33 Fallout

33 Fallout

On one hand, I was quite glad I wasn't in a world where random were people gathered up on the night of the full moon, howled and transformed, and became feral and ate any locals stupid enough to be outside.

On the other hand, their beastification skill was only a minor boost to their stats, unless they levelled up several times and then it could reach a double boost and sometimes a triple boost, if they were lucky. The problem was that it was still limited to the one night a month and could only be activated while under moonlight and pretty much useless in the dungeon.

I had a sudden thought and shared it. “What if a werewolf activated their skill first and then entered the dungeon?”

Rose laughed a good laugh and it sounded pleasant to my ears. “Even our strongest werewolves would run out of stamina and become exhausted before reaching the second floor. It's unthinkable that any of them would get lower than that.”

I knew that was true, since each descent to a lower level was that much farther away than the last and you always had to cross it to the other side to go down to the next level. Rose then explained that they did have spells and enchantments they had researched and created over the years, just so they could simulate moonlight, only they were expensive and still only worked on the night of the full moon.

I reached across the small table and took her hand. “I'm so sorry that your people's main racial skill is so limited.”

Rose looked stunned and needed a moment to recover. “You are genuinely sorry about that.”

“I really am. You have this great addition to your life that you can't take advantage of, just because it only makes you exceptional on one night a month and only if you stay above ground.” I said and for fun, since I was holding her hand anyway, chose to check what I could do with her as a temporary party member.

I barely managed to keep my face straight as I read that for a measly 300 karma points, I could essentially upgrade her and unlock her ability to be used once a day and it was another 100 to give her both the werewolf and full wolf forms. Since everything was about ten times the cost here, that was laughably cheap.

“Have you ever wanted to become an adventurer?” I asked her instead of what I really wanted to ask.

“I... no, I... why would you ask me that?” Rose asked.

I patted her hand and cast the truth spell. “Tell me what you really think about your job.”

“I hate having to watch adventurers go to their deaths. I can only advise them to not go and I can't stop them from being hurt. I have to force myself to not care when men pledge eternal love to me, because I know they will one day never come back from that deathtrap and I'm afraid I'll be alone forever.” Rose said, her voice full of conviction, then she gasped and pulled her hand away from mine.

“I assume you are a member of the Ouranos Familia?” I asked and she nodded. “Would you be insulted if I asked you to leave and join my Familia?”

“I would be.” Rose said. “They took me in when I had nothing and I have a job and a life now.”

I did not remind her that she hated her job. “Then forgive me for asking you to give that up.”

“I will consider it.” Rose said.

I reached into my backpack and created a single rose. The wide eyes she gave me let me know two things. One, she could feel magic when it was used near her. Two, she couldn't tell what the magic was. With that in mind, I created five more roses and her tail puffed out as her ears stood straight up.

“A gift for you, to match your name and eye-catching coloring.” I said and changed the color of the roses to match her bright red hair and took out the half-bouquet from my backpack.

Rose gasped when she saw them and her hands shook as she accepted the six roses. “Th-thank you.”

I smiled and stood, gave her a slight bow, and left the small private area. I walked over to the exchange area and the dog-man was there with a large treasure chest. I nodded to him and he nodded back. I took out the Golden Egg from my backpack and held it up.

Rehmer placed the wooden chest onto the counter and sighed. “I'll call some helpers to help count it and prove that it's all there.”

I cast a diagnostic spell on it and inside was 1,000,000 valis. It also had three tracking spells on it and a magic beacon inside of it. A second casting couldn't tell me who put them there or who would be tracking it. That made me change my plans for the rest of the morning.

“There's no need of that, Guild Section Leader. I will completely depend upon your honor and will trust the Guild to not cheat me again.” I said as a direct challenge.

The dog-man's face drained of color and he reached for the chest to try and take it back.

I placed the Golden Egg into his hands and intentionally misdirected him, picked up the chest, and signed the receipt. “I hope the Guild enjoys the fruits of their labour.” I verbally prodded him and his eyes never strayed from the chest. “Have a good day.”

Almost as soon as I turned around, he ran around the counter and over to the main one, went around that, and entered the office at the back of the room. I chuckled under my breath as he tried, probably quite fruitlessly, to contact whomever he hired to retrieve the chest.

