“Hm,” Noah said. “That sounds like it might be a bit of a problem.”

“Not our problem, fortunately,” Mordred said. He cleared his throat and took a step back as he adjusted his clothes. His expression returned to what Noah presumed to be its normal state. “Politics. Disgusting. Not my concern in the slightest. That’s something for the Prophet to deal with. Not much at all that can be done by us mere mortals. I’m sure the Prophet will manage something.”

“You didn’t sound so certain a moment ago,” Brayden pointed out. He crossed his large arms in front of his chest. “You seem pretty convinced we’re one small trip-up away from annihilation.”

“And if we were? What could we do about it?” Mordred shook his head. “Nothing. Nothing at all. If a Rank 8 wants to squash us, then that’ll be the end of things. So why worry about it? There are far more interesting things to turn our attention to — such as my questions for Lee.”

“I think those can wait,” Noah said.

“Perhaps. Then maybe a different one would be better,” Mordred said. He rubbed two fingers together, his cold gaze moving to meet Noah’s. “You used a rather uncommon variant of magic to destroy my deck of cards. Do you know that there’s quite literally no remnant of them left? Not even dust. I would imagine you do.”

Goddamn it. I really should have used a different rune for that. But it’s not like I was going to be able to hide my strongest Rank 5 forever. I’d have been forced to use it at the tournament at some point anyway.

“That doesn’t seem like any of your concern. I don’t believe I promised to give any information about myself. Maybe I’ll tell you in due time.” Noah nodded to the door. “But we’ve been standing around here long enough. You’re right about one thing. There’s nothing we can do about the Prophet. This is her problem. Mine is the tournament. The tournament which we need to be getting to before it starts.”

Mordred studied Noah for a moment longer. Then he inclined his head. “Very well. Go. I will meet back up with you later.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Lee asked.

“No, I think this is a great idea. He should go,” Brayden said. “Presumably somewhere very far away. I’m sure there’s something very important that he has to do. Maybe something that takes a long time.”

“I need a better spot to watch the tournament from,” Mordred said, ignoring Brayden entirely. “I won’t be able to get much useful information from the combatant area. They don’t want you getting too much information about the groups you aren’t in. So I will suspend my curiosity in exchange for fulfilling the terms of our deal to the best of my ability. I will watch for the strongest members of the divisions you are likely to come into contact with. The weaker ones… well, if you can’t beat them without me, then my information wouldn’t be of much use in any scenario.”

As odd as Mordred was, he did genuinely seem to have every plan of fulfilling the promise he’d made. It was a bit hard to say no to that. Especially when it meant the strange man wouldn’t be pestering them for the entirety of the tournament.

“I won’t argue with that,” Noah said. “How will you get us the information? Are you even going to be able to locate us when the tournament starts? Aqua Terra is huge, and I don’t imagine the tournament will be much different.”

“You’re correct. It will be impossible to re-locate you after the start of the tournament. My team will fill in for me. I have methods to communicate with them.”

“The ones whose shoulders you were sitting on?” Brayden asked.

“Yes,” Mordred said. “I’ll send Fist with you. That should be sufficient. But in turn, you will not stiff me of my questions. I get to interview Lee properly once the tournament is complete. No excuses. No running away.”

“So long as your questions are reasonable,” Noah said after a quick exchanged glance with Lee. “And she reserves the right to refuse to answer anything she doesn’t want to or end the interview if you go too far. It’ll be a conversation. Its length will depend on how much you can restrain yourself from annoying her.”

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“I have a large amount of food,” Mordred said.

“Food does not give you an excuse to annoy Lee,” Brayden growled.

“No, I think it does,” Lee said, scratching her chin. “It definitely extends my patience.” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Not helping, Lee,” Brayden said.

“Sorry,” Lee said. She glanced at Mordred. “Could I get another one of those chewy things?”

Mordred mutely took a second wrapped candy out and handed it to Lee. “That counts for a question. It isn’t free. I’ll ask it later.”

“Kay,” Lee said, picking at the wrapping for once in her life. It seemed she didn’t want to eat the imbued wrapping for some—

She narrowed her eyes, giving up and tossing the whole thing into her mouth.

