Henry

Westerngrad, like many other cities, was separated into different parts, each one with a different purpose and inhabitants residing within.

One such part was, as people would refer to it, the nobles quarters, this does not mean that only men and women of noble families lived there as there were a good amount of rich merchants, competent mages, and famed scholars that formed the upper echelon of Westerngrads people.

And among those people there was one man currently residing within a large mansion, neighboring the official in charge of finances on one side and the messenger of some lordling from who knows where on the other, that found himself in quite the awkward situations.

This man, named Henry by his loving parents, was currently dining at a large table within an even larger hall heated up by several iron braisers. The hall had no windows, for it was located within the heart of the mansion and it served as both dining room and office simultaneously.

What his meal consisted of was irrelevant, as it had nothing to do with his current predicament. What did influence it tho were two men standing behind his chair, with their backs straight and faces gazing forward, they were the very image of a noble butler.

These men did nothing to Henry, of course, they were very loyal to him, he paid them enough to be sure of it. No, what disturbed him was the news they brought.

Not only were the news surprising and unexpected, but they were also, most of all, unbelievable.

They were unbelievable because they were impossible, and, if by some miracle what he just heard was true, then, it was still unbelievable because it should, yet again, have been impossible.

Henry was a man bad at dealing with surprises, his current position was not earned by his own merit, but by his parents, both of whom had very sadly perished in an unforeseen accident, this was one of the reasons he hated surprises.

One other reason was due to the fact that he did not wish to deal with the bothersome process of resolving the problems that were caused by such 'surprises', which is why, he, one of the members of the ruling council charged with resolving any issue that may impede trade and commerce, ignored the recent lumber fiasco.

Because he could not be bothered to deal with it.

So he did the same as always, ignore the issue until it resolved itself, or some other councilor would force him into dealing with it. He never did it because he wanted to, but because the only other thing that he hated more than surprises was conflict.

And when your fellow councilors, men of honor who serve the city as best as they can, come to you and demand a favor, there is not much you can do but fulfill it.

And so he expected this situation to go the same way as it always did, a disaster happens, be it big or small, some peasants get affected, people complain and whine to the council, and one of his friends would come to plead favors with him to resolve the issue.

Yet, it did not go like this.

No, this time it was even better. It was an unexpected result but he did not mind as long as he did not have to lift a finger, still, the way that the situation resolved itself was most peculiar, and, most of all, impossible in his mind.

Slowly, Henry lowered his cutlery and turned his head to the left to address one of his butlers.

''Can this news be trusted?''. He asked the butler in a gruff voice accentuated by a mighty triple chin.

''Of course sir Henry, the incident has been reported to us a month ago and it was officially resolved around one week ago''. The butler spoke in a calm and collected voice.

''What was the incident you speak off, so many things have happened lately that it must have slipped my mind''. Henry lifted a white handkerchief and whipped his greasy lips.

''This incident refers to the massacre of the lumberjacks employed by the workshop caused by the onset of early winter and the unexpected attack by monsters''. The butler said while discreetly rolling his eyes, he, more than anyone else, knew exactly the type of person Henry was, an incompetent fool by any standards, but, a very rich one.

''Oh yes that one, a very serious issue indeed, so, are you telling me that the problem resolved itself yes?''. Henry smiled while poking at a piece of meat on his plate, it had already gone cold.

''Yes sir Henry, as I've just informed, the issue has indeed been resolved''. The butler's voice maintained a constant tone, it never changed, no matter how much he had to repeat himself, and he had to do it a lot.

With a huff, Henry lifted a piece of meat on the end of his fork before proceeding to swing it around while speaking.

''So what you are telling me, is that some no-name merchant came out of nowhere, acquired the permits to trade within the city together with the deeds to the lumber yard and the workshop for close to nothing, then he proceeded to systematically hunt down the monsters within the forest, five of them, if I remember correctly, before proceeding to reopen the workshop just as the permit was about to be revoked?''

Henry started to sweat from the exertion of talking so much so he lifted the grease-stained handkerchief and wiped his forehead.

''Are you sure he is not some retired monster hunter?'' Henry asked somewhat nervously, he did not like dealing with those people.

''No sir, he is confirmed to be just a normal merchant''. The butler replied swiftly.

Henry seemed to accept the fact and took one more bite of food before speaking up again.

''Did I miss anything?''. Henry asked after a brief pause.

The butler stood in silence as if to think of a response, yet, before he could say anything, his fellow worker opened his mouth.

''Sir Henry, you forgot about the method he used to reopen the workshop!''. This butler was younger than his counterpart and more foolish, or at least so it seemed.

Henry nodded his head causing his chins to increase in number before saying loudly.

''Of course, there was that one point, it was so unpleasant that my mind chose to forget''. Henry spoke to the younger butler in a more friendly tone of voice, he was obviously more appreciated than the old wizened butler.

Seeing their interaction the old man rolled his eyes once again, he knew exactly what was going on and he had no interest in involving himself in petty conflicts, let the bootlicker take all the glory for all he cared, he still got paid anyway.

What proceeded this interaction was exactly what the old butler expected to happen, the youngling started spewing a long line of flowery words and baseless compliments that Henry, his lord, ate up like a recently freed convict did his first meal.

It took a good amount of time for the conversation to return to its original subject.

Henry now had a rosy tone to his cheek that would have looked lovely on any young maiden, problem was, he was neither young nor, lord forbid, a maiden.

''Oh my, it is always a pleasure discussing such matters with you. If only all my employees could be such charmers''. Henry exclaimed while stuffing his face with food, he spoke without swallowing his food, as any gentlemen should.

''We were speaking of that no-name merchant and how he managed to save the workshop weren't we''. With a scoff, Henry took a long sip out of his ornate cup.

''To think he would use beggars of all things, who would even hire such rabble, they won't do an honest day's work''

Both the butlers had to agree with Henry on this one, it truly was unthinkable for a worthy citizen of Westerngrad to deal with that rabble, not to mention a man who just recently joined the elite by becoming one of the pillars of support for the city, as unexpected as it was, it was done legally and the merchant is now the owner of the workshop. Even if some protested there's nothing anyone can do about it.

The displeased silence did not last long as Henry opened his mouth once more.

''So what was the name of this merchant?''. Henry did not ask the question out of any sort of interest, it was mostly curiosity, after all, he truly did not care, all of this was just some light conversation to have at the dinner table. The situation has been resolved and he did not have to do anything, just the way he liked it.

The older butler seemed to think for a second before saying.

''I believe he calls himself Caspian Season, sir''.