The Unwanted Undead Adventurer: Volume 5 Page 8

  I decided to test the Mah spell. Alize and Lorraine stood back again just in case. I was unsure whether that was necessary, but after what happened with the last spell, I couldn’t blame them.

  When I heard Lorraine give me the signal, I cast the spell. “Water, soak up my mana and condense before me: Mah.”

  All life spells had similar incantations. As basic magic, they were simple in their construction. However, that made them that much easier to mix up. That’s why when Lorraine asked if I knew the spell, I wasn’t perfectly confident.

  I wasn’t positive I said it right, but my mana focused into the wand, reassuring me. Then water appeared from the tip of the wand. It was a fairly large orb, but it was nothing compared to the ludicrous size of the flames I had conjured before. This was maybe a size larger than Alize’s flames, but that was all.

  I sustained it for a few seconds to watch it and then let it disappear. When they confirmed it was gone, Lorraine and Alize returned.

  “I knew it. You may be abnormally good at fire magic,” Lorraine said as she thought to herself.

  Judging by the results, I had to agree. “Better than I am at water magic, at least. But now I want to know about the other elements,” I said with curiosity.

  “I’d like to test more too, but you can’t test absolutely everything. Those are the only two spells you can use anyway, aren’t they? You could likely use other elementary spells right away if I taught you the incantations, but even having you test life magic is terrifying. That’s enough for today,” Lorraine said and put a cap on things.

  She was right about that. I had enough experience with those two spells to sustain them, but there was no telling if I could do the same with unfamiliar magic. I probably could, but if anything bad happened, it would already be too late. I didn’t know my body that well, so it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

  ◆◇◆◇◆

  That day, I was contacted by the Stheno Company. When I asked the messenger what they wanted, I was told they had acquired a magic bag I could buy if I wanted it. If not, it would go up for auction. They wanted me to come as soon as possible, so I rushed to prepare and headed to the Stheno Company.

  Magic bags were rare items. If you wanted one that could fit a few orcs or so, that wasn’t too hard to find. But what I had asked of Sharl, the head of the Stheno Company, was a bag that could contain a tarasque. Those were hardly in circulation, and whenever one popped up, it sold right away. I was delighted he even bothered to contact me about it.

  When I arrived at the Stheno Company, the employee who showed me around last time took me to the reception room like before. I again took the elevator up. It never stopped being fascinating. I wondered if Lorraine could put one in her house, but maybe a home didn’t need anything like this. The Stheno Company had to use all the connections at their disposal to get one in the first place, so if someone asked to get one in their home, they’d likely be turned down. Lorraine might try to make one herself if I brought it up, but I didn’t want one that badly. Sadly, I had to give up on it. My dreams were shattered.

  After I got off, I enjoyed some tea and snacks in the reception room as I waited. They had these little brown boards this time. I didn’t realize they were food when I first saw them, but then the employee spoke up.

  “That’s chocolate, a new treat that’s gaining popularity in the West. It can be solid or liquid depending on the temperature, so they serve it in all kinds of ways. It’s delicious.”

  I had never heard of chocolate before, but it smelled sweet. That was enough to assume it tasted good, but it still looked like a little slab. I could fit the whole thing in my mouth, but I didn’t know if I was supposed to.

  “Do you just eat it like this?” I asked.

  “Yes, of course.”

  I carefully stuck it in my mouth. The sweet flavor and a mild bitterness spread across my tongue. “It’s good,” I said with approval.

  “Thank you,” the employee said and left.

  I took that time to have my fill of chocolate. I never knew such delicious sweets existed. Just as I was told, the chocolate melted from the heat in my mouth. It went pretty well with tea, too, but I thought it might go even better with some strong alcohol. But I certainly couldn’t ask for booze here. It was good enough by itself either way.

  I kept chowing down on the chocolate until I heard a knock at the door.

  “It’s Sharl. May I come in?”

