Two days later, a messenger came by. He brought a letter from Gregor to meet in a restaurant for our business discussion. The way it was worded one could easily assume he was talking about trade. The meeting was that very evening and he told me to come alone. I brought Alex along and Hera followed right behind.

“Welcome to our establishment”, the waiter greeted us, “Would you like a private room or an open table?”

“We’ve got someone waiting for us”, I said, “Gregor, I think it was?”

“Oh, certainly. Allow me to guide you to Mister Belial’s room.”

We were led past the open dining room and into a bright hallway. Doors stood every few metres and I could see the vis radiating from them. A quick glance told me they were some kind of simple privacy wards.

The waiter knocked on a door and waited a few seconds before opening it.

“Mister Belial, your guests are here.”

“Thank you, Jim. Bring us some tea, if you would?”

“Certainly.”

He bid us inside a decently large room dominated by a circular table. Eight chairs stood around it, one of them having Gregor sitting on it. The man nodded with resignation as he spotted Alex. He greeted us and everyone sat down.

“I half-expected you to bring everyone from before and then some. I am glad you at least know how to exercise moderation.”

I scoffed.

“It’s not a good idea to be alone with someone like you.”

“Smart”, he admitted, “And yet, I hoped for trust.”

Alex snickered.

“She trusts way too easily. You’ll be in her trap before you know it.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t quite follow.”

“You’ll understand.”

Hera nodded sagely.

“Fine. Let us wait with business until after our meal. I could devour a whole cow.”

The waiter came back and we ordered some food. The conversation was kept to small-talk until our food arrived and cut off completely as we ate. The meals were plenty and a feast for the eyes on top of that. Alex and Gregor were able to exert some moderation but Hera nearly shovelled the gratin into her mouth. Even my sliced beef was quite tasty. They had only just warmed it up without vaporizing all the blood.

Once everyone had sated the worst of their hunger, Gregor turned the conversation to the reason for our meeting.

“Miss Fio, how familiar are you with the structure of our kingdom?”, he asked.

“Besides the Church being some sort of central government but not messing much with the local rulers, nothing, really. I know there’s a king and nobles but that’s it.”

“I see. Let me give you a little background, then. Eterios has a [King], as you know. The royal family has been appointed by the Clerics of the Cathedral a few centuries ago and ruled ever since. If they step out of line, the Church will replace them. That leads to a somewhat prosperous life for even the poor. It is impossible to solve all issues of course but I do take pride in our land’s ability to take care of its citizens.

“Below the [King], there is a group of [Lord]s. They rule the three provinces, Clifrig, Brookring and Seerstun. They are bound to the Church just like he and their family was appointed with their approval.

“Now, things get interesting. Because anyone that doesn’t belong to these four does not answer to the Church. There are [Mayor]s and [Village Head]s appointed by the populace, for example. And there are nobles. Nobles do not have a Class specific to their social status. It is a term referring to influential people, be it through strength, money or social contacts. They are an exclusive club of sorts and just barely tolerated by the Church. For the [King], they are a necessary evil. Without the rich, the kingdom’s coffers would quickly run dry.

“Normally, nobles are assigned specific tasks by the [King] or a [Lord] and given some financial support. The task then returns a profit from which they receive a part depending on their financial contribution and the success of the operation. I am one of these nobles and my task is to ensure the continued safety of Eterios and align our interests with the guidelines of the Crimson Church. There is more to it but that should give you an idea. Any questions so far?”

“So you got a central government controlled from above and then a bunch of rich and/or powerful people doing the actual work. Did I get that right?”

“You did.”

“What about military?”, Alex asked.

“We have the Church’s paladins for larger issues and mercenaries to hunt down monsters. If you’re talking about urban safety, every city and most villages have a guard. They do all that needs to be handled.”

“No international wars?”

“Humans shall stand together against the dangers of this world. That’s what the Church teaches. There are some skirmishes from time to time but most of them turn out to be bandits. The guards fight those. I have heard some of the other kingdoms have large-scale armies to defend against aggressive neighbours but we are at peace with the dwarves.”

