Published: April 3rd 2025, 7:19:41 pm
The smell of ale and pipe smoke slapped my face as the door closed behind me. The dim lights from a lightstone candelabra barely pierced the smoke. The walls were covered with layers upon layers of smoke and grime. To my left was a counter and cabinets with unmarked bottles of mead and liquor. Rough men and women sat along the counter, drinking silently or talking business quietly, never above a hush. Others threw dice in the corner or played cards while thugs carried crates marked with a black stag down a staircase beneath the counter.
Towers of silver, gold, and jewelry were piled on the game tables—more money than a Novice made in a year. I absorbed the scene, studying their movements, their reaction, and seeking patterns. Every little piece of information counted. A few tensed when I crossed the door—probably Red’s henchmen—others simply ignored me. Whatever Red’s main business was, it was pretty profitable.
The size of his operation couldn’t be all that big if he had time to personally meet the leader of a urchin pickpocketing band.
Although I only stopped for a moment, the barkeep glared at me. Mana gleamed in his eyes. If he used a detection skill, my disguise remained intact because he quickly diverted his eyes. Without skipping a beat, I turned to the left and climbed the staircase in the corner of the room. Nobody stopped me.
The staircase coiled along the frame of the building. The second floor was closed with an enchanted padlock and a reinforced wall. I didn’t stop to examine each rune in the padlock, but a quick inspection told me it had a similar enchantment to those in the Imperial Academy. I climbed into an antechamber on the third floor where two guards flanked the door, both wearing thick sabers in their belts.
“Red is busy,” one of them said, seemingly assuming I was the right person in the right place. The man signaled me to a grimy table in the corner. I wondered if hiring someone to clean the place was too much of a hassle.
“I know Red is busy,” I replied, patting my coin pouch. “I bring Mouse’s money.”
The seconds ticked inside my mind.
I needed to get to Kili.
“You don’t look like an urchin.” The guard gave me a suspicious look.
“That’s because I’m not,” I replied, my mind racing to find a way to enter Red’s throne room. “Mouse’s people provided me a service. I heard she’s here.”
The guard shook his head.
“You’ll have to wait. Only one petitioner at a time.”
I cursed. I needed to get to Kili before she could get in even more trouble and extract her without causing a fight, but to do that, I needed to enter the throne room. The guards looked like career criminals but didn’t give off the same aura as Rhovan, Ghila, and the other martial instructors. I could probably defeat them, but then what? My gut warned me to be careful. I wasn’t sure if I could fight the criminal gang and take Kili to safety simultaneously.
My mind raced.
I dropped [Intimidation].
“P-please, sir. She’s my only living relative,” I said.
The guards seemingly smelled my weakness before I could finish the sentence.
“I’m here to buy her debt. I’m sure Mister Red will understand.”
Their greedy glance didn’t escape my [Foresight].
Was there something I was missing?
“In that case, I guess we can make an exception for you,” the guard said, pushing the door open.
“Thanks, kind sir,” I replied.
Bastard.
I took a deep breath, reminding myself that violence was only the last resort of a wise man. I channeled the old Rob, the pacifist from Earth, and repeated my motto with a little addendum. Every problem has a solution. Death can’t be undone.
“Come on, Rob. You can do this. Take the girl, sever the string, walk out. Use your brain,” I whispered, entering my mana pool and editing my Character Sheet. A moment later, I wasn’t a mid-level Soldier anymore but a Sentinel Lv.38 with an appropriate set of skills. I also changed [Stun Gaze]’s attributes to allow me to multicast the skill, just in case.
The door closed behind me, and I activated [Intimidation] again.
The conversation died, and Red’s lackeys brought their hand to their weapons. The atmosphere was tense, and I wondered if my presence outside the window had triggered their uneasiness. The Sound Bandit must’ve given them serious trouble.
“Didn’t you tell the guards not to let anyone enter?” Red whispered near one of his lackeys’ ears.
I managed to read his lips.
The lackey—who seemed more interested in finding protection among his colleagues than protecting Red—mumbled an apology. I examined the room. Red’s men still formed a defensive perimeter around him while others spied through the windows. Kili was cowering in the corner behind a couch. In the back of the room were a few crates with the black stag mark. Aeliana’s circlet hung from a spike on Red’s throne.
“Who are you?” Red asked.
“My name is Edmond Dantes. You have something I wants. I’m here to hopefully make a deal,” I said with a slight bow.
