When we got to the guild, I left Elayne and Zaion alone to collect their gear. I found out that Tingle and his friends had made it back safely and given me the majority of the rewards from the fight. My share was valued around 30,000 PEC or double that in Guild Credit.

  I took the credit and made a note of it to myself. PEC was nice, but there would probably be some interesting things I could buy from the guild. It also wasn’t my primary concern, just a side errand since I was there, so I didn’t want to get too involved.

  Rather, I’d come up with a couple of stupid plans on our ride and wanted to see if I could put one of them into action. So, I went up to the guild counter to see about putting a quest up. The process was actually more involved than I’d initially thought, but eventually a clerk took me to one of the meeting rooms after learning what I wanted. I sat at the table and started filling out forms.

  Several minutes later, the door opened again and an annoyed cooing could be heard from the guildmaster as he came inside, Maximilian following behind and closing the door after them. Pathos stood on the other side of the table. “You want to do what?!”

  I looked up at him and couldn’t help the slight pull of a smile. “I’m submitting a request to the guild.”

  “Lady Rosecrest…” Pathos said, putting both hands on the back of a chair and leaning forward, “We cannot do anything that is actively against the law. We can’t just go around…”

  I held up a finger to interrupt him. “I have no intention of suggesting you break the law. Hear me out before objecting.”

  The man’s feathers puffed up, but he took a deep breath and sat down, motioning with one hand for me to proceed. Maximilian was looking around the room as if expecting some form of trap.

  “I’ve read the report on the incident yesterday.” I started. “There were over a dozen unregistered men and women wearing collars and involved in the attack. There were a couple captured, but I don’t have access to those reports. What I do know is that means that there were over a dozen collars left unattended and put to nefarious use.”

  Pathos rolled his wrist, motioning for me to continue.

  “I figure, that kind of thing isn’t great, so I wanted to put a bounty up on unattended collars.” I slid the filled out guild request form. “I don’t expect anyone to go freeing slaves or stopping the practice. Just to collect collars that people find and turn them in.”

  “To you?” Pathos said, brow furrowed as he read over my quest. Then his eyes widened slightly as the prompt appeared:

  Cleaning Up the City

  People have been leaving dangerous goods lying around for anyone to take. With the rash of violence against the sentient trafficking industry, many of their tools have been left unattended and could do serious damage in the wrong hands. Please, collect them and turn them into your local Adventurer Guild Branch so they can be disposed of properly.

  Moderator Thorn

  “This is a system quest…” He said slowly, looking up at me slowly.

  “It would seem so.” I replied. “I take it that it’s not supposed to do that when I fill one of these forms out.”

  They both didn’t respond, reading through it. Pathos was the first to recover. “What is the reward?”

  I pointed at the amount I wrote down, “I was going to suggest 50 PEC per collar, or a larger amount in Guild Credit, if that’d get more people involved.”

  Maximilian nodded as he read over Pathos’ shoulder. “It will. It’s not enough to get people robbing carts or killing slaves for their collars… but it’ll incentivize people to keep an eye out. Though I’d have to check the market price for the collars themselves.”

  “Considering what it costs to buy a slave, I can’t imagine it’s a lot.” I said, pulling one out of my Spatial Closet and setting it on the table. “Most of the ones I’ve seen have been like this, even on people I see out in the streets. The enchantment is probably the most expensive part, since the metal…” I took it and started to bend it with my bare hands. The lights of the enchantment sparked a couple of times before burning out once I’d twisted it into a tight spiral. I stared at it, frowning, “Is worse than I thought…”

  Pathos reached over and grabbed it from me. I watched him start to twist it, struggling from the effort, and when he couldn’t he offered it to Maximilian, “I do not see a problem enstating it at the 50 PEC per collar rating. I will increase the Guild Credit to four times the PEC value instead of the usual three.”

  I blinked at the birdman in surprise. “Really?”

  “Despite living in this country, I do not enjoy certain aspects of its laws.” Pathos responded, taking a pen and making his own marks on the page. “I will certainly not complain about the destruction of such foul objects.”

  I let out a relieved sigh, “Well, that’s good. I hadn’t expected you to help, just… not hinder.”

  Maximilian snorted, “He’s not the one who gets to deal with the fallout, and I have no problems with stirring the pot.”

  Pathos cleared his throat, “Regardless, if there is nothing else, I will set this to be posted alongside the rest of the standing orders.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “I was also wondering if I could talk with someone about tracking down someone.” I said before they could move. “I’ll be doing my own search, but help might be useful.”

  “We are already searching for Paige’s whereabouts with the full cooperation of the city guard. There is a standing order for information on her location as well.” Pathos said, eyes softening, “I know you likely have this need to do everything you can to help find her, but focus on what only you can do.”

  I blinked, “Wait, you are? I wasn’t going to ask about that, but it’s good to know.”

  The bird’s brow furrowed again, “Then who…”

  “A slave I purchased a few days…” I thought about it, “Has it been a week yet?” I shook my head, “Not important, I set him free, but I want to deliver a message to him.”

  “Hm… Maximilian?” Pathos looked over his shoulder, “That should be in your area. Do you want to take over and I’ll get to work filing this?”

  “Sure thing, boss.” The man in the patchwork cloak said, moving out of Pathos’ path to to door. “And bump the funding for it up to 50,000 PEC. It looks better than 30,000.”

