Chapter 71 – Spring
Winter was finally coming to an end, and the first sign was that the icicles hanging from the tree branches began to shorten day by day, melting and dripping onto the ground. Then, the second sign of spring was how the snow lost its brightness, turning gray at the edges of the paths, as the melting revealed the ground and all the disciples, walking by, disturbed it more and more, mixing the two together. There was no more fresh snow to cover it up, and as the air got warmer and warmer, winter got chased away for real.
The final sign was that one morning, when Siu walked out of his abode, he heard water begin to run down the mountain paths, forming steady trickles that cut through the Sect, filling the creeks and small rivers, many of which were also frozen until now. Not that he paid much attention to it, because his mind was occupied by other things... Mostly thanks to the fact that by the time the first green shoots pushed through near the outer edge of the sect, the Spirit Wardens had reached fifty members.
"Master, you had a bad dream again?" Marly asked, balancing on his shoulder, while Arya was sprawled out on his head, half-asleep, groaning about having to wake up so early. The sun wasn't even up yet!
"No, I didn't, why?" He asked, starting to walk towards the training grounds to get in a set, going through all the forms he had been practicing, right before the sun rose completely, the only time he felt he could have some peace.
"You were mumbling numbers... and you looked... weird." Marly muttered, scanning his face, "You were like a squirrel... not remembering where his stash was..."
"Errr... I was simply busy even in my sleep, it seems." He shrugged, shaking his head.
Busy... more like overwhelmed. That was the only thing he had to say about it all. With more members came the need to keep an eye on more people, look over more parchments stuck to the main floor of their tower, and answer more... more, and even more questions. It forced him to adopt a new method, something that already worked inside the sect, within the Mission Hall.
Since last week, everything has been beginning to be handled through only and ONLY through posted slips and announcements. If someone had a direct question for one of the core members, which usually meant him, they had to pay for the privilege. Of course, everyone had one free question per month, but any more than that... they would have to spend CC; otherwise, nobody would have any time to cultivate, which made even Neya complain. That was the final sign that something had to be done.
Seemingly, the stopgap of introducing fees for questions worked, because in just a day, everyone used up their free quota, and only the truly important ones or those who took it seriously were willing to pay for the time of the core Wardens. The moment it showed how effective it was, most of the new members had become what Milli bluntly labeled as... 'floaters.'
It was an apt name, as they paid their five Ember Crystals, but they attended no meetings if they hosted one; they never really walked into the tower itself to talk to the other members, aside from wanting to see if there was anything signaling that Siu would bring people into the forest. They also ignored the posted coordination slips, which encouraged the members to work together, to get to know each other, and skimmed announcements only to ask for one thing:
“When will be the next forest outing?”
“Will there be another bonding opportunity?”
“Are we going deep this time?”
Of course, Siu never answered them openly, simply repeating the same, monotone, memorized answer: "When it happens, it will be posted on the bulletin board."
"Master, your thoughts are booooring..." Arya suddenly moaned, "It's all about conversions, and contribution points and... whatever else... ugh... Start thinking about breakfast! Meat! Or girls! Yeah... be a healthy man, Master! You will go... limp!"
"Good morning to you, too," Siu answered out loud, shaking his head, noting that Arya was finally awake.
"Master, Big Sis is right, you know." Marly agreed with her, "You do sound boring when you think."
"Sorry to be your boring Master. Want me to set you both free?"
"NO!" They screamed out at once, making Siu chuckle but also feel grateful for their firm answer.
"Deal with it for a bit," he continued, reaching up to pat their head. "We will be fine soon enough."
And he meant it, because with Rinmei and the Twins, he was working on an inner system that would openly count members' contributions; in fact, they were already converting them, as among the fifty, roughly twenty of them actually took it seriously, and they have been working with them to smooth things out. By now, those actual members were constantly using the internal request board and coordinated only through the Wardens and their core members, rather than through the Mission Hall. They not only took the slips Milli and Nilli put up weekly, but also posted their own supply needs, grouped up for assignments when they went into the forest, and began routing carcasses they got, sending them exclusively through Neya and her friends, who also joined the Wardens.
More than that, they were the first to be notified when Cal'Fia sent Siu invitations to jointly hosted hunts, which were then passed down amongst them before being posted to the Wardens' bulletin board. Soon, those who took the Wardens seriously, not just hoping Siu would gift them a spirit beast, began realizing that the subscription fee they had paid was already earned back... more than that, they were making enough to start paying off their debts... or never get into one in the first place.
And those two emerging outcomes were something that the Stone Ward collectors were beginning to notice. At first, they realized that fewer and fewer hunted beasts were landing with those whom they had on their payroll. Then, soon, every hunt that the Ember Circle or the Spirit Wardens did was always something they got to know about much later, unable to interfere... It was becoming more than just a coincidence, and they couldn't do anything about it, unless they wanted to stir up trouble, which could affect actual Sect-maintained jobs... And not even they were stupid enough to risk angering an Elder. Then, just within three weeks after noticing the change, three disciples who had previously owed Stone Ward money began reducing their debts.
