After the meeting with the men, Kane, Bauer, and Frederick found themselves in the hidden basement of the tavern, removing a couple chests from their shelves and emptying the contents into some rucksacks.
The contents? Nefandite gear of all sorts. Be it armour, wands, staves, swords, daggers... anything that consisted even the smallest bits of metal really.
It goes without saying that Kane and Bauer didn't have a good feeling about this mission, especially since their entire pay was on the line. For whatever reason, they felt that the three men weren't going to uphold their honour, despite presenting themselves as elegant and noble folks. Just the fact that they weren't too fond to pay Frederick two-thousand silvers was a clear tell that they weren't to be trusted, especially since what brought them around was the policy of it being on the house if they even screwed up one thing.
At least, that's how they saw it. In fact, they were worried to the point that Bauer even started breaking the rule of keeping silent.
Frederick on the other hand was quite confident that not only would they get the job done perfectly and receive their cut in full, but that they'd also have the opportunity to earn a bonus. But no matter how he'd put it, both mercenaries were not at all pleased with the idea that it didn't matter if the three men decided they weren't satisfied.
"Look guys," said Frederick, watching as Kane and Bauer placed nefandite armour into their fifth rucksack, "I know you have your concerns, but now isn't the time. Besides, you've already agreed to the job, you can't back out now. It's just an escort mission. It can't be that hard."
"We're not backing out," said Bauer, looking up to meet his gaze with the fat man, "we just want some assurance that you're not seriously screwing us over. I don't trust that you'll take our word over theirs if they decide to create some false complaints about us failing so that they can get their shipment for free."
Meanwhile, Kane now completely understood why Bauer was saying that this mission was worse than going and attacking some random nefandites.
"Can't fucking believe this shit," he mumbled under the sound of rattling armour. We should just back out now.
"Why don't you just make them pay half first?" asked Bauer, returning to filling up the rucksacks. "That way, at least we'll get paid even if they're not pleased with our work."
"What good is it when we'd lose the pay anyway?" interrupted Kane, looking back at Bauer. "The policy is that it's on the house if they're not satisfied."
"Well," said Frederick, crossing his arms as he looked at Bauer, "is it not enough that we'd be splitting it fifty-fifty if they do stay true to their word?"
"Fifty-fifty?" retorted Kane, his voice travelling an octave, standing up with a rucksack in hand and threatening to let the contents spill all over the floor. "Nah, I'm not working for that shit."
"That's not enough," concurred Bauer, also threatening to empty the rucksacks, "especially for the risk we're taking."
Frederick's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets, losing his breath as he wheezed saying, "No! Wait, okay! Fifty-five-fourty-five!"
Kane and Bauer glanced at each other, shaking their heads as they each removed a piece of armour, tossing it to the ground.
"Sixty-fourty!"
Another two pieces dropped.
"Sixty-five-thirty-five?"
More dropped.
"Seventy-thirty!?"
They both held a piece of armour, threatening to let it drop as they let their hands quake, as though to signal that Frederick better up their share.
"Fine! Okay, okay!" he yelled, holding both open hands up. "Seventy-five-twenty-five?"
Kane and Bauer looked at each other once again, tapping their chins as though they really had to contemplate it, though they both knew they were satisfied with those ratios.
"Deal," said Kane, placing the armour back in the rucksack.
"When do we start?" asked Bauer.
Frederick held up a finger as he hunched over, holding himself up at a wall as he took a few moments to breathe, as though he were about to have a stroke from the massive change in the share.
"You ride at noon," said Frederick, weaving his words in between his heavy breaths. "You'll go with them and their stagecoach."
That's what I was fucking worried about, so thought Kane, shaking his head as he packed more armour.
"You do realize that's only half an hour from now, right?" said Bauer, picking up the pace. "We also still have fifteen more bags to fill here."
"It's not my fault that your partner was sleeping in!"
Kane raised a brow, pausing his work as he remembered being called a little helper. "Oh yeah," he said, slowly turning his head back, "now it's gonna be eighty-twenty."
"What!?" yelled Frederick, who started going as red as a tomato, looking as though he were about to pop a vessel. "That's only four-hundred silvers for me!"
"Yeah and that extra five-percent is the tax that," he dropped the bag, making air quotations as he said, "the knight's little helper is charging." Dickhead.
Bauer chuckled. "There are only two things you can be certain of in life: Death and fucking taxes."
***
Noon would shortly arrive. Kane and Bauer would find themselves completing with loading up the stagecoach's trunk with twenty rucksacks full of whatever metallic gear Frederick had stored over the couple of weeks they worked for him.
"There we go, gentlemen," said Frederick, standing on the sidewalk as he looked at the three men peering through the stagecoach's window. "Twenty bags! With my men by your side, you'll face no issues whatsoever."
"We hope that is the case, Frederick," said the man in red, sticking his head out of the window to watch as Kane and Bauer walked over, "or else it won't look good for your business."
"Fear not!" said Frederick, extending an arm to the side while he held his chest with the other, bowing as he added, "I assure you that all will be well."
"We shall see," said the man in green. "Good day, Frederick."
"Good day, gentlemen," he replied, before heading back into the tavern.
"Alright, mercenaries," said the man in blue, taking his turn to stick his head out the window, pointing at Kane, "you are known as Tiny, and you," he pointed at Bauer, "you are Giant. Got that?"
Bauer nodded, as did Kane, begrudgingly.
I'm still growing motherfuckers, so thought Kane, making sure he had everything he needed in his pockets. Wand, grimoire, dagger... Should be good to go.
"Very well," said the man in green. "Keep your traps closed when around civillians. We will do the talking. Once we're out of Tyraleth, you both can do the talking."
What!? Kane raised a brow. We're going outside of Tyraleth!?
"Now," continued the man in green, "begin marching! You'll be our eyes up front!"
This day just won't get any fucking better, he said to himself, finally letting his thoughts and the voice in his head agree over something as he took one side. He looked to his right where Bauer stood, looking at him, giving a singular nod, issuing the silent command to move.
With that, they marched ahead, followed by the clacking of hooves and the iron-shod wheels, producing a clacking of their own over the uneven cobblestone.
Once they neared the black gates, they stopped as a guard walked over to the stagecoach and talked with the three men. Despite wanting to let his brain autopilot the entire way, Kane decided to listen in anyway. Perhaps there was something valuable to learn out of such protocol.
"Good day, gentlemen," said the guard, walking over with a fountain pen and paper attached to a clipboard. "Heading out to the manor are we?"
"Yes, guard," said the man in red, his usually condescending voice turned into one that was welcoming and enthusiastic. "The usual. Stopping by the manor to bring some gifts for the family."
"Ah, more of Frederick's fine wine for the coming rotation, I suppose?"
"Yes, of course!"
Ah, so it's not just any escort mission, so he thought, grinning. It's a smuggling mission.
"... Well then," said the guard, finishing up with whatever he wrote on the paper, "good day to you all, gentlemen. Have a safe journey."
"Good day, guard," the three men replied in unison.
Slowly, the large metal gates pulled themselves apart, letting a loud screech reverberate through the street, allowing the stagecoach safe passage into the not-so-safe, nefandite infested wilderness.
Once they were well out, moving through the knee-high snow, one of the men ordered a halt.
"We'll be heading directly southeast from here," yelled the man in red as he stuck his head out. "There will be minimal rest for the three-day roundtrip. Understood?"
Kane and Bauer nodded—or rather, Tiny and Giant nodded—before continuing with their march through the snow.
Well, Kane looked around, seeing nothing but snow for countless kilometres in all directions, let's get this shit over with and try figuring out how to forge the staff afterward.