"I'll try for the day after tomorrow, if not I'll inform you of the delay. It would complicate the military service option, but the logistics aren't untenable."

"I will mull over the details of what I would agree to in that time. I'm perfectly willing to follow my Law into adverse situations of many kinds but I mustn't put it at odds with itself or ideally with the Good either."

It really is startlingly bold to demand your payment upfront and still require a caveat that you be allowed to back out of your end on a nebulous "I don't really feel like it".

"Then I'll be back in two days. To confirm, you're not to share anything with any third parties including the ones we discussed as possible exceptions earlier, until I return with a response from Manus?"

"That's my understanding. If I were freer to do research I would be less inclined to propose strange Law puzzles but here we are."

"I would apologize for the inconvenience, but this is really quite a sensitive matter."

And the Gnoll will take his leave.

Blai goes about his business as though absolutely nothing was interesting about that meeting, apart from drawing up possible outlines for an agreement.

The next day a little before noon, how would he like to hear VERY LOUD HORNS, blaring across the city?

He wouldn't really like that but it seems to be happening anyway! If he sticks his head out the window is an explanation forthcoming?

People are running into their houses. Most people, at least; some look confused, and others are looking around, on guard. A pair of City Guardsmen are running down the street.

Someone shouts from a window at the ones still lingering in the street, "They're siege alarms, idiots!"

Is that something on the horizon?

Well, maybe it is! He will keep his head stuck out the window as the Guardsmen go by in case they'd like to borrow him but if they would not he probably belongs in the healing chamber for any casualties who come in.

It's not one thing, but many things. Hard to make out from such a distance, but there's more and more, rising from the hills in the distance. It's at least a clear day for once, so it quickly becomes apparent: some kind of black-brown swarm, coming upon the city. But where did they come from? Some of the smudges are larger than others, rising through the teeming horde, blowing away their brethren on their wingbeats. Larger than houses. Moths. But there's something uncanny about them, of the shape of their bodies and the way they turn.

They're almost on the walls. Anyone who's not sprinting towards the danger is running for cover, now.

No one tries to borrow Blai.

He doesn't have anything good for swarms. He shuts all the windows and stands by the door to get it open and shut fast if someone needs to shelter in his building.

The siege alarms stop, the sounds of fighting don't. It's too far away to hear most of it, but there's the occasional sound of screeching, explosions and the rare thunderclap. More than once, the ground shakes.

Nobody comes to his door.

After half an hour, the sounds begin to become less frequent. By the end of the hour, they've completely stopped. There's the occasional sets of footsteps in armor running down the street, and shouted questions from the houses at them, but they tell everyone to stay indoors.

Another half an hour later, the horns sound again, two short hoots, and people start streaming out.

...sounds like he can open his doors now? Is anyone going to come get channeled?

The crisis appears to be over. The neighbors are speculating about what happened—monster attack, obviously, but where'd it come from. Swarm like that you'd see coming from miles away, safe bet is it's the dungeon, like last time. At least it looks like it got handled...?

(The city looks... fine. Some smoke near the walls where the fighting was, and those might be giant monster corpses strewn over the battlements, but fine.)

After a few minutes, people will start showing up to buy healing. Adventurers, some of the guard, some civilians that got hurt. No major injuries, mostly scrapes they didn't want to waste a potion on.

In that case he's going to make them wait a bit while the place fills up.

And he's free to eavesdrop on waiting room gossip in the meantime. It sounds like the city defenses only managed to hold thanks to adventurer assistance and a last-minute showing of the Antinium. Apparently the Watch Captain is pissed because she asked Pallass earlier this month to borrow some men for extra security on the dungeon, and was denied. Someone local remarks that the Antinium reinforcements looked different. Some of them were wearing some kind of heraldry, and looked like they were using Skills.

    "Do the Ants not get classes?"

"I don't know... Senior Guardsman Klbkch uses [Guardsman] Skills, but I've never seen the common ones use any."

    ("Do you people seriously say 'Senior Guardsman Klbkch' around here?")

And when this seems to be everybody who might be hoping to get in on the batch, channel.

The slow stream of patients will continue long enough to fill another channel, if he's doing one more.

He is planning to do the evening one on schedule.

They can wait.

Tomorrow afternoon, Ferris-from-Manus comes knocking again.

"Hello again. My office?"

Office and privacy ward.

"Manus is sending a platoon to Liscor to secure the city, ETA 14 days. We're having them bring the Voyager with. The Wall Lady doesn't want to sign off on a release just yet, but you'll be able to talk to her, and we can let her go after you agree to come but before you leave Liscor, does that work?"

"...probably? What do you mean, secure the city?"

"Liscor's defenses are unacceptably vulnerable after the damage of the monster attack—the city came much closer to falling than anyone prefers, and it can't weather another raid like yesterday's. Your Watch Captain's original petition for reinforcements was to Pallass, but it's been escalated."