"Oh, who is it?"

Sarah says "Borrik, the master of the mercenaries guild."

"Oh, good! Have you already prepared everything?"

Sarah says "Of course!"

"Excellent! You are awesome, Sarah!"

Sarah says "Thank you. You also got a message from the adventurer's guild that Isabella and her team have departed. Pol sent a message that the muscle you requested has arrived."

"Already? That means we have another hundred mouths to feed, can you handle that."

Sarah says "A hundred? Yeah as long as they all don't come at once. Is this likely to continue?"

"More people wanting to eat here? Yeah, most likely."

Sarah says "Alright, I will see about hiring more staff then."

"That's a good idea, also when Isabella returns you might want to consider expanding a bit."

Sarah says "Why?"

"Because once Pol returns with the first merchant caravan or maybe even before I expect us to start seeing business coming in from outside the street. Also if Isabella returns with the villagers we will have a lot more people running around."

Sarah says "Oh, I see what you mean. Okay, I will plan accordingly."

"Good. I'm going to head upstairs to wait for my guest."

Sarah nods but I can tell she is distracted, probably already working on plans for the inn. So I head upstairs and sit down at the table to wait for my guest, this should be the last thing I need to do before the party. Once this meeting is over everything I had on my list should be taken care of, as long as I haven't forgotten anything.

When my guest arrives I think there must have been a mistake, he doesn't look like a guildmaster. He is in old battered armor and worn and ratty clothing, he looks like a warrior turned beggar. He is bald with a thick gray beard but his eyes give away the lie, as he enters they scan everything and I doubt they miss a thing.

Borrik says "Well, isn't this a nice set up you have here! And look at that shiny new armor! Is that for the party, princess?"

"As a matter of fact it is. Got a problem with that?"

Borrik says "Haha! Nope! Maybe you will scare some of those old codgers into heart attacks!"

"I take it you don't care much for nobles?"

Borrik says "The majority of them are about as useful as a broken sword."

"Agreed! I wanted to just go through and kill a bunch of them but I was told no."

Borrik says "Probably by Roddick, Ambrose would like the chaos."

"Yeah, to be honest it seemed more like Roddick was in charge."

Borrik says "He acts as a check against Ambrose, he has the power to level most of the city but luckily for the rest of us he doesn't crave power."

"Yeah, Roddick seems like he is trustworthy. Ambrose is a good guy but maybe a little unstable."

Borrik says "True, but with Roddick to tell him no when needed he is actually a really good ruler. Now enough of this, why did you want to meet me?"

"Because you are in charge of the city guard and here soon I might be causing some disturbances."

Borrik says "What kind of disturbances?"

"Well, one of my current plans is going to piss off the merchant's guild enough that they will probably resort to violence."

Borrik says "I am fine with that, the merchant's guild could stand to be taken down a peg or two."

"That matches what others have told me of them, but I want to make sure my guys aren't going to end up in jail for defending themselves."

Borrik says "That is actually easy, just make them your guard."

"My guard? What do you mean?"

Borrik says "A court noble is just prestige, but a landed noble is something different. You are entitled to have a guard force to defend your lands, in fact you are required to have one to help defend the city."

"How many am I allowed to have in my guard?"

Borrik says "As a landed count you are allowed a guard force of up to a hundred. To have more you would need a higher title."

"A hundred is fine for now, that's what I have. Is there any rule stating the guard force has to be human?"

Borrik says "Nope, you can use beastmen. In fact the nobles use having beastmen in their guard as a sign of prestige."

"There are nobles with beastmen in their guard forces?"

Borrik says "Just a few, mercenaries hired from among the outcasts."

"Alright, so do I need to do anything special to make them my guard force?"

Borrik says "Well, you need a uniform, and it needs to be registered with me. That's about it really."

"If I send out a merchant caravan of my own it should be fine if it is guarded by my guards right?"

Borrik says "Of course. You can use them to protect anything you own."

"Perfect, I will see about getting uniforms made right away. Ah, here is our lunch!"

Borrik says "Good, I'm starving!"

We pause our conversation as Sarah and her helpers bring in a number of trays and lay them out on the table. As they take the lids off the trays the smell of the food assaults me and I immediately dig in with no manners whatsoever. Borrik follows my lead, he doesn't seem to mind at all, but stops after only a few bites.

Borrik says "This is amazing! How did I not know about this place?"

"You can thank the rumors spread by the nobles."

Borrik says "Those damn nobles! Well, I guarantee you will be seeing a lot more business now that I've tasted this food!"

Sarah says "Ash was just warning me earlier to be prepared for more business."

Borrik says "Maybe he is something of a prophet then!"

"No, I just know how good the food is!"

Sarah leaves while chuckling and Borrik and I dig back into the delicious food. We don't say another word until we are done eating and there is not a single scrap left when we are done. Borrik has eaten so much I may have to help him out of his chair.

Borrik says "Man, was that good! Was this made especially for us?"

"No, that was the normal food served downstairs. They just bring me bigger portions."

Borrik says "Then I am definitely coming back for dinner! This is way better than what will be served at the party."

"Thanks for the warning. I will make sure I eat before I go!"

Borrik says "Do that. And show up late, the guest of honor should always be late."

"I will keep that in mind. Are you going to be there?"

Borrik says "Normally I skip that kind of thing, but in this case I think I will. I want to see the looks on their faces when the nobles meet you!"