Fritz didn't waste time when he returned.
The moment the doors to their chambers closed, he told them everything.
Silence in the lower districts, the bartender's words, the shortages hidden behind royal statements and threats.
By the time he finished, the room had gone quiet.
"Then…what was the point of stalling us?" Taylor asked.
Fritz replied quickly.
"Probably to keep us annoyances from getting in their way.
"Or make us bored enough to leave on our own," Jay added.
Amelia's fingers curled against the arm of her chair. "Then we can't just wait any longer, knowing they want to buy time."
Everyone in the room nodded.
That settled it.
By the evening, they requested an audience again—this time formally, invoking their standing as a Hero Party on the Path. A declaration of their rights as participants.
After countless talks with middlemen, along with letters upon letters, they were finally escorted to the main hall.
