Fonford

Six days later, Samantha was where she said she would be.

As she watched Fate approach with twos hanger-on in tow, she frowned slightly.

"Who're they?" she asked.

"This is Venden and Cait," Fate replied, shooting an angry glance at the two next to him.

It was his own fault, if he was being honest with himself.

Venden had tried to convince Fate to let the ex-noble treat him to a meal a few days ago, only to be shot down as Fate cited his busy schedule.

Then Venden, too smart for his own good, suggested the weekend. Fate tried to say why he couldn't do so in an evasive manner, but didn't want to lie to Venden, so he eventually let it slip that he was going out of town.

Venden jumped on that, tearing Fate's plans out of his mouth with great gusto before declaring that he would help Fate get out of this predicament… without bothering to ask Fate.

While Venden was passionately declaring his resolve to help Fate in the loudest voice he could manage, Cait had overheard and joined in as well, detailing the benefits of having groups of four or more.

The government gave each person a 25% discount if they were in groups of four or more, Cait said, evening out to 75 Lights per teleportation for each of them.

"And besides," Cait said with a smirk, after learning Samantha was paying for Fate's portion. "She's the one paying, not you. It's her decision."

"Wouldn't you feel bad making her pay full price, knowing you could've done something to help?" Venden asked, trying to hide a smile of his own.

It was two against one. What was he supposed to do?

Venden didn't seem to notice Fate's glare, too busy smiling brightly as he offered Samantha his hand to shake. Cait turned her nose up haughtily at the glare, returning it with one of her own.

"They want to come with us."

Samantha took Venden's hand firmly and shook it, meeting Venden's gaze as she did so. She was a few inches shorter than him, but the short distance between the two meant she didn't have to crane her neck much.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Sedronol," Venden said, giving a vigorous handshake before he let go.

"Nice to meet you," Cait said.

"And you as well, Venden and Cait," Samantha replied with a polite smile. "Are you both first-years as well?"

"We are," Venden nodded, a touch of pride in his words.

"Three Journeymen first-years…" Samantha shook her head in wonder. "And all three of you are farther along in your Facets than I am, especially you, Venden. I feel like I've been neglected my power."

Venden shut that down swiftly, but politely. "What I went through to get here wasn't worth it, trust me."

"What exactly are your plans?" Samantha asked. "I need to know what to expect of my traveling companions."

"Well, Fate helped me out a week ago, so I thought I'd return the favor," Venden explained. "I have some experience dealing with stubborn people, so I'm hoping I can help you two annul your engagement."

"I grew up in Fonford," Cait told her. "And it'd be nice to see my father again. I won't interfere with your business."

"Are you paying for your teleportation?"

"Of course," Venden and Cait said simultaneously, as if it was obvious that they'd do so and they were confused that she had to ask.

"It's cheaper in groups of four," Cait elaborated. "Otherwise I would've gone on my own."

Samantha glanced at Fate, who gave her a slight shake of the head. With a mischievous gleam in her eye, she beamed a smile and said "then we'd be glad to have you. I hope you can provide valuable assistance, Venden."

"I'll do my best," Venden promised, nodding seriously.

Her smile turned into a smirk when she heard Fate's nearly inaudible sigh. "All right, let's get this show on the road. We need to get to the pads before the evening traffic hits."

Fate, Cait, and Samantha had all left their Familiars at the Academy, as Familiars were charged the same price as humans. Everyone double-checked that they had everything they'd need on them and made their way to the closest teleportation pads.

Even at this time of day, the line was over twenty people long, which thankfully thinned faster than Fate expected. After an exchange of coin and a blur, they were in Fonford.

The first thing Fate noticed was the smoke.

It rose from the buildings around the factories in the distance, which towered over even the twelve-story housing complexes around them, only to vanish five hundred feet in the air, snuffed away by unseen enchantments.

It left the city dark, as if under clouds thick with rain. Not too dark to see, but dark enough that Fate's eyes took a few seconds to adjust.

The next was the people. Besides the nicely-dressed nobles waiting in line at the pad, everyone wore worker's clothes of rough cloth, and many were covered in soot and dirt. All had the lean muscles of a laborer, including the women.

Many of such women were kitsubi, both the Fox bloodline Cait belonged to and the Spirit bloodline present. The Spirit kitsubi were nearly similar to their Fox sisters, but had leathery demon wings and slit-like fox pupils, along with more than one tail.

Fate even spotted a dirt-covered fregog marching down the street with a pickaxe slung over their shoulder.

As they picked their way through the crowd, Fate learned that the few stores in Fonford were at least three stories high and as wide as a noble's estate, packing dozens of different shops within them.

Hetforn's tall buildings were almost exclusively government offices, with a few exceptions. Most of the shops in town had only one floor and were the size of a small house. Everything was clean and sometimes colorful.

Such wasn't the case in Fonford, where everything was made of the same dull brown brick.

Cait separated from the other three shortly after leaving the teleportation pad, leaving Venden, Fate, and Samantha to head to Samantha's father's estate.

It was a large building, as expected of nobility, but was the same drab brown as every other building in Fonford. It had only two floors, and was around 5,500 square feet in size, with no yard or fence in sight.

Instead, it sat comfortably between two other, similar mansions with a hundred feet between each. As Fate looked up and down the street, he noted twelve such mansions, six on the left and six on the right.

Samantha opened the door without a second thought, inviting the other two in.