A/N
Quick explanation for this. This is technically the first thing I wrote and it even has its own thread, but it was years before I even had the idea for ANK. I completely forgot about it until I tried to cross post ANK to QQ and a Mod told me I apparently had another account and they merged them together. Someone simply sent me a message asking me about this one and asked if I would consider continuing it and I wasn't against the idea even if I don't really remember where I was going with it. So, I'm just consolidating it to my snippets thread for easy access.
Fair warning, this is just copied and pasted for better or worse and literally the first thing I ever posted in regards to writing.
Chapter 1: Arriving in Vale.
"Please vacate the bagging area as quickly as possible for an optimal boarding and deboarding experience."
My eyes darted back and forth, making a mental note of everything around me. The fact that there weren't authorities here to arrest me was telling that my plan had succeeded. I could feel the weight lift off my shoulders.
Glancing one more time at the bullhead that ferried me across the sea from Atlas, I could vaguely make out my reflection in the glass windows.
Red eyes stared back at me.
Shaking my head in resignation, I dismissed such wayward thoughts.
It will take some time getting used to my new eye color, along with the shape change of my new pupils.. It would have been a bit unnerving if I didn't know the origin. And as far as sacrifices go…..having my eyes changed wasn't particularly noteworthy.
At Least my hair didn't turn blonde; I don't think I could pull off blonde hair. As much as I hated the connection my snow-white hair brought me to a certain group of people, I am actually quite fond of it.
Regardless, I kept my head down. I didn't want to draw any unwanted attention before I got everything in order.
I had a vague idea of where I was going, being able to stealthily gather information from Atlas while being watched was difficult, I was working mainly on rumors and hearsay. It was a bit odd how little security was present at the airport when I arrived. I guess the rumors about Vale's incompetent police were true if they couldn't even be bothered to have a presence at such an area. Such a stark contrast from Atlas's end, with the several checkpoints and multiple patrols I had to carefully maneuver on my way out.
I could only roll my eyes at the single guard wearing the Vale uniform as he was passed out on a nearby bench. It was one of my peeves, seeing someone slouching during their job. If you are working you should put forth your full effort into any task.
Maybe that was one of the things I inherited?
An absolute distaste for stagnation, that was another big one that really grinded on my nerves. Just thinking about Vale's current situation caused me unneeded annoyance. How the Vale Council was content to hide away behind their walls and hope that the black tide would simply not bother them. It was infuriating how they were willing to bury their heads so far into the sand. If they weren't directly affected, the higher-ups of the city simply didn't care.
I had many – many things to say about Atlas, but at least they continued to strive for improvement as a whole. That's not to say that incompetence wasn't prevalent there as well, but it seemed that a good portion of people in power had the common sense to not simply sit on their laurels when nightmarish monsters beat on their doors.
Unfortunately, the other places didn't seem much better, Mistral was a corrupted mess of a kingdom. There was no point in comparing it to either Atlas or Vale when the criminal underbelly is the ruling elite.
There is no doubt going to be criminal elements in every society, lots of times even having a hand in government affairs, but there's a problem when there is no line of distinction between the two. Add in the rampant racism and archaic traditions that many powerful clans and families still swear by…..it's a wonder that the place hadn't imploded on itself.
Vacuo was perhaps the only one of the four I held a smidgen of respect for.
It was a harsh place where people couldn't afford to be content, always making sure to be prepared for when the next disaster strikes. Even the way the roaming caravans and unsavory elements willingly shy away from the few larger oases around the Huntsman Academy in order to provide for future Hunters. There was also the fact that Shade Academy pretty much ruled the kingdom instead of being a pseudo kingdom in of itself like Beacon or Haven.
And there wasn't enough time in the day to have a conversation about all the problems with Menagerie. And that wasn't a racism standpoint, despite my heritage, I had absolutely nothing against Faunus as a whole. There were just so many blatant problems with the 'Faunus Kingdom' that I wouldn't even know where to begin, a lot of them came from the denial of needs from the other kingdoms which was infuriating even to someone unaffected. Hell, they didn't even have their own CCTS, having to rely on the spotty coverage they got second hand from the network that was already established almost world-wide.
I would have preferred to go straight to Vacuo, but unfortunately, they don't have the infrastructure I needed to complete my goals. And there was no way I would set up shop permanently in Mistral.
It also alleviated my conscience slightly with the fact that I would be doing many illegal things during my stay.
My idle musings came to an end, and that's how I found myself in front of a rather popular nightclub.
There was a bigger commotion walking in then I would have liked.
