I sat on the beach with some of my most treasured companions and Cojisto.

  Even though, perhaps, he was one getting there, too.

  Begrudgingly.

  Not that I’d ever admit it out loud.

  The encampment we had been sent to wasn’t where the main expedition force was stationed, but one that had been put together on an ocean beach in an area I had already liberated. It was another safe space that had been set up just in case, and had several strategists working out the best way to end this war quickly.

  They were constantly in contact with the others, and Justisius was also stationed here as one of the special team liaisons. I assumed Liddy was as well, though we weren’t told that explicitly. As much as I would have liked to see her, especially knowing she was in the group that had been sabotaged, I understood why we couldn’t.

  And that was if they were even there in the first place. It could have been another angle of information warfare in case things went south and we were captured. I didn’t care either way. The encampment had been outfitted with a shower that I had used for far longer than I normally would have and Ferrisdae had cleaned my gear with her spell so it was no longer covered in ash.

  Now I was grilling burgers over charcoal as the ocean waves gently lapped up the sand not far away. The youngsters had just finished swimming, even Moose, while my wife dutifully stayed by my side. There was concern in her eyes that I did my best to ignore. I already knew what she wanted to say but held back, and she knew that I knew.

  Tabitha’s silent support meant the world to me. She trusted me even when my motives weren’t clear, and I didn’t plan on disappointing her or my daughters.

  It was a serene moment, even if it had tumultuous undertones of the job that had to be done. We all understood that this was going to be the last stretch of peace for some time.

  “Food’s ready!” I called as I took the last perfectly cooked burger off of the grill and set it on a platter that had been graciously given to us along with the vegetables, bread, and cheese.

  My wife was there for the first plate. She made a burger the way I liked it and handed it back to me. I didn’t argue. With my plate in hand, I headed to the table where Cojisto was already working on clearing off towels and other things.

  I took a seat, but didn’t start eating right away. Ferrisdae and Dalsarel argued about whether or not mushrooms belonged on a burger. The two sat across from each other, glaring across the table, before the Forest Elf looked at me.

  “Tell her, Badger,” she said, thrusting her finger at the other woman. “Mushrooms have no place on a burger. They’re just not something you should be putting on everything.”

  “Don’t look down on Dark Elf cuisine,” Dalsarel shot back haughtily. “Our food is far more flavorful than that of you tree folk.”

  “Stuff it. I’m asking Badger his opinion.”

  Both of them looked at me expectantly, and I offered Ferrisdae a thin smile. “Let me give you some advice. When you’re in a debate, never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to.”

  My first apprentice scowled. “So you do like mushrooms on your burger?” she asked, as if that information had somehow made her think less of me.

  Before Dalsarel could act smug, I shook my head. “No, I don’t, but you didn’t know that. You could have easily been wrong.”

  “Maybe we should focus on eating the food instead of arguing about it,” Cojisto interjected as he sat next to Ferrisdae.

  “That might have been the wisest thing I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth,” I said.

  Moose huffed and stomped beside us as the pugilist put down a bowl of vegetables on the table for him. Allspeech’s duration had, unfortunately, run out. Cojisto was quick to respond. “Yeah, I can be pretty wise,” he replied with a nod. “Especially when food is involved. If it’s good, then that’s all that matters.”

  “I can get behind that,” Tabitha agreed as she approached. The table was sized for bigger people and so were the chairs, and she made me move over so she could sit with me. Her foot went under mine, looping around it as she picked up her burger. “Let’s eat.”

  We all took our first bites, and I nodded appreciatively at the flavor. The meat and ingredients they had provided us with was better than I expected it to be considering where we were at, but they were excellent. From the sounds coming from the rest of the table as they dug in, I was not the only one who thought so.

  You could always tell when a meal was really good when the only time people spoke was to ask for something to be passed to them. We didn’t make small talk, instead focusing on the food. Everyone was comfortable enough with the silence, even Cojisto. Then again, he was wise in the way of food.

  The cozy, quiet atmosphere lasted until Dalsarel, Moose, and Cojisto got up to take care of their plates back at the tent we had been given to use. The two Elves gave each other a look that I didn’t fully understand, and Ferrisdae ate the last bite of her burger before handing over her dish to Cojisto. He patted her on the back before leaving.

