Mas Bagus

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

The baker raised his fingers. He was chopping assortments of boiled cow skin and tripes when Cedar came up with a new request.

"A moment, okay."

Baker was very detailed when it comes to a proper kitchen protocol, down to the smallest detail. No contaminations allowed even if it was just the aromas. A butter should smell like butter and Garlic should smell like garlic. So when they asked for garlic and butter, he first set aside his current chopping board, get a new one, wash the knife, and only by then he could start chopping the garlic. After securing the minced herb into a small glass saucer, he washed his hand again, kneeled, and brought up a small block of butter from a container and place it in a different sauce.

Such an elaborated procedure understandably makes the process quite long, but thankfully the patron this time was very patient.

"Here you go, pal." he chimed, exchanging a glance toward the young blonde boy who seemed to be getting along very well with the beastman.

"And you must be Alec." he said with a playful smirk, handing the boy a clean spoon. "Well of you go before that shieldmaiden of yours noticed."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Jazdia stood idly in front of the crackling hearth, sipping the last portion of the tea. Everyone else was talking, some else were tending to injury. It was Matilda who remained in silence, sitting alone without uttering a single word, keeping an eye at the prince who was currently exchanging banter with Cedar.

Pouring another cup, Jazdia moved to the counter and sat on one of the stools.

"Greetings, what can I... oh it's you."

"Were you expecting somebody else?"

"In this premises? Probably more 'usuals' sent by a certain stubborn patriarch, but that seems like a stretch. I think he is currently more concerned with an escaped royal rather than a small business run by a single father. What about you? Done with the words of wisdom already?"

The elf shook her head. "Did you not see who just entered?"

"The old you wouldn't care.

"The old me huh--" For the first time in a while, Jazdia raised her voice as if a surge of emotion overwhelmed her. But it quickly faded, and her composure returned.

"People changes, Dwain. It would takes more than a bunch of verbiage to change minds. That 'something more' is what I don't have now."

"You still have. Maybe not as convenient as it used to." the elven man shifted to the edge of his long table, picking a pinch of thyme, dropping it into the cauldron, then back to her again.

"Sizeble enough to run an entire mafia. Don't count me on that though..."

Jazdia lets out a half-hearted chortle. There was a long pause after that until Baker started again.

"Do you regret it?"

That was a question of the decade. The question that she could never answer with words. She remembered when she decided to retire, she was tired and weary. Justice could never be perfect, that was one thing, but the endeavor to get there was usually full of people squabbling with each other to uphold their own version of justice. Then you have politics that demands leniency and deception on the enforcement of the law, all in the name of stability. Her heart could not stand it anymore.

But here she was and she wondered what kind of answer this would be. It was said most elves had given up their canonical role as the enforcer of the celestial law since the time of inception, yet the impulse still remained within her, and it felt like an addiction.

"I am not sure."

"The uncertainty that is only on words, and not in action."

Baker's smugness became more intense Jazdia quickly realized what happened. That her musings had allowed him to read her mind. Blushing, she turned away and reached for her purse, smacking five coins on the counter so hard it made a loud thud.

"Oh shut up already!"

Dwain took the coins without counting them. Still smiling, but this time combined with a mischievous head shake.

"Won't feel bad if I were you. The way I see it, this time it was the trouble that finds you. And your 'addiction' simply kicked in. Can't say it was a bad thing. To have one peaceful nation is a blessing. It makes everyone, including you sleep better at night."

Suddenly Jazdia was lost for a word. He glared at Baker, glared so intensely this time he should be able to read what she was thinking. To say interventionism brought peace was a simplified outlook at best. Did he not remember what they did at Tretagor?

"On the flip side, The decision to not give a damn is still up to you." Baker avoided eye contact with his former boss, sighing before continuing in a more apologetic tone. "Fred will ask for more favor, sure but you have the capability to tell him to shove it. Pardon my words. You will still suffer a loss from your investment though."

Simultaneous steps could be heard when Solomon and Yvonne made their way down from the second floor. Baker shrugged one more time before telling Jazdia that he was out of words of wisdom to prattle. Of course with his sarcastic humor and all.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

The elven man frowned only slightly, not because he was offended, but because the stammerings bear in front of him make him kinda flabbergasted.

