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During the few days it took to transport my three "packages" to my client, said "packages" were most uncooperative. They first tried to free themselves and each other from their rope bindings, and they were pretty successful in doing so until I knocked them out and acquired iron manacles from the blacksmith of the first village I stopped at. And to make it extra difficult for them to run off, I linked all their manacles with a chain.
When escaping their new bindings did not work, they tried the old "I need to take a piss" and run move on me, but I was prepaed for that. I took all three of them out of the carriage and chained them to the spokes of the carriage wheel. I then tipped the carriage driver some coin and told him that he was free to shoot my prisoners in the leg if they tried anything funny.
The driver happily took my coin as he cocked and loaded his crossbow while I unlinked their chains to bring my prisoners to relieve themselves one at a time.
That was when my primary target, Ambrose Langston, decided to get uppity with me. "You would not dare! You know who I am and who my father is. A lowly mercenary like you cannot harm me!"
I decided to dissuade him of this notion by drawing my sword and stabbing him through his thigh. As he fell over screaming and being dragged by the father and daughter duo trying to back away from me, I squatted down and told him, "My instructions are to bring you back alive and in one piece. Anything I do outside of those requirements is fair game for me."
I then roughly ripped my sword out of his thigh and pushed him face down on the ground with one hand, and grabbed his wound with the other to start healing it. As I was doing so, I turned to the father and daughter duo and said, "The two of you are just the bonus, so if you make yourselves more trouble than you are worth, I can just slit your necks and dump you off the side of the road. Do I make myself clear?"
After they nodded their heads vigorously enough for me to think they would give themselves a brain injury. I gave them a smile that they couldn't see behind my mask and asked, "So, who still wants to go and pee?"
As I asked that question, the smell hit me and I turned down to see that Ambrose had already wet himself.
***
The rest of the trip back to the city of Malbrook, Marquess Langston's city, was somber for my three prisoners, but peaceful for me. As I entertained myself with compiling my report and doing some leisure reading of a book I bought along the way, it took no more than a glance in their direction to silence my prisoners if they tried anything with me.
As we approached Malbrook and were about to join the queue of carriages waiting to be checked by the guard, I instructed the driver to veer off to the side and wait. I then got out and walked to the city guard, passing him a letter. "Please inform Head Butler Giles of Marquess Langston's estate that his package has arrived. He should be expecting it."
At first, the guard gave me a suspicious look, but when he saw the wax seal on the letter, his eyes went wide. "One moment, sir. While waiting, please follow me," the guard said and signaled his fellow guards, and led my carriage to park at a side berth.
Some time later, the guard I gave the letter to came back and pointed me out to five mounted knights. They trotted over to me, and the most decorated of them came up to me, "Are you Mister Liam?" After I gave a simple nod, he said, "We have been sent to escort you. My Lord awaits."
***
I was once again led to the servant's entrance out back, where Head Butler Giles was once again there to greet me.
When I led my prisoners out of the carriage in chains, Giles quirked an eyebrow and asked, "Why is the young master in chains? And who are these two others?"
"The young master is in chains because he has been most uncooperative, and the other two are involved in his disappearance. I will elaborate in a report when I meet your master." I said matter-of-factly.
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Giles nodded, turned, and told me to follow him.
Once again, as we walked through the mansion, it seemed to have been cleared out. The only difference this time was the five knights surrounding us.
We soon made our way to a study, where a man in his fifties, whom I assume is my client, Marquess Victor Langston, sat behind his table with a stern look and fingers interlaced.
After entering, I gave the marquess a polite bow and greeted him. "My Lord."
The marquess looked me up and down with a critical eye and nodded, "I see you have brought my wayward son home… and others." he said as he gave my three prisoners a withering glare.
"So, what has my son been up to?" the marquess asked me.
"Father! I-" Ambrose said as he raised his manacled hands, but was cut off.
"SLIENCE! We will have words later, but until then, you will shut your mouth!" the marquess practically growled out before turning to me and asking me to continue.
"To make a long report short, your son joined what seems to be a moon-worshipping cult," I started off as I passed Giles a folder containing my report based on the evidence I collected from the cult leader's home.
"While most members of this cult are true believers in this benign cult, the cult leader," I said, pointing to the older man in chains, "has been using his cult members to honey-pot rich merchants who would funnel back into the cult."
By now, the father/daughter duo was sweating bullets, as Head Butler Giles passed the folder to his Lord, who was looking through it.
"It started with merchants, and he got greedier. He started expanding his reach to other towns and cities, eventually honey-potting their way into a few knight houses, followed by a couple of baron houses."
I then pointed to the cult leader's daughter, Aveline. "It was then that, daughter dearest became jealous of the honeypots that were living the life of a noble's wife, and requested of her father that her future husband be of… a higher social class. That is where your son comes in. Inside the report are rather explicit correspondences between your son and this woman, and I am sure you know what love… or lust, does to the mental faculties of a man."
As I finished my report, there was silence in the room that was only broken by the sounds of the marquess flipping through my report and his face getting redder in anger by the page.
When he was done reading the report, the marquess looked up at his son with coldness in his eyes and then turned to me. "Liam, was it? You do some good work," he said, tapping a knuckle on my report. "Besides your more physical expertise, your report is impeccable. Better than most of my scribes. Clearly, you are a highly educated and capable man."
Aw, shucks… what can I say, I used to be an office worker. I have been known to write up a few reports in my time. But knowing the general level of literacy in the kingdom, this is high praise. I just bow while saying, "Your praise is too kind, My Lord."
The marquess nodded and continued, "No, my praise of your abilities is just. Some of the names of the men tempted into marriage with these cult members are the children of my friends, and those whose name I do not know will soon owe me a favor." he then turned to Head Butler Giles and said, "Mark Mister Lima's mission as complete with great satisfaction and give him a reward on top of that."
The butler nodded and was about to lead me away, but I was somewhat worried. I was not sure about the policy of double-dipping rewards. Would I get in trouble with the guild? "There is no need to give me a reward, My Lord, the guild already covers it upon your word of my success."
The marquess just scoffed, "Nonsense! You have done me and my house a great service. Hired through a third party or not, you have gone above and beyond what was required, and it would besmirch my and my house's good name to not see it rewarded. Giles, see to it. And Liam, if you ever get tired of working for the guild, I will always have a spot available for a man such as yourself."
A few minutes later, I found myself in a carriage on the way to an inn with a small chest of gold coins in my lap.