The Situation takes an hour of explaining and clarification as the simple task of just killing a few Dunecrawlers turns into an extermination mission with more restrictions than the old churches.
I am not allowed to use any explosives, fire or anything else that can detonate firegems because that’d turn the entire mine into a bomb. An understandable concern because everyone present would die if that happened but that does effectively reduce my arsenal to my knife unless I make new firearms. There is a chance that getting bitten by a Dunecrawler might detonate the gems if I lose too much mana in the same spot so I’ll have to look out for it but Kara should be fine seeing as she is focused on the physical stats and not the magical ones. Lastly, we aren’t allowed in most parts of the mine because they are “confidential” and no amount of prodding resulted in anything.
Getting lost is going to be a big concern for us as Kara and I mainly stayed on the surface in the past, unlike Miners or Divers. Exploring the tunnels beneath the Hunters plains is a Divers job and I try to stay away from it as firearms are wholly unsuited for underground fighting. Miners develop the most peculiar habits and humour, having to cope with the constant narrow tunnels and tiny chambers as well as constant death looming over them. It’s a lot worse than my situation but it would probably keep me safe from Idanu.
I did try it once but almost died thrice in one day so I discarded that idea, it might be worth revisiting now.
We’ll also have to gather enough supplies to survive down in the mines until we manage to drive them out as neither of us know what is safe to eat down there. With the huge variety of poisonous and venomous creatures or plants down in the tunnels, I don’t want to risk anything. That means we’ll have to gather more money first or get a forward payment from Cinder.
Clarabelle stays away for the entire negotiations, still sour about the comment from Cinder, but Cinder continues to pour us drinks whenever we finish our glasses without ever asking her. I assume she has something like a tab with her.
“We’ll need a while to prepare and gather funds unless you intend to have us die down there,” I wrap it up, raising my glass to clink them together as a gesture to seal the contract.
“I could have just killed you earlier,” Cinder reminds me, something she continuously makes sure we don't forget. "You have a week to prepare and the journey to Jacksonville should take another week so I'll have a letter with everything I manage to find out about him, as well as his location, sent to it. My subordinate will hand it to you when you finish your part of the agreement."
She raises her hand for a handshake. “I’ll hunt you down if you try to skimp on your duties so let’s make it official. ”
I get greeted by an unexpected notification as I shake her hand.
[You’ve been bound by a Geas. Violation of the Geas will result in punishment.]
Considering the matter resolved, Cinder finishes her drink and simply leaves without another word, leaving a pouch of coins on the counter while I am still confused from the sudden Geas.
This whole situation is weird so the Geas is just another thing to look out for. I didn’t expect her to show up this quickly or be this diplomatic about the resolution. Why would she go out of her way to make sure we don’t destroy the camp unless she is in the area and there is something important in that camp? We might have to raid the camp in the future.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“What’s wrong with you?” Kara asks. She doesn’t sound accusatory or angry, just confused.
“Quite a lot,” I deadpan. “But what do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You seemed weird during the negotiations,” She says.
“Weird how?”
“You were this tiny bundle of rage when we found Lily and you were still simmering afterwards,” she fumbles around. She is only a little bit taller than me, I am not tiny. “But the moment she talked with us you got all relaxed and the patrons left way too readily. The [Bounty Hunter] should have at least stayed around to take the opportunity or call the sheriff. I mean she does have an enormous bounty.”
“There was no reason to fight with her, ignoring the actual exchange of blows,” I argue. Clarabelle never did come down to check on us even after I tried to shoot Cinder. She usually checks up on any minor disturbance.
“You said you’d kill every single person in that camp and now you’re helping their boss!” she rightfully points out. “Either way, she shouldn’t have been this friendly considering what we did. Why would we even go through all the trouble if he appears to be such a rarity? Lets just leave and search for clues ourselves.”
“About that…”
“What did you do?”
“Do you know what a Geas is?” I ask.
She visibly winces which I take as an answer in and of itself but she explains it nonetheless “It’s a common way to force adherence to contracts when dealing with Merchants. They can be a huge pain to deal with, but most huge families have someone who can either work around it or delete it from your memory.” I did not know that you can remove them this easily. ” I assume you got yourself bound to one when you shook her hand?“
“Yeah…”
She sighs. “Of course you did. So where do we get gear to clear out a Dunecrawler nest?” asks Kara, pouring the remainder of her drink down the sink.
“You already have your knife, I don’t think a new knife will do that much of a difference so we should get some materials and coin first for me to get gear so I can actually fight in the mines,” I explain. I don’t know if bludgeoning the Spiders wouldn’t be more effective than slicing, does she even need her knife against the Dunecrawlers with her strength?
“Yeah, let’s get some new stuff for you. You need some crutch to fight after all,” she says cheekily.
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The following twelve days pass quickly. We check in on Lily and Morgan's progress and gather dozens of materials and a new set of tools for me, visiting at least a dozen merchants in the process. We get different gems, metals and input on my concept for new revolvers from them. I have decided to go with a pair of semi-automatic revolvers, opting for the increase in speed that it brings. Not needing to eject the cartridges and being able to reload more quickly is significant and I might even be able to turn them fully automatic but I’d rather not make an experimental firearm if I go into a Dunecrawler nest. I still note down some concepts in my [Mental Schematics] to tinker with later.
The travel to Jacksonville takes only five days, favourable weather and no monsters on the road allowed us to travel the majority of the day instead of avoiding them. Kara and I even had to spend a few hours each day hunting for food instead of just butchering the monsters that attack us, saving the rations for the mines.
Kara somehow has a huge cast iron pot with her, probably stored in her [Pantry], and makes wildly different meals from each of the monsters. I never would have guessed that you could make a Meatloaf out of Hydrameat and an entire roadrunner or that it’d taste great but she managed it. Probably a Skill at play.
With Jacksonville on the horizon, I can’t help but remember how I last left it.
Idanu was in the middle of the town, terrorizing it while I ran away like a coward.
I hope they don’t hold a grudge.