The coin for a carriage had been provided in the letter, and it had been decided that they would head out early the next morning. Leon had hardly been able to sleep the night, too excited for a chance to once again see the world he had been kicked out of so many years ago.

  Being the first one to the carriage stables, he paid the coachmen for the trip. From there, it was simply a matter of awaiting his companions. Syra arrived not too long after he had, and the two waited for Rayne.

  Despite the months of missions they had done together, and despite the fact that Leon did indeed consider her a friend, he and Syra were not all too good at small talk. There were some things that he would not have minded asking, such as the fact that her mother had apparently been an adventurer or what had happened to her. It was interesting information to have heard, and he would have liked to hear more, but alas, he had no idea how to broach the topic.

  So it was that they waited in silence until he could hardly handle it. “Have you made much progress on the Fortify Armament skill?” he asked, leaning against the walls of Torid.

  Syra looked over and gave a so-so gesture. “Kinda. I got it into my swords, but my gear’s being a bit more stubborn. I heard you got it pretty fast.” Her voice held no resentment or jealousy, she was merely stating a fact.

  “Only once Rayne had explained that it was a subset of my Flame Blade skill. From there, it was not too difficult to decouple the two. Should you wish, you are welcome to borrow my manual. It may help,” he suggested.

  Syra gave him a small smile. “Maybe, thanks.”

  With that the silence returned, slightly more bearable now that he felt he had contributed something.

  Not long after their silence resumed did Rayne appear. It had hardly passed dawn, which gave them plenty of time to arrive at the estate, have lunch, and then deal with the mines. The three climbed onto the coach, and were helpfully informed that it would be just under three hours to the estate.

  Inside, the coach consisted of two sets of benches on either side of the door, cushions placed atop them. The wood paneling of the interior was cheap and lacking any fancy engravings, but it provided a roof over their heads. Opposite the door was a small wooden slit they could open as a window, it was barely big enough to stick his arm through. Taking his seat, Leon found the cushions did little for the discomfort of the wooden benches. He would need to pencil in some time to stretch before they went into the mines.

  Syra fell asleep almost immediately after they took off, an impressive feat, he thought. The roads were uneven cobblestone riddled with potholes from lack of maintenance, and every couple feet, the coach would bounce wildly into the air, yet she slept like a lamb. Her sleeping also took over an entire half of their seats, which left Rayne and Leon to sit next to each other.

  His companion had asked to study the Flame Blade manual, which left Leon staring out the window as the outskirts of Torid passed them by. In the distance, he could see the faint line that was the Torid river. Ships were sailing atop it, and he wondered if hiring a boat would not have gotten them there faster. The note had called for a coach, though; perhaps the estate was not close enough to the river to have a proper dock.

  This mission was bringing up memories of his old estate. His family had been rural nobles as well, albeit much further away from a major city than this estate was. He wondered how similar the lands would be, how similar the lords would be. Eyes settled onto the distant river and the boats atop it, and he allowed his mind to wander.

  ~

  Leon was awoken with a start as the carriage stopped moving. Eyes glancing to the right, he noticed the brown hair that he was currently resting his head against, and promptly sat up straight. Luckily for him, it seemed that Rayne was still asleep and had rested his head upon Leon’s shoulder. The sudden movement of Rayne’s pillow slowly woke him up as he blinked away the dreariness.

  Looking across the coach, Leon noticed that Syra was still asleep. Thanking the gods that no one had been awake to see him and Rayne snuggle, he stood up to shake Syra awake. It was ridiculous how deep a sleeper she could be in a carriage, and yet she was always the first one awake when they camped out in the wilderness. It took three shakes before her eyes even opened, and she batted away his hand. Rubbing her eyes, she had just enough time to sit up before the coach’s door opened.

  Before them stood an opulent mansion framed with a large lawn meticulously kept cut, the only irregularity of the lawn being the cobble path and large stone fountain. Walking off the coach, the trio stretched their legs for the walk towards the mansion. Rayne and Syra seemed to be muttering about the chore of needing to walk to the mansion, but Leon was too entrapped by the display to chastise them.

