Gloominess +3: Reign of Decay. A LitRPG series: Book 3

by Elian Tars

  Well, a “secret ally” and a “philanthropist” weren’t synonyms, I understood that. Right now, Glozeysk’s interests didn’t depend on whether I’d get the cloak or not. And that meant that no one was going to give it to me just because I was “a friend.” Glozeysk assumed that I’d be able to pay 25,000, and as it often happened with him, he turned out to be right.

  “Okay.” I gave up and materialized a handful of coins. With the corner of my eye, I saw Berg staring at them in astonishment.

  “But I want you to answer one question first: what does the word ‘prototype’ imply? Is there an improved, that is, the latest version of these Robes somewhere?

  “There’s a full set,” the merchant answered after a few seconds of silence. “The Great One created it a long time ago, and its parts have been scattered around the world. But if you want, the Great One can put them back together again. However, that’ll cost you...” Daezl froze with his mouth open for a moment. Just as I thought, his patron was whispering the “right answers” to him. “One and a half million,” the merchant finally finished the sentence.

  “Requirements?” I asked curtly.

  “One hundred and ten,” the old man pronounced clearly.

  “I’ll think about it,” I answered, scratching the back of my head, and pushed the coins toward him.

  I took off my old cloak and immediately tried on the new one. Awesome! I like it! Berg was looking at me enviously.

  “Dear Daezl, what can you offer my friend?” I nodded at the archer.

  The little old man sniffed funnily and, clicking his tongue, answered: “I try not to keep such things as your cloak here at my place — it’s not profitable, you see. Things must make money, not lie as expensive junk on the shelves of a storage room. But we’ll be able to find good clothes and weapons for your friend. I think that it’ll all cost you 15,000 in total, deal?” Excitement flashed in the merchant’s eyes.

  “Deal,” I sighed.

  “In that case, you’ll have to go to my other shop, the one near the shopping square. I’ll write a note to my assistant.”

  Honestly speaking, I didn’t want to go to the city center in broad daylight. And even though people tried not to look in my direction, I still attracted too much attention. It’d be better for me to stick to the plan and return to the tavern after shopping.

  “Go alone,” I told Berg. “I’ll wait for you here. I’ve some business to discuss with Mister Daezl.”

  “Okay.” The archer nodded with resolution. And although he looked as stern as usual, I felt that my friend was about to leap with joy. “I’ll be back in a flash!”

  A couple of seconds later, the door closed shut behind him, and the merchant and I were left alone. It wasn’t that I wanted to hide my next purchase from Berg, it just happened that way.

  “Well, Mister Ken, I’m all ears,” Daezl said with a sly grin. “What else would you like to buy?”

  “I need points. Any sort. Do you have such a thing?” I asked raising my brows, remembering that Tayon said that “in his parts” there was no technology to transfer Personality and Everyday Points from one person to another.

  “Really...?” the merchant drawled thoughtfully, stroking his thick moustache. “You’re wise to have come to me with this question. You know, not all people in my profession share my faith. If you asked someone else, you could’ve been taken to the duke. You see, Mister Ken, the ruler of Urhon doesn’t approve of point transfer. He says that it tips the balance. But the thing is that Mister De Bleit has his own vision of balance, and he doesn’t mind buying points for himself and for people close to him.” The little old man chuckled. “That’s why open trading of points is prohibited here. But the Great One heard what you’re interested in. How much stat and skill points do you need? I don’t offer Everyday and Personality ones — it’s not profitable to deal with them, their number is very limited, and you can buy them only in Glozeysk.”

  Having listened attentively to what the old man had to say, I asked him for the prices; they were the same as Tayon’s.

  “And what about Everyday and Personality ones? In Glozeysk? How much will they cost me?”

  Daezl froze for a second, obviously listening to something, and then spread his hands guiltily. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you the current price at the moment,” he chuckled.

  “Fine,” I exhaled. “How many stat and skill points can you sell me?”