"What are you talking about?" he groaned. "You worried over nothing. I sold the stuff to you because they were simply what you asked for, a bag of old bread. Even if I still have the stock you have now, I would not sell my inferior produce to them, or let them have it. Nah, I'd rather let those York kids come back tomorrow, buy the freshly baked ones, and undoubtedly be satisfied with what they get rather than having them go home now with stale bread."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"Bread for breakfast? Give me a second."

The baker enthusiastically withdrew himself from the group and manned his counter. The stew was boiling beside him, but still far from cooked. It was late and the display table was understandably empty, except for the items Nina made with that Delving maid this morning, that he should have been personally set aside for their own breakfast tomorrow morning. He wondered where the pirozhki bread had gone.

"I am sorry but we all run out. Why don't come back next morning at 9? A new bunch will be ready at that time."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

It took a while for Cedar to finish his long-winded answer.

For Jazdia, a normative answer was as reliable as a politician's promise, it rarely offered a solution and was mostly a rhetoric to mirror the speaker's motivation and code of honor. How did a man-bear capable of having a way with words, that was a question for another time.

At least a sense of cautiousness had been instilled. But Jazdia still thought the consequences were not grasped fully by Cedar. As she was about to open her mouth to refute, Baker glanced at her signaling a hint to give it time.

Either by pure coincidence or not, when Matilda stomped closer into the inn like an angry ox, Cedar's solution for the matter became somewhat more practical, and she liked that optimism.

The entrance of Matilda brought an abrupt yet supposed end to their strategic conversation. Jazdia exchanged her glance with Baker, tacitly motioned him to put back his innkeeper mode.

"Greetings," said the man. Smiling. "Are you hungry? What can get you?"

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Jazdia listened as if the news were yesterday's occasion to her. She walked to the counter, helped herself with another Tertagorian bread, and returned to the fireplace.

And only by then her eyes wandered, silence engulfed the room after Cedar voiced his contention, and the bear was not afraid. Though, he slightly underestimated the precarious situation he was in.

"I do not completely agree with what Baker said. Though he was right about not trusting Fredricus, I do have my own theory." After sipping a quarter part of her tea, she looked at Cedar. Intrigued by the words he uttered before. "Imagine if the King knows what you are capable of. Oh, he would love to add you to his collections, Maybe not as his rug or trophy, but as a weapon. A chained weapon, locked into his dungeon, only be used at war. Well-fed but caged and shackled. Not entirely dissimilar to that blindfolded girl we rescued earlier."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"And where is this home? If I may be so bold to ask?"

Baker's emerald eyes attentively gazed at Cedar, probing for more information until he could finally draw his personal conclusion.

"What I am trying to say is You have been involved deeper into the game, and now Fredricus would not let any of his pieces go astray or fall into his enemy's hands. You are his pawn now and you have been treading on the chessboard this entire time."

"Slyph. Now you've heard what the Delving prince said. Tell me, what would happen if there were no effort being fronted to "rescue the prince at all cost"? How far would you think the syndicate would go? Sure, there will be some turmoils in Rascade political landscape, but that's just that. The prince had been missing for a full week, ever wondered why they were not very stringent with their timeframe?

Baker shook his head and sighed.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am afraid I have to tell you that the success of your mission is a planned failure, a desirable one. They never seek to keep the prince locked forever, they were fishing for Fredricus's irrational decision and he just handed it in a platter with the help of yours truly. To create a big stir-up in the nation. Tomorrow the news about Fanghorn will reach far and wide. And who needs finicky and sketchy news about a missing prince if you have more relatable, nationwide news concerning a mass tragedy shaped like a symbolical attack against the nation?"

"The war is closer than ever." he continued. "And Fredricus would never let you leave, or live your life until he managed to tie up any loose ends. You can call me a liar if you want to. And Slyph knows this all along."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

The bear thanked the man for the invitation and sheepishly had himself seated at the other side of th long table.

