Chapter 73: Smush

Chapter 73: Smush

The rest of that conversation didn’t take long. Brayden had bolted to his feet, excitement and trepidation intermixing in his features, firing off a series of rapid questions. Before Noah could even try to think about answering them, Brayden said that he needed to prepare for the trip and promised to meet at the transport cannon at Noah’s suggestion. Then he vanished out the door, leaving Noah staring at his receding back.

“Well,” Lee said, slipping into the room. “That went quickly.”

“Easier than I thought it would be,” Noah admitted. “It sounds like everything is lined up.”

“Except for my shopping,” Lee said. “You owe me a lot of that.”

“So I do,” Noah agreed. He fished in his bag and pulled out a gold coin. He was already running short for the month, but it wasn’t like one gold was going to buy anything lifechanging. Noah handed it to her. “I’ll get the rest when I get paid. I might be selling some monster parts when we get to the Linwick estate. Moxie said they won’t go for much here.”The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.

Lee took the coin happily, and Noah set about stuffing his travel bag full of everything in the room that looked like he might need it. A quill, a pot of ink, several sheafs of paper, and all the spare clothes he could fit.

“Do you need anything?”

“Me?” Lee asked. “No.”

“What about that demon info, then?”

“Honestly, I couldn’t think of a ton,” Lee admitted. “Most of the strong ones were assholes. They’d never admit that something scares them, even if it does, and they’re incredibly arrogant. They’re also usually more than happy to break contracts whenever they can if you give them room to.”

“Who would have thought,” Noah said with a dry smile.

Lee cleared her throat. “Aside from that, they were all pretty different, and I didn’t really know any of them that well. No different than you and some random human.”

“Then I suppose we’re good. Let’s head to the transport cannon and meet up with the others.”

***

Todd and Isabel were already there when Noah and Lee arrived. They’d claimed a bench together with Emily, but there was no sign of Moxie.

“Where’s Moxie?” Noah asked, coming to a stop beside the students. Lee crouched next to the bench and picked up Todd’s bag, shuffling through it.

Todd raised a finger, then lowered it as he decided against questioning Lee. Isabel gave him an approving nod, and Noah suppressed a laugh.

“She’s still getting some things for the journey,” Emily said. She shouldered her own pack – which Noah couldn’t help but notice looked considerably more comfortable than the ones Isabel and Todd had – and leaned forward. “I’ve never managed to convince her to let me out of Arbitage, no matter what the situation was. How’d you manage it?”

“Bribes.”

“What?” Emily’s eyes widened. “You found something she wants? Impossible. Tell me.”

What’s that supposed to mean? She’s not that much of a sourpuss.

“I was joking,” Noah admitted. “I just convinced her it would be the best choice we could make for the time being. Besides, there’s that survival exam coming up pretty soon. A month and a bit, I think. This is good experience.”

Emily’s face fell. “Blast. I was really hoping there was something that would actually work to bribe her with. She’s just too damn rich.”

Rich?

Is that why Moxie gave me so much money when I asked for a loan for a few days? Whoops. Maybe read into that a bit too much.

“It’s mushy.”

“Because you squeezed it,” Todd muttered. Emily snickered.

Well, that’s one way to defuse a situation. I’m not sure if that was intentional or not, but well done.

“Well, that’s that,” Noah said before Emily and Todd could get back into things. “Are you all ready? Brayden is going to be finding us shortly, and then we can get going.”

Moxie nodded. “I just had to collect some things for the trip. I’m ready. Is he going to meet us here?”

“He said he’d find me,” Noah replied. “I don’t suppose anyone brought a deck of cards?”

***

Nobody had. Luckily, the argument didn’t restart now that Moxie had arrived, so they all just sat around awkwardly instead. Noah spent the time leafing through his grimoire, scanning the runes and pondering what rune he’d try to make after he perfected Pyroclastic Resonance.

They didn’t have to wait too much longer. Before the sun could make its way too far in the sky, Noah heard the telltale thuds of Brayden’s approach. It really was impressive – he couldn’t tell if the large man was intentionally loud, or if he just couldn’t help himself. It sounded like a herd of stampeding elephants had all been overlaid into a single spot.

Noah snapped his book shut and turned as Brayden came to a stop beside them. He carried an enormous leather bag over one shoulder, and the sun glinted off the hilt of his uncomfortably large sword.

“Vermil!” Brayden said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’ve got everything all settled out. This will be an enjoyable trip.”

His gaze raised to the rest of the group.

“Hello,” Lee said, waggling her fingers at him.

Brayden inclined his head to her, then looked at everyone else. “And the others. Of course. You wouldn’t want to abandon your duties as a teacher, even during a personal errand.”

He didn’t sound too convinced about it. His eyes fell on Moxie and his face tightened.

“Why are you coming?”

“We’re working together on a joint exercise right now,” Noah replied smoothly. “Moxie and I have very different areas of expertise, so we decided it would be best to intermix our knowledge to make sure our students got the best we could offer.”

“Right,” Brayden said slowly. “How magnanimous of you.”

“We won’t be following you all the way to the Linwick estate,” Moxie said. “Is there a problem with that?”

“None at all,” Brayden replied. “So long as you can protect yourself. More is always better on the roads.”

“I’m glad to hear you think so,” Noah said. “Shall we go, then?”

“In a moment,” Brayden replied. “I’m still waiting on the last two people to show up.”

“There are others?” Noah asked, tilting his head to the side. “Who?”

Brayden glanced over his shoulder, then raised a hand in greeting. Noah followed his gaze and his stomach clenched in distaste.

Walking down the road toward them were Magus Allen and Edward, both carrying travel packs.

Goddamn it.