Chapter 62: Peace In Our Time

Given the circumstances, I wasn’t entirely successful at controlling myself, and eventually burst into a fit of nervous laughter that lasted for the better part of five minutes. By the time I managed to recover myself, I was left with a mildly sore throat, and Harvey’s bemused expression.

“Apologies for my unsightly display, this has been quite a day of revelations, you must understand.”

“It’s alright,” Harvey replied mildly, as I hurriedly took a sip of beer to soothe my throat. “If that’s the extent of your reaction, you’re already taking this much better than I did. Anyway, that’s the entirety of the truth behind Thief of Souls. Eighty percent Thief, with the focus on agility and subterfuge that it entails, and twenty percent Necromancer who specialises in ritual magic.”

“Makes sense to me,” I concluded, satisfied with his promised explanation on all counts. “As you’ve been so forthcoming, I only have one question left for today: why a longsword, for your main weapon?”

“I was wondering when you’d ask that,” Harvey laughed. “Everyone does, sooner or later. When I reached Level 5, I obtained a Trait called Alpha Strike. It grants me enhanced strength and speed in a fight until I land my first hit, so I figured, why not make that first hit as deadly as possible? It took some arduous and expensive training to learn how to wield a longsword without tripping over myself, but it’s more than paid itself back in the years since.”

“It’s really something like that…”

Harvey’s answer was surprisingly mundane in that respect; given everything else he’d told me, I was half expecting the blade to be some holy relic descended from the realm of the divine above. That thought reminded me of the time a colleague’s son tried to make me watch anime, and so was quickly banished to oblivion. Harvey wasn’t eager to continue the conversation either, so it simply died out as we finished our drinks.

“So, now what?” I eventually asked, once our mugs were empty and the fire died out.

“Now, we keep on moving,” Harvey shrugged. “Our itinerary hasn’t changed, we’ve still got towns to visit and goods to sell. We’re still smugglers first and foremost, we’re just a bit more civic minded than most, and willing to step up in times of trouble. Gods willing, everything will be peaceful from here until Light’s End, and nothing like today will happen again.”

“How likely is that?” I asked sceptically, thinking back on all the encounters I’d over a mere three days of travel time.

Harvey pointedly refused to answer, busying himself with dousing the campfire instead.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

—

In the end, despite Harvey’s declaration, we didn’t actually set off immediately from the campsite. Daylight was already a scarce commodity, this deep into autumn, and we’d already spent a good chunk of it chasing after our horses. It wasn’t worth setting off only to have to find another place to stop, so we decided to continue the next day. I found myself back in the carriage for another night’s sleep, though not before I refilled my inventory a bit. Strictly speaking, I should have informed Harvey of any expenditure before digging through the crates, but after the information Harvey had shared, I simply didn’t believe he’d care about some missing food. The fact he hadn’t followed up our conversation with an oath of secrecy was already somewhat surprising, though I could also understand why he didn’t bother.

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As an orphan with no prior connections to the wider world, who was I going to rat him out to, and why would I expose my own misdeeds in the process? He most likely recognised me as a rational man, who would not perform good deeds at my own detriment. I’d already thrown my lot in with the Dead Hand, and that was unlikely to change in the near term, so he was right not to be overly concerned.

I also made sure to put my Blackened Bracelet back on, because while I was willing to show Harvey my two public classes, I wasn’t going to let any random passersby in on the secret. I was also tempted to dig a bit further down the crates, to take a look at the drugs that were our actual profit maker, but I managed to resist the impulse. I’d get to see it sooner or later, once we reached our destined markets, so it wasn’t worth the risk of Harvey noticing any disturbances. I’d kept a reputation for being clean, back on Earth, and I didn’t intend to break the streak. Satisfied with my loot for the night, I brought up my full status page for the first time in a while, in admiration of my rapid growth up to this point.

[Will Swindell

Class (True): Level 3 Soldier of Fortune

Class (Public): Level 3 Soldier

Title: [Empty]

Experience: 391/500

Traits

* Money is Power: All attributes scale with accumulated wealth.

* Money in the Pocket: A private storage space for your personal belongings.

* Masquerade: Your Class is invisible, and you appear Classless by default. Alternatively, you may choose to display a public identity. You may choose the Level of your displayed Class, up to your true Level. Available identities: Soldier, Merchant.

* Death and Taxes: As a Soldier, wounds you inflict cause rapid decay. As a Merchant, curses you inflict last twice as long.

* Near and Far: Proficiency (Hand to Hand) and Proficiency (Throwing Weapons)

Titles

* Murderer: You are recognised by certain dark powers. It would be unwise to wear this in public.

Covenants

* Self-Made Man: Class will be lost if you ever resort to taking a loan.

* Thief in Law: Class will be lost if you ever accept legitimate employment.

* Silvertongue: Class will be lost if you knowingly tell a direct lie.

Advancement

* Gain property

* Gain subordinates

* Gain influence

* More, always more!

Contacts

* Amelia Dawn - Level 30 Necromancer

* Harvey Miller - Level 9 Thief of Souls

Equipped

* Mask of Felis: Grants Language (Cat) when worn.

* Shirt and Pants

* Gambeson

* Blackened Bracelet: Hides your Name and Class when worn.

Inventory

* 4.5” Knife (Smooth/Serrated)

* Pumpkin the Cat

* 4x Loaf of bread

* 4x Chunk of Salt Pork

* Water (50 oz)

* 6x Apples

* 6x Pears

* 6x Plums

* Butter (10 oz)]

Most of it was as I’d expected, but as I reached the bottom and looked through the inventory, I finally noticed a conspicuous absence.

“Where’d the Rainbow Fruit go?”