“You can tell me all about your exciting adventures in the astral space.”
“Deal,” she said. “Maybe you should round out your awakening stones while we’re gone,” she said. “Take the chance to blitz some one-star contracts, get moving towards bronze. You have to get there before I hit silver, you know.”
“My friends told me not to do that,” Jason said. “It seems there might be an unusual opportunity not long after they get back.”
“Oh?” she prompted.
“They’re still not giving me any details,” Jason said. “It’s something to do with why they came here in the first place. They’re expecting another adventurer to arrive. A gold-ranker, apparently.”
“I’ve heard rumblings about that. Maybe you should catch that thief giving everyone so much trouble. My uncle and the Adventure Society director have been quite contentious about it, behind the scenes.”
“The whole thing seems sketchy to me,” Jason said. “High-profile jobs, the Duke and Elspeth Arella taking such an interest. The whole thing smells of politics.”
“You know, she was almost caught a few days ago. A group of adventurers almost pinned her down, but they were attacked.”
“By who?”
“No one knows,” Cassandra said. “They just slowed them down for long enough for her to escape, then fled themselves. Dressed all in black. They weren’t even iron-rankers.”
“I told you,” Jason said. “Politics. There’s a mess of undercurrents running through the whole business.”
“You don’t want to catch her?”
“She’s robbing from rich people,” Jason said. “I can appreciate that.”
“Aren’t you rich?”
“Not compared to you.”
98
The Point of Money and Power
The Adventure Society campus was a sea of chaos as the grand expedition prepared to depart. With the Ustei detained in the marshalling yard and being prepared to move, the adventurers were gathering in front of the main administration building. Neither space was designed for that many people or that kind of activity, so people were spilling out all over the campus.
Jason navigated the commotion-filled campus, leisurely eating an apple. He watched absently as an Ustei made a run for it, with a couple of Adventure Society officials in pursuit. He reached the administration building, where a crowd of people swarmed around the carriages that would take them out to desert relay stations. The humungous Ustei sand barge was going to be used, along with smaller sand barges supplied by the Magic Society.
It had been a good choice to make his farewells to Gary, Farrah and Rufus at the inn rather than at the assembly point. Looking at the huge mess and hearing the harried shouts, Jason was somewhat happy that he wasn’t a part of it. He was disappointed he wouldn’t get to see the inside of the astral space, though.
“One of these days,” he consoled himself.
He approached the space in front of the admin building where the adventurers were gathering. He paused as he felt the wild storm of auras crashing together in a maelstrom. Not everyone had the control that came from just having an aura power, let alone the kind of training Jason had received from Farrah.
He used that training to suppress other auras in a very small space around his body, allowing him to move closer without being overwhelmed. He noticed a lot of iron-rankers looking woozy because they couldn’t do the same. Farrah’s emphasis on the importance of aura training was once again borne out.
It took him a while to track down anyone he knew in the crowd, as they were all restraining their auras to avoid adding to the mess. He found Danielle Geller busily directing the loading of supplies, pausing only long enough to point Jason in the direction of the main mass of Gellers.
If he had come at the crowd from the other side, he quickly realised, he would have had no trouble. The Gellers were gathered en masse, looking like a modelling agency that had formed an Olympic team. Surprising Jason not at all, they were already packed up and ready to head out. He nodded to those he knew as he made his way over to where Rick and Phoebe were talking, while Humphrey was saying goodbye to Gabrielle. Rick’s team was also there, Jonah laughing at Humphrey.
“You’re going away for a few weeks,” Jonah jeered. “It’s not like you’re going off to war.”
“Leave them be,” Jason said as he approached. “They’re sweet and earnest. The world could use more of that.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Cassandra said, suddenly standing next to him. He smiled as she slipped her hand into his.
“Oh, hey,” he greeted, voice softening with pleasure. “Can you teleport?”
“Maybe,” she said. “A girl has to have some secrets.”
“I have secrets, too,” he said. “My fried chicken spice mix is better than my essence abilities.”
She laughed and nodded in the direction of her own family. “Are you going to come to see me off?”
“Of course,” he said, and waved at Humphrey with the hand Cassandra hadn’t claimed. “See you in a few weeks, Hump!”
“Go die in a bog!” Humphrey called back. He winced at the startled look this earned from Gabrielle, which caused him to glare at Jason’s laughing face all the more.
Cassandra led Jason through the chaos to where her own family were preparing. No one could match the numbers of the Geller family, who drew from branches all around the world, but the Mercers still made an impressive showing.
“What do you think you’re doing, Asano?” came Thadwick’s, voice.
Jason sighed.
“You need to get away from my sister,” Thadwick said, marching up to Jason. “You need to stop sticking your nose into business that isn’t yours. You had to go and ruin my deal, didn't you?”
“Thadwick…”
Jason was about to point out that with all the ways his family had to legally exploit people, Thadwick still managed to find one that was against the law but stopped himself. Instead, he took a slow, cleansing breath.
“You know what, Thadwick? You have a good trip.”
“What does that mean?” Thadwick asked suspiciously.
“Just wishing you well,” Jason said. “I’m going to try and put more positivity into the world.”
“You're weird,” Thadwick said, giving Jason a wary look.
His mother walked over to them, placing a hand on Thadwick's shoulder. “Do go finish stowing your gear on the carriage, dear.”
“Why didn’t we bring servants for that?” Thadwick complained.
“There aren’t servants where we’re going, dear, and you may have noticed that things are crowded enough.”
Danielle Geller’s voice boomed over the crowd through some form of magic amplification.
“All non-expedition members please clear the area, as we are getting ready to depart!”
Jason leaned in to gently kiss Cassandra, only for her to forcefully latch onto him. After a lingering kiss, they stood leaning into one-another, foreheads together.
“You’re being naughty,” he told her softly.
“A naughty genius?”
“You’ve certainly got me figured out.”
“Somehow I doubt that.”
Soon Jason stood off with other well-wishers as the huge train of carriages rolled away. In the empty space left behind, Jason was about to leave when he was approached by Vincent.
“You’re not on the expedition?” Jason asked. His brain started turning over, and he laughed. “I get it. Everyone wanted in on this expedition, so Arella let all the people who aren’t wildly on-board with her agenda go. That gets her some bureaucratic capital, and while they and most of the city’s big powerbrokers are gone, she can institute a few sweeping changes.”
“You got that just from my still being here?” Vincent asked.
“Just postulation, but it’s what I’d do.”
“Well, the director is going to be quite busy for the next few weeks, so she wanted to get something out of the way first. If you’ll follow me?”