“Abyss take it,” Verdan cursed under his breath, rubbing his face as Commander Griffon paused to let them take in the news.

“Trust me; I feel the same. I’ve known Lucas for a long time, and while he was a stubborn bastard, I could count on him putting the city first. Without him, there will be a lot more uncertainty and doubt. I need you to combat that by visibly helping us prepare. We need more enchanted weaponry, armour, ammunition for the crossbows, all of it. We’ve proved that we can use what you provide to fight off dangerous threats. Now we just need to show that we have a good supply of it.”

“I’ll see what I can do. I have a few things that I’m working on,” Verdan said, thinking of the magi-tech machine that he was building. Hopefully, Elliot would complete his work sooner rather than later.

“Good, I’m glad,” Griffon said with a tired sigh. “This is only going to get harder, gentlemen. I suggest you both take steps to make sure you don’t burn out too soon. Oh, and if you could keep me appraised of any progress you make on that potion you found, that would be most appreciated. I’d want to get it examined by my own people, but really, that would be you anyway.”

“Of course, we’ll keep you updated,” Verdan said, noting to himself to check in with Natalia either when they got back or the next morning.

They reached the guard headquarters with no difficulty and left Griffon to his work before heading back to the estate. It was time to check in on everyone else and get to work.

Their day so far had been frustrating, they hadn’t really gotten to grips with Tobias, and the news about Councillor Michaels had caught Verdan by surprise. It was a heavy blow to the city, that was for sure.

Verdan hadn’t really known the man, but the impact of having one of the councillors die during an attack this way would only cause issues.

“Are you okay, Kai?” Verdan asked, pulling himself out of his thoughts as he noticed Kai was looking particularly unhappy.

“Yes, it’s just that this whole affair has left a bad taste in my mouth,” Kai said with a heavy frown. “Betrayal from within the city. A councillor dying. The whole thing is bad. I’m not entirely comfortable with leaving the guard to investigate Tobias, either.”

“I understand, but Griffon was right. We’ve got a lot of other things to be focusing on right now,” Verdan said with a slight shrug.

“I suppose, but it feels like we’re stuck waiting for the next thing to happen, and I don’t like that, not one bit,” Kai said with clear frustration.

“Actually, you’re right,” Verdan said, slowing to a stop as Kai’s words crystallised a feeling he’d had since the day before. “We’re reacting, and we’re taking things too slowly. We need to take control of this before it becomes a bigger problem. It’s time to do something about that.” Verdan nodded to himself as he cobbled together a rough plan for what he was going to do.

“Now we’re talking. What do you need me to do?” Kai asked, his back straightening and his eyes alight with interest.

“You tell me, what can you be doing to help the city?” Verdan turned the question back around to the Sorcerer, and Kai looked thoughtful as he considered Verdan’s words.

“I’d say I should focus on either cultivating my wind element or hunting monsters. The first will make me stronger, and the second will help secure the surrounding area,” Kai said after a minute or two of thought.

“You’ve been able to access your other element?” Verdan asked, a broad grin spreading across his face as Kai nodded with a pleased expression. “What caused your breakthrough.”

Kai told Verdan about how he’d jumped off a building to attack an elder Vespa, trying to snag it with his spear while it was mid-dive. It was an impressive story, all the more so for the fact that Kai and this Macannan had taken down the elder Vespa with no casualties when neither of them could fight at range.

“So, I remember you saying that Sorcerers are limited to specific styles. What are you able to do with your new element?”

“It seems to be Manipulation, rather than Enhancement. I can sense the wind around me, to a certain extent, and feel incoming attacks. It matches accounts that I’ve read closely enough that I’m sure I’ll be able to control it in time.”

“Fascinating, so you can sense the wind even when you’re not actively circulating Essence?” Verdan asked with interest, noting mentally how different it was from his own use of Aether.

“Yes, but I can’t do much with it until I’ve been able to cultivate more wind Essence. What I’ve used will slowly come back, but I need to build up my capacity through cultivation, or at least, that’s how I was taught.”

