Unexpected Healer Book 2 -- Chapter 13

Chapter 13

“What—?”

Thaden was dragged a few feet down the alleyway and pushed up against the wall of the Outstanding Accessories shop.  His surprise was so great that he didn’t activate his protective Fields until after his back was against the cold stone of the building, though it did nothing to remove the hands that were still forcefully holding onto his arms.  It only took him a second to realize it was because he wasn’t being hurt in any way, and besides dragging him into the alley, there wasn’t the expected knife to his gut he might’ve expected from someone attempting to mug him and take his valuables.

Of course, that was a ridiculous thought considering that all of his valuables were hidden away in his Inventory, but he figured that at least some Contenders still carried around their money in a pouch or something similar.  Otherwise, why would someone drag him into an alley—

“Are you #32599999-E?”

The feminine voice with a hint of a French accent startled him and it took him a few seconds to realize it was coming from the hooded figure in front of him.  “Uh, what?” he managed to get out after a few seconds of trying to come to terms with what was happening.  How does she know?  Who is she?

“I’ll take that as a yes,” the woman said, before she let him go and pushed back the hood of the dark blue cloak she was wearing.  Striking, long blonde hair famed her flawless face even as her unbelievingly red lips turned down in a frown, her blue eyes staring at him with an intensity that frightened him a little.  Figuring out how to breathe again after his first glance at her, he realized that the frown wasn’t the only blemish upon her visage, as the bags under her eye highlighted by dark circles revealed that she was likely going through some stuff.

Stuff that he had no desire to get himself into.

“I, uh, don’t know what you’re talking about.  I think you have the wrong person.”  His own voice didn’t sound convincing to him, but he pushed on.  “I’m Christopher, as you can see—”

“Look, I don’t care how you figured out how to hide your name and fake your Level, as that’s none of my business,” she said as she tersely cut him off, shaking her head.  “You can do what you want to do and I don’t really care if you’re at the top of the Rankings from now until we’re off of Tarth.”

“What is all this about?  Why are you looking for #325-whatever his name is?” he asked, his alarm slowly starting to fade as it didn’t seem like she was intending to try and assassinate him for one reason or another.  Of course, she could be a really good actress, but she seemed like she genuinely didn’t care about his status.

“Please, spare me the runaround.  I know who you are, and I need your help.”

It took him a few seconds to respond.  “Uh, I don’t know if I can help you.  If you need a few gold, I might be able to spare—”

“I don’t want your gold,” she spat out, seemingly disgusted at his suggestion.  Now he was thoroughly confused.

“I can’t power-Level you, if that’s what you’re asking—”  He technically might be able to, but he’d already done some of that and had no desire to do it again.  Fortunately, that didn’t seem like her plan as she cut him off once again.

“I need your help to find my brother.”

Another pause as he registered what she was saying; this wasn’t exactly going like he thought it might.  “Your brother?  I’m not exactly a private investigator or anything.  And besides, I’m only Level 12…”  This time, he trailed off as he saw the look on her face that screamed, “I’m going to slap you if you spout that nonsense again.”

I’m not too good at this, am I?  I folded almost immediately to her assumptions about my identity, but all I can say in my defense is that I wasn’t exactly prepared for this type of situation.

“I don’t know what you think you know about me, but what makes you think I’m this, uh, number dude?  Or that it’s even a guy in the first place, as it could as easily be a woman.”

She huffed in annoyance before she started ticking off things with her fingers.  “I was in line at the gate when you entered, and the way the Guard reacted to your presence was enough to make anyone suspicious.  Once I was inside, I hurried after you and was there when the freaking Vice-Leader of the Adventurer Coalition came to talk to you before teleporting the both of you away.  The next day, I discovered you leaving out the back of the Coalition building, where there shouldn’t even be any exits, and then I followed you to the dungeons.  I watched as you seemingly weren’t concerned about pissing off some important members of the Harvest Guild as they attempted to recruit you, and then proceeded to ignore the rest of the dungeons to visit the impossibly difficult Magma Dungeon at the end of the tunnel.

“Following you was fairly easy because you are so oblivious to what is going on around you that it should be a crime, though getting that close to all that magma was difficult even with the Weak Heat Resistance Ring I picked up in a dungeon a week ago.  But I was able to watch as you, a powerful Contender masquerading as a Level 12, had absolutely no issue with the heat, and then went on to not only survive more than a few seconds against the Magma Salamanders there, but to kill what would absolutely obliterate any Level 12 Contender even with the best gear.