  Almost shyly, she glanced at me. “So, uh, Badger.”

  “Yes, uh, Ferrisdae?” I asked back, arching my eyebrow at her sudden hesitance.

  She made a face, but shook it off. “I was hoping I could get some advice from you.”

  Finishing my own burger, I looked from the Forest Elf over to the retreating trio. Apparently, this was planned. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t like it.

  “Uh huh,” I replied.

  “I was wondering about how best to approach Brack on what was going on with my mother after all this is over,” she said as she fiddled with her hair. “You were right that, if left to my own devices, I would wait decades before confronting her about it, but I don’t want this to last that long. I’d rather get it all out in the open now, and then see where we can go afterwards.”

  “This is about how your mother got you into the Department of Dungeons and set Badger up to be your mentor, right?” Tabitha asked, still leaning against me.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Yes,” Ferrisdae confirmed with a nod. “After I introduced Badger to father, he… Well, I hesitate to use the term ‘let slip’ because that would mean my father thought it was something worth hiding and he clearly didn’t, but he brought up that mother sent donations to the DoD. She even confirmed herself that she got me assigned to Badger, too, though that was much later.”

  I nodded. We hadn’t discussed it at length, but I had a very clear picture of her feelings on the matter. It had done nothing to mend her confidence after the Dungeon Master debacle and weighed heavily on her, though the matter with Abara had done well to bounce her back.

  “So you want to talk to the Chief so that, when you do confront her, you have the full story behind you. Is that it?” I asked.

  “Yes, exactly that,” she answered with another nod. “I talked it over with Cojisto and Moose, and they thought I should go to you because you would know how to navigate this situation. And I thought that your family was so big that you had to have some kind of experience with something like this, so I agreed, but now we’re only going to get a chance to mend fences after this whole thing is over. And it’s going fast, yeah, but my family is roaming around the territory where Blackwood Queens are so I’m also pretty worried about them, so it’s been weighing on my mind.”

  “Okay, just breathe,” I said, holding up my hand to stop her before she continued. “Are you okay? I’m planning on taking you on the next leg of this journey, so I need you at peak performance, you know.”

  Ferrisdae fiddled with her hair some more. “Yeah, sorry. I’m okay, I really am. Just worried, which I think I can get a pass for at this point.”

  “It’s understandable, yes,” I agreed. “I have some news for you that will make you feel better.”

  That caused her to perk up. “You’re going to help me?”

  “No,” I said, and she immediately deflated. I reached into my Pocket and pulled out a small stack of paper, which I set on the table. “I have already helped you.”

  She looked confused as she picked it up. Her eyes scanned the title. “Donation receipt forms?” she asked quietly.

  “I did some digging. For my own edification, of course,” I said as I leaned back and put an arm around Tabitha. “If Durendrelle was going to mess with my work specifically, then I figured I had a right to know exactly how far she meddled in department affairs. Look through it and tell me what you see.”

  Frowning, Ferrisdae did as I told her to. She read through the first page quickly, focusing on figuring out what the important parts of the form were—because a lot of bureaucracy was filling out little things that didn’t matter—and started going through the rest of it.

  “The Anne Runelaras have been donating to the Department of Dungeons every year since they became a prominent force in the dungeon world,” the Forest Elf said slowly. “They’ve been doing it for centuries now, well before mother took over as the head of the family. She did increase the donations a few times, but…” she trailed off as she skipped ahead. Her lips pursed as she neared the end. “Mother stopped the donations the month after I told her I wanted to become an Inspector, and restarted them after we got back from the Thousand Year Blizzard.”

  Yes,” I confirmed, rapping my fingers on the table. “Brackenhorst was already well acquainted with your family and had been for a long, long time, and knew them well. While you can absolutely blame your last name for some of the treatment you’ve gotten, your mother did everything she could to make sure that your family’s money wasn’t the reason you were hired.”

  “Where did you hear that?” she asked, turning her attention to me.

  “The Chief himself, of course,” I answered. “Your mother might be overbearing, and I really don’t have any good memories of any meeting I’ve had with her—”

  “Just the one, right?”

