It's a fantasy role-playing game.

DM: You are Jester Lavorre, a tiefling cleric . You are the member of the famous group of adventurers. Previously, Pumat Sol is out of healing potions, but Caleb buys 200 gp worth of paper, you buys a pearl of power, Nott buys two incendiary crossbow bolts, and Fjord buys an enchanted shield. The party discusses the Lawmaster’s offer and decides against it.
DM: "Providence it is. Enter, please." He leads you inside the hall of the king and there are the two archways between the clerk's center and the Lawbearer's small shrine within the chamber. He leads you down the right hallway past two sets of doors and there's a third door on the right that is partially ajar. As you enter it, you see a spacious if rather minimalistic chamber. It's a bare chamber beyond a bookcase, the desk, with a long bench in front of it, and a series of three small windows where the sunlight comes through-- or the light, there's not really sunlight at the moment because of the weather. Beyond that, it's white marble and fairly empty. There at the desk you see, her arms sprawled looking down over clusters of parchments, the Lawmaster Orentha Stonegrasp. Her gray hair has tumbled past her shoulders and her bangs have been pulled back like a natural circlet, keeping it out of her eyes. He pushes you into the chamber, she has a dark brown fur robe on. The cold morning air makes the room, especially the dark marble, very cold. She keeps it on for warmth. She looks up from the papers and greets you with a smile and goes, "Thank you for coming. That was mighty fast. Have a seat, if you don't mind. Thank you, Voloshin, close the door, if you could." "Of course, my dear." He closes the door, leaves you in there. "I wasn't expecting such a rapid response, but I appreciate your expediency."
Player: Well, we were right here.
DM: "That's fantastic. Please, have a seat. I'd like to discuss a few things with you if you don't mind. First off, congratulations yesterday. That was quite a display and a fantastic victory. Well--"
Player: Are we going to war?
DM: "I see you are aware of the shifts in our current imperial state of affairs. We haven't had war in generations. I'm hopeful that the conflict is swift, but I'll leave that concern to those with the right expertise. I'm tasked with keeping my people safe here, not on the front. Here. Now, wartime puts us in an unfortunate scenario. Zadash effectively governs the southern half of the empire and most of military might is now leaving us. Our Crownsguard will be stretched thin across keeping the peace and dealing with unrest and worry and protecting these walls from whatever pushes through the lines of battle and the general things that wander from beyond our boundaries. Money isn't an issue, but personnel is. There are outlying threats and criminals we no longer have the manpower for and as such, the Crown has approved an expanded mercenary budget. Now you've already proven your ability to me twice. Most recent, your skills in the Victory Pit showing you capable and loyal to the king. I know not your interest, but if you would come under contact, under my office as legionnaires of the empire, you would be responsible for protecting the lives of many innocent people. Now, under contract you would receive 15 gold a week per person as a stipend whether or not you were on contract or not. It could be at your leisure, months at a time with no work and you still get paid no matter what you do. Each assignment rewards its own bounty of course, case by case. The work I'll be presenting would largely involve the hunting of outstanding criminals, the acquisition of resources that may benefit the Empire in this time of war, and sometimes the extermination of dangerous creatures that threaten life away from the front lines. Now you'd all have credentials within the Empire and that will grant you access to supplies, pro bono. Access to empirical halls, and individuals otherwise restricted to the general populace."
Player: Would we get healing potions?
DM: "When they're available, those supplies are a bit stretched thin and put toward the front lines. We could probably muster what we can. Could I hope for your help on this?"