“I waited for what felt like days as I saw you enter the dungeon without a shred of concern, and then emerge without a care in the world.  Hurrying back up the tunnel was easy enough to do before you emerged without a scratch on you, and then I watched you enter the Coalition again through a portion of the wall that doesn’t exist to my senses, and then you went shopping later with a map that only newcomers to the city use.  It was only when I saw you drop over 100 gold on items from this shop that it cemented what I already knew, because no Level 12 has that kind of money to spend on worthless trinkets.  Hell, very few Contenders have that kind of money to spare, even those in the Guilds.

“So, yes, I know who you are, even if your nametag says something differently.  I can only assume that it’s some sort of item that is allowing you to change your visible name and Level, but I couldn’t care less about that.  Like I said, I need your help to find my brother.”  She had to cycle through all her fingers multiple times as she recounted her activities, which immediately think stalker, even if she wasn’t giving off those kinds of vibes.

It was at that moment that he realized that he hadn’t even looked at her name yet, so he quickly glanced up and saw exactly who had apparently been following him since he arrived.  Nah, that’s not creepy or anything.

Camille

Human

Level 19

“Well, Camille, that’s… uh, quite a story,” he said a bit lamely, unsure how to respond.  “Even if what you say is true, and I’m not saying that it is,” he said hurriedly, “I have no idea where your brother is or why you think I could help.  You can obviously tell that I’m new here, as I didn’t realize I was giving off a touristy vibe by walking around with that map, but that just goes to show that I don’t know the first thing about this place.  I don’t know anyone, and I’m sure that you probably have more contacts than I do to find your brother.  I’m sorry, but like I said before, I think you have the wrong person.”

“You don’t understand—”

“You’re right, I don’t understand,” Thaden said, interrupting her for a change.  “Which is why I can’t help you; I feel bad about whatever is going on with your brother, but I’ve got my own business to take care of.  Goodbye… and don’t follow me anymore.”

He moved to leave, but her voice echoed through the alley.  “I’ll tell everyone who you are if you don’t help me.”

The Lifewarden stared at her in disbelief.  “Blackmail?  Really?  I can just leave visit another city, you know.  It would be an inconvenience, of course, but I would do it if I had to.”  Shaking his head, he took a few steps toward the alley’s exit before she spoke again.

“That won’t work if I share that information in the Market.  You do know that it also works as an information exchange, don’t you?”

He stopped walking and turned back to Camille.  Her hands were clenched into fists by her sides, and she had a determined look on her face; he knew without a doubt that she would do as she threatened, even if he wasn’t exactly sure what she meant about an “information exchange”. 

Not wanting to admit to even more ignorance, he threatened her right back.  “No you won’t, because I’ll make your life a living hell if you do something like that.”  He had no way to do that, of course, but she didn’t have to know that.

Unfortunately, she seemed to know that already.  “As if you could,” she snorted, before continuing with a flick of her head to move the hair out of her face.  “You’re just a Support Class and I’m not even Level 21 yet; you can’t do anything to me, and you already admitted that you don’t know enough about the city to have formed any meaningful connections with anyone.  Your threats have no merit, while mine are backed up by knowledge and the desperation to do whatever it takes to find my brother.”

Thaden was tempted to simply walk away and forget about Camille and her threat to expose him, possibly traveling to another city and starting over with a new name and Level.  But if there really was a way to share information via the Market to a wide range of Contenders, which he wouldn’t put it past the other people from Earth to have figured something like that out, then the knowledge of his appearance and his ability to change his name and Level could become common knowledge.  He preferred his anonymity and would fight to keep it now that he had moved away from Ashcleft and the people who actually knew who #32599999-E was and what he looked like.  It was far harder to change his appearance than his name, though he would do so if he had to.

Overall, though, the fact was that she could jeopardize his whole thing by revealing more information that he was comfortable with.

With a sigh, Thaden crossed his arms over his chest as he asked, “Fine; what is it that you’re asking me to do?”  Holding up a hand to stop her before she spoke, he added, “Keep in mind that I’m not agreeing to anything, but if it will stop you from greatly inconveniencing me, then I’ll at least hear you out.”

Camille got right down to it.  “I need you to infiltrate the Harvest Guild and find out where they’re holding my brother, and then help me free him from whatever Bond is keeping him there.”  Thaden waited for her to explain a bit more than that, but she pressed her lips against each other and didn’t say another word.

“I… have no idea what you just said.  What is a Guild?  Do you mean a Contract Bond?  I’m going to need something more than that.  And even if half of what you said makes sense, I’m not a Scout Class and won’t be infiltrating anywhere.”

