Miniarc-Meet the Parents-02 (Patreon)

“Lady Lou.”

I stop at the adorable call, a ghost of a smile gracing my lips as I watch Anna run at me full speed, four balls of fluff trailing her. In one hand is a stack of paper. In the other, a letter opener. If it were any other kid running with an uncovered blade, I’d be worried but she’s fine. Bet she could spill a man’s guts with that thing if I know Geneva. Wouldn’t even flinch if she cut herself either.

I choose to believe that both of those facts are signs that my clan makes great guardians, not terrible ones.

She stops in front of me wearing a large smile. It’s incredible how resilient she is. She was chased from her home in the middle of the night by men with some of the worst intentions there are but days later, she doesn’t seem affected at all. I wish she could bottle that good mood and let me take a sip.

“Knew I’d be popular,” I grumble as I take the bounty of paper and the thin knife from her small hands. “Wanna read them with me?”

I chuckle at her enthusiastic nod and drop to the ground, motioning for her to sit in my lap. The fluffs settle around us, bumping against me but easily ignored. “Let’s see…” I knew every eye in the kingdom would turn to Quest but I underestimated how many players would try to throw their cards onto the table. I flip through the envelopes, handing Anna the ones with crests I don’t recognize, the smaller fish without any teeth. My sorting leaves me with six messages that catch my attention, or rather, can’t be ignored.

The envelopes bearing the royal seal and that of the Grand Hall I expect.

I should have expected the one with the Guiness seal.

The three bearing the seals of the James, the Rosefields, and the Tomes surprises me.

I debate which one to open first before grabbing the letter sent by the crown. Might as well get the worst news out of the way. I pry up the wax with a nail and open the envelope with a practiced swipe of the letter opener, holding the neatly folded paper inside out in front of Anna while reading it over her shoulder.

Oh? Not quite what I expected. There’s plenty of threats and a demand that I surrender to the royal officer sent to seize control of Quest when he arrives, but between the lines, and there’s always a message between the lines when it comes to the capital, is that I’m being given a chance.

Maybe I’m crazy but the good king doesn’t sound too angry that I’ve decimated one of the biggest cities in the kingdom. He doesn’t come right out and congratulate or commend me…but he also asks/demands that I speak with his envoy a few too many times for it to be a simple case of me being detained and tried for treason. It feels like…he’s asking me to negotiate.

Which, fair. I’d want to negotiate with the person who fought an army and won too. At least get a firm grasp of their abilities before trying to kill them. “What do you think?” I ask the little girl my lap.

“Hm. Confusing.”

“What makes it confusing?”

“Sounds like a challenge but doesn’t. Growl then whimper.”

I ruffle her hair and laugh. “That’s how it goes. Brandish the sword with one foot forward, but ready to run at the first roar.” I fold the letter and place it back into the envelope carefully, passing it to her before opening the letter from my uncle.

It only takes a couple of lines to ruin my mood. I don’t bother being careful with it once I finish, throwing it away like the trash it is. Anna, good girl that she is, snatches it out of the air and adds it to the pile. I have the urge to grab it and shred it, but I let it go. Won’t change anything, especially how shitty of a man I’m related to.

My uncle has never been a reliable man. Or an honorable one. There’s a reason he goes by the name Jackal. When my father’s stubbornness caused the Grimoires to become more abusive than usual, it was Uncle Jackal who “suggested” we leave the capital. He ignored his politically unambitious son and pushed his desperately eager to impress daughter into early marriage for his own gain. Then, when said daughter started acting for herself, he betrayed her in exchange for a place at the king’s feet.

That man has the audacity to write to me begging that I don’t mess up his newfound success. Oh, it’s hidden under polite worry, dire warnings, and shitty advice but it all boils down to one thing; Jackal has the king’s favor at the moment and he doesn’t want to lose it because his niece is causing a fuss.

For good or ill, families rise and fall together. Every time bad news about me reaches the capital, the more his own position is threatened. My reputation falls too far, his implodes from proximity alone. His letter also implies that there is some room to negotiate with the king about Quest. But, if I don’t cooperate with whoever the king is sending to act as his hands in this matter, well. Then it’s charges of treason for the whole family. Something I’ll survive no problem and I’ll do something for Jac and Matt. Uncle Jackal? He’ll be neck-deep in bad shit without a rope and he knows it.

But that’s not what pisses me off.

What makes me want to strangle him is that the letter doesn’t say anything about Father. No expressing his condolences, no questions about a funeral, no reassurances that he would look after the village. Plenty of whining about protecting his ass but not a single mention of my father, his brother.

“Not good?” Anna asks, staring at the envelope-encased letter curiously.

“Not good.” I may have been a waste and a closeted degenerate before that fateful meeting with Cosmo, but Uncle Jackal is so much worse. Truly scum. “Not good at all.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, Anna giggling as my breath tickles her. The sound helps me suppress my anger. “Forget about that waste of ink. We’ve got a lot to get through. Let’s see…”

The letter from the marquis is next. Really should have seen this coming. Outright congratulations on my overwhelming victory. Here’s someone that isn’t pretending he gives a damn about the city. Ah, yes. There’s the expected offer to trade with us. Though he’s not mentioning Kierra taking a caravan through the Enchanted Forest for once. Hm?

My company is accustomed to facilitating discreet deals between individuals if you’d rather not go through a storefront.

…nah. I’m overthinking this. Reading between letters instead of between lines. There’s no way that line is suggesting what I think it is. I have to be going crazy to think it’s referencing goods I wouldn’t want to draw attention to rather than a concern for my safety. Items like affinity stones and artifacts. Because that would mean that, somehow, Marquis Guiness knows about the hunters’ Authority and suspects I have it.

But he can’t know about it. If he did, he would have alerted me because that would have been crucial information that could have averted the destruction.

Saints damn it! I can’t convince myself even a little.

Why? Because it’s so easy to see it the other way and it makes much more sense. Most would be hard pressed to understand why the marquis would purposely hold back the vital information. They’d be too narrow-minded, too uninformed, or too kind to see the advantages. Quest is, was, a major trade hub. Its loss is going to affect anyone who trades in alchemical goods, including the good marquis. I’d think as much if I didn’t know about the Authority.

Manabeasts are a profitable resource. Their flesh can be eaten, their furs can be used for clothing, everything else can be used in one potion or another, and some bastards keep them as trophies. They have another quality that makes the industry so profitable; they’re plentiful. Quest has been the hub of hunters for generations, but if there ever was a specific reason why, it’s long become irrelevant. The city may have fallen but that isn’t going to stop men with more brawn than brains hunting down monsters and selling their parts.

“Quest” can be any settlement, anywhere. Saints, it’d make more sense to build a hub for hunters in the south, where land not fit for civilized for people is still somewhat wild and teeming with challenges for the adventurous. In conclusion, the city was worthless.

The Authority, on the other hand, is priceless. Ancient artifacts made with materials I can’t even recognize and affinity stones with few to no natural deposits in the kingdom. The marquis may be the least strapped for said items, having connections beyond the continent, but if he wants to sell them on, well. Some people think the Guiness have every spare crown in the kingdom, but it could be true. Whatever price he wants to buy them for, I have no doubt he’d charge three times as much. Better, he’d be trading influence.

Power means something in this kingdom. He could change the fate of a middling noble family if he sells them the right artifact. His worst enemy could become his best friend overnight.

So. The choices were act to prevent thousands of deaths or do nothing and open the door to a possible incredible opportunity.

The people of this kingdom are really starting to disgust me.