“What is it?” Grego asked while the dark elf cast ‘minor mending’ on the badge.

“This badge seems to belong to the same league as Quentin’s ring.” He pointed at the paladin’s left hand.

“The Iron Oath?”

“Yeah. It has the same enchantment too. If I’d have to guess, the Lieutenant of the Iron Oath was a tank. He must have stocked up on armour-increasing enchantments so that if one of them would run out of juice…”

“He could just switch to another one,” Quentin finished the train of thought. “I already have the ring, so Grego should keep the badge.”

“Agreed.” Regis nodded, passing the somewhat worn badge to the guard captain after repairing and charging it.

“Thank you!” The man said as he accepted the enchanted equipment.

“Alright, let’s get back to Thornfell.” The loremaster stated as they stashed the gathered equipment on the wagon and used it to ride back home.

Half an hour later the cart rolled through the town’s gate, garnering quite a few questioning looks as it made its way toward the barracks. Once there, they got off, most of the group going on their own way.

“Get these things inside and sort them out,” Regis told to Grego. “I’ll repair what you think is useable and dismantle the rest later. The camping gear and the other stuff go to the warehouse unless you guys need it. And please take the cart and the horses over to the stable. They’ll take care of them.”

“Yes, sir.” Grego saluted with a smirk after receiving his orders.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? What about today’s training?”

“I’ve had enough ‘live’ training for today. And besides. I haven’t even had breakfast, plus I need some sleep before I head over to Rust-well Keep.”

“I see. In that case, we’ll meet up tomorrow then.” The guard captain nodded understandingly.

Regis headed back home, nodding at a few people along the way. Obelisk Square seemed to be slightly busier than usual on that morning, the reason for it turning out to be Nina’s next trade trip to East Fork. Many of the crafting-oriented townsfolk wanted to sell some of their wares, so they brought them along for the woman to examine. Those that made the cut got onto the list of items that would be brought along, but since the space in the confines of the gateway was meagre, so were the free spots for today’s transfer.

“I see you’re getting busy as always.” He called out to the young woman, earning a troubled sigh.

“There are a lot of products I’d like to bring over, but we’re already on a tight schedule and the merchants on the other side are also busy people. They won’t wait for Miss Valerie to rest up, come back, rest up again and bring over the remainder of the stock.”

“I could help out,” the dark elf offered. “You girls would go forward with the first half, and I’d teleport after you in about five minutes. That should be enough time to clear the gateway for me.”

“I… that would be wonderful,” Nina smiled, the rest of the desperate townsfolk nodding along happily. “In that case, I’d say pretty much everything could be brought over.”

“Good. We’ll meet back at the gateway in half an hour.”

“You’ve heard him folks,” Nina called out to the small crowd. “Bring over the things already on the list to the gateway.”

Regis left in a hurry, his growling stomach not accepting any other stops along the way. Entering the manor, he soon found Dana in the kitchen.

“Good morning,” he greeted her, surprising the woman. “Please tell me we have something for breakfast.”

“Milord,” Dana squealed in surprise. “You’re back. Forgive me, I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. Euric said that you and Sir Grego had to leave urgently.”

“We did, but the issue was already solved. Anyway. I promised Nina that I would help her bring over a bunch of wares from our people to East Fork, so I don’t have much time. Anything is good, even leftovers from last night.”

“Of course,” the woman nodded as she grabbed a plate and began to put different sorts of food scraps on it. “These should get you going, sir. Would you like me to put on some tea?”

“No thanks,” he shook his head before grabbing a piece of cold ham. “I won’t be here by the time it’s done. Just a mug of water will do. By the way. What’s going to be for dinner?”

“Miss Letty wanted to eat burgers, so I’ll be making those along with some berry pie.”

“I sometimes feel like you’re trying to get us fat on purpose.” Regis hummed as he finished off his impromptu meal.

“I would have a better chance in growing gold on trees than to get you two fat with all the running about you do all day.”

“Talking about running,” the dark elf chugged down the mug of water. “I’ve got to go. Thanks for the food.”

“But…” Dana tried to stop him in hopes of stuffing some more food into the spell weaver, but Regis moved far too fast.

