2022-02-24 17:42:47“What are you doing here?!” Mindy barked at the door of the Raven Tavern.
Remian arrived in time to see her block the door with Kage at her side, the shadow-magic user standing there silently with his arms folded. Mindy looked frightened, but she still barked at Rose like a cornered puppy.
“Relax. I’m just here to pick up someone.” Cruel Rose was perhaps named for her shape rather than her face. The general form of the woman in front of the tavern was indeed ‘blooming’. Her height and her width had a lot more in common than most humans could dream of. Her hair was piled high in a bun above her head, which was very, very heavily covered in make-up.
Next to her was a man who deliberately looked like a skeleton. He wore a black suit painted to look like the form of human bones, and had likely borrowed some of Fa- AHEM! ‘Cruel’ Rose’s make-up to paint his face like a skull.
Ye’Tuo ‘the Undead’. Ye’Tuo the Slayer. Rose had come with one of her strongest.
“You can’t kidnap us! Kage is right here!” Mindy drew up her courage, especially when she saw Remian arrive. Her eyes lit up a little and a wave of daring bade her speak her mind. “You fa-umpfh?”
That last bit was muffled by a hand covering her mouth from behind. Mandy appeared, a full head taller than Mindy and looking pale. “You’re here?”
“Of course! My newest employee is finally eighteen today! How many years have I waited? How long have I been patient with you, and the brats slinking around this miserable hole?” Rose exclaimed. “How generous and kind I have been!”
“No!” Mindy managed to pull her sister’s hand off her mouth. “You can’t!”
“Can’t I?” Rose took out a complicated magic scroll, tapped it daintily, and a sigil lit up.
From that scroll came a voice.
“I, Mandy Summers, do pledge my lifelong service to Cruel Rose upon reaching adulthood in exchange for sum of 3000 Lir. I swear to obey her every order from my eighteenth birthday onwards…”
“No!” Mindy gasped. “It can’t be! It’s a lie!”
“It is a legal contract, and I am here to collect her debt!” Rose announced. “Isn’t that right, Mandy, darling?”
Mandy did not deny it. “You didn’t have to come here so early. I was going to meet you tonight.”
“Ah, but why wait? The day has come, and I am eager to see the fruits of my patience!”
“But… but…!” Mindy stared. “We’ll pay you back! We’ll pay back the money!”
“With what, darling?” Rose eyed her. “All you have to offer me, your sister can do better, and even if you wanted to replace her pledge with yours, I’m afraid I simply haven’t any interest in waiting until you yourself reach maturity.”
“We have money! We’ve been doing jobs for the Burning Steel!” Mandy gritted her teeth. “I have sixty Lir right here! I’ll give it to you now, and more every week until the debt is paid! In less than one year, you will have your 3000 Lir!”
“Ah, but the debt happened so long ago, I’m afraid it has grown with compound interest! It is now 5000 Lir!” Rose said. “In another year, it will be 6000! When you finally pay that amount, two years would have passed, and the debt would have risen to 7500! At the rate the debt rises and the amount you pay, it would be three years and 9000 Lir before we are done! But I am a generous woman, so I am actually willing to release Mandy from her pledge… AFTER you finish paying the full amount!”
“That… that’s not fair!” Mindy gasped.
“The contract is in my hands, darling. You don’t get to complain.” Rose said smoothly. “Don’t worry. If you really miss your sister so much, you can join her in my company once you yourself come of age.”
“How did this happen?” Mindy turned to her sister. “When did you sell yourself? Why did you need that 3000 Lir?!”
Mandy didn’t answer, but her gaze slipped sideways, and fell upon a pair of little girls playing with new sewn-fur toys.
“No way.” Mindy’s eyes were wide. “That day when half of us went missing… you said you found them!”
“Of course she did, darling. She certainly found them.” Rose nodded agreeably.
“You kidnapped them!” Mindy shouted furiously. “And then you sold them back… for three thousand Lir… which we couldn’t have… and made Mandy swear a contract to pay it with her life?!”
“Enough, Mindy!” Mandy grabbed her sister, holding her tightly, whether to protect her or to stop her from charging at Rose, Remian wasn’t too sure. Maybe both. “That’s enough.”
“No! It’s not! We can’t let her get away with this! We have to fight her!” Mindy turned to Remian. “Help us!”
Rose turned and casually made a gesture with one hand. There was movement in three different streets surrounding the tavern. Sunlight glinted off weapons that were raised on all sides. But nobody charged in yet.
