e&tg 17

[rone]

Hopsfield's office was starkly furnished with darkly stained wooden cabinets and a gigantic desk covered in ledgers, behind which he sat right now, sullenly scratching out some numbers.  His ashen complexion and dour attitude suggested some orcish blood in his ancestry, but i certainly had no interest in socializing with him to find out.  He looked up as i walked in.  "Ah, Mwaele.  Please sit down."  I sat in a well-cushioned leather chair.  "You're here, ah, earlier than i expected.  And alone.  You didn't bug out, i hope."

I put down a flare of anger.  I would be hard-pressed to take such a jest from my best friends.  "No, Mister Hopsfield.  Everyone else was killed by the primary objec—"

"Now, hold on," he interrupted.  "We need to do this by the proper procedure.  You know the drill."

"But—"  He interrupted me again by slamming open another ledger.

"Now, let's see..."  He turned some pages.  "Ah, yes."  He touched a polished stone inlaid with gold on his desk, which started glowing faintly.  "Now recording this sortie debriefing, truth detector enabled."  This was standard procedure, to make sure Mercenaries didn't try any funny business, such as pocketing treasure and not declaring it.  "Primary objective #136: Teraad Egofu.  Wizard, rated 4, fortified keep, twenty elite guards, four gryphon riders.  Contracted by, eh, you're not allowed to know that, or their reasons, et cetera, yadda yadda.  Ah, here we are, contracted operatives.  If you could please inform me of their whereabouts as i list them off: first off, Mwaele Jumuwadi, human man-at-arms, rated 3.  You're clearly here and in fair health.  Next, Ti!la, human barbarian, rated 3."

"Dead.  Cut down by Teraad's elite guard."  She went berserk and ended up getting herself surrounded by six of them.  She killed four of them before she went down.

"All right..."  Hopsfield painstakingly entered the information.  "Otto Gneisslegs, dwarf priest, rated 3."

I chuckled despite myself.  Otto hated the translation of his clan name and tried to go by Stronglegs, but had been unable to have the name officially changed.  "Dead.  Cut down by Teraad's elite guard.  Same with—"

"Ah, ah, don't rush me."  He held up a finger, which i tried not to seize and snap off.  "Nella Lindengrove, Detective of the City Constabulary Force, unrated."

Oh, yes, dear, humorless, obsessive Nella.  She wasn't a Mercenary, but she had a bone to pick with Teraad, and she jumped at the chance to come with us, however that would affect her status with the Constables.  Not that she told us much more about it.  "Dead.  Cut down by Teraad's elite guard."  In a last-ditch move, she threw her greatsword at Teraad as he taunted her.  If she'd just tried to protect herself with it, i would've been able to jump in to help her.

"Hmm, yes, i see a trend here."  He coughed and finished entering the data.  "Ssthith Copperback, reptoid sorceror, rated 4."

"Dead."  The snake kid went toe to toe with Teraad while we took care of the hired help.  What little i caught of their fight was quite a sight, but the kid was a bit too unlucky and Teraad was a bit too crafty.  "I don't know how.  Magic, i suppose."

"And last, Cossu Mirán, human thief, rated 3.  Mmm, she was quite a charming young lady, wasn't she, Mwaele?  Her l—"

"DEAD!  SHE'S DEAD!  THEY'RE ALL FUCKING DEAD!"  I realized i had my hands on the desk and was yelling at his face, which was only a few inches from mine.  I gritted my teeth and sat back down.