Return of the Runebound Professor - Chapter 849

“The cost to sign up for the tournament is 50 crystals,” the merchant said, a sleazy smile pulling across his wide lips. He leaned back in the chair behind the stall, the moonlight illuminating his features in a ghastly glow. “And that’s the law. Any one of the others will tell you the same, but please, feel free to go waste a few hours hunting around for better options that aren’t there.”

The cloaked figures standing in line before him said nothing for just long enough to make things uncomfortable.

“I think you misunderstand,” the taller of the two said in a distinctly female voice. But what surprised the merchant wasn’t her gender so much as her age. Despite the note of steel behind her words, there was no doubt that she was young. She couldn’t have even been 30.

But being some wet-nosed brat wasn’t going to get the cost of a badge any lower. He hadn’t been the one to set the rules. If he had, the price would have been far higher. He’d been tempted to do just more times than he could count. Gods knew people would pay for it.

The temptation hadn’t been nearly enough to overwhelm his senses of self-preservation. There were some people in Aqua Terra that nobody crossed. Not all of the laws were written in stone, and the ones that couldn’t understand that didn’t tend to stick around for long.

Badges, when sold less than a week before the tournament, were 50 crystals. That was that. They didn’t go for cheaper, no matter how pretty the asking face was. They didn’t go higher no matter how heavy the purse of a fool happened to be.

They were 50 crystals.

“Misunderstand?” the merchant wiped his nose with the back of his hand and snorted. “No. The price is 50, miss. You can flutter your lashes or run me through with a spike. The price will remain the same regardless. Ain’t nothing I can do about it.”

“That’s lovely,” the woman said. She put a hand on the hilt of the sword dangling from her waist. “But I’m not here to buy a badge. I’ve already been enrolled in the tournament. Both of us have. I believe we should just be able to pick our badges up here, yes?”

The merchant blinked.

This young? Some noble is sending his brats to make a name for themselves, is he? It’s unlikely that any real monsters would be showing up at one of the normal pickup zones like this. They’d have gotten their badge directly from whoever got them into the tournament so they’d be automatically under the banner of the right clan. 

But there were rules about these kinds of things. And, no matter who this girl and her companion may have been, it didn’t matter. If they were on the list… then they were on the list.

Still… this young, and without any real pull?

That’s a score.

The merchant’s lips didn’t so much as twitch. He’d been at this for far too long to let such a childish slipup get past him. He simply coughed into his fist. “Then it seems I must retract my former line. I misunderstood. What are your names?”

“I was told that method is a little outdated,” the young woman said. “I’d rather not go listing off my abilities in public. Can’t you identify me via physical contact?”

A flicker of surprise passed through the merchant. That was slightly less common knowledge. While the Tournament of Heaven’s Path was the largest competition in Obsidia by magnitudes, the Coral Empire still held routine, normal tournaments with a similar badge system.

He’d been around for quite a few of those — and the people that cared enough about their identity and abilities to want to protect them usually weren’t the ones swinging by the back-alley entryways to the tournaments in the first place.

This could be a good one. She’s not just some random kid. Must have picked up a few things here and there. I suppose we’ll know in a few minutes, won’t we?

“Of course,” the merchant said smoothly. “That does cost one crystal, though. Connecting to the Coral Empire’s database—”

The woman pulled out a pale blue crystal before he’d even finished his sentence. He blinked, then took it from her and banished it into his storage ring.

“Do it,” the woman said, extending her hand.

The merchant took it.

At the very instant his palm touched hers, a faint warmth filled the ring wrapping his pointer finger. He released the woman’s hand.

“Confirmed. You’re in the tournament. I’ll—”

“Her too,” the woman said, nodding to her companion.

Two of them? Both pre-registered, but showing up in the middle of the night on their own? Oh, this is too good. Looks like someone might be on the run, eh?

“With pleasure,” the merchant said. He held his hand out. The second woman shook it, and his ring warmed once again.

They were both registered for the tournament. Without a moment longer of delay, the merchant pulled out two black badges and placed them on the wooden counter before him.

“Take these,” he said, sliding them forward. “Press your thumbs into the gold portions on the center to bind yourself to the badge. And remember to show up to the right section of the tournament when it starts, yes? Rank 4 and below. Rank 5 through 6. Rank 7s. Three different sections. Your badge won’t let you into one of the wrong ones. So if you’re a Rank 5 hoping to bully some kids… well, you’ll have a bad time.”

“Thank you,” the lead woman said, sliding the badges over to them. She tucked one into her pocket, then handed the other to her still-silent companion. “Is there anything else we need to know?”

“That’s all. Once the sun rises, you’ve got 4 days before the tournament starts,” the merchant said as he clasped his hands together. “Best of luck. And keep an eye open when you sleep. Aqua Terra draws a lot of characters during tournaments. Even the Prophet can do only so much to keep it safe.”

“Your warning is appreciated,” the woman said. She and her friend turned, striding away without another word.

The next person in line stepped forward, already reaching for his coin purse, but the merchant’s eyes were still on the retreating backs of the two cloaked travelers. He ran his finger along the surface of his still-warm ring.

Mistress. These two are worth testing. I don’t know if they’re strong enough to bring into the fold… but they might have some offerings for us.

Out of the corner of his eyes, the merchant spotted the two women pausing near an alley. A man stood just at the edge of it, a dark cloak covering his features completely.

A small smile pulled at the corner of the merchant’s lips.

“Badge,” the newcomer in line said abruptly, clunking down a bag full of crystals. “Give it to me.”

The merchant glanced down.

“No ring?” he asked. “You just carry your crystals around like a — oh, no matter. Give me a moment.”

He reached over to the bag, drawing the crystals into his ring with a thought.

This one isn’t worth the effort. Entirely uninteresting. Not even worth killing off.

“Here,” the merchant said as he held out a black badge. “Best of luck to you. And—”

A twang echoed through the back of the merchant’s mind. It sliced through his thoughts and sent a jolt of distant pain stabbing into his heart. 

He choked on his own saliva, letting out a choked cough into his fist and inadvertently pulling the badge away from the waiting man.

“What are you up to?” the other man growled. “Give me my damn badge. I paid for it.”

“My apologies,” the merchant wheezed, sliding the badge across the table and pounding his chest in an attempt to clear is throat. “I breathed wrong.”

The man let out a grunt. He just grabbed the badge and strode away.

Still coughing, the merchant tried to compose himself in time for the next person in line. He couldn’t keep from glancing over toward the alley where the two women had paused no more than a literal moment before. 

They were gone.

So fast? Impossible. That would mean they literally attacked before we even had a chance to make them an offer. And they were strong enough to kill our agent? What kind of bloodthirsty monster—

A presence brushed across his mind like the cold embrace of death. The merchant’s back went stiff as metal.

Yes?

Who severed that agent? Did you see?

Huh? Yes. Of course. Faster than normal, but it was a pair of women. Young, I think. Wearing cloaks. But they were selected under our standard procedures. Is there an issue?

Normal procedure? That doesn’t match up with the other kills. But not all of the merchants are in our number. Perhaps this is the missing link. We’ll keep an eye on them. It could be connected… though I doubt it. What were their names?

The merchant paused. His brow furrowed for a moment as he tried to sort his thoughts back into order.

Alexandra.

Alexandra and Yulin.