Chapter 55 Sovereign Choice

  “I see why you said that this needed to stay between us.” The Guild Master replied to Isaac, once the dark mage had finished his retelling of the events and drama of their adventure in Sapphirestone. “Social drama with a pile of greed and a few opportunistic people can really turn a city upside down. I just hope that things are more cut and dry here.”

  “One can hope. I wouldn’t bet on it though.” Isaac told him. “There is something that’s been bothering me, where are all of the lower ranked adventurers? The Guild Hall is practically empty.”

  The Guild Master shook his head with a sigh. “Most of them went to Sapphirestone. There is plenty of work here in Vespera but not nearly enough adventure. We’ve been stuck picking up the slack for the Guard for so long. It has driven away most regular adventurers and the only ones that have stayed are either here for loyalty alone or simply don’t want a commanding officer while they police the streets.” He explained.

  “You have adventurers policing the streets?” Isaac questioned with furrowed brows. He didn’t like the Adventurers Guild being used as an auxiliary police force or worse, a paramilitary organization.

  “Yes and no.” The Guild Master confessed. “They are encouraged to always do what is right.” He began. “The thing is, that with all the time they spend patrolling in an attempt to finish the endless stream of bounties, they end up coming across a lot of crimes in progress. People have started to treat them like they are plainclothes guardsmen which would usually be bad for business but, well…” He finished with a gesture at his mound of work again.

  “Someone needs to put a stop to this.” Isaac said with a frown. “But before that, fill me in or the non-government powerful people in the area.” The Guild Master nodded and then began.

  According to the Guild Master, there were three main organizations. The first was the Vespera Merchants Association. They seemed to have their fingers in everyone's coffers that did any kind of merchant related business in or around Vespera. The problem was that the warehouses and the buildings bearing their heraldry seemed to never have any problems with the stray thugs, bandits, and rogues in the city.

  After the VMA, there was a main ‘Guild’ branch somewhere in the city. The guild in question was the one that most members of the underground were very familiar with. They did everything from organize black markets to connect hitmen to those that wished someone dead. In Vespera however, according to the Guild Master’s childhood friend who was a thief by trade, the Guild had an issuance plan. If a member paid or pledged a sum of money to the Guild, then they would guarantee a singular safe exit from the authorities’ custody. They had leached every coin and even their very bodies away from the petty thieves and thugs that were bad enough to get caught while they raked in coins from those that were simply being cautious.

  The final main faction was a vigilante group that only ever came out at night. There was some speculation about a good number of the vigilantes being guardsmen and adventurers that were fed up with the status quo. None of the gear any of them used went beyond clubs, long coats, and face coverings. The simplicity of the gear combined with the efficiency of the vigilantes practically proclaimed that most of them were not normal citizens. Apparently, in recent days, the night guards had been informed that the vigilantes should be arrested on sight. That fact made sense on the surface but with the city having as much of a crime problem as it had, vigilantes should’ve been treated like a boon from Judgment himself.

  “So to sum it all up,” Isaac began. “We have the VMA working with the Guild to rake in money. We have the Adventurers’ Guild and the Guard working to fight the rampant crime on the surface, while a disguised coalition of the two work at night to do the same, all the while the night guards are attempting to arrest them for doing their jobs. We have the lord and lady pretending to help, a useless Court Mage, and a Magistrate that is forced to sit on his hands. While all of this chaos is going on, my target is the CSC which is both a legal and illegal merchant company who probably has dealings with both the VMA and their unnamed partners.”

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “That about sums it up, yeah.” The Guild Master replied. “As far as the Civil Servant Company is concerned, I am positive that they at least work with the Vespera Merchant Association. Their main storefront has the VMA letters painted in gold, silver, and copper and circled in platinum. That is their heraldry by the way.”

  “Well, I would like to stay out of noble politics as much as possible so we are going to start with the CSC storefront you mentioned. Lenna and I will head there now, but before we go, I have a favor to ask of you.” Isaac spoke as he leaned forwards in his chair.