The process that Sorcerers went through to gain strength was endlessly interesting to Verdan. It differed so far from the way wizards progressed, but Verdan had a few thoughts about where some crossover might happen.

Kai had mentioned breathing techniques that he used, and he’d described them in enough detail that Verdan was fairly confident that he could replicate them himself. Well, he could likely achieve a poor version of them, but that should be enough to test for effect.

Mind full of exciting new ideas, Verdan dragged a few more interesting bits of information out of Kai as they walked before eventually falling into a contemplative silence that lasted the rest of the way to the estate.

“Boss, you’ve got visitors,” Pawel’s voice cut through Verdan’s thoughts, bringing his attention to the guard, who was currently stationed at the gates of the estate. “A pair of hunters from the look of them. I set them up in the sitting room of the mansion about ten minutes ago. They said Kai told them to come talk to you?”

“Ah, you mentioned some potential recruits. Want to go talk to them?” Verdan asked, looking over to Kai, who nodded with a slight shrug.

“Excellent, let’s be about it then. Thanks, Pawel,” Verdan said, changing direction over to the mansion. Kai followed along beside him, taking the opportunity to give Verdan a quick summary of who they were.

As Pawel had described, the two hunters were waiting for them in the mansion’s sitting room, both looking quite out of place and uncomfortable in the relatively lavish setting.

“Good morning, I’m Verdan Blacke. Thank you for coming,” Verdan said as he entered the room, making sure to shake both their hands as he took their measure.

“I’m Hanna. Good to meet you,” the woman said, having stepped around the man to greet Verdan first. “This is Arpad, my brother.” She gestured to her brother, who muttered something inaudible.

Both siblings had dark eyes and darker hair, though Arpad’s was recently shaved, and Hanna’s was tied into a tight ponytail that reached past her shoulders. Verdan was just a touch under six feet tall, but he was quite a bit taller than both of them, though Arpad was maybe an inch or two higher than his sister.

“So, first of all, thank you for coming to see me. From what Kai has said, you are hunters that work in the local area, correct?”

“Yeah, we normally hunt just past Willowbrook, but we’ve gone all over these parts one way or another,” Arpad said, his arms folded across his chest and a slightly defiant expression on his face.

“Very good, so my offer is twofold,” Verdan said, meeting both their gazes as he spoke. “The first is for you to act as scouts when the times comes that the Weeping Death will be closing in on the city. You’d be patrolling the area and keeping us appraised of where they are and what they’re doing. The second is to work with some adventurers that I’m going to be hiring later today to hunt down local monsters and subjugate the area around the city. How does that sound?”

“Dangerous,” Arpad said, grunting as Hanna drove an elbow into his ribs.

“We’re open to the idea, but what are you offering as pay?” Hanna asked over the cursing of her brother.

“The same pay as my guards, which you can collect weekly from my housekeeper. I’ll throw in a silver darn each for you as a gesture of goodwill as well.”

“We accept,” Hanna said quickly, giving her brother a stern glare to keep him quiet.

Verdan retrieved the two silver as well as the first week’s pay for them and handed it over without question, taking them at their word. If they were going to be tempted to take his money and run, he’d rather they did it now when it didn’t matter.

Arpad became much more amenable once money changed hands, and after a discussion of duties, the two left to go visit the adventurers guild. They’d start offering their services as guides to those doing jobs near the city, with Verdan footing the bill. Expensive, but he was hoping it would pay off in the long term.

“That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind; where did that come from?” Kai asked once they were alone.

“Well, it won’t help with the Weeping Death, but I’m hoping that the more we do, the better a position the city will be in further down the line. Besides, the more monsters and beasts the adventurers fight, the more used to the enchanted weapons I’ll be providing.” Verdan explained, a slight weight lifting from his shoulders as he took the first step into actively trying to solve things and not just reacting.

“I see. I think I understand what you’re aiming for,” Kai said with a thoughtful expression.

“Good, now, let’s head to the adventurer’s guild as well. I want to post a few bounties and enchant some weapons. Hopefully, the latter can pay for the former.” Verdan said, getting to his feet and leading the way back out of the mansion.

