Marie stared round the table of councillors. If they’d have been adventurers they’d have been ranked Silver or higher. She’d seen Lord Entoll in action though, and he no more deserved to be thought of as an adventurer than he did to be called a lord or a noble or any other title he might assign to himself.

  But she wasn’t here to treat with him. She was here on guild business, and she had a job to do.

  Handing her glass of wine to Dusty, who drained her own before accepting it. The five councillors regarded her but she focussed her attention on the [Mayor] of Wayfarrow. The slightly-balding middle-aged man who seemed to be of a more reasonable disposition than Entoll, at least for now.

  “The guild has encountered a tribe of goblins in the vicinity of the town. A Silver-rank threat. The guild is requesting funds to pay for a team to deal with the issue.”

  “To kill them you mean?” The younger but stern-faced [Watch Captain] sitting at the table spoke up for the first time. “This wouldn’t be anything to do with the reports of a disturbance yesterday evening at the eastern gate would it?”

  The slight pause before Marie answered didn’t go unnoticed by anyone in the room.

  “A preliminary scouting mission was undertaken, which revealed the size of the tribe to be between fifty and a hundred. During the course of the investigation, there were a few skirmishes involving increasing numbers of goblin combatants, with some riding giant insects.”

  “Don’t forget the [Mage], Specs.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” The [Watch Captain] had been glaring at Dusty on-and-off since they’d come in. “Goblins don’t have [Mages]. It’d be a [Sorcerer] or [Shaman] at best.”

  Unsure as to what the difference was, Marie plowed ahead.

  “They were led by a magic user of some kind, although it did not appear to be the leader of the tribe. We already knew the danger was Silver-ranked, and based on the information collected we are requesting funds for a suitably-sized team to be sent to clear them out.”

  Mayor Atherton looked round at the faces of his fellow councillors.

  “Nothing we haven’t approved before. Let’s say… forty gold and an additional five silver per pair of ears?”

  The other counsellors, save Lord Entoll, began to murmur their assent, before Marie interjected.

  “Actually, sir, we’d be requesting a flat eighty gold.”

  The mayor’s eyebrow raised as the dark-furred tabaxi councilman almost choked on his wine.

  “That seems an excessive amount for a single goblin tribe, and without incentive or proof via ears, what evidence will we have that the goblins are wiped out?”

  Marie took her time before answering the mayor, waiting for the tabaxi to sit himself up straighter and to finish clearing his throat.

  “Previous work at the Adventurer’s Guild has lacked a uniform standard of payment. The guild has instigated a new pricing policy for adventurers in order to ensure reasonable wages which will cover their costs. The price may be dropped if you wish to purchase healing potions for the adventurers,” the face of every councillor wrinkled in distaste, “but the guild must ensure that adventurers are suitably compensated for the risks of their work. The guild will ensure all work is carried out to a satisfactory standard. The amount requested reflects this.”

  And covers some of the scouting costs…

  The [Watch Captain] was the first to speak.

  “That’s an exorbitant amount for a day’s work. Members of the Watch don’t make anywhere near that much.”

  “Members of the Watch are free to sign on with the guild,” Dusty snapped back with a grin, “but I rather think you prefer to sit back behind the walls with shiny boots.”

  “She’s got you there Lysia.” The tabaxi councillor chuckled. “The riskiest deals make the best payoffs.”

  “Shut up Gil.”

  Marie half-heard the conversation as she focused on Lord Entoll as the nobleman leaned over to whisper to the mayor. After a moment, Mayor Atherton looked up.

  “It has been brought to my attention that the last time a member of the council had dealings with the guild, specifically after they found you wandering the wilderness Miss Marie, there w-”

  “Wait,” the [Watch Captain]’s eyes finally spotted Napoleon sitting in the shadow of Marie’s legs and a glimmer of understanding and a hint of fear came to her eyes, “she’s the one that was out in th-”

  The [Watch Captain] cut off as the [Mayor] glared at her. The younger woman bowed her head in apology and the mayor cleared his throat.

  “As I was saying, there has been a question raised about terms of agreements and the changing thereof. Your seal proves you are here on guild business, [Secretary] Marie, but perhaps with the guild’s new, more expensive rates, and the change in approach, the council should revise its own process in agreeing to them, unless you would be happy to submit to a Skill?”

  There was a second of silence.

  “Absolut-”

  “Absolutely not.” Dusty cut across Marie. It was the first time Marie had heard actual anger in the woman’s voice. “Are you questioning the integrity of the guild?”

