Tori Transmigrated

“The consistency is malleable, and it will retain its stickiness until it dries in place.” Mr. Hale, one of the master tanners that did business at Daybreak Garden, told her. Tori sat at the counter where he usually showed customers examples of his work. She touched the sticky resin that she harvested from the trees at the Rotunda Garden.

“It’s not as sticky.”

“Rather than glue, it’s more like a sticky putty,” Mr. Hale told her. “I added some minerals to keep it malleable for longer, while still being sticky. It also darkened the color and made it opaque, as you requested.” He turned around and took out two pieces of scrap wood a finger thick and about the size of her palm. He took a small bead of the altered resin and pressed it against one broken plank before sandwiching it with the other.

He then picked up the top piece of wood. The second piece stuck to it. Tori pursed her lips and nodded with approval.

“That’s not bad,” she said. “Will it be permanent?”

“On a smooth surface without any grooves or pores, its strength will weaken as it dries. However, on surfaces that have some grit, it should stay in place. It would need to be forced apart,” Mr. Hale told her.

Tori used her pinky nail to take out a small piece from the palm-sized glass jar and rolled it into a little ball. She looked past the middle-aged man and into his booth. She then turned to the booth next to him.

“Mr. Wickerham, can I borrow that piece of wood? The scrap piece with the twigs there,” Tori asked, motioning to the small pile of broken pieces in a corner of the booth. The thirty-something year old woodworker next door followed her line of vision and nodded.

“Of course, my lady. Just one piece?”

“Just one, thank you.” Tori gave him a nod and accepted the piece of wood. She then picked up a tiny sliver of a pebble and covered it with the resin putty. She pressed it onto the piece of wood and narrowed her eyes. She could prepare the tracking crystals in the carriage and have them ready to apply to the shipping containers, the wagon, and even on a discrete part of the horses’ reins if she were fast enough.

“What do you think, my lady?” Mr. Hale asked. He looked at her face with some trepidation. Tori kept her eyes on the piece of putty holding the tiny pebble in place. The corners of her lips pulled up into a smile and her eyes rose to meet his.

“It’s exactly what I needed for my project! Thank you, Mr. Hale,” Tori said. She peeled off the resin putty and put it on top of the small jar’s lid so she could examine how it felt when it hardened. Mr. Hale had already shown her a piece, but she wanted to try it for herself. “How long did you spend on this?”

The middle-aged man looked relieved and smiled. “Not long at all. I’ve worked with all sorts of glues for a while. Do you know you can add wood ash to the resin, as well? It makes a durable glue and firestarter.”

“That may be something I can share with the Sword Association,” Tori said. She screwed the cap back on the jar. “I’m sorry to have to take up so much of your time to work on this resin glue.”

“Not at all, my lady. Daybreak Garden belongs to your family. Serving a Guevera when we can is an honor,” he replied with a laugh.

Tori tried not to appear suspicious. “Still, it must’ve cost you at least a day’s worth of work. That’s a few silver coins.”

Mr. Hale shook his head. “I only charge by project.”

“How many projects can you do in a day?”

“Two or three smaller projects, or I could spend up to multiple days on one.”

“How much is the average small project?” Tori brought her jar of resin putty towards her. The man furrowed his brows and thought for a while.

“Oh, I’d say custom orders are about 5 silver coins on average.” That was actually quite a high daily rate for a craftsmen, but then again, people who came to Daybreak Garden were ready to spend money on quality goods.

“So...let’s say fifteen silver coins a day. Let’s see...I dropped this off at the beginning of the week. It’s been two days....” She took out the coin purse in her satchel and plopped it on the wooden counter. “Thirty silver coins.”

Mr. Hale’s eyes nearly bulged out. “My lady, no! You’re overpaying. I can’t accept so much for such a small job.”

“You convinced me. Ten percent discount, so twenty-seven.” Without looking up at him, she counted out her coins.

“Countess, I can’t-”

“Mr. Hale, my project is worth this much,” Tori said as she lifted her head and met his gaze with a firm expression. “Let me assure you, it’s an important project and you gave me exactly what I needed.”