“Huh. I’d have thought some of those nobles would build up a militia or something.”

“They often have a private guard if they can pay. The largest consists of forty Doubles.”

I tilted my head.

“Doubles?”

“Double Class evolutions. People that are past level 200 in their Class.”

“Wait, nobles have guards like that? And you want me to sneak in?”

“With your race level, you should be able to keep up in Attributes. What matters past that is your Skills which you already showed off as impressive.”

“How much Wisdom and Intelligence do focused… Doubles… have?”

“I know of some people reaching three digits just barely. They usually die easily for lack of Constitution.”

“That’s not too bad. If someone puts that much into Strength, I’ll have to be careful. What Class does my target have?”

“A good question. Let me give you a detailed answer. There is a group of nobles based on merchant Classes. They are pushing for a more aggressive stance towards the dwarves to learn their secrets. The same group works most of the major trade routes throughout Eterios. They invest in small traders and caravans to transport goods and receive a share of profits in return. Whenever they bring a travelling merchant to evolve their Class, the [King] pays a bonus.

“Beyond that, they organize the upkeep of infrastructure within the kingdom. That is where we get to the problem. The roads need to be properly maintained if only to allow the paladins to reach nodes or [Thaumaturge]s more efficiently. The [Organizer] is responsible for putting the money into the right hands to get things moving. It’s not working.

“We know that the [Organizer] is the mastermind behind this embezzlement. It is, however, highly likely for them to get cold feet if we take out their most dominant public spokesperson. The man in question is called Locust of Redrock. He got rich on exploiting an iron vein and is now a [Grand Overseer]. His main work consists of lobbying with other nobles and speaking up for their interests in front of the [King] as well as making sure his mines keep production up. We believe he is not understanding the relationship between selling his product and having good roads.”

“So, an idiot?”

“Exactly. I have a town map here of the central ring. His residence is marked. The royal guard is informed about you and your Class and has been told not to interfere. Not just because of the Church’s interest.

“I know it’s a bad idea to trust you just like that but I am willing to take the chance. On the Cleric’s word.”

“I see. Where does this [Organizer] live?”

Gregor hesitated for a moment before showing me the location on the map. It was barely four houses over. Granted, with the large mansions dominating the central ring, that was still a decent distance.

“Will you take the target, Fio Catori?”, the [Spymaster] asked.

I met his eyes.

“I’m going to scout it out first. If things look bad, I’ll message you. Somehow.”

“That is acceptable. I can offer you assistance if you believe you need it. I trust you can find me.”

I nodded.

We were done with dinner so Gregor soon said his farewell. He was footing the bill as well so we simply returned to our inn.

“I don’t know why they’re hiring an [Assassin] for that kind of stuff”, Alex said, “Wouldn’t it be enough to just imprison the criminal?”

Hera shook her head.

“Everyone knows that rich people have powerful friends. A single Double can easily break one person out of a prison protected by normal guards. While humans level quickly, there are not enough Doubles to continuously stand guard. Or that’s what my dad said…”

“Mhm. I suppose I wouldn’t want to stand in front of a prison all day if I got to that level. Unless it’s your Class already you’d rather do something more productive.”

“So the only option for taking out rich criminals is murdering them?”, I wondered, “That doesn’t sound right.”

“I mean, you could also steal their money? But I don’t know how much effort that would be. They can probably call in a bunch of favours from their rich friends. I kinda get why Gregor would hire you instead. Especially if he believes this can be solved by cutting off the head.”

“Let’s just hope it’s not a hydra…”

“What’s a hydra?”, Hera asked.

“You don’t have those?”, Alex smirked, “Oh, let me tell you a wonderful story!”

After returning to the inn, I was treated to a slightly butchered rendition of Hercules. At least Circe enjoyed it. Tomorrow, I would scout my targets. Of course, I could just go tonight but I wanted to have a better understanding of their behaviour first. That would let me make a more informed decision on their likely defences.