  “Of course not, Miss Brow.” The mayor didn’t flinch. “It is simply that the sudden change is unexpected and represents a significant amount more than we would normally agree too. All I would like to do is to ensure that this young woman is-”

  “The Adventurer’s Guild is an independent body and not required to submit to local authority unless laws have been broken.”

  “Whilst that may be true, we are simply try-”

  “Do I need to get [Guildmaster] Thror to come in to clear this up?”

  The conversation stopped instantly. The only one of the councillors who didn’t suddenly look tense was the tabaxi - Gil.

  “Miss Brow. I’m sure there’s no need for any drastic measures.” [Mayor] Atherton did a good job of projecting calm, but there was the faintest tremor in his voice, unless Marie was imagining it. “If there is a new system in place perhaps we can have agreements drawn up and signed with the guild in due course. Some negotiations, reviewing terms and the like.”

  Months of talk, during which the goblins fortify their position, making it harder to drive them off. And in the meantime no one can go through the area without paying for security.

  Marie put a hand on Dusty’s arm and interrupted the mayor as he rambled on about the minutiae of potential contracts.

  “I am willing to submit to a Skill, provided I know what it is and only the matter at hand is relevant to it.”

  Dusty did not look happy, but Marie gave her a look and she took a step back. The councillors turned to the mayor, who turned to man next to him.

  Lord Entoll’s voice was as cold as a winter’s frost. Last time she’d met him he’d been raging at her and Sirrochon about their trip into the wilderness, but that had been after days stewing in less opulent surroundings and what she suspected had been a number of bottles of wine. There was only a single empty glass in front of him now, and he kept his cool, though he spoke through gritted teeth.

  “The Skill is one that ensures honesty.”

  Marie considered him for a moment, and then nodded. Her own [Sense Lie] said he was telling the truth.

  The lord didn’t rise from his seat.

  “[Don’t Lie to Me]. Explain the reasoning for the amount of gold you are requesting.”

  Merde.

  Marie could feel the Skill take hold of her. She thought through a few options of how she could phrase it. She had inflated the price to an extent, to cover any unforeseen circumstances and retroactively pay for the scouting. But at the same time…

  “When I began work for the Adventurer’s Guild, I noticed that the amount paid out to adventurers was not uniformly fair, and in many cases did not cover the kind of expenses they had. I have since implemented a new pricing structure that provides minimum rates for adventurers based on whether they are ranked Bronze, Silver or higher.” Broken down into two tiers each, but you do not need to know that. “Eighty gold would cover a day’s work from a team of… six Silver-ranked adventurers and two Bronze-ranked to support their needs.” Assuming they’re on the upper tier…

  She understood how the Skill worked, and how it didn’t.

  Lord Entoll narrowed his eyes, as though he could sense she was leaving bits out.

  Her pulse began to quicken.

  Maybe there is more to the Skill…

  “Eight adventurers sounds like an excessive amount to take on a small goblin tribe. I do not know of any groups that large. Why so many?”

  “There are adventuring groups from as few as two to as many as thirty in my experience.” Thank you Algar. “Surely it is better to send an extra adventurer or two above what you might normally expect and make sure no one gets badly hurt - unless you think it would be better to spend extra supplying them with healing potions. I believe the standard price is around fifty gold per potion.” To non-guild members.

  “She’s got a point, Tils. Efficiency versus effectiveness.”

  “I'm not addressing you, Gil.” Lord Entoll frowned. “How did you come up with this extravagant new pricing structure?”

  The question pushed the limits of his remit, and he knew it, but Marie smiled innocently.

  “From your agreement with Sirrochon’s Spellswords, Lord Entoll. I took the amount you paid them daily as the basis for what was appropriate for someone of their level. I assumed it would be a fair price.”

  The dark-furred tabaxi gave a low whistle as the rest of the council looked at the noble with widening eyes.

  “Phew, Tils, she’s got you there. I need to do business with you more often.

  “Shut up Gil.”

  The [Lord]’s face was beginning to flush red and he threw out another question to cover.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Why not a lower amount with a bounty on returned trophies. It’s what we are doing for the current bandit issue. How will you verify the work is done?”

  There were a few moments of silence as heads turned and Marie considered her answer.

  “I have a number of Skills that will allow me to verify the completion of the quest. [Sense Lie], [Enforce Contract], and [Threat Assessment], which is what alerted us to the goblins in the first place.”

  “You didn’t answer my question. Why not take the same approach we always have before? Why a flat payment?”

  After a few more moments thinking, Marie couldn’t come up with a better response than the truth.