  While true that his family had been rural lords, they had been poor rural lords. His lands had had only one or two villages bordering their neighboring kingdom, and there had been a small logging industry, but that had been all.

  This estate, though, was rich enough to operate mines; that fact alone ensured that he knew their status. The grand scale of their home only affirmed the fact. It was two to three times larger than the mansion he had grown up in, and was built of more impressive material. While his mansion had been made of cheap local lumber, this one was made of brick.

  His rapture was promptly disturbed as his teammates began walking towards the mansion, and he was forced to follow along. It was a shame they had arrived around midday as enchanted streetlight lanterns adorned the edges of the path and would undoubtedly provide a much more magnificent view when lit.

  Tuning into his companions' conversation, he was astounded by how they could ignore such artistry. Rather than comment on any piece of the well-kept estate, they instead complained about having to walk so far from the road. Did they not understand the entire point of such a walk was to display the owner’s wealth? The fact such a long yard could be maintained so immaculately was a testament to the noble’s status!

  Biting his tongue from educating his common-birth companions, he instead prepared himself to handle their upcoming discussion with the baron. Minutes later, they arrived at the front door to the mansion. Two towering oak doors with silver door knockers hanging near eye level stood before them.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Reaching up, Rayne gripped one of the rings and knocked it against the door three times. Leon was impressed that the man knew proper etiquette despite his obvious disdain of higher society. It was mere seconds before the door was opened, and a short maid curtsied before them while another held the door open with their head bowed.

  The curtsied one was a possum beastwoman, evident from her thin hairless tail. He had never seen a possum beastperson before. A Fictemortusiine—he believed they were called—they were quite rare when compared to the more populous Katiine or Caniine variant, or even the Ursiine variance.

  The one holding the door was also quite unique, she was dark skinned, and he suspected had red-hued eyes, characteristics of those from the Isle of Saunus. Saunus was quite far away from Vanoth, and while her people were not as rare as the Fictemortusiine, they were still an uncommon sight. He had only ever seen a handful around Torid, and they were typically merchants. Clearly, the baron had means.

  “We greet the Adventurers,” the two maids spoke in practiced unison, no doubt a sign of their impressive training.

  While he was happy for the service, it seemed that Rayne was not enthused. Syra, meanwhile, seemed almost uncomfortable with the situation.

  Just as Leon was about to return their bow and introduce themselves, he was beaten by Rayne. “Greetings, we have come to present ourselves to Baron Wilcoup.”

  Leon had never heard the man speak so eloquently, not to mention the fact that Rayne had actually bowed. So shocked was Leon that it took him a few seconds before he remembered he was supposed to bow as well.

  Bringing herself up from her bow, the possum maid addressed them with a smile. “Our lord has been expecting you. Please allow me to escort you,” she said.

  Stepping in, they were promptly met with more staff, three butlers and two more maids. All much more typical looking humans of the kingdom. That fact alone was not the only difference between them and the two maids who had greeted them; however, these new five all had surprisingly developed bodies based on what he could see through their uniforms.

  A closer look revealed a few injuries on their bodies as well: a butler favoring one leg, a maid keeping a shoulder and arm elevated, even some barely concealed wounds. Before he could think on their appearance anymore, his thoughts were interrupted.

  “Apologies, the baron will require you to stow your weapons with the staff before meeting him. Merely a precaution,” the fictemortusiine maid informed them.

  The trio dutifully handed their weapons over to the waiting attendants. The gaze in the butler's eyes was cautious, a far cry from the polite eyes of the two maids who had greeted them.

  Walking forward to follow the maid, the trio traveled deeper into the mansion, the five attendants following behind with their weapons. They continued in silence as Leon took in the manor.

  The interior of the mansion was almost more impressive than the exterior, with rich mahogany wooden walls and marble floors. They were led up a grand staircase bent around a large silver chandelier.