  “That’s not important,” I said, waving it off. She didn’t need to know about the second meeting in Port St. Grandus. “When it comes to you, she has full faith that you can accomplish what you need to. From what Brackenhorst told me, she went out of her way to make sure that you were judged on a scale wholly separated from every other Junior Inspector out there. If anything, she made it harder for you to get the job.”

  “Success despite adversity,” Ferrisdae started quietly, reciting it like it was a motto. “So she, what? Tried to sabotage me?”

  “With her requesting you be put with me? Yes, but that’s just because I’m a mean son of a bitch,” I replied with a shrug like it was no big deal. “But I wouldn’t really call it sabotage, more like making sure it was a challenge fitting for an Anne Runelara.” I paused, frowning. “Or, something. Brackenhorst was busy when I was asking for it, and I wouldn’t really call him that reliable of a narrator, so take it with a grain of salt.”

  “Then that means I did get into the DoD through my own merits?” she asked softly. “And mother didn’t pull strings to make it happen?”

  “Like I said, unreliable narrator, grain of salt. You should still approach him about it, but from my understanding, you’re here all on your own,” I told her before fixing her with my best glare. “And that shouldn’t be news to you, because I’ve already told you this before. You just seem not to believe me every time I bring it up.”

  “Because you’re a big ole softie,” Ferrisdae said with a smile. A real one this time. Just seeing it allowed me to relax a little more. “Of course you’d say that, I’m your best and most favori—I mean, most tolerated junior.”

  “So you say,” I scoffed. “Maybe I’ll invite Moose to be my junior. He’s a strong character with a good head on his shoulders. I’m sure he’ll do the job just fine. Then, he can be my favorite.”

  “Then you’d have to put up with Cojisto, dear,” Tabitha pointed out, tapping my arm as she said it. “They are a package deal. Are you willing to deal with him tagging along?”

  “Since we’re speaking strictly in hypotheticals,” I replied, glancing at the trio who were cleaning up. “I may be able to overlook a thing or two. Cojisto’s presence is one of them. Hypothetically.”

  “Hey, Coji!” Ferrisdae yelled, turning in her chair to call out to the others. “Guess what Badger just admitted!”

  “No,” I growled.

  “What’d he say?” Cojisto shouted back.

  “It seems like you do want Dalsarel to be my favorite and come with me on this next mission,” I warned, voice low.

  That made the Forest Elf freeze for a moment. “Nevermind! I misheard!”

  “Huh?” Cojisto shouted back. “What’d he say, Ferry?”

  “Don’t worry about it!” she answered before looking back at me with a pleased look on her face.

  “You’re going to tell him later,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

  “Of course not,” Ferrisdae blatantly lied, not even trying to act innocent.

  “Brat.”

  “Don’t be like that, Badger,” she giggled, resting her elbows on the table as she leaned forward. “It’s just Cojisto. He’ll probably just grin, try to hug you, and appreciate that you’re giving his friend such a good job. After all, the Adventurer’s Consortium gave them so much trouble since Moose is, you know, a moose.”

  “Man, I wish our team could have a break like this,” came a new voice, and I craned my head to see Teladora hovering behind us. The Gnomish firestarter didn’t have a single blue hair out of place as her gaze panned the horizon before falling on me. She flashed us a brilliant smile before beckoning me out of my chair. “Alright, it seems I’m taking you and one other. We’re burning daylight, so let’s get going.”

  “Right away?” Tabitha asked with a frown.

  “I’m not waiting around any longer than I have to,” the newcomer replied. “Better to get on going when the going’s good.”

  “Could stay for a burger first,” my wife offered.

  That caused the Gnome to pause, and then she grinned again. “You drive a hard bargain. Suppose I could do with a quick bite. Sure, we’ll leave right after.”

  Ferrisdae was quick to escort Teladora away to where the leftover food was, and I kissed Tabitha on the cheek. She replied by planting one on my lips. “You better be safe. Or else, you hear?” she threatened in no uncertain terms. “Everything I am is screaming at me not to let you go, so I’m trusting you despite myself.”

  “I hear you, and I will be,” I told her honestly. “Ferry and I will both come back to you. I’ll do everything in my power to make it so.”

  Tabs gave me another dubious look, and I felt inwardly at my divine core. My body had finally stopped aching, but it had only just started filling back up with energy. The next few hours were going to be some tough ones.