The morning after securing Lady Anastasia's alliance found Raze's team gathered around their table with documents spread across every available surface. Financial records mixed with correspondence, timeline charts tracking Venn's corruption alongside Thomas's illness, everything organized methodically as they prepared to identify their next target.

"The second element requires someone inside Venn's current operations," Raze began, his Absolute Genius already sorting through information he'd gathered from game knowledge and recent observation. "Not a guard or servant who sees fragments, we need someone who sees everything because their position demands comprehensive awareness of all activities."

"Personal secretary," Kael said immediately, his analytical mind reaching the same conclusion. "That role requires managing schedules and correspondence and financial transactions, they'd have access to literally everything Venn does because organizing it is their job."

"Exactly," Raze confirmed, pulling out a sheet where he'd been making notes. "Venn has a secretary who's served him for years, a man who handles all administrative duties and maintains records of every transaction and meeting, if anyone knows the full scope of Venn's criminal operations and Syndicate connections it's this person."

"Name?" Mariabel asked practically.

"Baelor Crawford," Raze said, writing it at the top of the page. "Late fifties, served as Venn's secretary for approximately five years, handles all correspondence and financial records, never leaves the manor and rarely speaks beyond professional necessity."

"Five years," Aslan noted quietly. "That's the same timeline as Venn's corruption beginning, he was hired right when the Syndicate started their operation."

"Not hired," Raze corrected, his voice dropping with controlled anger as he pulled information from memories of the game's deeper lore. "Enslaved, Baelor Crawford isn't serving Venn voluntarily despite appearances, he's a slave kept in position through systematic destruction of everything he cared about."

Silence fell heavy as they processed that revelation, the casual mention of slavery in the capital's heart speaking to depths of corruption they were trying to expose.

"Explain," Mariabel said, her expression hardening with aristocratic fury at the implication.

"Five years ago the Syndicate was expanding operations in Westia and needed skilled administrators for their various fronts," Raze began, organizing the information carefully. "They identified Baelor as exceptionally talented at record keeping and financial management, someone whose skills could further their many business interests both legitimate and criminal."

"So they recruited him," Kael assumed.

"They tried," Raze said grimly. "Baelor refused because he was making good money legitimately and had family he cared about, so the Syndicate demonstrated what refusal cost by systematically murdering everyone he loved."

The words landed like physical blows, stark brutality that needed no embellishment to convey horror.

"His wife died first in accident that wasn't accident," Raze continued, his jaw tight. "Then his eldest son's family in house fire that investigation ruled as faulty lamp oil despite evidence of arson, then his youngest son publicly executed for fabricated crimes with evidence the Syndicate planted, all of it designed to break Baelor completely and force cooperation through having nothing left to lose."

"They murdered his entire family to acquire an administrative clerk?" Mariabel's voice was sharp with disbelief and fury. "That's beyond criminal, that's monstrous."

"The Syndicate doesn't just want cooperation, they want absolute control born from total destruction of alternatives," Raze explained. "Baelor with family could resist or flee or seek help, Baelor with nothing has no choice except obedience or death, and they correctly calculated he'd choose obedience if it meant chance at eventual revenge."

"So he serves Venn because the Syndicate gave him to Venn," Aslan said slowly, understanding the full scope. "He's not just secretary, he's living reminder that the Syndicate owns everything in that manor including the Lord himself."

"Exactly, and the idea to keep Baelor as secretary came directly from Syndicate leadership, they told Venn he needed skilled administrator to manage expanding operations," Raze confirmed. "Venn by that point was already their puppet, too deep in addiction and corruption to question why they were providing him with pre-broken slave to handle his paperwork."

"But Baelor's real value to them goes beyond just administrative skills," he continued. "The Syndicate keeps extensive tabs on everyone in their organization, they discovered Baelor's talents could further their many business interests across multiple fronts, so they positioned him where he'd be most useful while being completely under their control."

Kael leaned forward with analytical focus. "If the Syndicate controls him through threat of death, how do we approach him without him immediately reporting contact to his masters out of fear?"

"Because Baelor's compliance is mask," Raze said, certainty clear in his voice. "Professionally he's perfect secretary, efficient and discreet and utterly loyal in appearance, but the real Baelor beneath that facade is filled with rage that's been building for five years, fury so intense you could consider him beast barely restrained by thin veneer of civility."

"You're saying he's waiting for opportunity to strike back," Mariabel understood. "That underneath the perfect servant is someone consumed by need for revenge."

