Chapter 244: Sightseeing

Chapter 244: Sightseeing

Rain walked arm in arm with Ameliah, grinning like a fool within his helmet. Never in a thousand years would he have considered this scenario happening in this world. And yet...Ñøv€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

“This unit has a nice rear balcony on the second floor with a great view of its secluded back garden. I know it’s a bit far from the center of the cavern, so you may have to walk more than you’d like, but if you’ll follow me up the stairs, I think you’ll agree it’s worth it. As you pass the fireplace, note the golden inlay, which is actually the control for the illusory flames. Not that it ever gets cold enough to need...”

Rain tuned out the chatty realtor, his face aching with his silly amusement and the effort to hold in his laughter. It was just so...wonderfully mundane. House hunting with his girlfriend.

“Are you okay?” Ameliah whispered as they followed the realtor up the deepstone stairs.

“Warm and fuzzy,” Rain whispered back, hugging her arm even tighter.

Ameliah rolled her eyes, though he could tell she was also enjoying herself.

“And here, the master bedroom. There are powerful privacy wards in the walls. When active, they are completely proof against Divination and are able to muffle sound to a variable degree in both directions. The last occupant was an enchanter, and a good one, I’m told.”

“Is that so?” Ameliah asked playfully. “You hear that, Honey?” She pulled back to look at him, taking on the feel of a hungry lioness. “A private bedroom.”

“Hey!” Rain protested, flushing crimson at just how serious that look was. The only teasing part was that she’d done it in front of the realtor.

Rain glanced at the man—actually a Guild bronzeplate, too weak to be assigned to a patrol and thus fulfilling his civic duty by doubling as a real estate agent. Despite Ameliah’s blatantly suggestive tone, the fellow looked composed and professional.

On the inside, however, his metaphorical ears were pointed straight up like a Doberman’s.

Doubtless, he would be spreading gossip about Nadir’s newest mercenary couple all over the Guild Tavern when he got back.

Just great.

“What’s got you all hot and bothered?” Ameliah asked, smiling at Rain with false innocence. “I just meant we could talk without people listening in.”

“Talking is not what you meant, and you know it,” Rain said, though having a place to converse openly about sensitive topicswas a draw. He was damn tired of being spied on and incredibly frustrated about not knowing when it was happening. The fringe benefit was just a nice bonus.

Gothim, Ameliah said with her soul, accompanied by the feeling that she’d pounced.

Who was running?Rain replied in the same way.

The realtor politely cleared his throat, a professional indeed. “This way to the balcony?”

“Right, the balcony,” Rain said, following, still arm-in-arm with Ameliah, though she slipped hers free as they walked out into the open air, whistling appreciatively at the view.

The garden really did look quite peaceful in the unreal light. It was enormous, fenced in by tall hedges and containing its own hot spring and everything. The water steamed mysteriously, illuminated by enchanted lights set into dark metal fixtures about the grounds. He found himself wondering how frequently a Lighter had to come by to charge them up.

Ameliah spun slowly, taking it all in before returning her eyes to Rain. “I vote yes. You?”

Rain pursed his lips, considering. Moving beside her, he leaned over the waist-high railing to get a better look at the yard. This was the third place they’d seen and clearly the best. Thanks to the wards and its location, it was as private as it could be while still being in the cavern. Better still, there was plenty of essence in the air, with it far from the daily bustle of the digger barracks and the drama of the great houses. The long walk to the hot spring wasn’t a problem when they had their own. To do any better, they’d have to stay out in the wild.

People are dangerous, but people can be reasoned with. Monsters, not so much.

Rain lifted himself back up, then turned and leaned back against the railing with a nod.

Ameliah nodded back, then addressed the realtor. “How much for a month?”

The realtor quoted a number, and Rain just about toppled over the edge.

In the end, it wasn’t that bad. Nadir operated much like Ascension in that it had a credit system for tasks beneficial to the community, but it differed through the lack of having its own currency. Everything had a reward in units of Tel or GranTel, from running patrol to delivering supplies to maintaining the district’s gardens. You could either take payment in cash at one rate or in credit at a variable, but significantly higher rate—provided you immediately applied it to a communal service like housing or food import. While what Alderman Juren had said about not being able to buy your way out of contributing wasn’t technically true, it was true in effect. You’d have to be an absolute nut bar to pay in cash, and even if you did, the district would just benefit differently, this time from your poor financial choices.

Obviously, Rain and Ameliah chose the sane option. Securing the lease took a mountain of paperwork and a trip back to Nist’s office—Nist being the woman who’d set them up with the realtor—but they got themselves squared away without incident.

“Where to now?” Ameliah asked, repeatedly tossing and catching the spherical ward key they’d been given. “Back to the bungalow?”

