” Lucas responded sharply, not in the mood to listen to lectures.

“I’m not going to lecture you, Lucas. I kind of had a hunch people here might be obstinate. I just didn’t expect you to bring a fucking sledgehammer on the whole thing” the old Loremaster said with weary in his voice, betraying how rough his past few days were “at least you retained enough sense not to kill anyone” he finished.

“How is Prince managing?” Lucas asked out of courtesy, seriously not interested in answer.

“He has his hands full. He can’t discover our part in all of this without implicating himself and by leaving the Families mostly unscathed, you allowed them to fully mobilize and rally against him, as a visible reason of their downfall. As long as they are busy fighting each other, they cannot make a move against me or you” Bruce explained. Lucas managed to gather enough to have a rough picture of things before his mind had wandered elsewhere and returning as he realized he isn’t hearing Bruce’s voice anymore.

“Anyway, I can see you are not here to listen about my woes. So, what brings you here?” Bruce asked, and Lucas went into recounting the events he had, finishing with his inquiry about the valuables the General possessed and with his new quest.

“I already thought of General’s things, but for now Goldilocks and her men hadn’t had much success” Bruce said “as for your new quest, I will need some time. You willing to spend a day here as I gather information?” he finished with a question.

“As long as there is no politics involved” Lucas said with a small chuckle and with that he left the Bruce’s office, his next goal involving finding his party and going to the first tavern they could find.