Chapter 2029: Questioned

Brena looked at the contract until she could trust her face again. Beside her, Tavi was smiling with considerably less restraint.

The clerk waited for Black’s attention to return to her.

"Where exactly was the nest? We should send someone to inspect the area."

Della leaned over the map the clerk unfolded and pointed out their route. Black listened while she explained the basin, the broken barricade, and the concealed entrance farther into the hills.

"There were thousands," Della said. "They filled the whole basin. More kept coming out of the trees."

The pen stopped again.

"Thousands?"

"Yes."

The clerk looked down at the contract he’d placed before her. Della knew what she would find on it. She’d read the notice herself, then stood in this very hall telling Black there was nothing special about their little expedition.

Her stomach tightened at the memory.

"This was listed as a Grade Two extermination," the clerk said. "The scouting report... I’m very sorry. I’ll bring this to the Guildmaster."

"Go easy on your scouts. Greenskins are unpredictable creatures. A nest can grow between someone counting them and an adventurer arriving to clear it."

Black sounded perfectly untroubled. Della looked up at him, remembering the golden sword, the wall he’d raised across the slope, and the bodies piled beneath it.

He’d come back from all that concerned about the scouts getting scolded.

"Still, you accepted the contract based on our information," the clerk insisted. "We need to know when that information puts our adventurers in danger."

"Then you have our account. Della can show your people where to go if they need directions."

"Of course," Della said. "I’d be happy to."

The clerk thanked her and drew the map closer, adding a note beside the route before turning back to Black.

"And the survivors? Were any left behind?"

"We brought out everyone we found. Their wounds have been treated, but some will need more care than we could give them on the road."

"The Church has them all?"

"Yes. They’re insisting on examinations despite my wife’s treatment. Could the Guild cover the charges? I’d like those women to move on and start anew without owing the Church a lifetime of debt."

Della stared up at him, overwhelmed by a fresh rush of affection. He’d brought those women out of the caves, found them beds, and was still worrying about what would happen to them once everyone else went home.

Beside her, Brena and Tavi were gazing at him with open adoration. Della couldn’t even blame them. How was she supposed to stop falling for this man when he kept doing things like that?

"You’re too kind, my lord..." Tavi murmured.

The clerk’s expression softened too, and she drew the report closer to add his request.

"I’ll look into it, Adventurer Black."

"Much appreciated."

Yet the clerk kept returning to the travelers’ arrival, asking Black to repeat where he’d met them and checking his answer against Della’s. Then came more questions about the battle, followed by another examination of the contract.

By now she was frowning down at the report, her pen hovering over a half-finished sentence. Black waited for her to continue, but she only turned back to the first page.

"Are we suspected of some misconduct?"

Her head shot up.

"What? No! Of course not!"

"Ah. There seemed to be quite a few questions."

"I’m sorry! I only need to complete the report. The people of Sarthal owe you all a great deal for clearing that nest before those creatures ruined more lives. Please don’t think otherwise."

"I’ll trust your word."

He nodded to the clerk, then held out his hand over the counter.

The clerk looked at his open palm.

"Oh."

Her smile returned as she opened the payment drawer.

"Your reward. Yes."

She placed the purse in his waiting hand. Black loosened its cord, tipped some coins into his other palm, and set them beside her report.

"You work too hard, Miss Clerk. Treat yourself to a nice drink when you’re finished."

The woman stared at the money, then at him.

He’d come back from fighting through a monster nest and thought to give her something. She was absurdly pleased, already imagining telling her friends who had paid for her evening, and the eagerness of that thought left her thoroughly flustered.

"That’s... I couldn’t possibly..."

"You don’t drink?"

"I do! Occasionally. That isn’t..." Her cheeks were growing pink. "It’s against the rules. We have to treat every adventurer impartially. If I started accepting gifts from you..."

Behind her, the clerk at the next desk had become extremely interested in rearranging the papers nearest their conversation.

She leaned toward Black, hiding her mouth behind one hand as her voice dropped to a mortified whisper.

"My colleagues are already giving me looks. Please don’t make it worse..."

"Fair enough."

Black collected the coins with an easy shrug and returned them to his purse.

