Alister finally managed to detach himself from the frustratingly friendly king when they went to leave for the family house in the capital. To call it a house, though, was a bit of a misnomer as it was more like a compound of multiple houses connected in a walled area with many gardens and whatnot. Felthinus and most of the others went to their different houses in the compound, while Blas and Alliana took Alister and Wisteria to meet the black sheep Uncle Reese.

“I thought we didn’t like him? Isn’t that what a black sheep is about?” he mused in the carriage, looking annoyed still about the king picking him up.

Blas shook his head, eyes focused out the window, “Felthinus made him sound worse than he is… Reese is a kindhearted person. Felth isn’t aware of what his business really does. To him, he thinks it’s just a brothel. In reality, it’s so much more than that.”

“He and I work in the same… general sphere,” Alliana added, a smirk of amusement on her lips, “My class is Spymaster if you recall. I deal with direct social engagements and gathering information that way. He deals with more… under the table methods. But he also has a passion for helping people. It’s very sweet.”

“Mind you, don’t go gossiping on this,” Blas said. Wisteria nodded, and Alister rolled his eyes.

“Ah yes. I’m known for gossip, after all,” Alister huffed, “Anyway. I think he sounds interesting. It’s unfortunate that others think so little of him.”

“He prefers it for ‘safety reasons’. You’ll see what I mean. He’s a rather paranoid individual,” his mother sighed, “He’s also a complete workaholic. He doesn’t give himself nearly enough rest and worries all the time about the possible collapse of noble society one day or whatever his newest concern is…”

When they got out of the carriage, Blas didn’t even bother to knock. He simply went into the house and burst into his brother’s office, Alliana, Alister, and Wisteria struggling to keep up.

“BROTHER I’VE ARRIVED!” he shouted at the top of his lungs with a crazy grin across his face, eager to spook his little brother.

The room, which was clearly supposed to be an office, was an utter mess of papers and corkboards, made only worse as the man behind it all jumped and knocked over two large stacks. “AHH!” he yelled before his eyes met Blas’s and his shout turned into a groan. He was about as tall as Blas, but much heavier-set, with short black hair slicked back and exhausted grey eyes.

“Reese! You weren’t there to greet us,” Blas complained.

Reese, who Alister gathered was the uncle he had yet to meet, mustered an eye roll as he collected papers into his arms, “I thought I still had a week? Wait… what day is it…? Crap. I asked Marabell to tell me, but she must’ve gotten distracted by a mission or something…”

“You’re working too much again!”

“I am working exactly as much as I need to, Blas! The movement along the border? The reports of eldritch entities? The drug trade!? I can’t just STOP working! Everything could go wrong. We could see an invasion, brother! An invasion! There are far too many things going on right now, see? Look,” he motioned to one of his boards, where pieces were linked by different colors of thread, “You see how the gold flows hands?? It could be CONNECTED, brother!”

A tan little girl with a bright pink bob cut appeared from around the corner, eyeing the lot of them with distrust, “…Dad? Mom says you’re getting too excited again…”

“Oh my gosh! Olana is that you?” Blas said, crouching a little to look the tall girl in her eyes, “You must be ten by now! You’re getting so big!! I’m uncle Blas. You remember me, right?”

She blushed, a long cow’s tail with pink fluff at the tip wrapping itself around her waist, and stepped out into the room. Her clothes were strange, a blue top with long open sleeves and front buttons that made a y shape, with a short fluffy black skirt and black tights that ended at her feet, which were covered by simple black flats. She made so little noise when she moved it was bizarre. Her appearance was made even stranger by her large, extremely soft-looking tan fuzzy cow ears and little black horns that sat atop her head.

“I… remember you, yes, Uncle Blas… I turned ten late last year…,” she muttered, fiddling nervously with her skirt, “Dad, you didn’t say we were having guests.”

“I didn’t know, dear. I, uh, lost track of time again… a bit,” Reese said, clearing his throat as he set another stack of documents down. He waved his hand, a blue light consuming his fingers before three-fourths of the documents disappeared into the blue glow. Olana darted forward and hugged her dad, a little bell on her choker ringing out as she did so. Reese saw Blas’s raised brow at that and sighed, “She’s been practicing stealth skills nonstop… We agreed she needs a bell so she stops startling us. She’s taken it as a challenge.”

“It’s like a ninja! I have to be able to move so stealthy the bell doesn’t ring!” she explained with enthusiasm.

“A what?” Blas responded, chuckling, “Don’t you mean a rogue or something like that?”

“No, she means a ninja,” Reese sighed again, “Specifically a kunoichi. Duke Xalo tells her stories from his childhood and she’s gotten fascinated with them. She’s determined to make kunoichi her class.”

“It’s a very cool and noble class!”

“Yes, dear. I’m sure it is,” Reese fell back into his seat and stared at the remaining papers, “I really am worried about the military movements Dusau has been making, Blas. It’s got a weird feeling to it.”

“Mm… love?” He looked to Alliana.

Alliana shrugged, “Nobles haven’t been talking much about it. It seems like something that’s going primarily unnoticed, but that makes it all the more concerning.”

Alister stared at Olana, who was making notes, furiously scribbling things down in a tiny notepad. He stared for a long moment before clearing his throat, “Uncle Reese?”

“Ah! Yes. Right. Hello, nephew! I didn’t say hello to you properly. You probably don’t remember me,” Reese said, managing a smile out of nowhere, “I’m Reese Severin. Did… you have a question?” He seemed worried, but Alister wasn’t one to care about why his kid had beastkin features or why his room was a mess.

“Where’d the papers go? What’s that blue light?”

Reese smiled a little wider, a blue quill and paper appearing in his hands, “This… is my class. I am a Record Keeper! I have a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips, though I have to write it all myself. Oh, and I can send messages with ease without a scrying orb.” He scribbled a short message and the paper folded itself into a bird before flying into Alister’s hands, simply saying ‘Hello.’ His pen disappeared, “It’s quite useful in my line of work.”

Alister nodded thoughtfully, “That sort of thing sounds incredibly useful… I don’t know that I could mimic that with my magic, honestly. How interesting.”

Alliana patted his head, “I’m sure you heard about the full recall thing, Reese. He speaks strangely because of that. It doesn’t match his age or his appearance.”

Reese waved it off, “It doesn’t bother me. It makes it easier, actually. I don’t have to sugarcoat things. Olana… where is Harriet? You two usually aren’t too far from each other.”

She jumped, tucking away her notepad, “Huh? Oh, sissy is with mom. Wrestling or something I think.”

“Lovely… I hope they at least did it outside this time…”

Blas laughed, “Being a dad suits you so well. I’m happy your twins are flourishing! Marabell’s certainly… unorthodox, but she’s very strong. Your girls will be able to do anything they put their minds to, with role models like you guys.”