  I frantically looked at my fingers and noticed they were smeared with chocolate, so I pulled a cloth out of my magic bag to wipe them off. I figured my mouth wasn’t that clean either and wiped that too. I had no way to check how much I got off, so I reshaped my mask to cover the lower half of my face.

  “Yes, go ahead,” I said with feigned calmness.

  Sharl entered the room. “Good to see you again, Rentt. How have you been since then?”

  His question was vague, but based on my relationship with him, only one topic came to mind. Sharl must have meant what happened with Nive and the saint. He wanted to know if I’d had any problems with them since we last met.

  I shook my head. “I think it’s been fine for the most part, but maybe I just haven’t noticed anything,” I replied.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if Nive had some stealth skills. Actually, there was a 100% chance that was true, given the absurd number of vampires she had killed. But I hadn’t done anything suspicious since we last met. Or at the very least, nothing that would pin me down as a vampire. I even stopped going out late at night unless absolutely necessary. True, my magic training from earlier had surprising results, but it was nothing that abnormal. My most incriminating activity was I went around buying assorted items for my journey, but travel wasn’t uncommon, so that shouldn’t have been a problem. I assumed I was fine.

  “That’s good,” Sharl said. “After all the trouble you were put through, I was eager to know how business has been for you since then.”

  He was far busier than the average man, and not in any position to give a single adventurer his time, so I had wondered why he wanted to see me again. But his explanation made sense. Still, I didn’t think he needed to go out of his way. Maybe he was just affable, but Sharl hadn’t known the details about Nive’s suspicions of me in the first place. My guess was Nive wanted to capture and destroy vampires as quickly and subtly as possible, hence her secrecy. That was annoying for me, as her target, but vampires did tend to hide within crowds. If she had cause to suspect someone, then confirming her suspicions was the natural course of action.

  “You don’t need to worry, all her suspicions were cleared up. And I hear you even got a magic bag for me,” I said.

  “Oh, that’s right. I’ll have it brought out right now,” Sharl replied and rang the bell on the table. The employee came in carrying a silver tray holding a shabby bag, set it on the table, and left.

  “Is this it?”

  “Yes, a 1,800-gold coin magic bag, just as you asked. Or so I’d like to say, but...” Sharl trailed off.

  “Is this not that?” I asked, worried.

  “Not quite, no, but that doesn’t mean this is a poor-quality bag. The opposite, actually. These go for anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 gold coins.”

  That sounded like a big difference to me. Not that I minded a better product, but I would have appreciated a thought about my wallet. 1,800 gold coins was 18 platinum coins, and that was expensive as it was. I could pay up to 20 platinum coins with the compensation I got from Nive, but I didn’t know about anything more than that.

  My concern must have been obvious, because Sharl laughed. “No, I don’t expect you to pay 2,000 coins. Rather, I’m greatly indebted to you, so I’ll sell this to you for 1,800 and we’ll call it even. How does that sound?”

  ◆◇◆◇◆

  It wasn’t a bad deal for me, of course, but I didn’t know why he lowered the price so much. I understood Sharl felt like he owed me, but that was a big sum of money.

  Sharl seemed to know what
I was thinking. “Well, I won’t claim I have no ulterior motives, but I promise I’m not plotting anything,” he said.

  I cocked my head. “What does that mean?”

  “First of all, if I give you this great deal, we can put the past behind us going forward, right?”

  He responded honestly, and I had to say he was probably right. Some might have wanted to cut ties with him after what happened, but I didn’t feel the need to go that far. It was all Nive’s fault anyway. And any other company would likely take Nive’s request the same way. The support for the Church of Lobelia was just that powerful, though that support seemed more like something Nive was dragging around.

  “That’s true, I suppose we can for the most part,” I answered. I still felt cautious around him, but if we cut ties, I would lose access to information. That would only be more frustrating.

  “For the most part, eh? Understood, I see you aren’t too trusting. Then secondly, and you can laugh at this if you want, but as a merchant, I suspect you might have some value to me,” he admitted.

