After a brief discussion, they decided that it wouldn’t be appropriate for Hector to march into the family’s main residence himself. Isabel agreed to serve as a messenger and went to arrange something. Meanwhile, Hector settled in among the people who had gathered for him. He chose a seat beside Riley.

  “You’re a surprise. Did Darius not want to come?”

  Riley’s eyes darted away as she answered. “Darius is around.”

  “Is he not getting along with the others?”

  “No, that’s not it.”

  Her mannerisms were so evasive that Hector abandoned that line of inquiry before things became more uncomfortable. “How was South City dungeon?”

  She perked up immediately. “After Svarga pulled out, the System brought in elites from all over. It was so nice, Hector. No lines and everyone actually knew what they were doing. Double rates for every delve, too. I think I might be rich now. Is four million a lot of credits?”

  “That’s quite a lot, Riley. You might not have to ever work again if you invested it. I don’t really know enough about investment rates on Union Central to say for sure.”

  Riley shook her head. “I might not ever be back to use my credits. This is crazy, Hector. When we met I didn’t think you were going to become such a big deal.”

  “This was all unexpected for me, too. If you remember, there is another world where I was famous. That never worked out quite the way I wanted it to.” He blinked. “That’s where I met Zelda. I can’t believe she’s here.”

  Riley wrinkled her nose. “Was she in those interviews the weird family made me watch?”

  “Yep. She was one of the girls in the love triangle with the pretty boy.”

  Riley’s cheeks turned red. “Oh yeah.”

  “I see you remember Malachi. Anyway, Zelda might be more memorable from the combat footage. She had the bat wings.”

  “I remember the wings.”

  Esther elbowed in between the two of them. “Enough of whatever you’re prattling about. Important matters need discussed. I think Isabel has a crush on the Sage of Persuasion. I’m putting fifty credits on them getting together. No one wants to bet against me, though. Are you in?”

  The Titan harrumphed. “These bets never go anywhere.”

  “Hector isn’t involved this time, so something might actually happen,” Esther countered.

  “I am going to decline the offer,” Hector said.

  Everyone continued with the rambunctious banter until Isabel returned. She planted herself in front of Hector. “They wish to pay their respects at once. The family is gathering.”

  Hector glanced down at the ill-fitting Jinn uniform he wore. His jacket fit poorly across the shoulders and the pants were tight at the hips. Perhaps he should have acquired some attire better suited to impressing petty nobles. “Maybe this wasn’t a great idea. I look like someone pretending to be a Mercom soldier.”

  Isabel frowned. “You are a level nine Xian with body, mind, domain, and aura all above the peak of eight. The weak locals will believe you almost a god – I speak of mythology and not the God level. In times past, it wasn’t uncommon for Xian to be worshiped when traveling.”

  “Sounds like a fun tradition,” Esther said. “Why did they ever stop?”

  “Because the Jinn told people the truth.” Isabel gestured for him to get moving.

  They walked towards the largest building, with arguably more casualness than was appropriate for their station. Then again, the retinue of the Lord General was never constrained much by expectations. Other than the main one in Amaratti culture: the boss was always right.

  A servant opened the double doors at their approach, bowed deeply, and then guided them towards a ballroom set up like they expected a great many guests. There were a dozen nobles seated in a row of chairs at one end of the dance floor who stood and executed bows slightly deeper than their station should dictate. A middle-aged woman among their number lagged behind just a hair in standing, seeming to struggle.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Hector gave a brief nod of acknowledgment. Before he could say anything, Isabel took the lead. “Honorable members of the Thrush family, I present to you the Lord Dragonbane.”

  They had good poker faces. That was obvious. No one blinked when a level nine man was introduced as a Lord. Maybe they knew to expect shenanigans when the individual in question arrived upon a Jinn vessel and in the company of Arahants. Also, no one present was higher than level four – their body enhancement lagged behind at closer to level one.

  The eldest woman present stepped ahead of her peers. “We welcome you to our humble estate, Lord Dragonbane, and ask that you make yourself at home until our benefactor arrives.”

  “I appreciate your hospitality. How should I address you?”

  Those present, whom Hector realized now were the Thrush equivalent of a family council, went down the line, giving their names. Hector was only able to retain two of them. The eldest woman was Helen. And the woman who hobbled about introduced herself as Jemmi.