He still appeared uncomfortable with the money, but Tori closed her coin purse and shoved it back into her satchel. He didn’t take the money from the counter. “My lady, I did have other jobs while working on your glue. It did not take all my time, nor did I have to pay for any additional supplies.” Tori had provided the resin, which was the most important part.

“Twenty-silver coins or I’m going to tell Papa,” Tori said with slightly narrowed eyes. “I am not the type of person to take advantage of honest labor.”

The craftsmen let out a conceding sigh and accepted twenty of the coins. Tori smiled, satisfied, and took back the rest of the coins. She put some copper coins on the neighbor’s table for the wood. She thanked them again before heading out towards the entrance of Daybreak Garden.

As she walked through the interior of the building, a small voice called out to her.

“Auntie!” She turned her head and smiled. She stopped and turned around, reaching for the chubby little boy waving his arms at her.

“Istvan!” Tori kissed his cheeks with a sloppy sound as he giggled and clung on to her. “Are you following your dad to work today?”

Istvan nodded. “Mommy went to the doctor, so I came with Dad!”

Tori furrowed her brows. She carried him back into Armando’s store. “Is everything all right with Istvan’s Mom?” she asked. Armando was putting up a few new bags on display.

“Yes, my mother-in-law went to take her to the doctor. She’s recently been unable to stand the smell of some of her favorite food, so-”

“She might be pregnant?” Tori’s eyes brightened. “Ooh, Istvan! You could be a big brother.”

The little boy’s eyes went wide. “Big brother....” He began to tremble. “I need to tell Fifi!”

Tori laughed and put him on the floor. She reached for her comcry. “Call Fiona de Guevera.” She looked at Istvan with an affectionate smile as she waited for her niece to answer. “Are you going to share the good news?”

“She’s going to be jealous!”

Tori froze for a moment and her eyes crinkled up. Fiona’s voice spoke up from the comcry. “Hi, Auntie Tori!”

“Fifi! It’s me!” Istvan grabbed hold of Tori’s hand and Tori let him have the comcry. “Guess what!” He ran off into a corner to brag excitedly on the comcry with his little buddy.

“You think she’s pregnant?” Armando approached Tori carefully. He seemed hopeful, but didn’t seem to want to get his hopes up. “You’re sure?”

“Well, sensitive smell and nausea is a common, but not definite symptom of pregnancy, particularly early on,” Tori said. “But, you won’t know until-”

“Armando!” A woman’s voice cried out from the entrance and an excited Csilla seemed to fly in. “We’re going to have a baby!”

Tori was all but forgotten as the couple embraced and Armando started crying. Istvan was nodding at the comcry, as if Fiona could see him.

“Mommy just said she was going to have a baby! I’m not lying!” Istvan said.

“Oh, then you have to help take care of her. Sometimes it will be difficult for her to move or get things, so you can get them for her. When her belly gets big, you can talk to the baby. I talk to my cousin all the time and tell her stories,” Fiona said, almost proud, as if she was the more senior of the two.

Tori furrowed her brows. From her talks with Idunn, there was a sort of pregnancy test available, but no one really knew the sex of the child until the child was born. There were always folk methods of guessing, but they weren’t anywhere near dependable. Then again, maybe Fiona just hoped for a little girl cousin.

“Tori, are you done?” Piers’ question faded as he narrowed his eyes and took in the sight of Armando crying against his wife’s shoulder while Istvan and Fiona talked loudly. Piers looked at Tori in silence.

“Csilla just found out she was pregnant,” Tori said. Piers nodded once.

“I will wait outside.” He turned around, rubbing his ears. It took Tori another few minutes to get her comcry back and leave, but not before promising Istvan to visit again.

Piers’ carriage was just outside the entrance to Daybreak Garden and several knights were around. Tori walked out and climbed in without hesitation. She touched the silencing crystal installed in the carriage and Piers tilted his head from the seat across from her.