If Red was a businessman before a criminal, I hoped to walk out the door with Kili in tow—no violence necessary. Red stood from his throne. He was taller than I expected, almost like Risha. The chain of his flail rattled. I refrained from using [Identify] on him. Red made a signal with his hand, and a man approached me. I felt the tug on my ribcage, but this time, I was prepared. I let the feeling wash through me, and my Character Sheet appeared for all to see.
“Edmond Dantes, Sentinel Lv.38,” Red said—cautious but not scared. Either he was used to dealing with high-level combatants, or he was confident in his ability to deal with one. “I don’t know what a simple merchant like me could do for a man of your skills.”
Red was probably referring to my [Interrogation] and [Extortion].
His acting was awful.
I could almost smell the rot of his character through his words. It made me sick.
“Does a simple merchant need to reveal his guest’s Personal Sheets every time?” I asked.
Red’s eyes hardened, his hand hovering above the handle of his flail.
“How did you get past the guards?”
I patted my coin purse. The sound of the silver coins appeased Red.
“I just told you. I don’t want to cause trouble. I’m here for business,” I said.
Red made a subtle hand movement, and his lackeys surrounded me, discreetly. Some sat on the couches to my left. Others stood by the windows to my right. None seemed eager to approach the window from which I had been spying a minute earlier.
I took a deep breath.
Every problem has a solution.
“So… Desmond Dantes, what do you want with Red Hawk Trading Company?” Red said.
I fought not to rub my temples, wondering how Red’s gang remained operative despite the lack of security. I had to remind myself that Character Sheets never lied. The guards outside had no reason to suspect I was anything else than a mid-level Soldier and easy prey.
“How much money do you owe, Mouse?”
“M-me? S-seven silver coins,” Kili stuttered.
It wasn’t a fortune, but then I remembered the weekly wage of a novice Scribe working for the Imperial Library was a single piece of silver. The inhabitants of the eastern ward might earn even less. That was an awful amount of money for someone who barely got their Class.
“I’m willing to pay twenty-one pieces of silver to settle Mouse’s debt and to cover your lost revenue,” I said.
Red raised an eyebrow.
“Lost revenue?”
“We are aware of Mouse’s criminal activities. I’m offering you a severance fee. Twenty-one pieces of silver settle the debt, and you never contact her again,” I said.
Red closed his eyes and seemed to run mental calculations. It was a good sign. For a moment, I expected him to explode, but he seemed more of a businessman than a common cutthroat.
“In the long run, Mouse will yield more than twenty-one pieces of silver… hypothetically speaking,” Red said.
“Only if she doesn’t get captured by the guard,” I interrupted him. “Twenty-one pieces of silver now is actual revenue, not a projection that may or may not come to pass. Besides, as you might know, money makes money.”
Red shook his head, tapping on his flail’s chain.
“No deal.”
“Twenty-eight.”
Red glared at me like I had just insulted him.
My body reacted on its own, tensing muscles and a shot of adrenaline flowing through my veins.
“You don’t understand the nature of my business, Mister Dantes. Without Mouse, the urchin band is useless. If I’m not mistaken, twelve of them use my territory—I have provided accommodations for twelve of them.”
I looked over my shoulder, and Kili gave me a panicked glance. The picture of Ilya hiding between the manor and the old shed popped into my mind, and I knew I would pay whatever price Red could say. I ran the calculations—twenty-eight pieces of silver times twelve.
“Three-hundred and thirty-six pieces of silver? Is that what you are asking for?” I asked.
“Again, Mister Dantes. You don’t understand the nature of my business,” Red said, puffing his chest. “The value of an urchin doesn’t come from their… acquisition activities. They become valuable when they can’t pay their debts anymore, and you can sell them at a profit. So, the answer is no, I don’t want three hundred silver pieces for the lot. I want three hundred for each of them.”
Three hundred and sixty pieces of gold.
“Slavery is outlawed in Ebros, Red,” I pointed out, mana surging through my body and gathering in my hands, almost like it wanted to be used.
Red smile sent a shiver down my spine.
“Oh, not. They are not slaves. They are indentured servants. They sign a Hex-contract and all, everything legally backed by Hexmages and Scribes, of course,” he said with a shit-eating smile. “In fact, everything happening in this building is completely legal. Each of those urchins or their parents took a loan, and they are behind on their installments. Cause me trouble, Edmond Dantes, and I will have the guard throw you into the deepest dungeon of the eastern ward.”
I raised my hands. Red was an open book. [Foresight] told me he wasn’t bluffing. He either made enough money to pay the city guard to look away or was smart enough to dance around the law. I opted to believe the second one. Even my contract with the Imperial Academy had more holes than Swiss cheese, which meant Ebros’ laws couldn’t be much better.