It looked like they were still getting ready for the night rush, not too surprising, and several eyes were immediately on me as I walked in and took a seat at the bar. It was to be expected, this place being mostly a front for a certain underground business from what I had been able to gather abroad. It wasn't exactly easy to narrow this place down in all of Vale with only a scroll at my disposal, frankly, it took the better part of a couple months and even then I only had a name and some vague idea of what I was doing.
Sitting at the bar, it only took a moment before the bartender approached.
"Little young to be drinking this early?" He eyed me with obvious suspicion.
He was probing me right off the bat, no reason to drag this out. "I'm not here for a drink."
"Well….people don't usually show up until the sun sets, and I don't think you want to be dancing with me."
I sighed. "I'm looking for Junior." Not his real name, but it's the one that was used from my research.
"Yeah, well, you found him. What do you want, kid?"
"I have a need for your alternative services." Playing coy would just be a waste of time and I didn't have the patience right now to do the whole song and dance.
"Look kid, I don't know what you think you heard about me, but I don—"
Cutting him off, I slipped my hand into my pocket and placed a gold coin on the table, sliding it over to him. I took a small amount of pleasure in his quickly changing demeanor as he just blinked at the coin before grabbing it and giving it a curious flick with mild surprise as he murmured a few things to himself.
He took another scrutinizing gaze towards me, though it was odd, almost as if he was looking more through me than anything. I had the faintest tingle on my back that something had happened that I was unaware of. My instincts weren't screaming 'danger' at me, so I ignored it for now.
After another moment, he quickly pocketed the precious metal. "You have my attention, let's continue this conversation somewhere in private."
I just gestured for him to lead the way.
He snapped his fingers at a nearby man who quickly took over the reins of the bar as Junior led me into the back room.
It was surprisingly large for how it looked from outside. It was clear there was a whole extra space that the club didn't take up, but to see it was another thing. Clearly, he was used to doing business back here as there were a few couches and chairs along with other amenities for hosting several people.
"Alright kid, I'm always hesitant to do business with newcomers like this, but as I said before, you have my attention. Now, don't waste my time with something stupid or we're going to have issues."
"Fine, I'll be blunt." His tone of superiority was grating on me, but I pushed down my annoyance. "I need legal immigration status with a name change."
He raised an eyebrow. "I need a clarification, Immigration with a complete new name, or immigration and then a name change?"
"I assume there is a considerable difference between the two?"
To his credit, he didn't start talking down to me but donned his businessman façade and started to explain. "The first opens up some potential….let's say issues if you grab the wrong attention."
"Ah, I see the problem." I realized my mistake immediately; the former subverted the normal legal channels which would raise a lot of suspicion. "I'm not particularly hiding, but I would rather not be exposed before I settle myself legally, so the latter would be fine as long as you can make it so I don't trip any flags."
He nodded, withdrawing a notebook from a nearby drawer and started taking notes. "This isn't a usual service, most just want new identification, it's easier to claim you came from outside the Kingdom's walls with no way to prove your identity."
"If only it would be that easy." I could feel a bitter smile forming on my face. "Unfortunately, my current identity is a bit too well known."
"Alright, I don't care about personal matters." He quickly squashed that line of inquiry. "But I'm going to need your real information to basically push this through all the legal channels, and it's not going to be cheap, especially if you don't want anyone taking note of who you are."
I resigned myself to being possibly over-charged for such services, I had no other avenues to turn towards and would just have to shoulder the costs with my dwindling treasury for now.
Reaching my hand out into the air, a golden-swirling portal opened up above it. My host went slightly stiff, possibly even defensive, as if ready for an attack but openly relaxed when he realized what I was doing wasn't harmful.
A handful of golden coins like the previous one was deposited into my hand as I placed them on the table in a neat little pile.
"Now that is an interesting Semblance." Junior noted, a noticeable amount of envy on his face.
I chose not to comment or correct him. He was no doubt mentally going over all the possible uses that one could have with what appeared to him as a pocket dimension. I specifically chose to reveal this in hopes of garnering a bit more interest for the long term.
His surprise seemed to be reined in as he shifted back to his business persona. "I take it you're going to be paying in….gold." He picked up another of the coins and I didn't stop his examination.
"Will that be an issue?" The comment made me a little nervous, but my expression didn't betray my even tone.
"Maybe." He said plainly, shifting the coins around, double checking each one. "I don't recognize these symbols, are these going to turn up hot?"
I frowned, I could see where he was going with this, I had already thought up a suitable lie but even the consideration that my treasure was at all fraudulent had almost made me lose my temper. "They were recovered from an archeology site, privately funded."
