“The Kuts is merely a passion project of mine, Mr. Kerner. The Kalmár Konsortium operates in many areas. We manage more dungeons than any other family, including several of the most profitable. We also provide management services for Arcadia State Penitentiary, informally known as ASP. Then of course we have our subsidiaries such as Kalmár Katering, Kalmár Konstruction, and Kalmár Konsulting.”
“Is it true that you only invest in businesses that can be spelled with a ‘K’?”
“Why Mr. Kerner, no one has made that konnection before! In fact, one might wonder if the Kuts’ sponsorship of your show has anything to do with your last kname?”
- DJ Demophon Kerner, with guest Konrád Kalmár on K-RAD LA, April 5th, System Year 453
I felt small as we approached the remnant. It was hard to imagine a world where there were so many people out here, in the wilds, as Hassan had put it, that you could ever have enough traffic to need a structure that large. The biggest caravans I could remember coming through Sunland were maybe twenty wagons long – and you could fit a dozen or two of them on this bridge at the same time! I guessed you’d need many times more wagons if you were trying to feed a city the size of this entire valley.
Responding to some unheard order or signal, as we walked out onto the bridge the soldiers fell into step, their booted feet slamming onto the hard surface in perfect unison. They formed a neat column two wide and eight long, with the Captain in the front. The guards trailed behind them, trying to keep to the same rhythm with only partial success. The rest of us wandered along in the rear, my fellow recruits and I staring around in wonder.
The sound of rushing water filled the air, competing with the sharp cadence of the march. Suddenly, Raylan veered off to the side, heading to the edge of the bridge. Curious, I followed him, and together we stood for a moment, only a chest-high railing between us and a drop of hundreds of feet. I swallowed as I looked down and saw the river flowing beneath us.
I would have been more impressed, and less nervous, had we not just seen an entire dungeon flood around us. I moved back from the edge quickly, feeling more than a touch of vertigo – the memory of falling into the water and nearly drowning flashing before my eyes. I shivered, then scolded myself. There’s nothing to worry about, Az – if you fell from here, you’d probably die on impact, water or not.
The large gates of East Bank ground open slowly as we neared the walls – or at least, one of them did, perhaps ten feet wide, more than enough for our small group. Atop the watchtowers flanking the gate, I could see guards observing us, along with a pair of mounted ballistae that looked big enough to skewer a trihorn with a single shot.
As we passed through the gates, we found ourselves in a small square, bordered by buildings of a similar, thick stone style to what I was familiar with from Sunland. These buildings were packed tighter and taller, with most of them reaching two or even three stories. Standing in the middle of the square, in a rough formation, was a squad of guards with an officer of some kind in the front. I Identified him as a Senior Guard as he saluted Captain Rivers.
“Captain Rivers, Guards, Delvers,” he nodded at each group in turn, “I’m glad to see you’ve returned safely from the dungeon. Has the threat been dealt with? Do you require any healing?”
“Good to see you again, Captain. Yes to the dungeon, and no to the healing,” Rivers responded with a nod. “Where is the Mayor? I expected to find him here.”
“The Mayor is, ah, that is to say he is indisposed. There was the Tutorial celebration last night, you understand.”
Rivers drew in a sharp breath, and I saw Mason’s tail stiffen for just a moment.
“You are telling me that the Mayor went ahead with Tutorial Day yesterday? Without me, and without the Guild?” She gestured back towards us.
The guard captain appeared uncomfortable, but responded in an even voice.
“The Mayor said the requirement that the Army be present was satisfied by the detachment you left in town, and your Lieutenant acted in your stead as a recruiting officer. As for the Guild, well, I expressed my concern on that matter and the Mayor decided to proceed anyway. Had you left orders to delay the Tutorial, I might have had more success.”
“An oversight on my part, Captain, and yet one that should not have mattered. The Guild may not be required by law to be present, but they are traditionally extended the opportunity as a matter of courtesy. I will be sure to include this in my report, Captain Ashford.”
“I have no objections, ma’am. I am fully appreciative of what the Guild did for us.” He nodded politely at Mason, and then approached us, looking directly at me and the other recruits.
“I assume these are the recruits who held the dungeon until help could arrive? There were no casualties, I hope?”
“They are, and there were not,” Mason replied smoothly from the side.
“Excellent,” Ashford responded, sounding genuinely relieved. “I wish there was something official I could do to express my gratitude, but I’m afraid that East Bank only pays a dungeon bounty to those who closed a nearby dungeon. In this case, that bounty would go to the soldiers and guardsmen who, I assume, completed it?”
