Ascension of the elder

"Well kid it looks like you've got some good guys."

Kyle turned to the new arrival and saw it was Randall's brother. He was stood there with his arms crossed watching these grown men giving a level of respect to this child which he had only seen soldiers give to hero's in their eyes. Even his brother and Nettie seemed to give this kid respect which they wouldn't even give to the patriarch. He couldn't understand what was it about this child that drew these people to him?

Kyle for his part was looking at the younger brother and was trying to get a beat on him. He seemed very similar to Randall but whereas Randall was a force of nature who followed his feelings and instincts perhaps more than he should his brother seemed to be more thoughtful and while not necessarily more intelligent he certainly seemed to be more forward thinking.

"Good afternoon, we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Kyle Powell, welcome to the household."

"Good afternoon Lord Kyle, I'm Zak as you know I'm Randall's brother and it's my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

While Zak's greeting was more formal than Randall was capable of, Kyle could sense a mild mockery underneath. This may prove to be troublesome later but Kyle would keep an eye on this man until he knew whether he could trust him.

"Why have you come to see me Zak?"

"We've just finished checking what we need for the workshop so Randall sent me to requisition the goods, however he sent me to see you first to see if we need anything else."

Kyle thought for a moment but didn't need anything himself however before they started bringing in materials from outside Kyle wanted to fully explore the mansion including the secret areas. This included the sealed areas he found when he connected to the mansion. These may contain materials or information which may be advantageous to their further progress. Plus he wanted to take Zak along to try to get to know him before he decided what to do with him.

"Before you requisition anything I need to fully check this mansion as I've found several sealed areas which may contain things we can use. You will accompany me in this so you can organise the collection of anything useable."

"Yes sir."

When Kyle heard Zak's response he could feel the dissatisfaction in his voice. This wasn't directly aimed to him and Kyle began to suspect this anger was due to him being moved along with his brother without his consent. Zak had been in Randall's shadow since they were young and he'd never had the chance to shine in his own right. He had heard a second workshop supervisor was coming up in another area and he was planning on applying for that job to separate himself from his brother and make a name for himself but before he could his brother had pulled him into this child's game. When he heard Kyle's explanation of how he was poisoned and the situation they all now found themselves in he blamed his brother for this but ended up focusing his anger on Kyle as he an easier target, one being a noble and the other was he was the source of these effects. He couldn't bring himself to truly hate his brother and this made him feel better without feeling guilty.

Even if Kyle knew Zak's thoughts he wouldn't really care as there was nothing he could do to improve his opinion of him in the short term so instead he went for action.

"Come on Scooby we've got some work to do now."

With this Kyle headed off with a confused Zak following behind. The guards who were left behind just looked at each other before they continued cultivating.

Kyle headed up to the third floor to start his clearance. He'd decided to work his way through floor by floor and inspecting each room. He didn't need the map he drew up as he could access the details and anytime even without relying on his enhanced memory.

As they headed towards the third floor Kyle started to speak to Zak.

"So tell me Zak why did you choose blacksmithing?"

This caught Zak by surprise as most people asked about his relationship with his brother or how good he was at blacksmithing not why he chose it. Zak thought for a minute but couldn't come up with anything. Kyle paused when Zak was struggling to answer and just waited for him to think.

"I didn't really choose this career, my brother got involved in it and I kind of fell along with it."

"Hum so if you don't want to be a blacksmith do you have anything you'd prefer?"

Kyle was curious as if Zak didn't enjoy what he was doing he wouldn't be as good at it as he could be. Kyle wanted his people to excel in whatever they did so if they didn't like what they were doing he would try to find them something that would suit them better.

Zak was thinking seriously now, this question had never occurred to him before. What did he want to do? Even though he didn't want to be a smith he enjoyed the ambiance and being in the environment. His brother seemed to know he didn't like the creation process itself so he instead tried to find him other things to occupy him. Thinking on this now with a new perspective he realised his brother was always trying to help in his blunt and quite frankly stupid way. This made Zak smile probably the most honest smile he'd had in years.

"Well I'm not really into the whole manufacturing thing. Not to demean the others but it just can't occupy my mind so I usually deal more with the organisational side of things. Planning orders, organising stock also making sure that we have enough staff you know things like that."

When Kyle heard this he had an idea for the work Zak could do. As they began manufacturing things to sell in Bruno's shop they would need to deal with logistics ensure the movement of raw material in and finished goods out, planning days or maybe weeks in advance and even ensuring there was enough food in the mansion. All of these would need to be organised and it would be best if it went through a single person who would have the authority to make deals on behalf of the mansion when Kyle was unavailable.

"I think I have an idea for something which may suit you more Zak. I'm going to need an assistant who can deal with the logistics within the mansion as I'm going to be busy with other things and I need to ensure we get what we need while we are selling our goods. Do you think you would be interested in taking up a responsibility like that?"

Kyle didn't notice but the way he worded his proposition was a little different than he meant as he changed job to responsibility and he'd said this as a question rather than as an order or request. This meant Zak would decide this on his own and if he saw it as a responsibility rather than a job he would take it extremely seriously probably more seriously than Kyle himself would.

Zak was thinking on this and it sounded perfect, but it was a big change and he didn't want to jump into this without having time to think through this. Kyle could see his indecision as this was moving away from his brother and regardless of how much he wanted to step out from Randall's shadow he still didn't want to hurt him by suddenly distancing himself from him.

"It's okay Zak you don't have to decide right now, this will be a big change so think about it and what you want to do. We have time as we won't be moving anything for a little while anyway."

"Thank you."

It was a simple thank you from Zak but there was none of the previous mockery or hostility. It was amazing but this simple exchange had erased any bad feeling from Zak and he was now thankful he had been dragged along as he could see a new door opening for him. There was still however one question still on his mind.

"Who's Scooby anyway?"