Chapter 61
The goose had been a mistake.
In Dorian's defense, the goose had charged first.
In the goose's defense, Dorian had pointed at it and declared, "Engage."
Which, in hindsight, may have escalated the situation.
By the time Rowan came downstairs again, the goose had been successfully removed from the guild hall.
No one could explain how.
The chicken would not comment.
The fountain outside had a new dent.
Rowan said nothing.
That was worse.
Three days later, the guild began whispering.
It started small.
A training sword went missing.
Then reappeared—carefully polished.
A map in the war room had been redrawn in crayon.
Not incorrectly.
Just... simplified.
The words "GO HERE" had been added near a mountain pass.
Dorian stared at the map.
"...That's not wrong."
Aurelian stood beside him proudly.
"I made it clear."
Dorian rubbed his temple.
"Yes. Very clear."
The chicken stood on the table, inspecting the redrawn routes.
Dorian pointed at it.
"You are not a strategist."
The chicken stepped onto the mountain illustration.
Dorian narrowed his eyes.
"...That is a terrible sign."
Across the hall, two guild members whispered.
"Did you see the training dummy?"
"The one with the hat?"
"Yes."
"I thought that was Sir Dorian."
Dorian froze.
"...What hat?"
They looked at him.
Then looked at the dummy in the corner.
The dummy wore a small cape.
And a helmet.
And a poorly drawn mustache.
Dorian turned slowly toward Aurelian.
"...Explain."
Aurelian stood proudly.
"He needed rank."
Dorian blinked.
"The dummy."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he is brave."
Dorian stared.
The chicken pecked the dummy's helmet once.
The helmet slid off.
The mustache remained.
Dorian closed his eyes.
"This is not how command works."
Aurelian tilted his head.
"You said posture."
"Yes."
"He stands."
"...That is true."
"And confidence."
"...Also true."
"And humility."
Dorian inhaled slowly.
"...Did the dummy practice humility?"
Aurelian frowned slightly.
"No."
Dorian nodded firmly.
"Then he is not ready for rank."
Aurelian considered this.
Then walked to the dummy and gently removed the cape.
Dorian felt an odd sense of relief.
The guild members stared.
"...Is this part of training?" one asked carefully.
Dorian straightened.
"Yes."
Aurelian stood beside him.
"Yes."
The chicken hopped onto the dummy's shoulder.
The guild member backed away slowly.
The next incident occurred at midday.
Rowan was in his office.
Lila was reviewing reports.
Dorian was attempting to teach Aurelian "silent movement."
This was a mistake.
"Stealth," Dorian whispered dramatically, "is the art of not being seen."
Aurelian nodded seriously.
"Yes."
Dorian demonstrated by tiptoeing loudly across the guild hall.
His armor clanked.
A chair fell.
Someone shouted from the back room.
Dorian froze mid-step.
"...Ignore that."
Aurelian tiptoed beside him.
He made no sound.
None.
Dorian blinked.
"...How."
Aurelian shrugged.
"I watched Father."
Dorian stared.
"You are not allowed to be better than me at stealth."
Aurelian considered this carefully.
"Okay."
He then walked normally.
Still silent.
Dorian looked down at the chicken.
"...This is unnatural."
The chicken stared back.
Across the hall, a junior knight stepped forward.
"Sir Dorian?"
"Yes?"
"Why is the child behind you?"
Dorian turned slowly.
Aurelian was gone.
Silence.
Dorian froze.
"...Aurelian?"
No answer.
The chicken turned its head toward the stairs.
Dorian swallowed.
He looked toward Rowan's office.
The door was slightly ajar.
Inside—
Rowan stood at his desk, mid-sentence.
"...And we will not escalate until—"
He paused.
Very slowly.
He looked down.
Aurelian stood beside his desk.
Looking up.
Rowan blinked once.
"...How did you get here?"
Aurelian pointed.
"Stealth."