"I see." He responded, and I had to give him credit again, he was good at not giving anything away on the surface, making him difficult to read. "There is also the matter of their individual worth."
"You will need to check their gold content, this is expected."
"I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that." He sighed. "So, don't take this as my trying to squeeze you for more money, if you had been paying in Lien – hell, even Dust, we wouldn't be having this discussion."
I assumed I did not like what he was going to say, but I already resigned myself and ushered him to proceed.
He continued after a moment. "I'm going to have to either melt these down or sell them as is and dealing with large quantities of gold is….difficult. It's going to most likely draw eyes to me from the wrong places."
"What kind of eyes?" I was now getting suspicious, from what I had gathered, he already had many fingers in even government affairs from the earlier talk about papers.
"The worst kind, the VRA."
I blinked.
A smile cracked on my face and I couldn't help but let out a chuckle, a similar one shared by him. "I suppose no one lasts long in your business by running afoul the Vale Revenue Agency."
"The government suddenly becomes scarily competent when there are large amounts of money involved." He nodded. "So, as I was saying, a lot is going on when it comes to gold and other precious metals, I'm not going to be able to take them anywhere near market price."
It seems like he was giving me a chance to make an offer as he waited for my response. "70%."
He took a moment to let that number sink in. "That is very…generous on your part." He finally said, I could pick up on the mild amount of skepticism in his voice.
I would be taking 70% of their market price, then from that 70% I would be paying the fees involved in the services I was purchasing. I had a rough idea of how much each coin was worth, while I wasn't exactly swimming in piles right now, I needed connections more so than liquid funds. And I was also confident in being able to gain more in the future. When all was said and done, Junior would be making a tidy little sum with minimal effort on his end.
"Consider it an investment on our continued working relationship." Actual money meant very little to me aside from acquiring the resources I needed, I valued the reach this man had more than my gold, plus I needed everything on my long list done very quickly, this should expedite everything. I was also making it profitable enough to continue doing business with me over the long term so he wouldn't get any ideas about 'quick cash'.
He didn't even try to argue, he must have realized how good of a deal he was truly getting.
"This much will certainly cover it and then some." It looked like he was a bit lost in his own thoughts for a moment. "Even with a consideration that this is low purity and at 70% of that value….gold prices are high right now…yeah, you are looking at quite a bit of Lien with just this pile of gold."
"If possible, I would like to start converting some gold into Lien for the long term as well."
"Oh boy, while I wouldn't be against this business, we're going to need to have another conversation about the VRA." He sighed.
"By all means, enlighten me." My understanding of Vale's tax laws was shaky at best and he's been dodging their gaze for long enough to know the tricks of the trade.
"Alright, to be blunt, you're going to need a reason as to why you have the amount of Lien you're going to have." He gestured to the pile of gold still on the table. "Just this much, you probably wouldn't have a problem even though it's a small fortune. But if you want to make this a constant thing, people are going to notice. I have to make sure all my affairs are in order, that means cleaning any money or hiding any trails I don't want found. Us being in business for an extended time means that you could potentially lead back to me if things get out and I don't want to have to answer certain questions about our deals."
"You're talking about money laundering." I hazarded a guess.
He rolled his eyes. "None of that Cop-Drama crap. Tax laws are broken and exploitable, the only real issues come when people don't know how to keep their heads down. The obvious stuff gets hit hard, but as long as you don't light up a neon sign saying you're breaking the law, nobody is going to do a double-take on your finances."
"And dealing with large amounts of gold is obvious enough to draw attention." I could understand where he was coming from with his earlier statements.
"Exactly." The club owner enunciating for effect. "I happen to have the resources to actually move gold without too much fuss, you on the other hand would have the government breathing down your neck before you even sold your first coin."
"So, I need a business, basically." I said thoughtfully. "I have a few things that come to mind that segues into what I planned to do regardless." My eyes turned back to my host. "Tell me, how extensive are your services?"
He seemed to smirk slightly. "I can get pretty much anything you need, for the right price."
"First, I'm going to need a list of properties for sale in Vale, specifically for a business." I saw him start jotting down notes again. "And is it possible to set up a 'loan' above board to 'pay' for it over a small period to not draw attention?"
He paused for a moment, mulling over that last bit. "Yeah, I can get that sorted." Before continuing. "And what kind of business is this going to be, some things require specific needs to be fulfilled, I suggest saying away from the food industry, not worth all the hassle."
"I was thinking of a delivery company." I replied, having considered this before.