  This sounded like the real reason for his offer, given the intensity in his voice, but I didn’t know what he was implying. Maybe I had some value as a vampire, but I didn’t think that was it. He meant it in a more abstract sense.

  “I don’t think I have anything to offer in particular, though,” I said.

  “Really? Then maybe my judgment is off, but I wouldn’t think so. Besides, you’re going to be a Mithril-class adventurer one day, aren’t you? If that comes to pass, then it’ll surely be worth staying connected with you. In other words, this is an investment of sorts,” he added, recalling what I had told him in passing. I meant what I said, but I didn’t think he took me seriously. Apparently he did.

  “I hope to reach my goal, but a lot of people say how difficult it is.”

  “I would believe it. Most Bronze-class adventurers never reach Mithril-class in their wildest dreams, but you’ll never make it if you don’t try. I started off with a modest store myself, but now I have this whole company. Anything is possible,” Sharl said.

  I never knew he was such a sympathetic person. “You accomplished that without any inheritance or anything?” I asked.

  “That wouldn’t be quite accurate. My father ran a store, but it was a tiny general store. I was the one who expanded it. I always said one day our store would be the biggest business in the kingdom, back when it was still only a dream.”

  This was the reason Sharl didn’t make fun of my ambitions when I mentioned them. As for Nive, I didn’t know what she was thinking. I doubted making fun of me was even on her mind. Saint Myullias was, of course, a saint, so she wouldn’t belittle someone for their dreams. Not that being a saint guaranteed a positive personality, but most of those who belonged to a religious organization tried to keep up appearances.

  “That sounds like a lot to invest in a dreamer, though,” I said. Selling something that went for up to 2,500 gold coins for a mere 1,800 meant a 700-gold coin loss. That would be enough to eat shish kebabs from street vendors every day for the rest of my life. Or it would be if I weren’t already dead. In any case, it was a lot of money, and yet he was willing to give it up.

  “Maybe this is a lot of money to you, but it’s not much to my company. Besides, I know your financial situation. Twenty platinum coins is the most I could wring out of you. Magic bags are hard enough to come by as it is, too. I tried to get an 1,800-gold coin bag like you requested, but none appeared on the market. This is what I managed to find, and I do hate to have to lower the price, as any merchant would, but...”

  It was true magic bags were hard to obtain. The only means an ordinary adventurer had of obtaining one was to ask someone who already had one or to find one at an auction or in a dungeon. Even then, few people would give up their magic bags. They were seldom spotted in dungeons, so auctions were the best bet.

  Maybe that was no different for a merchant. There were craftsmen who made magic bags, but nobody knew who they were, and gigantic companies kept nearly all of them to themselves. The Stheno Company might have been big compared to most in Yaaran, but they still didn’t have that many craftsmen or connections. Their only options were to search the auctions, check other businesses, or buy them off adventurers who happened to find one. That would make it hard to obtain one of a specific size. However, it didn’t take long for Sharl to get one that was close enough. That was a great accomplishment, excepting that I couldn’t afford it at full price. I could see why Sharl hated to sell it at a loss.

  “So what’ll it be? Will you buy it?” he asked.

  It was a difficult decision, but I might never have the chance to acquire one of these again. I still didn’t fully trust him, but this was just an ordinary transaction. There was no reason to expect him to make some unreasonable demand after I bought it. But even with all that, I couldn’t answer.

  “Oh, that reminds me, this magic bag has a special function. It can change its appearance,” Sharl said and picked up the bag. He focused on it, and it took the form of a leather bag. Then a knapsack. Then a box. “This is one reason for the price. The storage space by itself would only put it in the 2,000 coin range,” he continued.

  I had heard of items like this, but I’d never seen one before. Craftsmen’s products had a fixed appearance, so this must have been found in a dungeon. For Sharl to have obtained this so soon, he had to have been on the lookout.

  Now that I saw what the bag could do, I couldn’t contain my desire for it. I was almost set on buying it anyway, so this just sealed the deal.

