Neo leaned back in the chair and crossed one ankle over the other. The drink in front of him had gone warmer than before, and the bar around them had filled another layer since they sat down.

He tapped once against the side of his glass.

"Snot told me something already," he said. "About Gray Hand."

Richards rested his forearm on the table. "That sounds about right. What did he tell you?"

"That the Arandom branch got a Godscar Ruin. Or part of one." Neo held his stare. "And that they’re planning an expedition."

Richards gave a slow nod. "That part is true."

Neo waited.

Richards understood the pause and kept going.

"Gray Hand isn’t going in alone."

Neo’s attention tightened a little. "With who."

"The Mournes."

Neo had expected a name. That one still made him pause for half a breath.

"The Mournes?" he said. "Together?"

"Together."

Neo shifted in the chair. "Why would they do it like that?"

Richards picked up his glass, rolled it once between his fingers, and put it back down without drinking.

"You already know the Mournes aren’t what they used to be," he said. "The family name still opens doors. People still think twice before crossing them openly. But names only carry you so far when a Godscar Ruin is involved. Those things drain money before anyone even steps inside. Security, transport, specialists, legal claims, the sort of people you need around a place like that if you don’t want it to turn into a public graveyard." He shrugged lightly. "The Mournes couldn’t take the whole thing comfortably on their own."

Vivienne came to mind without permission. The high restaurant, the red dress, the silver pendant, the money she threw around like the family still had an endless well under the floorboards. He could believe both things at once. A family could still walk like royalty while the walls behind them cracked.

"So they split it with Gray Hand."

"That’s about right."

Neo rubbed his thumb once against the rim of the glass. "And who do they even buy those rights from? I thought it was simple. First one there, first one in."

Richards gave him a dry smile. "That’s the version people like because it sounds heroic. Reality is uglier." He leaned back slightly. "Yes, the first group to find it and establish a proper claim gets priority. In this case, that was Gray Hand. Originally."

"Originally," Neo repeated.

"Yeah. Originally." Richards tilted his head a little. "Then people with money, influence, or reasons to interfere stepped in. That happens all the time. Ownership is rarely decided by who got there first. It’s decided by who can keep their hand on it once everyone else notices."

Neo accepted that without argument.

That sounded exactly like the world he had already started seeing. The first person through the door mattered. The person who could keep everyone else from closing it mattered more.

Richards watched him for a moment. "You were already thinking about going."

Neo didn’t bother pretending otherwise. "Of course I was. It’s a Godscar Ruin."

"Good answer."

Neo took another drink. "But first I have to get into Gray Hand."

"Yes."

"And after that, I have to stand out enough that they actually take me." His tone stayed even. "It’s not like they’ll bring every new recruit inside a Ruin because he asks nicely."

Richards let out a short breath through his nose, almost amused. "No. They won’t."

"So I’d have to do better than the people already there."

That didn’t bother Neo. Bigger prize, bigger gate. That part made sense. A Godscar Ruin was never going to be handed to someone because he showed up on time and had decent posture.

Richards leaned forward slightly. "I think you can do it."

Neo lifted a brow. "I wasn’t asking for encouragement."

"I know."

"Then don’t say it like I need it."

That got a real laugh out of Richards, brief and low.

"I’m not trying to make you feel better. I’m telling you what I think." He folded one hand around the glass again. "If you get in, you can stand out. I don’t think that part is going to be your problem."

Neo’s mouth moved a fraction. "Good. Because I know I can."

Richards nodded once, as if that answer suited him more anyway.

For a little while the noise of the bar folded around them. A couple near the counter arguing over nothing expensive enough to matter. Someone farther back laughing like they had won a war instead of a bad joke. Life. Normal, dull, clueless life.

Neo broke that easier stretch himself.

"By the way," he said, "how bad is it out there with Leo?"

That changed Richards’s face more than the Ruin had.

He didn’t freeze. He just lost that lighter edge he had been carrying since Neo sat down.

"It’s a mess," he said. "The whole city feels half upside down over that boy. Hidden son of the Duplains. Big class. Tower story. Family name. Every part of it makes people stupid." He ran a hand briefly across his jaw. "I’m tired of hearing about him, if I’m honest."

Neo watched him and said nothing.

Richards went on.

"There’s not much I can do right now. Not the way I’d like." He gave a short, humorless breath. "People imagine families like the Duplains fall because one good man gets angry enough. That’s not how it works. You wait. You collect what you need. You let them move, let them talk, let them make the wrong choices in the right places." His fingers tapped once against the glass. "And when the moment comes, you hit hard enough that they don’t climb back up smiling."

Neo leaned back slightly. "So for now you wait."

"For now, I wait."

That answer carried more weight than the rest.

Neo could respect that. Roderic didn’t move like a man who feared ordinary problems. Leo didn’t either. People like that only fell when the whole structure under them cracked, not because someone finally got fed up and barked louder than usual.

Richards met his eyes again. "That’s why Gray Hand matters more than Leo right now."

Neo tilted his head. "You think so."

"I know so." Richards’s voice stayed level. "Leo will still be there. The Duplains will still be there. What changes your position is access, training, resources, and the chance to get your hands on something bigger than a hunting ground. Gray Hand gives you that. A Godscar Ruin gives even more. Chasing one bastard before you’ve got the weight to do anything with it is a waste."

Neo couldn’t really argue with any of that.

He had no intention of running around Arandom after Leo like some angry stray dog anyway. There were better ways to get stronger than orbiting one problem until it ate half your progress.

Richards finished the rest of his drink and set the glass down. "For now, get in. Stand out. Take what you can from it."

"That was already the plan."

The conversation eased after that, though it didn’t die. Richards mentioned he’d message him when he had time to bring him through the offices for a day. Neo said he’d go. The server came by again, Richards ordered one more drink, Neo refused another. Nothing dramatic. Nothing false either.

By the time Neo stepped back out into the street, the night air felt thinner than the bar and colder by a good margin. He slipped both hands into his pockets and started walking.

Halfway down the block, his phone buzzed.

Snot.

Neo pulled it out and opened the message.

My sister’s good now so tomorrow i’m back stop having fun without me also i heard something about gray hand and i swear if you and alice started without me i’ll be offended meet me tomorrow

Neo stared at the screen for a moment.

A faint curve tugged once at his mouth.

"Yeah," he muttered under his breath as he kept walking. "There it is."

Tomorrow, Snot was back.

And whatever he had heard about Gray Hand was already waiting for them.