Roland was exhausted. He worked for City Lord Varsray out in the sticks to get away from all the political bullshit in and around the capital. Yet for the past week, he had been stuck monitoring the clandestine activities of that fool Senator Berkandis. He still hadn’t pieced together what the man was doing all the way out here.

  Unfortunately, while the Senator himself was a boisterous idiot, the only reason they knew he was here in secret, the men under him were competent. So he was stuck, knowing the man was doing something but not what. His best guess was that it had to do with the rumors that the senator lost his branded.

  Thankfully, thus far, it didn’t seem they were taking any actions against his own Lord, so for now, he let them be. In some ways, that only made it worse. If they crossed a line, he could stomp down and end the whole mess here and now. Until they did, he had to just sit on his hands and watch. Unfortunately, watching required pulling double shifts and tediously sifting through countless tiny pieces of intelligence, just in case they were planning to pull something. Needless to say, he was not happy when someone interrupted one of his few chances to get some much needed sleep by loudly knocking on his office door.

  “Sir Roland? Are you awake sir?” Roland could hear his aide and vice-captain from the other side of the door. His aide knew he was trying to get some sleep and was not to be disturbed. If she was bugging him, it had to be important.

  “I am now, come in,” he half shouted, half yawned in response, refusing to get up from the couch in his office. If he was lucky, he could just answer her question and return to his nap.

  With his permission, his aide entered the room, a plan-looking woman in her late twenties. She had bags under her eyes to match his own. So did most of his staff, for that matter.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Sir, we have a problem at the eastern gate that needs your attention”, his aide replied.

  In annoyance, he sat up and glared at his aide, “The eastern gate? What did an axle break on some farmer's cart?”

  “No, sir, from the report, there is a group of foreigners refusing to identify themselves.” The woman responded.

  “Foreigners?” he asked, feeling a headache coming on.

  His aide continued, “Yes, sir, while they may look a bit disheveled, the strength of their guards and the coin they offered to gain entry suggests they are a noble or some other prominent person.”

  “Any idea what country?” He asked as he stood up to grab his jacket. The eastern gate was only ever used by farmers and the rare hunting trip into the forest. That made the group suspicious to the point of being comical.

  “No, sir, the reports state they are a rather eclectic bunch. The guards are dragonewts, most of the servants appear to be contracted humans. The noble themselves is a woman, but between her heavy dress and a veil, no one has had a good enough look to guess her race.”

  “Stranger and stranger.” Roland mused to himself.

  “That’s not all, sir. There is one more item of concern. The last member of the group appears to be the noble woman’s aide. By all descriptions, he looks like your average overworked cleric.”

  “And the issue is?” Roland asked.

  “All the men report being unsettled in his presence. None of them could accurately describe what they were feeling, but a few of the older guards said it reminded them of being in the presence of a monster or powerful cultivator.” His aide finished her report, looking as confused as he felt.

  “Sounds like I'd better take my sword.” He said as he left for the scene.

  A short time later, he and his aide arrived at the gate. A few of the guards ran up to greet him with a salute.

  “Captain Roland, thank the goddess you’re here,” the man said, looking genuinely relieved.

  Roland returned the salute before realizing the reports didn’t even do the absurdity of the situation justice. He expected the noble to be in a carriage, but these people had only an old cart that looked like it belonged on a farm. Many of them were carrying obviously heavy loads on top of what was already in the cart. And by the look of the horse, its best days were long past, with the current load already pushing the poor mare to its limit.

  The dragonewt guards were obviously skilled fighters, likely lower-ranked cultivators. To the point that had a fight broken out before he arrived, there was a good chance his men would have been in trouble. On the other hand, they were obviously not guards for a noble. As they continued their shouting match with some of the younger members of the guard, it came across like this was all an act, just making it up as they went. There was an evident lack of etiquette one would expect from the staff of a noble.

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  He could see the supposed noble question likely shared his opinion. Based on her body language, she also looked pained by the comedy before her. It was like watching a scene of an overly dramatic play by some third-tier troupe.

  The aide next to her looked like he was dealing with his own headache as he massaged his temples. The man looked as exhausted as he felt, but when the man glanced towards Roland and eye contact was made, he instantly understood what the reports were trying to describe as Roland broke out in a cold sweat. Despite the man’s outward appearance, those eyes spoke volumes. If this turned into a fight, things would not end well for any of them.

  “When it rains, it pours…” Roland mumbled as he walked forward with his vice-captain to take control of the scene.

  Raising his voice so everyone could hear, “Alright, everyone, let’s all calm down. What seems to be the problem here?”

