The last thing he wanted to do was make the grimness set in like that, but it is their reality. Istredd is just vaguely accepting of the situation at this point, but he is no stranger to tension between kingdoms. There was a man actively conquering the known continent in his world and he worked in areas where he did conquer. The hope is that Thorne will not be, at least not by the Free Cities, as he doesn't trust them. Or any of them.

But it is somewhat business as normal in his head when it comes to it. He also is happy for the topic change, if it brightens Wilhelm up again. That is a surprising piece of news though, but a good one. "I didn't know he was outsourcing now, that's great!" Kyle is very busy and good at what he does, he probably ended up with too much work to do on his own.

"At least some of us are making money," he says drily. Istredd knows technically there are jobs he can get in town, but he already has a very strict schedule with his responsibilities. "How do you like it so far? You must be seeing more of Thorne than you're used to."