Chapter 18 (part 1/2) - Unwanted Attention

  Vincent worked through the night on the vaporizers. His eyelids were heavy and his hands were covered in sores from handling ceramic for so long, but at last he had enough raw material. This time he had to bring a small wooden crate to carry all the cylinders he had made, enough to produce around a hundred vaporizers… once they went through the fabrication circles and, afterward, had the flux and gems installed.

  By dawn it was payday, and Vincent had finished manufacturing the twenty vaporizers his capital allowed. His meager weekly resurrected wage was barely three silvers, so it wasn’t worth waiting to get paid early just to make more. Instead, it was smarter to stay available so the trio of shells could come pick up their product. The market was far from saturated, and if he sold all his stock that day, he’d end up with around a hundred silver coins. At that pace, paying off his debt wasn’t impossible… as long as the tower didn’t find out.

  “Vin… there you are,” Ben greeted him after getting paid. “Do you want to go somewhere more private?”

  “Of course. Follow me.”

  Vincent led Ben toward some distant shelves, away from the treasury area. Between the tall bookcases, he prepared the vaporizers.

  “You haven’t shown up these past few days. I was worried,” Vincent added, though it was a lie. He was really just hoping that if Ben hadn’t managed to sell anything, he would at least return the sample vaporizer he’d been given.

  “Sorry… I was just making sure the buyers were trustworthy… and that I didn’t sell twice in the same dormitory.”

  Vincent gave him a doubtful look, forcing Ben to elaborate.

  “You know… we don’t want to attract unwanted attention.”

  “Unwanted attention?”

  Is he talking about the Tower? No… there are other players involved.

  “Of course,” Vincent replied calmly, even as he scolded himself inwardly for his stupidity.

  Despite his intelligence, his greatest flaw was how easily he dismissed anything he considered “beneath” him. The Tower and its complex systems were worthy of his attention, but any issue specific to husks had seemed merely anecdotal. He hadn’t considered the mundanity of their day-to-day lives, something he would come to regret later.

  “I’m sure they won’t say anything, and selling a couple per dorm shouldn’t bother the burner lessors.”

  “Sorry, but you’ll have to explain what that is.”

  “In larger dorms and barracks with limited resources, it’s a common occurrence for a resurrected to rent out their burner to a group of husk. They basically pay for a training session. The lessor provides the burner and the herbs, and also takes part in the training. It’s a good option for groups that aren’t very close-knit and are short on money.”

  “And if many husks start using herbs on their own, that would conflict with their business…”

  “Exactly. That’s why I tried to sell on floors where the others haven’t offered yet… and always in different dorms,” Ben replied, a bit embarrassed. “That’s why I only managed to get four interested buyers.”

  “It’s fine, Ben, you did the right thing,” Vincent reassured him. “Give me the prototype vaporizer you have. I’ll give you four more so you can sell them.”

  Ben was much slower to act than the others, but also far more considerate. If there really could be trouble with a resurrected, it was best to avoid it.

  This is a much better way to work… I should convince the others to sell more carefully… maybe even make a map of where to sell…

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Ben said goodbye, and next came Charly. He arrived with far fewer worries, a grin stretching from ear to ear, ready to collect the product. Before doing anything, Vincent motioned for him to follow to a more remote spot, and that was when Vincent went on alert, starting to pay closer attention to his surroundings.

  They’re following us… and very obviously.

  The resurrected assigned to tail them wasn’t doing a good job, moving the moment they changed position. It wasn’t until Vincent made it clear he’d noticed him that the man finally stopped following.

  “Didn’t you notice you were being followed?”

  “What?” Charly spun around quickly, looking for his pursuer.

  “He’s gone now… you need to be more careful,” Vincent scolded him.

  “Yeah, yeah… now give me the vaporizers.”

  Despite the danger, Vincent handed them over without hesitation. It was already obvious they knew what he was doing, so there was no point in being cautious now. The sensible move would’ve been to stop selling, but he intended to keep going until he had enough to pay off his debts.

  After receiving eight vaporizers, Charly slipped out from between the shelves and blended into a group of husks who had just been paid. A minute later, he already had them all hooked, starting to close deals right there. Vincent tried to follow him, but bumped into a couple of husks in the process and then lost sight of him.

  Vincent sighed, worried. Luckily, he wasn’t the only one with the problem on their mind.

  Not long after, Tammy appeared. Unlike Charly, she looked far more unsettled, clearly aware that she was being followed.

  “Vin… can we talk? In your room, if possible.”

  Tammy didn’t want to take any risks; she preferred to talk somewhere safe, away from prying ears.

  Following someone in the tower, especially someone who didn’t know they were being followed, was easy. The wide cloister of the heart allowed a person to be tracked across several floors, even from the opposite side of the tower, without using magic.

  But if someone knew they were being followed, all it took was entering any library and disappearing among the shelves before taking an elevator to another floor. This dance continued for a while, going up and down levels, looping around, taking detours just to shake their pursuers. Despite all their efforts, when they finally reached the dormitory and looked back, a couple of men were still keeping pace.

  Damn… Vincent thought. They’re persistent.

  Since they already knew they were in the area, it was obvious they would head for his room, so Vincent grabbed Tammy by the hand and quickened his pace. She looked confused at first, but when she noticed the men behind them, she understood immediately.

  They reached his room shortly after. Vincent locked the door, and there, finally feeling safer, Tammy spoke.

  “They’re following us.”

  “Yeah. I noticed.”

  “And not just that… someone’s been asking about you. About your product,” Tammy said, clearly shaken. “They wanted to know how you made it… how it works.”

  So it’s not just about the profits…

  “No matter what we did, I couldn’t lose them. Do you think they might be doing it with magic?”

  “Most likely… but I have no way to identify or counter whatever they might’ve done to you,” Tammy admitted, apologetically. “Maybe you’ll have better luck asking Lily.”

  “It’s true,” Vincent replied, touching the statuette and idly turning it over in his hand, weighing whether to call her or not. After a brief moment of consideration, he sent the signal for Lily to come to his room.

  Vincent explained that Ben had chosen a much more cautious approach when selling the vaporizers, limiting himself to just a few shells per dormitory. Tammy accepted those terms.

  “It’s not just the burner lessors we need to worry about. I’m not even sure the ones who confronted me are the same ones who followed Charly.” Tammy glanced reflexively toward the window, making sure no one was watching, even though it only served as a reflective surface to let in light. “There’s another black market you should be worried about.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The herb trade. There’s a lot of money moving there. Resurrected, since they can move freely through the city, are able to obtain the materials themselves; some can even gather them on their own.”

  “And a product that nearly doubles herb efficiency would be a problem for them…”

  Vincent realized then that the tower wasn’t his only concern. Being discovered by it would only mean the end of his profits, but clashing with resurrected individuals could bring far more serious trouble.

  “What I don’t understand is why they didn’t just expose your invention to the tower. It’d be as simple as taking your vaporizer to one of the high-ranking scholars.”

  “That would destroy my business, but if they adapted it, they’d probably end up expanding the product even further.”

  Tammy noticed how naive her comment sounded, but Vincent appreciated her for bringing it up. He now understood that even if he slowed down or paused sales, sooner or later he’d have to deal with them.

  Is there a way to negotiate? To resist? Money is useless if it isn’t backed by the power to defend it. The freedom it brings only lasts until it clashes with someone else’s. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance…

  Vincent handed the eight vaporizers to Tammy. She understood that, even under scrutiny, it was still better to be in an uncomfortable position with full pockets. She thanked him and went on her way…