Going back into his room, he quickly packed a few things into his satchel before heading over to Landwaker Square. Nina was already there with Valerie, the two waiting for him to open up the barrier of the gateway. With the wall of energy gone, the people waiting about hurriedly packed the gazebo with crates of wares and other items, the two women stepping into the middle of the pile.

“We’ll be off then,” Valerie remarked. “Give us ten minutes and you can hop over as well. Just try not to break anything.”

“Very funny. Now get going! I have an appointment to keep.”

The runes of the gateway lit up, swallowing the infernal and the merchant along with the rest of the items. When the light subsided, Regis looked at his arcane watch before turning toward the townsfolk who were still unused to the strange occurrence.

“You can place the rest of the stuff onto the gateway now. After that, you’re free to go. I’ll wait here for a bit.”

“Yes, milord.” They nodded along, hoarding the leftover wares into place.

Once done, most of the people left, some stopping at the inn to wait and see their lord leave as well. When the time was up, Regis activated his talisman and the runes of the gateway woke up as well, swallowing him up in a bright light. Over at East Fork, the people were already waiting for his arrival. As soon as the light faded, overeager workers rushed over to gather up the wares that were brought over.

“It looks like everything got here safely.” Nina said with a relieved smile while being crowded by several well-dressed men and women.

“I take it he’s the one you’ve mentioned before?” A man with grey streaks in his brown hair asked Nina while the workers brought the crates over to Thorne’s Arcanum which had a couple of sturdy-looking tables placed in front of it.

“He is,” the young woman nodded. “Everyone, please allow me to introduce Lord Regis Thorne, the lord of Thornvale.”

“Ah,” the man perked up as everyone watched the dark elf step out of the gateway’s boundary. “It is an honour to meet you in person finally, Lord Regis! My name is Albert Minsk, head of the Silver Wheel Trading Association.”

“It is nice to meet you as well, Sir Albert.” The spell weaver accepted the hand for a shake as a woman seemingly in her early thirties stepped forward.

“And I am Erina Shaw, leader of the Fortune’s Mule Trading Association. A pleasure to make your acquaintance!”

“Likewise.” Regis lied through his teeth, using his best poker face to hide his already growing headache.

He had absolutely no idea what was going on since Nina hadn’t mentioned anything about some trader dignitaries waiting for them. He gave her a questioning gaze, which earned him an awkward smile from the young woman.

“Sir Albert and Lady Erina have decided to personally come this time to take a look at our wares,” she explained. “When they asked after our arrival if this was all, I mentioned that you would be bringing over the rest and as you can see, they were more than elated to meet you.”

“That shouldn’t be surprising,” the woman called Erina waved her hand slightly. “After all, it’s not every day that one gets to meet such an accomplished enchanter in person.”

“Indeed,” Sir Albert nodded. “After one of my merchants visited East Fork a few weeks ago and was told about Thorne’s Arcanum, pretty much every member of the association had been vying for the chance to meet you. After all, be it your more common creations or the rare ones such as your arcane timepieces or your beautiful desk lamps, your wares are quite sought after.”

“And you think that your boot-licking attitude will help you earn a primary contract with Sir Regis? Pathetic.” A third voice resounded from the back, belonging to a dirty-blonde haired dwarf who seemed to be in his mid-thirties.

“How dare you?” Lady Erina growled as she turned toward the man with her attitude shifting in an instant.

“Did you really think that a man of his stature would fall for such simple schemes?”

“And you are?”

“Clive Stoneroost, at your service. Although I’m not the leader of some fancy trading association, I do represent a small group of merchants as well. We go by the name of Iron-blood Rams Trading Group. A friend of mine told me about you and we agreed that it would be for the best to at least try contacting you.”

“A friend of yours? Who?” Valerie asked with a slight amusement in her voice.

“Yaggic Flintsword.” The dwarf answered honestly.

“Yaggic Flintsword,” Regis repeated the name, trying to recall its owner. “Oh, he was the travelling merchant fellow we met in Escroft. How’s he doing nowadays?”