It seemed Cruel Rose had come fully prepared for a fight. Her gang might have fewer members, but they were mainly full-grown adults, violent, hard-bitten thugs more often than not. As for the Circling Ravens, a good many of them were children.
The only way they could win this fight was if Remian could turn the tables entirely on his own.
“Wait.” Remian held out his hand. “What if I could pay off that debt?”
“You?” Rose eyed him. “You do have some looks… but I’m afraid you simply won’t last very long doing the kind of work my employees specialize in.”
Remian coughed awkwardly. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just… perhaps I could offer something valuable to pay it off all at once? An immediate profit could surely justify a discount.”
“Something valuable, you say?” Rose’s eyes narrowed.
Cautiously, Remian took out his most valuable possession, the one thing which could possibly measure up to the value of that debt. Reluctantly, he held up the book.
“Fire magic.” Rose breathed. “Is it real?”
“It is real.” Ye’Tuo spoke for the first time, in a rattling, hoarse voice that made Remian’s bones shiver.
Such a book in Remian’s hands was worth all the scrolls he’d Inscribed early on. But such a book in Rose’s hands? She herself was capable of using magic scrolls, which meant that she had some magical ability, maybe enough to actually use that fire magic. On top of that, she ran a gang, which might have other members capable of learning…
But who would sell such a book, even a second-hand book, to a woman of her reputation? Even Remian, had trouble getting it with his status as an agent of the Iron Legion and an Emergency Field Priest of the Order of Celestial Light. It was his abilities at Inscribing Scrolls and his future potential as a trading partner that finally brought the deal through.
In other words, this was an item that Rose could not have bought no matter how much money she offered.
“It’s a trap.” Rose said suddenly. “I don’t believe you. It’s either fake, or… or…”
“Really?” Remian twitched a finger, and fire lit up on it. Deliberately, he pressed that tiny flame to the corner of the book. It, too, caught fire…
“Stop! STOP!” Rose leapt at him in a frenzy. “I’ll take it! If it’s real, it’s a deal! Just STOP!”
Remian extinguished the flame. “The contract. Now.”
“The book first!” Rose insisted. “Show me the contents!”
Remian hesitated, then glanced at Mandy. “Can you read?”
“I can read.” Mandy nodded. “Sort of.”
“Then come here and read it aloud.”
She did exactly that. “The basis of fire magic is desire. Upon… sorry, I’m not sure how to read this word… and this diagram…”
“Just show them the first page.” Remian sighed.
Ye’Tuo and Rose lit up upon seeing it. Rose grinned. “It is real.”
“The contract!” Remian reminded her.
Quickly, Rose put her hand on the sigil of her contract scroll and said, “I, Rose Ackers, do hereby transfer the ownership of one Mandy Summers to Remian as part of our trade deal.”
The sigil lit up. Lines of inscriptions suddenly appeared floating in the air around Mandy, like written light around her head. She screamed, clutching her head in pain.
“What are you doing?” Mindy shouted. “You had a deal!”
“And I have kept it!” Rose pursed her lips. “I don’t have the power to release a slave, dear. Transferring her ownership was the best I could do.”
Remian’s jaw dropped. “Wait… are you saying…?”
“Yes, of course.” Rose smiled at him and Remian felt both goosebumps and a chill down the back of his spine at the same time. “Congratulations, darling boy.
“Enjoy your new slave.”
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526. Purchasing
Interestingly enough, as Remian concluded the seventh round of mana-hunting, the Quarin did in fact, offer to sell him a bigger ship.This was a Quarin Castle, Galleon-sized with 6 towers and more capacity than George’s, Tim’s or Darian’s flagships. It would come fully equipped, and with a handful of old staff who absolutely refused to leave regardless of who owned or commanded it. That proved particularly problematic when the Wilkins wanted to scrap the old vessel entirely, thus the offer to sell it to Remian instead.The price? 100 million mana. Given that he’d just reaped nearly 20 million today, he should be able to afford it within a week if he saved up.“We’ll even let you delay payment up to a month.” This generous offer was made over the comms by Eric Wilkins, sales rep for the Wilkins family.Remian considered for a bit. “How about a test run?”“A test run?”“Yeah. Let’s bring out this ship of yours on a little trip. Nothing dangerous, just a salvage run, maybe pick up some r
525. Third Aid Mission
In another star system, comms transmissions were being exchanged.The bandit lord was clear. “You have three days to surrender! Otherwise, you and all your people are dead! You understand? DEAD!”“Anything?” A older man asked the guy at the comms station.“No response to our calls for help. I don’t know. Is there really anyone out there?” he asked, despairing.“These bandits had to come from somewhere! If they’re out there, there could be others too. Someone, somewhere...” the older man’s face was all but gray.Then, there was beeping.“What’s that?” the older man asked.“It’s... a response!” the younger guy yelped, scrambling, pressing buttons, turning on speakers.George’s voice came in. “Hello? Star System Toah? We got your message. We’re coming. Hang tight, we’re almost there.”
