Chapter 1582: Updates on the Way
On one side of the carriage was the reunion of the men. While the roads were rough, the carriage was surprisingly stable. Usually, they’d all practically be bouncing around at the cart’s every movement, but instead, it was just a little shaky.
It was a curious thing, though the reunion was at the front of their minds for now.
"Otto..." Kalfene said, looking at his old friend who grinned at him. The place was small, so they really couldn’t do proper greetings.
"It really is you guys," he said, looking at the others. "Everyone?"
"All of us are alive," Otto said. "Though we did lose a few servants back then..." he couldn’t help but remember those who died in their escape, and their hearts clenched.
"I see..."
Otto pushed down the melancholy and focused on his old friend. "How has life been? I heard it hasn’t been easy."
"It was okay. We were still useful to a point, so they couldn’t be too hard."
"What about the others?" he asked. They did receive some information, but there were details only those directly involved would know. "And don’t worry, I don’t mind them working for others."
Kalfene relaxed a bit at his follow-up, though he had known Otto for long enough to know that the blonde wouldn’t feel bitter by the servants moving on.
"Well, fortunately, you trained them very well, and they were considered ideal hires," he said. "It could’ve gone very wrong and had become a manhunt for everyone who had been associated with you, and it’s...almost surprising how most of us ended up being unharmed."
They smiled. "Well, mother might have something to do with that, albeit accidentally."
The toolmakers and even some Alterran guards looked at him curiously. "What?"
"You know how influential she is in High Society, right?" he said. "She had always praised our servants in front of the other ladies, and told them about their amazingness and skills.
"Through the years, there had been a few attempts to poach them, but very few had succeeded," he said. "So, when our family fell, the families who hated our guts—but were actually jealous—didn’t aim to destroy the servants, but rather to steal them instead.
"Mother didn’t know it’d have such an effect, of course," he added, since their incarceration was a surprise, too. "She simply wanted to show an example of how a lady of the house should be: kind and aiming for everyone’s growth, rather than oppressive, which is the default in many noble households."
"Are all of the remaining ones in Bleulle? What about those who ran away?"
"There were a few, but I am not close to them," he said. "Elron also migrated elsewhere," Kalfene said. "We had been exchanging posts."
At this, Kalfene’s eyes brightened. "Can I tell them of your survival?"
Otto nodded. "But don’t say it directly," he said, and Kalfene nodded.
"I’ll send a letter later through safe channels," he said. "Maybe we can get him to us if he doesn’t like the place he moved to."
Otto then looked at the men beside Kalfene, his fellow toolmakers, who they took along with him.
"So... you came with us, I’m assuming you’re willing to work for us again? Kalfene? Sleuth?"
The two nodded. "Of course."
The Golds smiled. With them, they could have a lot more aether letters, aether boards, and voice blockers circulating in Alterra!
And not to mention aether letters and sound blockers, knowing the trend of professionals hanging out in Alterra, perhaps they’d gain even more inheritances or figure out more things while they stayed!
It was a win-win for everyone, though he didn’t say it to the toolmakers yet, simply because it was too good to be true and might encourage suspicion instead.
He then looked at Kahonn and then at the man who was lying down on the floor next to all their feet.
These two, on the other hand, were not part of the plan, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. They’d still have to take them to Alterra so they could sign nondisclosure oaths, but what to do about them after? Who knows.
He looked at Rin and they shrugged, also not knowing who they were. He sighed, turning his sight back to Kalfene and pointing at the other two. "And... they are?"
Kalfene cleared his throat. "This is Kahonn," he said. "He’s my cousin, and he can make Token Guards."
"What?" Otto exclaimed, and so did the others.
Token guards were not always used, but they were still extremely useful. Not to mention, Alterra and its satellites were always attacked, but sometimes they wouldn’t bother with the enemy token because it was a hassle to have.
With a token guard, they could at least get the tokens and sell them off at a later time to people they could trust or ally with.
Otto stared at his old friend. "You never told me you had a cousin who can do Token guards."
"You never asked."
"..."
"Okay... but..." he turned to Kahonn, who was just looking at everything in curiosity (a stark contrast to his sobbing with a runny nose when he thought he was going to die earlier).
"What are your plans? Which Lord do you associate with?"
"Hassen—"
His eyes widened when he felt daggers near his neck. He gasped and held his breath, pushing his head back to increase the distance of his sensitive neck from the blade.
But the carriage moved a bit after passing a particularly big rock, and he slid a bit, and he almost cried.
"What a-are you doing?!" he yelled. "You were the one who kidnapped me!!"
Kahonn really wanted to cry. What did he do?!
Kalfene gulped and raised his hand, trying to hold back the dagger, at least away from his cousin’s skin. He understood their sentiment, but it was all so chaotic that he had forgotten.
After all, their family had suffered because of that City for decades. How could they be friendly with it?