Nevermind.

“Then, with that, I’ll be taking my leave. I would suggest you do the same. The tournament is about to start, after all,” Mordred said. He looked out the window, then cleared his throat. “It seems my ladder has unbuilt itself. Perhaps we can use the front door?”

Noah rolled his eyes, then pulled his mask over his face.

“Let’s go. You can introduce us to your team properly on the way out.”

***

“This,” Mordred said, pointing to a heavily armored woman with an exhausted look on her weather-worn features, “is Fist.”

They all stood on the street just outside the tavern, across from Fist and the other member of Mordred’s team — a stout man armored similarly to Fist.

“I’m sorry,” Fist said. She tilted her head in a small bow.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Your parents’ terrible naming sense is not your fault,” Mordred said.

“I wasn’t apologizing about my name. I’m apologizing to them for having to deal with you,” Fist said through a sigh. “Whatever shit Mordred said, I promise you it was probably well-intentioned. He’s not a pervert or a truly bad person. He’s just a fucking idiot.”

“Hey!” Mordred snapped. “Why are those the only options?”

“Shut up, please,” Fist said. “We’re already on thin ice. Don’t forget, Mordred. If we get a few more complaints—”

“Bah. We do good work. Stop worrying about your job so much. Think about the potential we build for the future instead.”

“We only do good work when we actually finish the job,” the other member of Mordred’s team said. “Which is probably like 30% of the time.”

“Shut up, Ace,” Mordred said. He cleared his throat. “I’ll be leaving Fist with you as I go to fulfill my end of the bargain. Do ensure that Lee does not die during the tournament. I would be quite cross if that happened.”

“Wait, what?” Fist asked.

“Is that possible?” Noah asked. “The tournament is to the death?”

“I don’t know,” Mordred replied with a shrug. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Then he was gone, turning on his heel and striding away.

His dramatic exit came to a pause about five feet later when he turned around and pointed at Ace. “You’re still coming with me. I never said you could stay back too.”

“Damn it,” Ace said. He tipped an imaginary hat to Noah’s group, then strode off after Mordred.

Fist watched the two of them leave. Then she turned to look at Noah. “Uh… why am I staying here?”

“Mordred volunteered you to provide us with some information he’s going to be retrieving. Apparently you’ve got some way to communicate?”

“Oh. Is that so?” Fist scratched the side of her neck. “Well, I suppose. It’s a good thing we got badges for the tournament.”

Just like that? She accepted it pretty easily. How often does Mordred do stuff like this?

“You seem more adjusted than Mordred,” Brayden said. “Why are you with that madman?”

Fist blew out a heavy sigh. “It’s a long story. Not one that I think any of us really have any desire to go through. Just suffice to say he’s a very competent leader in the right circumstances — and only in those circumstances.”

“That’s not very convincing,” Brayden said slowly. “On the contrary, that sounds like the exact reason I wouldn’t want to follow somebody.”

“We’re generally pretty good at making sure the right circumstances occur,” Fist said. “It’s just jobs like these where he gets carried away. Mordred is a little obsessed with studying magical species. He… has his reasons. But he does mean well. Usually. I assume he does. He wouldn’t have left me here if he didn’t. But I promise, I’m not going to start pulling out any weird decks. I’ll stay out of your way and just hold up Mordred’s end of the deal. You’ve got nothing to worry about. But I should ask — who are you? I only know Lee.”

“I’m Brayden,” the large man said. He nodded to Noah. “That’s Spider.”

“Spider?” Fist asked. Her eyes lit up. “Did our mothers go to the same school of naming?”

“Not my real name, unfortunately,” Noah said apologetically.

Fist grimaced. “Right. Who else would name their kid something as unabashedly stupid? Shouldn’t have asked. Pleasure to meet the two of you. Sorry for helping Mordred break into your room.”

“Eh. It happens,” Noah said. He reached into the scabbard at his side and pulled out the black badge. An arrow shimmered on its surface, pointing off to their left. He raised his gaze to look at the street it was directing them down. “Now, let’s get a move on, shall we? There’s a tournament starting in a few hours, and I plan to be there when it begins.”

It was time to put on a show.