Once outside the gates of the Celestial City, Rick walked aimlessly around the town for the rest of the afternoon. Although he did not see anyone there, he did suspect that Azer, Eira or any of the other Celestial Devotees had sent people to follow him. Only once it was dark did he summon Holmes and rode back into the Harow Trainyard.
Mathew let him in through the gate, looking livid, “Thank god you’re back. What took you so long? People were getting worried here. Mr. Hannigan and the rest had to go around trying to placate everyone telling them he hadn’t given away all the camp’s best artifacts only to be deserted by the so-called benefactor. Most people in the camp didn’t even believe that someone just agreed to sponsor a relocation at the Celestial City without asking anything in return – it felt suspicious. There are some who are even calling a revote to outcast the six of us.”
“Ask the others to meet me at my place right now,” Rick said getting off the Holmes. There was no point in explaining Mathew first. He didn’t want to repeat himself when he could just explain all at once.
Mathew stared back at Rick unwilling to leave without an answer but relented a moment later. “Fine,” he spat, walking away. “I’m only the muscle for you, right?”
Rick sighed.. The only reason he let Mathew in the group was because of his mental fortitude. Instead of getting dejected or hiding in a corner, he was the one person in the camp who had been smart enough to become adept in combat rather than become artisans like the rest. Rick had expected Mathew to be able to become the camp’s protection. But now it looked like he had judged him wrong.
Rick walked through the camp, thinking through his next move. He wanted to finish things with the Harow camp before the night ended so that he could get back to the other things on his plate, starting with crafting the Grade-II golems and more importantly figure out his next step into summoning the Hell’s Kings.
“Mr Rick, it’s where did you disappear? I thought we had a perfect meeting today but you vanished,” Hannigan’s said dryly, startling Rick out of his thoughts.
Hannigan, Julia and the rest were already waiting outside his cabin. All of them looked worn out with uncombed hair and tired eyes.
“Come in, we can talk inside,” Rick replied pulling the thick curtains off the side of the train cabin and inviting them in.
“You always did have problems with commitments,” Julia shot at Rick.
Rick sat on one end leaning against the wall. It had only been a few days and Julia’s nagging had already starting to give him a headache. He could not understand how he could find the constant badgering cute before.
“What did you guys decide?” Rick asked.
“What? Answer the question first!” Julia yelled
“You did not ask a question. I am tired, so just get to the point,” he replied keeping his cool as best he could.
“Mr Rick, why did you just disappear right after the meeting today morning? I thought we had a deal,” Hannigan said sitting down.
“What do you mean 'disappear'? I told Mathew where I am going and Julia could communicate with me at any time.”
“But-”
“No please, Mr Hannnigan. I don’t want to argue. Just tell me what is the decision of the camp. Are you going to take my offer?” Rick stopped him. He had too much to do to continue pointlessly beating around the bush.
Hannigan’s forehead creased at the interruption, but he answered anyway .
“We had a vote where the general consensus was to agree,” Hannigan replied.
“That’s good to hear,” Rick said pulling out a sack from his bag he handed it to Hannigan. He had plenty of time running around town to sort out the money accurately. Next, he handed Julia another sack, “This is for you. Sell them only to Azer and when I tell you to. The golems for 250 gold Cilliacs and the talismans are 100 gold each. Sell the Word-transmission scrolls cheap around five silver and no more than that,” Rick explained. He was sure Julia would discuss their deal with the rest. After all, the only way for her to sell his products was by putting it in the shop.
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Julia quickly opened the pouch on her hand to verify the contents. On the other hand, Hannigan eyed the pouch with a conflicted gaze.
“I won’t feel offended if you count it,” Rick reassured him with a smile.
“No, that’s not it at all…” Hannigan’s whispered softly along with a nervous chuckle.
“It’s all here,” Hannigan said finishing his second count. “Thank you, Rick. Please tell me if I can do something for you.”
“I actually do want to buy something from you guys.”
“What would you even buy from us?” Hannigan asked leaning back.
