He ended up taking a slightly softer version of the third option, marching up to the battered door and rapping on it sharply with his knuckles. “Open up,” he said gruffly, which immediately made all conversation and laughter cease from within.

Footsteps thundered down the staircase and then the door cracked open. A man with thick black hair down to his shoulders peered out. “Who the void are you?”

“You Crandon?”

“It’s Guard Crandon, and no, I’m Guard Prest. We’re off-duty. If you have a crime to report, I suggest you try the guard station.”

“I’m not here for that. Guard Crandon did me a favor earlier. I wanted to thank him.”

“And you are…”

“Goran White.”

“Fine, Mister White, I’ll pass on your message.”

“I’d rather tell him in person.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that. I just owe him a debt of gratitude.”

“Who’s there, Eppy?” a new voice hollered. A taller man with a shaved head craned his neck to get a peek at Ludo.

“Someone who wants to talk to Crando.”

“He’s busy. It’s late. Now scram before we help you along your way.”

“I’m asking nicely. Trust me, you don’t want the version where I’m asking not nicely.”

All that earned him was a growl as the door was shoved open the rest of the way, the second guardsman shouldering past the first. With the shriek of metal, he drew his sword.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Ludo said. Still, he didn’t react, nor drew any of his own weapons. Instead, he waited patiently.

He didn’t have to wait long. The attack came swiftly, an overhand slash of the bald guard’s sword. It was the type of attack he expected: rash, uncontrolled, borne of anger rather than strategy. He sidestepped, steel flashing past, using the nameless guard’s momentum against him, throwing his own knee into the man’s groin and then shoving him hard between the shoulder blades. He tumbled headlong, sword clattering from his hand.

The man reached for it, but it was no longer there, claimed by Ludo almost the second it hit the ground. The second guard—Eppy or Prest or whatever his name was—hadn’t been idle while his buddy charged, drawing his own weapon and launching himself into the fray.

Now Ludo didn’t make a habit of playing with his foes, but this was a rare opportunity where he wasn’t the King’s Blade lurking in the shadows but a street brawler knocking the kingdom’s enforcers off their high horses. And knock them he did.

The second guard’s sword was added to Ludo’s collection with a flick of his own borrowed blade. The guard seemed to realize he was in over his head and turned to flee, but Ludo cut him off with a thrust of the man’s own sword. The guard pivoted and tried to go the opposite way, but Ludo merely stepped with him, like a strange dance. In the same motion, he offered the first guard a generous kick to the face just as he tried to regain his feet. He flopped back down and this time he didn’t move.