Robin stared across the room at the son of a dangerous crime lord (who was clearly also a magic-user of some stripe in his own right) and attempted to maintain a cool facade. A trickle of clammy sweat traced a line down his spine.

His body was a traitor.

‘So, I take it this place was a front for some form of smuggling. That certainly makes more sense than it being some kind of illegal gambling or drug den. It could be money laundering, but location isn’t important for that. A functioning business is, or at least the appearance of one, and this is definitely not that.’ Robin eyed the surroundings critically.

‘You’re not as smart as you think you are,’ Jhess snarled.

‘Am I wrong?’ Robin quirked an eyebrow at her.

‘No,’ came the grudging answer.

‘Be that as it may, I believe you mentioned some kind of accord?’ Drev cut in. ‘What did you have in mind?’

‘Well…’ Robin’s brain raced ahead. Could he kill two birds with one stone here? Why not try? ‘You need this place up and running, or at least looking like it’s about to be so there’s plenty of reason for coming and going. I happen to have an inside line on a cache of treasure—’

Drev and Jhess shared a glance. Robin smiled inwardly. Good. They’d heard of it. Made sense if Drev’s father was who Jhess said he was.

‘—and I need a party to help me hunt it down. Now, unless I’m mistaken, there’s a hidden entrance into Noviel’s undercity down there. Our exploring and treasure hunting is a good, proper excuse for a lot of coming and going. Nice and legitimate. Ditto my soon-to-be “obsession” with “restoring this place to its former glory”. That’s more than enough reason to bring supplies and people in and out.’

Drev was clearly turning the idea over in his head, looking for weak spots. Jhess was less reserved.

‘It’s not a bad idea, Drev,’ she said, not even grudging about it this time. ‘It fits everything your father would need the place for. And it gives us an excuse to make nice with the Adventurers’ Guild. Might even get a bit of treasure out of it, you never know.’

Drev’s face, though controlled, lit up at the mention of treasure. Now what did the pampered son of an underworld kingpin need with more treasure? There was definitely more to the story there.

Robin decided to push his luck a bit, see if he could sweeten the pot.

‘We’re in a good location here. If we get this place presentable enough, I could stage some performances, bring in a good bit of coin that way.’ Robin spread his hands wide. ‘Just as a little bonus, like. Extra cover, extra reasons for people to come and go.’

‘You any good?’ Jhess’s look was pure challenge.

‘Good enough to pay my first year’s dues for the White Star Company out of my takings,’ Robin shot back.

‘Good enough,’ Drev said. ‘But how do we manage the issue of trust?’

‘We can trust one another so long as we’re all getting what we want, right? I get a place to stay and perform, you get a new face to front for whatever goes on—as long as it’s not smuggling people; I’d take a dim view on slavery—’

‘It’s not slaves,’ Jhess snapped.

‘—but since it’s not slaves, I don’t see us having a problem.’ Robin flexed his fingers and used [Legerdemain] to clean the space around them. ‘I’m happy just to treat the place as a tavern and performance space with a convenient entrance to the undercity for our party to hunt treasure. You get a fresh face for the place, unconnected to any previous wrongdoing. One, I might add, currently in favour with the head of the Adventurers’ Guild. Also, you get my help and information on the treasure hunt half the city is no doubt all afire with already.’

‘And how do we divide the treasure when we find it?’ Drev crossed the room to stand across from Robin. Where Robin cleaned, Drev pulled three chairs out of nowhere.

So he had access to storage magics as well. Made sense. Robin sat and tried to look unconcerned.

‘I’d like to do an even split after we take the particular items I’ve been hired to retrieve out of the reckoning, but I’d settle for an even split all told, and you allowing me to keep everything I earn here from performing, free and clear.’

‘Your last party made you split your performance take with them?’ Jhess looked a bit surprised.

‘They did,’ Robin said. He didn’t mention how they’d turned around and used that take to pay his membership dues. Better to let Drev and Jhess think his playing was all the more impressive.

‘Poor form,’ Drev said.

Robin blinked at him. The man had a surprisingly well-developed sense of right and wrong for a scion of the underworld. Though perhaps that was at the root of his differences with his father?

Drev and Jhess shared a glance. Robin could tell they were somehow communicating. Their fingers were moving slightly, and the expressions on their faces shifted a bit.

It was surprisingly irritating to be faced with a mode of communication that his [Tongue of the Fallen Tower] didn’t immediately allow him to understand. He’d gotten very used to simply understanding everything he heard or looked at. Something else to learn, then. If he could find a trustworthy teacher.