"A delivery service?" He questioned.
"One that caters to places outside of the kingdoms, I noticed that package delivery to settlements and such was…. inconsistent at best." I explained. "It would also give me almost free rein to move around without people taking note." Checking his expression, I figured I should take his input. "Unless this won't work?"
"No, no. This – this is good." He seemed genuinely surprised. "No one would be able to verify your income and you could easily fake deliveries for some absurd amounts by citing difficulty in delivery." He pursed his lips slightly. "Though…the logistics are going to be a nightmare. You're actually going to need to show an effort and that means hiring staff and such."
I waved off his concerns. "I already have plans for hiring." Which was true, when I realized I wouldn't be able to accomplish everything by myself, it appeared along with what little I could access of my treasury. "Though I may need to acquire a few more identities later on."
"Regular papers are easy." He alleviated off my own concerns easily enough. "If you think you can handle things on your end, no skin off my back. But if you can't keep it up, there's a chance our business would need to be cut short."
"Fair enough." I conceded, it's not like we were friends, merely doing business with one another, he owed me no favors. I had no doubt that my business would be profitable for him, but not enough to risk heat from high above if things went south. And apparently gold was a very hot commodity and difficult to move if he was willing to forgo it due to heat.
"Alright, but we're getting a bit sidetracked." He flipped back a page on his notebook. "Let's finish up with your papers…..actually." He stood up, taking his scroll out of his pocket and texting someone. "I think my guy is hanging around right now, he'll be able to deal with it without me having to give him second hand information."
"Your guy?" I questioned.
"I don't handle everything by myself." He shrugged. "I'm mostly an intermediary for various businesses around vale. A lot of the costs are actually me paying them for the services and then packaging everything neatly for you."
"Should you be telling me this, wouldn't I now have the option to go around your back?"
He snorted in amusement. "It's not really a secret what I do, and besides, most guys around here don't deal with nobodies. Either you have a name, or you come recommended by someone with enough pull. Really, I'm one of the few people in the city who take on the newer clients before they can branch out."
"You seemed pretty quick to shoo me off initially."
"You have any idea how many punks come in here because they 'heard about me on the streets'?" He sighed. "Not a huge amount, admittedly, but enough to be annoying. One kid came in here last month with some 'get rich quick' scheme, needing a loan." There was a mild amount of exasperation in his voice. "I actually took two hours out of my day to sit him down and explain to him, in detail and with props, that we would both be losing money with his little plan." Just recalling the whole experience caused him to slump down, pulling off his glasses to rub his eyes.
"Rather nice of you." I mused, a small chuckle escaping.
"Kid was just down on his luck and desperate." He shrugged. "I ended up giving him a job in a warehouse somewhere and he was able to get his head above water."
"Is that a normal day on the job for a crime boss, getting kids off the street and in stable and legal work?" I raised an eyebrow; the thought was a bit amusing.
"You'd be surprised." He chuckled. "It costs almost nothing to run a decent PR campaign on the streets. The regular people see my boys helping the little old lady crossing the road, stopping muggings in public etc., and they're less likely to even bother acknowledging when we do something questionable."
That was interesting. "So, things like protection payments?"
"If I'm getting paid for protection, you can damn well bet that place is getting its money's worth. Add in the fact that my boys get bonuses for bringing in new blood, there's incentive to appear approachable and likable."
I was about to comment again until the door swung open. An orange-haired man swaggered in, A cane in hand and a cigar in his mouth, and under his other arm was a folder full of papers. Right behind him, a shorter woman practically skipped over the threshold. Her hair was pink and brown, and her eyes darted all over the room before landing on me, a small smirk appearing on her face.
"Roman." Junior greeted with a grunt.
"Junior, how's it been?" The newcomer replied, tossing the packet onto the table and plopping down onto the couch. "Also, I brought Neo."
"I see that…." He gave the smaller woman the stink eye, only for her to blow him raspberry. "Any reason you couldn't leave the little gremlin at home?"
"You know how she gets when I don't take her out on walks." The newcomer smirked.
Junior just sighed. "Whatever she breaks, you're paying for."
"Don't worry, Neo will behave, Right Neo?"
The girl gave a little wave.
"Now." The newcomer clapped his hands. "I believe introductions are in order for our esteemed client"
"Esteemed client?" I repeated, I didn't like the tone he said that with.
"It wasn't hard to figure out your identity, honestly it only took a single glance." He took a puff of his rather expensive cigar. "It was all over the CCTS a few years ago and I keep my ears open for all sorts of information. Though…. your eyes look different." He just shrugged at the last part.
