Fairy Opera Chapter 38: Bid

 

Bid

Tae, Jak and I sat at our table, eating, without displaying our nervousness. The constables started fanning through the dining room. One of them came up to us, holding a paper in his hands. Just as he was about to speak, the door to the inn opened and Rist walked in. He saw the constables and approached them.

“What are you doing?”

One of the constables bowed. “Sir Rist. We’re just looking for the alleged fugitives who have taken up hiding in this inn.”

Rist shook his head. “Those are no fugitives, Mr. Bandy. They’re my guests. I will not have them treated poorly.”

Mr. Bandy bowed again. “Very well then. I will bring this matter to my superior. In the meantime, have a nice day.” He gathered his men and left the inn.

Rist sat down at our table. “I had a hard time getting here unnoticed.” He took out a scroll. “I’ll make sure that we aren’t overheard.” He cast a spell that, basically, blocked our voices from going anywhere outside the table. Rist leaned forward. “The fracture is deepening. The establishment party plans to gather its army and pull off a coup. Their mission is to absorb the power of the God Emperor and utilize it for themselves. They’ve nearly succeeded.” He tapped on the table. “Only the Rebellion can tip the balance. I’ve decided that the disestablishment party will back the Rebellion as much as we can.” He spread some documents onto the table. “I’ve been looking for the assassins who killed some of your leadership. I’ve found that they’re working for the Wright Assassin Guild. If we can get together a negotiation with them, we may be able to put a stop to the assassination attempts.”

I nodded. “Okay. Then bring us there now.”

Rist stood up. “Let’s go. It’s getting dark out, and the capitol is dangerous after dark.”

“I think I can handle myself.”

“While I don’t doubt that you can, at the very least I insist you be cautious.”

We exited the inn and came out to find a group of masked men waiting for us.

I held up my hand. “Excuse me, gentlemen. What can I help you with this fine evening?”

“We’ve been paid to kill you.” The guy who looked most important pointed at me.

I cracked my knuckles. “I haven’t had a chance to test out the boon of the God Emperor.” I held up my hand. “Stay back, everyone. I’ll handle this.”

The man in charge looked a bit impressed. “There are twelve of us. How are you going to—”

I rushed forward and smashed his chin apart with an uppercut that sent him flying backwards. Two more of the men charged me, one on each side. I pulled out two fires scrolls.

“Null Bravos! Explode!”

Both men caught fireballs to the face and collapsed. Four more of the men charged me. I knocked one out with a spinning kick, slammed my palm into another one’s stomach, elbowed the teeth out of the third, and snapped the arm of the fourth with my wrists. All four men lay on the ground.

The remaining five men surrounded me. I cracked my neck. “Come at me.” They charged as one. I performed a spinning kick that took out all five men at once. I stood, victorious, over a pile of unconscious bodies.

Tae started clapping. “Wow.”

Rist came up to me. “Praise the God Emperor.” He looked down at the unconscious assassins. “We’ll take care of these thugs.”

I bowed. “Thank you.”

Rist pulled out a communication scroll. “Yeah, this is Rist. I’ve got a cleanup near the inn, Frist street. Yeah, they’re thugs. No, don’t bother. Thanks.” He let his hand fall. “Very well. Let’s go.”

Rist led us across the city, to a large mansion against the cliff that formed the island’s east side. The mansion looked old, but well-managed. Rist knocked on the door.

A man opened a small slit and looked through. “Eh? What do you want?”

“We’ve come to negotiate with the Wright Guild.”

“Very well.” Several metallic clicks later, the door opened. We stepped through, passing by the doorman, who was a buff man wearing a suit.

We entered the mansion proper. A pale, vampiric man came to greet us. He bowed.

“My name is Apple.” He returned to standing straight. “What can I help you with?”

“We’ve come to outbid a hit that was placed with your organization.”

“Ah, of course.” Apple rubbed his hands together. “There’s nothing more profitable than a bidding war.” He motioned to a long desk against the east side of the room. “Sit.”

We sat. Apple put on some spectacles and started sorting through papers. “Which hit would you like to outbid?”

“The hit on the leaders of the Rebellion.” I leaned forward.

Apple sighed. “That was a very expensive hit. Over two hundred gold pieces were paid in advance.”

I clenched my fist. “I have more money than that right here.” I pulled out the scroll that would let me access my item box. Once I cast it, a small portal appeared in the air. I reached into it and pulled out a small, but heavy, chest.

Apple lifted his spectacles. “It’s not everyday that you see something like this.” He lifted his chin. “I can use you. Perhaps we can make a deal that does not involve gold.”

“Okay. What do you need?”

“We have been working on a certain magical spell that will allow us to do a certain kind of job with more ease.” Apple rubbed his hands together. “Since you are obviously proficient with magic, I would like you to assist in the creation of such a spell.”

“How do you know I’m proficient? I just used a spell.”

“I am a good judge of people.” Apple stood up. “Follow me. I have not yet heard your names. I know sir Rist here, but not you three.”

