It was rather late when Jenn was shaken awake by one of her guards.
She looked around and saw that Huaita had returned with the others and Jenn felt surprise that she'd fallen asleep. She hadn't even thought she was that tired, but she was at least grateful that she'd at least gotten some sleep this night rather than having the entire night go by without being able to get any.
Jenn got up, feeling rather stiff and was pleased to see that Shirley had gone to sleep herself, even though she looked like she wasn't having very pleasant dreams. A fact that Jenn suspected was because of the mistreatment she'd received while being a slave in this world.
Introductions were made, but Jenn didn't really get any of the names thrown at her to sink in. Not that she really expected them to. As there were too many people to fit in Maelias' home, even if they tried squeezing together rather tightly. A fact that made them relocate to Maelias' smithy.
Not that Jenn cared where they worked through the math of this problem. As she knew it was unlikely that she'd be able to help everyone, meaning it would be up to how much each person has already versus how much debt they had 'left' after the discount they'd been given for the debt being called in early.
"Let's establish a few ground rules," Jenn announced when they'd filled Maelias' smithy. "First, to make this go as quickly as possible, because we don't have much time to figure this out, only those with anything constructive to say will be allowed to speak. If any of you keep giving frivolous comments, your right to say anything will be revoked. So, as long as it's something serious, even if we don't go with a certain suggestion, it will be accepted as long as it's a serious point or consideration."
Jenn waited a minute for her words to sink in before continuing. She didn't want it to sound like she was being arbitrary, but she also didn't want her time being wasted when there was so little of it right then.
"So, first off, we'll need each of you to come up one at a time to write-" Jenn stopped as she suddenly realized a problem with her plan. Most of these people didn't know how to write themselves and likely left their 'marks' on the contract that they'd 'signed' with their debtor. However, she was able to quickly recover and carry on as if she didn't have that lapse. "To come up to me and tell me how much you owe and how much coin you have with you. Once we get through everyone, we can figure out exactly how many we'll be able to help and how many we're not going to have the funds for." Jenn sensed a restlessness among the crowd and she imagined her statement wasn't being well received, which she couldn't say that she'd be surprised about if she took the time to do a poll and found out that to be the case.
"The goal is to get everyone's debts paid off, but we also need to face a harsh reality of what coin we do have available to us," Maelias said, diffusing the stirring among the crowd, letting Jenn take a breath of relief when the crowd settled at Maelias' words.
When the crowd had settled down, Maelias turned to Jenn. "You can put me down for 1 zik, 6 hesh, and 4 tists."
Jenn wrote the amounts down on the paper, a little surprised at how close Maelias had been to the two ziks she'd had left on her own debt before Jenn paid it off for her. However, she didn't have time to spend any real time thinking about it as the crowd started to form a line in front of Jenn as they told her how much debt they had to pay off and how much coin they had.
Some hardly had any coin on them and Jenn wondered if maybe they'd just made a payment to their debt before it had been called in. A few had enough coin to cover what debt they had to pay off, but Jenn suspected they were there hoping to be able to help out their friends. After all, even if the collectors didn't like them gathering like this, Jenn was pretty sure that there wasn't anything illegal about their actions. Or unlawful, as some of her memories from the lost referred to it, somehow making it clear in Jenn's mind that there was a difference between the two, even though she couldn't say exactly what that was. Nor did she have a moment to spare for that point as she kept busy writing down the figures she was being given.
When everyone had given her their debt and what coin they had available to them, Jenn started adding everything up. She didn't bother converting to how many ziks the total was until she'd finished adding everything up. Then she could get a final total, but even as she did so, she was confident they were going to be short. Not by much, but even with what she had to offer, twenty-one ziks, six hesh, and seven tists, the total they were short by was four tists. So, even if Jenn hadn't paid for Shirley the day before, they'd still have been short of what they needed to get.
"It looks like we're short," Jenn announced, hoping she wasn't going to see a riot start in front of her very eyes. "We need four more tists to be able to pay everyone's debt off."
"I have more at home," one woman in the crowd said. "If you give me the coin I need to pay off my debt, I can go get it. I mean, just in case I run into the collectors while I'm doing that."
Jenn glanced at the outside when the woman spoke and she was surprised to see the outside world growing brighter. Making Jenn wonder about how long she'd been totaling up the amounts given to her. While she'd like to take her time, she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind as another spoke up.
