"Thank you very much for your efforts."

Nurah gives her a grinning salute, then returns to her work.

Irabeth remains just as findable as she was before.

"Knight commander! I take it something came up in your check-ins?"

"I've got a fellow who has some pals who want to be lieutenants! How in the world can I tell if that's a lousy idea or not?"

Irabeth does her best to suppress a wince, and mostly succeeds.

"I presume a nobleman looking to enroll their son? You or a professional interview the kids, make sure they aren't lying to you about their qualifications or priorities, and then ideally you only let them in as Cornets or lieutenants until they've proven themselves. Of course, that's not exactly always practical; for one thing we genuinely do need more officers than we have, and unless someone stumbles on a crate of diamonds we're also going to need more money. It's almost a cainan bargain; if you don't take in nobles officers, you're giving up most of the experienced talent and the most capable soldiers and spending a lot more money than you can afford and making enemies of the most powerful people in the country, and if you do take them a bunch of your officers end up arrogant idiots who refuse to listen to orders and the men respect the other ones less too by association. There's nothing for it but trying to thread the needle.

"Do you know who it was, and did you already promise anything?"

"I promised nothing. The fellow's Baron Gradsky, and he made the men sound pretty good, but he could say anything, I knew I needed to ask you."

"Good."

Irabeth pauses, thinking back, then continues.

"I remember that name; he fought in the fourth crusade, so unless he wants his cousins killed he's probably not lying too much about their skills. Whether they're good at leadership is another question though. Ideally we'd be able to get Harmattan to handle the interviews, but he's even less a fan of having a noble officer corps than I am so it might take some delicacy."

"Well, I can sound him out on it if it won't require particularly experienced delicacy."

"He can't be that bad about it if he's gotten this far in the army, but if you're nervous about it I can find time this evening to speak with him."

"No, I should learn how, if you don't think I'll be awful I'll go. Thank you very much."

Where might Harmattan be?

Right at the gates where she left him! He finishes giving orders to a motley crew of mendevians who mostly seem to have standardized on bows to report to their new commanding officer who would interface with Garms about getting them access to the armory, then waves Kybele over.

"Hi! I hope everything's going smoothly, because I'm here to ask you to do an extra thing."

"Things are about as well as can be expected. Busy, yes, but more in the sense that we're trying to get large group organized than because we have any problems that aren't minor. I take it that this won't remain the case for much longer?"

"I don't think it's either of major or a problem, necessarily, but I'm going to want you to assess a couple would-be lieutenant commissions that have been recommended me."

Harmattan nods.

"Who are they, for what were they recommended, and are you authorizing me to handle it or to just advise you after meeting them?"

"Client relations of a Baron Gradsky. You can tell me not to admit them if they'll do more harm than good, I'll do my best to finesse a good deal if you clear their participation."

"Understood. Either tell them to stop by here, or give me a time and place I should meet them, ideally with advance notice."

"I'll let them know where you're to be found. Anything I should tell them if they want to prep for the interview?"

"Tell them to come in their gear. You can tell a lot about someone's experience from how much they struggle with their cuirass or plate."

"Clever. Thank you, Captain."

Off she traipses, roofhopping to find the Baron and pass this on.

It's not completely unheard of for people to travel by rooftop in Kenabres, but the directness of Kybele's route - and the size and speed of her jumps - is still enough to earn her some stares. By the time she arrives, Gradsky is no longer meeting with Nurah; instead he can be found in discussion with what look like a few other well to do people, though none seem as wealthy as he is.

Down she alights, inclining her head and waiting politely.

The moment he notices her, he waves her over.

"Knight commander! Bringing good news, I hope?"

"Yup! Whenever Alex and Victor are ready to gear up, Captain Harmattan is ready to interview them at -" an intersection! "I'm optimistic they'll impress - I would just take them but I'd be lying if I said I had the experience to confirm this sort of talent myself."

"I'll let them know," the baron replies.

At this, one of the other nobles speaks up.

"Knight commander, you don't need to take the good captain's opinions so seriously. I mean, I'm sure he's competent enough at administration, but he's not really the right sort for real leadership - not like you or lady Gaunther. His appointment was more to throw a bone to his faction at court, and of course you can't just have him replaced but there are plenty of other more qualified candidates if you need someone to take on more responsibilities."