Pillar of Yita

Miss Nightingale curled her lips.

...

Bakins lifted the thick curtain with a finger, using the edge of his vision to peer through the gap in the cloth and the reflection on the glass down toward the street.

The street was perfectly calm.

He let the curtain fall, plunging the room back into gloom, then turned around, glanced at the others, and finally fixed his gaze on Fang Hong. ”Ade, nothing unusual outside.”

Fang Hong nodded.

He didn’t look particularly relieved; after everything they’d been through, there was no way he’d lose his composure over something this minor.

The Big Cat People warrior was leaning against a pillar, arms folded. He was so burly that the mane atop his head was almost brushing the beam that ran across the room.

For once he wasn’t fiddling with his pipe; his bright eyes simply watched this way, as though waiting for Fang Hong’s decision.

Of everyone present, only Ai Xiaoxiao, sitting on the sofa, looked a little uneasy. This Little Princess from the real world seemed like she wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to begin.

Tang Xin gently pressed the back of her best friend’s hand, signaling her to relax. She actually wasn’t sure how serious the situation was either, but she knew that big Pigeon in front of them was reliable.

Of everyone present, only Parker, Luo Hao, and Miss Atira were missing.

After a while, Xiesta came in from outside carrying tea. Pasha took the teapot and cups from Miss Maid’s hands and carefully poured tea for everyone.

Bakins accepted his cup and thanked him.

”Mr. Bakins,” Pasha asked in a small voice, ”did we get ourselves into trouble?”

”Small matter,” the Bosun said offhandedly.

It really was a small matter; Fang Hong was just waiting for news.

Tata was kneeling by the coffee table, helping Fang Hong classify some Sky Sea creatures they’d recently discovered, uploading them into the database, and incidentally collecting the homework his professor had sent him.

In the silence, only the system’s little clicking sounds remained as she turned pages by hand.

After a while, the door opened again, and Lady Papamo appeared there in a long dress, Nini perched atop her head.

”Papa!”

As soon as Nini saw Fang Hong, she jumped down from Lady Papamo’s head, floated over, and dove headfirst into Fang Hong’s arms, begging for a hug.

Fang Hong patted her head indulgently, then looked toward Parker—Lady Papamo.

Two more people came in behind Parker: Miss Atira and Luo Hao. Luo Hao was the last to enter, closing the door behind him with a backward push.

”Well, Miss Atira?” Fang Hong looked at them and finally asked.

”Not bad,” Luo Hao answered for her. ”The Adventurers’ Guild posted the Wanted Order not long after we left, but there are always such notices here, so it hasn’t really drawn much attention.”

”The Wanted Order has been posted at the Adventurers’ Guild, the Artisan Association, the harbor, and the city gates,” Lady Papamo added in her sharp voice. ”From the look of them, they don’t seem about to launch a citywide manhunt.”

”I told you,” Bakins replied, ”this is Nogness. No one here is going to make a big deal out of Wanted Orders coming from the Royal Court; otherwise they’d never get any other work done with how often these things show up.”

He paused, then added, ”But we do have to watch out for Bounty Hunters—this is their livelihood—and for the Believers of Terra Wotu.”

”Who are they?” Lady Papamo asked curiously, straightening her hair that Nini had mussed.

”The city’s Guardians, Believers of the God of Law,” Luo Yu said, remembering how they’d talked about this Deity back in Idus. ”Their Believers treat law and authority as their very lives.”

”Basically the opposite sort of people from us,” the Big Cat People warrior added with a laugh.

”All right,” Fang Hong asked—he’d long since known about these things—”how much is our bounty?”

This, however, was the crux of the problem.

”Two hundred thousand Lycel,” Luo Hao answered, glancing at Miss Ship’s Officer as he spoke. ”It doesn’t include us—only Miss Hilveld. The rest of you are also listed on the Wanted Order, but only as accomplices… no bounty…”

Hilveld merely smiled faintly when she heard this.

”Two hundred thousand isn’t exactly little,” Bakins said, ”but it’s not that much either. For the daughter of a traitorous minister, it’s just about right.”

Though the Bosun used the word ”traitor,” the tone of his voice was plainly dripping with mockery.

Fang Hong more or less understood what this Wanted Order meant: the Royal Household wanted to mobilize all parties to capture Hilveld.

But clearly the Prime Minister’s faction didn’t want to make too big a spectacle of it and let anyone with an eye for these things notice Hilveld’s identity.

The identity of ”a traitor’s daughter” was more than sufficient for this Wanted Order; Bounty Hunters only cared about the money anyway.

And it was perfectly natural that the Colin Royal Family didn’t particularly care about them; Invokers were never under the Natives’ jurisdiction to begin with. He was only worried the Super Competitive League would seize on this as a pretext.

But it seemed Orlenze didn’t intend to make a big fuss over this Wanted Order. As long as they weren’t planning a citywide manhunt, that was good news for them.

Of course, Fang Hong also caught the implication in Luo Hao’s words: ”Everyone?”

”I’m not on the Wanted Order.”

”That’s actually the second piece of good news,” Luo Hao said. ”The Wanted Order doesn’t list every Member of the Seven Seas Travel Group; quite a few of us aren’t on it.”

”Then do we have a copy of the Wanted Order?” Fang Hong asked quickly.

”Ask Miss Nini,” Luo Hao said, jerking his chin toward the precious daughter cradled in Fang Hong’s arms.

”Papa!” Nini immediately raised the Record Crystal in her hands like a treasure.

Because they were worried getting too close to the Wanted Orders would get them recognized, Nini had secretly flown up and used the Record Crystal to snap pictures of them from the air.