Ep. 570 Reunions and Politics Part 13 (Patreon)

"Seize the bartender, and question any other employees he has. Find out if he is the one who abused this child, and if they have been abused as well."

Guard says "Yes sir!"

Immediately two guardsmen grab the bartender while another two head into the bar. The rest move to disperse the crowd and keep the mercenary quiet. The crowd obediently moves back, but only as far as the guards make them.

Bartender yells "I've never laid a hand on any of them!"

"Then who is the one who has abused this child?"

Bartender says "Sometimes, some of the customers get a little rough. Especially with her, she is a klutz and drops a lot of things!"

"So, you are saying we should track down all of your customers and hang them with you?"

Bartender yells "Hang?!?"

Guard says "Lord Ash, I am afraid that child abuse is not a crime punishable by death."

"Is that so? I will have to talk to Ambrose and get that changed immediately!"

Guard2 says "The other employees have testified, not only has he abused them, but he has also forced himself on them."

"Alright, arrest him! Just hold him for now, I will go talk to Ambrose. Once the law has been updated we can hang the scum!"

Guard says "Yes sir!"

Borrik says "What is all of this now?"

"Oh, hey, Borrik. This one over here is one of yours, right?"

Borrik looks and says "Yes, he is a member of the guild. What did he do?"

I explain the situation to Borrik as the bartender is hauled away by the guards. After hearing everything Borrik orders the mercenary taken into the guild and put in a cell. Then he insists on coming with me to talk to Ambrose about changing the law.

"Oh, Tina, do you have parents? Or maybe siblings?"

Tina says "No, it is just me."

"Why aren't you in the orphanage?"

Tina says "They tried to do bad things to me!"

"Was this in the new orphanage or in one of the old ones? The new orphanage only opened a few months ago."

Tina says "Um, I guess the old one?"

"Well, I run the new one. I guarantee it is better, are you willing to give it a try?"

Tina says "Um, okay."

After I use a healing spell on her I have one of the guards escort her to the orphanage. Then Borrik and I head over to the adventurer's guild to talk to Ambrose. The receptionist looks surprised to see Borrik again so soon, but still lets us in to see Ambrose.

Ambrose says "Ash, Borrik, what can I do for you?"

"I need to speak with you about changing the penalties of a law."

Ambrose says "Which law? What penalty do you want to change?"

"Child abuse, and while we are at it child molestation and willful harm of a child. I want them all to carry the death penalty."

Ambrose says "This is a surprise, you've never shown an interest in the laws before. From the look on your face I can tell you are serious about this. We can certainly change the penalty for those laws, it just takes a vote of the council."

"Does it need to be unanimous, or just a majority?"

Ambrose says "Majority vote."

"Alright, I will have Sarah get the votes in order."

Borrik says "In that case, can you not tell her you already have my vote?"

"Ha ha! You just want her to bribe you with food, is that it?"

Borrik says "Can you blame me? There is no more delicious food to be found anywhere!"

"Alright, fine! I won't tell her."

Ambrose says "If she moves quickly, we can hold the vote at the party tonight and put the updated laws into effect tomorrow. I will draw all the paperwork up before the party."

"Sounds good. I better go tell her now so she can get started."

Borrik says "Oh, didn't you want to talk to me about something?"

"I was just going to ask how the city was doing from a security standpoint. We can discuss it at the party or tomorrow."

Borrik says "Alright."

After a polite goodbye I quickly return to the inn and fill Sarah in on what happened. She agrees with me completely, which is no surprise, and starts preparing to leave. As she is about to leave I ask her to find out who owns the bar and if they knew what was going on.

Sarah says "That shouldn't be hard. What are you planning?"

"If the owner knew what was happening, I plan to make sure they suffer for it. If they didn't then I am thinking of purchasing the bar. Would you be interested in running it as well as your other duties?"

Sarah says "That could be interesting, I'd be willing to give it a try."

"Oh, also, I want you to consider if you would be willing to relocate in the future."

Sarah says "To your new city?"

"Yes. Once I am the Beast King I will need help. I don't think I have the skills to run a kingdom without your help. If you still want to run an inn as well I will build you one! No need to rush into anything though, it will still be a while before I become king."

Sarah says "I will think about it and discuss it with Arron."

"Alright, sounds good."

After Sarah leaves I find myself at a loss for what to do, the party is still hours away. Since everyone is out doing their own things I have some lunch in the inn common room. Then I head over to the blacksmith shop, it should be okay to spend some time learning.

Harold and Hyung say "Welcome, Lord Ash!"

"Hi guys, how have you been?"

Harold says "It has been great! We have constant orders!"

Hyung says "We have been able to improve our skills!"

"That's good! Actually, that's why I am here. I want to improve my skills."

Harold says "What can we do to help?"

"Well, as I told you once before, I am self-taught. I would actually like for you to each teach me the basics as you learnt them."

Hyung says "Sure, no problem!"

Harold says "Yeah, that's easy!"

Luckily, they have orders for basic things so they can fulfill those orders as they teach me. Learning how to make horseshoes may not help me directly, but the basics are the foundation of the skill. Something I do not have, what I can do can barely be called blacksmithing.

Harold is teaching me first and he takes it seriously, he tells me every step he is taking and why. He not only teaches me the basics, he also teaches me the little tricks that separate an amateur from a master. These are the kinds of things that I would have never figured out on my own.

As I watch and listen I can't help but feel that a few days of this and I might feel like a real blacksmith. In fact I end up getting so caught up in the lesson that I lose all track of time. Luckily, Sarah knows me well enough that she sends someone to fetch me an hour before the party.