Jao stepped through without a word, his presence settling over the chamber before he even fully entered. He wasn't the largest man in the room, not compared to someone like Baron, but there was something about him that made space feel smaller, like everything instinctively pulled inward around him.
His frame was slim yet clearly built, the kind of body that didn't waste movement or effort, and his long, messy grey hair fell around his face with a few strands tied loosely into a bun at the crown. A thick beard framed his jaw, rough and uneven, and a scar cut cleanly across the bridge of his nose, giving his already sharp features a hardened, lived-in look. He wore formal green robes trimmed with white, pristine and composed, though the man inside them carried something far less gentle, something that felt both disciplined and dangerous at once.
He didn't head straight for his seat.
Instead, he moved around the table in a slow, deliberate circle, his eyes drifting across each of the captains in turn. The servant girls lowered their heads further as he passed, their bodies going still as if even the air shifting might draw attention.
Zeffer straightened without thinking, the last trace of his earlier laziness gone as he swallowed quietly, while Mina's posture became rigidly perfect, her irritation replaced with a careful composure. Baron held his gaze a moment longer than the others, not challenging, but not shrinking either, though even he seemed to rein in the edge of his impatience.
Jao said nothing as he completed the circle, finally coming to a stop at the head of the table. His eyes flicked once toward the empty seat across from him, the one that had belonged to Hanko, lingering there for just a fraction longer than necessary before he turned and sat.
The wood creaked faintly under his weight as he settled back, one arm resting against the table, and then the only sound in the room became the steady, rhythmic tapping of his finger against the surface.
No one spoke. No one moved. The sound stretched the silence thin, each repetition dragging the moment longer, heavier, until even the lantern light seemed dimmer under it.
Time passed slowly like that, the room suspended in quiet tension, until Jao finally clicked his tongue and let out a low sigh, leaning back into his chair and tilting his head slightly as he looked up toward the ceiling.
"I'm sure," he said calmly, his voice quiet but carrying through the room with ease, "the three of you can guess why we're gathered here on such short notice."
Zeffer shifted, clearing his throat as he leaned forward slightly, his hands resting on the table as he forced himself to meet the moment. "It likely has something to do with Hanko's passing."
The tapping stopped instantly. Jao's gaze dropped. Then, in a sudden, sharp motion, he leaned forward, his hand slamming flat against the table as his other shot out, finger pointing directly at Zeffer.
"Exactly right," he said, his tone snapping to life with an energy that felt almost jarring against his earlier calm, "though I wouldn't word it so lightly."
Zeffer froze, his breath catching slightly as Jao pushed himself up from his seat, rising to stand at the head of the table. The shift in him was immediate, the calm composure cracking just enough to let something harsher bleed through as his eyes moved across all three captains.
"Hanko didn't just pass on," Jao said, his voice rising as the words sharpened, "he got put in the fucking dirt."
The room went dead silent. Zeffer nodded stiffly, Mina's lips pressed thin as her eyes stayed fixed ahead, and Baron's expression hardened, the earlier irritation replaced by something more focused.
Jao let the silence sit for a moment, his gaze lingering on each of them as if weighing their reactions before he stepped away from the table, pacing once along its edge.
"Do you know what bothers me the most?" he asked, his tone shifting again, quieter now but laced with disbelief as he let out a slow breath.
"It wasn't the Martial Order. It wasn't those Forsaken sect bastards."
He turned slightly, eyes narrowing as his gaze cut back toward them.
"It wasn't someone worth knowing."
He stopped, his voice tightening.
"A damn wanderer. A nobody. A speck of dust from outside the city comes in here and ruins my group, my business, my fucking syndicate."
His fist clenched, and when it came down against the table, the wood cracked loudly beneath the force, splinters biting outward from the point of impact.
The structure held for the moment, but barely, the strain visible along its surface.
"One captain is dead," Jao continued, his voice rising fully now, filling the chamber with a controlled fury that none of them dared interrupt.
"There are rumblings all over the city about our troops getting their asses handed to them left and right in some earlier brawl with said wanderer. Operations are slipping. Control is slipping."
He struck the table again, harder this time, the crack widening as the wood groaned under the pressure.
"And then I start hearing something even better," he said, his tone dropping just slightly, more dangerous for it as his eyes sharpened. "Turncoats."
The word hung in the air like a blade.
"Men inside our ranks running their mouths. Disappearing. Including one of Hanko's own lieutenants, if the rumors are to be believed."
A flicker of tension passed through the room, subtle but present, and Jao caught it, his gaze tightening as he took another step.
"And if that wasn't enough," he went on, his voice climbing again, "included in this debacle of Hanko's death, a Syndicate-owned brothel gets wiped off the map. Burned down to nothing. Completely erased."
His jaw tightened as he spoke the next words.
"And the merchandise? Gone. Every last one of those lowly bitches."
Then his fist came down again. This time the table didn't hold.
The impact split it apart with a violent crack, the structure collapsing inward as one side dropped entirely, wood splintering and snapping under the force. The sound echoed through the chamber, sharp and final, making the servant girls flinch despite themselves.
Zeffer stiffened, Mina's composure faltered just slightly as her eyes widened for a brief second, and even Baron's posture shifted, the last trace of casualness leaving him as he watched the destruction settle.
Jao stood over the broken remains, his hand still pressed against the splintered surface for a moment before he slowly pulled it back, dust and fragments falling from his knuckles.
His breathing was steady and controlled, but the weight of his presence had only grown heavier, pressing down on the room like a physical force.
"This," he said, his voice low now, quieter than before but carrying far more threat beneath it, "is unacceptable."
Silence followed, thick and unmoving, no one daring to speak as the broken table sat between them as proof of his words.
Jao lifted his gaze once more, looking at each of them in turn; his expression settled again, though the edge beneath it remained sharp.
"So," he said after a moment, his tone calm once more, "tell me."
His eyes fixed forward.
"What exactly are the three of you planning to do about it?"