Grand Game 481: Smuggling Ways (Patreon)

You have slept for 5 hours. 

Hellfire dome expired. 

I awoke hours later, feeling far from refreshed. Nonetheless, I forced myself into motion, knowing I couldn’t afford to oversleep. First things first, I thought blearily and checked the status of my buffs.

Mimic active. Remaining duration: 5 hours.

Satisfied that my Jasiah-face was still in place, I glanced at the curtains enclosing the partitioned-off space. They were still drawn and the thin thread I’d hung across them remained undisturbed.

Good, no one’s come in. 

Drawing open the curtains, I strode out in the chamber beyond. The throne room was occupied again, not only by the merchants Banyen had brought along, but by a handful of players that were clearly not civilians.

My eyes narrowing, I studied the heavily armored figures. Blades. They’re Blades. 

It seemed Banyen had taken my advice and called for reinforcements. The Blades had likely teleported in now that the hellfire dome—the ward the Riders had erected around the fort to stop just that from happening—had expired. 

Of Banyen himself, there was no sign. Ignoring the inquisitive looks of the Blades and merchants, I made my way to Nicola.

The under-dweller was standing next to the throne, his eyes vacant. Probably communicating with the Game. Drawing to a stop before him, I waited patiently. 

A minute passed. Then another.

I shifted—less patiently.

Another minute went by.

Realizing that Nicola was not about to reconnect with reality anytime soon, I reached out and shook him. “Nicola? You there?”

“Hngh… wha—?” The merchant’s eyes cleared. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Sorry to pull you out from…” I paused, realizing I didn’t know where he’d been. “Where exactly is it that you were?”

“Communing with the auction,” Nicola replied, his eyelids fluttering as he split his focus between here and ‘there.’ “Putting your items up for sale.”

“On the global auction?”

“No. There are other markets,” he replied vaguely. “Ones more… suited to the items we’re selling.”

I frowned, parsing his words. “You mean like a thieves’ market?”

Nicola’s rapid blinking stopped as he focused fully on the ‘real.’ “Lower your voice,” he cautioned, his eyes darting left and right to see if anyone was in earshot, “and be careful of what you say.”

I looked at him questioningly.

“Yes, I’m putting everything up for sale on the thieves’ market. And yes, that is its actual name. The market is an open secret amongst those in the know, but it never pays to talk about it. That can attract the wrong sort of attention, or worse, get you booted out.”

“Huh-uh,” I said, not understanding the reason for his concern. We were literally surrounded by thieves, after all! “How did the looting go?” I asked, changing the topic.

“Satisfactorily. Very satisfactorily,” he pronounced.

“You didn’t run into any problems?”

He shook his head. “No, the Blades’ mercenaries didn’t bother us, and no Riders arrived to contest the fort. Things went off without a hitch.”

“That’s good.” I paused. “How much do you think we’ll net?”

Nicola smiled but didn’t answer me.

“Two hundred thousand?” I ventured.

The under-dweller’s smile grew broader. “More. Much more.”

“Five hundred thousand?” I asked, lowering my voice until it was barely louder than a whisper.

Nicola shook his head. “More still.”

My eyes widened. “One million?”

He nodded minutely. “Your cut should amount to that much at least. It appears you caught the Riders napping, and some of them were carrying items they shouldn’t have—” he grinned—“items they would’ve done better to leave in a bank.”

I whistled softly, marveling at my sudden riches. What was I going to do with so much money? And just as importantly where was I going to store it? After what Nicola had told me earlier about the banks, dumping everything in the Albion Bank didn’t seem all that wise anymore.

Something else occurred to me too. “Out of curiosity… how much do you think a sector like this is worth?”

Nicola’s eyes narrowed. “A sector? I couldn’t say but… more than a million definitely—even for a poor one like this.”

“Oh,” I said, deflating as I realized how much I’d undersold myself to Tyelin. “Why so much?”

Nicola shrugged. “There are too many factions and not enough sectors. Even a barren region such as this can be turned into a secure base. Not just for the owning faction, but for the Powers who run them too. Where do you think the Powers store their valuables? In a bank run by another Power?” He snorted. “Of course not. They keep it in their own vaults, usually deep inside territories they own.”

“I see,” I said, nodding thoughtfully. Nicola’s perspective ran counter to Adriel’s—and Farren and Ceruvax’s, for that matter. But then again, the trio still saw the world through the lens of House scions. 

The Kingdom had changed much since their day. 

Too many factions, Nicola had said. That could be the crux of it. The Houses would have been finite, their numbers restricted by the Primes. There would’ve been no need for them to claim a barren sector such as this one.