“I want to buy one of your warning systems, a few of the pots, a bow and I want Julia’s help making an armour for me,” Rick said.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. We already had a discussion among us, a lot of us wanted to gift you with something for all this help, but could not really come to a consensus. Now that you want this, you don’t need to pay for them, you can have them as a gift from us.” Hannigan said.
“Are you sure?” Rick asked pensively, keeping his expression neutral. Once he saw the nodding faces before him, he knew he had finished his job here; he had their trust. The only thing left to do was wait for the Harow camp to settle at the Library.
One after the other all five of them offered their artifacts for his. He had a second bow along with another quiver full of arrows, Daiki’s enchanted pots, a shirt-armour hardened by Julia along with Hannigan’s warning artifact and a bowl of Alima’s soup.
He thanked each of them and handed them the World-transmission scrolls in return. Putting on Julia’s shirt-armour, he put the rest away. Although he had no idea where he would even use them, he was certain that with the Lemegeton he would be able to learn something out of them.
“When will you guys move?” Rick asked.
“We decided to move in batches instead of moving in all at once. Julia, Mathew, and Daiki along with two others are leaving tomorrow. They will set up the shop and arrange the accommodations first. Then we will gradually move slowly over the next week. This way we will not raise too many eyebrows as well. Julia told us about your situation and don’t worry, we will keep your secret as well. We deal with Kir; who’s Rick?” Hannigan answered, chuckling.
“Well do-” Rick started but stopped midway as he received a notification all of a sudden. In his panic, he quickly scanned the room to see everyone look around in confusion.
“Did you get one too?” Daiki asked. Everyone nodded.
The entire room fell silent as everyone rushed to check the sudden and unexpected ring. Rick too opened his screen,
[Blessed Exchange will open shortly.]
[The portal can be accessed in the next 12 hours. Everyone is encouraged to participate and no entrance fee will be charged.]
Below that, the clock was ticking, slowly counting down.
Rick looked around the room as unsure faces stared at each other. All his plans could get derailed if he did not handle things well. The last time he had left the Blessed Exchange, Hands had ambushed him almost immediately forcing him to blow up his childhood house. He was worried that the Blessed Exchange would throw another curveball out of nowhere.
“Hannigan, don’t change your plans,” Rick voiced out. He could not lose this group now.
“Mr. Rick I think it will be best if we go after returning. Things might become chaotic otherwise,” Hannigan voiced.
Rick understood his hesitation. If they were not careful, they could be caught in an ambush right as they returned back from the Blessed Exchange. Or people could loot everything while they were away. There was definitely a risk.
“Listen, I’m worried that if you don’t strike before the Blessed Exchange, circumstances at the Celestial City might change. Not all of you, just a few should go and set up a base when you know what the circumstances are. Things should be much safer at the City anyway. The devotees can’t let the city undergo a purge every time the Blessed Exchange opens. Otherwise, their reputation would take a serious hit.”
“So, we should all leave, the entire camp,” Mathew declared.
“No. Only the original group that Hanigan just said should go. Instead of all of you going to the Blessed Exchange, you should vote and decide on one or two of you. Your camp has people you all trust right, they can protect the camp while the few of you attend.”
“And what do you plan to do?” Hannigan asked.
“I will leave right after we finish our discussion here, don’t worry about me,” Rick declared.
“Mr. Hannigan, I think it is a good idea. I agree with the boy” the Janitor spoke in his thick accent.
“I agree with him as well,” Alima added.
The rest of the group quickly accepted and Hannigan instructed the selected group to quickly prepare to leave for the Celestial City, while he too rushed out to hold an emergency meeting with the rest.
Rick too packed everything up and prepared to leave. He wanted to make sure he was in a safe place before leaving for the Blessed Exchange.
With the rest of the group preparing to travel to the Celestial City only the Janitor and Alima were there to bid him goodbye at the gate.
“Be safe out there. I have packed some shawarma for you, here” Alima said handing a parcel to Rick and giving him a warm hug. “Thank you for everything you did for us.”
Rick felt a pang of guilt hearing her sincerity. Leaving her he shook hands with the two.
“I wish you the best,” Rick said before riding out of the camp.