I had lost when I crossed the door. My mistake was to assume Red was a mere criminal, but he was telling the truth. I had neither the resources, the time, nor the legal backing to dismantle his operation. Still, a part of me was relieved that we had avoided violence. I could take the defeat and move on.
“Thirty-six hundred pieces of silver is an adequate price for the lot,” I finally said.
Lyra will not be happy with the hole I had just created in our finances, but we could afford it. Not only did the orphanage count on the revenue of the two mines and the quarry but also on all the rare magic materials the Teal Moon tribe sent our way, Ginz’s creations, Elincia’s brewing, and Captain Kiln’s savings.
Red stuttered, seemingly not expecting me to agree with his offer.
“You don’t have that kind of money!”
“My master does. Please forward the documents to Farcrest’s Alchemists Guild. Lord Clarke will review them at his earliest availability,” I replied, looking at Kili over my shoulder. The girl was still curled behind the couch, trembling. “Grab your circlet, and let’s go, Mouse.”
Without a word, the girl jumped to her feet.
“Wait!” Red said, his smile almost escaping the frame of his face. “Wait. You bought twelve servants. You still are missing the thirteenth.”
I stopped in my tracks.
There was something in his voice that made my fingers twitch.
“Add another three hundred pieces of silver to the bill,” I said.
“Three hundred? No. Mouse’s value isn’t three hundred,” Red grinned. “I don’t know what this Lord Clarke of Farcrest has to do with Mouse, but she isn’t for sale anymore. In fact, I would rather have a reunion with your master to discuss business face-to-face, as the System intended.”
Kili froze.
“Don’t push your luck, Red. Three hundred is more than a fair price.”
“My luck is about to change when I meet your lord, Edmond Dantes, but until then, the girl stays with me,” Red said.
“Ilya comes with me,” I dryly said.
My father once told me that something changed inside him after having his first son. Like the flick of a switch, he was just a man, and in the next moment, he became a father, and he knew deep inside he would do anything for the creature. Regrettably, his firstborn died shortly after, he divorced, and a time later, he met me and my mother. I used to ask myself if, at that moment, I was some sort of replacement for his dead child. The answer didn’t matter. I needed a father, and he needed a son. We were the perfect match, and I owed him everything.
I wondered if that same switch had flicked inside me at some point in the past two years.
“Ilya. What a strange name,” Red said.
“Last chance, Red. Take the deal. My master doesn’t like the sort of you, so you would be wise to keep things smooth.”
Red’s smile widened. I didn’t like the sight one bit.
“No, Edmond. You should keep things civil, for Ilya’s sake,” he calmly said.
I took a deep breath.
Please be smart, Red. The money is yours already.
Another part of my brain wanted to rend his throat with my bare hands.
I cleared my throat.
“Do you have an idea who you are trying to extort? Take the money and forget about the girl. It will be better for you and easier for me,” I said, letting [Intimidation] seep into my voice.
“Please enlighten me, Desmond. Who am I exactly ‘extorting’ other than a street rat and a lowly lord from the sticks?” Red asked.
I silently apologized to Kili but didn’t see another way out of our situation.
“An Imperial Cadet. You are extorting an Imperial Cadet,” I said. “So, this is what is going to happen. You will accept my master’s money and forget this matter. In exchange, we will also forget about you. But if you ever try to contact any of them, I will show up at your door with a squad of Imperial Knights and burn this place to the ground.”
Red closed his eyes, savoring the moment.
“An Imperial Cadet, you say?” he said, laughing, and looked over my shoulder where the girl was standing. His eyes were hazy with greed. “Three hundred pieces of gold won’t be enough for her! Mouse, you are a gold mine, don’t you get it? You will work for me unless you want the Academy to know you are going around stealing from merchants.”
The genie was out of the bottle.
I felt calm, like a frozen lake.
“Wrong answer, Red. You could’ve walked out with the money,” I said, feeding [Foresight] until my ears buzzed, and I entered a state of flow where everything moved slowly.
I ripped strands of mana from my mana pool. The tips of my fingers blistered. With a movement of the arm, white incandescent mana showered over the room, sticking to the furniture and the bodies of Red’s lackeys like crude oil.
Fire was the element I most dreaded, yet it called me. Each otherworlder had a magical affinity. Rebecca from HR could control minds. The Man in Yellow had the runes. The Lich had his inanimate puppets. My affinity was heat.
I didn’t know if I was using [Minor Pyrokinesis] or natural magic.