“Did you get what you wanted?”

Her lips pulled into a grin. “A sticky resin putty that will adhere to wood well and opaque enough to hide the tracking crystals,” Tori said. She took out the jar. “The sample on the lid has a small pebble.”

Piers looked at it, but didn’t reach out to touch it. “Will that be enough?”

“Yes,” Tori said, looking at the glass jar. “This is enough to hide at least nine tracking crystals.”

“Are the crystals ready?” Piers asked.

Tori nodded once more. “I sent one out with Sir Dassler and Sir Wagner tracked him. It’s a bit difficult to follow unless they’re in sight in an urban area, as the tracking tablet only shows the direction in relation where the tablet is, so you have to figure out how to go in that general direction through the various streets, but in rural areas where there are only one or two main roads, it should be easier.”

“The team following the tracking crystals will maintain a quarter day’s distance,” Piers said. “I don’t want to risk losing the target.”

“Each tracking crystal is programmed to register to one tracking tablet, and they are numbered,” Tori said. “I’ll try to get at least three in barrels and one on the wagon itself. If I have time and opportunity, I’ll tag more shipping barrels. Henrik showed me how they look like, so I have an idea of where to put them. How many people will be tracking?”

“Twenty. It will allow for the team to be separated if needed. There is another team monitoring them from here,” Piers replied.

Tori chuckled. “This is going to be such a waste of time if nothing comes from this.”

“What does your intuition tell you?”

Tori lowered her eyes and played with the glass jar in her hands. She didn’t feel excited or hopeful, or even nervous now that her plan was going to be put into action in a few days, but there was a sort of weight on her shoulders. She couldn’t really describe it as dread or anxiety, either.

“Something is going to happen,” she said in a measured tone. “And...it will require action beyond what I am capable of providing.”

Piers lowered his eyes and settled on her hands and the glass jar. His lips tightened into a line for a moment. “Whatever you cannot provide,” he told her in a soft, but firm voice. “I will provide for you.”

She took SIG One to Duel before dawn and had it parked in the alley usually used for delivery. Inside, Tori was carefully covering the thin crystal piece with resin. Once it was encased in a resin ball, Tori flattened it and put it on a small, folded piece of beeswax paper to put into her pocket.

Across from her, Piers sat with his arms crossed, watching silence. With the tinted windows of the carriage, no one could see that there were occupants inside or that the interior was well lit.

When Tori told Instructor Ignatius that she wanted a ‘small crystal’, he failed to understand how small she wanted it. The selected pieces were scrap pieced-sized raw crystal that resembled broken glass. Most crystals that people were familiar with were tumbled or polished. However, in their raw forms, the surfaces did not glisten as much and to untrained individuals, they couldn’t tell the difference between man-made glass and crystal.

Her reasoning was that if a crystal shard were discovered inside the hardened resin, there was a higher chance that the crystal would be misidentified as a piece of glass that got stuck with mud or clay. She couldn’t carve the pieces individually, so she programmed them the way she programmed the poison testing crystals - using another crystal.

The five set aside for the shipping containers were placed in her right pocket while the remaining four, which she planned to try to put on the wagon and horses, were in her right. They each corresponded to a palm-sized crystal tablet mounted on to a wood and metal comcry shell.

The tracking tablets appeared just as any other comcry on the outside, but when it was opened and swiped, a small arrow would appear in the direction of the crystal it was tied to. Instructor Ignatius had improved it one step further and the closer they were, the more arrows would be lined up.

From their tests, once there were five arrows in a row, they were basically on top of the tracking crystal. Three arrows was roughly a quarter of a day’s distance away. Instructor Ignatius had come to Horizon just to test this with the knights the last few days and Tori did what she could to upgrade the programming.

While the tracking distance remained at a half day for this size of crystal, the ability to determine the approximate distance from the crystal itself was an advancement. The night before, Tori was going to stay at Instructor Ignatius’ house to see if there were more advancements they could make, but when they arrived, it was dusty, cluttered, and there was no food, so Piers just had them stay at the imperial palace.