"You're just trying to ensure your debt's cleared and aren't going to return!"
"I don't know about her, but I have enough and I don't live very far away." Another called out, making Jenn suddenly feel like she was losing control of the situation as more and more were voicing that they had enough to cover the deficit, but that they needed to be given enough to clear their debts while they went to go get it.
Jenn was confident that some weren't seriously offering to return, but, like the person who accused the first to offer that, was confident that they wouldn't return as long as they had their debts paid off.
While she didn't like it, she felt using her ability to look into everyone's minds was the only way to verify that they select someone who would return. Someone who had the money at their home and wasn't just saying that to try and get their debts paid off rather than taking a chance that they'd end up being the one who would draw the 'short straw' when it came time to discuss who wouldn't be able to be helped.
As whoever that was, they'd end up as a slave, regardless of how short they were when it came to their debt. Though, while Jenn thought it would be possible that someone could offer something of equal or greater value of how much they were short, she wasn't sure if that would be accepted. Especially when she didn't know all of the intricate workings of this society when it came to clearing debts. The only surefire way she could imagine getting this resolved was to come up with the correct amount of coin that was being called for.
Jenn felt a little disheartened when she found most were merely trying to save their own skins, but when she looked into the mind of the first person who had spoken, she saw that they were confident they had enough, as well as the intent that they would return. However, that then left Jenn with the problem of how to choose her among the others without calling attention to how she knew that woman would return with the money that they were short.
"How about this," Jenn suggested, cutting through the arguments that were starting to grow in volume before her, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "We'll send out ten people, each with one of the mercenaries who are of my band, who will ensure that each will return once they'd figured out if they do in fact have the coin they claim to have at their homes."
Even though she was confident her approach would work, she was starting to want to hide from all the eyes focused on her. She wasn't sure what it was about, but the longer they looked at her without anyone saying anything, the more uncomfortable she could feel herself getting.
"Any objections?" Maelias called out after a minute of tense silence.
"How will we choose who gets to go?" one of the women in the crowd asked, her eyes looking suspiciously at Jenn.
Jenn had hoped that point wouldn't come up, but she couldn't deny that it was a good question, regardless of whether it worked for her or not. However, she knew that she still needed to come up with a way that would allow the one person she was confident would return with the amount they were short on without giving any reason to suspect her ability to look into other people's minds.
She wracked her brain for an idea, but nothing was coming up for her. She knew who she needed to have go, or at least one of them, but she couldn't think of a way that would ensure that person would be selected in a way that otherwise appeared impartial.
Jenn looked at Maelias and Yaelish, but still nothing came to her. She started to start feeling dizzy as she imagined everyone's eyes on her, waiting for her to come up with a solution. Even as her mind remained blank.
Jenn wasn't sure how long it took before someone proposed something that would work. Something that she would be able to influence without anyone realizing it.
"Why not have Maelias select?" one of the women in the crowd suggested. "We don't need to send one per person for each of the mercenaries, either. I'd say six would be more than enough, just in case some of them can't find the money they think they have."
"You mean you're not sure you have what you said you had, right?" another grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. "That's why you want to be chosen, because you don't have enough to get yours paid off, but if you get-"
"Enough!" Jenn called out, interrupting the argument she knew was about to start, tired of the back and forth of who was serious about getting what they claimed they had at their homes just so they could have the money to pay the collectors 'if' they encountered them while out. Part of the idea that had been mentioned should be good to work, though Jenn figured tweaking it a little would more than make up for where it could go wrong, especially with Jenn taking enough control of it so she could ensure that they got the money that they needed and didn't have to worry that the person she knew would come through wouldn't get selected.
"Maelias, myself, and Yaelish will each choose two people to go. Each person will be accompanied by one of the other mercenaries, like I said and if they try to escape from their watch, that person will be considered to have abandoned everyone else. Meaning that they won't be welcome back here, even if they do bring the money that they promised."
Jenn added the last detail in, making it sound like anyone who lost their escort would be made into an outcast among this group. While Jen wouldn't be able to enforce such a thing if no one joined her, she was hoping that she'd be able to convince most of this group of people to join her. Especially considering she had high expectations that this group of people contained at least one mason or carpenter. Probably more than one, too.
