"Nothing here as well." nadion sighed. "The lack of magical progress in the last seven hundred years is disheartening. Your mages managed to lower the requirents for Forgemastery and streamline the process for mass production, but that's it. There's not a spark of originality in this junk."
"With all due respect, Magus nadion, this is standard equipnt." Thaas replied. "It's designed to perform well for the average mber of the Knight Guard. It's not customized to my particular skills or needs.
"That kind of artifact is left to us to Forgemaster after accumulating enough battle experience." Every mber of the Knight Guard was a Mage Knight and was supposed to learn Forgemastery over ti.
For those who lacked talent, there would always be at least one squad mate capable of doing it for them.
"Also, the enchantnts on our equipnt are supposed to be a state secret. They are protected with state-of-the-art cloaking runes. You weren't supposed to crack them, let alone study them."
The captain had handed nadion his spear only to be polite, believing she wanted to examine the craftsmanship, not the magic imbued in the weapon.
"Young man, this is no secret. At least to ." She replied. "Your weapon is based on one of my old designs and it has been barely modified. As for your cloaking runes, if you call that 'state-of-the-art' I'm sorry for you."
Thaas narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, ready to defend the honor of the Kingdom and the Knight Guard.
"She ant no offense, Captain." Solus stepped in before he could say a word. "My ancestor is still getting used to interacting with people after being dead for a long ti and she tends to be blunt from ti to ti."
"On top of that, what did you expect would happen when you handed an artifact to a legendary Forgemaster?" Yerna snorted. "What looks like a complex rune pattern to us must be nothing but a puzzle to her."
"Don't worry, Captain. Your secrets are safe with ." nadion said and Solus nudged her mother before she could add anything else.
"Thanks, ma'am." Thaas replied.
'Why did you nudge ?' nadion asked via a mind link.
'Because I could hear the insult coming.' Solus said.
'What insult?' nadion said in outrage. 'I was just about to say that I won't bother rembering sothing so simple and no one I know is desperate enough to need that crap.'
'Yeah, right. Try to say that again while keeping in mind you are talking with a soldier who's proud of his country and about the weapon that saved his life countless tis.' Solus had a hard ti keeping the sarcasm out of her voice.
'Oh.' nadion was genuinely baffled. 'When you put it that way, I sound like an obnoxious prick.'
'You're welco, Mom.'
"Are you sure? Nothing? At all?" Lith asked Havya in disbelief.
"I just double-checked, sir." She replied. "If the cartel has informants, it's not inside the Association. The news about your arrival was kept from anyone else to narrow down the list of potential sources of leaks to the minimum."
"And it worked." Lith nodded. "We still have the advantage of surprise but it won't help as much after the first raid. We need to make it count."
***
It was an evening like any other at the Roaring Lion.
Like most of the popular district's taverns, the place was nothing fancy and far from spotless, but the food was decent and the beer cheap. The main entrance led to an ample room where most of the space was occupied by square tables surrounded by wooden chairs.
The counter was on the west wall and spanned most of its length, keeping the top-shelf liquor safe from the occasional brawls, thieves, and an drunks. The door right next to the counter led to the kitchen.
When barmaids and waiters crossed it, they kept the door open a few seconds longer than necessary to let the sll of food waft through the air and increase sales. On the west wall, there was the door to a restroom with many stalls and urinals.
It allowed the clients to keep drinking until their pockets were empty.
Most of the tables were occupied by people trying to forget about their daily woes or add a few copper coins to their wages through gambling. The regulars had little to gain and lose.
Only those with deep pockets were allowed past the door on the north wall where the owner's office was supposed to be and the real money changed hands.
A short whistle from outside signaled the arrival of undercover soldiers, making the winners curse and the losers sigh in relief. All unfinished bets were considered a draw and the money returned to their initial owners, no matter if they were just one dice or card reveal away from losing what little they had left.
Dice and cards disappeared in the jackets and illegal substances were brought out from the secondary exit of the kitchens.
By the ti Yerna and the others walked through the door dressed in civilian clothes, there was nothing left to see.
"This is Major Yerna of the Royal Constable office of Kophar!" Her plain commoner dress shapeshifted into her uniform as she spoke. "Remain seated and don't try to run away. The place is surrounded and our agents will respond with extre prejudice."
Only one of the two won with her was a Royal Constable. The clothes of the other one shapeshifted into the full suit of armor of the Knight Guard just like those of the four n accompanying them.
The patrons' initial annoyance at the intrusion turned into baffled silence and then into a glare aid at the officers.
Raids of the local militia were nothing new but Royal Constables always ant trouble. Yet the short whistle ant only a small group of officers had approached the Roaring Lion.
There were many sentinels outside and it was unlikely they had all failed to notice a massive ard force surrounding the place. Either the woman was bluffing or the Royal Constable office had gone all-out.
The only thing the patrons knew for certain was that things were about to get ugly.
Militias would co and leave after finding nothing. Even if they found sothing or soone, it was easy to send them scurrying after roughening them up a little. Knight Guards didn't fold easily and, if one of them died, dozens would hunt the murderer down to the ends of Mogar.
"Get out." A giant of a man, over two ters (6'9") tall and with arms thicker than most legs, defied Yerna's orders and stood up. "There's nothing for you here. Do yourself a favor and leave."
His voice was calm but in the silence of the tavern, it sounded ominous.
"I don't take orders, sir. I give them." Yerna pointed her finger at the office's door. "Bring everyone in there and stop them from destroying evidence!"
Two n of the Knight Guard moved forward while the other three ford a shield wall around the Royal Constables.
"I warned you." The man inhaled deeply and jumped over the table and above the rest of the custors, his bald head missing the high ceiling by a hair breath.
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