Chapter 214 - Fortune

"Wake up," a faint voice called, the bed rocked as if a cradle. "Wake up," another voice called. "Wake up," both voices called in harmony. 'It's too early,' the eyelids felt heavy, the mind refused to work, an overwhelming state of sleepiness had enveloped the psyche.

"Are you going to sleep till the next day or what?" a sharp voice followed by a piercing sensation on the neck.

"Stop biting me," forced to wake, he sat upright, with one eye narrowly opened. The sun outside now bright and rejuvenating, he crawled out of bed and stretched. Paired with a few yarns and subtle shaking of the hands and feet, the mind awoke in turn.

"Good afternoon," he turned and faced Emma, Emmy, and Adete already on the shoulder.

"S-sorry to say this," Emma added in a shy voice, "-but today's a new day," Emmy fired without much tact. A little confused, he turned towards Adete, "-You slept the whole day yesterday. That supposed nap turned into a twenty-four-hour rest," the words physically hit him. Tis was Adete's breath for she stood a mere few inches away.

"I see," he looked down, the body felt more at ease with the mind being clearer than usual. It wasn't all bad for the nightmares that plagued for the past few months didn't appear. The body and mind had an opportunity to relaxed. It showed in the glow the face portraited. "How did you spend the day yesterday then?"

"From napping, we went inside," as usual, Emma spoke first.

"Then, we slept on the futon Adete shown," Emmy added.

"After that, the others came to show us around," they ended the short explanation with a smile. The emotions, speech, and mannerisms already looked better than before.

"Like it?" he asked then proceeded to pat their heads.

"Yes, it's fun," they spoke in tandem.

Not inclined to rest on his laurels, Staxius headed down from the attic. Lunch was in order for he had slept past breakfast. Behind, the two teenagers accompanied. The clothes worn were still dirtied and seemed to not have been cleaned. They were visibly irritated, to which after they reached the ground floor, "-care to stay inside for a few minutes. I'm going out," he stood in front of the door, the shop seemed dusty. "I hate to ask this, but could you girls clean the place a little, there should be dusters in the closet on the stairs."

"Sorry?" Emma asked, her eyes filled with wonder by the amount of stuff laying around.

"You might have forgotten," Emmy stepped forward, "-we're still new here, what is this place?"

"I apologize," he turned, the hand that once rested on the doorknob was placed onto her shoulder. "-This place is named Pandora, my magical shop," with a smile the door opened with the other free hand.

"Ohh," Emmy said in wonder, "-don't worry," Emma called, "we'll take care of the place." It was too good to be true, but the girls' mind was finally off the incident.

"Sweet," the door opened, "-I'll be back shortly, don't create too much havoc." The door closed and he walked, leaving those two behind to clean.

"Did anything interesting happen yesterday?" they went through an alley that led towards the dark district.

"Nothing much," Adete replied, her eyes wandered around the bars and taverns. Most empty with the keepers cleaning out the mess from the night prior.

"Are you sure?" he asked yet again, losing a day felt as if a month – there could have been a lot happened, things that were essential for him to know.

"Yes, I'm sure," she sighed and stood, "-having cleared the first platinum quest ever, the attention switched to Kniq. I heard rumors of them getting an interview later today by the news outlets. Someone's going to get popular," she whispered then sat back down.

"Is that so," he sighed and walked till a bar came in view.

"Hello there, timothy," Staxius waved. Cigarette in mouth with a lighter in hand, the man he called out to, nearly spat. "Ay, long time no see," the cigarette returned into his front pocket. "Where have ya been," he spoke with the usual accent and walked inside.

"Questing," the door opened, "-what about you?" the room smelled of sweat and alcohol, a few men wearing tuxedoes were passed out on the couches.

"Nothin' much, just the usual business," he went behind the counter and waited, "-how may I be of service," the way the words were pronounced felt as if the man was excited about something. Subtle but present, a feeling of joy was there.

"Care to explain to me what that thing is?" he pointed at the cigarette.

"Oh, nothin' much, just a smaller and lighter version of a cigar. More affordable if ya ask me," he answered proudly.

"I see, quite interesting," without wasting time, "-I'm headed to the toilet."

"Oh alright," the barkeeper knew what to do, they both walked inside, the secret door opened. "Good luck out there," a parting sentence to which the light from the toilet grew dimmer.

"Why are we here?" Adete asked, the voice troubled.

"I'm Shadow…" he replied coldly, "-a member of the dark-guild. Of course, I'll visit this place," he turned, "-We're here to collect the money that is due," a whisper that made her light-headed.

"Fine, fine," she reluctantly answered and leaned on his neck, "-I'll take a nap whilst you do what is needed."

"Sounds fair," a purple glow in the distance came in view. Opposed to how the place was at night, it seemed relatively empty. None worked on the stage, the doors to the pleasure rooms were closed by locks. At the bar, Jason cleaned glasses as well as the marble-top overlay.

"We're closed," a figure at the entrance was spotted, this gave Jason the cue to speak.

"Is that so?" unimpressed, Staxius walked. A single push of a button later, the usual dim lighting changed into one bright and clear. He saw every inch of the bar, the sheer size that seemed small at night, was in fact, very large.

"Oh," quickly realizing who had come, the uninviting tone changed, "-long time no see," Jason smiled, "-take a seat," he offered.

"I thought it was closed," a smug reply to which he sat.

"Yeah," he faced away to fill a mug with beer, "-well, an exception must be made," he turned, "-the famed alchemist from the underworld, Shadow, has decided to grace my presence," he spoke in jest.