Rowan's gaze shifted toward the hallway.
Dorian stood there.
Frozen.
Lila looked up from her papers and slowly leaned back in her chair.
"...Oh dear," she murmured.
Rowan walked calmly around his desk.
He crouched in front of Aurelian.
"Were you told to practice stealth?"
"Yes."
"Were you told to use it on your father?"
Aurelian hesitated.
"...No."
Rowan nodded once.
"Good."
He stood.
And looked directly at Dorian.
"Explain."
Dorian entered the office carefully.
"It was controlled."
Rowan raised an eyebrow.
"The definition of controlled appears to differ between us."
Aurelian tugged on Rowan's sleeve.
"Father."
"Yes."
"Uncle says confidence must be balanced."
Rowan's gaze did not leave Dorian.
"Did he."
"Yes."
Rowan blinked slowly.
"...That is correct."
Dorian straightened.
"Yes."
Rowan looked down at Aurelian again.
"And humility?"
Aurelian nodded.
"Yes."
Rowan paused.
"Define humility."
Aurelian thought carefully.
"It is when you do not tell everyone you defeated a goat."
Lila covered her mouth.
Rowan closed his eyes.
Dorian whispered, "In context, that was sound instruction."
Rowan opened his eyes again.
"Why," he asked calmly, "does the goat continue to exist in our conversations?"
The chicken appeared in the doorway.
No one reacted.
Rowan looked at it.
"...You."
The chicken stared.
Rowan exhaled slowly.
"Aurelian," Rowan said gently, "stealth is not for surprising family."
Aurelian nodded.
"Yes."
"It is for protecting people."
Aurelian nodded again.
"Yes."
Rowan looked at Dorian.
"You are not teaching him wrong."
Dorian blinked.
"...I'm not?"
"You are teaching him early."
Dorian swallowed.
"Yes."
Rowan stepped closer.
"He absorbs everything."
Dorian glanced down at Aurelian.
Aurelian stared back with calm intensity.
"...I noticed," Dorian muttered.
Rowan nodded once.
"Then teach carefully."
Silence.
Dorian straightened slightly.
"Yes."
Aurelian looked between them.
"Are we in trouble?"
Rowan knelt again.
"No."
Aurelian smiled.
The chicken made a quiet sound.
Rowan glanced at it.
"...But the training schedule is revised."
Dorian blinked.
"Revised?"
"Yes."
"No outside engagement."
"Yes."
"No live animals."
"Yes."
"No stealth near my office."
"...Understood."
Aurelian raised his hand.
"Can we practice humility?"
Rowan paused.
Dorian froze.
"...What would that look like?" Rowan asked carefully.
Aurelian thought.
Then said:
"We help someone quietly."
Silence fell over the room.
Rowan looked at Dorian.
Dorian looked at Rowan.
The chicken stared at both of them.
Lila smiled faintly.
"That," she said softly, "is not a bad idea."
Rowan exhaled slowly.
"...Fine."
Dorian blinked.
"Fine?"
"Yes."
Aurelian beamed.
"We will help quietly."
The guild hall outside erupted with a loud crash.
Everyone froze.
A distant voice shouted:
"Why is there a dummy in the rafters?!"
Dorian closed his eyes.
"...That," he whispered, "is not humility."
The chicken tilted its head.
And very slowly—
Looked up.
The dummy in the rafters was not supposed to be there.
Dorian was fairly certain of that.
He stood in the center of the guild hall, staring up at it.
The dummy hung precariously from a support beam, tied with rope that had once belonged to a cargo lift.
It wore the mustache.
The cape had returned.
A small sign was pinned to its chest.
It read:
OBSERVE FIRST.
Dorian closed his eyes.
"...This is not mine."
Aurelian stood beside him.
"Yes it is."
Dorian inhaled slowly.
"How."
"You said stealth is for protecting people," Aurelian explained calmly. "So he watches."