"I thought he looked familiar." Junior said absentmindedly. "Kid, this is Roman, he likes to pretend he's a 'Gentleman Thief' from the movies."
"You hurt me, Junior." He dramatically clutched his heart. "And this is my partner, Neo, she doesn't speak." He gestured to the smaller girl.
The short girl just sat down right next to me giving another small wave before picking up one of the coins on the table, eyeing it curiously.
I held back my annoyance at being recognized so easily, though it couldn't be helped. There weren't many families in the world that had the same hair color as I do, it was bound to happen at some point. "Will my identity be a problem?"
"Nah, actually, it makes things a little easier." Roman looked me over again. "At least on my end. You wouldn't believe how many people give me wrong info and I have to deal with their idiocy. It's not like I just wave a magic wand and boom new IDs and what-not. It takes effort to work this stuff through the right channels and misfiled information gets flagged, quickly. Seriously, bureaucracy is a fine ass mess you don't want to stick your hands in lightly"
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Anyways!" The career thief clapped his hands again, adjusting himself to sit up straighter. "Boss-man here tells me you want immigration papers."
"Yes." I just said simply, I didn't need to give my life story. "Also, a name change after." I made sure to add.
He just nodded, thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "And I assume Junior here at least touched on the basics?"
"I went over the necessities, yes." Junior chimed in.
"Wonderful, that makes my life easier." The flamboyant man opened the folder on the table, shifting through a few papers before removing a couple and placing them in front of me. "I have the actual forms here, I'll only need to send this to my people and they're going to push it through. The only question is what additional services do you want?"
"I need this through as quickly and quietly as possible without Atlas showing up here looking for me." I was already in this far and my identity was already known, there was no point hiding the truth.
"Ah, ole' Iron-dick would probably be gunning after you if he knew you jumped the nest." Roman chuckled.
"Woah woah!" Junior interjected hurriedly. "Time out here! The Atlassian General is after this kid!?"
"Not in the way you think." I replied quickly.
"Yeah, I'm going to need a better answer than that if you want to do business with me. Just because this is Vale doesn't mean the Atlas Military can't reach this far out here." The gang boss adamantly stated.
"I got this, tell me if I got anything wrong, kid." Roman gave me a smirk. I could tell already that he liked to be the smartest person in the room and probably wouldn't give up the chance to appear as such.
"Kid's dad basically went cyber-terrorist and became public enemy number 1." Roman looked my way and I didn't interrupt so he continued. "His whole family gets dragged into the mess and arrested by accessory after his old man ran away when everything came to light."
"That would be a decent summarization." I said bluntly.
"Oh, but I'm not done." Roman chuckled again. "You see, it came out that the kid's old man wasn't just a nut-job, he was a nut-job that was friends with one Arthur Watts. That sent the whole kingdom into even more of a tizzy when that little nugget of information came out."
Junior just sighed, rubbing the temples of his head. "Just….get to the point, Roman. You're not exactly alleviating my concerns right now."
"Fine, fine." He exhaled a stream of smoke, tapping his cigar into an ashtray. "Basically, kid here got arrested by association of being the man's son and from what I last heard he was under house arrest, especially with the whole Schnee debacle added on, the Kingdom just quietly made him disappear from the public."
"For some odd reason they seem to think that my father would still be in contact with me." I snorted. "Thus, I've been illegally held against my will by the Atlas Military, I've never been tried or convicted of a crime."
"Once the kid becomes a legal resident here, Atlas is going to have a very hard time even touching him." Roman added. "Especially since he hadn't actually committed a crime. Just thinking of Ironwood getting wrapped up in the ensuing red tape gets me all warm and fuzzy."
That was essentially my plan, Vale's laws were much stricter with regards to limiting individual freedoms. Atlas couldn't just come over and declare me a potential threat or whatever bullshit they could come up with to lock me away. Not to mention that the Vale Council will fight him on almost any subject just because they don't like Atlas meddling in their affairs.
Junior glanced over to roman who just shrugged. "Fine, whatever. As long as this doesn't come to bite me in the ass, I don't care."
"I'm almost willing to do this for free just to get one over on the Atlassian Military, but….." Roman glanced at the pile of gold on the table. "Bills to pay and all that." He quickly helped himself as he inspected the glittering pieces of precious metal.
I left them to their own devices, as the two newcomers seemed to be silently communicating about something and every so often Roman would whisper to junior. It didn't mean anything to me, so I just filled out the paperwork that was handed over.
Clicking the pen I was given, I set it down on the table, giving notice that was done.