‘Very well,’ Drev said at last, ‘I think we can come to terms. You’re clearly intelligent, and there are advantages to your proposal, enough that we can give it a trial run. If—‘

Of course there was a bloody if.

‘—if we can fill in the remaining gaps in the party. If we’re going to do this, we do it properly. Both for appearances and for our own safety. You’re new here. You don’t know just how dangerous the undercity can get.’

‘I’ve heard about Gyrfalcon,’ Robin protested.

Jhess barked out a laugh.

‘There is a lot more to the undercity than that single dungeon, even if she is probably the most dangerous thing lurking below.’

Probably?

They were all three settled in chairs in a rough triangle, Drev and Jhess slightly apart and opposite Robin. The sweat had pooled in the small of his back where it pressed up against the wood. He absently ran his right hand along the edge of the seat.

The wood was impeccably smooth, and the varnish well-polished, not sticky at all. These were very nice chairs. Robin wondered if they were stolen or if Drev had taken them from the family home or bought them himself. How much space did he have in his personal storage if he was lugging around chairs?

‘So we play safe, get a solid team together,’ Robin said, ‘where—’

‘As solid as we can,’ Jhess interrupted, ‘considering.’

‘Yes, yes, trust issues, danger on all sides,’ Robin waved at the air. ‘Let’s pretend we all already like one another and that’s not an issue. Who would you suggest we find to fill in the gaps in the party?’

Robin wanted to redirect the question to them because he had never properly been part of an adventuring party, and he certainly hadn’t had time to go through any sort of guild training or orientation. He knew what gaps in the party he would fill, but that was knowledge from Earth, from fantasy gaming, not anything grounded in the reality of this world.

The wrong assumption could kill here. Robin wasn’t going to make that mistake.

‘I suppose that depends to an extent on your own capabilities,’ Drev said archly.

Clever clogs. Robin would have to dance a fine line here. They did need to know some things, certainly. He’d like to keep as many secrets as was feasible, though.

You never knew when you’d need an ace up your sleeve.

‘I’m fast. I have a few minor damage spells, but most of my skills lie in misdirection or trickery, as you might have guessed.’ Robin said slowly, as if thinking. ‘I’ve got some utility cantrips and a healing spell, but it’s minor.’

‘Jack of all Trades, then?’ Drev asked.

‘And master of none,’ Jhess added smugly.

‘But ofttimes better than master of one,’ Robin shot back.

Drev laughed at that. Jhess just looked perplexed. Robin didn’t bother to elaborate.

‘So we need a healer and a frontline fighter,’ Drev said. ‘I know a good deal of magic and can handle many situations as well as contribute a nice bit of damage from range—’

‘He’s bloody terrifying when he gets going,’ Jhess said with admiration. ‘Almost like a battlemage out of a story.’

Drev ignored what was clearly an old tease.

‘Jhess here is a dab hand at close quarters skirmishing and is talented with locks and traps and the occasional mechanical doodad.’

‘The healer is likely to be the harder one to find?’ Robin asked, in case there was that much overlap with his fantasy gaming experience.

‘Not really.’ Jhess shrugged. ‘Healers are in demand here, sure, but it’s a prestigious profession, and a costly one to advance in, so there’s rarely a shortage of healers. They always need coin to fund their studies until they have established a practice for themselves. Before that point, most at least dabble in adventuring. It just pays too well not to, and someone has to keep all the fools patched up.’

‘We’ll want to settle on a frontline fighter first,’ Drev said. ‘That way we can present as a unified front, a party that is ready to go, and the healer can evaluate whether or not they think we’ll be a good choice.’

Being a healer definitely had privileges, it sounded like. Robin was just glad they weren’t likely to have trouble finding one.

‘We want someone who looks good, has good equipment, and who can be led around by the nose,’ Drev said. ‘Frontline fighters almost always assume they’re the leader.’

‘It gets really annoying,’ Jhess added.

‘Two people after my own heart,’ Robin said, more to have some input than for any other reason. Then an actual question occurred to him, one he could reasonably ask, even! ‘How many frontline fighter types are already affiliated with established temples? How much of an impact does that have, here in Noviel?’

‘Moderate. It’s not a big deal, but sometime it comes in handy,’ Jhess said. ‘I doubt we’ll want a healer already affiliated with our frontline fighter, though.’

‘Why’s that?’ Drev asked.

Interesting. He wasn’t expecting that. Robin made a mental note. Drev and Jhess weren’t a monolithic force, then. That might be useful.

‘Because I already know exactly who we should get,’ Jhess said with an evil smile.

Robin’s stomach sank.

He had a bad feeling about this.