Chapter 84: Rael (2)
[ Name: Rael ]
[ Age: 22 ]
[ Realm: Apex ]
[ Star Level: Golden Star - Apex | Vermilion Star - Apex ]
[ Talent: ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ ]
[ ERROR: Value exceeds display parameters. ]
As expected, the Talent was blocked.
By now, Encrid understood that if he wanted to see the Talents of people on the level of the Eight Stars or the Seven Sins, he would need to advance his Appraisal skill to a higher mastery.
That was not what surprised him.
Unlike Arthur, who had still been unawakened when Encrid first met him, Rael had already awakened two Stars.
And both had been cultivated to the Apex Realm.
For a young man who was only twenty-two, that was beyond impressive.
Encrid stared at the status panel for another moment.
The future Mercenary King had already reached a height that most people would struggle to achieve in their entire lives.
Then, just as he finished reading the status, Encrid heard a familiar sound.
A quest was triggering.
[ ✦ ✦ ✦ NARRATIVE QUEST TRIGGERED ✦ ✦ ✦ ]
[ THE KING BEFORE HIS CROWN ]
[ Quest Rank: ★★★★★★ ]
[ Quest Difficulty: ★★★★★ ]
[ Narrative Value: ★★★★★★★ ]
[ A rising tide lifts all boats. Certain souls are destined to rise, and when they do, they bring up everyone around them. Around this man, the broken of the world will assemble into something history will have to reckon with. His crown is not yet made, and the world is not yet aware of the tide. ]
[ Primary Objective: Make a connection with the future King of Mercenaries ]
[ Secondary Objective: ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ ]
[ Failure Conditions: Subject’s death. Subject’s ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ ]
[ Reward: ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ ]
Encrid stood on the walk at the ninth mile with the glass still in his hand.
He read the entire quest twice.
Then he put the glass away and went down to find a clerk who could tell him where a man with no roster entry slept.
✧ ✧ ✧
The advantage of being a quartermaster clerk was that Encrid did not have to go looking for people himself. He could simply invite them to his office, and most people would come.
Rael arrived at the third office two evenings later, an hour after dusk.
He was still wearing his working leathers, the lower half of them stained with mud up to his knees. A healer’s dressing was wrapped around his left arm from the elbow to the wrist.
He looked around the room before looking at Encrid.
There were shelves filled with books and ledgers, two doors, a window, and a desk.
Encrid was sitting behind it.
Rael stood in the middle of the room for a moment before offering a polite greeting.
"Should I address you as Young Lord or Sir?"
"Whatever you prefer."
Encrid pointed toward the chair opposite him.
"Sit. There is bread and cold meat on the corner of the desk. I am told you came straight from a contract, so eat while we talk."
Rael looked at the food.
Then he sat down and ate.
He did not hurry, nor did he seem embarrassed about eating in front of Encrid.
Encrid liked him for that immediately.
"Go on, then, my lord. What do I owe this pleasure?"
"I want to hire you."
Encrid was direct.
"Everyone wants to hire me. Everyone offers me a price. You will have to give me more than that."
"Then I will make you a better offer than they did."
Encrid placed a folded paper on the desk between them.
"That is a retainer contract. It is not a watch post. You would not be joining the Wall, and you would not be on anyone’s roster except mine."
Rael did not touch the paper.
"What is the work?"
"Standing behind my shoulder."
"That is not work."
"It will be."
Encrid leaned back in his chair.
"In two weeks, the Council votes on whether to give me a seat at the table. If they do, I become a man who tells nine watch commanders and a Lord Commander what they have got wrong and what they need to do about it."
Rael paused.
He was clearly surprised by the information. He was smart enough to understand what Encrid was offering and, more importantly, what it would make him.
"I am fairly certain not everyone will be pleased with me once I sit there," Encrid continued.
Rael took another bite of bread.
"So you want a bodyguard?"
Encrid smiled.
"You are smarter than you look."
Rael put the bread down.
"How much?"
"Forty silver a month. Quarters, board, and your gear replaced whenever it breaks."
Rael stopped chewing for a moment.
He did not otherwise move, and his expression remained unchanged. He seemed to be doing something he was not particularly good at.
Calculating.
"That is four times a watchman’s wage."
"Yes. It is a little more than you made last month and about the same as your best month this year. You will also receive it whether you are injured or not, which I imagine your current work does not guarantee."
Encrid glanced at the bandage around Rael’s arm.
Rael noticed.
"You seem to have done quite a bit of background work, my lord."
"I am hiring someone to be responsible for my life. That is the least I should do."
Encrid shrugged.
"If I have gotten anything wrong, correct me. I will apologize and revise the offer."
"It is not wrong."
"Then here is the rest. Forty silver a month, doubled after a year if you are still standing behind me. There is also a clause on the second page stating that if you are injured badly enough to stop working, your wage will continue for eleven months."
Rael looked at the contract for a long moment but still did not pick it up.
"How did you find me?"
Encrid felt it again.
The man was paying attention to everything.
"You know, I hear a lot of things sitting in this office."
He smiled politely.
"I know you rarely visit the Healer’s Hall. You treat your wounds yourself or at the Shambles. I can arrange for you to receive proper treatment here."
Rael said nothing.
"Take the contract," Encrid continued. "You will not have to go out there alone anymore."
Silence settled between them.
Rael looked down at the contract and seemed to consider the offer carefully. Encrid waited without saying anything else.
The silence lasted for quite some time.
Then Rael finally looked up.
"No."
✦ ✦ ✦
~Bonus Chapter for Magic Castle - Thank you @Nagii344