Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

“So what makes you think that I’m Guildmaster material? What makes me the ‘right person’ for the job?” Cooper shrugged, “You always seem to know who’s doing what and what’s going on. Right now, that’s what we need most from you. I’m not asking you to manage people. I’m asking you to manage information.” Birt considered his words for a moment, “Alright. I’m in. Just so long as I never have to mop up vomit again… ever.” Cooper chuckled, “I won’t make any promises, but I think that’s a pretty safe assumption.”

Birt stood and pulled his apron off, “I’ll need to grab my stuff, and I’ll likely need your help carrying some of it.” As they walked out of the room Cooper asked, “Incidentally, what would it have cost you to become part owner of this place?” Birt shrugged, “About three or four hundred gold. I don’t have that much set aside yet, but the owners ledgers were in such bad shape when I arrived he didn’t even know whether he was profiting or not. He just knew he had coin coming in and coin going out. As long as he had enough money to replenish his stock, he figured he was doing well enough. As it turns out, he had good profit potential but it was costing him almost as much to rent out rooms as he was making from them. If I’m not here to keep up with the ledgers, I wouldn’t want to be a partner. In a month, this place’ll be right back where it was.” Cooper’s mind was working. Those facts might not seem useful now, but four or five rooms, co-located and cheaply leased on a semi-permanent basis… yes, that information might prove useful in the near future.

When they reached the main floor, Birt stepped around behind the bar and announced to the owner, “I’ll be leaving now. It should only take me a few minutes to clear out my corner.” The owner’s facial expressions went through several emotions in the few seconds that followed. Cooper couldn’t decide whether the last one was outrage or outright anger. As Birt disappeared into the back room, the owner slammed his hand on the bar and turned to follow. Cooper called out, “Whatever you’re thinking. Don’t.” The owner whirled to glare at him, “Don’t? Don’t what?” Cooper smiled, “Don’t leave the bar untended.” He turned and scanned the room, “These fellows look thirsty. There’s no telling how much they might drain from your barrels in your absence.” He pushed his furs back, revealing his Guild leathers. The owner’s expression changed abruptly; he looked like he’d been jabbed with a pin, “Ah, he’s with you, is he?” Cooper shrugged, “Perhaps, or not. But I’m the reason he’s leaving. Is that enough of an answer for you?” The owner looked down and decided the bar top needed a vigorous polishing. He was still hard at work as the young men left his inn. Once outside Birt asked, “So, where are we going?” Cooper paused before answering, “You likely won’t believe it. How about we just keep walking and I’ll tell you when we’re there.” Birt stopped walking, “Tell me.” Cooper sighed, “We’re in the Ruins.” Birt dropped his bags in the dirt, “You’re right. I don’t believe you. You’d better be joking!” Cooper shook his head, “It’s true. Believe it or not, the Ruins are safe now. And almost the entire neighborhood is ours.” Birt looked uncertain, but he picked up his bags and resumed walking.

Once Birt saw his new accommodations, he dropped his gear against the wall next to the others and began lamenting, “I can’t believe I gave up a bed, and a job,” he swept his gaze and gestured around, “for this?” Naro was quietly laughing. He spoke up, “Cooper’ll give you fifty gold and send you on your way, never to return. At least that’s what he said to us.” Naro covered his mouth, unsuccessfully concealing his smile. Birt swiveled his head to reply, “Fifty? I have more than four times that amount in that bag!”

Cooper turned to Naro, “We’ll need more wood for cooking. Take a small stack of coin and see if you can rent a horse and cart, then load it up with firewood and bring it back here. I’ll stay here and watch the place. I need to be here anyway, in case Loryn comes back with Dailen.” As Naro got up to leave, Cooper added, “And don’t be too generous on the deposit for that horse and cart. We want to rent, not own.”

Birt had walked to the doorway and was looking at his surroundings. As Cooper approached Birt expressed his observations, “We’re on fairly high ground here. It’s a slow, gradual slope down until you get to the Waterfront District. Then it drops quickly and levels off again. I never noticed before.” Cooper shrugged, “Why would you notice? Almost no one even looks into the Ruins.” Birt continued to look around, “There’s a lot of work to be done. A construction project this big will draw a lot of attention. I can’t think of any way to keep it a secret.” Cooper agreed, “I suppose that’s why Jarell was using slaves, and disposing of them on a regular basis. Maybe only eight, or ten sellswords knew anything about it.” Birt nodded, “That may be, but he wasn’t building, he was excavating, right?” Cooper answered quickly, “True.” He considered his next words, “The way I see this, we’re going to need to advance several plans at the same time. I want you to have a full understanding of how the plans fit together, but I’d rather wait to explain it ‘til after Rukle returns and Loryn brings Dailen back here. That way we only have to go through it one time.”

As it turned out they had a few hours, during which Cooper told Birt everything he could remember about the Talmet family. Before killing