  “I am surprised a man of the baron’s means has decorated with silver rather than gold,” he commented.

  The maid turned her head to address him and smiled. “The silver mine is the heart of our lord's lands. You might say that his family bleeds silver,” she explained.

  So that was why. The silver served as an homage to the barony’s own heritage while also distinguishing the mansion from those of nobles with gold fever. Personally, he found the silver much more striking than gold; it had a quiet elegance to it. The more he learned about this baron, the more he was beginning to like him.

  Finally, they arrived before two more large doors. The maid wasted no time in opening them, which meant that the baron was already expecting them. Quickly, Leon straightened his pose and brought his hands behind his back. The doors opened into a large stateroom.

  Sitting near an empty fireplace was the baron, book in hand. The man was old, but only so much that his gray hairs and some wrinkles were beginning to become prominent. Leon would put his age somewhere around the fifties. The baron watched them with a kind expression. He handed off the book to a young male attendant standing behind his chair, and then gave a small smile towards them.

  The possum maid bowed. “The adventurers from Torid have come to greet the baron,” she announced.

  The baron waved her off. “Thank you, Merilda, you may be dismissed.”

  Standing upright she gave the trio a small nod before leaving them. Baron Wilcoup stood from his seat and walked towards them. Leon gave a swift bow, an action echoed by Rayne, and sloppily imitated by Syra a second later.

  “No need for formalities. Speed is of the essence here, not etiquette,” the baron told them kindly. “So long as the mines are occupied, we put into risk the livelihoods of my people, so let us dispense with niceties.”

  This is a noble, Leon thought to himself. To have the wellbeing of his population always at the forefront of his thoughts was a lord's first and primary objective.

  The baron gestured for his butler to come forward, and was handed a parchment scroll. “This will give you directions to the mine. Survivors suggest there were around twenty monsters present, goblins and kobolds apparently. They have had two days by now of full access to the mines, which I have been told means they may have set it up as a home, or a dungeon as you adventurers might call it. Should you be able to carry out the task within the day, I can provide you a gold coin in reward.”

  It was a generous commission. Most bronze-tier adventurers did not make a gold coin in a month, never mind in a single job.

  Rayne took the offered parchment gingerly, and gave a small bow in return. “That is very generous of my lordship. If there is nothing else, we can depart immediately.”

  The baron seemed impressed at Rayne’s courtesies, as was Leon to be honest. He had not been aware that his companion was capable of such refinement. It was a welcome sight, if somewhat irritating that he never deigned to treat Leon himself with such respect.

  “I do need to ask you to be discreet in whatever you may see in my mines. My competitors would pay good coin to know the delays in my operation. Should details leak out, it would put me in an unfortunate situation,” the baron informed them.

  Rayne nodded. “Of course, you may rely on our professionalism, I assure you.”

  “I would provide you with horses, but I am afraid the terrain of my land is ill suited for riding. You should make fine time walking nevertheless. I do apologize for the inconvenience.” He smiled apologetically.

  “It is of no issue, my lord, we are well experienced in trekking large distances,” Rayne replied.

  With one last smile, the baron turned and returned to his chair. “Good, then I look forward to your successful mission report. You may be off then,” he said.

  Turning, the trio left the stateroom, the butler closing the door behind them.

  While Leon may have been silent in their initial meeting, there was still plenty of time to socialize after the mission was complete. To attempt so while the baron was rushing them would have accomplished nothing but creating animosity. Rayne had handled the situation well, as surprising an occurrence as that had been.

  The Saunus maid greeted them and returned them to the front door. “I wish you well adventurers, may luck strike in your favor.” With those parting words, she closed the front doors on them.

  It was not until they had returned to the road did Rayne unravel the parchment map. The three of them huddled close to read it as one and see how far it was that they would need to travel.

  Tracing the path they would have to take with his finger, Rayne’s hand moved, and moved, and moved, until at last it stopped near the edge of the map and he let out a disgusted groan. “This is all your guys' fault.”