"I asked for a century of speculators, not an army of prostitutes." Typhus sighed internally, his face and body completely motionless.

"Ah, yes, Typhus." Hepatitis said gladly, stepping beside him with a brief sniffle from his thick nostrils. "These are some of the finest speculators at our disposal."

Typhus kept his hands beside him and his composure relaxed, but his fists sluggishly clenched, obscured by the dim lighting and large wooden table despite the regal red canvas.

"Good evening, Legatus." A red-eyed warrior bunny girl said, her black ears twitching slightly amid the muffled rippling fabric. "It has been a while since we last met."

"Two and a half years, to be exact, Talia." Hepatitis said. "This is my colleague, Legatus Orientia Typhus."

"Typhus?" A tall werewolf female said, the tallest other than Talia. "Son of Maximilian Typhus?"

"Mmm." Typhus curtly hummed and nodded.

"Well, I have heard of your daring boyhood from long ago. Our fathers have fought together during the Germania Expeditions."

"Sie? Weizenegger was Ihr Vater?"

"Mhm." She said mimicking his demeanour.

"Das war vor 35 Jahren, Frau Weizenegger. Wie geht es Ihrem Vater?"

"He had passed away a year ago, I'm afraid." Weizenegger sighed with brief heaviness. "However, you at least have my respect, as your father had paid him a visit not long ago."

"Ich spreche Ihnen mein Beileid aus, meine Dame." Typhus said. "If I may, your Saderan is very good."

"Danke, mein Heer." She bowed slightly. "Ich bin froh, dass Sie genauso respektvoll sind wie Ihr Vater."

Hepatitis, having witnessed the banter between them, waited until Typhus curtly nodded, then said. "Typhus, I had no idea you could speak High German."

"Correction: Low German." The bearded legatus whispered harshly.

"Oh." The bald and tanned legatus said with a nod.

Clearing his throat, Typhus addressed the women. "Good evening and welcome, everyone. I had been informed that my fellow legatus had assembled a number of speculators for our expedition beyond The Gate. I hope your journey and acclimation among our ranks have gone well, but I equally offer my apologies for any shortcomings beforehand. Now, before we get started, be so kind to introduce yourselves."

"Ara, my name is Talia." The warrior bunny said.

"Isabella." A short jaundice Draconian girl said.

Typhus curtly nodded, Weizenegger remaining silent as a 170cm black haired catgirl meowed-whispered. "Sousa."

"Oh, um, my name is Huracan La Florida." A red-haired/feathered Siren girl said, a nervous smile on her face. "But you can call me Florian."

"And I'm Alice Cheshire Benedict." A purple-furred catgirl giggled.

But amid the women was a surprisingly meek, blonde mermaid, which Typhus noticed and cleared his throat. "There are eight of you, but if I forgot to mention, there are two of you not accounted for."

"Y-Yes, that would be me!" The mermaid stuttered, forced confidence oozing from her voice. "I am Nina Amilia Alexandria, at your service."

Alice couldn't help but glare at the mermaid, albeit deceptively playful.

"I believe that does it for everyone." A petite voice squeaked, belonging to a pair of Prussian blue pixie wings, which perched on Talia's left shoulder. "My name is Abbie Yavetz, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Legatus Typhus. I also happened to be the leader of our little Excellent Eight."

"The Excellent Eight?" Typhus parroted.

"It's what we call ourselves, or at least according to Yavetz." Talia sassed.

"I'm right here." The clerk-esque fairy deadpanned with her hands on her hips.

"Hepatitis?" Typhus whispered, calmly hooking his colleagues left bicep and faced away from the women.

Collective taking a couple steps away, Typhus shrugged accusatively, his left arm jolting lazily towards the women.

"What the hell is going on?"

In response, Hepatitis passively locked his pointer fingers together, turning and locking them again, thrice.

Unconvinced, Typhus crocked his left eyebrow and tilted his head slightly rightward.

"Friends? Oh please..."

The bald and shaven legatus silently sighed, padded his chest with his hands before shrugging his head towards the women, his right hand pointing into his open left palm.

"You...a legatus, let alone a member of the Senate, owing a favour to a bunch of demi-humans? Come on, you have got to be pulling my leg right now."

Typhus pointed at Hepatitis and then at his left palm, albeit strongly annoyed, followed by his right hand forming the letter 'O'.

"You don't owe them anything. Nothing!"

Hepatitis silently snapped his right fingers while his left arm patted his thigh, followed with open outward palms that then patted his chest, and finished with his right hand forming a peace sign tapping his left knuckles.

"Weizenegger saved your life? Is that what I'm getting?"

Though Typhus was merely frowning, Hepatitis understood and shamefully nodded. A grunt rumbled in Typhus' throat as he disappointingly peered away.

"Look..." Hepatitis thought as he pointed at Typhus' eyes then at his own face, creating his own gesturing. "She is very good at her job. She proved to be an excellent scout, and I thought she would be an excellent addition to our legions."

"Um, question..." Alice asked with a frisky tone. "I hate to interrupt but I just had to ask: Are we getting paid?"

While Hepatitis jolted, Typhus was perfectly steady, nonchalantly turning to face the catgirl.

"Of course." Hepatitis said first. "But before we discuss that matter, we have some good news and bad news, which I'll leave to my colleague."

Curtly nodding, Typhus stared at the women for a moment until he motioned for the legionary nearby, where he said. "Would you mind gathering some stools?"

The young man complied and left the tent. Unbeknownst to him, however, a yellow fingernail-sized orb rolls inside the tent, where it hides in a dark corner and uprights itself on four stilts. From there, the tiny drone began to record everything, its sensory array particularly capturing faces, voices, physique, and height.