The servant, who was just setting down a fresh pot of tea, jumped at the sound of Mr. Rosner's voice, almost spilling the contents all over the table. She huffed and shot a glare at the man of the house, but Rosner waved her off with an impatient flick of his hand. "That'll be all." She bobbed a curtsy and left, casting the students a wary look before pulling the door closed behind her.

Rosner stepped further into the room, carrying a sheaf of papers in one hand. His gaze swept across the table—at their plates, their damp clothes, their tired faces—before landing squarely on Otter.

"Thale and I have discussed it," he said without preamble. "The danger is too great to ignore. If more of these wards are out there, and others were sold the same design… well, the city won't survive another manifestation like the one you saw this morning."

Sage straightened in her chair. "Then you'll report it to the Guild?"

Rosner shook his head sharply. "No. I cannot risk exposing myself. My dealings with these designs… let us say they would raise questions I cannot afford to answer. But you—" he jabbed a finger toward them "—you were sent to investigate the warehouse. You can report what you saw. And you will."

Otter frowned. "We can try, but… it won't be that simple. People will ask where the wards came from, who set them, who tested them. Not to mention how we defeated the Kaosborn and deactivated the wards. There'll be too many questions."

"They need not know everything," Rosner snapped. "Leave Thale's name out of it. Leave me out of it. Say only that you discovered a ward array that summoned Kaosborn when activated. That is truth enough."

He slapped the folded papers onto the table. "Take these. The original design. And here—" he scribbled a name onto a loose scrap and pushed it toward Otter "—the man who sold them to me. If the authorities wish to chase the source, let them chase him."

"I'm not sure that will be enough to convince anyone," said Sage. "Especially if Master Thale didn't notice anything wrong with the design until it was too late."

"The young lady makes a good point," agreed Ebenezer, folding his arms.

"Perhaps." Rosner scowled. "But at that point, it will be out of our hands. If the authorities decide not to pursue the matter, that is their business." He paused, leveling a stern expression toward Levi. "In the meantime, Levi and I will work our own channels. If these designs have been passed to others, word will spread through the merchants sooner or later. We'll find out who else has their hands on them—or if the original owner is still sniffing around for buyers. That is our part." His eyes flicked back to Otter and the others. "After you make your report, I may need your help following up on whatever we uncover. Are we agreed?"

Otter still didn't think anyone would take them seriously, but they had to report back to Greaves anyway. "I guess we'll see what our handler says, but it sounds like a decent plan? What do you think?" He turned to Erin, who was already nodding in agreement. Jasper, Sage, and Milo also agreed. "Okay. We'll swing by tomorrow and see if you've learned anything."

"Good," said Rosner with an air of finality and swept out of the kitchen.

"Thank you again for your assistance," said Ebenezer, shaking their hands. "When you have graduated from the Academy, look me up. An old Spell Lord like myself can always use a few good adventurers to run his errands." With a faint smile, he, too, departed.

"I'll walk you out," Levi said. Levi hesitated at the door, then said quietly, "Thank you—for not pushing him harder. He doesn't admit weakness often. Just… well…he's not perfect, but he's my dad, you know."

Otter gripped his shoulder. "No worries. I still owe all of you big time. See you tomorrow, yeah?"

Levi smiled and waved as they walked down the street, heading back across the city.

***

"Let me get this straight." Greaves leaned back in his chair, one eyebrow climbing high as he stared at the group across his desk. "I send you on a throwaway job to investigate a cobbler's complaint of noise, and you end up fighting Kaosborn?"

Otter spread his hands. "That's… the gist of it."

"The gist," Greaves repeated, voice flat. He pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. "Either you all are making this up, or you're the unluckiest bunch of kids in the world."

Erin shot a look at Otter. Jasper laughed.

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"What's so funny?" Greaves demanded.

Otter blushed. "Luck is a funny thing. Sometimes what seems like bad luck might actually be good."

Greaves groaned, then picked up the ward design on the desk in front of him. "You're telling me that someone created a set of protection wards that seem legit on the outside, but actually summon Kaosborn?"

"Again, that's the gist," said Otter.

"Though it's a bit more complicated than that," added Milo. "We think this is more than just a simple mistake. Whoever designed this must have done so with cruel intentionality. They hid the corruption well enough that it wasn't detected by… the person that installed them."

"Okay. That sounds concerning." Greaves drummed his fingers against the desk. "And who exactly is this mysterious installer?"

The group exchanged uneasy glances. Sage's mouth pressed into a thin line. Otter cleared his throat. "That part isn't… as important as the fact that the wards exist."