“Rock.” I started walking.

“Tae.” She crossed her arms.

“Jak.” Jak lifted his chin.

We followed Apple through a series of hallways and into a small room that was filled with scroll paper. I looked around and noticed that there were a number of burn marks along the walls.

Apple handed me a scroll. “This is what we have created so far.”

I took a quick look. It was primitive at best. “Do you know how to use libraries?”

“Libraries?” Apple appeared puzzled. “I do not know what those are.”

“Then you’re really bad at this.” I sighed. “Well, give me a day in here, and I’ll have your invisibility scroll up and running.”

Apple sat down. “I want to watch. Explain everything you’re doing, step by step.”

“Okay.” I began an explanation of libraries, or Scode, and of hierarchies and such. Tae and Jak stepped aside and started playing Mako. Rist watched intently as I told Apple what I was doing.

“Oh!” Rist watched as I synthesized a library. “That is what you were talking about! I did not even know you could do that!”

Apple appeared impressed as well. “You have a knack for this sort of thing.”

“That’s because I am a technomage.” I wrote down a few more lines of Scode, then picked up the scroll and handed it to Apple. “There you have it. Now call off the assassination of my people.”

Apple’s eyes turned hard. “Five hundred gold.”

“Excuse me?” I tiled my head.

Apple lifted his chin. “That’s what I consider this to be worth in the bidding war. Five hundred gold.”

“Okay.” I handed Apple the chest as well. “That contains about three hundred. So the total is eight hundred.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I am not a poor man.”

“You’re really young to be throwing around this much money,” Apple paused, “But, seeing what you can do with magic, I don’t think it’s so strange.” He stood up. “I will go consult with my people. I’ll send an escort with you back to where you are staying.”

I stood up and bowed. “Thank you very much.”

Apple smirked. “If you ever want a job as an assassin, you know who to contact.” He handed me a small business card. I placed it in my pocket.

We left the mansion and returned to the docks. I bowed. “Rist, thank you for helping us. We’ll repay you in kind.”

“Let me tell you now. The Empire is preparing for a full-scale assault on the headquarters of the Rebellion. You have one month before the Ultimar is well enough to strike.” Rist bowed. “I thank you for your help. God speed, Rock.”

We got aboard our ship and left the dock. It took us two weeks to sail back to Gagna, and when we arrived, Andrew was there to greet us at the docks. We shook hands.

“Did you get everything handled?”

“We outbid the assassins.”

“I see.” Andrew sighed. “How much?”

“We paid three hundred gold.”

“Good. That’s not an unreasonable price.” He turned away. “Our Syndicate spies have found that the Empire intends to invade us soon. This time, they’re bringing their undead army.” He started walking towards the castle. “Come with me. We need to coordinate our defenses.”

We followed Andrew to the castle, and then to the meeting room, where the leaders of the Rebellion were standing around a large war table.

We discussed the attack, and how we were going to fortify the island. The last attack had almost resulted in our loss. Now that we knew they were coming, we could prepare fortifications on the island, like cannon and mines. We spent several hours going over the various defensive measures that we were planning to utilize.

After the meeting was over, I came with Jak, Tae, Ami, and Amber to the Green Dagon for dinner. We ordered our food.

Ami turned to me. “Rock, you look a lot stronger than before.”

“That’s because I acquired the God Emperor’s blessing.”

“But we’re fighting against the God Emperor, right?”

“The God Emperor, from what I saw, doesn’t really care about what’s going on in the realm. He’s a bit of an anarchic type.”

“Oh.” Ami lowered her chin. “I see.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid.” I turned to Amber. “Are you doing all right?”

Amber bowed. “Yes. I am. Thank you for being so kind to me. You and Ami.”

Ami hugged Amber. “She can sing really well. She’s a wonderful musician.”

Amber blushed. “It’s nothing.”

Jak leaned back in his chair and laughed. “It’s great that we’re all here together. Before the final battle, before the night falls.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to defeat the Empire when they come?” I turned to Jak.

Jak put his fist into his palm. “Yes. Without a doubt, we will send those imperial scumbags to the skyfloor.”

Tae looked at me. “About the zombies. We know they’re coming. Do you think you can pull the same trick you did at Billerstrang?”

“Maybe. It really depends on how prepared the Empire is. If they heard about what happened in Billerstrang, then they’ll probably have prepared a countermeasure against such a thing. But we can’t know for sure. Like I discussed at the table, we may be able to deploy my cure as a mas weapon, but that is an unknown variable.”

Tae nodded. “Great. At the very least it will give them something to think about.” She clapped her hands together. “In any case, I’m hungry.”

The barmaid came with our food and placed it on the table. We started digging in. It was really good, fowl meat, pork, eggs. A great dinner. A great last celebration of what had passed, and what was to come.

When the meal was over, I left the table and, alone, returned to the room, where I climbed onto the windowsill and sat. I watched the night fall, my mind clear, thinking of things to come.

 

39

***