They walked up the winding stairs, which was circular in nature, and ascended to a large heavy looking door that Fauve pushed open with little difficulty. As they passed through the doorway and the doors closed behind them, all the loud and varied sounds from the floor below dispersed immediately instead replaced by a quiet of this new floor.
Looking around, Cyrus saw that this floor was of a classier nature than the previous. On the ground was a lush red carpet while the furnishings of the room were of the utmost quality. To the left and right were two rows of enclosed booths with their very own doors and at the end of the hall was a large office with large see-through stained-glass walls. As they walked past the booths towards the office, some of the doors to the booths opened revealing people walking out of them. Catching a glimpse of the interior, Cyrus saw that it was similar to the windows in the downstairs area but most likely this set up was for the more important members.
Soon enough they reached their destination, the office, of which one could see a young woman of a petite build, only slighter taller than the young Cyrus, and with raven black hair. Upon her face sat a pair of black rimmed glasses that looked a bit too big for her, but highlighted her concentration on the work at hand but also highlighting the dark circles under her eyes. Without so much as knocking Fauve just walked right in, pushing the door open and sitting down on the seat across from the assumed owner of the office. Unsure of what to make of the situation, Cyrus just followed suit and sat down as well.
The woman set down the work she was looking over in response and said in an annoying tone, whilst also looking quite annoyed, "Who dares to-". The woman stopped as she saw Fauve sitting in front of her, removing the hostility from her tone but still annoyed.
"Oh, its you. About time you came in and saw me. I would ordinarily be somewhat pleased to meet with one of my guild's top contributors and most veteran members… if only you had seen me before causing so much trouble right in the middle of the guilds territory" said the woman, sighing as she did.
"Don't be like that, it was a good chance as any to have an excuse to remind the Umbral Order of their agreement with us. Not to mention I don't like them very much, so I had all the reason to do what I did…. That said…" paused Fauve before he continued with dramatic a dramatic flair, "what do you mean you are not pleased to see the great me? I, one of the top ranking members of your guild, am beloved by all no matter where I go! If not that, then how about to be happy to see a familiar face after so long? If not for looking after someone you would not find me in the southern region, that is for sure."
"Paperwork Fauve, paperwork is the answer. Every time something big happens in the guild I have to deal with it as the leader of this branch, which means I will be buried in more work for who knows how long" said the woman as she grasped her temple with one of her hands.
"I almost regret taking this post. I was too allured by all the benefits I did not realize how tedious it all is…" she sighed once more, something that seemed to occur quite often with her.
"Well let us put that aside, I know what you want by coming here after that and I was already on it. We will apply pressure on them once more to limit their activities around our members, you included. Congratulations you successfully got the entirety of the Venators' Guild to carry out your petty revenge once again" continued the woman while fake clapping. She then turned towards Cyrus, who was content on just absorbing all the potentially confidential information that was slipping every now and then and addressed him.
"I am Lily Venandi, the head of all the Venators in the entirety of the southern region. Knowing Fauve he would not bring just anyone here, so who are you and why were you being followed by the Umbral Order all of a sudden?" asked Lily.
Cyrus did not answer for a moment as he was quickly considering what he stood to gain from this person in front of him.
"She looks and sounds young as well as her mannerisms and way of speaking allude to this fact. Either the guild is in an amazingly weak position, which their opposition to Umbra says otherwise, or this woman is extremely competent. Dangerous" thought Cyrus.
"I am Cyrus. I came here from the wasteland in order to take part in the Arcane Examinations, I just finished and passed them today successfully being entered into Glacies Academy. My relationship with Fauve is that of a mutual friend asking him to bring me here safely so that I could take the exams. As to why I was followed by Umbra, that I know the reason of. What I do not know however is if I am allowed to tell you, I am not quite aware of political climate that surrounds the Empire in its entirety being where I am from"
Cyrus began rhythmically tapping on the arm of the chair he sat on, whilst considering all that he knew of imperial politics.
"The Venators are a somewhat odd group in the Empire, a group that provides extremely vital information and data for the entirety of the Empire. Not only that but they provide much needed professional expertise, from their constant encounters with the Brutum, to all aspects of the society at large when Venators are hired or recruited by other parts of the Empire. They seem to practice isolation from politics on the surface, but I now know that like any group they still get involved if certain lines are crossed… and they have a loud enough voice and enough power to oppose the Empress herself to a certain degree. An Empress with a personal guard rivalling the Emperors and an order of elite assassins at her beck and call…" Coming to this point in his thoughts, he concluded that he could let slip the details but he would avoid explaining the root cause just to be safe.
"They were tasked to monitor me due to some information about the exams that I had been exposed to. A certain change in how the exams were run most likely, but one that was not made public information either because the change would lose its effectiveness if it were so or because the change is indicative of something greater"
"Hmm, what an interesting way of describing it" said Lily as she looked at Cyrus with some interest. "Thank you for telling me though, I can imagine that you were threatened with being a traitor and possibly even death for spilling the details… as is customary in the Empire. I don't know if I am considered a person who is allowed to know the specifics but I am in quite a high position as you now know. Still, you can keep the core details to yourself if you so wish" said Lily offhandedly before turning towards Fauve who was pretending not to notice her stare.
"I think that combined with the reports of the strength of the assassins shows that they did not intend to mess with you and were instead automatically assigned to Cyrus here as a precautionary measure, which is extremely standard. While I thank you for giving us more leverage in maintaining our isolationist nature, I still must punish you for your 'mistake'." Looking at the crestfallen look on Fauve's normally smug face she smiled while saying, "As punishment for your error I order you with my full authority to…" pausing for a moment while her smile grew wider as she thought of what to punish Fauve with "I order you to become my assistant until you are summoned for a job, fighting back the sea of paperwork you caused me as well as everything else!"
Fauve who had possibly been waiting for a pay cut or maybe tasked to kill some horribly dangerous beast had a look of fright on his face when he heard the word 'paperwork'.
"No no no, let us not go there. Think of all the benefits I gave to you, why do such a despicable thing?" He then gasped in realization saying, "Oh my, are you perhaps jealous of my witty mind and cunning nature? Ah, how sad."
To that Lily just facepalmed and said,
"Yeah yeah same as ever Fauve, too bad you are not getting out of this. You will start once you are done with Cyrus here. If you try to flee the city though…I think I can arrange for you to be recommended as the leader of one of the branches under me instead."
To that Fauve just laid back in his chair in defeat with his hands up in surrender.
"You win, gah, who would want such a terrible job."
Starting to get angry Lily said, "Me" while pointing to the badge on her chest that read as "Guild Master."
Fauve stood up rubbing his hands while saying, "Right, you indeed…" he pulled something out of his pocket, of which from Cyrus' angle could see that it was a rock, while saying "Look at the time would you, me and Cyrus here have a place to be. Very busy we are, plenty of high and mighty people to meet who are no doubt in awe of myself, hahaha, see you!" and promptly dragged Cyrus out the door and then out of the building itself.
The moment they left Fauve recollected himself and pretended like he did not just retreat from a girl who might be only a little older than half his age while walking back towards the lodge the two stayed at.
The two headed back, one lamenting his suddenly extended stay in the city while the other thinking through his new insights on the political arena in the Empire.
"No matter what I choose to do to gain and grow my power, thus increasing my safety, politics will be a part of it all. I know far too little which could allow me to easily make a fatal mistake…. I must find a way to learn more as soon as I can. I may have an in to the political arena, but I should gather more information before fully deciding on a course of action" mused Cyrus as he returned to his lodge once more.