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The Barach master artisans took twenty minutes to make up their minds. The privacy screen they erected prevented Ves from listening in on their heated and emotional deliberations, but it didn't matter.

Ves never valued the Barachs too much from beginning to end. They were just one declining group of people out of many others. The Red Ocean was filled with overambitious immigrants who thought they could achieve greater success in a new environment, only to find out that the new frontier presented its own challenges!

After an obviously-contentious discussion, the Barachs finally put down their privacy screen. The faces of some of the old and distinguished craftsmen had grown noticeably redder and one of them did not even bother to hide her tear tracks.

This was undoubtedly an incredibly emotional moment for the Barachs, but what did it have to do with Ves? All he needed to know was the result of their deliberations.