  When the introductions were complete, Hector turned towards the lame woman. “Jemmi of the Thrush family. Did you attend academic competitions at the Evergreen Institute?”

  Jemmi’s eyes went wide. “Long ago in my youth, Lord Dragonbane. The Evergreen Institute has not existed for quite some time, I’m afraid.”

  “I am a dreamer, Jemmi. The memories I received were from a ward of the Shaocheth family who you would have known as Harridan. He was a foreigner who competed in calculations.”

  The woman’s expression had not gone back to normal. She seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown from the attention directed her way. “I recall the ward fondly, Lord Dragonbane. I believe he was training to be a footman in service to the Lord General.”

  “Fortunately for him, the Jinn withdrew from war and his services as a footman were no longer required. He became a porter instead.” Hector turned away from Jemmi, not wanting to trouble her more than he already had. “Who is the benefactor you spoke of? I was not involved in coordinating this meeting.”

  The elderly woman bobbed her head. “That would be the Lord Platinum.”

  “Oh. Yes. I see. Thank you for your time.” Hector turned to the person standing closest to him, who was Isabel. “I guess we can head out now?”

  Before anyone else could take the lead, Esther blocked his path. “Maybe we should get some more information about this situation first. How is the Thrush family related to the Lord Platinum?”

  “She is our benefactor, Master…?”

  “Master Esther. What does it mean for her to be your benefactor?”

  “The Lord Platinum provides us resources in exchange for services, Master Esther.”

  “What kinds of services?”

  The family exchanged nervous looks. “I’m afraid we are sworn to secrecy on the details of our transactions. The only example I can provide is the current situation, where we are providing a venue for the Lord Platinum to meet with foreigners.”

  Hector nodded towards the door, trying to clue Esther in that he wanted to get out of there immediately. Instead, Piercing chose to take things in a different direction. “Hey. Jemmi with the leg. How come you’re a cripple? Doesn’t seem on brand for a Xian.”

  Faced with attention once more, Jemmi shrank in on herself. “It is a childhood injury that did not heal right, master.”

  “I’m a Sage, not a master.”

  Everyone seemed lost about how to resume conversation, which let Hector take the lead once more. “Thank you for your time.” He began walking out and his retinue followed.

  They kept quiet until they were out the front door, whereupon Esther exploded on Piercing. “What was that? You insulted one of our hosts for no reason.”

  “Calm down, woman. You might like playing detective, but Hector wanted out of there. I got the job done well enough. What is the deal with this Platinum Lord Lady? Are we running?”

  Hector sighed. “I have a complicated past with her. I ruined one of her tournaments and she wanted me dead. Then I bought her off with a priceless resource and she forgave me. More recently, I killed one of her key subordinates. I’m not sure if she knows it was me or not. Better safe than sorry, though.” He raised a hand to his earpiece. “Cruiser Erin? How soon can we leave?”

  The voice of the cruiser came to him. “Perhaps you should trust Foresight, Lord Dragonbane. Failing that, it is worth noting that your retinue and Jinn escorts are far from useless in a fight. The Sage of Conflagration by himself is quite formidable. Though at the moment he is preoccupied with a flamethrower and a copse of trees I hope our hosts will not greatly miss.”

  Quickly he did a survey of his group. Riley, Esther, Isabel, Ajax, Piercing, and Conrad. Zelda and Restoration were in the medical bay. Conflagration was out burning things, of course. Darius was around somewhere. Was that everyone? He remembered that Persuasion had been mentioned. “Is the Sage of Persuasion here?”

  Cruiser Erin answered. “She is in a shuttle with some of my soldiers. They are doing reconnaissance of the area to ensure the world is as neglected as it appears.”

  “I really don’t feel comfortable meeting Platinum again.”

  “Foresight believes this meeting will be safe. Further, I feel confident in my ability to deter the Lord Platinum. My lasers may not be a threat to her, but members of her retinue would need to take me seriously. It would be a battle of attrition. According to the dossier I have on her, she avoids direct confrontation. Every data point suggests this meeting carries little risk.”

  When they reached the pavilion once more, Hector sat and let his head droop down to his hands. The arguments of Cruiser Erin made a lot of sense. His gut feeling, however, told him he needed to avoid the woman after killing Percival.

  He would give himself a few hours to calm down before making a decision.