“Woah,” I said, raising my hands in a submissive way. “It was just a question, there’s no need for the hostility.”
The bartender glared at me through the sights of his raised crossbow. The bolt was practically touching my face, there was no chance he’d miss from such a close distance.
The rest of the bar felt tense as a deadly silence washed over the interior. From the corner of my eyes I could see multiple patrons moving their hands to their blades and cudgels.
“A newcomer in a noble’s suit walks into our bar and starts asking about The Morningstar Collective’s famed headquarters. That’s pretty damn suspicious to me,” the bartender growled. “You’d better start talking Outsider.”
His last word sounded as if it left a bad taste on his tongue as he spat it out. I took a deep breath, I needed to calm down.
“Would you prefer it if I wore my adventuring gear?” I asked politely as I quickly dove into my HUD and changed back into my armour. Being able to equip clothes with a mental click sure could be useful.
I felt better as soon as I felt the cushioned leather against my skin. If it came to it, I might be able to slow time for long enough to dodge his initial shot. It would be risky though, but at least with my armour back on I was ready for a fight.
“Stop playing games Outsider.” The bartender hissed, tightening his grip on the trigger of his crossbow. “Who are you and why do you want to know about The Morningstar Collective.”
“They kidnapped a friend of mine and I’m looking to get her back.” I said, keeping my eyes locked on his. “Also, they might have just assassinated the king.”
He took half a step back, confusion lighting up his dark eyes as quiet murmurs broke out behind me.
“The king is dead?” He asked slowly, suddenly seeming much less sure of his actions.
“Yes,” I replied. “Now, from the looks of this place I’m sure none of you will shed a tear for your ruler, but if this was The Morningstar Collective then you can bet your ass that they’ll be making a power play. From what little I know of them, that wouldn’t be very good for anyone here.”
I was lying through my teeth at this point. I had no idea if the illusive underworld mobsters were involved in the assassination, or if they had any interest in running the government.
Still, I got a vibe that a revelation like that would shock these wannabe anarchists and I hoped that would ease the tensions a little bit.
The bartender looked uncertain as he loosened his grip on the crossbow. He looked around at the people behind me and the muttering stopped.
“How do I know I can trust you?” He asked, a bead of sweat trickling down his brow. “You could be one of them.”
“Why would I ask how to find them if I worked for them?” I replied, frustration beginning to show in my tone.
“Not The Morningstar, the royal inquisitors!” He shouted, gritting his teeth afterwards. “They’ve been trying to pin us for treason for years. How do we know that this isn’t just their latest ploy. Send in someone new, get him to tell us the king is dead to gauge our reactions and then use that as evidence against us. What assurances do we have?”
Oh great conspiracy theorists, I thought, sighing internally.
Kaleb: What now?
Panda: Beats me, the guy’s clearly off his meds. The royal inquisition doesn’t use underhanded tactics like that, they just kill and interrogate people they don’t like. They don’t need to lie about it.
The HUD’s messaging system was useful, especially since it allowed you to transfer thoughts into a text-based system without having to type it out.
“The royal inquisition doesn’t need to trick people.” I began slowly, trying to figure out what I was going to say as I said it. “They just kill and interrogate whoever they want to and they do it with impunity. Everyone knows that. Besides, if you don’t believe me just wait until morning when they announce the king’s death.”
It was a bluff, but I trusted my familiar’s knowledge of the local systems and I was willing to try just about anything to avoid getting a new hole in the head.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
On that note, I also hovered tentatively over my daggers in my inventory. I wanted immediate access if it turned out that I couldn’t talk my way out of this one.
Panda: Hey that was my line.
Kaleb: Thanks buddy, hopefully it’ll save our asses.
“I guess…” The svartalf replied slowly, easing his trigger finger slightly. “Still, how do we know for sure? I have a family, we all do. If I let you go, I need assurance that I won’t die.”
“Who said anything about letting me go?” I replied cooly. “I just want to know how to get into the Morningstar Hotel and Spa. Show me to it, let me go inside and then I’m no longer your problem to deal with. If I was an inquisitor I’d be killed by them right? So it’s a win-win.”
He lowered his crossbow and stared at me for a few moments. Then he chuckled. It was awkward at first as I stared at him, but soon the entire bar burst into raucous laughter.
“Yeah you’re definitely not with the inquisition, Outsider,” he laughed. “Everyone knows they’re in deep with the syndicates. Not even they would try to deny that so openly in a bar full of our kind.”
He grabbed a glass with one hand whilst he wiped away a tear with the other and began pouring a dark, viscous liquid into it.
