“Master it is time to wake up~”
“Five more Minutes…”
“Already gave you five Minutes. Frizzle might be waiting already~”
With extreme willpower Drak slowly rolled out of the bed. At that time it was close to the first resting day of the School, but not quite. Half an hour to Midnight, Alice woke him up and helped him in his specific clothing.
Alice herself was in a rather tight black leather armour with two long braided pigtails behind her. She had a completely different outfit as normal. Drak’s outfit was also not his normal School uniform but rather dark and auspicious Clothing, which made him look more sinister even if he was rather chubby.
“When is Midnight?”
“In about twenty Minutes. The others are already in the Cellar waiting for you~”
“Thank you Alice.”
-
Ariving at the Cellar a piece of wall was already written on in runic Symbols. While the Symbols defy normal comprehension the shape they are aligned in made it look like a door frame with a rounded top.
“Good Morning everyone. Everything ready?”
While trying to sound enthusiastic Drak was obviously still sleepy. With him are his maids all in their own Costumes looking more like thieves or Bandits than Maids.
Also they were not alone, some Workers are hauling different Items from a Circle on the floor into hidden rooms behind fake walls and secret doors around the Cellar.
“Good Morning Lord. We are ready to embark, after the Door is open. Raja’s targets are explained while Celia is on guard duty today. Alice and myself will be going to the Meeting with the Syndicate.”
“Alright, then we just nee… * yawn * …sorry, we just need to wait for Frizzle.”
Waiting for a while Drak finally noticed a light that seem to glow through the wall from a rather distant place.
“There it is. I will be right back.”
Putting on leather gloves and fixing a Mask on his face Drak straightens his Cloak and concentrated on the distant light.
“ [Dimensional switch] “
-
In a run down Building not even home for even rats, is a hidden Dungeon. Inside was an old Woman kneeling on the floor touching a chalk circle and inserting her Magic inside. Most people would not even notice her Spell, but the one who she wants it to notice, was ready to heed her call.
After a short wait suddenly inside the Circle a dark Figure appeared. His body was wide ,draped in stylish black garments and wore a black cloak. On his face was a Mask with the resemblance of a laughing Buddha face made out of black porcelain. Everyone who would look at him would think of him as an eery Merchant who would sell you all kinds of illegal things for way too much Money.
Looking around the Masked man did not notice anyone in the vicinity and finally spoke to the old Woman kneeling in front of him.
“Frizzle, I am glad you could make it. How have you been and is everything alright?”
The voice of Drak behind the mask was distorted and sounded like multiple voices talking at the same time. Echoing in the Dungeon it came back more creepy as it first sounded.
“My Lord, I am fine. Rather I am glad to get out of the House, my Husband snores like he wants to shake the house down. Do not misunderstand, I love him to death, but would sometimes love to shove my Pillow in his throat! The small travel made me more relaxed and I saw some new Towns on the way.”
“Glad you are healthy and can open up more. I make the door right away and you can rest on the other side for a while. If you want, you can stay for a few days to rest a bit. The Gate is open and the transports are later running every other day.”
“Thank you my Lord, but I will go back at the earliest. He can not even cook for himself, so better be there, otherwise he might burn down the Kitchen.”
While Drak slightly chuckles he writes on the wall the corresponding runes in form of a similar door frame. After about twenty minutes he finished with the work and checks over it for some kind of accidental mistake.
Drak nods and lays his hand on the wall.
“ [Door] “
A slight shimmer befell the inside of the Runes and suddenly all of it vanished and nothing could be seen on the wall. The ordinary wall was back to normal but Drak seems to nod at his ‘creation’.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“So then let’s go. The ‘key’ is already set and nothing should go wrong. I go first”
After talking Drak walked into the wall and just passed through like there was nothing there. Afterwards Frizzle followed him. Both were suddenly in the Cellar of Drak’s Mansion in the School City.
“Door finished. We can start the work.”
“Yes Lord!”
All bowed and got ready to enter the Imperial City for their Missions.
-
“Do you think he will really come to the Imperial City?”
A rough looking man who sat in a rather dinky house asked the Person next to him.
“He said, he would want to meet the Syndicate, so he would not stand them up, if he is smart.”