"Mm-hm." Greaves's eyes narrowed. "See, that's where you lose me. Because if I go to the Watch with a half-baked story about kids stumbling onto a nest of Kaosborn and I can't back it up with hard names, hard facts—guess who looks like an idiot? Me."

He slapped the rolled design flat on the desk and jabbed a finger at it. "This, right here, is the only thing saving your hides from being laughed out of my office. And even then, I've got to ask myself: is it genuine? Or did one of you doodle this up in your spare time?"

Sage bristled. "You think we'd risk our lives making up a story like that?"

"I think," Greaves said smoothly, "that rookies exaggerate. They get in over their heads, panic, and suddenly every shadow is a Kaosborn claw. I've seen it before." His gaze flicked to Erin. "You. Quiet one. What did you see first?"

Erin blinked at the sudden scrutiny. "Um, just some etchings on the wall. I didn't think much of it until Milo brought them up."

He turned on Milo. "And what caught your attention?"

"Their complexity. Every wall was inscribed. It was part of a huge array. Bigger than anything I've ever seen."

Greaves grunted. "You should see what I've seen." Before anyone could question his cryptic remark, he turned on Otter. "And how did it activate?"

Otter opened his mouth to answer before realizing that he didn't actually know. He glanced at his friends. They stared blankly back.

"We don't know. We were just standing there, and all of a sudden, light started flaring through the lines on the wall."

"You didn't do anything to set it off?"

"I don't think so."

"How do you know the installer that you refuse to identify wasn't responsible?"

"Because he was with us when they activated," Sage interjected. Otter gave her a warning look, but she waved it away. "He was shocked and didn't understand what had happened either."

Greaves leaned back again, arms folding across his chest. He was quiet for a beat, then sighed. "All right. I suppose I can forward this to the city watch. Not a lot to go on, but maybe they'll contract us to investigate further."

"So, that's it?" asked Otter.

Greaves leaned back again, folding his arms. "What else do you expect me to do? You brought me a diagram and a story. I believe you—mostly because you look like you've been chewed up and spat out—but unless there's a contract with coin attached to it, there's not much else I can do. "

Sage's jaw tightened. "Coin shouldn't matter when Kaosborn are involved."

"Coin always matters. Especially when Kaosborn are involved."

Jasper crossed his arms. "So we just hope someone decides to take it seriously?"

"Pretty much," Greaves said. "Unless you want to issue a contract. Or find someone willing to put up the coin. Like I said, the city watch will decide if it's worth investigating."

His eyes softened for just a moment, some flicker of memory flashing across his face. "For what it's worth, kids—I've staked my name on wild stories before. Cost me more than you'd think. I'm not eager to repeat the lesson."

The silence stretched. Otter felt disappointment pressing on his chest, but he wasn't surprised. The meeting was going exactly the way he'd imagined it.

"What about our pay?" Jasper finally asked.

Greaves grinned at him, the expression wolfish. "Job's not done yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Just because you found out what was going on in the warehouse doesn't mean the cobbler knows. Did you inform him?"

Jasper's look turned sour. Otter could tell he was about to say something snarky, so he cut him off. "We'll take care of it."

"No. Actually, you won't," said Greaves. "I will. I'm benching you for the week. I had hoped the Iron Fangs would keep you out of trouble a while longer, but that didn't work. Your activity has become a topic of conversation among my superiors, and they are questioning my judgment. I don't like that. So you're taking the rest of the week off. I'll get in touch with the cobbler in the morning. Stop by in the afternoon to collect your pay."

The group rose without another word. Chairs scraped against the floor as they filed out of the office, the door clicking shut behind them.

For a moment, they stood in the dim corridor, the muffled noise of the Guild hall filtering through the walls. No one spoke until they had stepped outside into the warm afternoon air.

Milo finally broke the silence. "So… we're benched."

"Seems that way," Erin said, folding her arms.

Jasper scowled. "Figures. We do all the work, nearly get killed for it, and he tells us to take a vacation."

"Not a vacation," Otter said with a distant look in his eye. "An opportunity to deal with this ourselves.

His comment stunned the rest of them.

"What?" asked Erin.

"Think about it. I'm sure Greaves could keep us busy with all kinds of menial tasks. Tasks that would eat up all of our time. Maybe even attach us to another team for safe-keeping. But he didn't. I don't know if this is a test or not, but it is an opportunity to keep looking into things."

"You don't think the city watch will investigate it?" asked Milo, his tone hopeful.

Otter shook his head. "Not thoroughly."

"Agreed," said Sage. "But the potential for catastrophe is too great to stand by and do nothing. We all know what happened when the Kaosborn manifested inside the simulation. How much worse will it be if that happens beneath some tavern in the city?"

"So where do we start?" asked Milo.

"I have an idea," said Otter. "But none of you are going to like it."

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