“Here,” he said, sliding the glass towards me. “I’m gonna need to introduce you to the owner before I can let you leave, but you should drink first.”
I nodded, still unsure of exactly what was going on, but I was happy that the intensity was dropping all the same. I raised the glass to my lips and took a deep gulp of the oil. I immediately regretted it.
“I guess they call it oil for a reason,” I spluttered as the foul tasting, thick liquid made its way down my gullet, burning my throat as it went.
I slid the glass towards Panda who finished it off, licking his lips. That bear would drink anything. His stomach must have been made of cast iron.
After a few short moments the bartender returned, picking up his crossbow once more but in a much less threatening way.
“Come on then, the boss is in the back.” He gestured to a door next to the bar with the tip of the crossbow and I stood, walking through it with Panda at my heel.
The bartender followed me, closing the door behind him and directing me through the kitchen towards a small office at the back.
It was dark and the walls were covered in satanically stylised posters of local metal bands with their electric lutes and studded leather. It was actually kind of cool.
Sat behind a shabby looking desk was a beautiful female svartalf with midnight purple skin and black eyes with red pupils.
“Ah Kaleb, good to see you again. Though I have to say I didn’t expect to find you crawling around this part of town.” She said, looking up from a weapons manual.
“Wendy?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
Wendy was the owner of Wendy’s Wonderful Weapons in the adventurer district. I had met her a little while ago when I needed my bow fixing and some new daggers, which she’d absolutely fleeced me for.
I didn’t know much about her, but what I did know hadn’t left the best impression. She was a shrewd and calculating business owner and she hated Panda because he had found out that she was cheating on his previous summoner and, being a dutiful familiar, he had ratted her out.
“I own this bar.” She said dourly. “The real question is what are you doing here and why are my employees so up in arms about it?” She looked at me over the top of her manual, raising a single eyebrow and scowling at Panda. “Also leave your pet outside please Kaleb, we’ve been over this.”
“Not this time Wendy,” I said sternly. “I’m only here for one thing. I need to know how to get into The Morningstar Hotel and Spa. If you know where the Havar entrance is then kindly tell me and I’ll be on my way.”
She leaned back in her chair and placed the weapons manual down on her desk. Smiling slightly, she looked me up and down and rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.
“Well, well. Look who finally grew some balls?” She purred, holding onto every word as if she was dropping them off for their first day at nursery. “Alright Kaleb, I’ll play ball. Say I do know how to get in, what’s it worth to you.”
I sighed, shaking my head, and rubbing my eyes with my thumb and forefinger.
“Listen Wendy, I don’t have time to play these games today. Give me a price, or say I owe you a favour or… whatever. Just don’t waste any more of my god damned time.”
“Wow, someone’s not had his baby formula this morning,” she chuckled, “ok, sure I can tell you where it is, but it’s going to cost you a lot. One million gold to be precise.”
“I don’t have that much,” I said bluntly.
“Then come back when you do,” she said with a dismissive wave of her arm.
“No,” I said, feeling my frustration rising. “I don’t have time to play a game of ‘whose dick is bigger’ with you Wendy. Tell me what I need to know or I’ll tell the royal inquisitors that you’re all anarchists. I’m sure that a random tip off from a renowned adventurer would be enough to make sure they’d give you guys a pretty hard time, wouldn’t it?”
“Shame you’re not a renowned adventurer then isn’t it?” She replied calmly.
I felt the bartender tense up suddenly and begin to raise his crossbow at me. Perhaps unwisely I used Perception of the Apex Predator for less than a second and snatched the weapon away from him. When time resumed I was pointing it squarely at Wendy’s face.
“Haven’t you heard?” I asked cooly. “I’m the hero of Havar.”
I fired the bolt. Wendy sat stock still, staring at me with her cold, calculative eyes as it sailed past her head and stuck into the wall, leaving a shallow cut on her cheek.
Shit, that woman is infallible.
The bartender glanced from her to me and back again. He looked so confused, the poor guy. He probably had no idea that I’d never sell them out to the royal inquisition, I didn’t like them either.
My threat had definitely fooled him, but I wasn’t sure if it had worked on Wendy. The svartalf seemed a little too clever and cunning for her own good.
We stared at each other for a tense moment until she eventually broke the stalemate with a heavy sigh.
“Fine, fine, I’ll tell you where the entrance is,” she said, leaning forward on the desk, pushing her palms into her eyes. “Jeez kid, I don’t know what the hell happened to you since the last time we met but you’re almost someone worthy of respect now… almost.”
I tossed the crossbow back to the surprised bartender who fumbled with it in the corner.
“It’s been a long week and I get cranky when I don’t get my nap,” I replied with a half-smile.