“He’s doing quite fine,” Clive sighed. “Apart from always grumbling about the aftermath of the war.”

“Sounds like Yaggic alright.” Valerie chuckled.

“Well,” the dark elf hummed as he looked at this arcane watch that showed how close he was to the supposed meeting time with the transport mage. “As much as I’d love to stay and chat, I have an important meeting in Rust-well Keep, so I must go. As for any trade agreements. You’ll have to talk with Nina about those, however, I must make it clear that when it comes to arcane items, Thorne’s Arcanum is our primary sale point. For anything else, we already have several prioritised local trade agreements, so any new agreement can only extend to merchandise that is outside of those obligations. Farewell and have a nice day!”

Saying that the spell weaver gave a slight nod to the group before turning around to leave. He gave Valerie a slight wink, the young woman easily understanding whom he favoured in the upcoming bidding war.

“Take care and good luck with the meeting!” The infernal woman said as she watched him step back onto the gateway, disappearing in a flash of light.

When Regis arrived at Rust-well Keep, he was greeted by the local soldiers who told him that the transport mage had not yet arrived.

“Thanks for telling me.” He nodded at the guards before heading over to the nearby bench to sit down.

A slight meditation and roughly half an hour later the gateway lit up and it soon revealed half a dozen soldiers along with a few wooden crates. Regis easily recognized the mage of the group as she held a crudely made magic staff in her hand. One of the guards approached her, telling her something that prompted the woman to head over to the barracks immediately. The dark elf watched this without intervening, only standing up when she returned about ten minutes later, accompanied by Lieutenant Ernest.

“Sir Regis,” the man walked toward him with a genuine smile. “I’m glad to see you could make it in time.”

“Likewise,” he noted. “I take a she’s the one you’ve been telling me about?”

“Yes,” the soldier waved the woman a bit closer. “I’ve already explained the situation, so you don’t have to worry about it. She is...” “Iwona Ferko, she stepped forward. At your service, milord.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Iwona. I’m Regis Thorne. You can just call me Regis, or Sir Regis if you’re so adamant on formalities. Sorry for imposing on you for this task.”

“Not at all, sir,” the woman replied with an obvious surprise due to the dark elf’s polite words. “Lieutenant Ernest informed me of the importance of this task and about your contributions to the royal army’s equipment status.”

“I see,” Regis hummed. “So, do you need some time to meditate, or shall we head out? I’m sure you’re a busy woman with all the transport missions.”

“I’ll need a few more minutes to regain my arcana, but we can immediately head out after that.”

“Alright.” The spell weaver nodded as he rummaged through his satchel, pulling out a ring from it which he handed over to Iwona.

“This...”

“It has an arcana regeneration enchantment on it. It should help you regain your power faster.”

“I... thank you, sir.” She said, sitting down on the bench while slipping the ring on one of her left-hand fingers.

“I shall leave you to it then,” Ernest stated before turning around to leave. “Safe travels.”

“Thank you,” the spell weaver replied. “For everything.”

After a few minutes of quiet waiting, Iwona opened her eyes again, standing up from the bench. She was about to hand over the ring, but Regis stopped her.

“Keep it.”

“But...”

“Just think of it as payment for your services. I’m sure it will be useful later on. Now, shall we go?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

The two of them walked over to the gateway and Iwona activated her talisman. The runes of the magic circle lit up, swallowing them in an instant. As soon as the light receded, the spell weaver found himself staring at several weapons pointed in his direction.

“Was it with people pointing spears at me every fucking time?” He half growled half sighed.

“Lower your weapons,” Iwona called out to the soldiers who seemed to have recognised her. “This is Lord Regis Thorne. He personally came here to forge a link with White-spire Keep’s gateway for the upcoming Lords’ Assembly.” “Our apologies, your lordship,” one of the guards said as they lowered their weapons. “We weren’t expecting anyone to arrive today.”

“It’s all right,” Regis shrugged as he felt his amulet vibrate, a sure sign that it memorised the local gate. “I’ll only stay for a minute.”

Here he turned toward Iwona.

“Thank you for your help, but I should get going now.”

“Of course, sir.” She nodded as she stepped out of the magic circle.