Dominic returned to his room in the Apprentice portion of Pops’ suite and found the old Dwarf sitting with his feet up in the main room, drinking whiskey from the bottle.
"Rough day?" He asked, but Pops didn’t even look up.
The old Dwarf sighed as he drank. "It’s been an entire rough month. But I probably should have expected it. Dagos put up a great front when they pretended to be allies, and their agents infiltrated everything within the Palace, and some spots within the city as well.
All through apparently legitimate hiring processes.
We’ve been weeding them out since you left, and let me tell you, there was some real chaos when they realized that the Princess was gone.
Your trick of sneaking her out as your girlfriend worked amazingly well. It took them two weeks to realize that they weren’t missing a staff member and that nobody had quit to go on the run with you.
Now, the battles have calmed down, and we have to put up with idiot Nobles demanding everything under the sun as rewards for their contributions, and all the ridiculous requests that they can think of as so-called security upgrades to their estates.
Naturally, they want them all expedited by the crown, in case Dagos doesn’t agree to the Armistice."
Dominic nodded. "So, there is a lot of work to do, and I’m assuming not nearly enough people to do it."
"Exactly. But that’s not your problem today. There will be visitors for you later, I assume. Every time there are awards for military merit, the vultures come crawling from the woodwork, looking for a leg to hug.
They will want you to pick something that benefits them, and might possibly benefit you later.
Normally, I tell them to piss off, but you’ve got a better reputation, so you can pretend to consider their ideas. Just be sure not to give them an answer that they can take as a positive agreement, or they’ll try to hold you to it forever." Pops elaborated.
But the first visitor that came to the door was not an opportunistic Noble looking to get ahead. Instead, it was a member of the Royal Guard.
"Sorcerer Dominic. I heard that you might have mana revolvers for sale." He greeted them from the door.
"I do. They’re mana usage only, but I have a number of them. Uncommon Quality, level ten." Dominic agreed.
"Made with Clay to Steel?" Pops asked.
Dominic nodded. "Not the most durable weapons in the world, but as far as mana revolvers go, they’re not too bad."
Dominic set a pair of them on the table and the Guard smiled.
"I know about the clay to steel spell. It’s not perfect, but it’s functional enough. I would have never thought someone would use it to make Magitech pistols, though. That’s just crazy talk.
Honestly, I would be surprised that it worked at all, but you are a Sorcerer. Do you offer a Royal Guard discount?"
Dominic chuckled. Normally, the Royal Guard could just requisition it, and then you would wait and hope to be repaid at some later point.
"I can give you a two for one discount." Dominic offered.
The Guard chuckled, and passed over a cloth bag of mana cores.
Dominic put it in his storage, and handed over the pistols, which the Guard holstered on his hips.
"Ah, that is good. They’re made to the standard production size for gunslinger revolvers. I was worried I would need to get new holsters made. Pleasure doing business with you. I’m off to the range to test the new pistols."
Dominic stepped into the hall to watch the happy Guard leaving, and saw that there were Royal Guard members stationed at either end of the hallway, and at the door to the central garden area that his bedroom window faced.
That was far more security than usual, and Royal Guards not Palace Guards as well.
That was definitely a change in policy.
But it would explain why so few people were coming through this portion of the Palace, even if they were no longer interested in the Garden Party.
So Dominic settled into the chair across from Pops.
"How about a change of topic? Heard any good gossip lately?" Dominic joked.
"Oh, the gossip mill has been super juicy lately. Did you know that I can hear everything that happens in the kitchen if I’m not working the forge in my room?" Pops replied.
Dominic nodded. "I can hear them from mine as well, but you’re much closer."
"Well, they found out that the fifth Prince, who was killed in the ambushes during the Ogre invasion, had more children than the Palace was aware of. They are all fighting over the inheritance that he left, and it’s turned into quite the show.
They all returned here a little over a week ago to petition for the King to include them in the official dispersion of assets.
Oh, and I got to flog George, that was fun."
Dominic held up his hand to stop the old Dwarf. "Back up. You flogged George? The journeyman? How did that even happen?"
Pops downed the last of his whiskey, then poured himself an ale.
"You know how he bet big on your first weapon, right? Well, then he lost a second bet on your spears, trying to recover his losses. Then he lost three more in the next week, to the point that he was six months behind on his debts, and couldn’t keep up with the payments he owed.
The Journeymen called a tribunal to declare him insolvent, at which point, all his earnings would be split between his financiers, other than a weekly stipend.
Part of the punishment for becoming insolvent due to gambling is corrective punishment.
Ten strokes with the flog every week until the debts are paid."
Pops’ tone was casual, but Dominic could tell that he actually enjoyed putting his obnoxious former apprentice in his place. He wouldn’t be surprised if the whole forge had come out to watch, as George was generally despised by everyone that he met.
Not just because he constantly made bad bets, but because he was generally insufferable, even when he was winning.