The huge port tavern was filled with the sounds of reveling and drunken people. Amidst all this humming crowd, only a small table in the very corner of the establishment stood out, occupied by several rather striking individuals: one was dressed in a purple suit, sporting a large, ornate hat on his head from which several feathers protruded, and hair of a bright blue color; the second was dressed in a jester's outfit, his clothes positively garish with embroidery of diamonds in various acidic shades of green—one marveled how such colors could even be embroidered on fabric—and his hair was dyed a bright red; the last of them looked quite ordinary, but against the backdrop of the other two, this actually made him stand out—an unremarkable gray tailcoat, on the back of which were embroidered two coats of arms: the Star family and the Sky family, a white shirt, a small gray fedora lying on the table, and his hair shone with a short, blonde cut.

  "Leon!" joyfully exclaimed the one in the purple suit. "How glad I am to see you, my dear fellow. How long has it been? At least all summer! How have you been, my good man? I heard of the misfortune that befell you; please accept my sincere condolences."

  This speaking man was none other than Lord Richard, Baron Orange, an imposing young man and also a friend of Leon, Baron Star. Unlike his comrade, who received his title after his family's death, Richard had earned his himself. First, he was a Baronet—this title he received for outstanding service to the royal family. It was then, as a young lad of about eight years old, he had found the still-little Arthur IV Crow in the port slums, who had escaped from people who attacked him and his guard during a walk through the city. He helped the young prince reach the palace, for which the previous king, Arthur III, granted him a title and appointed him chief protector of his son. This continued until both boys entered the Royal Academy of Crow, where Richard already demonstrated a commercial streak and managed to negotiate with Boyar Kozlovsky from the Tsardom of Vys, who also enrolled in the institution as a foreign student, for the trade of silk, and his activities did not end there. Richard was the one who, through the boyars of the Tsardom of Vys, managed to arrange for the relocation of engineers from the Free Cities to the Kingdom of Crow. For this achievement, he was granted the title of Baron and the surname Orange, and his estates and lands came from the late Baron Yers in Worm County.

  And now this successful young man was smiling at his old friend. His acquaintance with Leon had also occurred in childhood, when Baron Star arrived at a ball in the capital, and there the ten-year-old boy met Arthur and Richard. This team of rascals also included young Lord Adrian, the eldest son of Lord Bud, Count Cloud. The four children quickly found common goals, such as pestering the local young ladies, as well as learning the wisdom of Richard, who had lived on the streets. Perhaps this is why Leon grew up the way he did, like the other two, but now they were all grown men representing their families, which sometimes didn't stop them from getting together and doing things that made ladies blush with shame and husbands with anger.

  "Thank you, Richard," Leon smiled slightly sadly. "But I'm trying to move on now."

  "My dear fellow!" the former baronet impulsively cried out again. "If you need any help at all, just ask, you know that!"

  "Of course, Richard, of course..."

  "Is that old geezer Howard, Viscount Lines, bothering you?" Richard didn't let Leon finish. Baron Star, in turn, frowned slightly and looked at his friend with displeasure.

  "Lord Howard is a wonderful man, despite his advanced age. He helped me a great deal after my family's death," Leon said, looking at his old friend with slight reproach.

  "Alright, alright," Baron Orange waved his hands in the air, as if surrendering to his friend's words.

  "I actually have a couple more important questions," Leon said, glancing towards their third companion. "But let me start with the one that's bothering me most right now. What's this 'my dear fellow' business?"

  Richard thought for a moment and looked at his friend, as if he had already fallen behind all the trends of fashion. Although, spending so much time in a backwater like the town of Star, one could indeed forget about such a luxurious life in the capital. That's why Richard was almost always in the capital, not in his granted lands of Orange. In fact, he had entrusted the management of the city and its internal affairs to the bastard of the dead Baron Yers, Jade. The boy had grown up in those lands and better understood the internal workings of everything and the needs of the city's inhabitants. Considering also that Richard had decided to keep the name of the city as the surname of the former rulers of these lands, this had also added a few points to his respect among the locals.

  That's the kind of ruler Baron Orange was, and his subjects were extremely pleased with this fact, considering that the young man had taken all external concerns of his barony upon himself, and resolving them in the capital was much simpler and more efficient. He already had a small estate in the Inner District of the city, which was located behind the second wall.

