I Thought I Was Collecting Systems, Not Overpowered Wives

Chapter 73: Saga 73: A Quiet Assignment

Baldric’s office, when they finally arrived, held none of the grim tension Kael had half expected, the guild master instead looking almost apologetic as he gestured for them all to sit.

"I’m sorry to interrupt what I’m sure was a well-earned rest," he said, sliding a modest folder across the desk. "This isn’t an emergency, I promise. Just a standard escort contract that came in this morning, one I thought your team might appreciate given the relatively low stakes involved."

"Low stakes," Yuki repeated, visibly suspicious. "That’s not a phrase I associate with our missions anymore."

"A merchant caravan requesting protection through the Verdant Pass, nothing more exotic than standard bandit deterrence," Baldric said. "Given everything Azure Blake has handled recently, I thought a straightforward job might do you all some good. Consider it a working vacation."

Claire flipped open the folder, scanning the contract details with visible relief. "This actually does look refreshingly mundane. No ancient seals, no secret organizations, no assassination plots."

"Just bandits," Sylvia said, equally relieved. "We can handle bandits without breaking a sweat at this point."

"Precisely my thinking," Baldric said, some of his usual weariness easing at their reaction. "You leave tomorrow morning. Three days there, a week escorting the caravan through the pass, three days back. Should be entirely manageable."

Kael found himself genuinely looking forward to the assignment, the prospect of a straightforward mission without world-ending stakes attached feeling like exactly the kind of change of pace the team needed after everything Songrel had put them through.

"I’ll take it," he said. "We’ll take it," he corrected, glancing around at the others for confirmation.

"Absolutely," Yuki said. "Finally, a job where I don’t need to worry about ancient horrors or secret cults."

"Don’t jinx it," Harriden said dryly.

"I refuse to be superstitious about a simple bandit escort mission, Harriden. That’s beneath even my usual paranoia."

They spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for the trip, checking supplies, reviewing the caravan’s proposed route through the Verdant Pass, and generally enjoying the novelty of planning for a mission that didn’t require contingencies against apocalyptic threats.

"You know," Claire said, packing her staff and a modest supply of healing potions rather than her full arsenal of combat wards, "it’s strange how much lighter packing feels when you’re not preparing for the possible end of the world."

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Sylvia said. "Something tells me our track record for peaceful missions isn’t exactly stellar."

"Speak for yourself. I intend to enjoy every second of this boring, uneventful escort job."

Adian, lounging nearby with his own considerably lighter pack, glanced up with a knowing smile. "For what it’s worth, I’ve learned over my considerably longer years that the universe has a rather cruel sense of humor about statements like that. But I’ll allow you your optimism for now, Claire."

"Don’t you dare curse this for me, Adian."

"I wouldn’t dream of it."

Kael, packing his own gear with considerably less anxiety than usual, found himself appreciating the lighter mood settling over the team, everyone visibly relaxing into the prospect of a genuinely simple assignment after months of escalating threats. Whatever waited beyond this brief respite—whatever the Hollow Choir truly represented, whatever new dangers Songrel’s revelations might eventually demand they face—for now, at least, they had a few days of straightforward, uncomplicated work to look forward to.

That evening, as the team gathered for a final meal before departure, Kael found a moment alone with Sylvia on the safehouse’s familiar balcony, the city lights spread out below in comforting patterns.

"Feels nice," she said, "having something simple to focus on for once."

"Almost too nice," Kael admitted. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Maybe it won’t, this time. Maybe we’re actually allowed a straightforward mission occasionally."

"Wishful thinking, probably. But I’ll take it."

They stood together a while longer, enjoying the rare, uncomplicated peace of an ordinary evening before an ordinary mission, neither of them quite realizing yet how quickly that peace would prove, as it so often did for Azure Blake, considerably more fragile than either of them hoped.

Inside, the rest of the team had gathered around the common room table, Adian producing a bottle of something considerably fancier than their usual fare, apparently determined to properly celebrate the novelty of an uneventful mission ahead.

"To boring bandits," Yuki said, raising his glass. "May they remain exactly as boring as advertised."

"To boring bandits," the rest of the table echoed, glasses clinking together in genuine, easy camaraderie.

Claire, already halfway through her second slice of the celebratory dessert Adian had somehow procured on short notice, glanced around the table with obvious contentment. "You know, moments like this almost make the whole ancient-horror-fighting thing worth it. The contrast makes ordinary evenings feel considerably sweeter."

"Careful," Harriden said, though he was smiling. "That’s dangerously close to gratitude for our chaotic lifestyle."

"I contain multitudes too, apparently. Must be contagious."

Kael and Sylvia rejoined the group shortly after, settling into the easy warmth of the gathering, and for one evening at least, the looming shadow of Umbra Black, the Hollow Choir, and whatever ancient influence connected them both felt comfortably, deliberately distant, replaced instead by the simple pleasure of good company and an uncomplicated mission waiting just ahead.

Eventually, as the evening wound down and dishes were cleared, Yuki raised one final toast, considerably more sincere than his usual jokes. "To Azure Blake. May we survive whatever comes next, boring or otherwise, exactly the way we always have. Together."

"Together," the rest of the table echoed, glasses raised once more, and Kael found himself thinking, not for the first time, that whatever challenges still waited on the horizon, he couldn’t imagine facing them with anyone else.

The evening finally wound down, everyone drifting off to their respective rooms to rest ahead of tomorrow’s early departure, and Kael fell asleep that night with an easy, uncomplicated contentment he hadn’t felt in weeks, blissfully unaware of just how short-lived that peace was destined to be.

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End of Chapter—