"His last wish is to see Venn die," Raze confirmed. "That desire hasn't diminished in five years, it's only grown stronger with every day he's forced to serve the man who enabled the organization that destroyed his family, if we can offer him genuine chance at that revenge he'll throw everything into helping us."

"That's convenient almost to the point of suspicion," Kael said, his skepticism automatic. "Perfect recruitment target who'll eagerly betray his master if approached correctly, it sounds too easy."

"Easy approach doesn't mean easy execution," Raze countered. "The challenge isn't convincing Baelor to help, it's making contact without alerting the Syndicate that we're recruiting their asset, if they discover we're trying to flip him they'll either kill him to prevent cooperation or use him to feed us false information."

"So we need approach vector that appears natural rather than coordinated recruitment," Aslan said thoughtfully.

"And we need to do it somewhere away from the manor where Syndicate surveillance is less comprehensive," Mariabel added. "Approaching him inside Venn's territory would be immediately suspicious."

"That's the problem," Raze admitted, frustration creeping into his voice. "Baelor rarely leaves the manor, his entire existence is contained within those walls where the Syndicate can monitor him constantly, finding opportunity for private conversation without arousing suspicion is going to be difficult."

They sat in silence for several minutes, each person considering the tactical challenge from different angles. The room felt heavy with concentration as four minds worked through scenarios and complications.

"What about supply runs?" Kael suggested eventually. "Every manor requires regular deliveries of food and materials, someone has to coordinate those logistics and verify deliveries match orders."

"Baelor handles administrative coordination but actual receipt of goods is managed by lower staff," Raze said, having observed the manor's operations during his visit. "He doesn't personally meet with merchants or inspect deliveries, everything goes through intermediaries."

"Medical emergencies?" Mariabel tried. "If he became suddenly ill and required treatment outside the manor?"

"The Syndicate would send their own physician rather than risk him having private conversation with independent healer," Raze countered. "They're too careful about controlling information flow to allow something that obvious."

"What if we created situation that forced him outside?" Aslan asked quietly. "Not obviously manufactured crisis but something that required secretary's personal attention away from manor grounds?"

Raze's Absolute Genius seized on that concept, turning it over and examining angles. "That could work if we can make it appear natural, something that falls within his official duties but requires him to leave controlled environment temporarily."

"Financial matter requiring his presence at merchant guild or banking institution," Kael suggested. "Verification of large transaction or investigation of accounting discrepancy that can't be resolved through correspondence."

"Too easy for Syndicate to send escort or delay until they can arrange surveillance," Mariabel said. "We need something urgent enough that immediate response is required but mundane enough that heavy security presence would seem excessive."

"Legal document requiring personal signature and witness," Aslan offered. "Property transfer or contract negotiation where secretary must be present to represent lord's interests."

Raze shook his head. "Venn would likely attend such meetings personally or send trusted guard captain, secretary's role is administrative support not legal representation."

They continued brainstorming for another hour, proposing and discarding scenarios as they identified flaws in each approach. The challenge was finding balance between urgency and normalcy, between creating opportunity and avoiding obvious manipulation.

"We're overthinking this," Mariabel said finally, frustration evident. "We're trying to engineer elaborate scenario when simpler approach might be more effective, what if we just waited for natural opportunity instead of manufacturing one?"

"That could take weeks or months," Kael protested. "We don't have unlimited time, the longer we wait the greater chance something changes that compromises our plans."

"But forced opportunity carries risk of exposure," Mariabel countered. "If the Syndicate suspects we're trying to contact Baelor they'll lock him down completely, better to wait for genuine chance than rush into trap of our own making."

"There's middle ground," Raze said slowly, his mind working through compromise. "We can position ourselves to take advantage of opportunities without creating obviously artificial situations, observe Baelor's patterns and identify moments where contact might occur naturally."

"Surveillance," Aslan understood. "Watch the manor's operations, learn his routines and habits, find gaps in Syndicate oversight where brief contact could happen without immediate detection."

"Exactly, we need intelligence before action," Raze confirmed. "Spend several days observing traffic in and out of the manor, tracking when Baelor appears in windows or doorways, mapping guard patrol patterns and identifying potential approach vectors."

"That's time intensive," Kael warned. "Days of surveillance with no guarantee of finding useful opportunity."

