For the most part, Thomas liked being a part of Landsknecht. He liked the people there, and he liked the work. This wasn’t to say he wasn’t disillusioned.

  Thomas knew that Landsknecht wouldn’t last. Landsknecht was a prosperous group of unaffiliated– and perhaps the most prosperous unaffiliated group ever in the history of the academy.

  But life simply did not continue without the guilds. In the end, Landsknecht would disband, and each member would sign with a guild, working under them in Central.

  Of course, that did not mean working for Landsknecht was a bad thing. Thomas had no doubts of the Landsknecht’s effectiveness and operational breadth. Once they applied to real guild positions in the guilds of Central, and not the student run proxies in the academy, they would have no doubt that their substantial track record of academy shenanigans would entice any recruiter.

  That was, if the shenanigans stayed shenanigans. But poking around with the murders of higher up, influential guild members? That started to stray away from harmless academy achievements. That was dangerous, and not in the gamified way the academy was dangerous. It was something that could kill you and everyone you knew, for real.

  Thomas sighed, reviewing the multitude of contracts he had negotiated over the past couple days. Viviana had made Thomas the de facto contract dealer and negotiator. He didn’t hate it, per se, but working on the murder case and dealing with all this buzz from their newest video had taken a toll on him.

  Thomas put down the contracts physically, but not mentally, lounging back in a spare office chair. He contemplated them as he fiddled with the Landsknecht-branded grapple Viviana had bought for them. The grapple pack sat on his desk as a reminder of the cool stuff he had done. The fights he fought.

  It was fun.

  Well, there’s more fun to have. Thomas was going to review the research he did on the first murder case. It took a little internet sleuthing, but it wasn’t anything he hadn’t done before. He’s dived into weirder, more obscure information before.

  Calum Casval. A knight for Ferric Meridian’s academy. Not many notable achievements– just a history of slow and steady advancement up the corporate ladder. Son of Eric Casval, the manager of district fourteen, back when the guilds had split Central into evenly numbered districts instead of wards.

  Eric Casval had a stunning reputation. As the Ferric Meridian guild representative back then, the crime rates in his district were remarkably low. There were hardly any homeless, any unaffiliated, and any unmonitored soulbound. At least, that’s what the guilds reported.

  What wasn’t reported were his methods. That was because he killed them. Casval’s breach knights would conduct purges of the district, culling the population randomly. Anyone he deemed unfit.

  Thomas went through more files, compiling information that possibly seemed relevant, but couldn’t find much. He compared Calum Casval’s information with Issac Armstrong’s. As the only two victims, comparing all their information was necessary.

  Issac Armstrong. A knight-in-training for the Pact. Guaranteed a spot on a knight squad as soon as he graduated the academy. Son of Julia and Rynard Armstrong. Rynard is currently the food distributor of Ward 3B, of the Pact controlled territory.

  Along with my own research, I also talked to Lucian about him. Lucian mentioned he didn’t spend much time there. Back before they were running with the gangs of Central, they spent some time there without knowing the conditions. They went hungry for a long, long time.

  “It was simple. Ward 3B had this unique system, where food was distributed based on the entire ward’s productivity. If it wasn’t high, nobody would eat. No food would be distributed. Of course, it wasn’t like food was never delivered. It just meant that the productivity goal could be pushed higher and higher. Of course, we weren’t guild affiliated, so we weren’t working for food. We were stealing it. The food distribution made it hard– everyone fought for every bite. The system made them feel like they earned it.”

  Terrible living conditions among the lowest rungs of guild employment and unaffiliated weren’t uncommon stories. In fact, half of the wards could be considered slums. And if you went lower and lower into Central, into the subsectors and sections no normal person would ever dare to, it was even worse.

  There’s no connection between this information, Thomas thought. Viviana had thought the murderers were connected to an outside force. A larger motive. Yet Thomas was beginning to think otherwise. It could just be a random murder. Someone who had beef with both of them in the academy, and were willing to kill to solve it.

  It can’t be an academy guild thing. They would rather oust the killer, even if it was one of their own, than take the fall themselves.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Maybe an outside academy thing? Perhaps someone was threatening people in leadership positions, taking their children as hostages. But then why kill Calum Casval, whose father has been demoted from his position?

  On a hunch, Thomas decided to bring up the maps of both district fourteen and Ward 3B. Interesting. Perhaps it’s a clue?

  District fourteen and Ward 3B were right next to each other. In fact, when the district system was abolished for the Ward system, the districts were split up. Some of district fourteen ended up becoming Ward 3B.