  “It’s recommended to consume no more than seventy stat and fifteen skill points a week, and for no more than four weeks in a row. After that, you’ll need to take a month’s rest before you can repeat the process. Anyway, we can get the package for the first week already by tomorrow. But I won’t hand over the prohibited goods personally. You’ll have to get a deliveryman.” The merchant’s eyes flashed again. He felt that he was about to sell something his client didn’t really need.

  “What deliveryman?” I sighed.

  A couple of minutes later, he showed me a wonderful little thing — a container that looked like a rooster the size of a poodle. It looked pretty ridiculous: it had wooden wings and body that were covered with metal, two tubes in its sides, and a hose in its throat for pouring in mana potions that fueled it. The carrying capacity was up to four pounds and its talons could carry a light basket. But the most important thing was that you could mentally control it. However, you could do so for ten seconds and only once per hour. The rest of the time, the contraption ran on autopilot.

  I squeezed the remote control that looked like a carrot and, lifting it to my face, focused my eyes on it.

  Fly a circle over the room, I ordered.

  A second later, the rooster stretched its wings and executed the command. Just when he landed, I closed my eyes and gave a new order.

  Activate full control.

  The whole thing felt rather weird. I could feel my body perfectly well, there was no out-of-body experience. At the same time, a foggy, black-and-white picture stood in front of my eyes, showing me what the robot was seeing. I turned my head, and the rooster mirrored my movement. Go higher, I’d command, and he’d obey. Land. And so he did.

  “Well? I’m telling you, Mister Ken, it’s a great purchase! A wonderful example of the groundbreaking magical-technical technology of the Great One! By the way, the transferring of conscience became available only in the latest version. The former ones could only execute set tasks. The first generation could only fly from point A to point B, where they’d needed to rest for half an hour before flying back.”

  It was cool how Kane could connect to his Wights without any limitations, or how Gods could use their Avatars, like Glozeysk used Rira. On the other hand, my necromancer friend couldn’t lend his abilities to anybody else, but this mechanical bird could be used by anyone with mana. Remote controlling it had eaten up some of my mana. Still, one question remained: how could this miracle of technology help me with buying points?

  Having asked him that, the merchant flung his hands. “But of course! That’s what I should’ve started with!” he blurted out excitedly. “The deliveryman can remember up to three locations and find them within the duchy area. Actually, the Great One developed it to make the exchange between armies easier, so that you could quickly deliver orders from the headquarters right to the field commander, wherever he was at the moment. The only problem is that you can’t change the names of the chosen individuals. Also, the deliveryman needs their blood to remember them. But don’t worry, this one,” he nodded at the rooster that was still standing on the counter, “is already tied to one of my friends — Fred. He’s also a Disciple of the Great One, as you understand. By the way, the Great One is ready to give you the deliveryman for almost half of price — 30,000, the usual price being forty-five.”

  The merchant said the last sentence in his most serious voice. Well, I wasn’t a fool. I had figured out that much. If Daezl himself was this eager to sell it, then it must’ve been important for his patron that it’d be me who’d get it. I wondered
if Glozeysk gave the goods to his people on consignment as soon as he decided on the discount or if all those merchants were his employees. Perhaps it all boiled down to who the buyer was. After all, he wanted me to get not just the mechanical courier, but the whole mental communication system that came with it, too. Stop… Let’s assume that all is good with the cloak — he knew that I’d definitely be interested in it, so it isn’t surprising that the item had been brought here for me. But why would they bring the courier? What if I didn’t ask about the stat points? What pretext would they use to offer it to me? This was the second time in the last few minutes that I caught myself thinking about if Glozeysk had somehow managed to find out that Ekheim’s treasury was in my pocket. With his second specialization — not inventing, but selling and being greedy — it could really be that there had been a Follower, or a Disciple, of his in Ekheim that decided to go to the treasury just like me. Unfortunately, they were late. Then, having found out from Rugus that I had saved Una, Glozeysk put two and two together and assumed what I’d want to spend the money on…

  “You would’ve offered me the rooster anyway, right?” I asked the merchant quietly.