"Going by that reaction," Staxius took a sip, "-I guess the God's ale has been growing ever so popular?"

"More than popular, it's a hit, none can resist it. With the fear of impending doom – it's worth it. Stars to commoners, all who took a sip are hooked."

"Damn," the mug emptied after a chug, "-guess it's more potent than I expected." It was true, the alchemist who's been brewing said ale for the past few weeks had grown in popularity. None knew the identity; however, many had tied it with the famed killer known as Shadow.

"Small talk aside," Jason took out a lovely reddish box in which cigars were laid out beautifully, "-care to tell me why you're here?"

"I'm sure you know already," the voice monotonous, he took a cigar out.

"I see," the barkeeper reached for a lighter, *Click,* the top of the cigar was chopped off. A few seconds later, with a cigar in mouth, Staxius waited.

"The payment I assume?" joining him, Jason, both smoked.

"Yeah," he replied, puffs after puffs. Lost in the motion, the conversation stretched on till noon.

"Look at the time," Jason pointed at the wall. The counter was filled with glasses that once contained whiskey and such. "Give me a second, I'll go get the cards," he stumbled and headed into a private room.

"Are you drunk?" Adete asked, seeing the state of his face.

"No, I'm not actually," the tone cool and composed, "-this much isn't enough to get me drunk. It's a side-effect of the immortality, I'll have to drink a lot more to get a feeling of tipsiness. Though I don't mind drinking, I like the taste, it's fun," the cigar still wasn't over.   

"The personas do change quite a bit depending on the place and time," she commented.

"Well, you're right. There must be a separation, else all would go down the drain," he took it as a compliment.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," the door reopened suddenly, "-damn," the eyes opened wide. "It's been a long time since I drank," a few shakes of the head later, "-here," an envelope. "Renaud sent around twelve cards; I took the liberty of putting all the funds into a single card. There should not be any issues, leave all that to us, " a smile later, "-if you want, I could personally be in charge of making sure that the money is delivered into that card you hold,"

"For a small fee, I assume?"

"Spot on," Jason was out of it but seemed conscious enough to remember what he said.

"Deal," a handshake later, "-I've got a favor to ask," Staxius requested intently.

"Fire away," a sharp response.

"Do you mind ordering cigars for me as well. I want the best of the best, and store it in a good-looking box – of course, I'll pay," the voice serious, Jason could but accept.

"I'll send someone to deliver it later tonight," he voiced confidently, "-we're the dark-guild after all. We have access to anything one might want – don't worry about payment. Thanks to you and that new formula, the money we handle every month has sky-rocketed. It's not far when our organization might monopolize the God's ale trade."

"So, you say," Staxius smiled and stood, "-before I go, what is the deal with the RFS belonging to Shadow?"

"Call it a gift, it's Renaud's doing. The boss has taken a liking to you," a wave later, Staxius walked out without replying.

'It sure was wise to enter the underworld. Danger lurks around every corner; however, the return is worth the effort.' He walked, Adete slept. 'I wonder how much I earnt if it's the dark-guild – I'm going to presume it's in the five-digits. A quick visit to the bank is in order.' Thus, after reaching the toilet, teleportation was used to travel to the adventuring guild. From there, a few minutes later, he arrived at the bank.

[Total Balance: 203,000 Gold Coins] *Cough,* seeing the balance, "-excuse me," without arousing suspicion, Staxius stepped outside and dialed a number.

"Hello?" a girl's voice came through.

"Hello Cake, it's Staxius," he replied.

"Boss, how are you doing?" her voice friendly, "-you've returned to the capital I'm guessing?"

"Yes, but I have a question,"

"Go on," her voice seemed composed as if she had been working on another matter.

"I've just visited the bank, apparently, Jason merged all my payments into a single card. I appreciate it, but when I checked the balance, it showed 203,000 Gold coins. That much money in two months is impossible, I need answers," though it didn't seem obvious by the composed tone, the mind wandered all over the place.

"That's simple enough," she replied, "-it's the blend. The god's ale has been a hit – I'm sure you know the details, but money is no longer an issue. The amount you see is only a mere cut of the profit. Don't worry about it, there's no problem when it comes to a single person having that much cash. Even if it came out of nowhere, the bank won't say anything. The account that the cash is under belongs to a noble, well ex-noble. Put a big enough title on the line and people forget to ask questions. Keep making that wonder-drug, boss. The war between us and that other organization will take a lot of time."

"I see," he interjected, "-you take care then. If ever something comes up, I'm a mere phone call away. If even my expertise is required, I'll help."

"My pleasure, boss, also, don't worry about sending me cash. I've also got a cut from the god's ale business. The big-boss is really happy with the product, Renaud has taken an interest in you."

"You're the second person to tell me that today,"

"Is that so, anyways, I better get back to work. Talk to you later," the phone hung.

'Here I was expecting a five-figure digit, turns out, I'm rich again,' he smiled, '-a mere percentage of the profit. I wonder how much that stuff is being sold overseas. 203,000 gold coins; that's a lot of money, like a whole lot, in no way can I relate how much that is worth. Well, I better not get overexcited. Separating the money from the dark-guild is the wiser choice,' he walked back inside and withdrawn around ten-gold pieces.

'People can usually live off 500 silver coins for a full month if they're careful. Carrying around that much coin is dangerous and heavy. This is why the cards the bank has provided is a boon. The transfer of money is done via magic. All the host needs to do is think of the agreed amount then touch their cards with one another. Technology and Magic, what a lovely connection,' teleportation was used to get back to the shop. 'If 500 silver is enough to live a single month, then a gold coin is enough to live for two months.'