That morning, Instructor Ignatius went with Sir Atienza to an undisclosed location. All Tori knew was that location was where the ‘mission’ intelligence would be gathered and tracked. The various teams of trackers, from what Tori put together, did the kind of jobs that Kasen often did and were familiar with him.

The trackers were in groups of four located at each of the city’s major gates.

This was far more than Tori expected when she told Piers her idea and she couldn’t help but be a bit nervous that all this preparation was for nothing. However, she’d come too far, and her intuition told her to continue.

Once all the little crystals were in her pocket she checked each tracking tablet. They responded accordingly and she took a deep breath.

“Ready?” Piers asked.

Tori nodded. “Sir Villalobos should be out doing his morning exercises now. You can enter through the back gate. He’s expecting you. Wait for me to come back.”

Piers gave her a nod. He opened the door facing the building and stepped out. He gave the four knights escorting them a nod, then raised his arm in a seemingly arbitrary movement. It was a signal for the other four knights watching from a distance to maintain their positions and keep their eyes on Tori’s carriage.

She waited until Piers and his knights were let into the back of Duel. She lifted her hand and knocked on the side of the carriage. Without a word, they headed out into the street. It was still dark, and the streetlamps were still on. As they approached the Golden Cow at the end of the plaza, Tori noticed the lights coming a third-floor apartment window.

She assumed that was where Alessa was and that Alessa was awake and expecting her. Tori took a deep breath. She had one simple job and then once it was done, Piers and his team would take over. If this mission could provide them with valuable information, it would be worth it.

SIG One rolled to a stop in front of the Golden Cow and Tori adjusted her warm cloak around her. Autumns in Horizon had temperatures drop at night, so the mornings were starting to get quite crisp. Mr. Novak opened the door for her, and Tori stepped out.

She expected to go to the side door, which was the entrance to the residences above the building, but before she could reach it, the lights inside the Golden Cow’s showroom came on. Tori turned her head towards the window and saw Alessa rushing out from the door to the back room, dressed in a frumpy cream knit sweater over her uniform skirt.

She waved at Tori with enthusiasm and Tori waved back and smiled a bit. Alessa was quite active in the morning.

The blonde rushed to the main door and hastily unlocked it. She pushed the door open. “My lady, welcome!”

“Good morning, Baroness,” Tori said with a small nod of her head. “I thought I was early, but you’re up already.”

Alessa giggled. “I didn’t know when you arrived, so I was up. Do you want some coffee?”

Tori already had a quick breakfast at the palace with Piers and Instructor Ignatius, but she still nodded. “I can use a cup. The weather is getting colder and after spending all summer in Viclya and Presidio, I find myself partial to heat.”

Alessa laughed and let her in. Tori gave her driver a nod. He returned it and went to park the carriage. Alessa looked towards him and then at Tori. “Does your driver want some coffee?”

“Mr. Novak will park the carriage by Duel so as not to be in the way in front of your store,” Tori said. “And he knows the people at Duel, so they will let him in, and he will have breakfast there.”

Alessa nodded. “I heard the cafe has a master pastry chef.”

“Yes, he graduated about two years ago from the best patisserie school in the city. We know his family, so he was willing to come work for Duel Cafe,” Tori replied. Alessa locked the front door of the store, as it wasn’t yet time to open, and led Tori towards the back.

“How lucky! I haven’t tried any of their pastries yet.”

“Oh, then you should come before lunch,” Tori said. “It will be another two or so hours before his first batch is ready, but after breakfast and before lunch is the best time to be able to secure a piece.” She smiled as they chatted and walked through the back room. Tori glanced around and saw several large barrels by a set of wooden double doors. That was likely where they’d be loaded. She slowed to a stop. “Is that how big the spice barrels are?”

She made sure to sound surprised and Alessa turned around, followed her gaze, and then beamed. “Yes! They’re quite large aren’t they? I thought they were wine barrels at first.” Without being prompted, she headed towards the half dozen barrels and Tori followed. Alessa knocked on one and there was a dull, hollow thud. “It’s built very well, and the slates are tight, so maybe they were wine barrels at one point.”