  In total, the capital of Crow had nine districts and three walls: the first was the Outer Wall, the second was the Inner Wall, and the third, the last, was the Royal Wall. Before the Outer Wall was the first district of the city—the Outer District—which included various grain fields, associated buildings, and homes of residents, as well as a cemetery, but it also contained country estates of various nobles and other wealthy individuals. Inside the Outer Wall were the following districts: the Port District, responsible for the delivery of goods by sea, which also contained homes for sailors and warehouses for storing goods; the Merchant District, where the houses of traders from throughout the kingdom and other countries were located; the Trade District, which housed the largest market in the country, as well as homes of less successful traders, taverns, and other entertainments; the Industrial District, which contained various enterprises where embroidery was done, forges, and where factories for various types of production were now being built; the Residential District—an ordinary sleeping place for commoners with inexpensive inns and taverns; the Barracks District, where the capital's army was stationed, slept, rested, and trained, as well as forge workshops for making weapons for this very army.

  Behind the Inner Wall was just one district—the Inner District—where various nobles and successful people who owned various enterprises, or actors performing for these very nobles, resided; the theater itself and other entertainments for nobles were also located there.

  Behind the Royal Wall was the Royal District, where Crow Castle itself, the Royal Academy of Crow, and other state institutions were located.

  Since the tavern where the friends were sitting was in the Port District, the clientele here was mainly sailors and ladies of easy virtue, who didn't mind earning from the weaknesses of men who could spend months at sea. One such girl was hovering near their table, but couldn't quite muster the courage to approach the unusual and colorful company.

  "Richard?" Leon distracted the young man from his thoughts.

  "Ah, yes, right now," Baron Orange quickly came to and gestured with his hand for the girl to come over. She was dressed in a simple form-fitting dress that accentuated her figure, but from the dress, one could also notice the absence of underwear. The girl happily approached their table, and Richard sat her on his lap, without even asking her name, put his arm around her, and continued. "This is how the boyars from the Tsardom of Vys express themselves, showing their gratitude, I suppose. Honestly, I'm not even entirely sure what it means, but it sounds so good! 'My dear fellow'! Isn't it delightful?"

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Leon winced slightly, while Richard, on the contrary, smiled, sliding his hand under the girl's dress. Richard's manner of speaking had apparently changed a lot when he started communicating more closely with the boyars.

  "Fine," Baron Star waved off his friend's answer. "Let's get back to more important matters. Who is this?"

  Of course, the question was directed at the third person at the table, not the lady sitting on Baron Orange's lap, who hadn't intervened in the conversation between the two friends. This time, the young man smiled somewhat unkindly.

  "Allow me to introduce my business partner in the capital. I think you've heard quite a bit about them. His name is Pockmark, and he's the leader of the Tsveta gang," Richard said, and Leon paled slightly.

  Baron Orange also felt the girl on his lap grow agitated, starting to fidget more actively, but clearly not from the arousal the Baron's hand was providing. He leaned forward, whispering in her ear:

  "If you tell anyone what you saw today, you won't see next summer. For now, just enjoy yourself and be happy with life."

  The girl nodded slightly, but couldn't hide the obvious nervous trembling. Meanwhile, Leon leaned towards Richard, trying to speak as quietly as possible:

  "Have you lost your mind?! These are the most famous murderers and bandits!"

  "Leon, my dear fellow," Richard said in his normal voice, continuing to touch the girl wherever he pleased. "It's disrespectful to whisper like that in front of guests! I told you—a business partner."

  "Richard!" Baron Star was both furious and a little scared, despite who he was sitting with. "For this, you could be stripped of your baronial title, and me along with you! This is a violation of the kingdom's laws!"

  *Thank God he's at least not shouting about it throughout the tavern. What a fool? Could have not mentioned titles in front of the girl; now my words will seem like empty chatter to her,* Richard thought to himself, but aloud he replied:

  "Dear little Leon, could you be a bit quieter? You're scaring the lady, and touching the charms of a frightened woman doesn't sit right with me; it feels like it makes me a rapist."

  Leon looked at his friend uncomprehendingly, and Baron Orange realized his slightly naive friend hadn't caught the hint. He released the girl, tossed her a gold coin, and waved his hand for her to step away so she wouldn't interfere with their conversation. She happily moved away, though it was unclear what caused her happiness: the generous sum of money or leaving the dangerous company.

  Richard watched the departing girl sadly, then turned his gaze to his old friend and sighed dejectedly.

  "Because of you, I didn't get to fully enjoy her wonderful young body. Do you think such beautiful girls come along often? Far from it! Ladies from the Inner District charge three times as much just for a little touch! Sure, with them you can be more confident you won't catch any diseases, but I wasn't planning to fuck her! I just wanted to fondle some female charms!..."

  "What does that have to do with anything?" Baron Star said angrily, interrupting his friend.

