Chapter 256 - Conditions of Promotion

“Pirates who can cross the Altic sea?” Gwynn questioned, “There aren’t too many of them.”

“Our Navy is quite strong.” Finn offered, “But Huan’s naval presence is quite small, especially on its west coast, which is outside of Kumin’s reach.”

“It’s not that. The Altic sea is not a regular sea. There is a rift that splits the sea apart. Travel is impossible without Exalted methods. In addition, there are many sea monsters on either side of the rift.” Gwynn said, “The Navy controls the narrowest parts of the rift, and keeps a clear and safe path for travel. Any pirates that can both cross the rift and deal with the sea’s other hazards must be quite powerful themselves.”

“A rift? Ah.” Finn came to a quick epiphany as he processed this information, Of course, he only had common knowledge of the sea and the navy and so he had previously assumed that there were simply monsters or other Exalted methods which restricted passage. A massive obstacle that defied the laws of regular physics was unexpected but also answered a lot of questions as well. 

“Yes, it’s an impressive sight.” Gwynn said, “The water just endlessly falls into the empty void of space. From Lostport, with a good looking glass you can see the other side.”

“Where did the rift come from?”

“The sea was the site of a battle between numerous gods, long ago. The fabric of space was destroyed, resulting in the tear.” Gwynn said, “In some ways it’s convenient. It’s quite defensible and keeps the northern continent out of our hair.”

Finn nodded, “So then are you saying that it’s unlikely that the shipments came from across the sea?”

“No, it’s very possible. Just wouldn’t have been my first guess.” Gwynn shrugged, “It’s your investigation, though.”

“About that… It’s in the report, but we’d need to continue the investigation in Huan.” Finn paused, “I don’t have the clearance or resources to handle that.”

As a special inspector in the Noga City Police Force, he had the authority to carry out his investigations across the province, but his responsibilities were limited to matters within the province. He had expected the investigation to be handed off to a military inspector, which would free up his plate to focus on his other assignments.

From the amused look on Gwynn’s face, he quickly gathered that his assumption was incorrect.

Rather than answer him directly she reached into an inner within her jacket and pulled out a small envelope. The thickness of the envelope betrayed an irregularly shaped object within it. She turned it around in her hands for a moment, observing it with a thoughtful grin.

She then passed it to Finn.

He felt the cold weight of the metal badge as he emptied the envelope into his hand. The familiar Kumin emblem of the sword piercing the mountain range was raised above the polished curved surface. The badge was quite similar to his current one, however there were also three sockets that formed ‘stars’ in the sky above the mountain. Two of the sockets were filled, one with a blue gem and one with a white, slightly translucent gem.

The embossed words under the mountain read National Inspector. Turning the badge around he saw a number engraved in the back, as well as a strange symbol carved in the center. This geometric symbol had the appearance of overlapping diamonds and squares, contained within a larger diamond shape. 

 A promotion? Or rather, a transfer?

National Inspector was not a police rank, but was instead part of the military. This was a level above even the Noga City Chiefs, with jurisdiction across the three provinces of Nian Xing.

“Do I have any say in this?” Finn asked carefully. 

“No.” Gwynn replied, then burst into a laugh, “After all the trouble I went to to get this for you, it would make me look bad.”

“So this was your arrangement?” Finn wondered out loud, “I didn’t realize you had that much faith in me.”

“Like you said, you don’t have the clearance or resources in your current position. You’ll need this to look into the pirates, won’t you?” 

 “Yes, but you didn’t know that before this meeting.” Finn shook his head, “So you must have had another reason to prepare this in advance.”

Gwynn responded to this comment with an enigmatic grin, “Not exactly.”

“You can tell the future.” Finn warranted a guess based on his knowledge that Gwynn was attuned to the Time aspect of SpaceTime.

The grin only became wider as she teased him again, “Not exactly.”

Finn frowned. He had played this game with Gwynn before. She had great pleasure in alluding to her methods but never actually spilled them. As far as her powers went, Finn had no clue. The confidential reports in record keeping only detailed the police’s pathway abilities up to the disciple level.

“About the transfer, I wouldn’t decline it.“ The smile faded from her lips as she looked Finn seriously in the eyes, “Well, you can, but if you do then you will likely never get another chance at promotion.”

“What if I don’t want to leave the Noga Police?” Finn probed.

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Gwynn said. “I mean, the other kind of promotion.”

