Overall, before I’d found anything worthwhile or useful, my guide and I started back toward the attorney’s office. And I just so happened to find Madi waiting in his office. Not alone. There was a level forty-two black-bearded gnome as well. He was scarcely different from his kinsman. Just as stout and broad-shouldered. Closely set gray eyes. A large nose. Big ears.
However, there was one difference – the new one stunk unbearably of darkness.
“Mister Bergman!” Madi smiled. “Allow me to introduce my cousin, Haldaf Gredoren!”
Trying not to cringe at the bitter and rotten flavor in my mouth, I overcame myself and squeezed the gnome’s wide outstretched hand.
I understood that this gnome was not necessarily Dark in nature. Although I also wasn’t counting that possibility out either. Gino, for example, constantly stinks as well despite Mee’s frequent interventions. Not as badly as Madi’s cousin, but still. For now, these were the first dark emanations I’d come across in the capital but, based on the easy way Haldaf walked down the street, the authorities most likely knew about him. And given that, there’s no reason for me to make a fuss.
While we exchanged pleasantries and I did my best to work out why we needed this black-bearded gnome, my attorney told me he had some news for me.
Haldaf left the office on his cousin’s request and I found a comfortable position in a soft cozy armchair. Then Madi began:
“I managed to get in touch with Bardan’s attorney.”
I nodded, transfixed. I feel a tingle run down my spine.
“The war has complicated your case. Things are in complete shambles over there right now. Odd, hehe... We’re fighting the war, but it’s over there they’re in shambles.”
Having noticed my state, Madi finally got to the heart of the matter.
“Do you remember when you said you were abandoned in a cave to be devoured by beasts?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Well the bastards that set you up have taken it even further.”
“What do you mean?” I asked in surprise. “What could be further than that?”
Stroking his red beard thoughtfully, Madi told me:
“You will not be able to return to your homeland anytime soon.”
I feel a chill run down my spine.
“Why might that be?”
“Someone by the name of Skorx, a minion of Bardan’s, has declared you a wanted runaway peon.”
Chapter 18
I NERVOUSLY GOT UP from my armchair and walked over to the window. Madi kept tactfully silent.
I was looking out beyond the glass, but I wasn’t seeing anything. There was a mist in front of my eyes. I lost my breath and rubbed my throat. I felt like I was very near death. My heart was just about to jump out of my chest.
I didn’t notice when a glass appeared in my hand.
“Eric, drink this,” Madi’s voice reached me from somewhere far off to the right. “Drink it! You’ll feel better at once.”
I tried to drink it all down, but it didn’t work. I had to take quick short sips through my clattering teeth. At first I didn’t know what the gnome had given me, but then it hit me – plain water. Searing cold. Invigorating. Bringing me back to my senses.
“That’s better,” Madi said reassuringly and gave me a light pat on the back.
“What was that?” I asked with a shivering voice, slowly lowering down in my armchair. “Was the Great System reacting to my noncompliance with the oath?”
“Oh gods!” the gnome waved his hands. “Of course not! If that was Her – you’d be writhing in terrible pain right now! Believe me, I know what I’m talking about.”
“Then what was it?” I asked, noticeably calmer. My senses returned. To be honest, I was ashamed to display that level of weakness.
“A regular old panic attack,” Madi answered.
The gnome’s words made me even more embarrassed.
“And that is a completely normal reaction to an unjust accusation,” he rushed to assure me. “As if it wasn’t enough that they took you, a fourteen-year-old boy, into a cavern teeming with dangerous beasts to use as live bait for a bloodthirsty monster! Then they had the nerve to put out a search for you! The Great System hasn’t punished you yet, and that means you’ve been doing everything right! I’ve won court cases with less compelling arguments!”
“Court cases?” I came back to my senses. What do you mean court?!
That’s the last thing I need.
“Madi, I don’t want publicity! I came to you hoping to get this resolved quietly and forget about it like a bad dream. Is there really no other way?”
Madi frowned, then breathed a heavy sigh.
“Of course there is,” he said regretfully. “It’s just that this case is a slam dunk. We are sure to win. You won’t have to pay a huge amount of money to get the search called off, and I will improve the reputation of my guild.”
“So there’s a way to get the search called off?” I latched into that part.
“Yes,” Madi sighed fatefully. Then, seemingly having understood that I did not intend to go to court, started explaining everything in detail: “A search for someone accused of ‘nonpayment of debt,’ unlike one for ‘murder’ or ‘theft’ can be canceled by paying off that same debt plus a fine. In your case the fine will be double because you are currently in a different country.”
“Let’s do that!”
