Chapter 374: Mercenaries and Mice

Words : 1920 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

Chapter 374: Mercenaries and Mice “Thank you for coming. We’ll send a runner in the next couple of days if we decide to hire you.” Dys smiled politely at the nervous young man as he bowed his head and muttered farewells in an anxious voice. She was beginning to hate that phrase. It was just so... canned. It made her feel like she was lying, even though she wasn’t really. She really would send a runner if they decided to hire this guy. She just didn’t think it was very likely that they would. However, just out and out announcing that she didn’t think the young guard was a good fit for their mercenary company right to his face felt too rude even for her usual style of bluntness. “What do you think?” Dys asked as soon as Aila closed the door behind the man. “His qualifications are fairly average for someone who hasn’t yet reached CLR twenty,” the redheaded arcanist said in her typical cool, business-like tone. “The fact that he has been working as a guard for a private merchant guild for over two years is a good sign. However, he’s a city man. Since he’s never left Eldingholt, he has no real experience being on the road or roughing it. That could make him a liability in many situations, unless he gets the right training.” Nodding along to Aila’s assessment, Dys turned her head to look at Thea when the redhead finished. Thea had sat quietly during the interview, just as she had for the past dozen or so. She had only uttered a few words, asking a short question here or there, but just as Jadis had expected, the shy woman was sharp in her observations. “He k—kept looking at you,” Thea said quietly after a brief pause. “The way he was, ah, looking, I think he was m—more interested in you than the j—job.” “Yeah, I got the feeling he was another gawker,” Dys grumbled in frustration. “The way he responded to some of our questions seemed kind of distracted. Good odds he just wanted a chance to see me in person.” Aila sighed as she crossed her arms and leaned against the desk they had set up in the office. “This would be so much easier if you weren’t such a celebrity.” “Hey, it’s not my fault!” Dys frowned. “I was born this pretty. I can’t help it if people want to bask in my beauty.” “Considering the nature of your birth, I don’t think you can actually claim that to be true,” Aila smirked at Dys. “Good point...” So. Another fruitless interview. Unfortunately, that had been the case for the majority of the interviews so far that day. While Nevan and Orla had done their best to try and find serious candidates for the job, there was only so much the couple could do to filter out the people who were really only interested in gawking at the rumored Nephilim versus those who actually wanted work. And even among those who were truly looking for a job, the pickings were apparently slim. “Anyway, who’s next?” Aila asked, looking at Dys expectantly. “Another human man,” she replied. “This guy’s older, though. When he spoke with Gunnar, he introduced himself as Terrance.” “Ah, the runner,” Aila nodded as she checked a list that she’d written for herself. “A local. Orla said he’s supposed to be pretty well-liked in the community. Hopefully he’s serious.” Dys nodded thoughtful as her other self observed the man as he talked with Gunnar in the main open hall. While Syd had continued to aid Sabina and the workers with setting up the smithy out back, Jay had come inside and “oversaw” the work that the carpenters were doing on the second floor. In reality, she was just using it as an excuse to loiter on the second-floor balcony and watch the candidates as they came into the building. It was a good way for her to see what the interviewees were like before they got to introduce themselves to her Dys self in the office. Terrance looked like a plain, middle-aged man with a shaved head and a goatee. He was fit a trim, a bit on the short side, but otherwise unremarkable in appearance. He was supposed to be one of the higher CLR candidates that had reached out to be interviewed that day and was probably one of the oldest as well. Certainly, from the way he moved as he followed Gunnar to the office door, he presented an air of calm confidence that gave Jadis a good impression. If he had nerves, he was doing a good job of keeping a lid on them. As Gunnar opened the door and introduced Terrance to Dys, Aila, and Thea, a shout out in the yard caught the attention of Jadis’ third body. “Did you hear that?” Syd asked as she set the large anvil down in the spot where Sabina had directed her. “Um, yes, I think so?” Sabina responded distractedly, her focus on the complicated series of ropes and pulleys that would eventually make up her forge’s bellows. “Do you mean that dog barking, or the guy singing about big-breasted women, or the little kid that’s crying?” Syd had to pause and stare at the smith. She’d forgotten that Sabina was a half-elf and thus had much more sensitive hearing than she did. “The crying child,” Syd clarified. “Yeah, that one is unusual for where we are,” Sabina agreed as she pulled on a rope that caused her contraption to swing wildly and almost knock a