"Better than rushing in blind and alerting the Syndicate that we're interested in their secretary," Raze said firmly. "This element is too important to compromise through impatience, we do it carefully or not at all."

Mariabel nodded agreement. "I can handle surveillance, noble background means I can loiter near the manor district without attracting excessive attention, just another aristocrat wandering the capital."

"I'll assist," Aslan offered. "My condition makes me memorable but also gives excuse to avoid direct interaction, I can observe from distance while appearing to simply rest in various locations."

"Kael and I will work on alternative approaches in case surveillance doesn't yield opportunities," Raze decided. "Research Baelor's background more thoroughly, identify potential leverage points or connections we could exploit, build comprehensive profile that might suggest non-obvious contact methods."

They spent the rest of the day organizing their surveillance plan, identifying optimal observation points around the manor district and establishing communication protocols for sharing information. Maps were marked with guard patrol routes and sight lines, schedules coordinated to ensure continuous coverage without appearing suspicious through repetitive presence.

"We start tomorrow," Raze said as evening approached. "Mariabel and Aslan handle observation while Kael and I dig deeper into Baelor's history, we reconvene each evening to share intelligence and adjust plans based on what we learn."

"How long do we maintain surveillance before considering alternative approaches?" Mariabel asked practically.

"One week maximum," Raze decided. "If we haven't identified viable contact opportunity in that timeframe we reassess and consider more aggressive options, but I'm betting careful observation will reveal gaps in Syndicate oversight that we can exploit."

"And once we identify opportunity and make contact?" Kael pressed. "What exactly do we tell Baelor to convince him we're genuine rather than Syndicate test of his loyalty?"

"The truth," Raze said simply. "We tell him we're working to destroy Venn and the Syndicate, that we have testimony from Lady Anastasia and evidence of criminal operations, that we need his cooperation to complete case that will bring them all down."

"Just like that?" Kael's skepticism was evident. "We approach man who's been enslaved for five years and expect him to immediately trust strangers claiming they can overthrow his masters?"

"We tell him we've already cured Thomas," Raze said, playing his strongest card. "We tell him Lady Anastasia is cooperating and her son will live, that we've accomplished something the Syndicate thought impossible and we're offering him chance at the revenge he's been dreaming about for five years, his hatred of Venn isn't secret we need to uncover, it's known quantity we can leverage directly."

Understanding dawned across their faces as they recognized the approach's elegance. Baelor's rage was the key to recruitment, his desire for revenge the leverage they needed.

"If he's truly consumed by need to see Venn destroyed then offering genuine path to that goal will overcome his caution," Mariabel said slowly. "We're not asking him to trust us completely, just to accept that we're aligned in wanting same outcome."

"And once he verifies Lady Anastasia is actually cooperating, once he sees we're serious about taking down Venn rather than just testing his loyalty, his self-interest aligns with helping us," Aslan added.

"Exactly," Raze confirmed. "Baelor's last wish is watching Venn die, we're offering to make that wish reality in exchange for his cooperation, the calculus is simple enough that even justified paranoia won't prevent him from at least hearing us out."

They finalized details as night deepened, each person understanding their role in the coming surveillance operation. Tomorrow they'd begin the careful observation that would hopefully reveal opportunity for contact, patient intelligence gathering that was tedious but necessary.

"One week," Mariabel said as they prepared to sleep. "One week of watching and waiting, then we either have our contact method or we get creative about forcing opportunity."

"One week," Raze agreed, confidence in his voice despite uncertainty about outcome. "We've accomplished harder things with worse odds, we can handle surveillance and recruitment of one enslaved secretary."

They settled into their beds with plans crystallized and determination renewed. Tomorrow would begin the patient work of observation, the careful intelligence gathering that would hopefully reveal how to reach the broken man trapped in Venn's manor.

Somewhere in that sprawling estate Baelor Crawford maintained his perfect facade while rage consumed him from inside, counting days until chance at revenge presented itself.

Tomorrow Raze's team would begin working to provide that chance, to offer the enslaved secretary hope that his last wish might actually be fulfilled.

The capital slept around them, unaware that four young cultivators were plotting to flip a key asset in criminal organization's operations, that careful observation would soon begin targeting one of the Syndicate's most valuable and most controlled pieces.

One week of surveillance would reveal opportunities or force creative alternatives, but either way contact would be made and alliance would be proposed.

Baelor Crawford had been waiting five years for someone to offer him revenge.

He just didn't know his wait was almost over.

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