But the factions… there was no natural limit to their numbers. And every faction would want its own base. And from that perspective, the sector’s value made sense. 

Setting aside further consideration of the matter, I refocused on the conversation with Nicola. “That brings us back to the matter of payment.”

He raised his hands, palms up. “I don’t have the money yet, and I won’t for a few days.”

“I know,” I said, waving aside his concern. “I wasn’t expecting you to pay me now. But that said, I mean to leave immediately, and I don’t expect to return anytime soon.”

Nicola rubbed his chin. “I see. That could be a problem.”

Nodding, I waited patiently to see if he was able to come up with a better solution than I had.

“I can’t give you a promissory note,” he said. “I don’t know the exact amount yet. And besides, the sum is too large.”

I chewed the inside of my lip. “Then, assuming we don’t use a bank, how do we do this?”

“A bank is a bad idea,” he agreed. “What about a third party? Someone like Den Chief Dinara?”

I shook my head. “I prefer not to involve anyone else.” The more people we brought in, the greater the chance of betrayal.

Nicola exhaled. “Then, there are two other options. One: we set up a meet for a few days hence.”

“Chancy,” I noted. “I can’t say for certain if I would be able to make the meet.”

Nicola nodded. “Me neither. That brings us to option two: set up a drop point.”

My brows lifted. “Go on.”

“There’s not much to it. We choose a sector, and a place within it, that we’re both familiar with—somewhere no one else would think to look. I stash your money there and you pick it up when you can.”

My brows rose higher. “Where are you going to find a place to stash one million gold coins?” That volume of money would require a wagon to haul and transport.

He shook his head. “For a transaction such as this, I won’t use gold.”

I frowned. “You won’t?”

Nicola closed his eyes, and when he opened them a moment later, he was holding a small pouch cupped in his hands. “Have a look.”

Leaning forward, I peeked inside the open bag. It was filled to the brim with a fine powder of texture and color I knew all too well.

“Do you know what this is?” Nicola asked.

“Stygian powder,” I said, my face carefully scrubbed of animation.  “Stygian powder made from stygian seeds or from the residue of dead stygians.”

The under-dweller smiled, blissfully unaware of my sudden tension. “That’s exactly right. The powder is one of the most valuable substances in the Game. Just a single gram sells for a hundred gold.”

“I see. But I’m still not sure what you’re driving at.”

Pressing his hands together, Nicola caused the pouch to return to whatever aether store he’d summoned it from. “I’m proposing I pay you in stygian powder, of course.”

It was exactly what I feared.

Seeing my lack of enthusiasm for the idea, the merchant expounded further, “Look, as expensive as stygian powder is, it’s also not as rare as some of the more exotic ingredients in the Game. Which means I can acquire the quantity I need to pay you, and just as importantly, that you can easily sell it when you need to. Secondly, as widely used as the powder is, its price is stable: one hundred gold for one gram. No need to quibble with any merchants on the price.”

Saying nothing, I thought through the matter for a moment. 

I couldn’t deny that what Nicola said made sense. At the rate he quoted, a million in gold was equivalent to ten kilograms of stygian powder—an easy enough quantity to transport or hide. 

And while my own recent experiences had left me leery of anything to do with stygian seeds, I was certain the black powder he’d shown me was inert. Whatever mind the seeds had housed had been destroyed when they’d been crushed to form the powder.

“Alright,” I said eventually, “we’ll do it that way.”

“Excellent,” Nicola grinned. “Now to the matter of the drop point. It’ll be best to use a Kingdom sector, and we should have more than a few in common. Tell me, which ones are you most familiar with?”

“Err…” 

The list of Kingdom sectors I’d been to were vanishingly small. Excluding the two here in the Eastern Marches, I’d visited only three other above ground sectors: Nexus, the wolves’ valley, and the nether-infested sector. And somehow, I didn’t think Nicola was going to be familiar with the last two.

“Well?” Nicola prompted. “I know you’ve been to Nexus. Where else?”

“It’ll have to be Nexus,” I said, avoiding the question.

“Nexus?” His brows furrowed. “Not a good idea. We should—” 

“We can use the plague quarter,” I said, interrupting him. “Isn’t the den master there as well?”

“He is, but—” 

“Good. Then in one visit, I can tick off two things on my list: visiting the thieves guild and collecting my share.”

The under-dweller studied me searchingly, no doubt trying to puzzle out the reason for my insistence to use Nexus. “Alright,” he conceded at last. “We’ll do it your way. Nexus is far from ideal, but I can make it work.”

