"Anything I should know about the masters?"
"Yes!" Clare tugs hard on his arm. "The madam is kind. She will give you extra food after dinner, and sometimes she even gives me some spare change!"
"She sounds lovely."
"She is! She's so pretty and nice and gentle; she's the best!"
"And the sir?"
"Hmmph!" Clare crosses her arms and harrumphs dramatically. "He's mean. He's always yelling and calling me stupid. I hate him."
"That's terrible."
"I know! Make sure to avoid him as much as possible."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Oh! We're here!" After descending several staircases, the hallway leads into a large kitchen. Various dried lumps of meat hang from the walls, and the shelves are packed with staples. A few fresh greens can be found on the counters, but they are hard to come by this early in the year. At the back of the room are a pair of fireplaces used to cook meals for as many guests as needed.
"It's quite the pantry they have here."
"Yes! But don't steal anything. I got yelled at by the mister for taking some cheese once."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Hugo replies with another gentle smile.
"R-right, okay, we're here now. The wine is in the cellar by the right fireplace. I need to go now. Bye!"
"Bye for now." The frazzled Clare darts out of the room. Her hand grasps tightly at her wildly beating heart. Once she's far away from the handsome man, she stops to catch her breath.
"Calm down, Clare. You don't even know him." The young servant struggles to soothe the butterflies swarming around in her stomach. The giddy excitement propels her forward to her destination.
An ornate door sits in the middle of the hallway. No guards are present, but it feels secure nonetheless. Clare's master had called her up to his room. Goosebumps rose the entire length of her arms. An impending sense of dread held her in place. She knew she would get yelled at for taking so long but couldn't muster the courage to knock on the door.
"Are you alright, young lady?" Clare looks up to see an older man in a robe smiling gently. Her heart twists for the second time that day. Years of harsh language had left her vulnerable to kindness.
"N-no, I mean yes! I'm fine!"
"Are you sure? You don't look okay." The man asked as he moved closer to get a better look at her.
"Yes, yes, I'm alright!" The man studies her face.
"Your face is white as snow; if I didn't know any better, I'd think you just saw a ghost. Why don't you lay down for a while until you feel better?"
"No, it's alright. Besides, I need to attend to my master." Clare uses the break in the conversation to knock on the door. The hollow noise echoes through the hallway.
"Clare?! Is that you?! Get in here and rub my feet. I've been standing all day!" The abrasive voice of Baron Reynolds squeezes out from the cracks in the door.
"Oh, I see. You're afraid of him." The older man sighs. Clare opens her mouth to refuse him, but no words come out. "How sad. Sometimes I wonder if I joined the wrong side."
After muttering those solemn words, the man swings open the door.
"Took you long enough, now- Kobayashi?" Clare recognizes the name and looks up in astonishment at the Baron who took the time to check on her.
"I came to talk to you about the upcoming operation, but it seems I came at a bad time."
"You're damn right. I spent all day getting my ass chewed by the Duke. I just want to have a few drinks and relax."
"Very well. I'll speak with you tomorrow morning. Oh, and please be kinder to your attendant; she's a kind girl." Baron Kobayashi smiles softly as he glances at the girl hiding behind him.
"I'll treat her however I want. Now get out of here!"
"As you were." Kobayashi quietly closes the door behind him as he leaves the room. "These halls feel colder than normal,"
Kobayashi's complaints go unheard. Not knowing his destination, his pace is slow. These last few weeks have run his mind ragged. So many doubts threaten to overturn his past decisions. 'Have I picked the wrong side? Are we actually helping people?' These thoughts become harder to ignore with each passing day.
It's not just his peers and superiors either. The soldiers are acting with impunity as well. Just this morning, he had to intervene in a dispute between one of his men and a shopkeeper. The soldier was using some imaginary slight to try and coerce the shopkeeper into giving him free food. Pathetic. The whole thing was pathetic.
He runs his hands through his hair to collect himself and notices that he's arrived at the Duke's temporary office.
"Fate is cruel to me today." He pushes the door open only after releasing those self-deprecating words. "Hello, sir."
But no one responds. The Duke is currently face down on his desk.
"Sir!?" Sensing that something's wrong, Kobayashi rushes to check on him. He shakes and shouts at the Duke to no avail. He's completely unconscious. "Guards!"
Two men come bursting through the doors, weapons drawn. They assess the situation before hustling over to Kobayashi's side and noticing the unconscious Duke.
"My Lord!" The taller of the two guards Rushes up to Avaritan's side.
"He's fine; he's just sleeping. I need to know who has entered this room in the last couple of hours."
"Only two people, sir; Baron Reynolds and a servant named Hugo."
"Ha!" Kobayashi can't help but laugh at the familiar name.
[There's only one Hugo I know in this town; the only question is whether or not that fox is bold enough to walk in the front door.]
Baron Kobayashi ponders this for a moment before giving his orders.
"Get me the captain of the guard."
"Right here, sir." The guard he was talking to only moments ago steps forward.
"You're the captain of the guard?" Kobayashi asks skeptically.
"Yes, sir. I was ordered to conduct my operations in this manor so I could quickly contact the Duke if anything came up. He also asked me to stand guard at night."
"Isn't that a demotion? I thought the captain of the guard was just supposed to supervise."
"I'm just doing my job, sir." Baron Kobayashi nods and examines the area. The desk, which was full of paper and parchment, is almost bare.
"What's your name?"
"Derek, sir."
"Derek, I need you to go to the Adventurer's Guild and retrieve the stolen documents."
"Excuse me?" Derek blinks in confusion. He's so stunned he forgets to address the Baron properly.
"That man, Hugo, is the direct subordinate to the Guild Master. Go speak with Jezabel and get those documents back."