“Yes, you assume correctly Captain. It was your Guardsmen and my soldiers who entered the dungeon after the Delver recruits escaped, having held it for over four hours.” Rivers responded cooly. “Unfortunately, as I’m sure you’re aware, soldiers aren’t permitted to accept bounty payments.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Ah, that is indeed a disappointment. Though I wonder, if the soldiers can’t accept the payment, could the Army – represented by you, of course, perhaps accept the bounty on their behalf? Of course, you could then distribute it as you see fit. I’m afraid the bounty on a Tier 0 dungeon is only two eagles per person, but it would hopefully serve as a token of the town’s appreciation.”
Rivers frowned and started to object. “Captain Ashford, it makes no difference if – “
“Emelia,” Mason cut her off and gestured to us with a thumb and she stopped short, considering.
“Ah, I see now. I’m afraid I couldn’t possibly accept any payment. If I were to be aware of soldiers under my command doing so, I would have no choice but to order them to forfeit that bounty, and issue them a stern verbal reprimand for doing so. As a first time offence, for such a small sum, I can’t see the need to put something down on anyone’s record. Coincidentally, I must speak to my sergeant here about an unrelated matter. Please excuse me.”
More than one of the soldiers snickered as she deliberately turned her back to the guard captain and struck up a conversation with Keys about, apparently, the sloppiness of the soldier’s uniforms. A hilarious little act followed. The three Tier 1 soldiers stepped forward and accepted the bounties from Ashford with a handshake and a smile. Rivers waited for them to finish, then wheeled around as if surprised.
“What’s this? My troops, accepting a dungeon bounty? Soldiers, I order you to forfeit this improper bounty to Mason of the Delver’s Guild. Consider yourselves sternly reprimanded for this conduct, and be sure that I won’t tolerate it again!”
I had to admit that Rivers was much better at fighting than acting, but everyone involved was grinning openly at the false drama.
“Captain Rivers, thank you for your consideration in the distribution of this generous bounty,” Mason added with a sly smile, and with that, we were all friends. Apparently the Guards weren’t too fond of the Mayor either, as they seemed to enjoy the show as much as I did. Being a small town, I was sure word would get back to the Mayor soon, but we’d be long gone by then.
Ashford handed out the remaining bounties to the Tier 1 Guards – who apparently, were officially allowed to accept them – before ordering them to meet him in his office for a debrief. The Squad who’d been waiting with Ashford headed up onto the walls, and the Captain led the rest of us a few short blocks down the main road, before turning off north onto a smaller street and showing us to a barracks.
It was one of three barracks buildings forming three sides of a small square. There was one longer, three story building, apparently occupied by the town guards, and two smaller two-story ones. One of those was fully occupied by a caravan’s guards and part of the Army contingent, which also spilled over into the other building. The recruits ended up in the last free room on the ground floor of the second building, which had four sets of bunk beds and could have slept our entire party. The senior Delvers, however, were getting better rooms on the second floor, so each of us got a bottom bunk to ourselves.
With no real need to unpack anything just yet, we waited for Ashford to show the others their rooms. Mason and the others joined us in our larger room after just a few minutes. Mason seemed quite annoyed as he explained the situation.
I gasped and clutched my chest in pretend shock, falling over dramatically on my bed, but Mason just kept talking. At least Block and Raylan smiled.
Block mimicked my wounded act, which Mason completely ignored, turning to stalk out of the room with his tail lashing. His head practically brushed the doorframe, reminding me again just how tall he was. By the time Vale and Hassan had followed him out of the room, a notification appeared.
Incoming Squad Invite:
Do you wish to join Block’s Squad?Stolen from RoyalRoad. Support AzureInk by reading the original.
“What?” I asked out loud, slightly confused.
“Hurry up and join already,” Block replied. “How are we supposed to gossip while we’re out if everyone else can hear us?”
Laughing, I accepted the invite, along with the others, which removed us from Mason’s Squad.
Despite Block’s eagerness to leave, the first order of business was to clean off the dust and dirt caked onto us by our now-dried sweat. There was a small washroom down the hall, and Elin and I went first. Cleaning up was simple, if not exactly as thorough as one of Hazel’s mandatory weekly baths. There was a stack of small, clean – or at least, reasonably clean – towels along with a couple of buckets and a simple wooden bench to sit on.
Storing away my armor, I grabbed a towel, held it out in front of me, and then cast Conjure Water. Catching the globe of water in the towel, I used the wet cloth to start scrubbing at my face, neck, and hands, then wrung out the dirty water into the bucket. Beside me Elin was doing the same thing, pointedly ignoring me until we were finished.
As I stood, running my hands through my ragged, still dusty hair, she commented snarkily, “Your hair looks like it was cut by a blind two-year-old. What the fuck did you do to it?”
Realizing that I’d never shared the full story of the Tutorial with the other recruits, I flipped her off and stomped back to the room. As the guys took their turn, I looked at the mysteriously-clean Block and asked him if we could find someplace to get me a better haircut. Elin is an asshole, but she’s not wrong about my hair…