The door swung open and I was greeted by Elean, holding the doorway to steady herself. Her wrinkled face shriveled up even more at the sight of me, and at once I knew the flowers were a waste of time.
“What are you doing here?” she spat, grabbing the flowers from my hand and throwing them outside. “Those make my allergies act up.”
“Miss Elean, I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time?” I asked.
Elean growled a little at me and then waved me in. “Fine, come on in.”
I walked into her rickety old hut to find that the building was in a state of disrepair. The roof had holes in it, where rays of light were shining in; the windows were broken and the house was tiny and cramped. It was not suited for any kind of living, at least not for anyone other than a college student who couldn’t afford anything better.
I said nothing as I followed her to a small table with two chairs. As I took my seat, I felt the chair wobble beneath me, and I struggled to stay upright. It felt as if it could snap at any moment.
“So, what do you have to say to me? An apology?” she grumbled as she sank into her chair, groaning from the pain of old age. The fact that she lived alone, in this wretched house, changed my feelings about her drastically.
“Actually,” I said, “I still stand by that decision.”
“Is that so?” Elean scoffed. “So what are you here for then? To gloat?”
“Actually, as part of fixing up the village, I’m starting a new initiative,” I explained, quickly coming up with a brand new plan. One that would be better for everyone. “It has come to my attention that the housing situation for our elders isn’t quite what it should be. As venerated members of Tine, and the people who are responsible for speaking to me when things need to be addressed, this simply won’t do.”
Elean squinted at me for a moment. “Go on…”
“I want to create a new housing section, one for the elders who are considered to be voices in the village. And since you are certainly one of those people, I wanted to know what was a list of things that you want to see in these houses.”
“Really?” Elean asked. “Well, it’s about time someone did something. This was well overdue, if you ask me.”
“I can agree. So, would you be willing to speak to all the elders and put together a list of the things that you want in the housing development?” I asked. “As a favor for me?”
Elean’s eyes sparkled at the prospect of getting a new house. All signs of disgust had faded away and instead I could see admiration. “Of course! We like to meet together at the new tavern during the evenings. I’ll bring it to their attention then.”
I stood from my seat and bowed a little. “I greatly appreciate it.”
“Of course, of course,” Elean said. All thoughts of the supposedly stolen coins were no doubt long gone from her mind. Instead, she would be dreaming about a much larger house and amenities that would bring her great joy. And with that great joy came a glowing recommendation of me as her leader. And soon, the Satisfaction level would sharply increase.
I left her little hut and returned back to my office, to look over what my options were when it came to improving housing. We had a mere 100 gold left, after everything had been taken care of, but spending that gold on better housing would be a good investment. It would improve the quality of life of the elders.
The housing section was full of interesting structures. There were basic huts, which the entire village was composed of, coming in single or family sizes. These huts cost 1 gold piece and had no maintenance cost. There were other types of housing units, such as brick housing, which cost 10 gold a piece and had considerably better living ratings. Some units even had luxury bonuses when checking the Luxurious option, which doubled the cost but improved the quality of living by quite a bit. The highest tier of housing were Mansions, and such buildings cost hundreds of gold pieces on the low end. Yet, a single mansion could house upwards to 15 people, which was most impressive.
As I continued to sort through the options, looking for what I could do to improve the elders’ opinion of me on the cheap, a notification arose in front of me. It read Messenger Incoming. I could see a lone rider on a horse, making their way down the road to our village. He was moving rather swiftly and I noticed that the horse itself wasn’t touching the ground. The hooves seemed to glow with an enchanted energy, carrying it above the ground. This must have been so that it could move without impediment, no matter the terrain beneath it.
I closed my book and stepped out to meet with this messenger. Was it another Champion, asking to make a deal with me? A leader of the Tradesmen, demanding that I acquiesce? The possibilities were endless, and I knew not what to expect. I approached the front of the village to watch the man’s horse gallop swiftly across the uneven terrain.
“Woah!” the man commanded as the horse bounded towards me. In a single moment, the horse ceased moving and whinnied, excited to see the target of its journey. The man himself was dressed in a blue tunic, with a large satchel at his side. He dug into the satchel for a moment and produced a scroll. “Charles Morris of Tine?” he asked.
“I am,” I replied.
He reached down and handed the scroll to me. “Good day to you then.” And with that, the horse let out a loud neigh and the two were off, leaving as fast as they had arrived.
I didn’t wait to return to my office to open up the scroll. I was far too excited to find out what was within. I unfurled it to discover a strange pattern of runes scribbled in big, red letters. There were no other words. The runes themselves began to glow faintly as I stared at them. I wondered, for a moment, if this were some kind of trap, that these runes would explode, yet I was unable to pull my eyes away from them. They were drawing me in, pulling me somewhere else.
