Early one morning, Capim sat beside the brightly lit dining table, watching the servants bring dish after dish and delicacy after delicacy to the table. His face was piled with smiles, but inwardly, he was far from as pleased as he appeared.
One of his subordinates had clashed with the Zimang Party in the East Borough the night before. Surrounded by those savage highlanders, he had died beneath a dagger thrust from the shadows.
Although he had left the underworld long ago and was dissatisfied that his foolish subordinate had provoked another gang, a subordinate was still a subordinate. If he did not retaliate, everyone else would see it, and his authority would suffer.
Unfortunately, Mr. Harras had stopped him. In front of his other subordinates, he had stopped him as if scolding a dog.
Thinking of how his family was still under the other man's "watch," Capim suppressed his resentment, forced on a smile, and said to Harras, who was the last to take his seat:
"Good morning, Mr. Harras. Today's breakfast includes roast squab, pumpkin shortbread, cheese baked creamy mushrooms, fruit caramel pudding, and fruit salad." Capim gestured for a waiter to pull out Harras's chair. "They came from different restaurants in the North Borough, rushed here by fast horses, all so they could appear on our table at their freshest."
"Hmph. Dessert first thing in the morning. That's the style of our country."
With the waiter's help, Harras tied his napkin. The corners of his mouth turned down as he gave a humorless sneer. One of Capim's subordinates had died in the East Borough around midnight yesterday, and for a time, he had thought some ill-intentioned Beyonders were targeting this place. Only after confirming that the limitations of the Secret Keeping ability had not been broken did