  “I’ll do what I can, of course, but I can’t promise much. I don’t exactly have any resources to spare.” The Guild Master told him.

  Isaac nodded. “I know. I need you to let the Guild Leader know a few things.” He began. The Guild Master was surprised but let him continue uninterrupted. “The first is our worry about the nature of the head of the CSC. The second is where the CSC branch is that we are going to. And the third is the time of our entry.”

  The Guild Master nodded. “I can do that.” He assured him after a moment. “How will I know when you enter?”

  Isaac stood up and grabbed the Guild Master’s Neverending Pen. The pen was quickly coated in shadows and Isaac set it back down. “The shadows will disperse when we enter.” He told him and then grabbed a paperweight. “If the shadows disperse on this, tell the Guild Leader to bring a cleric with him, Lenna and I will have failed. If they turn into black flames, do not touch them or they will melt off your hand. Other than that, it will mean that Lenna and I need immediate assistance. Let the Guild Leader know and come to our rescue, please and thank you. If two double platinums aren’t enough, hopefully three will be.”

  The Guild Master nodded and rose from his chair as well. He offered Isaac his hand. “I’ll do it.” He told Isaac.

  Isaac took the offered hand. “Thanks, Guild Master.”

  The Guild Master shook his head. “Just call me Heitor. If you hear anyone talk about the Thundering Blizzard, that’s me.”

  Isaac smirked. “I am The Lord of Darkness, but I don’t mind if you just call me Isaac, Heitor.”

  —

  “He seemed…” Lenna began as she walked beside Isaac.

  “Normal?” Isaac tried to finish for her with a questioning glance.

  Lenna nodded. “Yes.” She agreed. “But we’ve really walked into a mess, again, haven't we?”

  “We’re just pulling on a string that keeps moving from blanket to blanket.” He replied. “Eventually we’ll get to the end of it.”

  “One can hope.” She echoed his earlier sentiment. “What’s the plan?”

  “Remember the Safeharbor General Smithy operation?” He asked her.

  Lenna nodded. “Yes. I’ll enter like a normal customer while you look around.”

  Isaac smirked. “This time I want to add another piece.” He told her.

  “Shamesh.” She surmised.

  Isaac abruptly stopped. “Wait.” He said with worry written all over his face.

  “What?” Lenna asked him.

  “The thieves and assassins guild or whatever it’s called, we never saw any part of their operation in Sapphirestone.” He told her. “But Lenny said that there is a blackmarket in Sapphirestone. Where was it?”

  Lenna furrowed her brows in thought. “I… I have no idea.” She replied. “I feel like we should’ve come across it.”

  “You don’t think someone is helping them do you?” Isaac wondered.

  Lenna’s eyes brightened as she realized that he was exactly correct. “There is someone.” She told him. “Someone that at present is entirely unreachable.”

  “A god.” Isaac surmised. “Which one?”

  “Probably more than one.” Lenna confirmed. “Humans have a lot of gods but it would have to be one with precognition of some kind.” She racked her brain for a long moment. “Sovereignty.” Lenna said with a nod of assurance. “He would be able to ensure that they are unmolested by the authorities. Especially with how the Guild works mostly on an ‘honor among thieves’ code. There aren’t really any laws but just spoken and unspoken agreements. Sovereignty is also known to be antagonistic towards Justice. By Justice’s very nature, she has to stand above all and have dominion over them in order to judge and punish them.”

  “Do you think we are going to have to indirectly go against a god in order to get this job done?” Isaac wondered.

  “Well, it isn’t like we’ve actually gotten hired to do a job.” She reminded him. “This was our own sovereign choice to go about dismantling the organization that kidnapped people we are close to.”

  “So as long as we do not plan to lead the authorities to the Guild, we should be fine to just go after the CSC?” Isaac questioned her.

  “I believe so.” Lenna replied. “Gods can be unknowable at times but the younger ones, like Sovereignty, tend to be very stuck in their path. If you come at a problem from the right direction, and plead your case aloud, they might just side with you even when they used to be against you. You never know but can only hope.”

  Amaranth Serentia V'Nova Wexler