In the blink of an eye, the world around me went black. I was surrounded by a red aura, enveloping my entire body. This was teleportation, I knew. Having experienced it once before, in a quite traumatic way, I could recognize it immediately. If this was an assassination attempt, it was a good one, because wherever I was being pulled to, I had no means of self-protection. Hell, my knife was sitting on my desk, stuck in a piece of venison that one of the servants had brought me.
The energy pulled me through the darkness for quite some time, stretching my entire body thin, until finally, in a single moment, I was blinked back into reality. The effects of returning to the real world from teleportation were quite jarring and I collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
“Still getting your sea legs?” asked a man, sitting beside a crackling fire. He was rather portly, mustachioed and wore a fine silk robe—like a smoking jacket from my own world. We were in a large study, full of books and bottles of all sorts of fine liquors.
“Teleportation isn’t nearly as fun as you’d think,” I replied, slowly rising to my feet. The absence of masked men with daggers put me at ease. I wasn’t particularly familiar with how to identify an assassination attempt, but I was fairly certain this wasn’t one.
“You get used to it,” the man said, gesturing to the chair beside his. It was a large, dark chair with leather cushion and little metal studs running down the seams. I sank into it and sighed a little. The comfort of such a chair was something I had almost forgotten about. Sitting on a hard, wooden chair that had been built by a carpenter with no formal training had been my daily life for the last month. This was…a real luxury.
“So who do I have the pleasure of meeting?” I asked, accepting a small glass of brown liquid from the man.
He raised his glass to me and smiled. “I am Tanders Simlice the Third.”
I clinked my glass against his and took a sip. It tasted like a combination of brandy and root beer. Not bad, but not a flavor I had been expecting at all. “So, Tanders, why have you called me here?”
Tanders smiled at that. “Straight to business? No small talk? Not even a question of how you got here? Normally, champions are quite frantic
about being drawn to my study.”
“I am not like other champions,” I replied. “And besides, if you wanted to bring me harm, you would have either had me murdered or poisoned. What could I have done about it?”
Tanders grinned. “I like the way you think. So, allow me to introduce myself then, properly. I am Count Tanders, who currently is the Guildmaster of the Igithor chapter of the Tradesmen.”
Interesting. “I’m not particularly interested in hearing about more threats towards me,” I replied. “So if you’ve called me to make all manner of cruel and unkind remarks about my village’s long-term survival, I’m afraid your words will fall on deaf ears.”
Tanders laughed heartily and took a deep swig of his drink. “They told me you were unflappable. Listen, I’m not here to make threats. This is a friendly meeting. You have very little resources, yet you have managed to quickly build a little trade route, defend your territory from my guild’s goons and then on top of that, you somehow erect a mercenary lodge, to ward off attacks. I find that impressive.”
“Do you now?”
“Indeed,” Tanders said. “Champions tend to…overreact when it comes to us. They often build up a large military force, conscripting their own people, raising taxes to hire mercenary groups, and then once they’ve assembled their force, they charge right at one of our bases, to teach us a lesson. But a war isn’t won in a single battle. They manage to take the base, sure, capturing a tradehouse or an outpost, but we respond in kind and quickly route them. We have many more resources than them and thus we always win.”
“Well, the way your people’s reputation is carried, most everyone is terrified of you. Such a reaction is understandable.”
Tanders shrugged. “I don’t run the whole show, just Igithor’s chapter. If it were up to me, we’d be simply focusing on trading. None of this strong-arming stuff. But it’s not up to me.”
“Then why stick with them?” I asked, taking another sip of the beverage. The taste was starting to grow on me.
The man waved a hand, gesturing at the study around him. “There’s a lot of money to be made with the Tradesmen. And if I quit, well, some other sycophant will come in, desperate to do whatever it takes to get a head pat from the Board.”
“I take it the Board runs the whole show?”
Tanders nodded. “Oh yes. Five very powerful men run this entire operation. We span across all of Liora with one goal. Unabashed control of trade.”
“So, Mr. Tanders, what is it that you want of me?” I asked. “To make me an offer?”
“I’m actually here to wave the white flag of peace,” Tanders said. “If you can believe it.”
“I can believe that your white flag comes with stipulations,” I replied, leaning up from my slouched position in the chair. Sitting too comfortably can make one inattentive, especially when deals are being made.
“There is one curious stipulation, yes,” Tanders replied with a grin. He leaned in closer to me. “I want to add you to the Guild as a higher ranking member.”
“Is that so?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“As the Guildmaster for Igithor, I am free to put anyone in any position I like. We’re given complete autonomy who we can offer membership to. I would be willing to install you as the Master of Trade for the Amber Forest.”
“So kind of you to offer,” I said. “But why take a complete outsider and put him in a position of power?”
“Because the way I see it,” Tanders replied, leaning back in his chair, “an outsider will be far more willing to report on certain members of the guild to me.”
“So you want a spy?”
