Across from them the baron was looking like a deflated balloon after hearing the command while the mercenaries kept glancing at each other unsure of what to do next, the shady man had long since disappeared along with his men and the butler was fiercely scowling at them.
After a few minutes Butler Gordon finally spoke, "How did this happen? Are you the one pulling the strings Magar?"
He looked at Magar searching for answers, but Magar just shook his head and pointed at Chronos.
Chronos smiled, "When we first arrived, I heard about the conflict between Magar and Baron Gustav. I was worried the conflict would interfere with us closing the tear, so I contacted my good friend Magnus Leighla to ask for some help. I didn't expect him to get the king involved but it is the way it is."
"Hmph, of course the king chose to get involved. Scree, the tears threaten the entire kingdom; anything that stops us from closing them is being taken as an affront to the crown." The royal eagle said as he moved from Chronos's arm to the back of his chair.
Baron Gustav's face turned even paler when he heard this. He had been trying to arrest Magar and claiming that the tear had never existed; however, according to the eagle it not only existed but targeting those that closed tears could land him in jail or worse.
Taking his seat once more Chronos said, "Now that you're in charge, Magar, how do you want to handle this situation?"
Magar looked at the baron and the mercenaries sitting next to him. After a few moments of pondering he came to a decision, swiftly giving commands to both sides with the demeanor of someone that expected his orders to be followed.
"The Baron will be sent to Earl Malric's estate along with Butler Gordon until the royal officers arrive to deliver the Crown's judgement. Jeromy I'll be entrusting their protection and escort to the twin knights serving you. Carl, you will assist me in sorting out the records and documentation in the baron's territory."
"Understood."
Jeromy immediately jumped to follow his orders calling out to the twin Knights waiting on the lines behind them. While Carl called his men forward to take command of the baron's knights.
"As for the mercenaries after an evaluation, I'm willing to hire you to assist the baronets and knights in the barony to locate any other tears. You will not be requested to enter or close any tears, simply finding them is enough.
In addition to the tears, you will be expected to dispose of any goblins or similar monsters in the plains that you come across. I don't want to see another black beast tide just because we didn't clean up the monster infestation in the plains. Naturally you will receive suitable compensation for the time you spend searching for tears and a bonus for the monsters you kill. Is this acceptable?"
The mercenary captains glanced at each other; they had thought that Magar would have them arrested for siding with the baron. Suddenly being offered a job and one with an indefinite time period was much better than they had hoped for.
"We would be happy to assist you milord but how much pay can we expect from this?" One of them asked.
"I will need to take a look at the barony's finances first for an exact number but for each tear located you will be paid a minimum of 2000 gild and 200 gild per week spent searching." Magar stated.
Their eyes lit up at such a large payout. It was even more than the baron was paying them.
"Thank you, lord. We can start right away if you would like."
"First I need to evaluate your men's strength and abilities. I don't want to send you into a battle you can't handle."
"Of course, of course." They nodded like they were woodpeckers.
Blinded by greed they didn't realize that Magar was using this chance to find the people who had tied up and fed goblins to the tear. After what Sariah had said he suspected that they were mercenaries hired by the local criminal organization and wanted to root them out before this happened again.
Standing up from the table they went to inform their men of the change in their employer.
When they left the baron suddenly stood up and tried to make a run for it.
"I'm not being captured here! Oof!"
The twin knights jogged after him catching up when he tripped on nothing. They tied a rope around his hands and feet to prevent him from running off again before hoisting him up, with some difficulty, and taking him towards a waiting carriage.
"Not going to try to run away?" Chronos asked Butler Gordon.
Butler Gordon gave him a wry smile, "I'm old and will probably die in the next few years. Trying to go on the run now would just make my last year's more difficult besides where would I even go? I don't have any family left and few to no friends."
He looked around for a moment before leaving one final comment.
"Besides, that 'hidden friend' of yours would likely kill me before I made it very far." He gave Chronos a sly smile.
Chronos's eyes sharpened, startled that Butler Gordon had realized that Gregory had been with them until just a few minutes ago.
Afterwards Butler Gordon went with the twin knights without putting up a fight and a moment of peace returned to the table.
"Thank you for sending for help." With some time on his hands Magar bowed towards Chronos.
"No problem, honestly I didn't expect it to become something this big either. At most I thought that Magnus would threaten the baron to get him to back off, maybe have me take charge for a short time. Having him completely removed was just a bonus."
"Still if it wasn't for your aid I would have been arrested today. Even if nothing happened to me it would have delayed our reaction to the tears and other new threats that this new age is bringing upon us. So, thank you."
"Now that my thanks are out of the way we should discuss what we're going to do next."
"Alright."
As they were speaking Gregory reentered Chronos's [Spatial Awareness] carrying the head of the shady man that had run away. Chronos momentarily smiled, the criminals in the barony wouldn't be able to operate for long now that their leadership was dead, then he dove back into his work.