Confront

“Everyone get up and walk to the exit calmly.” You said without looking up from the table. Kara and Jeane nodded. Kara got up first to let you out. Then you and Jeane slid out of the booth. As they walked towards the exit you noticed the men at their table stand and start to follow. With a sigh you wondered as you stopped before the door and waited.

What the hell am I getting involved in right now? You turned around. The three men you were confronting were the typical good fare. Big, bulky and a bit dull looking on the outside. The most prominent goon was bald, while the others had black and brown hair, short on top and shaved down to the skin on the sides. They stopped in front of you. The prominent goon lifted his chin, getting a good look at you.

“Outta the way.”

You pointed back with your thumb. “What is she to you?”

“Property.”

“Wrong answer.” You shook your head. Kara moved right up to your back, using you as a shield as she pointed over your shoulder at the men. She shouted.

“I only said I’d work a few nights! You don’t get to tell me what to do. You told me I could leave whenever I wanted. You’re a liar and that means Kismet’s a liar, too!”

“Oi!” The other two looked ready to fight with just that mild insult, but the bald man held them back. He merely shrugged it off and laughed.

“You just don’t get it. It’s all above board. For your stay you made some money, but you also incurred debt from renting the bed, food and drink and… then there’s all those accusations that you were drugging. You collected, you didn’t pay.”

You blinked. “Wait… seriously?”

“I mean-” Kara waffled.

“-why should I have to pay?”

You squinted at her back over your shoulder. She shrunk under your gaze as you asked.

“Are you stupid? Even a country bumpkin like me knows you’d probably have to pay for some setup like that… Do you still have the Gid you made?” You saw Kara’s ears noticeably droop under the scrutiny.

“Most of it?” Lower.

“S-some!?” She was practically bowing.

“Holy shit. How much?” You asked the man.

“She made an Orr piece. The split’s 80/20 in our favour.”

“Eighty Gid? That's a bit much, but I can cover her.” You looked back at Kara, who was looking up with big, guilty golden eyes.

“You owe me, got it?”

The bald goon grinned. “But! Then you gotta account for the interest. We’ve been on the clock the whole time chasing her down… That adds up, you know? That means that this girl owes us roughly… Oh, carry the two…” He nodded.

“10 Orr pieces all together.”

You furrowed your brow sternly. “You’re insane. She could BUY a house with that much.”

The man looked shocked. “WHERE!?”

“Huh? Cheshire. Is it expensive here?” You asked.

“Yeah! It’s fucking expensive. You can buy a HOUSE for 10 Orr pieces in Cheshire?”

“If you don’t mind the countryside.”

“Some people would pay extra for that.” The black haired goon nodded sagely.

“Wow. That is something else. Maybe for retirement.” The bald man smiled wistfully.

“I could hook you up. I know a few people.” You offered.

He grinned. “Really? That’s great.”

You smiled. “So, we know that amount is bullshit. Just to be clear.”

“Still gotta pay it one way or another.” He remarked.

“You’re full of shit. I’ll give you a full Orr piece to screw off.” You made a shooing gesture with you hand. The bald man cocked his head to one side, rubbing his chin.

“Your face aint to bad.”

“I know.” You squinted at him.

“That elf, too. If the three of you come work for one night you can all make ten Orr, easy.”

Jeane rolled her eyes, finally speaking up from behind you. Since she wasn’t visible it was just her hat bobbing up and down behind your shoulder.

“You will then charge rent and other fees so that we have to stay longer. Also, the split is 80/20 so even if we ‘make’ ten Orr pieces the actual take for us, you would claim, is 2… We would need to work five nights at the minimum. Nice try.”

“Huh. Clever girlie.” The bald man frowned.

“I just do math. It is not that impressive. Having a brain must seem nice. Does that bald head also reflect intelligence?”

“H-hey!”

You slumped as Jeane antagonised the man openly. Just as he was getting angry you held up both hands in a stopping motion.

“Everyone calm down. There is an easy way that we can settle this.”

“Oh yeah?” He looked at you closely.