Not even a second had passed.
Red’s lackeys reacted in slow motion. Some dropped to the floor, and others used their skills to deal with the flames.
[Identify] and [Foresight] sorted the targets by threat level.
Wind Mage Lv.27
Berserker Lv.28
Sentinel Lv.34
Blademaster Lv.33
Assassin Lv.31
Shadow Fencer Lv.38
I cast [Stun Gaze] on the Blademaster and the Berserker. Their bodies stiffened and turned to stone. Shadows surrounded the Assassin and Shadow Fencer as they blinked to the sides. [Shadow Step]. The Wind Mage used his powers to quench the flames and unleashed a wave of razor-sharp wind upon me. [Gust Blade].
I raised a barrier, noticing the strain on my mana pool. The System wasn’t coded to feed so many skills simultaneously. The Blademaster and the Berserker fought against my [Stun Gaze]. I channeled more mana.
The razor wind penetrated my barrier, shredding my shirt but barely scratching me. The Assassins’ [Mana Threads] coiled around my arm as the Shadow Fencer blinked behind me. They knew exactly how to kill a man, but [Foresight] allowed me to follow every single of their steps.
I grabbed the threads and yanked. The Assassin’s body shot towards me, his face crashing against my raised knee. Then, pulling raw mana directly from the Fountain, I encased the Berserker and the Blademaster in white fire.
The Shadow Fencer shattered my barrier with [Puncture], the tip of the sword going deep into my shoulder. The pain barely registered in my brain. I surrounded my hand with mana and grabbed the blade. The iron melted between my fingers, and the Shadow Fencer released the grip. [Foresight] told me he was going to blink away. I released [Stun Gaze] from the Blademaster and Berserker and focused on the Shadow Fencer. He resisted the paralysis, but I only needed an instant to get through his defense. I hit his chest with a blast of swirling wind and fire, sending him like a ragdoll against the crates at the other side of the room.
A purple liquid emerged from the shattered potion vials, sizzling against the flames.
The Wind Mage channeled [Gust Blade], but I interrupted his spell before he could shoot. The man quivered like a leaf. Wind surrounded my feet as a mana blade materialized in my hand. I shot forward and stabbed his chest through a low-level defensive spell. My mana blade barely met any resistance.
The flames climbed the walls and ceiling, filling the room with smoke.
I felt no pity for my enemies.
The Berserker stumbled towards me. [Foresight] showed me his movements like an afterimage. I dodged his sword with simple footwork and stabbed him under the ribcage. He fell to the floor, coughing up blood. No amount of Endurance could save him.
Red was stunned in the middle of the room.
The doors shot open. I instinctively summoned my flying mana blades and slashed through the guards’ armor as they channeled their offensive skills.
Only Red remained on his feet.
“I surrender,” he calmly said, throwing the flail to my feet. The wooden floor cracked under the unnatural weight of the mace’s head. “Call the guard. I will confess, nullify the contracts, and compensate every urchin… just extinguish the flames.”
I took a deep breath, and the smell of smoke entered my lungs.
“What will you confess? Everything is legal, after all,” I replied.
“You won’t hurt a surrendered enemy, will you? It is a basic courtesy. I will turn myself in, and this place will crumble.”
My mana blade gleamed. Whether I was growing ruthless or it was just my survival instincts updating to a violent world, I couldn’t tell. Still, I wasn’t even going to try to rationalize my actions. This wasn’t justice. Maybe there was a smarter way of solving the problem, but I couldn’t come up with anything else. I was afraid. Despite my increasing strength, the thought of being unable to protect everyone still frightened me.
Red extended his arm, and the handle of his flail flew into his hand. The weapon gleamed with mana as it came alive.
“I got you, bastard!” he grunted as the spiked ball shot up, scratching my chest and chin through my mana barrier.
Time slowed down. I stepped forward and stabbed his collarbone all the way down into his guts. Red fell to the ground, blood bubbling out of his mouth but still breathing, the System fighting to keep him alive.
“You should’ve taken the money,” I panted.
Red crawled on the floor towards his throne.
“Don’t let him take the potions!” Kili shouted behind me.
Instinctively, I channeled a mana blade and buried it deep in Red’s neck. The world returned to its normal pace. Embers were falling from the ceiling. We had little time. I grabbed Kili like a sack of potatoes and used my mana hands to grab Aeliana’s circlet, the potion Red was about to grab, and his flail. Then, I blew a hole in the window and jumped onto the rooftops.
Red Hawk Trading Company shone like a torch against the night sky.
_____
AN: sorry for the delay!