  “The danger is posed by the tribe’s fighters. Not all of the goblins are dangerous. There is no need to kill the children and non-combatants when they could just be driven off.”

  Before she’d finished the sentence the mayor and most of the others burst into heated disagreement.

  “Absolutely not. Eradication is the onl-”

  “-bloodthirsty savages and I won’t sta-”

  “-ushing the threat down the road. Who’s to say they w-”

  “Wiping them out is the only way to make sure they don’t come back.”

  As soon as there was a break in the outcry Marie jumped in.

  “They are just children. Innocent. Not all of the goblins will be d-”

  Lord Entoll practically spat on the floor.

  “Goblins are barbaric monsters. It’s bad enough we have to put up with the allagi. I’ll be damned if I’m going to see some vile greenskins spared the axe when they’re on the chopping block.”

  “Too right - you’ll be saying we should take in orcs next!”

  “Vile is subjective, Lord Entoll. I c-”

  This time, Marie felt Dusty’s hand on her arm. The tabaxi pulled her back a step and took over, speaking above the clamour of other voices.

  “I have no love for goblins, but even so I would hesitate to kill one of their young if I came across it. Should we send a {Message} to the group hunting the bandits to kill any pregnant women and newborn babes they encounter in the bandit’s camps?”

  That shut the councillors up as surely as if they’d been hit with a [Ten-Foot Strike].

  In the sudden silence, Gil spoke up again.

  “Perhaps we should consider being flexible in our demands for now, my fine friends, unless anyone is willing to do the task themselves.”

  —

  Half an hour later, Marie and Dusty left the council chambers. The dark-furred tabaxi wobbled alongside them. Gilded Paw, or ‘Gil’ as he asked them to call him, had been the one to stay and agree the simple payment contract Marie had insisted on being signed.

  “It’s always good to see Til’s nose get tweaked every now and then, but I have to warn you that I’m not so easy to fool as the others.”

  The twinkle in the tabaxi’s eye belied his warning.

  Marie smothered a smile as the rotund figure skipped forward as Napoleon nosed his rich leather boots. The tabaxi had to lean over precariously in order to see the hound at his feet.

  “Ah - I’m no fan of this one.”

  “Come, Napoleon.”

  Tapping at her leg, Napoleon came to heel.

  As the large cat-man relaxed and mopped his brow, Marie caught the faint hint of roses coming off of him. He wasn’t at all what she’d expected from a [Councillor].

  “If you don’t mind me asking, Sir, if you have reservations about the arrangement, why did you sign the contract?”

  Raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, Gil directed them to stand in the shade of the portico.

  “Who said anything about reservations? Although if you come to me to do business in the future you can be sure I’ll be asking about your pricing structure more closely: [Read Between the Lines] - a lovely little Skill.”

  Dusty frowned.

  “But you agreed to the price?”

  Gil shrugged, the motion setting the fat on his shoulders wobbling.

  “Not my money, and it seems reasonable enough for this.”

  “But are you not a [Councillor]? Do you not have a duty of care to the town’s finances?”

  Marie wasn’t sure why she was pushing, and Dusty certainly gave her a glare, but she was curious, and the contract had already been signed. Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep chuckle from the large tabaxi.

  “I may sit on the council, but only Lance and Tils have the class. No, I’m a [Merchant], and the sooner we get those goblins cleared off the better. I’m willing to sign over a more generous amount from the council funds than usual to make it happen.”

  “They are that much of a problem?”

  One dark eyebrow rose as Gilded Paw regarded Marie.

  “Of course. With the bandits raiding the southern road we’ve lost access to the Langschloss chain and the passes to central Varethis. We’re stuck sending carts hundreds of miles round the mountains to the north and relying on the northern cities for months now. It’s been slower. Far less efficient. Too long for some goods to last without very specific Skills. It’s been a nightmare, but at least it’s been something. If the north gets cut off too, we’re more-or-less stranded.”

  “Well, we will do our best once the adventurers get back from the bandit hunt. Hopefully both problems will be solved then.”

  “Excellent. I do appreciate a good worker. And if the adventurers are going to be getting a bit more coin in their pocket feel free to direct them my way and I’ll see if there’s any opportunities for them. My [Ear to the Ground] has been picking up rumours that the guild’s doing more business these days. I mostly deal in dyes and cloth and a few specialty pieces once they’ve gone through the tradesfolk, but if there’s enough demand I can look at importing a few magical items and the like. You could even get a list ready and I’ll look through it.”