“Can’t believe I’m doing this, but…” You brought out your ‘provisional’ Gold emblem. They gasped at it. The bald man leaned close, squinting. You could tell he was good enough to scrutinise it, so you added.

“Yeah yeah, it’s not that big a deal. I got assessed at Gold. That means-”

“Hero. Huh…” He seemed to be taking in the information rather calmly.

“If your group has any above board work that I could do in the city-”

The man scoffed. “Taking those types of jobs’ll like lower your assessment.”

You grinned unsubtly. “Oh? Oh no… I’ll just have to take the hit.”

“You’re a weird guy. Our boss doesn’t take contractors, though, so you’re outta luck I’m afraid. Just give us the girl. It’s not that hard, ‘Hero.’ She’s a prostitute. A slut. What do you gain by protecting her when there’s a hundred others like her on these streets.” You were only faintly listening. You glanced back and motioned for them to start walking.

“Besides, if you’re in Teor you probably heard the name Kismet. Hey-” Her noticed them walking out behind you.

“Never heard of him.”

The man’s eye twitched. “I get it. You’re not from here. Kismet is someone you don’t wanna get on the bad side of. We’ll find you. This shit will ALSO lower your assessment, you know! They mark you down for causing trouble.”

You grinned widely, hand resting on your sword. “Oh no~” You stood firm, daring them to do something against someone that was assessed as a Gold emblem. If they could have done anything to you, they would never have even bothered talking. Reluctantly the bald man clicked his tongue and stepped back.

“You’ll regret this.”

“Tell Kismet if he’s got a problem to take it up with me… You’re doing business in a shady way. The Watch or the city Clerks probably wouldn’t be happy to hear the type of fees and interest you’re charging for basically nothing.”

“Heh.” The man simply smirked.

“Go on, then.”

You turned and left, catching up to Jeane and Kara. She walked backwards as you jogged up behind them. Her expression was a bit dower.

“I’m really sorry, Hero.”

Jeane side-eyed her. “You were awfully happy to get away when it was just the two of us, for someone that is sorry.”

“Snitch!” Kara gritted her teeth and pointed. She looked at you apologetically.

“I- I really am sorry, but I am also happy you helped me get away. I’ll be forever gr-”

“Hah!?” You stared her down.

“Bullshit you will! I want money. Money!” You rubbed your fingers together.

“This is so fucked up, I got a gang leader on my back because of you. You’re gonna help me do my job until you make enough Orr to get yourself out of debt legitimately. Uuuugh.” You held your head in your hands and groaned loudly, cringing hard.

“I can’t believe I did that…”

“Well you did do it.” Jean commented.

Kara gulped. “I promise I’ll do my best to make you money, Hero.”

“I will help.” The elf offered, making it sound like a necessary annoyance based on the tone she used. When your stares fell upon her she looked away, cheeks gaining a dusting of darker grey as she blushed.

“It is not as if I care about this animal beside me, or your involvement with her. I do owe you, however superficial that sounds.”

“I won't refuse, but what can you do?”

“I am an Incanter. I perform Figura, just differently from a ‘Mage’ as you call it.”

“Very useful… Kara, you can do what?”

“I dunno. I do what I do.” The fox shrugged.

“Okay.” You stared blankly at her.

“Do your best, I guess.” Internally you felt pretty good.

These idiots are gonna drag me down for sure. I just need to make sure I don’t drop too low that I end up as a Journeyman or lower.

“It is getting late. Where are we going to stay, Hero?” Jeane asked.

You stopped. “Good question. We’re in a bit of a tricky situation. We don’t know what places are owned or ‘protected’ by that gang…” You stared up at the orange glow of the sun as it set over the buildings.

“If we find a chapel of Mara they aren’t allowed to turn people away and they tend to be safer than staying in a hostel… We also only just annoyed those guys so we may not need to resort to that just yet as word is getting out of what I did.”

***

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this story and want to read more of it, more Chapters are currently available to read at https://www.patreon.com/TVWintergreen I upload new chapters every week day with extra content also being released constantly to my discord for Extra Tier Members."