I smelled the smoke room before we got to it. Even outside of it, I could see big clouds of smoke rising into the air through not one, but two glass doors, one on each wall of the corner of the hallway. Both doors lead to the same, large room that had a few people talking over lit pipes and cigars.

  The glass doors were pretty strange compared to the rest of the house, not having any visible hinges and only a handle. When Deacon walked up and slid it to the side, I felt kind of dumb. Instead of complaining, I stepped through and turned to look at the door. Not a bit of smoke had seeped out fo it. “I wonder what kind of enchantments are on these…”

  “Probably the same kind an alchemist does when working with dangerous fumes.” Deacon said, sniffing at the air and frowning, “All this money, and people still smoke cheap crap.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, “Enhancement cigarettes, or fun cigarettes?” My attention moved from the door to start looking around the room for the liquor. I didn’t know how long the party was going to go before I got a chance at Jason.

  There was a pause and then he pulled out a small box, “Brighteye might be a good idea.” He pulled out two cigarettes and put the box away again before offering me one. When I took it, he flicked his thumb up and produced a small flame. I rolled my eyes at the theatrics, even if I did want to learn how to do it.

  After lighting his, he took a drag from it before looking around himself. “How long should we stay here? I don’t remember Jason being much of a smoker.”

  “A few minutes. I doubt Lord Germaine would let us miss his planned events without trying to alert the whole place first.” I reasoned before wandering over to a table that had it’s own alcohol selection. This one was all in bottles still, and had glasses set nearby to pour your own. They also looked quite expensive.

  We both poured ourselves a drink. As much as I was tempted to try something new, I stuck with one that smelled faintly of wood and spice. I didn’t catch what Deacon had gotten, but he seemed happy with his choice after a drink. When we were both taken care of, we made our way towards the corner of the wall that lead outdoors.

  It was much more lively outside. While the smoke room only had four or five people, there were easily dozens mingling in the yard. Most were talking in these little miniature courtyards where various statues of Lord Germaine and his wives were on full display. They were connected to a main path by small white stone walkways that looked like it led around the property. From where I stood, I could also see a number of topiary creations between a number of the courtyards, though I couldn’t figure out what they were supposed to be.

  Deacon and I wandered for a bit. A few people made pleasant conversation with us, but it usually ended after a few niceties. I wasn’t even trying to cut conversations short this time, there just wasn’t a lot to say. A few people tried to discuss the auction attack, but I had a hard time showing any sympathy.

  Then a guy refused to leave right away. “Don’t you care? My sister died that night!”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, “No? I think they-”

  “It’s a tragic incident.” Deacon interupted, throwing me a look that very clearly said Stop Talking. “Let’s talk about it over a drink.”

  He escorted the man away, and I wandered over to take a seat beneath a statue of one of Lord Germaine’s wives. It was the plan for if I got seperated from someone I knew at the party: find a spot and sit down. It made me feel like a small child, and to counter that I took a long drag from my cigarette.

  After a few minutes, an older man took a seat on the other side of the bench from me. He was dressed in a well made suit that had a few ornaments pinned to his chest. I noticed the sword on his hip as well, a silver handled hilt with a blue gem in the pommel, and a matching one at the point where the sowrd joined the hilt. The blade itself was in a slim black sheathe that looked well made.

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  “It’s been a while since a young woman has stared so hard at my sword.”

  I blinked and looked up, noticing the piercing green gaze looking right at me. His face was weathered and his short hair was fully grey. Despite that, I got the impression he still had plenty of life in him. Something in the way he held himself, and how much light was in his eyes. Figuratively speaking, they didn’t actually glow.

  I shook my head, “Sorry. I was wondering what the gem was.”

  He chuckled, “It’s some kind of lapis. It helps with running mana through the blade, though don’t ask me how.”

  I perked up, “Oh! My skills say I can do that too, but I’m not really sure how to get it to work right. I’m still trying to figure out how the manipulation skills work.”

  “It can be a bit tricky. Visualization is important when you aren’t using spells or traits.” He smiled, “My name’s Jian, what’s yours?”

  “Danielle Rosecrest.” I held out my hand to shake. When he gripped my hand, I felt a lot of power in his grip. “Are you an adventurer, Jian?”

  “Ha, no. Not for a great many years.” His laugh held a note of bitterness to it. “I mostly do paperwork these days. After the last injury I got shattered my knee, I decided to retire.” He took a breath and let it out in a sigh, “I do miss it, though.”

  I looked down and noticed that both of his legs looked fine from what I could tell. “Did you get a prothetic…?”

  “No, I had a healer fix it.” He said, like I was an idiot.

  I felt like I was missing something, “Then… why quit?”

  There was an awkward silence for several seconds as we looked at each other. I had a brief desire for Deacon to return and save me from this conversation before Jian tilted his head in thought. “Normally, I would be insulted by such a question, but with how direct you were… it’s making me think about it.”

  “The easy answer is fear, I suppose. After all, getting your leg stuck in a wall crushing trap, and as suddenly as it happened?” He nodded, “It’s a reasonable answer, but I wouldn’t normally have let something like that stop me.”

  “So what did?” I asked, setting my still half full glass down on the bench between us as I leaned a little closer to better hear him.

  “I got offered a job.” He said, tapping the hilt of his sword with one hand, “It paid better than being an adventurer and wasn’t as risky. All I had to do was make sure some children could hold a sword the right way.”

  I snorted and took a drink from my glass as Jian laughed. “So, you’re a teacher then? Is there a school, or do you give lessons privately?”

  “Why, are you looking for pointers?” He smiled politely, “Respectfully, I do not think instructions on swordsmanship will do you much good.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked, taking a small amount of offense that he thought I wouldn’t be capable of something.

  “Too short.” He said, directly.

  I blinked, “What?”

  “You would be better served learning a spear. Or maybe a halberd?” He looked up as he considered it, “Something that can make up for the height gap you would face with most other fighters.”

  I didn’t know what to say, honestly. He wasn’t wrong, Grimoire was actually the first person to introduce that lesson to me. It still stung that he’d point it out right away, “They’re on my list of things to try. I still haven’t found a weapon that fits just right.”

  “So you’ve been trying a bunch of different ones?” Jian said as he nodded to himself, “A good policy. There is no reason to lock yourself into one that does not feel right to you. What all have you tried?”

  I thought about whether or not I should hide it, but it wasn’t like the information could be used to hurt me. I gave him a rundown of the various weapons I’d tried and what I thought of them. He gave a few pointers, and actually looked really impressed when I showed him one of my tonfas.

  Eventually, I heard a chime, and then the mouth of the statue nearby began moving. A man’s bellowing voice came out of the distinctively female figure. “Nobles and esteemed guests, it is time for the first performance of the evening! Please join us in the ballroom for a speech and a performance from my personal band.”

  I stared at the statue, “That was weird…”

  Jian laughed, “I imagine the creator of these statues laughing every time I hear his voice come out of these statues.” Standing, he gave me a slight bow, “I hope to see you again, Lady Rosecrest.”

  I stood up as well, taking my glass and looking around for Deacon. Not seeing him, I started off towards the ballroom, hoping to see either him, Calmar, or Porter on my way there. Wandering around a party on my own sounded like a good way for some people to develop broken fingers, if the Duke’s party was proof of the behavior of the kinds of people at noble parties.

  But I didn’t see any of them.

  So I started through the house on my own.