I ended up trying to tell the same story to the Zae’ey’yaob family that I had told to the caravan. Since my previous audience had trouble understanding the English terms, I decided to tone down the technicality of the weaponry and places. Despite that, I still ended up having to explain many words and concepts to Aavspeyjh. Just like the caravan, he was extremely interested in the details of the weapons in the story, but without a moderating influence to re-focus his interest on the plot our back and forth rapidly changed into a lesson on Earth weaponry. Koyl and his mother stayed quiet, content to allow us to speak at length while they ate and listened.

Oddly enough, the hardest thing to explain to Aavspeyjh was the reason why it would be more difficult to create a monomolecular blade than a firearm. I had to break down the basic ideas behind monoatomic layer additive manufacturing to him in a way that he could understand before he finally agreed with my assessment and moved on to quizzing me about the details of guns. I was more than happy to give him the basic information about how a firearm operated, seeing as the chances he could produce one were minimal. I really wonder how effective guns would be against these people, I thought, they would have to be extremely high power to leave any kind of lasting effect. Certainly, most pre-warbreed infantry weapons wouldn’t be sufficient unless the shooter was lucky.

At around the time I was describing a basic revolver mechanism for firing multiple rounds without reloading, Koyl excused himself from the table. He had been paying attention, but was obviously fatigued and struggling to stay awake. His mother also got up and insisted on walking him out of the room, something he didn’t protest. Once they were gone, Aavspeyjh sighed and leaned over his plate.

“I hope you will forgive my wife,” he said, clasping his hands together and placing his chin atop them.

“For what?” I asked.

“She was very rude to you,” he explained. “You need to understand, Koylzmeyl’s departure from our home was not a happy one, and she worried about him frequently while he was gone. Tahpeyvael’s frustrations are more with me than you, but she has long exhausted her list of complaints with me. When she heard Koylzmeyl had returned, she was ecstatic, but when she saw him, especially the scars, it hurt her. Those scars, as much as they are my fault in her mind, can also be blamed on you.”

“People care deeply about their families,” I said. “It’s understandable. I don’t really care what she says, so long as it has no bearing on our dealings.” Aavspeyjh smiled, then leaned back in his chair.

“My son told me you were peculiar in many ways, but this one is the most surprising to me,” he said. “Young warriors and fighting men usually have little patience for the feelings of those who are not like them. You speak as though you are much older than your mannerisms would indicate.”

“We would be having a different discussion if her words held weight,” I replied.

“Indeed we would,” Aavspeyjh agreed. “Thankfully, that is not the case. If you are finished with your meal, we can go back to my office to speak further.” Looking at my plate, I judged my stomach.

“Let’s go,” I said. “If there are leftovers, I might have some later, if they are available.”

“About your mission…” Aavspeyjh began once we had reached his office again. He walked across the room and sat down behind his desk, clasping his hands together again. I noticed a new chair in the office that wasn’t there earlier in the day, so I pulled it over and sat down across from him. “I can give you a map that will get you to the noypeyyoyjh from Awrehrehzhah if you want it. I can also give you money enough to make your trip, but I’d like you to do a few things for me in return. You will be paid, of course, in addition to what I am offering.”

“That sounds acceptable, but is there an option that allows me to leave immediately?” I asked, making Aavspeyjh’s business expression falter slightly.

“In the best case, I will need a few days to set everything up,” he replied. “I assure you, the work I want done isn’t long-term, nor is it particularly difficult. You should consider it, if only to occupy your time productively.” Well, if I have to wait anyway I might as well do something, I thought.

“Fine,” I agreed. “What kind of work?”

“I’m a businessman, as you can likely tell,” Aavspeyjh explained. “I own a number of establishments around this city that generate income for me, but I don’t often go out and visit them myself. The primary reason for that is that I operate the delivery arm of my business from this location, which allows me to send messages with my couriers. We specialize in money delivery on tight schedules, but will deliver virtually anything so long as it is light enough.” I raised an eyebrow to indicate my curiosity.

“And there is a demand for that?” I asked.

“Sawtzaop Delivery guarantees that packages will reach their destination regardless of the safety of the pickup and dropoff locations, and also guarantees that the contents of the packages are not disturbed or documented in any way,” Aavspeyjh explained. “Essentially, we are safe, secure, and we don’t ask questions.”

“Naturally then, you want me to deliver some things for you,” I replied.

“Yes,” Aavspeyjh agreed. “We have a few packages right now that need to go out within the next day and are going to some locations that are less than safe. We do have enough people to get them to where they need to be just before the deadlines, but if you help out I will pay you our normal rate and you will help me manage our backlog.”