Tori reached into her pocket and pinched a prepared crystal in her fingers. She leaned forward and looked into the barrel, sticking her arm in. “I can’t even reach the bottom.” She laughed as she pressed the putty in between the seams of the wood. “Then again, I’m short.” She walked over to the next one and leaned forward, almost sticking her head in. She stuck another crystal inside. “This one had turmeric.”

“You can smell it?”

“Of course, they have scents,” Tori said, as if it were obvious. She moved to the next one and gripped the side, pressing another piece of putty into the wood unseen. “Guess what this one had.”

She grinned and waved for Alessa to smell. Giggling, the blonde bounced over and took a whiff. She wrinkled her nose. “Wait, one more.” Tori gave her a nod and moved on to another barrel. “Cumin?”

“Are you sure....?” Tori asked in a teasing voice. Alessa flushed. She inhaled deeply, keeping her focus on the barrel and the lingering scent, allowing Tori to tag the last of the barrels.

“I’m going to say it’s cumin,” Alessa said, appearing sure.

Tori chuckled. “It’s cumin.” The two of them laughed and Tori motioned for them to go upstairs. “Let’s get that coffee before the supplier arrives.”

“Yes!” Alessa clapped her hands together and led Tori upstairs to her apartment. The floor just above the shop was the store’s office, and above that was Alessa’s apartment. There were two apartments on the third floor and Alessa’s was the first one. “I told Adrien I didn’t need it, but he gave me the biggest apartment. I rent out the other two.”

Tori nodded. “That’s good.” Supplemental income wasn’t bad. “He gave you the entire building?”

Alessa nodded. “Yes, he says it’s the least he can do for saving his life.”

“That’s right, you saved his life....” Tori muttered to herself and followed Alessa into the apartment. It appeared to have been fully furnished and the furniture was neither ostentatious nor dilapidated. They were older pieces, but quality build. Something like this fit in line with what Alessa’s tastes would likely be.

“Have a seat!” Alessa motioned to the square table in the room. Tori took the seat closest to the door and looked around. There were a few decorations, including some still life paintings featuring bread. The curtains weren’t faded and looked rather new. Alessa busied herself in the kitchen and came back with two mugs of coffee. “Do you want sugar? Milk?”

“Milk, please,” Tori said. She pulled up her sleeves so they wouldn’t get in the way. As Alessa went to fetch milk, Tori moved her bracelet over the coffee. The poison detecting crystal didn’t glow. You never know....

Alessa placed a small bottle in front of her. Tori gave her a smile and poured some milk into her coffee before stirring it. Her crystal still did not glow.

“The suppliers should arrive soon. The manager usually lets them in, and he’ll arrive soon,” Alessa said. “I asked about it and I don’t know if the delivery people can help, but you can exchange information.”

“Thank you for checking. If they’re interested, I can exchange information. If they already have too many clients, it’s all right. It’s worth the effort,” Tori told her. Alessa looked relieved.

She looked down and smiled pitifully as she cupped the mug in her hands . “I’ve caused you a lot of trouble since school began, haven’t I?”

Tori blew across the top of her coffee. “It’s nothing.”

“You’ve done so much for me. You even helped save me the summer before last...and in return, I trespassed on to your delta. I’m sorry about that.”

“As I’ve said, it was my aunt. I know she’s your godmother, but she really shouldn’t have done that. She dragged you into it.” That much was true. No wonder her mother and her mother’s other siblings were so exasperated with Fabiana.

“Regardless, I want to apologize and make it clear that I mean you no harm. I didn’t know my words were taken with such seriousness in the past and damaged your reputation. Rest assured, I will be more cautious now,” Alessa said as her eyes met Tori’s. “I hope we can be on good terms.”

Tori thought for a moment and nodded. “You are a classmate. A fellow student. I will of course treat you as such. Don’t overthink the past. We were all young and foolish once.” She made careful note not to speak words of friendship.

