When Last Night Didn't End

8.3

"What made you change your mind?" Cavya asked.

I rolled my shoulders as I sank down my usual seat. Without the other three, the room had a different energy to it. "I figured we need the workforce," I said. "We might be able to entice them to blend with us should their levels be high enough."

A glint flashed in Cavya's slitted eyes. "Or, we could have them duel me and whoever wins gets automatically drafted in."

"Very funny, Cav," I said. "What if they lose? Would you ban them from joining any party in Dragnasand too?"

"Wait, is that how you got in?" Trink interjected, apparently watching the whole conversation play out. "Did you beat someone who's one step to becoming a Master? Wow."

"Don't inflate his head further, Trink," Seline had her arms crossed, her frown deepening. "I don't even know why someone like him managed to be ranked a Noble when I started from the bottom."

Cavya turned to her. "Valdyrsi tend to score high in their assessments due to the nature of their magic and special skills. Sadly, there's not a lot of them who are adventurers," he twined his gloved hands together. "If you ask me, it's better that way. They're such a pain to deal with when it comes to friendly matches."

Seline snorted. "With you on that one," she said. "For once."

Cavya hummed—a clear sign of him approving someone's character. Huh. Seeing how easily Seline managed to sway our leader's perception easily reminded me why I had thought I admired her since the start. There was just this...sharpness in her I couldn't quite place.

"So, what's going to happen now?" I asked him. "Do I just hop onto the lobby and make it official?"

Cavya stood up and plucked a couple of glass plates from one of the shelves lining the room. He passed me one and kept the other for himself. Holding it in my hands and watching magigraphs float across the surface, made me think of the touchscreen gadgets we have at home. This one, with its size and thickness, resembled a tablet.

"Have them record their old data in there," Cavya instructed. He tapped around with his own and showed us the exact sequence for it. Why were we not getting the staff in the lobby to process this registration? Strange.

I followed his instructions and passed the tablet around. As I waited for them to finish, I turned to Heather. "Remember that our goal is to raise your ranks so you could eventually make it on your own," I said. "If one of you reaches the Veteran rank, this arrangement is considered terminated. Are you amenable?"

Heather bobbed her head. "All clear, boss," she gave me a mock salute of touching her shoulder with the opposite hand. Was that how they greeted each other in Raventhorne?

A beat of silence passed the room by. Eventually, the tablet made it back to me. I scrolled through all of the data they put. I happened to settle on Seline's form. Her rank was...Lower Artisan. I whipped towards Heather. "Doesn't Raventhorne have lower standards when it comes to approving promotions for scouting parties?" I asked. "You could qualify for an adventuring party there."

Heather clicked her forked tongue. "That witch, Karmi," she said like it explained everything. From my periphery, I noticed Cavya's shoulders flinching like he was tasered from behind. Was there something with the name? "She made sure we don't have anything to do with Raventhorne. I wasn't sure why."

Revery sniffed in disdain and folded her hands over each other. Her blue hair was pulled up in a loose bun, showing off her pointy ears. "Forgive Heather's choice of words," she said. "It's just that Raventhorne's guild rules didn't really line up with our circumstances."