---
His expression was controlled. That was never a comforting sign. It meant something chaotic.
Stephen bowed.
"Young master."
Mihos looked at him. "Speak."
Stephen did.
Not dramatically. Not slowly. Not with excuses wrapped around facts to make them easier on the ear. He delivered the report in the clean sequence that real butlers used when the truth was too ugly to decorate.
The two people Mihos had sent to Iron House were dead.
Iron House's lower business had been destroyed during the night.
The smaller shops were gone.
The side warehouses were gone.
The hired guards and hired blades tied to those locations were either dead or captured.
Many of Iron House's own guards had died with them.
Multiple lower routes had collapsed.
Dickoff had made no report.
At all.
Stephen spoke every part of it with the same tone.
That made it worse.
Mihos did not react during the first few lines.
He only listened.
Then Stephen continued.
The enemy had not merely defended.
