Chapter 432: An Emergency Meeting

The meeting had not been scheduled, and that alone was enough to sour Gideon Marholt’s mood before the last of his captains entered the chamber.

The headquarters of the Iron Fang Mercenary Company occupied an old stone compound in the northern quarter of the Royal Capital, where hired Warriors had trained, negotiated contracts and returned from campaigns for decades.

Tonight, however, the long table normally used for planning expeditions was buried beneath reports concerning an organization barely anyone in the Capital had taken seriously a month earlier.

Gideon sat at its head, broad-shouldered and grey-haired, with the heavy build of a veteran Knight. His captains remained silent while he read.

Eventually he placed one report down and looked toward the man responsible for recruitment. "How many? And this time, I want the number of our people who registered, not the number someone thinks I would prefer to hear."

The captain shifted before admitting that thirty-seven Iron Fang Warriors had been confirmed as registered Adventurers, although there could be more.

Several men around the table muttered curses, but Gideon raised one hand. Thirty-seven was irritating, not disastrous. Losing thirty-seven wouldn’t justify dragging senior captains back after sunset.

The problem was that Iron Fang hadn’t lost them. Gideon leaned forward and asked how many of those thirty-seven had resigned.

The captain hesitated again before answering,

"None."

That changed the room. Several were experienced Knights, four were Mages, and two had served Iron Fang for more than ten years. They still accepted company work, wore Iron Fang colors and appeared when summoned. They had simply registered with Sage Alistair’s Guild as well.

A knock sounded before Gideon could continue, and the door opened to admit a tall man wearing a dark green cloak over polished armor. Several Iron Fang captains stiffened immediately.

The newcomer was Roderick Halbrecht, master of the Black Banner Mercenary Company, one of Iron Fang’s oldest rivals and one of the few mercenary leaders in the Capital important enough to be invited into this chamber.

Roderick was younger than Gideon by nearly a decade, lean where Gideon was heavy, with dark hair touched by grey at the temples. Gideon remarked that he was late, and Roderick removed his gloves as he took the empty chair. "Your messenger interrupted my dinner, Marholt. Be grateful I came before dessert."

Bringing Roderick into an Iron Fang meeting would have been unthinkable under ordinary circumstances, but Black Banner had also been watching the Adventurer Guild.

Roderick picked up the nearest report, scanned it and gave a dismissive grunt. "This required an emergency meeting? A few hundred Warriors put their names into Alistair’s book, and everyone behaves as though another army appeared overnight."

When Gideon pointed out that registrations continued every day, Roderick argued that the Grand Complex and Mana Cultivation Tower were new, while even the word Adventurer was unfamiliar to most Capital Warriors. Of course people were curious. Warriors had always chased new training grounds and profitable opportunities.

In his view, the excitement would fade once the novelty passed.

Gideon pushed another report across the table and told him thirty-seven Iron Fang Warriors had already registered.

Roderick replied that Gideon should control his people better, which earned several hostile looks from the captains. Gideon ignored the insult and calmly asked how many Black Banner Warriors had registered.

For the first time, Roderick’s expression shifted. After an uncomfortable silence, he admitted, "Twenty-nine that we know of."

Gideon then asked how many had resigned from Black Banner. Roderick looked back at the papers before admitting that none had.

They began examining the reports properly. The Guild wasn’t offering wages to registered Adventurers or demanding exclusive service. Warriors could register, complete Guild missions when they wished and continue working for mercenary companies.

One Black Banner Knight had completed a Guild escort mission during three idle days between company contracts, earned coin and contribution points, then returned without violating a single agreement.

Another had taken monster remains from a company hunt to the Guild Exchange for appraisal before selling them elsewhere. Several Iron Fang Mages had begun paying for time inside the Mana Cultivation Tower because registered Adventurers received better rates.

Roderick suggested changing Black Banner agreements so its Warriors couldn’t register with another organization, but Gideon’s recruitment captain immediately warned that such a restriction would make recruiting independent Warriors harder if rival companies didn’t do the same.

