A cane emerged from the carriage, followed by a Middle-Aged Man. He reached back to help the lady who had been at the window step down.
"Are you the cat's owner?" he asked Annan.
"More or less," Annan said vaguely.
The lady bent to pet Silly Cat, but the cat dodged her with obvious disdain.
She froze. The disdain in those cat eyes was all she could think about. Did a cat just... look down on me?
"How much?"
Annan sized him up and frowned. "Not for sale."
"Why not hear my offer first?"
"I'm not interested in money."
The man sneered. "Interesting. No one in Siltovis has ever dared speak to me like that."
Annan calmly echoed him. "Interesting. No one in the Tartun Empire has ever dared speak to me like that."
"Who do you think you—"
A squad of Black-Armored Guards approaching cut him off. Their leader, the Deputy, stopped before Annan. "Lord Annan, the minister wishes to see you."
"He's arrived?"
"Yes, at about the same time as you."
"I'll come over once I've dealt with this." Annan looked at the noble, who stood rigid.
Who would have thought that on one of his rare visits to Siltovis, he would run into a scene like this?
"Annan?"
"Yes."
"Annan from Free City?"
"That's me."
"The Annan who played Jack?"
"Unless there's another Jack."
"Weren't you at the North—at the Northern Great Wall...?"
Annan gestured toward the Deputy. "I came to meet the minister."
The man's eyes shifted stiffly. "Then the minister..."
"Exactly who you think. Steve, minister of the Imperial Military Department."
The Deputy had no intention of getting involved in such a trivial matter, but he could not let that pass. "It's Lord Steve."
"Oh, right. Steve."
The man fell silent for a moment, then