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem,” Kai said with a low chuckle, nodding at his spear as he continued. “I’d have paid through the nose for something far less impressive than this. You can basically charge what you want.”

“Perhaps, but the end goal is everyone defending the city being equipped in the best way possible, and fleecing them to get there isn’t the way to do it.”

“Perhaps, but more money in your hand opens up more possibilities,” Kai said with a shrug, letting the matter drop for now.

-**-

“Verdan, Kai, good to see you both looking healthy and uninjured after yesterday’s debacle,” Arthur Cork called out, interrupting Verdan as he was going through the bounties he wanted to post with one of the clerks.

“You too, Arthur, though it looks like it was a close thing,” Verdan said, pointing to the edge of some bandages that were visible under Arthur’s shirt.

“Ah, well, old habits die hard, and I got more involved than I should have,” Arthur said, waving his injury away with one hand before leaning in and examining the paperwork that Verdan was going through. “Let’s see, various jobs for monster hunting, scouting and then a request for information on Vespa. Well, depending on what you’re looking for with that last one, I know someone who can help.” The poor official Verdan had been working with looked a bit intimidated by having the head of the guild come over and start leafing through their work, but Arthur seemed oblivious to it.

“Well, everyone seems to agree that the attack was out of character for Vespa, but I want to know what that character would be under normal circumstances.”

“Easily enough done. I’ll get you all the answers you want, in exchange for one of your enchantments on a crossbow, deal?”

“Deal,” Verdan said without hesitation. He valued information far more than a bit of Aether that he could get back later.

“Marvellous, head to that same room you used last time, and I’ll get them to meet you there with the crossbow, if that works?” Arthur asked, waiting for Verdan to nod before slapping him on the shoulder and striding off, vanishing as quickly as he arrived.

Sharing a bemused look with Kai, Verdan headed to the room that Arthur had mentioned, noting the rippled of awareness that seemed to spread through the room as he was recognised.

More than one adventurer started subtly moving in his direction, but a few uniform-clad officials were already moving through the area and stopping those who looked about to bother Verdan.

Even with the aid of the officials, Verdan was glad when they got inside the meeting room, and he shut the door firmly behind them.

Verdan had barely sat down when the door swung aggressively open, and a large man limped inside, slamming the door shut behind him with a grunt. Verdan recognised the man as Hans Cork, Arthur’s brother.

“Arthur said you had questions. Talk.” Hans placed an intricate-looking crossbow onto the table between them as he dropped heavily into a chair on the other side of the table.

“I want to know more about Vespa; what can you tell me?” Verdan asked, eyeing the crossbow as he spoke. “What do you want on this, more power? An elemental effect?”

“More power is good,” Hans said with a grunt as he shifted the chair so his left leg could stretch out to one side. “Vespa, well, I’ve run into them a few times. Real territorial. Males are dumb, and females are rare, so they get real protective as well. Easiest way to die is to piss off a Vespa Queen; once you do, you’re a dead man.”

“Are the Queens that dangerous?” Verdan asked, splitting his attention to listen to Hans while considering what to do for the crossbow.

“Not really, they’re smaller and smarter, but if you anger them, you get every Vespa for miles descending on you to rip you to pieces.”

“How do they do that? Is it some form of magic?” Verdan asked, sharing a subtle glance with Kai as he considered how similar that sounded to what had happened the day before.

“No idea, I saw a Queen once, but I’m not an idiot, so I left before she saw me,” Hans said with a heavy shrug.

Verdan asked a few more questions as he absently built the mental image of what he wanted, pausing to cast it onto the crossbow before continuing his questions. Despite Hans’s gruff mannerisms, the man was surprisingly knowledgeable and was able to cover a lot of what Verdan wanted.

Kai looked increasingly bemused by some of the questions Verdan asked, but then, he was only thinking about the marker and the attack. While that was important, Verdan was desperate to know what had caused the Vesperai he knew to become the Vespa of today.

Sadly, while Hans knew a lot, he didn’t know any Vespa history, but at least it was a start. Passing the temporarily-enchanted crossbow back to him, Verdan told him to let Arthur know he was willing to do some general enchantments.

It was time to make some money.