Last time on CEA: Creed, Lebeau, and Cleo sat at the bar in the tavern talking. Creed was informing Cleo about the ship, the crew, and their party.
"And the other leaders of your crew are called Shiro and Kikyo?" Cleo asked.
Creed nodded. "Yes. Well, we call him Shiro, but his real name is Shiroi." Creed said.
"Oh, I see." Cleo replied.
"Shiro and Kikyo are brother and sister. Shiro owns the ship." Creed said.
Cleo nodded. "I see," she said. They paused, sipping their drinks.
"So what do you specialize in, Cleo? Are you a warrior? A mage?" Creed asked.
"Hmm, yes, a warrior a little. But really," Cleo said, "I'm very good at speaking to crowds, a great commander in battle, and a trainer of armies. I'm a War Leader."
"A War Leader?" Creed asked, "Well That could come in handy! Yes, I think you'll be a very profitable part of the group."
"Oh, and as you could tell," Creed continued, "we are looking for more men for our ship,"
"More men? How many?" Cleo asked.
"Let's see about 250, I think. Yes, that's right," Creed said, "Because three hundred is the maximum amount of men our ship can hold."
"I see. You do realize that an army inside of Nexus is against the law?" Cleo said.
"Yes, but we don't have to bring them inside Nexus. We can meet them outside." Creed said.
"So how do you plan to hire them?" Cleo asked.
"Well," Creed said, "I'm not sure. I was thinking that perhaps we could put signs around. Oh, and word-of-mouth is always good. I was thinking we could spread the word around."
"How much do you plan to pay?" Cleo asked.
"How much?" Creed asked. He furrowed his brows thoughtfully. "Hmm How much."
She watched him.
"How about a jade a month?" he said. Her eyes widened and she nearly spewed out her drink.
"Are you serious? A jade is a year's wages! It's like 500 gold!" she said, astonished.
"Hmm you're right," he said. "How about half a jade?"
She looked at him curiously. "Just how rich are you? Half a jade a month? And you have to pay this to 250 different men?"
He grinned at her. "We have our ways. And besides, we want good men!" Creed said.
"Very well " Cleo mumbled
***********
Creed and Lebeau lay on their finely furnished beds. They both had their armor lying right next to them, within an arm's reach. They had learned long ago that bad things often happened at night, and it was always for the better if you could get to your sword and armor quickly.
Suddenly, they heard knocking on their door. They both jumped out of their beds by instinct, and looked around the dark room. Another knock on the door, this time louder. Lebeau and Creed raced for their armor and slipped it on as fast as they could. It was amazing what speed they got it on, Lebeau in particular. Lebeau had much more armor to put on then Creed, yet he took just as long as Creed to put it on. Meanwhile, there was another knock, this time much harder. Lebeau and Creed stood by the door now. Creed began reciting a spell in his head, silently moving his lips to the words, while Lebeau stood next to the door, sword summoned and drawn, ready to strike. Lebeau and Creed looked at each other and nodded in unison. Lebeau swung the door open, standing ready to strike the intruder.
It was the innkeeper. And a very worried looking innkeeper, when he saw Lebeau standing next to him, ready to strike him down with his massive Daiclaive. The innkeeper cringed back into the hall, frightened. Lebeau lowered his sword and Creed walked up to the innkeeper, surprised.
"What are you doing here?" Creed exclaimed, curious, but slightly annoyed.
"I'm so sorry, Sirs! I'm so sorry I disturbed your slumber!" the innkeeper said, addressing them worriedly.
Creed sighed. "All right, what is it?" Creed said.
"Well, kind sirs," the innkeeper said, "there's a group of men a LARGE group of men, waiting outside."
Creed paused. "And what does this have to do with us?"
"They're asking for you, sir," the innkeeper said.
"Asking for us? Who would " Creed trailed off, "wait, it's not the men, is it? The men we want to hire?" Creed turned to Lebeau. Lebeau shrugged.
"I don't know what they want, sir, but they've been asking for you," the innkeep said. "We told them to go away, but they wouldn't! I had no choice but to wake you."
Creed nodded to the innkeeper, then faced Lebeau again. "It was only this morning that we put up the signs and started spreading the news around! Could they really have already come? And would they really be that impatient?"
"I don't know," said the innkeep, "but I think it would be wise to go out and talk to them." The innkeep said, rubbing his hands together nervously.
Creed nodded. "Right."
**************
Creed, Lebeau, and Cleo, who had been woken up from all the commotion, stood on the large stone doorstep, looking over the people. There had to be at least 300 of them! They were a wild crowd of men, all yelling and making a huge ruckus. The noise they were making was almost deafening. Creed, Lebeau, and Cleo stared in astonishment at the huge crowd.
"What are you doing?" Creed yelled out to the crowd, his brows furrowed in disapproval. But his words were lost in all the yelling. He yelled again at them in frustration, but they kept yelling, unable to hear him.
Cleo stepped up to Creed. "Creed, shall I try to talk to them?" she asked. He turned to her and nodded.
Cleo held her hands out above her head, staring at the crowd. She opened her mouth to speak, and her words boomed across the crowd, her crisp, sweet voice drowning out the noise. Her voice sounded loud and clear, despite the ruckus in the crowd. Creed and Lebeau stared at each other in astonishment, for surely this wasn't natural, it had to have been some sort of magic!
"Gentlemen!" her loud voice boomed. "Gentleman," she repeated, after the noise had died down a bit. "Why have you come here?"
Voices filled the air, answering her. "For our money!" they cried.
Creed looked at them annoyed. "You're not going to get your money until we hire you! Why have you disturbed us? You think we'll hire you right now?" Creed exclaimed. Some of the men in front caught what he was saying, but the ones in the back couldn't hear him and the crowd started a chant: "We want our money!"
Creed rolled his eyes and looked at Cleo. She nodded.
"Why have you disturbed us in the night?" Cleo said, her voice booming over the whole crowd. "The tryout for the positions is at tomorrow, outside the city gates. Don't you remember? Did you not hear?"
The crowd quieted down a bit, and for awhile there was just mumbling. Then suddenly, "We want our money now!" the yelled.
Creed sighed. "I should have known not to promise them all a gold piece just to try out. The thing is, I never expected there to be so many wanting to join! I thought we would have a tough time getting 250 men!" Creed said. He turned to Cleo. "Tell them to go home."
Cleo nodded. She turned back to the crowd. "Go home! Now!" she said, her voice booming. "We will not pay you tonight! Come to the interview tomorrow!"
They paused, no longer yelling. She looked at them again. "Go home!" she exclaimed loudly. They paused briefly, then some turned and began walking away, murmuring.
Eventually the whole mob dispersed, walking back to their homes. Creed, Lebeau, the innkeep, and Cleo, all stood on the stone doorstep, silently watching as the men left.
"If we got this many men during the night," Creed said, worriedly, "how many do you think we'll get tomorrow?"
They all paused, thinking in silence.