“You said the delivery locations were unsafe, how likely am I to encounter problems?” I asked. “Also, what legal standards do I need to adhere to when fighting off attackers?”

“If I were you I would expect at least one fight, but don’t worry about the laws,” Aavspeyjh replied with a smile. “A well-known fact around here is that people who interfere with my businesses tend to suffer accidents, like tripping headfirst into a sword. It is a risk they take willingly.”

“So I’ll just kill anyone who stops me then,” I replied. Aavspeyjh twitched, then inhaled slowly.

“Technically, I did not tell you to do that,” he stated. “It is very important that, if you are asked, you reiterate that I did not give you instructions to harm anyone. Koyl said that you were quite precise in how you performed your jobs, and very competent. Nevertheless, I want you to confirm that you understand what I am saying.” Probably something to do with avoiding legal issues, I thought.

“Kill them, say it was an accident, you didn’t instruct me to do anything but deliver goods,” I summarized. “Those terms are fine, so long as the city guard can be dealt with. I’m not planning to spend any time in a cell.” Actually, could a cell even hold me at this point? I wondered. I still couldn’t easily use force magic on things I couldn’t see, but pressurized air could potentially operate a locking mechanism.

“Very good,” Aavspeyjh smiled. “Don’t worry about the guard. Here, just take this-” he reached into his desk and removed a pin shaped like the fox-and-shield design from the entryway rug and handed it to me, “-and put it on your shirt. The packages need to be delivered by tomorrow afternoon, but is it possible for you to start immediately? I should have asked that before I began my explanation, my apologies.”

“I can start now,” I nodded. “You’ll need to give me directions, however. A map of the city would be helpful.”

“I thought that was a given, I had planned to provide one before you left,” Aavspeyjh said, and I almost smiled at his level of competence.

The bottom level of the mansion had a section that doubled as some kind of package processing area. Unlike the other rooms, the walls of the package processing area were bare stone, as was the floor, and there were no decorations on the walls save for the same style of ornate lantern that could be found in all the other rooms. Aavspeyjh called out to one of the workers, who went and fetched me a messenger bag and map, then began digging around for whatever I was supposed to be delivering while I took a look at it.

The map of Kahvahrniydah was quite detailed, drawn even down to the alleys that could be traversed. A legend system outlined where various services were, and colored sections showed the relative safety of each district of the city. Using just what I could see at a glance, it was easy to plot a route that avoided both guards and problem areas to and from most areas. As I was committing the map to memory, the worker who gave me the map came back with the first package.

“What’s in this?” I asked as I took the tightly-wrapped leather pouch. It was about twenty centimeters by ten centimeters, and five centimeters thick. I squeezed it lightly and found that whatever was contained within was soft, but not overly wet.

“As we discussed, the contents of the packages are private,” Aavspeyjh said quickly. I inhaled through my nose and caught the scent of the bag, which was oddly familiar. I breathed in enough of this while testing it in Vehrehr to recognize it, I thought.

“Blue leaf,” I said, and Aavspeyjh’s face hardened. “I can tell from the smell,” I quickly explained, “It’s distinctive.” His reaction was strong, so he probably knew as well, I thought, He wants me to help him smuggle this, but he didn’t want me to know I was doing it.

“Give it back,” Aavspeyjh said, holding out his hand. “I will assign you a different package.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” I told him. “I’m not going to say anything.” Aavspeyjh looked at me distrustfully, not yet ready to back down. “Do you have more?” I asked, surprising him.

“No,” he replied. “That is the last of it.”

“Well if you did, I might want some,” I said. “It’s very useful.” We were both silent for a moment, then Aavspeyjh relaxed.

“There is no more, truly,” Aavspeyjh sighed. I watched his face, and it didn’t appear that he was lying. “That is the last of our current stores and we will not have a resupply for several months,” he continued. “It is not cheap, as you might expect, so I will give you a warning out of courtesy. If that package vanishes without making it to the destination, you should leave the city limits if you value your life. I trust you need not be told why.” I briefly weighed the options in my head, then recalled what happened the last time I severely underestimated a human. He’s no Yaavtey, I thought, but five or six of that old man could probably give me trouble.

“You don’t have to worry, I’m not that stupid,” I assured him. “If you know where I can get some for myself though, I’d like to know.”

“Do not take this the wrong way, but you lack the funds required to purchase any that remains in this city,” Aavspeyjh replied. “There are four more packages. Please try not to determine what is in them. It is much easier for you to not have to lie to the guards if they ask you.”