  Or is it just a coincidence?

  Thomas had presented the other Landsknecht members with the data he collected on the victims of the murders. They had talked for a while, but no real motives could be deduced– much less a culprit.

  Then Thomas showed them the contracts they had. They had conflicting dates, so only one contract could be fulfilled. They had to choose wisely.

  Viviana overlooked the two contracts. One from Ferric Meridian, official. The other from Ophidian Pact. Both promised hefty sums of money. Ferric Meridian offered slightly more, but the Pact offer was tempting. For one, the contract date would start a little later, giving them more time to prepare.

  For another, it was perhaps best to work with the Pact, so they could remain neutral in the war. It wasn’t a secret that Landsknecht had fought the Pact time and time again. Maybe it was wise to work with them to reiterate the Landsknecht’s neutrality.

  However, the Ferric Meridian contract offered more money, and it involved a couple high ranking members along with Fortuna again. Fortuna’s rise to fame made her a tempting person to work with.

  Thomas and Lucian had both raised these points, and were arguing back and forth of which contract was the best.

  Lucian wanted the Pact. He didn’t want to act against the Pact too many times and give the impression that Landsknecht held a grudge.

  Thomas had a different opinion. He said Landsknecht should pick FM and stick to it, riding the wave of their recent successes. “If they win, and we’re the reason, the guilds would jump at the opportunity to hire us.”

  Lucian shook his head. “I won’t tie myself to a guild, ever.”

  “We’re going to have to …eventually. We’re going to graduate eventually.”

  They looked like they were going to continue, but Viviana interrupted.

  “Let’s work with the Pact,” Viviana said.

  Lucian nodded. Thomas sighed, but honestly he was fine with the arrangement. Viviana knew what she was doing, and he trusted her. Bena agreed as well. Bena agreed with whatever Viviana said.

  Viviana continued. “The contract involves infiltration into a key supply held by Ferric Meridian. This will be sensitive information. Of course, in typical Landsknecht fashion, we’re doing something crazy.”

  “What are we doing this time?!” Bena said. “Making a montage? Blowing up the base with a giant centipede?”

  Viviana asked a question instead of answering. “What’s the biggest problem we have?”

  “No equipment?” Bena suggested. Viviana shook her head.

  “No funds?” Lucian suggested. Still, that was a no.

  “No manpower…” Thomas said.

  “Precisely,” Viviana said. “We’re making a recruitment video. And to make things a little easier…”

  Viviana laid out new pieces of equipment onto the table they were sitting at. “I can’t say Bena’s analysis was wrong. We keep on getting into severely undergeared fights. So, I bought these. My own funds, once again.”

  On the table were four pieces of equipment. Adjustable jump boots that automatically morphed to foot size and shape, and could be comfortably worn on top of any shoes.

  “Woah,” Thomas said. “These are… like new.”

  Viviana nodded. “Yep. Snagged them off the academy auction site. Somebody had managed to get a couple Pact jump boots, used to equip their breach knights. They’re slightly used, but it’s some of their highest quality stuff. Should suit us well.”

  Lucian laughed, taking a boot from off the table. “Just how did you afford these? Take out a loan?”

  “Well, I spent all my money from the last mission. Then I also offered to trade them my grapple pack– the one I stole off Pact in our last mission.”

  “...What? Isn’t that too steep? Why didn’t you use the company funds?”

  Viviana shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it.”

  Bena went one step ahead of Lucian and took a pair of boots off the table.

  “Where are you going, Bena?” Lucian asked.

  “The upstairs hallway! I’m gonna test them out!”

  And with that, Bena was already up the stairs. Lucian and Thomas raced up after her. Viviana followed soon after.

  A couple of seconds later Lucian had to extract Bena from the ceiling. Lucian laughed as Thomas panicked over Bena’s broken nose, somehow forgetting that they were soulbound. Viviana stared at the newly formed Bena shaped hole in the ceiling.

  After a slow blink, Viviana shook herself into concentration. “Guys, make time within the two days. We’re gonna do some training. Thomas, send a message to Pact. We’ll work with them.”

  Thomas nodded slowly. A hint of nervousness seeped into his mind. Not because of the Pact, but because of one word Viviana had said.

  Training.

  Viviana stifled a yawn and opened the door to her and Bena’s room. It looked like she was going to sleep early. Thomas looked at Bena and Lucian. The same thought ran across their minds. We should train for the training…