  “My magnanimous lady has decided to bless this city with her presence, yet these uncultured brutes refuse to clear the way”, one of the dragonewts, a woman, bellowed with flair. Glancing over, Roland could see the lady in question holding her face in her hands. Roland felt genuinely sorry for her at that moment.

  “We can deal with this civilly, men, stand down,” Roland ordered. Unfortunately for him, one of his own men, the young guard who was having the shouting match with the dragonewt questioned the order.

  “But sir! These people are clearly suspicious and armed at that. We can’t let them into the city,” he argued while he kept his hand on his sword. Roland had to fight the urge to backhand the idiot. If he couldn’t tell how poorly things would turn out should a fight happen, then that was a problem. Yes, he tended to station the less-experienced guards at the farmers' gate, but he still expected a basic level of competence. The man clearly lacked training. With a glance to his vice-captain he saw her take a note to do just that.

  “Look at the line, we have farmers trying to enter the city, but can’t. Get back to your post. I’ll handle the rest.” Roland ordered as he shot the man down. At least the fool got the point and gave a crisp salute before carrying out the order.

  Turning back to the strangers, Roland said, “If you would all follow me, we can discuss your business here in private.” Thankfully, they made no complaint and followed him, allowing the normal flow of traffic through the gate to resume. He took them to the guard house nearest the gate.

  “We have a room inside fitted with privacy wards. We can discuss further there. I do apologize if it’s not the nicest of rooms. We seldom have any persons of distinction visit through the eastern gate.” Roland explained as the ‘noble’, her aide, and the female guard followed him inside, along with an older foxkin man. The rest of the group stayed with their cart.

  After everyone was inside, his aide closed the door and activated the privacy rune. It cut off all sound from the outside world and vice versa. As they sat down, Roland started, not even trying to hide the annoyance in his voice, “Ok, could someone explain who in the world you all are and what you’re doing in my city?”

  “How dare you take that tone with our lady!” The dragonewt spoke up with the same painful performance she used with his guards outside.

  “Ryuko, stop please, just stop. Acting is not your strong suit”. The veiled woman finally spoke. Based on her accent or lack thereof, Roland was pretty sure she was from Kohdessia or at least some nearby nation.

  “Alright, Ve—I mean my Lady,” the dragonewt relented.

  Roland sighed, “She just admitted you were acting; I think you can stop pretending she is a noble”. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Roland felt a chill down his spine, and he slowly looked over to the source, the veiled woman’s aide.

  “Watch how you speak. Due to the circumstances, I will forgive you this once, but never again question our Lady’s legitimacy,” the man said as he glared at Roland.

  The veiled woman held her hand up in front of her aide, “Taythes, please don’t make this situation any more complicated by antagonizing Guard Captain Roland. Having a good relationship with him will make our lives much easier for the future business in Corinth.”

  “Wait, you really are a noble? And you know who I am?” he asked, confused while he tried to rack his brain to figure out who this person before him was.

  “I am, but only by marriage and a very recent one at that. Although not formally, we have met before.” The woman said.

  Roland looked up at his vice-captain to see if she had any ideas, and she simply shook her head no. Seeing that Roland looked back at the woman and asked, “Well, as it seems you have me at a disadvantage, miss?”

  The woman shook her head, “I’m afraid I will only reveal that to City Lord Varsray. If he decides to tell you, that is up to him.”

  Roland sighed, “You know you can’t get a meeting with the City Lord on the drop of a hat, especially if you won’t identify yourself.”

  “I am aware that it is an unreasonable ask. I can assure you the City Lord will understand if I am given the chance to explain. As a token of goodwill. I have a gift for him to show our sincerity”, the woman then looked to the Foxkin, “Farren, if you would”.

  Roland had nearly had enough of this. The fact that the strange aide was likely an extreme threat was the only reason he was still putting up with any of this. But a bribe, seriously? “Look, I don’t care how much gold you have, you can’t buy your way into a meeting with the City Lord.”

  “Who said anything about gold?” The woman smirked as the foxkin handed Roland a sealed document.

  “What is this?” He asked as he reached down to open the document and take a look. It only took him a minute to realize what he was reading.

  “How did you get this? Goddess, I don’t actually care how. Is it accurate?” he said as he handed the document to his aide, whose eyes went wide as she read the contents before safely filing it away.

  “It is, I gathered and wrote the information in that document myself.” The woman said, seemingly confident that she won. And as much as he hated to admit it, Roland had to agree. The document was a list of many of Senator Berkandis’s secrets and dirty dealings. It even had names and account numbers which could be used to verify its contents. What else could be said but, “Let me see if the City Lord is available.”