“Don’t celebrate so soon,” the gnome cooled my ardor. “I still haven’t said a number.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred gold all told. Plus my commission. I understand it is a massive sum, and Gino has only just started looking for a buyer for your ‘merchandise...’”
“I agree!” I answered quickly, which came as a big surprise to my attorney. “I only have part of that on me. I just have to sell some stuff, then I can pay in full. Could you maybe recommend a merchant? And preferably someone who isn’t going to test their Charisma on me.”
That made Madi laugh.
“Ha-ha! So am I to understand you’ve already walked the market rows?”
“It took me effort to hold back,” sparks ran down my fingers again.
“You were right to do so,” Madi said with unexpected gravity. “Offensive magic is forbidden within the city walls.”
I wanted to ask what about dark magic. But I bit my tongue before it was too late. I didn’t know how the gnome might react. Now he is clearly on my side. But what would happen if I told him about his cousin, who was just about soaked through with Darkness? And by the way, I can just about sense him through that closed door. I don’t want a conflict with the gnomes. This is their business.
“Well, what’ll it be?” I asked. “Can you recommend someone?”
The gnome chuckled and said:
“As they say: ‘Speak of Bug and he will appear.’ The cousin I just introduced you to deals in trade. He came to see me one hour ago to have a talk with you.”
Seeing surprise on my face, the gnome explained:
“Somehow he found out you were getting a share of the sale of the beast you hauled to Ironville. Let me remind you that you and I are bound by an oath of silence. That means either Gino himself or one of his domestics must have run their mouth. Hehe! Don’t be surprised! A good trader knows how to dredge up information they can use to their advantage. And Haldaf is good at what he does. He-he, he probably came hopping right over to try and sell you something. A happy coincidence.”
* * *
“My cousin told me you have some loot you’d like to sell?” Haldaf plunked down in the armchair opposite me. “Let me warn you right away – I don’t deal in cheap jewelry or old weapons. You can get dump that stuff wholesale. I can suggest two or three such traders who have earned my trust. Tell them I sent you, they’ll give you a good price.”
“What about experience essences?” I asked, trying not to wince. The bitter taste in my mouth was making it hard to concentrate.
“Twenty-five c
opper a piece,” the merchant quickly answered. “I’ll tell you right away – that’s a good price and it goes down all the time.”
“Why?”
“The war,” the gnome shrugged. “Increase in supply.”
“What about tablets?” I asked. Even though I’d decided not to sell anything yet. The valuable tablets weren’t exactly burning a hole in my pocket.
“Prices for tablets are quite high,” Haldaf came to life. “They’re in short supply. Would you be looking to sell?”
“No,” I shook my head. “But as for essences, I suppose I would. One hundred fifty thousand of them.”
I decided to sell just under half of what I had. Gorgie and Mee would have to be leveled up soon.
“How many now?” the gnome’s little eyes doubled in size.
“As you know, we have come here from the borderlands,” I hazed things up and just about winced again. Has Madi’s cousin really sold out to Darkness?
“Yes, of course,” the gnome nodded. “That explains everything.”
Based on his facial expression, he didn’t believe me.
“Well, how about it? Deal?” I asked. I wanted to get the money as quickly as possible and bid this gnome farewell. The bitterness in my mouth was making me nauseous.
“Deal,” the merchant nodded.
A few minutes later, my coin purse was three hundred seventy-five gold coins heavier. I could give that money to Madi so he would finally rid me of the loathsome debtor’s yoke.
After receiving the full amount, I wanted to bid Haldaf adieu. I had decided to sell the claws, tusks, horns and mandibles to another less unpleasant trader. But I was stopped.
“Could you spare a few minutes?” the merchant asked, looking me over strangely.
It cost me some effort to hold back a heavy sigh, but I replied:
“Yes, of course.”
The gnome squirmed a bit in his chair. Thanks to Madi’s warning, I could tell his cousin had come to me with a specific proposition in mind. But at that moment I could see there was something else troubling him.
“Permit me to ask a question?” Haldaf finally made up his mind. “I’ll be straight with you. It will strike you as unusual.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Let’s see. Ask your question.”
The gnome coughed.
“Ever since we met, I’ve had the impression my company troubles you. If that is so, could you please tell me the reason for your distaste?”
Having noticed the expression on my face, Haldaf said:
“Please speak frankly.”
I don’t know why, but I felt an urge to tell the truth. I think it’s because, despite the dark emanations wafting off him, the gnome’s face struck me as honest and open.
“I trust this will stay between us?”
“I swear it.”
“You quite literally stink of Darkness.”
The gnome shuddered unexpectedly and turned white. He latched his fingers into the armrests of his chair in fear the way a drowning person grasps at straws.
