Rashid wore a good-humored smile. “I wish my younger brothers could have heard you say that. But wishful thinking aside, I must be making my departure soon. I wanted to ask when you intend to leave.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you forgotten already? We were summoned to the capital.”
“Oh, right. We were, weren’t we?” No wonder Lynne had mentioned something about preparing for our departure. The relief of defeating the golems had pushed all other thoughts from my mind. “I ought to go get ready, then.”
“Shall we travel together? We are going to the same destination.”
“Sure. Might as well.”
“Then I shall wait until you and your companions are ready. Ah, but first—your employees in the central hall are concerned for you. Might I suggest dropping by to assuage their fears?”
“They’re worried about me...?”
“Of course. You’re the proprietor now. They’re all in orderly rows, patiently awaiting your return. Something they never did for me, might I add.”
“Yeah? I’d better hurry, then. Wouldn’t do to keep them waiting.” I started toward the City Forgotten by Time’s main complex with Rashid in tow. “Should I be worried about more golems? Shawza and I got as many as we could find, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there were more lying in wait.”
“What do you think?”
“I doubt there are more nearby. As soon as my rock took out that last bird-shaped golem, Shawza said we were done.”
“Then I’ll take your word for it. Given the scale of our enemies’ losses, I can’t imagine the city coming under attack again for quite a while. It takes specialists and a great deal of time to excavate golems of that quality.”
“Makes sense. I guess we’re okay, then.”
Truth be told, part of me still worried that another group of golems would pop up out of the sand. Rashid and Shawza were the experts, though, so I put my faith in their words.
When we arrived back at the massive doors to the central hall, we found Kron waiting for us in his usual black suit. “Master Noor,” he said, extending both arms toward me, “please allow me to carry that for you.” He seemed intent on taking my black sword before I went any farther.
“I doubt I need to remind you, but...it’s heavy.”
“Please rest assured—I might have embarrassed myself once, but it shall not happen again.”
“Yeah? Well...be careful, then.”
Gingerly, I placed my sword in Kron’s hands. I started to worry when his feet sank into the floor, but he kept the weapon steady nonetheless. He looked as though he would manage, at least for the time being.
“I shall wait here until your return,” he said.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yes, sir. By all means, see to your business. If you happen to need my services, do not hesitate to summon me.”
“Right... I’ll, uh, try to make this quick.”
I entrusted my sword to Kron, who was still slowly sinking. As I opened the doors ahead of me, I vowed to return before the floor swallowed him up completely.
The moment I stepped into the central hall, I saw exactly what Rashid had described—an entire room of employees, all arranged in neat and orderly rows. They turned to me without missing a beat and bowed in unison. I worried that I’d be stuck there, overwhelmed by the atmosphere, but Melissa came to my rescue. She approached me and dipped her head in a slight bow.
“Welcome back, sir. Please, come this way.”
I followed her toward the center platform. The staff kept their heads down the entire time, waiting for me to take the stage. That was when I noticed they weren’t the only ones gathered—around the outer rim and in the corners of the room, people dressed in a variety of styles were busy eating a meal.
“Melissa, who are they?” I asked.
“Because we were thrust into a state of emergency, and this hall is the safest place in the complex, we invited residents of the surrounding commercial districts to stay here. As you entrusted the management of resources and personnel to me, I elected to calm them by supplying food to those who were hungry. Of course, if you take issue with that, we can cease.”
“No, it’s fine. Thanks.”
By the time I was up to speed, we had already ascended the platform. It really was tall—once again, I couldn’t help but feel that I was atop a miniature tower. Looking down, I could make out each and every face in the hall. The younger children looked timid enough already, so I tried to keep my voice as low as I could.
“Sorry for the noise,” I said. “We took care of the golems, so things should quiet down again. You can rest easy knowing that we shouldn’t see more anytime soon.”
Relief washed over the crowd. My voice resounded throughout the otherwise silent hall, as it had before, but I was too focused on not scaring the kids for it to bother me.
“Also, in case any of you were worried about me, I can assure you that I’m perfectly fine. Truth be told, I could probably manage several more attacks of that size. Oh, but I’ll try to be more careful next time. I came out unscathed, but my clothes weren’t quite so lucky.”
I showed everyone the damage I’d done to my suit. They must have thought I was speaking in jest because a quiet laugh rippled through the crowd. The sound seemed to put the children at ease; their smiling faces looked up at me.
“I’ll be leaving for the capital soon—I have some business to attend to—but I shouldn’t be away for long. From the sound of things, I only need to go there for a quick chat. Until then, keep working as you normally would. Ah, and Melissa told me there’s food ready for you all. Have your fill before you return home. That’s all from me.”
A reserved cheer went up throughout the room. I stepped away from the magical device that made my voice louder and turned to Melissa.
“Was that all right?”
“Yes. As an operations briefing, it was more than sufficient.”
“Great. In that case, I’m going to head out with Rashid and the others. Oh, but I need to ask a favor first.”
“Of course, sir. I shall do whatever I can to help.”
I placed a beat-up leather bag in Melissa’s hands. “I want you to give this to Shin, from the colosseum.”
“You want me to give him this pouch?” she repeated, studying it curiously.
“Yeah. Can you ask him to take it to a certain village for me? There’s a map I drew inside. He mentioned that he’s far-traveled and knows the northern region well, so he shouldn’t have any trouble.”
“Understood, sir. I shall ensure that it reaches him.”
“Thanks. And sorry that I’m leaving everything in your hands while I’m gone.”
“You need not apologize. Please rest assured, I shall ensure that operations remain stable in your absence.”
Melissa bowed to me, and the rest of the staff followed suit. Their show of respect made me itchy and restless, but I was slowly getting used to it. I descended the central platform and returned to the entrance, where Lynne and Rashid were waiting for me.
“Are we ready to go, Lynne?” I asked.
“Yes, Instructor. No more preparations need to be made on my end.”
“Shall we, then?” Rashid pressed. “We shouldn’t keep our hosts waiting—especially when they requested us by name.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I’d feel bad if we did.”
“Ines awaits us by the carriage,” Lynne added. “We can depart whenever we wish.”
“Got it. Just give me a moment to change. Oh, thanks, Kron.”
“It was no trouble, sir.” Kron waited for me to retrieve my sword—his head was level with my waist by this point—before he crawled out of his hole in the floor. He bowed deeply, his expression nonchalant. “Master Noor, I speak for all the staff when I say we look forward to your return.”
“Yeah. Keep an eye on things while I’m gone.”
“But of course. Not even a single sand rat will make it into the complex in your absence. I swear my name on it.”
As soon as I was changed, I reunited with Lynne and the others. We left the City Forgotten by Time behind us, en route to Sarenza’s capital city.