  “I probably would’ve found an excuse to do so,” he smiled.

  “And if I had no coin?”

  “But you do have it, don’t you? What’s the point of thinking about what didn’t happen and what won’t happen? The Great One told me that you tend to overthink, and that sometimes you confuse yourself because of it. Thirty thousand gold pieces is a good price for the deliveryman. To be more exact, for the prospects it can open for you. You’ll get it and, putting coin in the basket, you’ll be able to send the deliveryman to Fred tonight, under the cover of night, so as to avoid attracting the guards’ attention.”

  Suddenly, another thought flashed through my mind: what if it was the Old Man who told his secret ally, Glozeysk, that I’d be in the city with the coin? What if my patron wanted me to have a means of communication with Glozeysk’s Disciple? Buying stats points once a week wasn’t just for me. I could do the same for his other Disciples. Besides, we’d be able to arrange the delivery of any goods. Yes, the mechanical bird could carry only four pounds, but we could discuss the place, meet there and take a whole loaded cart.

  “Here’s your coin,” I said, measuring off another golden pile.

  “Here’s your deliveryman,” Daezl smiled, pushing the rooster and the remote toward me.

  I put my purchase into my inventory and frowned. The merchant also got serious at once.

  “What’s that noise?” I asked warily.

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head and went to the window. I approached him and looked at the street.

  “What’s that delegation?” I muttered, seeing marching soldiers in armor with the emblem of the duchy.

  The door of the shop burst open and the guardsmen barged in. However, it wasn’t they who attracted my attention, but the one who came in with them — a tall girl in a light-colored dress with loose, dark hair that reached her waist. She stopped in front of me. I’d say that she looked me right in the eyes, but there was a black, silk blindfold over her eyes.

  Lady Tiara De Bleit

  Level 98

  HP: 4,875/4,875

  Under the severe gazes of the men accompanying her, she slowly lifted her hands to the back of her head and unfastened the knot of the blindfold, reveling her beautiful, dark gray eyes. For a few moments, we stared at each other.

  “This is the first men that I’ve met today! Just as I told my father, the duke of Urhon, this is the man I’m going to marry!” she suddenly declared.

  Chapter 12

  In the Castle

  Looking at her pretty face, I was frantically trying to understand what the hell was going on. Did this group purposefully enter Daezl’s shop? It definitely did. When I saw them from the window, I could’ve tried to hide in the storage room, but I decided not to. Why? There was no guarantee that I would’ve had time to do it. There was no guarantee that the merchant would’ve kept silent either. There was also no guarantee that this strange woman would’ve left me alone even if I had managed to hide and Daezl had kept silent.

  However, if I had hidden from her, perhaps I would’ve had a chance to activate Wanderer and escape.

  I could do that now… Yes, they’d see me do it, but they wouldn’t be able to catch me. I doubt that they could counter it...

  But do I really need to run away? I don’t think that I do. I can use “Wanderer” at any moment, so there’s no rush. I should use this opportunity to figure out what’s going on.

  “Milady,” I said, humbly bowing my head. “Is an ordinary traveler like me worthy of presence of someone such as yourself?”

  I quickly glanced around. Daezl froze, bowing in astonishment. The guardsmen, standing straight and proud, were looking at me without hiding their disdain.

  “The one I chose to marry shouldn’t be looking at the floor, Mister Ken. Lift your gaze; I want to see your eyes.”

  There she goes again with that nonsense. Damn her, what trouble did I get myself into this time?

  “That’s better, Mister Ken,” said Lady Tiara De Bleit when our eyes met. “Tonight, Mister Ken, you and I are going to marry.” She smiled charmingly. “Oh, I can’t wait!” She fell silent, continuing to look at me, as if giving me an opportunity to speak.