Roman didn't even bother asking as he switched the papers over and started going over them.
"Well…." He dragged out. "Everything looks in order, I can probably push this through in about...3 days?"
"That's rather impressive." I acknowledge. My opinion of the man aside, he was skilled at his profession. "It would have probably taken several months just for the immigration."
"That and then some." Roman nodded in agreement. "Kingdoms don't like to make a habit of letting residents leave easily, it dissuades people from wanting to leave in the first place.It's one of the few things all the councils seem to agree on. If you hadn't come to me, Atlas would have dragged their feet for months, even years, obviously that wouldn't be considering your special status."
I could understand, the population was an asset to every kingdom, they would try to hold onto every scrap of power they each had without giving anything away.
"All this looks like it's in order, anything else you want settled before I head out?" He collected everything neatly.
"Maybe?" I answered half assuredly. "I have a few more things I need done, though I'm not sure if you're the guy?" I sent a glance over at Junior.
"I have a few minutes, hit me." Roman gestured to continue.
"If I'm going to be leaving and entering the kingdom, do I need any other sort of permits or special identification?"
The orange-haired man rubbed his chin for a moment. "You talking like huntsman work or something else?"
"More like just traveling." I replied. "Specifically doing some deliveries to remote towns and villages."
"Huh." He responded, looking deep in thought for a moment. "That might fall under the purview of a few different departments, but you'd probably be fine with just a trader's license."
"And no one would bat an eye if I flashed that a few times a month?"
"Nah, we get a bunch of traders coming and going through the main gates every day, if you have a legitimate reason to be doing so, no one would care. Of course, if you do it enough, they might look into you, but as long as everything is above board, they won't look any further." The thief assured me.
"Can I have you get started on that? I won't be able to set up until I get my papers in order." I questioned.
"Hmmm, I can get the ball rolling on it, but I won't be able to push it through the final stages until you're all clear." He answered.
"Good, I'm probably going to need a few for later as well." I was starting to get genuinely impressed with his ability. "Also, what about regular identification, specifically for a few people in the future."
"Those are much easier." He confirmed without hesitation. "I can't do anything without the people here, but I can get those sorted in less than a day."
"Then I can do nothing but wait for a few days." I sighed, I had so much to do but I was forced to simply wait. "I suppose I can get started shifting through any properties for sale, if you can provide me with a list, Junior."
"Actually…" Roman interrupted, shifting through his folder. "The big guys asked me to grab some of these before I came over."
"I didn't expect you to also be in real estate."
"I have my fingers in almost everything." He shrugged. "Well, mostly everything. I don't like dealing with anything messy, it brings too much heat. Reality in general opens up a lot of possibilities for safe houses and such, I can use my own buildings as hideouts and if it gets burned, they aren't even connected to me by any traceable means and I just sell and move on to the next one."
"Fair enough." I shifted through a few of the papers with a couple dozen places listed. "These will be a good place to start."
"Well." The thief stood up from his seat. "I believe we've just about covered everything, and I have other things I have to do tonight, come along Neo."
Everyone turned to Neo who sat there playing with a couple gold coins, not even acknowledging him.
"Neo, I'll get you something nice and shiny later, put the coins back and come on."
"….." She looked like her puppy had been kicked
"Dammit, Neo. Don't give me that look."
She gave quite the convincing pout, I almost wanted to cut in and tell her to just take it.
"Fine, fine!" He threw up his hands. "I'll buy one."
He started to rummage through his pockets, taking out a stack of Lien. "Here, kid, I'll pay the rest later, I don't carry that much lien on me at once."
"It's fine." I waved him off. "I needed some cash on hand anyways, take it as a gift for a continued working relationship." Again, I was valuing his skills and reach far more than the cost of a single coin, getting in his good graces would probably make everything go smoother.
Almost as soon as I finished the words, the smaller woman planted a kiss on my cheek.
"Well…I think she likes you." Roman smirked.
I took a glance at the muted girl; she exaggeratedly batted her eyelashes at me. There could be worse girls to grab the attention of, and she was pretty cute. I wasn't exactly fooled by her size, while rather petite, she was all woman.
"You're alright, kid." Roman gave his goodbyes while Neo gave one last wink as he left the room with her partner.
"They were an interesting duo."
Junior just snorted. "That's one way to put it, at least that devil-girl didn't break anything this time." He started to collect all the golden coins into neat stacks. "Anything else you need?" He asked.
"Know any places that won't need my ID to stay for a few nights?"
"I know a couple places." He nodded. "Whats your scroll number?"