Relief had barely reached her face when he added, "If you change your mind, come find me. I’ll invite you for a drink when you’re off duty."

"Adventurer Black!"

Her protest carried across the hall. Several women turned toward the counter, eager to discover what he’d done this time, while the colleague beside her gave up pretending to work.

Black chuckled.

"Okay, okay. Thank you for your help."

The clerk pressed her hands flat over the report.

"You’re welcome."

She tried to give him a professional smile. The heat in her cheeks made the attempt rather difficult, especially when Tavi looked back at her with open envy as Unbound headed toward the exit.

"Della. Brena. Tavi."

The Guildmaster had come out onto the upstairs landing. He rested a hand on the rail as the three women stopped below him.

"Could you visit my office for a moment?"

"Of course, sir," Della replied.

Black paused too, looking up at the gray-haired man.

"Would you like me to join you?"

"You’ve earned a good rest, Adventurer Black. Thank you for bringing everyone home."

So they wanted the girls’ account too.

"...Happy to help."

He turned toward the three women, the purse still in his hand.

"We’ll decide how to split the reward later, then."

All three nodded to Black. Serika gave them a wave as his companions followed him out, and Tavi watched the door close before remembering the man waiting at the top of the stairs.

"Coming, sir!"

...

Captain Veshara was waiting beside the Guildmaster’s desk, her copper tail curled around the legs of her chair.

Della slowed in the doorway. Behind her, Tavi bumped into Brena, who had stopped just as abruptly.

"Please, come in," the Guildmaster said. "And close the door, Tavi."

"Yes, sir."

The freckled woman shut it and hurried to join her friends in the chairs facing his desk. Veshara watched them settle with a bright, interested smile.

"I hear you’ve had quite an adventure."

"We have," Della answered.

The Guildmaster took his seat. "I would like to hear about the pirates and the people you brought back. Captain Veshara is here on official business."

"Of course, sir."

Della placed her hands on her knees. She’d expected to explain why a simple contract had turned into a battle against thousands of greenskins. Having a guard captain present made her wonder whether she should have brought the map upstairs.

"Could you begin with the travelers?" the Guildmaster asked. "What were they doing when you first saw them?"

"Fighting. They’d been surrounded in a basin. The creatures were coming down the slopes on every side, but the travelers kept trying to push through them toward the nest."

"Their daughter was in there," Tavi added. "The father’s daughter, I mean. Not everyone’s."

"I understood."

She folded her hands in her lap.

"Sorry."

"Did Black know any of them?" Veshara asked.

"No," Della replied immediately. "He went down to help them fight. Once we’d cleared the basin, the father told us about the girls."

"How did the strangers react to him?"

Brena looked at Della before answering. "They were rather busy, Captain. He started killing the greenskins attacking them. They seemed pleased about that."

Veshara’s smile widened.

"I imagine they would. What about afterward? Any introductions, familiar names?"

"The father asked if we could follow a trail," Della said. "He offered to pay. He wanted to keep moving."

"Lord Black refused the money," Tavi put in. "The man was reaching for his purse, and he stopped him. Said we were there to kill the creatures anyway."

The Guildmaster glanced toward Veshara, then returned to his notes.

"And the pirate account?"

Della described what the father had told them about the ship. Brena supplied the part about the raft, and Tavi remembered that some of the passengers had helped tow the others ashore.

"You saw the boat?" Veshara asked.

"No, Captain. The young girl’s father showed us the pirates’ heads."

"The heads?"

"In a sack." Tavi swallowed at the memory. "He’d brought them with him."

Veshara rested an elbow on the desk, leaning closer. "Fomorians, I presume?"

"Yes. We all saw them."

"And then you followed the trail?"

"Blossom followed it," Brena said. "We helped with the route."

The captain’s tail moved against her chair at the name, but she let Della continue through the discovery of the cavern and the prisoners inside.

Speaking about the cages brought back the sound of the women crying when they’d realized help had arrived. Della looked down at the blood dried beneath her nails. She hadn’t even noticed it until now.

"They’d been there a while," she said. "Some of them. The girls were farther in, away from the others."

"You found them yourselves?" the Guildmaster asked.