Alessa still looked relieved. “Thank you, Countess.” She took a sip of her coffee and seemed to relax in her seat. The two spent a few more minutes in calm silence. They only spoke every now and then about Alessa’s project. Tori could see the relief on Alessa’s face as she spoke about how instructors have been hired and how they were hoping to work with the teaching graduate school to be a location for teachers to practice before graduation.

Doing so would require a senior teacher to be present, but the school would pay for them, not the orphanage.

Alessa had a wide smile and sparkling eyes as she talked about it. Tori was sincerely glad for her. At least those children were getting the education they deserved.

Suddenly, Alessa sat up straight. She lifted her head up and craned her neck towards the door. “I hear the back door opening. It’s the manager!”

Tori drank the remainder of her coffee in one long swig then put the mug on the table. She gave Alessa a firm nod. “All right. I’m ready when you are.”

Alessa didn’t bother finishing her coffee. They walked down the narrow stairs that led down to the ground floor. Tori could feel the cold air coming from the open doors as she saw the manager adjusting a metal latch to keep them in place.

“Good morning!” Alessa greeted him with a cheerful voice. The manager looked up and gave her a smile before noticing Tori and immediately scowling.

“Good morning, Baroness.” His eye seemed to twitch. “Countess.”

Tori threw him her business smile. Alessa checked her timepiece and then looked out the doors. Her face lit up. “They’re here!”

She stepped to the side as Tori approached her. She stood beside Alessa by the entrance and craned her neck as she saw a large, covered wagon pulled by four horses lumbering towards them. The horses weren’t big draft horses, but about as big as Layla. There was even one that was all black except for its white feet and star on its head.

The wagon was driven by a tall, thin young man, and a large middle-aged man was seated next to him. They carefully pulled into the side street to align the back of the wagon with the door.

“Good morning, Mr. Gundersen!” Alessa walked forward to greet them as they climbed off the wagon. The back was unlatched and allowed to drop with a loud thud. A third young man was in the back and pushed out a thick, wooden ramp.

“I must warn you, Countess, our supplier is in high demand. Don’t be upset if they refuse to work with you,” the manager said in a sly voice as he moved beside her.

Tori raised a brow. “It doesn’t hurt to ask. If they can, that’s great. If not, then I’ll simply look for another vendor.”

He turned his head away, but Tori still heard his slight scoff of indifference. She ignored him. It was likely that he had issues with her because of Adrien and if that was the case, she didn’t care if the manager liked her or not. She’d prefer it if he didn’t.

Of the three men who showed up to pick up the barrels and drop off, Alessa went to the older man. Tori walked outside and looked over the carriage. The two younger men used a thick piece of reinforced fabric to place under each barrel and then attached it to their shoulders. They stood up at the same time, lifting the heavy barrel and then walking down the ramp at the back of the covered wagon.

As they were focused, Tori reached into her pocket and took another tracking crystal. She reached under the wagon and pressed the resin into one corner. She then circled the carriage and pressed another in a corner beneath the driver’s seat.

Pretending to coo over the horses, Tori managed to wedge one of the resin balls in between a piece of leather on the horse’s bridle.

“Hey! What are you doing?” A loud voice cut through the area, and she drew her head back, her hand still petting the horse’s head. The tall, burley middle-aged man who Alessa was speaking to lumbered forward.

“She’s a cute horse!” Tori said with a cheerful smile. “My Layla is also black, but she doesn’t have the star on her forehead.”

Faced with the perky, innocent smile of a teenage girl, the middle-aged man drew his head back. His face was still scowling, but he didn’t yell at her further. His voice was still low and somewhat annoyed, but he wasn’t in a rage.

“Don’t get too close to them. Horses can kick, you know.” He grumbled and then turned back around.

Alessa caught up with him and motioned to Tori. “She’s my classmate and has extensive businesses in the city. She’s the one looking for a spice supplier.” She sounded a bit hopeful, but from the look on the man’s face, he had no interest in working with Tori. Or anyone else.