She hadn't looked into anyone's mind to find out if any of them were, as she hadn't had enough time to peruse each person's mind and she knew they were short on time before the debt collectors might actually find them and start demanding the debts of each person present. A situation she'd like to avoid at all costs before they were fully ready to pay off each person's debt.
"I agree with most of Jenn's proposal," Maelias said, quelling the dissension from the crowd that Jenn could see forming. "Each of us will choose two people whom we think will come back, but if they get separated from their escort, they won't necessarily be considered to have abandoned us, only if they actively try to get away from their escort. However, given what time it is, it's unlikely that there'll be enough of a crowd to cause them to get separated. So, that'll be something we'll need to weigh after they return with or without the promised money. However, if whoever we choose don't return, unless their escort will vouch for them, we'll consider them to have abandoned all of us, even though we're short enough to only lose one of us if the collectors should find us before any of them return."
Jenn felt Maelias could have shortened what she said but felt it was at least good to have been said. Especially considering how the crowd seemed to accept what she'd said. Though, she was itching to get this over, so she figured it would be best to make a selection so they could not worry about someone else coming up with another suggestion or complaint that would waste their time by making the crowd want to either discuss or hear the thought out fully before moving on to what needed to be done.
Jenn stopped her own thoughts before she got lost in the circular nature of them, wasting her own time thinking of what needed to be done in order to stop wasting time. Which in itself would be the same thing.
"Okay, I'll choose her and her," Jenn said, pointing first to the one that she knew was serious about helping them and another woman whose mind she hadn't gotten around to looking into. Mostly because she stopped at the first person she'd found who was serious about what she'd offered.
Maelias and Yaelish made their choices and it felt almost like it happened in a blink of an eye that they were out the door, each with one of Jenn's guards accompanying them. Which meant all they could do now was wait. A problem that Jenn felt couldn't be helped given there was no way of telling how long they'd need before they would realistically return.
While they waited, Jenn couldn't think of anything to say or do that would occupy her mind, and she could feel a growing restlessness in the crowd before her. She wasn't sure what she'd do if someone grew impatient with the wait, but it wasn't like she could think of what to do about it. Especially with the impatience she could feel growing within herself as well.
Eventually, after who knew how long, some started returning. First it was the ones that Yaelish had selected, but none of them had any extra cash, and only one of them had run into the collectors. Jenn didn't say anything as she also hadn't gotten to look into their minds before they left, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy about her own selections. Doubting that she'd made the correct choice, that she hadn't missed something important when she'd looked into the mind of the woman who she had once been confident would be the correct choice.
Yet now, she couldn't help but worry about if she hadn't screwed things up herself by doing that.
Nor could she go to sleep because her nerves were to tightly wound to allow her to sleep while she waited. She felt like she'd pop if she even tried. Especially when they didn't know if this method would really work or not.
However, when her second choice came back with two extra tish, Jenn felt a little better, even though it still wasn't enough. Nor was it enough to restore her confidence in her first choice. Besides, as far as she knew, the ones who she'd seen in their minds that hadn't planned on keeping their word, might have changed their minds after Maelias' statement about what would happen if they tried to lose their escort.
It felt like she was starting to enter a spiral that would only drag her down without her being able to do anything about it. That she'd screwed up and caused this whole endeavor to fail just because she'd made a major mistake.
However, she was pulled out when the last three returned almost at the same time, putting them over what they needed by three ziks, five hesh, and ten tists. Though, each of them had encountered the collectors and didn't need to then go look for the collectors to pay off their debts to them. Which is what everyone who hadn't gone out and encountered the collectors did. Meaning that the two who'd gone out who hadn't encountered the collectors had to go back out, even though Jenn could tell that they were rather tired themselves.
Though, the four who had encountered the collectors seemed to find a comfortable place to lay in Maelias' smithy and go to sleep. Which Jenn thought was a good idea, even though she tried to resist because she felt that she needed to do more. That what she had done wasn't enough.
Though, at that time, everyone who still had their debts to pay off quickly left after receiving the exact amount they needed, making Jenn feel almost dead on her feet. Even with the little 'nap' she'd had when she' d been waiting for everyone to arrive, she felt like she hadn't gotten any rest for an entire week. Maelias was taking care of distributing the coin to each person, so it wasn't something that Jenn had to worry about.
All she had to do was relax at this point. Her work on this matter was over.
Which is why when she sat down, she was out like a light and wasn't even aware of when a blanket was placed over her as the smithy emptied out.