“I heard he is rather ruthless in the South east of the Empire.”
“Just talk, nothing concrete. Maybe he just ran away from that Ripper guy.”
“If that guy were in the Imperial City, he would’ve already been dead. So that black Merchant might want protection. Good for him. Ha!”
A knock was heard on the Door. One goes to the door and asks.
“Who is it at that night?”
The answer came right afterwards.
“What is this Night for Owls?”
Hearing the Passphrase, the Door got unlocked and slowly opened. Ready for everything they look outside and the rough People saw two burly men wearing masks.
“Come in, hurry before someone sees you.”
After the two guys entered a smaller chubby person with a pitch black laughing face mask came in and afterwards two female mercenaries. Those wore black and were also masked. The one had two black pigtails draping down the front and had a spiral on its mask. The Spiral was not smooth but made out of many different straight lines like some abstract design. The other had also a mask, but with absolutely nothing on it. Not even slits for the eyes or nose holes to breath. It was like she does not even have a face at all.
“Black Merchant, Sir. Please come this way.”
After pushing a few bricks in the Fireplace, the other side of the Room made a rumble. Where the Toilet was in the house was now a staircase downwards.
“The toilet? Seriously?”
Drak seems to be unamused and both of the guys were a bit ashamed.
“Do not worry, it is just a disguise, no one would use that one, Sir!”
“...alright. Guards stand above. One and Three, we go down and meet their leader.”
With authoritative command the people do as they were ordered. The guards sat down where the original two people sat and Drak followed the two Ruffians downwards with Alice and Seria in tow.
-
After a few windings, finally at the meeting place people already sat down. In front of them was a hot beverage meant for their ‘guest’.
Drak just sat down but did not even look at the drink. Their ploy was obvious. Remove the mask and let them see who they are talking to.
In front of Drak was a masked old man. Through the Eye slit in his mask you could see the crows feet and his hands were skinny and withered, but his eyes showed a rather liveliness and great cunning.
“Welcome Black Merchant. So are you here to sell or protection?”
“To sell.”
Putting a large Crystal on the Table the Eyes of the old man show a glint before further inspections were taken on the Item.
“...Fine Quality. How are you creating those? Those are not naturally formed, right?”
“Trade Secret.”
“Maybe we can sell you the raw materials to make those magic crystals? It would be easier for you, if you worked here at our place in the Empire.”
“No, it needs to be done at a specific place, otherwise they will not grow right.”
“And where might that place be?”
“Trade Secret.”
“We take them for ten gold per Kilo. Is that alright?”
“Obviously not. Twenty five per kilo, as the transport is included into the price.”
“Too much. You sell them South West for Twenty Gold, and we are a larger Organization, so we should get preferential treatment, if you want to live long.”
“You already buy them for Fifty Gold per Kilo via import. Do you think I am stupid? Twenty Five is my final offer, otherwise I go to someone else.”
“You might not even live long enough, if you are thinking about going to someone else.”
“Then try it.”
A Minute of silence passed. Nothing was said and they just looked at each other. The bloodlust was felt all around and every thug, assassin, brawler and other prepared person from the Syndicate made themselves ready to fight to the death. All the while Drak an his two people behind him were unperturbed.
“...Just a joke. We would never fall out for a too low bargain. The twenty five Gold are fully acceptable.”
“Good. Now to the next thing. The Ripper is messing with my partners and I am not happy. I raise the Bounty from eighty thousand to a hundred thousand. Get him alive and with a red bow. I want to know why he is harassing me.”
“That would be problematic. We do not do things in other Kingdoms…”
“He will be coming to the Imperial Capital.”
“...and why is that?”
“Because I disseminated the Information, that I am coming here to lure him in.”
“And with this also in our Network, so we do your dirty work.”
“A hundred thousand Gold should be enough, right?”
“...You got us. That would be lucrative. We would like to have the Bounty in magic Crystals, if possible.”
“Sure. I can even put in some extra for fast delivery.”
-
At the same time another figure is travelling the dark streets and some thugs are later found killed by hundreds of cuts and with salt in their wounds. The handy work of the Ripper was shown and the survivors heard he is on the search for the black Merchant.