“The black market and smuggling ring,” Alister replied, his voice somewhat less steady than it had been a moment before. “You asked me to look into where the missing materials were going, remember?”

“I… wasn’t that a minor accounting issue?” I asked. It had been barely even brought to my attention. Finding out we had an entire smuggling operation going on was surprising. Not to mention the black market. Wasn’t sure if I should feel worried or proud that they’d popped up so quickly.

“Relative to the number of resources being processed, I can understand how it would seem that way,” Alister said, falling in beside me as I motioned him back towards the Waygate Nexus. Might as well go tour the refugee settlement while we were at it. “However, it is considerably more… organized than we’d first suspected.”

“Perfect,” I grumbled. Just what we needed. Organized crime. We were barely organizing our police.

“Did we implement a policy on how to handle such operations? I know that in Spellford, there was the Smuggler’s Code. As I recall, the High Shaper evaluated organizations using harm-benefit weightings and then either punished or rewarded them as appropriate, but I’m afraid I left my reference materials at home. I also wasn’t sure how well such would apply here,” Alister said, rubbing his finger against the side of his nose.

“Pretend I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, though I was pretty sure I’d read a few mentions of such.

Alister nodded three times rapidly as he held his notes up in front of him, not to read, but more like a shield. “The High Shaper found that there were primarily two reasons smuggling operations took root in the communities surrounding Spellford. The first was a legitimate need not being met, often due to poor tax laws or corruption of officials in the area. This could be anything from kids starving to a rival choking off an industry town’s primary materials. These smugglers, if part of their operations were based out of Spellford, ended up with rewards for their efforts, since they were attempting to help. Assuming they hadn’t committed any of the Red Crimes, of course.”

“Red Crimes?” Those I’d heard of during my studies with Arizar, though I wasn’t certain if they were the same in this context.

“Any form of serious child abuse, rape, murder, soul-bonding, human trafficking,” Alister listed off with all the enthusiasm of a man reading off a list of ingredients to pick up next time he visited the market. “Theft is a notable exception, since in these cases it’s often theft from a target who’d been stealing or extorting others in the first place, and then-”

“Got it, same as the Red Crime list in Spellford,” I cut in as we stood before the Waygate leading to the refugee temporary housing.

“Ah. Yes,” Alister said, his face screwing up in a grimace just before the Waygate activated and whisked us away. He shook his head, leaning against the wall as he recovered from the vertigo. Weren’t too many people who used the Waygates as often as Alister who still had vertigo after using.

Really unlucky, that.

While I waited for him to recover, my gaze shifted to the east, towards the covered canyon greenhouses that dotted the area. Should I visit those? Hadn’t really had much reason to lately. And since the only reason to do so now would be to satisfy my curiosity, I decided to leave it for later.

“So, what’s the second type?” I asked when Alister had recovered, turning towards the refugee camp. It was… pretty damn empty. I saw a small group of older residents gathered around a campfire, singing and laughing, but it was otherwise empty.

Alister pushed to his feet, still a little unsteady as he trod along beside me down the mostly empty streets of the camp. “The other type of smuggling circle are the ones who’ve committed Red Crimes. Organizationally, of course. Individuals knowingly associated with such an organization without proof of subversion or resistance are considered to have been accessories, often tried as guilty along with those who’d committed the crimes. As High Shaper Thozgar says, all it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. Or was that something I read somewhere. I’m certain it’s something he would-”

I held up a hand, interrupting his speel as I turned in place at the nearest intersection. There were signs that people had been there recently, from a still smoldering cooking fire to a mostly full stone water barrel. “Where is everyone?”

“Ah. Lady Nexxa retrieved those who wished to settle within her lands this morning. I believe they should be passing through the wall now,” Alister said, raising a hand to his eyes as though he’d be able to see their passage from where we were standing.

Considering I couldn’t do that even with Eagle Eyes active, I didn’t think much of his chances.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“So, what sort of smuggling operation are we dealing with here? Type 1 where there’s a legitimate reason?” I asked, going over to the water barrel and checking to see if it had a purification enchantment. It didn’t. Probably why it’d been left behind.

“Unfortunately, it’s rarely so clear as being entirely one or the other,” Alister replied, sorting through his papers again as he moved to join me. “The organized aspects of the operation are very much type one, however there have been reports of type two activities. Some of which were policing of those committing Red Crimes.”

“Ah, so type one and type two are the idealized versions. Rarely encountered in reality,” I said, leaving the barrel behind while winding my way back towards the Waygate. I paused to inspect the group of older refugees again, wondering if they’d decided to stay, or if they just couldn’t be bothered to go hiking through fresh territory again.

“Precisely. Which is why High Shaper Thozgar has a weighted system.”