“Not just yet,” Rain said, smiling. “Once we head back, I’ll have to start working on our mission in earnest, and I haven’t finished taking it all in.”

He wasn’t just talking about the sights. For his planned changes, he’d need plenty of chaos for both raw material and time acceleration fuel. His stock was building even now, to Dozer’s mixed horror and enthusiasm. The Essence Slime was already inside and industriously scrubbing away, and there was no harm in leaving him to it while his tanks filled. It just meant he’d have more to start with when it was time to buckle down.

“Lunch, then?” Ameliah asked, tucking the key away. “Something besides rations and half-cooked monster guts?”

“Hells yes,” Rain agreed. “Let’s hit the Bank and the Guild first, though.”

“That’s got to be a skill,” Rain said, shaking his head in disbelief. He unbuckled his belt and settled it over his shoulders to keep the contents of his various pouches dry. “Some sort of illusion. He’s an Illuminator or something.”

“With that little mana?” Ameliah scoffed, the water rising above her waist. “Come on. Even if someone else did it for him, you’d see the enchantment.”

Rain shook his head, using his arms to help himself along now that the pool was deep enough. “No. No way. No way anyone has that much lumberjack energy naturally. I refuse to believe it.”

“Lumberjack energy?” Ameliah asked, laughing. “What?”

Rain heaved a defeated sigh. “You know, I’m feeling really inadequate right now. The least you could do would be to say you agree with me and give me a little validation.”

Ameliah laughed brightly, snagging his arm mid-paddle and looping it around her waist. “Oh, stop it. You’re at least as scrumptious as he is, and you know how I feel about you. You can feel how I feel about— Hey!”

“You said I could,” Rain said, grinning as she splashed him. Of course, he immediately splashed back.

“If you pigeon-heads get my steak wet, I will end you,” said an annoyed voice, and Rain wiped his visor clear to see they’d reached the bar and that one of the patrons had turned to glare at them, a silver Guild plate dangling against the man’s bare chest. A moment later, the woman beside him—similarly unattired but for her matching Guild plate—turned to glare as well.

“Sorry,” Rain said sheepishly, quickly hauling his eyes away, but the Guilders had already returned to their meals.

“Did he just say steak?” Ameliah whispered. She dismissed her helmet, tossing her bags onto the bar beside the pair. That got a head-turn out of the man, who then did a double take and almost dropped his fork.

For some reason, Rain found he got quite a bit of satisfaction from that.

That’s right, bozo. Flapjacks across the way isn’t the only eleven-out-of-ten in this place, and this one’s with me.

He dismissed his own helmet, and this time, the Guilder actually did lose his grip on his cutlery. The noise of the deepstone fork clattering against the bar made the female Guilder turn and likewise recoil in shock.

Is there something on my face? Do I have helmet beard? Oh, my eyes? I’m not using much mana, though...

He turned to Ameliah for help, but she just laughed and gave him a look that conveyed both deep love and the opinion that he was being impossibly dense. Told you, she seemed to say.

The male Guilder buried his face in his hands and groaned, mumbling something under his breath that Rain nevertheless managed to catch. “Gods, not another one. It’s not fair.”

Wait...really? It’s not just Ameliah’s opinion; I’m...

“Are you with the ambassador?” the female Guilder asked, sounding uncertain.

“The who now?” Rain asked, still struggling with his personal revelation.

“Him,” the woman replied, nodding toward the impossibly handsome man in the neighboring pool. “Though that answers my question.”

“Ambassador from where?” Ameliah asked.

“Rellagia,” said a new voice, that of the bartender—a heavyset man with a high bronze soul and crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. “Pardon for interrupting your conversation, but are you fresh from the surface?” His voice took on an eager note. “Any developments since yesterday’s proclamation?”

“Which country in Rellagia?” asked Ameliah, ignoring the questions.

“I’ve forgotten,” said the bartender, waving a hand. “That was last week. Ekrustia’s where the action is now. I take it you haven’t heard, then? Darn.”

“Heard what?” Rain asked.

“The war’s over,” the bartender said, leaning forward, eager to share. “The Potentate declared victory and claimed the whole continent for the Empire.”

“Fecht’s alive!?” Rain roared, lurching to his feet atop the submerged platform.

“No, the new one,” said the bartender, obviously pleased with that reaction. “Vannon.”

“I’ve never heard that name,” Ameliah said. “Should I have?”

The bartender shrugged. “I hadn’t heard it either until yesterday, and I like to think I hear everything. I did know him by another name, though, as I suspect you do too if you’re at all interested in foreign affairs. Lightbreaker.”

“Filth!” Rain swore explosively, almost slipping into the pool.

“Hey!” the silver Guilder said, shielding his steak from the spray.

Rain ignored him, sitting down and fixing the gossipy bartender with his full attention. “Start at the beginning.”