I clapped my hands together. “Right, let’s iron out the details then…”

 ✵ ✵ ✵

Your trap crystals have been fully replenished. 

You have acquired 15 x rank 4 nether protection crystals. 

You have unequipped a veteran’s trapper’s wristband and equipped a scoundrel’s wristband.

You have acquired 51 bombs, 20 miscellaneous skillbooks, and 20 ability tomes.

Ten minutes later we were done, concluding on not just the location of our drop point, but also the arrangement necessary for Nicola to act as my agent and collect the promissory note from Tyelin. As a welcome bonus, Nicola restocked my consumables and supplied the other odds and ends I requested at no cost.

I was trusting the under-dweller with a lot, but trust like delegation was something I was going to have to do more of in the coming days. I was wary of becoming over-reliant on Pacts, knowing myself how well their wording could be manipulated. And, funnily enough, trusting Nicola did not trouble me as much as I expected.

Perhaps that was because the money in question—all one million two hundred thousand of it—was not money I had held in my own hands to begin with. Losing it would hurt, certainly, but not as much as something I already considered mine.

“You will need this to open the drop box,” Nicola said, holding out a slim rectangular object. Stretching out my hand, I took the item in question.

You have acquired an unmarked chest key card. It has been enchanted to signal the bearer when they are within 10 yards of the paired chest. This item cannot be stolen, traded, or lost, even upon death.

I threw Nicola a meaningful look. “You’ve done this before.”

He smiled. “I have. Believe it or not, more than a few of my customers have trust issues.”

I laughed. “Well, it’s always a pleasure dealing with someone who knows what they’re doing.” 

Nicola’s smile broadened. “Likewise.”

Glancing around the room, I saw that most of the other merchants had drifted to the northeast corner of the room—the one containing the rebirth well. 

“What’s with the skillbooks, ability tomes, and nether crystals?” Nicola asked suddenly.

I turned back to him. “Hmm?” 

“I know I agreed to restock your consumables, no questions asked, but…” He shook his head. “All those books, on top of the ones you already bought before, they can’t be for you, can they? And fifteen nether crystals? That’s not a quantity you see most players carrying around. You’re planning on hunting in the nether and making your own stygian powder or what?”

I smiled. “Maybe.” Then before he could pursue the matter further, I jerked my chin in the direction of the congregating merchants. “Expecting company?” 

Nicola looked where I pointed. “Yeah. According to the timetable Banyen provided, it won’t be long before the first player revives.”

“Speaking of Banyen… he mentioned something about there being a Pact not to sell to the Riders?”

Nicola nodded. “Tyelin did bind some of the others with a Pact. But in my case, it wasn’t necessary.” He looked down his nose at me. “As you should know already, I only deal with thieves.”

I scratched my head. “Really? I know you said that before, but if that’s the case, how were you planning on selling the Riders’ stuff?”

The under-dweller waved aside my question. “That’s different.”

“Different how?” I persisted.

He sighed. “If you must know, I planned on selling the gear back to the original owners. My strictures don’t apply when it comes to a player’s own equipment. I make an exception in this case, as does every merchant I know. Your Kesh does too. It’s a sort of golden rule. Merchants nearly always give the original owner the right of first purchase.” He paused. “Cuts down on the number of revenge killings.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Combat players murder civilians, you know. Sometimes because of nothing more than greed, but often it’s a case of misplaced blame.” He threw me a pointed look. “Threats are common too. That’s right. I heard all about your ultimatum.”

“Just a bit of play-acting,” I murmured.

He snorted but didn’t pursue the matter further.

I stuck out my hand, thinking it was time I left. “Well, I guess this is goodbye.”

Nicola looked from my outstretched hand to the merchants gathered near the rebirth well. “You’re not sticking around to watch the show? There will be lots of cursing and threats, I assure you.”

I smiled. “As fun as that sounds, no. There are places I must be, and I don’t want to outstay my welcome.” Even though my actions may have directly benefited the Blades, I was certain that many of them would be as upset with me as Banyen was.

Taking my hand, Nicola shook it. “One last thing… if you ever need to get in touch with me, speak to Dinara. He will find a way to pass along the message.”

I nodded. “I’ll do that.” 

Pivoting on my heel, I headed back to the curtained-off area, and there, hidden from view, I attended to my final preparations.

Aetherstone bracelet activated. Connection to the ley line network formed. Selected exit: nether portal 1 of sector 75,172. 

I was on my way—not to the nether-infested sector, but to rejoin the companions I’d left behind in this sector. 

It was past time I checked on them.

Transfer commencing…

…

…

Passage completed!