  "It has to do with this, Leon," Richard replied calmly. "You still don't know how to read a situation. Why did you have to mention titles in front of the girl? Even a gold coin won't keep her pretty little mouth from spreading rumors."

  "You're not going to..." Leon paled again.

  Richard burst out laughing, and Pockmark smiled for the first time during the conversation.

  "No, of course not, old friend. Killing her over such a trifle—we don't work that way. Besides, we're not meeting here for nothing. This is my bar, although the local staff don't know it belongs to me," Baron Orange said, ceasing his laughter. "One way or another, there are many ways to make someone keep quiet about something, and murder is just one of them, though not the most effective."

  "Alright, alright," Leon calmed down, parodying his friend by also spreading his arms. Richard appreciated the moment. "But still, why did you call me and this man here?"

  "To introduce you, of course," Richard continued smiling. "Leon, you are now a much more significant person than you might realize, and sometimes you may need the services of people like Pockmark. And I'm not just talking about murder, heaven forbid; as I told you, there are many more delicate ways to solve a problem. And if you run into trouble, your new acquaintance can solve them for a very moderate fee."

  "I can't imagine a situation where I'd need to turn to murderers," Baron Star replied coldly.

  "That's for now," the young man chuckled. "Trust me, soon enough you'll have problems up to your ears."

  "What makes you so sure?"

  "Because you became a baron, my dear fellow. It can't be any other way."

  "I think I'll manage just fine without this. Taking such a big risk..."

  "Oh, how naive you are, Leon," Richard grumbled. "But I already told you, this is my bar. To ask for Pockmark's help, you just need to come to this same bar. Understand? Someone HAS to control the activities of people like my protégé. Besides, you don't know *her*, and that she allowed this place to exist in exchange for information on who visits it and why. It's the lesser evil, my friend, the least you can imagine. Without this, what kind of sheer lawlessness could occur? The shadow business is still business, and it's better it's controlled by us than by people far from the law."

  "By us? By whom?" Baron Star asked in surprise.

  "Now that, my dear fellow, is a secret," Richard said playfully, bringing his index finger to his lips. "I think our conversation is coming to an end; if I'm not mistaken, you still have business in the capital?"

  "Yes, of course, Richard. It was good to see you," Leon said, rising from the table and picking up his fedora. "I hope we'll cross paths again."

  "At least at the Academy," Richard noted.

  "At least at the Academy," Leon repeated after him, and rising from the table, left the establishment.

  Richard leaned back tiredly in his chair and looked at Pockmark, who was sitting right in front of him, then leaned forward and began to speak quietly:

  "Sell the girl to Boyar Kozlovsky; she's just his type. In another country, she's unlikely to chatter about Leon's affairs. The sailors behind us—keep an eye on them; one of them was eavesdropping on our conversation far too openly, you noticed it yourself. Decide what to do with them yourself."

  After these words, Baron Orange himself rose from the table and headed towards the bar counter, leaving Pockmark alone, paying him no further attention. The boy in the colorful clothes seemed to blend into his surroundings, completely disappearing from sight.

  During his short walk, Richard had time to think about what a fool and naive simpleton his friend was. Coming to such establishments in clothes with coats of arms was, at the very least, stupid. The young baron feared Leon wouldn't last long in his title, despite all the help from Viscount Lines. He noticed the lad held himself a bit more confidently and was more restrained than before. The old Leon would have called that girl onto his lap right after Richard, instead of arguing about losing his title. The Viscount's influence was immediately apparent, which somewhat disappointed Richard, as only the bold achieve success.

  Near the bar counter, the young baron showed the bartender a silver coin with the symbol of a crow holding a knife in its beak. A man, not young but not yet old, standing behind the counter, nodded slightly and led the young man to the back door of the premises, opening it. Behind it, on a small stool, sat a man nearly two meters tall, and in his huge paws was a book—some sort of pulp novel, which he was reading leisurely.

  Richard nodded to the bruiser, and he nodded back, and the young man proceeded down a spiral staircase, which led him to a small corridor with several doors. Reaching one of the doors, he entered the room. Inside were several wardrobes, a small table with a mirror, and a mannequin which currently had no clothes on it. The young man removed his blue wig, tossing it onto the mannequin's head, and let down his short, black, curly hair. Leaving his gaudy purple clothes, he carefully placed them on shelves in the wardrobe, then took a suit from a hanger, which had a tag with the inscription "Richard Orange." The Baron removed the tag and took out a white tailcoat, on the back of which were two coats of arms: an orange pierced by a knife, and a crow in profile with a crown on its head. Smirking, the Baron put it on and headed for the exit of the "Seahorse" tavern's basement.