"Ditched it back in Atlas." I replied. "Can't get one until I get a new ID."
He didn't comment and just wrote it down on a nearby piece of paper and passed it over.
There wasn't much else that needed to be said, I thanked him for his time, and he was cordial enough, even inviting me back to his bar, if I wanted a drink.
The past few days had been…..interesting.
I had calmed down a bit after the first night, I was pretty sure that no one was looking for me here. I had no doubt that my disappearance was already discovered back in Atlas, but it was unlikely that they would suspect I had already made my way to Vale.
That isn't to say I've let my guard down, after spending a couple years having to always be conscientious of prying eyes, such things can't easily be let go.
I found myself standing before a three-story building, devoid of any people.
It was about the midway point between the lower-end and higher-end parts of the city, it had a small property line with a little room in the back. The building had been vacant for about 14 months now, while not rundown, it would require a bit of touchup to look presentable.
It was the building I had decided on in the list of properties I was given. The price was not overly expensive, but cost more than I currently had, not that I let Junior know that when he gave me the key. The deed hadn't been finalized, but it was pretty much mine at this point, I was just waiting for my papers to go through before it was entered into the Vale archives and the whole 'loan' part that I worked out with Junior. I had dropped off the papers telling him which building I wanted and the negotiations were rather quick.
The location was acceptable, the price was manageable in the long term, but there was one reason why I chose this spot over the others. It happened to sit right on top of two intersecting Leylines. There were a handful of Leylines running through the city, but most of them were rather small in comparison, these were the two largest.
It had taken several hours to map them out while just walking through the city. This also allowed me to get a good mental layout of the city as well, being able to explore the large kingdom, so the time spent wasn't as boring as one would assume.
I twirled the key in my hand as I approached the door, the chains that wrapped around the handles came apart easily enough as the padlock fell to the ground.
As I entered, a wave of dust and cobwebs greeted me. The front entrance was a reception area, I quickly took not of my surroundings and inspected what was left of this place.
A half-circle desk was at the front, obviously for someone to greet guests as an assistant. Walking towards the back, I went towards the office area, I could see some of varying sizes based on statuses. They were relatively empty and I paid them little mind as I inspected each one, tossing any large pieces of furniture out to discard later, not that there were many to deal with.
There were a few light fixtures that were not working, the electrical would probably need to be checked by a professional along with the plumbing. I pushed those thoughts aside for later and continued my way through the offices.
The furthest one on the floor was the largest, most likely it was meant for the boss or manager of the former business. The desk was still there and what remained of some office furniture, even if most of it had fallen into disrepair.
Should I just drag it outside and find someone to take it away? It wasn't completely unsalvageable, but I wasn't really keen on keeping it either.
I just shrugged, picking it up was relatively easy with my current strength. Only, as I lifted the somewhat large desk off the ground, I felt something heavy shifting in the bottom right corner of its base.
Odd.
Flipping it upside-down, I didn't find anything obvious and there were no drawers that opened up. Giving it a light tap, I reeled my fist back and punched it with a small portion of my strength. I could feel the resistance, a metal ding met my fist as the wood around it was blown away, leaving a rectangular object with a now-large dent on the side.
Pulling apart the pieces of the false wooden corner of the desk, I tossed the scraps away, what remained was what appeared to be a safe.
Looking at the pieces thrown about, I could now see how the safe was hidden inside the desk and how it was supposed to be accessed.
I grabbed the handle to the metal compartment and pulled it off, letting the door swing wide-open.
There wasn't much expectation when I opened it, I had long assumed anything of value would have been taken by the original owner. To my surprise, I found a few hundred Lien, some dust crystals, a fully loaded pistol and....what appeared to be a few bags of drugs.
Fucking hell, am I buying a former drug den?
Whatever, I just tossed everything into my treasury to deal with later.
Maybe I should call Junior and ask him to sweep to place, in case there are any other skeletons that may pop out at the wrong time. Well, that may not be necessary if my plans go correctly.
Doing one last look through of this area of the building and throwing everything outside for garbage, I decided to head off downstairs, into the basement. I figured the basement was the best place to set up any magical shenanigans while the top floor would be private living spaces, which leaves the first floor that I had already browsed as the business front.
The basement was perhaps worse off than the rest of the building. It looked like it hadn't seen any cleaning for several years, the previous owners must have not put much effort down here.
Even the doors seemed a bit rusted as a few didn't want to give way and I had to resort to my above-normal strength to push them open, more than one had the hinges snap or shatter, adding on more things I would need to remedy later on. Even with all these inconveniences that were piling up, I had yet to regret my decision on buying this building, the location of the leylines below was simply too valuable.
