B2 Chapter 200: Second Mission, pt. 3

Mid-morning sun streamed in from the windows of the fifth floor meeting room, blanketing the richly stained wooden table where Kaius and his team were discussing their upcoming rewards for their next mission.

Kaius cleared his throat at a lull in the conversation, drawing the room’s attention. Sharing the nature of his sword was inherently risky, but if he could secure an oath from Ro, he would be far more comfortable.

“Rieker, Ro, I have a question for you.” Kaius said

“Oh, what’s on your mind?” Ro asked, looking at him with curiosity, the rest of the table’s eyes turning with her to train on him as he interrupted. “It’s not like you to interrupt, did you have a request?”

“In a sense, though it’s only tangentially related to the topic at hand” Kaius replied, still feeling a little nervous.

His response only seemed to pique Rieker and Ro’s curiosity all the more; the pair of experienced gilded administrators looking at him with curiosity.

“Go on,” Rieker responded, encouraging him to continue.

Kaius paused for a moment, gathering his nerves. “It relates to our gear—another secret, and a rather large one. Unfortunately, it is one I have realised will become rather suspicious with the extent of your involvement in our current training. Hiding it would be…inconvenient and wasteful.”

That got their attention, Ro in particular narrowing her eyes as she watched him closely.

“There’s just one thing,” Kaius continued. “If possible, I would like Ro to take an oath similar to the one you did, guildmaster.”

Rieker immediately winced, cringing away from his request—even Ianmus stared at him in horror. Curiously, Ro herself didn’t seem too surprised by his request, the corner of her eyes crinkling as her lips tweaked upwards.

“Kaius! You can’t just ask that!” Ianmus all but yelled, aghast.

He looked to his teammate in confusion, brow furrowing. Why not? It seemed like a pretty reasonable thing to do?

Ianmus sighed, running his hands through his hair as he took in Kaius’s expression. “You can’t just ask a Hiwiann to take an oath, especially not on one of the blood stones—they’re sacred! There’s all sorts of protocols that have to be followed.”

“Oh, don’t mind him—we all know the idiot grew up in the middle of nowhere, he didn’t know what he was asking. Besides, I’m no puritan.” Ro assured the mage, before shooting Kaius a smile. “He’s right though. If you were anyone else, I would be apoplectic—be thankful you’ve already proven you’re an idiot of the highest degree.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realise it was a taboo.” Kaius replied, bowing his head respectfully. He didn’t feel truly bad, after all, he considered their security more important than cultural practice—but if he had known he might have reworded his request. “Thank you for being gracious, but this is important—I might have to share with Rieker privately.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t take the oath, greenhorn. Just that you had been rude.” Ro grinned.

The guildmaster turned to the manager of his branch, one eyebrow raised in surprise. “Really, Ro? You decide to pick up a new binding now, of all times?”

“What can I say? The boy is interesting—I’ll go get the stone.” Ro replied, pushing her way out of her seat and leaving the room before any more words could be voiced.

The room lay silent while she was gone—Kaius and Porkchop struggling to understand the hubbub around the oath, and Ianmus and Rieker astounded by the ease at which Ro had agreed.

Ro swept back into the room, setting the ornate box that held the shard of the bloodstones down on the table. “Now, so you do not make this mistake again—and end up getting thrown out of a caravan or worse—there are two main things to abide by when you want to make an oath with a Hiwiann.”

Kaius leaned in. Even if he didn’t fully understand the custom or importance, it clearly existed. Given that he was likely to end up traveling all over Vaastivar, learning how to not piss off the trader-peoples who supplied half the continent with goods seemed like a wise choice.

“First, never ask. You can state it, if you make yourself the sole focus—’I would be willing to make an oath on this’ is acceptable.”

Nodding along, he filed the information away. He still thought the custom strange, but if he could work around it—it would do.

“Second, always be prepared to bargain. A Hiwiann will never make a one-sided oath, even with death on the line.” Ro gave him a predatory smile, the points of her teeth glinting in the wardlights and raising the hair on the back of his neck. “With that in mind, here’s the deal. I swear on this, and you swear to give me three days of your full effort on one or multiple tasks of my choosing—as long as they are not a risk to your life.”

Kaius cocked his head. When the guild manager had given him that smile, he’d been expecting something egregious—she clearly knew he wanted something, so she had him over the barrel. A few days’ work was… not very much, in his eyes.

“That’s…uncharacteristically kind of you, Ro.” Rieker said, watching the woman like she’d grown three heads.

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“Hah! Kid’s going to be Platinum before the decade’s out—or I’ll eat my boot. You best believe I’ll be banking those favours.” Ro said, letting out a bark of laughter at the guildmaster’s words.

Rieker nodded, looking immediately more comfortable. “That’s more like it.”

Kaius looked between them in confusion, before looking at Ro in surprise as he processed what she was saying. From what he knew of the ranks of the guild, they went up every hundred levels after you hit the second tier, so Platinum would have to be the first half of the third tier.