The chicken stood at the base of the beam, staring upward like a general reviewing troop placement.
Dorian looked at the rope.
He looked at the beam.
He looked at the chicken.
"...You cannot tie knots," Dorian muttered to Aurelian.
Aurelian blinked.
"I watched."
Dorian stared at him.
"Watched who?"
Aurelian pointed.
Rowan.
From the staircase.
Rowan was halfway down.
He had not made a sound.
He was watching the dummy.
He was watching the rope.
He was watching Dorian.
Dorian felt his spine attempt to leave his body.
"...I can explain," Dorian said immediately.
Rowan did not look at him.
He looked at the dummy.
"Why," Rowan asked calmly, "is there a surveillance dummy in my guild?"
Aurelian answered.
"Humility."
Silence.
Lila, seated at the reception desk, did not look up from her papers.
"...Explain," Rowan said again.
Aurelian clasped his hands behind his back.
"You said stealth is for protecting people. And Uncle said confidence must be balanced. So we are watching before acting."
Dorian blinked.
"...That is technically accurate."
Rowan's eyes shifted to him.
"Technically."
"Yes."
Rowan exhaled slowly.
He stepped fully into the hall.
Guild members had stopped pretending not to watch.
One of them whispered, "Is this sanctioned?"
Another whispered back, "I don't think so."
The chicken hopped onto a nearby table.
Rowan glanced at it briefly.
Then returned his gaze to the dummy.
"How long," Rowan asked evenly, "has this been here?"
Dorian swallowed.
"...An hour."
"Two," Aurelian corrected politely.
Dorian stared at him.
Rowan's gaze did not waver.
"And in that time," Rowan continued calmly, "how many guild members have noticed it?"
Three hands raised slowly.
A fourth raised hesitantly.
Dorian closed his eyes.
"...It blends in."
The mustache fluttered slightly in the draft.
Rowan turned slowly toward Dorian.
"Is this your influence?"
Dorian hesitated.
"Yes."
Rowan paused.
"...You admit that quickly."
"I'm learning humility."
Lila snorted softly.
Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose.
Then he did something unexpected.
He walked directly beneath the hanging dummy.
He looked up.
The dummy swayed gently.
"Untie it," Rowan said calmly.
Dorian stepped forward immediately.
"Yes."
He reached for the rope.
It did not budge.
He pulled harder.
Nothing.
He frowned.
"...This is secure."
Rowan stared at him.
"Why."
Dorian glanced at Aurelian.
"...Confidence."
Rowan closed his eyes briefly.
"Aurelian."
"Yes, Father."
"Did you help tie this?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I watched you."
Silence.
Rowan looked up at the knot.
Then down at Aurelian.
Then back at Dorian.
"...You are teaching him too quickly."
Dorian straightened slightly.
"Yes."
Rowan's voice lowered.
"He absorbs everything."
Dorian nodded slowly.
"I noticed."
Rowan looked up at the dummy again.
The sign still read:
OBSERVE FIRST.
Rowan reached up and gently untied the knot with practiced ease.
The dummy dropped into his arms.
He set it upright on the floor.
He removed the mustache.
He removed the cape.
Then he looked at Aurelian.
"You want to protect this place?"
Aurelian nodded.
"Yes."
"Then you start by understanding it."
Aurelian blinked.
"Understanding?"
"Yes."
"Before acting."
Aurelian nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Rowan placed the dummy back against the wall.
Without rank.
Without cape.
Without mustache.
The chicken hopped down beside it.
Dorian cleared his throat.
"So the surveillance program is... paused?"
Rowan gave him a long look.
"...Paused."
Dorian nodded solemnly.
"Yes."
The guild slowly resumed movement.
Whispers continued.
But now they were different.
"Did you see the knot?"
"He tied that?"
"He's four."
"Should we be concerned?"
Dorian leaned toward Aurelian.
"See? You're trending."
Aurelian frowned.
"What is trending?"
"Becoming a problem."
