Chapter 32 – In which deals are pricey
In a private box, exclusively used by the Magic Exchange manager, which had the best view at the stage.
Scarlen chuckled:
“He has a thing for theatrics.”
“Get out if you’re jealous.”
Crimo just spat back without turning his gaze from the stage where Vern’s spiritual messenger landed and burst into flames.
He didn’t seem to even blink.
Scarlen observed it with interest with one eye, his other eye closely watching what Vern would do.
Vern first welcomed all the guests, he even made a small bow, though in Scarlen’s opinion it was a bit old-fashioned.
‘The mask changed…’
Before it was a fox, now it was a snake.
Scarlen was curious about the thought behind that choice.
Before, he suspected that it may be hinting on some hidden organization, but upon learning it was Vern, he abandoned this idea.
Because there was no way that Crimo’s little brother belonged to a secret organization, right?
“As I said, I’ll sell the spell to anyone who gives me a worthy price. I’ll be dealing with one person at a time.”
After making a short explanation of how the deal will be done, the figure made from purple fire stroked his chin and said:
“But dealing with one person at a time means that someone has to go first. I suppose I can’t rely on you to figure that out…”
In Scarlen’s view there were some grandmasters of the most powerful guilds in Rubrun.
They were staring daggers at each other since entering the hall, hell, they probably were staring daggers at each other for an entire week, when all guilds raided each other, trying to find any information about Crow and ‘Eternal Fire’ spell.
Even Scarlen’s house was raided this week!
Oh, come to think of it, now that he knew that Crow was Crimo’s little brother, he couldn’t come up to Crow and ask him to reimburse him for his very rare tea sets that got broken.
On stage, Vern was smiling innocently as if he didn’t cause a great loss for the world of tea cups.
“Then how about this? It’s a Magic Exchange, but also a Magic Auction. You like to bid, right? Let’s bid who gets to make a transaction with me first. Oh, by the way, the price must be paid upfront, in cash. I'm in a bit of a need for quick money, you see…”
Crimo’s face suddenly turned even paler than it already was.
He broke eye-contact with the stage for a moment and asked Sangria with a trembling voice:
“Master Sangria… When did I give him the idea that we lack money?”
“... Perhaps when you started to apologize to him that you can’t buy him new proper clothes and he may need to endure lower quality clothes, My Lord..?”
“Oh…”
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Scarlen suddenly got worried.
“My Dear Lord, do you lack money?”
Actually, he should have expected that. The guilds were trying to eat Crimo in every possible way, so causing him financial troubles…
“Scarlen, do you know how outrageously pricey the red diamonds are?”
… Might have not crossed their minds yet.
“So everyone, who among you wishes to be first the most?”
Below, Vern was ripping the guilds off with a fox-like smile on his lips.
*-*-*
The order of the queue to Crow was decided by some outrageous numbers.
When the winner of the first place was parting with her money, the look on her face was similar to that of a mother parting with her child.
Completely devastated.
But Crow in front of her was just smiling under a snake-like mask as if her sorrowful look didn’t affect him at all.
“Madam, let’s sit down and discuss our deal.”
He invited her inside the side room, attached to the stage, where deals were often made during the Magic Exchange.
The audience wouldn’t be able to see or hear what was going inside.
The three men sitting in the private box observed the disappearing pair with a serious look.
Now the situation was becoming dangerous.
Crow said that he would sell the spell to ‘anyone’.
Those among the guilds in power obviously wouldn’t want that.
Their goal would be to ensure monopolization.
There were two chances to do that.
First, at the very beginning of the exchange, they could attempt to kidnap Crow and run with him. Having Crow in their hands, they could slowly find out the specifics of the spell.
But because Crow appeared not in his physical form, but sent a messenger, they had to give up that plan.
Then they had only one chance left. And whoever could make the deal first…
There was a reason why the competition to make the deal first was so savage.
“... I have a spy circle installed there. Do you want me to activate it?”
Scarlen asked quietly.
He suspected that the three schemers had their own plan of how to control the situation inside, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
Crimo thought for a second and then stiffly nodded.
Scarlen concentrated and then activated a magic circle from the distance.
Black, dust-like mana swirled around and painted the scene.
Two figures sitting on the opposite sides of the table.
One, an elderly woman in rich clothes.
Second, a young man in a snake mask.
“Seems like you’re still aware of what is going around your messenger.”
The voice of an elderly woman rang out from the painted with mana scene.
“The messenger is modified.”
The young man replied and the woman nodded at that, as if she already expected that.
It was only logical from her perspective to modify the messenger to receive sensual ques, because otherwise how could one easily move it around without slamming it into something?
But actually it was just Vern playing into her preconceived assumptions.
Vern was able to hear and see everything in the room, because just before the exchange, he sneaked into the room and planted a spy circle, very similar to the one Scarlen was also using.
But he said vague words like ‘messenger is modified’ so the women came to the wrong conclusion.
He could directly lie, but he suspected she possessed a lie detector, so he said the words that were technically true.
“What will you exchange, madam?”
Without a word she put a thick stack of papers on the table. On the top of them there was information shortly outlining the content.
It was information about the most precious research her guild was doing.
Vern glanced at it and nodded.
“Then please accept this contract and we’re done. My spell is yours.”
Vern produced a parchment filled with strange symbols, and the women stiffened.
“This is…!”
She just stared at the paper in shock.
In the private box Scarlen also blinked at the unexpected development.
He turned towards Crimo.
“Isn’t that… a soul contract?”
Crimo, who didn’t turn his gaze away from the figure in a snake mask, spoke:
“No, it’s a lighter version. A spiritual contract. It doesn’t affect the soul directly.”
“... Isn’t it a technique of those lunati– of people of Purplus?”
“There is nothing bad about using the technique of your enemies when it benefits you, right?”
“... Yes, My Lord.”
Scarlen still looked at the contract with a very uncomfortable expression.
On the other side.
The elderly woman quickly controlled her emotions and carefully examined the contract.
There were only two conditions.
1: Both parties only provide truthful information during the deal.
2: Both parties are forbidden from spreading any information related to the deal and its content for 24 hours.
Those weren’t especially overbearing conditions, but…
The woman hesitated for a moment and then opened a file she brought and started to take some pages out.
Crow didn’t comment, smiling gently as if he already expected it.
That gentle smile somehow matched his snake mask very well.
“Let’s make a deal now.”
After she took out about one third of the pages in the file, she spoke up like this.
“Okay.”
Vern took out his own file with his own spell and prepared to make a contract, as he recalled his younger brother’s advice:
— Never make any spiritual contract with people other than me. And if you really, really can’t help it, do it with people you know much more about than they know about you. Spiritual arts are closely tied with people’s psyche and their perception of the world. The less they know about you, the less binding the contract is for you. Still, don’t make it with anyone other than me.
‘Sorry Am… I’m afraid I can’t.’
While thinking that, he put a bit of his spirit into the contract paper.
For a second, his spiritual signature, a crow skull surrounded by small flames formed like water droplets, falling into a silver river, flashed on the paper and then turned into a black smudge as if someone roughly brushed it off.
The spiritual signature of the elderly woman was also distorted making it hard to make out what it was, but not so much as Vern.
“Thank you for the deal. I would shake your hand, but you know…”
Vern flashed his fiery fingers.
Not something one could touch.
“Of course. It was a pleasure Mr. Crow.”
Just as she said, she broke into a bright smile and her eyes flashed with power.