My having the chest as evidence was damning enough for him. If I also caught the thieves and brought them and the chest back to the Guild, his reputation would be ruined after my loud proclamation. He might even lose his job or his life.

I glanced back when I reached the door and saw the pink-haired girl giving me a glare. I gave her a little wave and left with a smile on my face. Now I wondered when they would discover that the Golden Egg was only a transfigured piece of armor with a copy of the same magical signature inside?

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times? Fuck you, too.

*

Lili was too stunned to speak. Plus, her backpack was stuck on whatever it was and her feet weren't touching the ground to move anyway.

“The Guild it is. That's a great choice. Thank you for helping me, Lili.” The man said and closed the chest and handed it to her.

Lili could only nod because she was too shocked by him letting her carry 100,000 valis! 100,000!

The man chuckled at her stunned face and picked her up, backpack and all, and carried her through the city's back streets towards the Guild Hall. It wasn't until they were passing through the doors of the Guild Hall that Lili realized he had carried her and her massive burden all that way.

“Hello, Guild Section Head Rehmer! Guess what happened to me on the way home?” The man asked.

The pitiful whines of a sad dog-man echoed loudly throughout the whole Guild building. All Lili could do was wonder who this flame-covered man was and why he willingly gave her 25,000 valis for robbing him.

*

I was not surprised when the Guild shut down for the day and I was granted a very rare meeting with the god of the Ouranos Familia himself, Ouranos. His right hand man that led us to the meeting was just a floating cloak filled with bones. I wasn't going to judge him, though. His concealing spells were quite good.

The meeting room was a gigantic room the size of a stadium and the only chair was atop a partial pyramid and only part of the massive room was lit by magical lights. It caused an eerie and I suspected a quite intentional atmosphere of intimidation.

“You are causing the city a lot of problems, Bell Cranel.” The deep booming voice of the man in the high throne said. Well, orated. Only Lili and myself were his audience, so it was kind of a waste to use his divine power for something so mundane.

“It's not my fault your Section Leader is a crook and a thief.” I said and then smiled. “It is my fault the corruption was discovered, so you're welcome and I expect recompense of an appropriate nature.”

Lili made a choking sound and I lightly patted her back.

“You are in no place to demand anything.” The cloaked being said.

“I'm pretty sure I was the one that was being ripped off and robbed by the Guild. I could easily demand that you fire everyone for incompetence and then hire people who actually want to do the job.” I said.

Lili shifted in my arms and I patted her back again. “You can put me down now.”

“I can't. I need you as a hostage.” I said and both Lili and the cloaked figure sucked in sharp breaths. “Just the chest, the magic beacon, the tracking charms, and my word is not enough. A witness to the Soma Familia's compliance in robbing both the Guild and the Hestia Familia is needed to bring their god to heel and clear out their criminals.”

Lili looked like a deer caught in a car's headlights as she stared at me.

“I'm going to demand Soma hand over all of his current stock of wine to me, even the good stuff. No one tries to rob me of a million valis. No one.” I told her and she fainted.

“I cannot enforce that.” Ouranos said.

“I'm not asking you to. I'm telling you to announce that as the judgment against their Familia members and that everyone else is forbidden to buy anything from them until they do.”

“I don't see how that would work.” The cloaked figure said.

“The Guild will refuse all business with anyone not in compliance.” I said and looked up at the god of the guild's face. The small smile there let me know I had won.

“It will be done as soon as you hand over the real Golden Egg.” Ouranos said.

I took it out from my pocket and tossed it to the cloaked figure. “I was only holding it in trust.”

Ouranos chuckled. “You planned this.”

“Only when the pieces fell into place. If there hadn't been charms on the treasure chest, I would have handed over the real egg. Half of the proceeds belong to my dungeon partner.”

“Honor and honesty. How refreshing.” Ouranous said.

I laughed. “Do you want the bodies to show off? They made cool ice statues.”

It was the cloaked figure that chuckled this time. “It might be fun to show what happens to thieves.”

I shifted Lili to one arm and dug into my backpack with the other. A summon spell brought out the ice pieces and both Ouranos and the cloaked figure chuckled at the severed heads and dramatic poses of the bodies.

“This will definitely be fun.” The cloaked figure said happily and gathered the pieces up.