524. Remian and mana
“You’re giving me what, now?!” Darian stared.“I’m giving you my fleet. I reserve only the Black Fang.” Remian said plainly. “Also, this is with the understanding that you, George and Tim are going out there to help those in need and bring back people, goods and resources.”“That last bit sounded oddly emphasized.”“It should be. We’re going to need all we can get.” Remian cleared his throat. “I also suggest you grow your fleet and engage in some interstellar trading. It seems Tim has plans involving the Uber States, but Kanonasia isn’t going anywhere.”“What about George?”“George has been trading with the Woofers this entire time and isn’t likely to change that.” Remian paused. “If you like, you can even take a shot at trading with the Draconians. You seem to get along well with dragons, particularly Har’es-dras.”“The Draconians? Not the Quarin?” Darian asked quizzically.Remian coughed. “I have plans with the Quarin.”“Oh? You’re getting directly involved, now? I thought you decid
523. Comms
Somewhere along the line, he’d lost consciousness. George only realized it when he woke up to a splitting headache. “Ow.” He groaned. “What... where...?” “We’re on the way back to Sorrel.” Grace told him, appearing by his bedside. And it was a bedside, he realized. He seemed to be in the Kara’s Medical Bay. “I’m sorry. We had to retreat.” “Our... people?” George managed. “The HAC Troopers made it back. The Mechs... did not.” Grace paused. “We have the refugees though. And the Robotic Assembly Plant for Mining Drones. That’s all they managed to grab.” George slurred. “Mech pilots?” “Alive, if battered.” “Good. Alive is good.” George sighed. “This... didn’t go so well.” “Hey, at least we got the guys we were trying to save, and some machinery on top of that. You might say it was a success. A costly one, but a success.” “Casualties?” George asked. “Plenty of injuries to go around, but no deaths. So far.” Grace paused. “Some of the really badly injured might change that before lo
522. Second Aid Mission
“Were these really the best you could do?” George asked, eyeing the six hulking figures in front of him hesitantly. “Mmm.” Juni grunted. In front of them were six brand new Mechs. 2nd Generation products, they were armored weapons platforms on legs, with jumpjets for the signature ‘jumps’ that earned their generation the nickname, ‘Jumpers’. Or were they? George wasn’t entirely sure. When he looked at them, they really looked more like 1st Generation Walker-types. Those Jump Jets seemed to be an afterthought, an added equipment haphazardly strapped to their backs. “Would they really work right?” Juni shrugged. Given the time and materials he had to work with, George supposed he couldn’t expect better. He had only just received 2nd Gen tech. Until now, he’d been working with 1st Gen expectations and schematics. One of these Mechs seemed a bit worn, evidence that it had been built quite some time ago, and only recently been modified for George’s requests. “Fusion Cell for power, Pu
521. Next Step
It turned out that they also needed to acquire salvage rights to haul away ‘scrap metal’. Fortunately, that was a simple affair now that they had local currency. 50 USD and the matter was done. Grant, being the nearest specialist on matters of scrap to their location, graciously offered to transport their ‘scrap’ directly to their vessel out of sheer goodwill. Finally Benny and Sam went to try out the barbecued skewers. At Grant’s recommendation, though, they didn’t go to the Starport roadside stall. They ended up at another roadside stall run by a ‘foreign refugee’ someplace downtown not too far from Grant’s workshop. There, each skewer was loaded with rows of thick, juicy beef sausages, and only cost 20 USD for 10. Benny stretched. “Not bad for our first day. We’ve got three days here, don’t we? But we’ve already got half of what we wanted.” “What’s the other half?” Sam asked. “Technical manuals on engineering, power and propulsion. Tech, basically.” Benny yawned. However, whe
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