Then, there were two things that happened afterward, Another petite but older woman barged in with boozy giggles, and seemingly in a misplaced response, the beast-man suddenly complained about the inhospitable treatment he received on the previous visit that actually was unrelated to Baker and his establishment. The crassness of the words uttered left the baker puzzled, though he decided to not address it.

The doctor was sitting motionlessly in front of him. Though it was hard to discern what kind of expression he made behind that mask, Baker guessed that the man was likely to be as confused as he was.

Almost in parallel, Jazdia walked out of the panic room. Looked fresher and cleaner than before. And more dressed; that navy coat was neither over, nor undersized, and she wore it with its sleeves rolled to the elbow and all its buttons buttoned.

"Greetings Madam Admiral." said the baker dryly, and the elf only snorted as she walked past him toward the fireplace. The flame was nearly extinguished.

"Tsk-tsk. All the people here and you can't keep the fire going."

Jazdia flicked a small sphere of fire out of her fingers and and reignited the fireplace. Tossing more wood into it, the elf spared a glance at the inn owner and asked. "Feeling a bit lonely tonight, Baker?"

The elven man shrugged, delaying his response to let the beast-man finished asking the black-haired lady about what kind of booze she had been drinking.

"Well, if you want to know, I was asking what plan you folks will have after having this entire fiasco concluded." he answered flatly.

"Definitely not by wasting it in your place." the elf drawled. It was the last wood tossed before she stood up and reached for an iron poker to adjust the burning timber.

"I'm certainly not against it though." the reply came slower than before and became more candid. Jazdia tilted her head. Awkwardly tried to smile, but failed to find anything funny with that statement.
With a doubtful expression, she looked at her ex-employee in the eyes, before walking back to the table and pouring her tea into a porcelain cup.

"Really now?" the elven woman's blue eyes narrowed, they were slightly turned purplish when the tea in her cup was steaming again.

And likewise, the Baker dropped his jolly attitude, although he remained affable when he spoke back to Jazdia.

"Only for a limited time, and if the price was right," he said, looking at everyone present in the room with a slightly concerned undertone. The atmosphere suddenly turned mirthless.

"But honestly, I would rather suggest you all to take a one-way trip away from Kindeance."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"The loss you say." Baker's emerald eyes scanned the entire room before shifting to the fireplace with an expression that neither showed empathy nor conclusive thought. "Whatever or whoever it was, I hope it would mean much for the betterment of this nation. I shall not pry further."

Shooking himself awake, the innkeeper picked the conversation back again to the topic at hand.

"Yes, and that's such a shame that your stop will be brief in my establishment. But I believe it's for the best for everyone involved, especially the VIP you are escorting."

Baker shifted his glance at the front door. Cedar could be seen heading this way, and the bear looked much cleaner now.

'Master Cedar. Glad you decided to join us. Have a seat, the single bench over there is quite sturdy. I made it myself with the thickest cut I could find." After pointing at a single-seater bench made mostly of several halved logs, he continued.

"So, you are just one step closer to finishing this... quest. A Sovereign's Will, I call it. Do you have any plans after that? Mind sharing it with me?"

For the uninitiated, the question sounded like any other harmless question asked by the innkeeper to initiate a friendly banter, but somehow it felt as if there was more behind it. And the more you let Baker speak the more you felt a hidden, ominous echo in his voice. Could it be because of his elven heritage? Jazdia didn't sound like that at all.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Not bothered by Solomon's spectral servant, the elven innkeeper emerged from behind the counter and walked toward the sets of tables and chairs near the fireplace, bringing the rest of Jazdia's order and some extras. Affable as ever, the man greeted the doctor and placed the tray on the table.

"Has Slyph returned yet? No? Still in the locker room? She won't be there long, I know her, she would rather skip whatever she is doing now than having her tea gone cold. Can I sit here?"

The bid for permission was a mere formality when Baker seated himself on the chair across the table. And after getting himself comfortable, the innkeeper leaned forward to initiate a seemingly casual conversation. Or not-

"I heard the operation was successful, but why the long face? Slyph doesn't look very happy when I saw her."