“Yes. There is absolutely a chain of command within this Guild, but there is also a rule of seniority. Those who have been in the guild the longest qualify for the higher positions first. This means that some of the more ambitious men within my ranks are looking to see me done in. Having you, working underneath my biggest rival, would be quite useful.”
“I’m going to stop you here, sir,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not a spy. I’m a champion. I have a village to run.”
“And run it you shall! For champion guildmembers simply add their responsibilities and duties to the Grand Sight,” Tanders said. “It’s why no one would question me installing you at a much higher rank than beginner. From that Grand Sight, you can communicate with your immediate superior and keep tabs on what he is up to. You won’t have to leave your village. And we leave you alone for as long as I am still alive. It’s a win-win situation here.”
I wasn’t terribly excited at the prospect of becoming a whipping boy for the Tradesmen. Even if the rank was high, it would be a contract that I couldn’t get out of. But still…this information Tanders had revealed to me gave me leverage. I wondered how the Board would react to knowing that one of their own was willing to trade away positions of power in exchange for favors. Was this a common practice for them? Or was Tanders being divergent in his approach?
I took careful note of my surroundings. We were completely alone. There was no one else around, not even servants. I searched for an exit in this study, but could not find one. Was this a secret room meant for secret meetings? I considered what was in front of me.
“I want more than peace, if I’m going to do this,” I said. “You’ve already observed the fact that I have a mercenary army on retainer. You know I am more than capable of defending myself.”
“This much is true,” Tanders said. “So you want me to sweeten the deal?”
“Ten thousand gold pieces,” I replied. “And a contract that guarantees my position.”
“You ask a steep price. I’ll pay you five thousand.”
“Ten thousand is the price of my loyalty,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “But if it’s too expensive for you, I am willing to accept payment in installments.”
“It’s not that I cannot afford it, I’m just not sure that it’s worth what you’re asking,” Tanders replied. “I mean, I’m just asking for information.”
“You’re asking for loyalty. But then again, if your position isn’t as important as a few thousand gold pieces, so be it,” I said, taking another sip of my drink.
This statement elicited a deep, guttural laugh from Tanders. “You have all the makings of a true member of the Tradesmen,” he said. “Deal. I shall provide you with ten thousand gold and peace, and in exchange, you will serve as my spy.”
“Then draw up the contract,” I said. This was the key moment. If Tanders was willing to write and sign the contract, it would be visible proof of a pay for play scheme. More than enough to use against him later on.
“We’re both friends here, right?” he said. “This should really be a matter of one’s word.”
“You are, to me, a total stranger who—for all I know—has plans to do me great harm at some point in the future,” I explained. “Since I have arrived to Liora, the Tradesmen have been nothing but a thorn in my side. A contract would put me at ease.”
Tanders shrugged at that. “But what good is writing these kinds of things down?”
“Without a contract, it’s your word against mine,” I said. “And I was not born yesterday.”
“Fine, fine,” Tanders grumbled as he dug out a parchment and an ink quill. “I shall draft up the contract. But I swear on my life that I will not betray you.”
“And I believe that,” I said. “As long as the contract states exactly what we have agreed upon.”
Chapter 18
The plot was thickening. As I reclined in my bed, returned from the private meeting place of Tanders, I reflected on what possibilities this little envelope held. It was sealed with Tanders’ own personal seal, signed by his own hand. All that was left for me, he had instructed, was to make my way to Igithor and sign up at the recruitment office. This would give anyone who was watching the impression that I was coming of my own power. I would be promoted within the week to the new position, once everyone realized that I w
as a champion.
But I had no intention of going to the recruitment offices. The Tradesmen were bullies, intent on taking and taking, without ever giving. Why should I be so content to serve them? Tanders’ motivations had been paper thin to me. While it was true that he was worried about his rival, a Chief Henderson Aims, he was also trying to capture my loyalties. By signing up as a member of the Tradesmen, I would be obligated to buy and sell through them. The higher rank, the large amount of pay, it was all meant to incentivize me into joining their guild. They knew they couldn’t bully me, so they tried to bribe me.
Yet, this bribe would prove to be fatal for Mr. Tanders. At least, for his career. I could use it as a means of sowing dissent between the Board and the local chapter, causing them enough of a conflict to keep them occupied for quite some time. During this state of chaos and confusion, I would be free to construct my own trade route to the West, without fear of them somehow trying to sabotage me. I was no stranger to corporate espionage. I just needed to figure out the best possible way to leverage this contract.
The best option, as far as I could determine, was to send this over to his rival, Chief Trade Officer, Henderson Aims. As the CTO, Henderson would have the biggest interest in using this evidence as a way to screw over his rival. But Tanders would undoubtedly have people who were loyal to him. This could very easily cause a schism, especially if the Board got involved. And even if this evidence wasn’t enough to damn Tanders outright, Henderson would be incentivized to find a good use for it. And best of all, if he were able to finally gain control of the Guild, he’d owe his new position to me. This was, of course, assuming that the transition went smoothly.
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