  Marie and Dusty inclined their heads as they bid the councillor farewell and headed off in the direction of the guild, though Dusty glanced back with a snort.

  “He’s already sweating again.”

  “It is a hot day, and he is covered in fur. Any exercise must be unpleasant for your kind in this heat.”

  “Any exercise is unpleasant for him full stop. He’s calling for a palanquin.”

  Shaking her head, Marie picked up Napoleon again. There’d still been no sign of a fix for his leg, and two fruitless hours later as the pair walked back into the guild, the best they’d found had been a paste used for filling gaps in wood, with the leg bound tight around it.

  The undead hound would not be participating in any dangerous activity for a while. It only occurred to her then that Gil might have had a solution.

  Something to check later.

  Three people were waiting for her when she got in, and she waved to the allagi [Hunters] and [Trapper] as she went to list the new goblin-clearing quest in the logbook. She turned to the [Receptionist] working the counter.

  “Rudi, I will go and pay the hunters. Would you mind adding this to the vault?”

  She held out the pouch of coins Gil had withdrawn from the council’s coffers and he took it without complaint.

  “No problem. Although, I wanted to ask you about the quest log.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “It’s just that I had a couple of people come in and hand in quests today, which was fine, but as they were both for the ongoing quests I wasn’t sure how to record them - there’s not a lot of space...”

  Flicking back a page in the book she saw what he meant.

  “Merde, I should have thought of that. Maybe we can add in a reference number for each quest and make a new line for each person that completes them? That will be all over the place though. I really should have made separate books for logging active quests and completed quests.”

  “Would you like me to do that?”

  “Can you? It seems like an awful waste.”

  “It’s fine. I can just [Reorganise Information] until you’re happy with how it works.”

  “Now that is a good Skill. Thank you, Rudi.”

  She almost skipped over to the three waiting allagi.

  Some parts of this world are fantastique.

  The allagi were smiling too.

  “Good evening, mon amis, I have payment for you!”

  She grinned at how wide their eyes went as she passed over the gold coins they’d earned. Gouging the council to cover the costs eased her mind over the guild expenses. If she wanted to keep this going she needed to make sure it was self-sufficient.

  As they pocketed their wages, Ashe spoke for the others.

  “That’s just the marble in the steak, Marie. Guess what we did last night - well, Sprig and me.”

  “You levelled?”

  “You’re damn right we did!”

  “We both got Skills too - Ashe got [Lesser Endurance] and I got [Friend-or-Foe Trigger]. I think that means you don’t have to worry about setting off my traps any more!”

  “That’s amazing!” Marie drew the young allagi into a hug, drawing a look of distaste from a passing man that she ignored. “If you want to check, the library has a huge list of Skills and what they do. As part of the guild, you can use those services for free, though they may ask to test some of your Skills in return if they need information on them,”

  She glanced at Ulfran but he gave her a wry smile. It seemed his efforts hadn’t warranted an increase to his level, although he had reached level 16 after the recent snapjaw fight, so she supposed he couldn’t be too downhearted.

  Dusty helped herself to some pastry wraps that were set out by the fireplace, which for once in the ever-present heat was off. She stiffened as Napoleon settled down by her feet but ignored the hound as much as she ignored the allagi.

  “Marie, how do these look?”

  Turning round to find Rudi standing with two immaculately labelled tomes, Marie took a half-step back.

  He positioned them on one of the tables and she flicked through to see the quest log perfectly split between the tasks that were available to adventurers and a list of ones that had been completed - along with the details of payouts and loot.

  “Mon Dieu that was quick!”

  “No sense waiting around. There are two quests pending completion - Ennie and Dorn came back to rejoin earlier - and I realised I hadn’t added the usual end-of-month task. The quicker the system is up to scratch the easier it’ll be to carry on.”

  “Well, good work Rudi. Is there anything else we need to do?”

  “There was the matter of the hangover cures. If we could get that sorted before the end of the month…”

  “Oiu, the adventurers are due back. They may celebrate a lot. Seeing as you have done everything else, I will go and see Madame Freya.”

  Despite the plan, there was actually more work to be done, not least working out how much of the hangover tonic she was going to try and buy and retrieving the coin for it. It was proving to be one of the more lucrative products the guild sold, even after only a few days. Taking a risk, Marie decided to sink more than half the gold she’d earned so far into a new batch.

  The others weren’t idle either. After Dusty made the barest semblance of an apology to Ulfran, she took the three allagi to the training yard for their hour of instruction and sparring practice she’d promised, but when Marie finished up the few bits and pieces she needed to, and announced she was heading to see Madame Freya, the tabaxi begged off her voluntary escorting of Maire for the day, claiming she had to check in with her family for dinner.