There was nothing surprising down here to find, no hidden treasure troves or skeletons popping out at me. It truly looked like it had been ignored for many years at this point.
Pushing open the last door on the floor, a rusted creaking greeted my ears as the metal grated against itself.
The last room was a bit bigger than the others; I had no idea what its original purpose was, but for my needs, it would suffice.
It was finally time.
I had a flurry of emotions go through me as I mentally prepared myself. I don't even know quite what I was feeling right now.
Anticipation, anxiety, maybe even a little excitement?
Holding out my hand, I allowed a portal to open up to my treasury. Carefully, I mentally grasped at a certain item I had access to and without another thought, a golden chalice was deposited into my hand.
What a ridiculous object.
The fact that such an unassuming trinket could hold so much power…..I had no doubt that the kingdoms would disregard any charade of civility to acquire this from me if word of it ever got out.
Holy Grail.
When it had first entered into my Treasury, the information on this object had flowed into my mind. I couldn't help but mentally shut down as I realized what this object truly meant. Though, it wasn't a 'real' Holy Grail.
Along with the knowledge of how to use the item, also came with it the knowledge of its origins and history. I knew the origins of the idea, the creation of human mages in a bygone era. What I had wasn't what they had created, what I had was the prototype.
That is to say, mine differed from theirs in many ways.
There were both benefits and drawbacks to my Grail compared to the 'real' Grail.
I placed the Holy Grail onto the ground as I withdrew more items from my treasury. Among them being a few gallons of Chicken blood I had acquired the other day in anticipation for this moment.
Blood is an excellent conductor for magical energy, albeit not the best. If possible, I would have much preferred to procure some Mercury for this ritual, but it is much harder to obtain on short notice than some chicken's blood.
Thankfully, animal blood isn't something that people would look twice at. There are several huntsman concoctions that make use of animal blood. Grimm are extremely sensitive to Human blood, just take a little bit and mix it with a bucket of animal blood and the Grimm have a hard time telling the difference. It makes for wonderful bait when taking jobs in the wilderness.
Drawing the correct circles and symbols was….tedious, combined with the fact that I was using blood, it became all the more cumbersome. There were many times where I had to wipe away my work and start over. Eventually, I managed to make something that looked similar to what I saw when I learned how to operate the Grail.
It should be acceptable, it's not like this ritual relies exclusively on me, the Grail does the heavy lifting in almost every aspect.
I held out my hand, letting my mana seep out and make a connection to the ritual site.
It was time.
"Let Silver and Steel be the Essence."
"Let Stone and the Archduke of Contracts be the Foundation."
"Let my Great Master Schweinorg be the Ancestor."
The mana in the air stirred, I could now feel the ritual tugging on my own reserves at a faster pace and the Ritual circle lit up with an ethereal glow, reaching from beyond this realm towards the metaphysical plane that was the Throne of Heroes.
"Let Rise a Wall Against the Wind that Shall Fall."
"Let the four Cardinal Gates Close."
"Let the Three-Forked Road from the Crown Reaching unto the Kingdom Rotate."
"I Hereby Declare!"
"Your body shall serve under me, but my Fate shall be in thy Sword"
"Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail!"
"If you Accept this will and Reason, then Answer!"
There was no wish to be had here, all I could offer was a second chance at life and whatever they could grasp with their own hands. This was the reason I did not provide any catalyst for summoning; I could only convey my feelings and thoughts to find a suitable partner.
The wind whipped around the small room, the dust had been kicked up and pushed away earlier. The mana in the air was fluctuating in a way that was perceivable to the mundane eye. I had to hold my hand steady as I continued the incantation.
"Here is my Oath."
"I Shall Obtain All the Virtues of Heaven."
"I Shall Hold Dominion Over All the Evils of Hell."
"From the Seventh Heaven, Attended by the Three Great Words of Power, Arrive from the Ring of Restraint, O' Keeper of the Holy Balance!"
The Mana flared up, blinding me as I braced myself, the mana and the fifth imaginary element seemed to coalesce to form the vessel, but I couldn't sense anything in this turbulence. I could barely even stand as the pressure was pushing me back in this cramped space.
When the ritual finally died down, I was greeted by another figure standing inside the summoning circle.
There was no movement for what felt like eternity.
It was without any indication that the newcomer's head finally rose, her eyes stared at mine from under her cloaked visage.
"Summoned under the Caster Class." Her enchanting voice echoed out through the corridors. "Are you my master?"