Roderick argued that loyalty had to mean something, only for Gideon to shake his head. "This isn’t about loyalty. They aren’t fighting for Alistair against you. They’re using his tower, his smithies, his healers and his Exchange. Tell a man he must choose between your banner and all of that, and you’d better be certain he’ll choose your banner."

Roderick’s jaw tightened, but he offered no answer.

One of the older Iron Fang captains, a scarred Knight named Hadrik, finally pushed the registration reports aside.

He had spent twenty-six years in mercenary work and rarely spoke unnecessarily, so everyone listened when he said, "We’re looking at the wrong number."

Gideon asked what number mattered, and Hadrik answered, "How many of ours left us? None. That’s worse."

When Roderick frowned, Hadrik explained that Warriors abandoning their companies would be a familiar problem. Better rewards or better contracts might keep them. The Guild was different because it didn’t need them to leave. It could become useful to Iron Fang’s own Warriors while Iron Fang continued maintaining its company.

Hadrik counted the advantages on thick fingers. A Warrior could take an Iron Fang contract, carry damaged armor to the Guild smithies afterward, bring monster materials to the Exchange for appraisal, seek treatment from Guild healers when injured and accept Guild missions during quiet weeks.

He could cultivate inside the Mana Tower and build an Adventurer Rank that followed him through every Guild branch. "And what does Alistair demand in return?" Hadrik asked. "Follow Guild rules while using his halls, complete accepted missions properly and pay for services that require coin. He doesn’t have to promise every Warrior constant work. He built somewhere they choose to return to."

Roderick’s earlier dismissal had disappeared. He leaned forward and asked what Hadrik believed would happen if the Guild continued growing.

The old Knight looked toward the contracts stacked near Gideon before answering, "Eventually someone asks why we take what we take."

Mercenary companies found clients, negotiated terms, assembled Warriors, gathered information and took a portion of the payment for arranging everything.

That arrangement had survived because independent Warriors had few reliable ways to find steady work.

Hadrik tapped the Guild report. "Now imagine a Knight gets missions there, knows the reward before accepting, gets his materials appraised, repairs his weapon there and cultivates there. Then we offer him a contract and take three parts from every ten. One day he’s going to ask what those three parts bought him."

The words settled heavily across the chamber. The Adventurer Guild wasn’t attacking them directly.

Sage hadn’t stood outside their compounds trying to lure away their Warriors.

He had simply created another path, and every service made that path easier to use. Gideon picked up a report concerning Guild missions. Merchants had begun taking escort and monster-clearing requests directly to the Grand Guild Hall.

The numbers remained small compared with the Capital’s established mercenary trade, but every successful mission gave another client a reason to return.

When Roderick asked whether Iron Fang had already lost clients, Gideon admitted that three smaller merchants had taken work to the Guild, while one caravan master had approached both sides before choosing Iron Fang.

Black Banner had seen similar behavior. Neither company was bleeding badly yet, but clients could now compare the old arrangement against something built differently. Roderick sat back and asked, with little humor, whether Gideon intended to burn the Mana Tower down. Gideon told him not to be an idiot.

Attacking a place filled every day with Capital Warriors would turn curiosity into loyalty faster than Sage could manage himself.

"We need to know where his coin moves," Gideon said, gathering the trade reports together.

The Exchange was attracting merchants, the restaurants purchased enormous quantities of food, the smithies required metal and fuel, the hotel needed constant supplies, and monster materials were beginning to flow through Guild hands.

Mercenary companies understood Warriors, contracts and violence. What they understood less clearly was how deeply the Guild was reaching into Capital trade, and which merchants stood to gain or lose if that growth continued.

Roderick studied the names of merchants already dealing with the Guild, his expression tightening as he recognized several.

After a long silence, he nodded. "Then we’re asking the wrong people. We know what Alistair offers Warriors. We need someone who understands what he’s doing to trade."

Gideon agreed. Somewhere in the Capital, merchants were already watching the same changes from another direction, and they would understand where the coin was beginning to shift.

Tomorrow, they would speak with a merchant.