The first package was set to be delivered to a part of town called Zawsmpawt, which translated to “Soft rock”, or rather “Softrock” as one word. I wasn’t sure exactly what it meant until I actually found the district, at which point I realized that most of the buildings were made out of some kind of sedimentary rock instead of the igneous and metamorphic rocks used in other buildings. It’s a wonder any of these buildings are standing, I thought as I walked through an alley, looking up at the wooden supports to either side of me.

“Hey, you,” a rough-looking woman in tattered clothing snarled at me, sauntering up to block my way through the alley. Amazing that humans have such a tendency to announce themselves like that, I thought, A proper ambush would be much more effective.

“Move or die,” I commanded.

“Looks like you’re carrying something pretty valu-” she began, then her words were cut off as her mouth filled with blood. Angling my body ever so slightly, I had concealed my right hand and grabbed a throwing knife while she spoke, and when she didn't back down I flicked it with force magic straight into her chest. Before the woman could draw a weapon I grabbed the top of her head with my left hand while my right went for my sword. An instant later, blood splashed onto the wall behind her, and the majority of her body crumpled to the ground.

Tossing the head on the ground beside the rapidly-draining body, I looked around for witnesses as I pulled my throwing knife from her chest. None around, I thought, then I looked down at myself, and not even a drop of blood on my shirt, how lucky. Now, where is this “independent security company” I’m supposed to be delivering a package to?

After delivering the blue leaf, I dropped off another package that appeared to be money at another company in the Softrock area. Unlike the “security company” that looked to be little more than a tavern filled with hostile-looking individuals, the company that got the money delivery appeared to be some kind of service-based store that lent money to people for a nominal fee. The guards at the door let me in without issue, and the man behind the counter gratefully accepted the package, giving me some kind of paper note indicating he had received my delivery. Was I supposed to get one of these from the first place? I wondered. Looking at the darkening sky, I decided to hurry back.

As it turned out, the first company had “forgotten” to give me a record of receipt on my way out, so once I rectified that error I left the Softrock district for a different part of the city. All three remaining deliveries were to be made to different businesses located in an area known as “Shaaloyngeyv”, which was some kind of proper noun that seemed untranslatable. When I found the part of town, I mentally just took to calling it “the slums” as I had for all other obviously poor zones in the other cities. While Softrock had been somewhere between poor and acceptable, the slums were obviously poor, with most buildings existing in a light state of disrepair and many people milling around the streets thoughtlessly. No marks of ire, I noted, and I haven’t seen any Rehvites either.

The first business in the area, some kind of cleaning service, was also getting a package with money in it. The people inside tore the package open while I was still observing, and though they appeared dissatisfied with the amount of money they gave me the record of receipt without issue. Just down the street from the cleaner was a construction business that had a soft package addressed to them. After talking to some rough-looking workers I was directed to the manager, who accepted the package and gave me a crumpled record of receipt. Though I wasn’t sure what was in the package, I suspected that it contained drugs of some kind since I saw some of the workers rubbing a yellow powder onto their gums.

The final business took much longer to find, as it was located in the same building as another business on the opposite side of the slums. After walking by the supposed location multiple times, I was accosted by a group of three more men who I promptly lured into an alley and killed. Since I had the element of surprise, I used three throwing weapons to dispatch the group: two axes and a knife. After confirming their deaths, I cracked open a nearby crate and stuffed the corpses inside, successfully avoiding getting any blood on myself yet again. When I emerged back into the street, I noticed a door open on what I thought was a house and approached, poking my head inside.

“Is this…” I asked, trailing off as I read the name of the company, “Thaonpaoawlao Entertainment and Gaming?” A bald, armed, and lightly armored man standing by an interior door to the left of the entrance scowled at me.

“Who’s asking?” he rumbled, scowling at me.

“Delivery for you,” I said, “Sawtzaop.” The man’s scowl softened and he gestured for me to come inside. The first floor of the building looked like the first floor of an inn but had nobody in it. I could hear people moving upstairs, but they weren’t making much noise. Other, louder sounds were coming from behind the door the man was guarding, but they were muffled enough to be difficult to identify.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I’ve been instructed not to look at the packages,” I replied, handing him the leather pouch. The man looked down at the package, and the way the light in the building glinted off his eyes made me notice they were yellow, like Vaozey’s. He’s also the same height as me, I thought, maybe they’re related somehow, or their ethnic background simply has a higher average size than the red-eyed Luwahriy. The man unwrapped the leather, seemingly uncaring of if I saw what was inside or not, and revealed a number of colorful dice.

“Ah, we’ve been waiting for these,” he said. “Do you need a receipt?”

“I do,” I replied.

“Come in then,” he said, opening the door behind him and revealing a set of stairs. “No sense making you wait up here while the boss digs through his documents.”