Aurelian thought carefully.
"Is that bad?"
Dorian paused.
"...Depends."
The guild doors opened again.
Not loudly.
Just enough to draw attention.
A courier stepped inside.
He looked nervous.
"Guild Master," he called.
Rowan turned.
The courier approached carefully.
"There have been... reports."
Rowan's expression did not change.
"Of?"
The courier swallowed.
"Of a child giving tactical advice in the market."
Dorian froze.
Aurelian looked up at him.
"Uncle."
"...Yes?"
"You said help quietly."
Dorian exhaled slowly.
"Yes."
"I whispered."
Rowan's gaze shifted toward Dorian again.
Dorian spread his hands.
"That is progress."
Rowan turned back to the courier.
"What advice?"
The courier shuffled nervously.
"...He told a merchant to move his cart to create a choke point."
Silence fell.
A guild member whispered, "That's not wrong."
Another whispered, "That's advanced."
Rowan closed his eyes briefly.
Dorian tried not to look proud.
He failed.
Rowan opened his eyes again.
"Aurelian."
"Yes, Father."
"You will not design choke points."
Aurelian blinked.
"Okay."
"You will not reorganize civilian infrastructure."
"Yes."
"You will not apply military theory to fruit vendors."
Aurelian nodded.
"Yes."
The courier slowly backed away.
Rowan looked at Dorian.
"You see the pattern."
Dorian swallowed.
"Yes."
"He listens."
"Yes."
"He adapts."
"Yes."
"He does not know when to stop."
Dorian hesitated.
"...Also yes."
Rowan stepped closer.
"And whose fault is that?"
Dorian inhaled slowly.
"...Mine."
The chicken stepped between them.
Dorian looked down at it.
"...Not helping."
Rowan did not look away.
"Do not teach him how to command."
Dorian nodded.
"Yes."
"Teach him when not to."
Dorian paused.
"...That is harder."
"Yes."
Aurelian looked between them again.
"Father."
"Yes."
"Are we in trouble?"
Rowan's expression softened slightly.
"No."
Aurelian smiled.
The chicken hopped onto Rowan's desk again.
Rowan stared at it.
"...Stay."
The chicken did not stay.
It walked across the desk and knocked over the twelve silver coins from earlier.
They scattered across the floor.
The guild fell silent.
Rowan looked down at the coins.
Then at Dorian.
Then at Aurelian.
"...Return those," Rowan said evenly.
Dorian bent down immediately.
"Yes."
Aurelian helped.
The chicken watched.
As Dorian picked up the last coin, he muttered quietly to Aurelian:
"Next lesson."
Aurelian leaned closer.
"Yes?"
"We do not improve the world before breakfast."
Aurelian nodded seriously.
"Okay."
Dorian glanced up.
Rowan was watching him.
"...And after breakfast?" Rowan asked calmly.
Dorian swallowed.
"...Supervised."
Rowan held his gaze for a long moment.
Then he turned and walked back upstairs.
Lila stood slowly.
She walked past Dorian.
She paused beside him.
"He is not becoming you," she said quietly.
Dorian blinked.
"...That's good."
"He is becoming himself."
Dorian looked down at Aurelian.
Aurelian smiled up at him.
The chicken hopped down and stood between them.
Dorian exhaled slowly.
"...That's worse."
Aurelian tilted his head.
"Why?"
Dorian looked at him carefully.
"Because you're going to be very loud someday."
Aurelian considered this.
"Can I be quiet instead?"
Dorian paused.
"...Maybe."
Aurelian smiled.
The guild doors creaked open again.
A small stack of chairs fell over outside.
Someone shouted:
"Who reorganized the guard rotation?"
Silence.
Dorian slowly turned toward Aurelian.
Aurelian blinked innocently.
"I observed first."
Dorian closed his eyes.
The chicken made a low, satisfied sound.
"...This," Dorian whispered, "is becoming a pattern."