  Dusty wasn’t the only one to leave the group, as Marie deposited Napoleon in her office, patting him on the skull as he managed to give her a pining look despite not having eyes.

  “Do not give me that. You must rest and give time for the paste to work, if it is to have any chance at all of helping you heal.”

  Closing the door, she joined the three allagi in their walk across town to where the buildings grew smaller and the streets narrower.

  The Drowned Cat was one of the better kept establishments in the allagi section of the town. It might not have been the social centre for their people, or the place where their nominal spokespeople met to discuss important matters, but it was a popular drinking hole nonetheless.

  “Marie! Good to see you again. I heard from this lot that you ran into some trouble.”

  Algar threw his arms round her for a quick embrace as he directed her to the main bar, the smell of beer already on his breath.

  How does he know about the council meet- oh.

  “I hope your hunting expedition avoided the attention of the goblin tribe better than we did.”

  “No worries there, Miss [Scout]. Ulf and the others filled us in so we just headed further west. No sign of the greenskins there.”

  “What were you hunting?”

  “Springstep deer mostly. A few gloomhoppers. Tried to catch a flitskin but no luck.”

  A bottle of Marie’s favoured wine was shoved into her hands and Algar cleared space at one of the larger tables.

  “A toast,” Algar said, “to our latest levellers. To Ashe and Sprig.”

  Tankards clanked as the crowd cheered and drunk deep, and the head of the hunters turned to her.

  “What about you, Miss Marie. Were you blessed after the battle? Even if you weren’t, your drinks are on us tonight. Ulf told us how you held off the greenskins so they could get away.”

  Flushing bright red, Marie’s raised hand tried to ward off the compliments that came from the tavern patrons but they wouldn’t hear of it.

  “Really it was Dusty that brought us all out of there safely. I just hid behind her and kept up. I did level, but let us drink to Ashe and Sprig - their assistance brought us time. We should celebrate the [Hunters].”

  Ulf, more relaxed and happier than he had been the previous night, shouted out from by the bar.

  “You might not be a [Hunter] Marie, but you’re one of us.”

  “Aye - an honorary allagi!”

  Algar clipped the speaker round the ear, a grin plastered across his face.

  “None of that now. We don’t want to weigh her down.”

  Marie’s blush was so hot she could have cooked an egg on her face, but as the drinks started flowing the embarrassment faded and she soon had a different reason for her rosy cheeks.

  As the night grew late and the celebration finally started to fade, Marie managed to make her way to the bar for herself for once. The proprietor flashed her a quick smile as she rinsed out a glass.

  “Another, Marie?”

  Even with the festivities winding down, she still had to shout to be heard.

  “I do not think I could, Madame Freya. I was hoping to purchase some more of your hangover cure.”

  “Can’t take it now sweetie. Won’t do anything unless you’re already feelin’ sick.”

  “I mean, not for me now. Well, maybe for the morning. But I mean the guild. We have sold out of the first batch.”

  “I’m sure I can whip up a few more bottles. I’ve got a few ready to go and if you can get me a couple of ingredients in the morning, I can finish up another batch by tomorrow night.”

  “That would be wonderful.”

  The [Landlady] scribbled down what she needed and handed it over. As she did so, Marie considered the tavern. She knew the ground floor, nothing else, but there were stairs in the far corner.

  “Madame Freya. Does The Drowned Cat have rooms to rent?”

  “Aye dear.”

  “Are there any available?”

  “Usually one or two.”

  “Would I be able to let one?” Even in her drunken state, amidst the hubbub of the bar, Marie could see the hesitation in the allagi’s eyes. “Unless, that would be overstepping?”

  “Ah - not at all dear. It’s just, well it’s a little close to the end of the month. Perhaps we could discuss it after the full moon…”

  The fuzz in Marie’s head was blurring her thought process, but after a moment the meaning broke through.

  “Oh. Of course. Merde. I am sorry for asking so close…”

  “Don’t worry about it dear. It’s more for your own well-being.”

  It was only as she was stumbling back to the guild later that she realised she didn’t really know what happened at the full moon.

  Creeping in through the perpetually-open double doors, and sneaking to her office and the enthusiastic reception of Napoleon, she once again pulled the softest part of her rucksack under her head and passed out in the close heat of the summer night.

  [Secretary Level 14!]

  [Skill - Ledger Synchronisation gained!]

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