Of course, it didn't happen dramatically, paying it off in one go, but in chunks, and by the end of the winter, two of these people had paid off their debt, even though they tried and raised the interest at the last minute. That was impossible under normal conditions...
"When rivers change course, those who drink from them feel it first."
Said Arya, apparently reading it somewhere when Siu was flipping through books inside the library... And Siu had to give it to her; it sounded way too smart, especially put next to her usual antics.
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Inside the office of the Stone Wards, down in their mineshaft that was turned into a proper room, Bren Tarr held a ledger, scrunching his brows together. Finally, after months of this going on, at the start of spring, his men brought him the bad news... Not only did the Ember Circle keep shrugging off all their underhanded manipulations, but the Spirit Wardens were also growing into an actual issue. Three names had been struck off their debt list, two more had made advanced payments, while four others had requested renegotiation.
The common thread?
Spirit Wardens. Not all of the people slipping through their fingers were members of the Wardens, but they had friends there... And it wasn't hard to guess that they also wanted to join now, waiting to save up enough to pay their first three month of subscription fees. Seeing how someone they befriended could even help them out, without batting an eye, it was the only logical thing to do and sign up. It was better to owe their friends or the Wardens than to owe Stone Ward after all!
“Interesting,” Bren muttered to himself, but he did not shout or begin slamming his fist on the table. “Quite... Interesting.”
"It's bad..." One of his lieutenants said, making Bren nod.
"It is, and it isn't something I would have thought this Just Siu would come up with. I underestimated him... What about our spies?"
"They are working and should be... well..." He hesitated, "They are in, but none of them got into their inner circle yet."
"I didn't have hope for that to happen this quickly." Bren nodded, "We will still focus on the Ember Circle, but keep looking towards these Wardens. They are dangerous."
"There is one spy who was amongst the first to get in, and with his hard work," his lieutenant added suddenly, as if he just remembered, "he got himself close to the core of their members, I mean, to their recruits' core, not the actual... core... Their naming scheme is horrendous..."
"Does this spy have a name?" Bren asked, looking at his book, ignoring the unnecessary comments.
"Larren? Karren? Varren? Something like that..." The lieutenant muttered. "One of ours has a connection to him. A pathetic spy, he is, but a useful one, so far that is. I can summon his retainer, Boss."
"Do that." Bren nodded, "I think I have a mission for him..."
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Back at the Wardens’ tower, Siu sat with Rinmei and Neya as they were reviewing the updated member activity.
“Twenty-eight of the current members stayed inactive in last week's operations,” Rinmei reported, “But we still have twenty consistent contributors.”
“And they are getting better and better,” Neya added happily, "I think they are actually loyal."
“Don't rush ahead that much.” Rinmei warned her, "Two of the twenty are Stone Ward spies... Not counting Varren, of course. No wonder they are active."
"Too bad none of them came to us like Varren did." Siu leaned back, rubbing his face, feeling his eyes getting tired. “What about the third spy Lorean pointed out?”
"Inactive. I don't know what he thinks about the whole thing." Rinmei muttered, looking up his actions, "He is either lazy or stupid. Could be both..."
"Did any of them go to Varren?" Neya asked, curious, but Siu shook his head.
"None of them had approached him, and as far as we observed, none had revealed any of their affiliation to each other. I don't think they know who the other spies are. Or if there is any besides themselves. Anyway..." He straightened his back, "We waited enough for them to come clean, and they didn't. Mark them." He said simply, glancing at Rinmei, who nodded without hesitation.
With that, from now on, even if they decide to come clean, they will be the enemies of the Spirit Wardens. With the Wardens' own contribution system finalized, it was time to start feeding the spies information they could relay back home and to lure them into a trap... As for what kind of trap? Siu had a few ideas, some that even went as dark as what he did to Nue, but... he chased those thoughts away for now.
Still, with spring arriving, the forest waking up, it was a suitable time to go in and... exercise. He may not be able to get other members their own Mutual Contracts, but he did promise Tian he would try get him a beast. Apparently, he already had a specific creature in mind, and he was fine with having a Binding Contract. Which may be suitable, because he chose to have an Ironcrown Stag as his beast... As for why, he wouldn't say, but he had already planned everything out and presented it to him privately.
The only issue was that he, like any other Ember Circle member who interacted with Cal'Fia, was by now monitored by Stone Ward people, almost around the clock. There was no doubt about it.
"We need a diversion..." Siu muttered, making Rinmei and Neya look at him.
"Ohohoho!" Arya raised her head, her ears standing straight, her tail beginning to flicker. "Master! Finally! Your thoughts had become exciting, nyahahahaha!"
"Siu?" Rinmei and Neya asked, watching as he gazed into the distance before blinking and glancing at them with a smile.
"I think, I know how to use our little spies and Stone Ward to make sure we will have a smooth run, catching Tian that Ironcrown he marked."