worker over. “Sorry!” “Where did you catch her, anyway? And what about all the other kids?” “The back left corner,” the Dryad hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “It was hard to follow tracks since the pack was running around and making a mess of the snow. But I saw where they ran to this time. There’s a drainage grate in that corner. Much too small for me to fit in, but just the right size for adventurous children.” So the kids had been sneaking around through the sewers? Or was it a storm drain? Was there even a difference? The drainage systems of the capital city hadn’t exactly been on Jadis’ mind before, so she had no idea how any of that worked. In any case, did that mean the kid was some kind of a street rat, or an orphan maybe? Looking at her clothes, she seemed like she didn’t have a lot of money, but she also didn’t look unhealthy or like she was living in poverty. More like she was just from a poor neighborhood and she was wearing hand-me-downs. There was supposed to be a lower level of the city under the street she was on, wasn’t there? It would make sense if that was the poor side of town. After many minutes with no real progress in calming the scared child down, Jadis decided the best thing to do was to send Thea and maybe Kerr to see if they could find a way down to the lower level. The interview with Terrance was wrapping up anyway and there weren’t any more candidates waiting in the lobby, so Thea would be free to do some door-to-door searching if that was necessary. The runner’s interview had gone well. Better than everyone else’s had, certainly. Terrance was a polite man with a good-natured laugh and a humble disposition. He was nearing forty years old and was also close to CLR forty. For someone who spent no time in combat with Demons at all, that was actually pretty good. Terrance wanted to reach CLR sixty before he got too old to make use of a third class and had been considering joining a mercenary company ever since the demonic invasion broke out so that he could get some bonus experience points, though he hadn’t built up the courage to make the transition until Nevan and Orla had approached him about Fortune’s Favored. When Dys walked with the older man out into the main hall of the headquarters and told him that she’d be sending a runner in a couple of days to let him know if they chose to hire him, she really meant it. They were going to have a final discussion of the candidates before hiring anyone, but unless one of her trusted companions had a reasonable objection, she planned on hiring the bald man. “Thank you again for taking the time to see me,” Terrance smiled somewhat shyly up at Dys as he firmly shook her hand. “I know you, Aila, and Thea must be busy women.” “We are, but that’s why we want to hire people like you,” Dys grinned down at the man. “Anyway, thanks for coming and—” Dys’ words were interrupted by the muffled shriek of the tiny gnome girl as she let out a particularly loud wail. “Was that a child?” the runner asked as his expression instantly switched from shy happiness to concern. “Sounded like a cat with its tail caught in a wheel,” Aila exclaimed as she looked in the direction of the kitchen door. “What’s going on?” Of course, Aila didn’t know about the child Tegwyn had caught, nor would Thea or Terrance. Dys only knew because she was the same person as Syd. Uncertain as to whether she should reveal her multi-body status to Terrance since that fact about Jadis wasn’t common knowledge among the public, Dys hesitated. Seeing her reply wavering on her lips, Aila spoke up and smoothly covered for Dys’ lapse. “Whatever it is, it sounds like it came from the kitchen. If you’ll excuse us, Terrance, we’d best see what the rest of our company has been up to this afternoon.” Aila quickly strode over to the door, Dys and Thea following close behind. When the redhead threw open the door to reveal Syd, Sabina, Tegwyn, and Hans gathered around a crying gnome, she looked genuinely flummoxed. “Uh...?” “Tegwyn found her running around outside in the storage yard,” Syd quickly explained. “We thought we’d better bring her inside and ask her where she came from, but she’s been wailing non-stop this whole time and we don’t know what to do!” The last came out with a little more desperation than Jadis had intended, but her nerves really were starting to get frazzled by all the crying. Jadis liked kids, but her experience caring for them was limited and she’d already exhausted all she knew how to do. “Oh. Well...” Aila trailed off, clearly having trouble adjusting to the suddenness of unexpected situation. “Did she tell us her name, or...?” “Fiona?” Dys and Syd turned to look at Terrance in surprise, as did the rest of the men and women in the kitchen. The runner hadn’t left when Aila had dismissed him and had instead quietly followed behind. Standing at the door, he stared at the little girl with a look of mild surprise. “You know her?” Dys asked with a raised eyebrow. Terrance nodded, a wry smile twisting his lips as he let out a soft laugh. “Yes, I do. No idea how she got up here, but I do know her.”

Chapter 374: Mercenaries and Mice

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