  “I’ll take it. Here, 18 platinum coins,” I said and stacked the coins on the table.

  ◆◇◆◇◆

  Maybe that was a waste of money. The thought occurred to me as I left the Stheno Company with the bag, but I soon shook my head. I needed this to begin with, and it was worth more than I paid for it. Even if I hadn’t bought this one now, I would still need one someday, so picking it up while I knew I could was the right choice. I could also use it to make the same amount of money I paid. I could always take down another tarasque, or hunt all the orcs I could find. Either way, I would make gold coins by the hundreds.

  But I was kind of forgetting how to handle money. Bronze-class adventurers never made huge purchases like this. I could only afford to because of my unique body, so I had to be thankful for that. I did want to become human again, but at the same time, I didn’t. It was a peculiar position to be in.

  With that important business taken care of, I had another objective. Before I left on my journey, there was a problem I wanted to solve. My appearance made it impossible to fix previously, but now I could at least pass for a human. There was likely no way to confirm I wasn’t one, as Nive proved, so I thought now was the time.

  The matter at hand was my position at the adventurer’s guild. It had yet to become an issue, but if someone like Nive caught wind of me again, it could get ugly. If possible, I wanted to get them to register “Rentt Faina” and “Rentt Vivie” as the same person by negotiating with Maalt’s guildmaster. It was a dangerous gamble, but I had a chance. The guild was by no means a squeaky clean organization, as I knew well.

  It would probably work out, I thought to myself as I set foot inside the guild.

  Chapter 3: Existence and Status

  “Rentt? What brings you here today?”

  Sheila looked up from the reception desk and watched curiously as I approached. Her confusion must have been due to the hour of my arrival. Nobody took requests this late. You couldn’t collect rewards for finished jobs at this time either, so she couldn’t guess why I was there.

  “Well, I have some business to attend to. Can you get ahold of the guildmaster for me? I want to talk to him.”

  Sheila was surprised. “Rentt, are you all right? When you came in here, I more or less imagined that was why, but the guildmaster’s not that forgiving,” she warned, putting the pieces together.

  There were only so many reasons why I would go out
of my way to see the guildmaster. The most important of them regarded my current registration status, and that was the cause for her concern.

  “I know, but it’s not like I’ve done anything wrong. I’m sure he’s willing to hear me out,” I argued.

  “I think you’ve done plenty worth criticizing,” Sheila said, her tone doubtful.

  Double registration wasn’t that severe of a crime, but I couldn’t argue it wasn’t a crime at all. She was right in that sense. Still, it wasn’t a massive sin, so I could try to rectify it. Maybe there was some need for caution, but I didn’t think it was that serious.

  “A lot of people do bad things. Anyway, let me talk to the guildmaster,” I repeated.

  Sheila looked uneasy for a moment. “If you insist, then I’m sure there won’t be a problem. This way, please,” she said and stood up.

  ◆◇◆◇◆

  We stopped at a door, and Sheila knocked on it twice.

  “Guildmaster, it’s me, Sheila Ibarss. Rentt Vivie the Bronze-class adventurer would like to speak with you. He’s here with me now.”

  A deep, crude voice answered, but it was hesitant. “Rentt Vivie the Bronze-class adventurer? All right, let him in.”

  Sheila was startled by the response. “As you wish,” she replied and then opened the door. She prompted me to step inside, but she didn’t come in with me. Instead, she closed the door behind me. I heard her walk away, presumably back to her work station.

  Inside the room was a man at a desk. I knew right away that this was the guildmaster. Most guildmasters worked their way up from staff positions at the guild. It was a desk job for the most part, but the intimidating aura this man exuded didn’t belong to someone who did paperwork. His arms looked about as burly as a rough and rowdy adventurer’s, if not more so, and he had a scar that ran down the middle of his left eye. Loose clothes hid his body, but I could tell he was huge. His right eye glowered at me like that of a warrior.