Finn paused. Of course, Gwynn was talking about Exalted promotion. Finn had taken the Astromancer catalyst nearly a month ago and was now a Candidate. He assumed that Apprentice would follow once he’d built up enough merits to warrant it, and with his leadership role in the force perhaps even Disciple would be attainable in less than a decade.

But from her tone, Gwynn was suggesting that if he declined her offer, Finn wouldn’t even make it to apprentice.

After a long pause and internal deliberation, Finn asked in a serious tone, “Is that a threat?”

“This isn’t personal. Exalted resources are scarce, and Lord Noga has no need for men with no ambition.” Gwynn said calmly, “You’re a careful person, so perhaps you’re just figuring out all your options before you make a decision. But I really don’t have time to waste. Are you actually on the fence, or are you toying with me, Finn?”

The cold tone in her voice told Finn that the camaraderie and support that she may have shown toward him was contingent on his continued cooperation with her. Rather than being upset by her response, though, Finn was encouraged. 

Finn’s understanding of the military culture was reinforced as he evaluated her words. Much like the police, in theory promotions were based on merit and achievements. Those who showed promise were given opportunities, and those who performed well were recognized for them.

 But the reality was opportunities were scarce and those who had better connections were the first to receive them. Despite his relationship to Chief Yang and his outstanding performance in the academy, Finn had spent the better part of his first six months in a desk job with very little chance to showcase his potential. 

If Finn could have been assigned under Chief Yang from the start, he was sure that he could advance quickly. But instead he had been placed under a Chief whom he had little connection with to start. Chief Yang put the best word in to Chief Luan that he could but in the end it was Chief Luan’s decision where to place this new recruit.

But then out of the blue Chief Fang had recruited him to be part of a secret task force. He had been instantly promoted to the role of special inspector, with privileges that would have taken years or perhaps decades to achieve under a normal career path.

Why? Because Finn’s father and Chief Fang had both been part of the Pearl Lotus Secret Society.

Connections were everything.

Had Finn known about this connection ahead of time, he absolutely would have found a way to benefit from it.

As for Gwynn, she was a Colonel, a rank that typically commanded up to five thousand soldiers. Not the highest rank in the military, but not the lowest commanding rank either. If Finn had to guess her standing among her peers, he would also guess that she was in the top ten percent of other Colonels in terms of influence. Her bearing, her confidence, the casual ease with which she made decisions all positioned her as an excellent ally on his way to the top.

Gwynn had already shown she was willing to go out of her way to support him. It was only natural that she expected an equal effort on his part to assist her in her own goals, and she made no effort to hide it. Finn could appreciate that directness.

“Like you said, I’m just understanding my options before making a decision.” Finn replied with a shrug, “If I were the type of person to jump at the shiny badge and ‘National Inspector’ title without considering all the factors around it, then frankly I think I wouldn’t have been offered the option in the first place.”

“You can figure out the details at the Cathedral later. What I need is for you to keep handling these tasks for me.” Gwynn said, “In return, I’ll get you what you need. How does that sound?”

“For me.” Finn repeated those words in his head. Not for Lord Noga, not for the military. For Gwynn herself. 

Finn grinned. He could work with that.

“Sounds fine to me.”

“Given that you’ve found success with them so far, there’s no point in disrupting your unit. A background check has already been performed for your  current teammates. ” Gwynn said, “I’ll leave you to convince them leave their police jobs to join you. Of course, if you want me to draft them forcibly, that can be arranged too.”

“As for your current responsibilities for the police force, hand them off to someone else.” Gwynn said, “Or keep them, I don’t really care, as long as your national duties come first.

“Ah, speaking of national duties, there is one other matter that I need your attention on.” Gwynn added, withdrawing a letter from her pocket.

A dangerous foreboding weighed down on Finn as he received the letter with a neutral expression. The official decree had the red seal of Lord Noga’s second in command, Ministry of Security’s Briant Chaser. He scanned through the letter as Gwynn continued speaking.

“Regarding your stewardship of Char Char Zhao, given the sensitivity around the White Maiden it’s been decided by my superiors that it’s too dangerous for the girl to be left to her own devices. These are orders to have her returned to our custody for the time being.”

“She is to be brought back to the Cathedral by tonight.” Gwynn said, “In addition, if you find evidence of any individuals who have assisted Char Char in any matter regarding the White Maiden over the past three weeks, they are to be arrested and charged with high treason.”