  “It’s your crystals, Maximilian.” Pathos said, getting up and heading out.

  When he was gone, Maximilian closed the door and took the vacated seat. Then he leaned back and popped his boots up onto the table. “So, you want to talk to the Pedo Poacher?”

  I couldn’t help be snort at the name. “I’m sorry?”

  Maximilian waved a hand dismissively, “I got comissioned by the guard already to look for him. I haven’t really put any effort into it, since most of the victims associated with him have been found with nearby children in not so child friendly environments.” The man shuddered, “Seriously, why are there so many hidden basements in this city?”

  My expression soured, but I asked, “How many?”

  “Kills? Six so far. Enough that the guard wants an extra set of eyes, but it’s not a big enough concern to lock places down.” Maximilian smirked, “One guy was strung up upside down and opened up crotch to throat and was only found cause of the smell.”

  “Seems a little vicious.” I commented.

  The other man lost all humor in his voice, “He had a collection of skulls in his basement in a room full of occult shit. The skulls were from kids. Guy went out too easy.”

  I thought about it, “Probably would have removed his nails first.”

  Maximilian barked out a laugh as he leaned forward, feet leaving the table. “I wouldn’t have thought of that. Had a few bad times when a nail tore off while climbing, can’t imagine it’d be fun if done intentionally.”

  “The person I train with likes to hit hands.” I said, trying to avoid playing with my fingers as I thought about Grimoire hitting them whenever we sparred. “Doesn’t matter what weapon.”

  “Ouch.” He winced, “Though it’ll probably save your life.”

  I nodded, “So, can you track him down?”

  “Might take a couple days. You just want to get him a message, right?” Maximilian pulled a notepad from a pocket on his cloak, “Do you have something written, or just want me to tell it to him?”

  I thought about what I actually wanted to say. “I want to hire him to help with finding Paige. I figured he would have skills and not be as… restricted as the guild or the guard.”

  The man wrote a few things down, “Payment?”

  “To be discussed.” Sighing, I rubed at the bridge of my nose, “And I should probably figure somewhere out for the discussion.”

  “I recommend a restaurant.” Maximilian said. “I can suggest a couple places and inform you when or if he wants to meet up, that work?”

  I shrugged, “Sure. How much do I owe you?”

  He waved a hand, “No charge. I’m not gonna pretend to know how important you actually are, but if this pans out and you owe me a favor, I feel like that’d be worth more.”

  “Wait, really?” I was surprised, “Just like that?”

  A few more notes were written down, “Why not? It’s not like I lose in this scenario regardless of what happens.” He stood and then put his notepad and pen away. “Now, I’ll go get started. I trust you can find your own way out.”

  When I nodded, Maximilian left, apparently eager to get going. I followed soon after and collected everyone, heading back to the manor.

  After the guild, we all returned to the manor. There was a brief dinner and then we gathered in one of the larger lounges. The plan was to organize our information and figure out our next steps. The only person missing from the meeting was Zaion, who had taken the bodies from my Spatial Closet, the people and insects, to feed to his mushrooms which had supposedly started to wilt.

  I let them know about what I’d done at the guild. Elayne called my efforts with the collars a waste of time, but that was the only complaint. Calmar had more concern over the murderer I was trying to get in touch with. “Grimoire, don’t you have contacts you could use to look for miss Paige?”

  The butler finished pouring me a drink and made a curious sound, “I could… but I actually agree with Lady Dani. The freed slave will have fewer strings attached, better mobility, and more importantly won’t paint a massive target on the girl when we find her.”

  Porter snorted, “Not if?”

  The air seemed to chill, but I ignored it as I took a sip, perking up at the slight bitter taste. After no one responded after a while, I looked around the room, “Have we gotten any information on whoever is helping Jason?”

  “Xaihen General Conglomerate. It’s a group of merchants with their hands in a bunch of industries. Construction is one of their main concerns, but they’re involved with everything from fabrics to enchantments.” Calmar looked like he’d bitten into something sour, “People too, both enslaved and not. It’s a branch of an old family a couple countries counter rotation.”

  “So… a lot of funds?” I asked.

  Calmar held a hand in front of him and wobbled it left and right, “Yes and no? They’ve an office here, but their headquarters for the region are closer to the capital. I’ve asked a few people, and they’ve been looking to move their headquarters. It could be why they’re looking at Jason David, even without the quarry being involved.”

  “If they already have somewhere near the capital… why bother moving?” Elayne asked.

  “Town Crystal access.” Calmar said. “They’ve been denied one by the emperor, and everyone else is too scared to go against him. This has been going on since before I’d been born, so I don’t know much about the finer details.”

  “They’d get a lot of power if they got ahold of one.” I said, nodding slowly. “Do we know where their office is?”

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked over to Deacon, “Dani, we aren’t quite at the visit their office part, yet.”

  I waved his hand off my shoulder, “I don’t plan to pay them a visit. I’m not exactly skilled at subtlety.”

  “Plus, we’ve got a party to plan for.” Calmar reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter. “Germaine finally sent these out. It’s this weekend.”

  I flopped back in the seat. “Damn it. Do I-”

  “Yes.” Porter, Deacon, Calmar, and Elayne all responded to the question I hadn’t finished. I took a long drink to stop myself from complaining about it.