“Based on what I can see, I assume the authorities have no idea about your secret,” I said calmly.
“You...”
“Yes,” I nodded and added with menacing in my voice: “I have the ability to sense Darkness. I’ll tell it to you straight, if I’d met you in the Wastes or the Stone Forest – I’d have attacked without a second thought.”
The gnome again shuddered in fear either because he heard me mention dangerous areas or because he saw pale yellow sparks enshroud my hand.
“Mister... ahem... Master Eric!” Haldaf pleaded. “Don’t ruin this for me! I am an honest merchant! I am not connected in any way with Darkness! The box must have run out of juice again and one of the artifacts in it started giving off energy!”
Seeing incomprehension and bafflement on my face, he hurriedly dug into his satchel.
“Here,” he said with a quavering voice and placed a massive silver box on the table, its surface engraved with unknown markings. Based on the fact I didn’t get a single system notification, I didn’t have the Mind to study whatever language this was.
When I activated my Sixth Sense, I realized what the gnome was talking about. The box had its own magic supply, which just so happened to be nearly empty. Beyond that, it had a few magic artifacts inside. Hm... So here’s what’s causing the trouble – a concentration of Darkness on the very bottom.
Meanwhile Haldaf opened the box and took out a dark sphere the size of a quail egg.
“This artifact, may the Abyss take it, I acquired from an explorer many years ago. And I’ve been dragging it around ever since in hopes of finding someone to sell it to. But alas, due to the harsh requirements, it’s no use to anyone.”
While the gnome spoke, I read the item’s description and smiled. Before me was a Small Orb of Darkness.
“And beyond the fact nobody wants it, it eats through the box’s mana like nobody’s business!” the merchant murmured, noticeably calmer.
“So how did some explorer end up with this?” I asked. It was a good opportunity to find out useful information.
“Abyss knows with these explorers! He probably dug it up somewhere on the Dark Continent. In some old tomb or among ruins. Ugh, now I’ve gotta haul this box back to a mage...”
Heh... Based on the way various artifacts started appearing from the box as if incidentally, the merchant was back to his senses. He noticed I was interested and decided to show me the rest of his wares. Nice trick.
At first I thought the whole dark magic rigamarole was staged, but then I waved off the thought. The box’s supply really was almost empty. Haldaf wouldn’t have dared to knowingly walk around the city then show his face in his cousin’s office with an artifact emanating dark energy.
I squinted, looked at the trader and said:
“You know, distinguished Haldaf, I haven’t shown you all my loot yet.”
As I said that, I placed the legendary Scolopendra mandibles on the table. Then, to the gnome’s stunned gaze, I added the rest of Mee and I’s monster loot.
“All of their descriptions,” I said leading my hand over the horn and claws on the table. “Say that it would be best to take them to master craftsmen that use these ingredients, but I don’t have time or any desire to run around town looking for different kinds of experts...”
“Of course, of course,” the merchant interrupted me hurriedly, placing a strange looking monocle to his right eye and greedily reading into the description of each item. “I need to do some math.”
For the next hour the merchant didn’t seem to see or hear a thing. The table of loot was all that existed for him. Periodically taking some tools and notepads from his satchel, he closely studied each item and took notes on a small sheet of paper.
At first I was trying to watch the gnome very carefully but then I got sick of it. I got a more comfortable seat in the soft armchair and, much to my own surprise, started dozing off.
I was awoken by a satisfied announcement from Haldaf.
“I’m prepared to name my price, Master Eric!”
I shuddered in surprise and opened my eyes. Perked up, I stretched and rubbed my face.
“I’m listening carefully.”
“For the Firepaw fangs, I’ll give you one thousand four hundred gold. For the golem horn and claws I can do five nine, and for the scolopendra mandibles and barbs – nine. In total that’s sixteen thousand three hundred gold coins.”
At first I thought I misheard him. I even asked him to tell me the total again. And while I batted my eyelids in shock, the gnome started explaining.
“Alas, I cannot afford to pay more. They’re highly particular ingredients. I doubt the craftsmen of Ironville will have any use for them. I’ll have to travel. I’ll take the horn and claws of the ice golem to the north, to the Dartans. And the firepaw and scolopendra loot I’ll take south to Atria.”
“Yes, of course,” I said with a dry throat. Almost sixteen and a
half thousand gold! I imagined the look on Mee’s face when I told him!
I could see that the gnome had noticed how stunned I looked, but I didn’t give a crap. Beyond that, it suddenly occurred to me that despite the excuses and complaints about his hard life as a merchant, he could afford to pay much more. But alas, at my level I couldn’t compete with merchants like this.
The Dark Continent (Underdog Book #3): LitRPG Series Page 17