  “Milady, what did I do to deserve such an honor?” I asked, squinting. I supposed she knew who I was.

  “This is your fate, Mister Ken,” Tiara said mysteriously, turning around on her heels in one smooth, elegant move. “Let’s go. We both need to prepare for tonight. Dear sirs,” she glanced at the guardsmen, “please, escort Mister Ken to the castle and make sure that he doesn’t get lost.” She stared at the merchant just for a second. “Mister Daezl, sorry for having bothered you.”

  Four of her soldiers surrounded me in a semicircle; eight more were walking in single row on both sides, forming a corridor. If someone were to look at our procession from the air, it’d remind them of a volumetric flask, or some kind of a potion bottle with me at the bottom of it.

  Tiara, followed by ten more soldiers, walked a little bit further ahead without looking back at me, as if she suddenly remembered that a groom shouldn’t see the bride before the wedding.

  “I’m Lady Tiara De Bleit, and today I‘m going to marry the first man that I’ve seen today — Mister Ken!” she’d occasionally cry out without breaking her stride, looking more like the city’s madwoman than the daughter of the most important man in the city and the whole duchy.

  People gathered around. Everyone looked at her with a smile and grimaced when they’d see me. Here and there, I’d catch bits and pieces of their conversations, the main point of which was “what did the poor baby do to deserve this?”

  In the crowd I noticed Berg, who had already put on new clothes. He looked respectable in his black leather armor and black cloak, with a short sword and a dagger hanging on his belt. A lacquered bow could be seen peeking from behind his shoulder. He leveled up after shopping; the God of Darkness probably gave him a quest related to it, and rewarded him with XP for a job well done.

  Special Ranger Berg

  Level 55

  HP: 2,610/2,610

  My friend was looking at me with a puzzled expression. When Tiara repeated her speech, he froze, eyes wide as dinner plates. I shook my head, hinting that he shouldn’t do anything rash. Getting a grip of himself, he nodded in understanding.

  I was a little surprised that we had to walk all the way to the castle, which was situated on a high hill in the southeast part of the city. I thought it unusual that a daughter of a duke should go there on foot. There were carriages here in Urhon — I saw a couple of them on our way here. I really doubted that the De Bleits didn’t have money to buy them.

  Is she doing this on purpose then?

  Also, why did the duke let his daughter declare that she’d marry “the first man she meets” when his house was full of
potential grooms? Those noble men could get offended and refuse to help De Bleit with his war against the Duchy of Oruel. I doubted that he’d be happy about that. Then why did he set himself up like this? What’s all this about?

  “This is your fate,” said Tiara, when she came to me after having walked through the whole city blindfolded. “Fate” — that was something new. How could one speak about something so ephemeral in a world where Gods could appear in front of their Followers in flesh? Was it a figure of speech or was it just make-believe and superstition? Then again, this world was weird; things that are impossible in our world are possible here. Was their impossible then something super-impossible? And unbelievable super-unbelievable? It was much easier to justify one’s failures and unfairness of life by saying that it’s all the work of “fate.” It was possible that the less fortunate would follow this logic.

  However, I doubted that the Tiara’s mind was on the same level as that of the common folk. I got accustomed to being critical toward everything, especially in this dark world, which brought me to the only possible explanation: Tiara was a Disciple, or even a Gleam of some God, who told her how to find me. However, I was still left with two questions: what was the point of this entire charade, and who was this God? Was it Guer-Shui, the same God her father served? I didn’t know why, but it seemed to me that this wasn’t the path of the God of Balance.

  I could be wrong, of course.

  The hill on which the castle was situated was surrounded by a moat filled with water, but the drawbridge was lowered. Crossing it, I examined the castle. It was a beautiful fortification, built of gray stone, shaped like a square with thick walls. Tall, cylindrical towers adorned the corners of this square. In the middle of every wall were four additional, rectangular towers, three of which were of the same size, while the fourth was the biggest one, as a donjon should be.