“You don’t know about—” she started to ask with disbelief, before shaking her head.  “Of course not.  That’s why you acted like that near the Mine,” she muttered, before focusing her attention back on him.  “I’m not going to give you a long history lesson, but the Guilds in the city were formed by large groups of Contenders that wanted some sort of larger organization that focuses on mutual aid, which isn’t something that the Adventurer Coalition isn’t exactly set up for.  Individual parties excel in the Coalition, but what happens when a party needs help to tackle SPECIAL Quests or is unable to advance through a dungeon without the help of a specific type of Class? 

“These Guilds provide that sort of structure, where party members are a bit more fluid as they are interchangeable amongst a greater pool to choose from; not only that, but loot is shared amongst the Guild members to ensure that those who need a piece of gear gets it when it becomes available, which in turn benefits the Guild as each member becomes more powerful.

“As least, that’s they way it is supposed to work, but as you can imagine, there are some that abuse such an organizational structure.  Many Contenders are so desperate to join an organization that is portrayed as something of a ‘family’ that they don’t stop to think about what they are getting themselves into, and are then preyed upon by the leaders of the Guild.  While slavery or even indenture-based Contract Bonds are forbidden by the Assimilation System, you’d be amazed at what former lawyers from Earth can cook up that works around the rules and exploits loopholes in the Bonds. 

“That’s what happened to my younger brother, who joined up with the Harvest Guild before I could stop his stupid impulsive act; now, he’s stuck in some sort of Contract Bond with the Guild and has completely disappeared.”

Wow.  I guess I was wrong about people exploiting other people when Gharves was telling me about the Market and the services that Contenders can sell.  They somehow figured out a way to cheat the system, which shouldn’t surprise me considering what I know about Human nature, but I would’ve thought that this world and our entire situation here would’ve curbed most of those tactics. 

“I hate to say this considering it’s your brother, but is there a chance that he’s… no longer living?” he asked.

Camille shook her head.  “No, I know he’s alive.  I can feel it.  Besides, they wouldn’t and couldn’t kill him as long as he’s still restrained by the Contract Bond.”

Thaden had his doubts, but he was also just now learning about these Guilds and what they were, as well as being largely ignorant of the exact nature of Contract Bonds, so he could certainly be wrong.  “Alright, I’m still a bit fuzzy about all this, but what does that have to do with me?  I’m not a lawyer, and as I said before, I’m in no way an infiltrating type of person.”

She smiled at that, and the Lifewarden was fairly certain that it wasn’t due to her being happy – unless she was happy to torture him, because that was what the look she gave promised him.  “That’s where things get a bit interesting.  I need you to join the Harvest Guild—at least temporarily.”

“Uh, didn’t you just say that joining a Guild is a stupid idea?”

She shook her head.  “Not all Guilds are predatory, but the Harvest Guild certainly is.  But don’t worry, as I said, it will only be temporary.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I don’t want you to join their Guild, only to work with them to gain the information I need.  Once you figure out how to break the Contract Bond that my brother is subjected to, then your job is done.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to clarify what she meant.  “I hate to ask, but what do you mean by, ‘work with them’?”

There was the smile again, if a bit wider this time.  “It’s simple.  You offer your services to the highest bidder… and the Harvest Guild has deep enough pockets to be able to hire you.”

“And that is supposed to magically tell me about this Bond with your brother and his whereabouts?”

She shrugged as if to say that it was only the first part of the plan.  “No, but if you perform your service to them like I think you will, they’ll fall all over themselves to secure you permanently.  It’s the Contract Bond that they’ll offer you at that point that I can use to figure out how to free my brother.”

“That seems like a lot of assumptions going on here with your plan.  How do you know if it will even work?  More than that, if I agree to do this for you, can you promise that you won’t have me involved in actually getting your brother out?  I already told you that I’m not exactly the right one for a job like that.”

 “Yes, I can agree to that.”

Thaden thought about it for nearly a minute in silence as he stared at the woman, trying to figure out where this whole plan could go wrong.  Sadly, he didn’t have enough knowledge to analyze all of the variables that could affect the outcome, which he’d have to rectify before he fully committed to it.  That being said, he could at least partially agree to it – with some conditions.

“That’s good enough for now, I think,” he finally said.  “I’m still not 100% on board, but I’ll need some more information before I start, including how exactly I should put my services up on the Market to ensure that I get the right buyers, as well as a deeper understanding of Guilds and how they work.”

“I can easily do that,” she replied immediately, relief evident in her stance as her body seemed to relax and slump a bit.  “We can get started—”

He held up a hand.  “Not today, though.  I still have some shopping to do, and I have a date later.”

“A… date?  Who is interested in that kind of thing right now?”

He grinned at her confusion.  “It’s not that kind of date,” he replied with a chuckle.  “Let’s just say that me and a certain Colossus have unfinished business.”