Tori stepped away from the horse and approached the middle-aged man. “Sir, I am planning to open a restaurant-”

“I’m sorry, but we have to cap our customers. Our distribution amount is limited, and we can’t take on another client unless we start reducing the orders for each customer,” the man said in a firm voice. He looked Tori up and down and straightened his back. “It would be unfair for our existing customers to break our contracts with them for the sake of a new customer.”

He sounded self-righteous, but as far as Tori was concerned, that was contracts were for and wasn’t worthy of praise. Following existing contracts was expected. Still, she nodded and let out a heavy sigh.

“I understand. Long established business relationships are important.” She gave the man a disappointed smile. “Thank you for being clear.”

His eyes widened a bit, as if expecting that she’d argue about it. When Tori stepped to the side, he seemed to gather his thoughts and then nod, as if approving of her reaction. He went to check on the barrels and Alessa rushed to Tori’s side with a pained expression.

“I’m sorry-”

Tori lifted her hand to silence her. “Don’t be. As I said, I was prepared for any reaction. I just wanted to ask.” She gave Alessa a warm smile and patted her shoulder. “This isn’t your fault and it’s not the end of the world. Don’t worry about it. I’ll find another spice supplier.”

Alessa smiled, but there was still some disappointment in her eyes. It seemed she was quite sincere about trying to help Tori.

The two stayed outside and Tori watched the men easily grab the empty barrels and load them into the wagon with heavy thuds. Even with the violent movement, the resin should’ve held. She knew this because she had attached one to the tip of a wooden waster and then had Piers spar with Axton to see how much it could take before falling off. The resin had held on and had to be scraped off later

One of the younger men climbed into the back of the wagon and the second one pushed the back closed and handed the ramp to the first man inside. The middle-aged man had the manager sign some papers confirming delivery before he climbed up onto the driver’s seat with the second man.

A moment later, they were rolling down the street. The entire delivery took less than a quarter of an hour.

Tori let out another heavy sigh, as if disappointed, and patted Alessa’s shoulder once more. “If I can find another supplier, I will let you know, Countess,” Alessa told her.

Tori smiled and shook her head. “That is not your responsibility. I appreciate you taking time to try to help me, Baroness. That’s all I can ask for.” She looked up at the sky, noting the orange hue on the horizon. “It’s still early. I’m going to check on my driver and then head back and try to catch up on sleep. Once more, thank you for your time.”

Alessa forced a smile and nodded. She bowed her head as Tori tightened her cloak around her and walked down the street. From the front of the Golden Cow, it could see the corner of Duel. In particular, the corner with the cafe. The light crystals were on through the windows were tinted, the glass panel on the door was not.

She reached the door and as she lifted her hand, made a subtle move to call the knights watching her to close their distance. She knocked on the door and it was immediately opened by one of the knights in plain clothes.

She gave him a nod of her head and walked inside. Piers was at the table in the farthest corner, where no one would bother him. From his seat, he’d have the best view of the cafe and know when someone was approaching. Yet, he didn’t look up as she walked towards him. He was drinking coffee and immersed in writing.

Tori approached him and looked down at the notebook. He seemed to pause as he saw her shadow over the paper. “Is it done?”

“It’s done,” she said. “A new escape room?”

“For the third-tier knights.” Most people wouldn’t catch it, but Tori could hear the slight vindictive amusement in his voice.

“Don’t make it too difficult. They’re bringing their families and it should be fun, not frustrating,” Tori said with a frown.

“I’m making two,” Piers said. Tori took a seat across from him. “One will be suitable for children.”

Tori narrowed her eyes. “Don’t make it what you think is suitable for children. Your idea of children are Fifi and Robi. Not all children are as clever as they are or will have my brother guiding them.” The corner of Piers' lips pulled into a frown.

“Then, I do not know what level will be suitable,” he said with some reluctance.

Tori thought for a moment and then smiled. “Make one suitable for Axton.”