“I’m sure Arizar has a copy of the codes. Did you want me to get them off her?” I asked, making sure the smoldering fire I’d seen earlier was properly doused.

“That would be wonderful, though I’m uncertain whether you can afford to follow them?”

“You think we need to be harsher just cause we’re a frontier settlement?” I asked, stopping to look the nervous man up and down.

“Not at all,” Alister said, holding himself straighter. “If anything, you’ve proven that the High Shaper might be more harsh than required. Rather, it is the fiscal cost I’m referring to. The codes tend to be rather generous when issuing rewards.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to go over them. If they’re that effective though, I can’t see why we wouldn’t want to implement them,” I said, as we approached the Waygate.

“Uh, I’m afraid I’ll need a few minutes before I’m ready to pass through again,” Alister said, his face going green at the sight of the Waygate.

“No problem. I’ll track down Arizar and ask her about the codes. Then I’ll find you in… where have you been staying lately?”

“Verdant Point, when possible. The breeze off the ocean reminds me of home. Funny, really. Always thought I hated the smell back in Spellford,” Alister said, running a hand across his forehead. “Now, it’s the only thing that settles my nerves.”

“I’ll find you… no?” I interrupted myself at his shaking head.

“The smuggling is passing through Southport. If you’re to properly assess those responsible, it would be best if I was present,” Alister said, taking a deep breath. “You’ll need to give me an hour or so, but I’ll there.”

Sometimes, I forgot how dedicated this man was to his work.

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you there,” I said clapping the man on the shoulder before walking towards the Waygate. I stopped just before activating it and turning back towards Alister. “Oh, and Alister…”

“Yes Magus?”

“Good work.”

I disappeared in a surge of darkness as he nodded back.

Vendil was waiting at a folding desk off to the side just outside the little nook where Bevel had once lived. The nook itself still sat untouched, at least officially. I’d heard that the nook had been… uh, put to use by some particularly arduous teenagers at some point. Something I’d never tell Bevel.

Instead I’d told her that it was best to seal the area off so no one could disturb it, especially with all the Waygates active.

She’d happily helped instruct me on where to raise the new stone walls that would keep it hidden away. How many ancient chambers were closed off for such a simple reason?

I approached the dwarf who, in turn, dwarfed the desk he was working at.

“Don’t suppose you know where Arizar’s at?” I asked, taking a peek at what he was writing. Something related to… two men in a rowboat? One of whom resembled a certain distinguished gentleman and the other a short stocky elf with an equally distinguished beard.

Seemed they were awfully distinguished together.

Vendil started, taking the page he’d been writing on and shoving it roughly into one of the piles to the side. A pile I noted was otherwise full of inventory counts and production quotas.

With that sorted, Vendil brushed down his robes, one hand tugging at his beard as he addressed me. “Ah, Magus, you’re back. So soon. What was it you asked? Ah, yes, High Shaper Arizar just passed through. I believe she was going to visit your betrothed.”

Even Vendil was calling Tamrie my betrothed. It seemed I should really do something to make that official. After talking to her, preferably. I’d already accidentally messed up our relationship enough.

Still, I could at least start making something nice for her. There were a lot of things I could get her that wouldn’t just be pretty, but useful too. Tamrie liked things that were pretty and useful.

Thanking him, I sought out Tamrie and Arizar in the meeting rooms that sat just off the side of our home in what was becoming the bureaucratic section of Mount Aeternia. Finding them was easy enough, but they were in a meeting with a dozen others. Several included refugees I was pretty sure had become Tamrie’s latest assistants. She seemed to have more of those every other day.

The rest were completely unfamiliar to me, though several looked to be wearing styles I’d seen in Spellford over our visit.

Not wanting to interrupt, I leaned against the wall outside the sound-proofed room, working through the math on one of my possible spatial vault ideas. Something that had occurred to me while Alister had been talking about the codes.

Half an hour later, the meeting broke up. Most of the group moved past without even noticing me. Luckily, Arizar and Tamrie were the last to leave.

“-been hearing. Like a cry from the deep, it was,” Tamrie was saying as they passed through the sound barrier.

I caught Tamrie by the elbow before she could slip past. “Hey you two.”

“Oh Perry,” Tamrie said, a smile tugging at her lips. “Busy as a fish on a line, but always nice to see you.”

“Great to see you too,” I said, snaking my arm around her and pulling her into a quick kiss. “But I’m actually here for your partner in crime, Arizar.”

“I insist you state clearly what crimes… oh, that is a turn of phrase, isn’t it?” Arizar said, more than asked. “Similar to smuggle-buddies?”

Tamrie and I both turned towards her, neither of us speaking for several seconds. Then, unable to help myself, I snickered as I asked, “Smuggle-buddies?”