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Kyreth's timid response elicited little more than an eye roll from the brigand. His powers must've been pitiful indeed if he was content to settle for the status of a stepped-on peasant when there was so much world left to conquer. Every word of Aleka's explanation of contract work hammered the point home - it was for cowards, the infirm, and those without aspirations. Thankfully, Aleka and Cerric both spoke his language for the remainder of their little double comedy act. Winning fame and infamy along the edge of a blade was exactly what he was here for, even if there was an inane test involved.

The only unfortunate caveat was that he'd likely be thrown in with these other fools for the sake of convenience on the part of his evaluators. Unless either of the two women pulled something out of their proverbial hats to impress him, the exercise would likely be an exercise of how much of their slack Ceolfric could pick up. The teenager certainly wasn't going to be useful for anything beyond maybe pickpocketing.

Cerric's earlier concern for Eila's connections didn't go unnoticed, though the girl's question evaporated whatever fleeting interest Ceolfric had in them, along with any chance of her being useful in their test. Clearly it couldn't be too interesting if she was scared of getting her hands a little dirty as a [i]mercenary[/i]. She was a pretty face to act as bait at best.

[color=AA4A44]"If the fair lady should find a contract objectionable to her delicate sensibilities, I'd be happy to take it off her hands,"[/color] Ceolfric offered dryly. They knew what he was, and old habits die hard; there was no reason to beat around the bush. If someone wanted a debtor's legs broken, so be it. [color=AA4A44]"Provided, of course, the House doesn't deem it too offensive to the institution's reputation to even consider honoring the contract."[/color] Ceolfric wasn't certain what their vetting criteria was for accepting requests, but if it got past Aleka and the client was confident enough to leave a paper trail right back to himself, Ceolfric wasn't the type to second guess the job. 

Besides, coin flows all the faster when the client has to pay for discretion on top of the job itself. They'd be fools not to entertain at least [i]some[/i] requests that toed the line of disrepute.
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