Chapter 19 (part 1/2) - Anti-Mage Countermeasures

  After confirming that he was being followed, Vincent grew a bit paranoid, so Lily decided to bring him the manuals to help him craft his gauntlet while he stayed in his room. A moment of calm did him good. He had been running around nonstop the entire previous day to build stock, and now he could finally sit down.

  Knock knock.

  Someone knocked on the door. When he opened it, he found Charly, glancing over his shoulder and stepping inside the moment Vincent gave him space.

  “So you found out.”

  “Of course I did! Tammy already told me,” Charly replied energetically, taking off his satchel and sitting on the bed as if he could finally relax. “Here, this is your money.”

  Charly placed the coins in his hand, about forty silver towers. He did it exaggeratedly, pushing Vincent’s hand, as if he never wanted to do it again. Vincent caught that intention and took four coins and two silver pinches, handing them back to Charly.

  “Here. What you lent me. I’ll give Tammy her share when I see her.”

  “What? That fast?”

  “You look worried. I assumed you didn’t want to keep doing this.”

  “They’re dangerous people, Vin. Very dangerous. Not all of us have a Magister as a caretaker. If they want to screw us over, there’s nothing we can do. We’re getting into very big business, business with people who can hurt us.”

  “So that’s a no? You want out?”

  “I thought you’d go with some corny ‘I won’t let anything happen to you’ speech or something,” Charly replied with a crooked smile.

  “I’m no hero, Charly. And heroes aren’t real heroes here either. I can’t promise you anything, we’re all adults.” Vincent made the coins jingle in his hand, barely able to hold them all, shifting the pouch and opening it slightly, watching the obsessive gleam of the silver. “I can only promise riches… and maybe ways to mitigate the risks.”

  Charly pretended to think about it for a second, but he already had his answer. It was too much money; with that single sale he had earned what he usually made in a month.

  “Of course I want to continue. I want to get out of here, I want to see the world,” he replied without hesitation. “Did you know there are dragons? Nymphs, fairies, and all that shit. Elves too, though they’re not like the ones from Earth’s stories. I want to see that, Vin. I want out.”

  “Don’t you want to go back to Earth?”

  “It’s not possible to go back to Earth, we already died, what part of that don’t you understand?” Charly stood up. “Besides, why would I want to go back? There’s magic here… even if it’s not like a video game, it’s a far more interesting world to explore than the raw reality of working on Earth.”

  Something told Vincent that Charly probably hadn’t been very successful back on Earth. But the reality of the Tower wasn’t exactly a fantasy world either.

  “I hope you can have another batch ready soon. Tammy already explained how to sell them, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

  “Charly, wait a moment.” Vincent stopped him before he could leave through the door. “Your clothes… have you, by any chance, felt someone bump into you, or touch you?”

  He thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

  “Then it’s very possible you’re being followed. You should change clothes and take a bath.”

  Charly nodded and said goodbye. Vincent finally noticed a hint of maturity in him, and some courage too. He had to take risks; he couldn’t stay locked away forever.

  Vincent went out to get something to eat. He needed calories to think. Even though he couldn’t see them, and even though he had cleaned his clothes, he still felt eyes on the back of his neck, still felt like he was being followed.

  “Ptzzz, Vin.”

  A voice called from behind a column. It was Tammy.

  Possibly the smartest of the trio, Tammy had taken a different approach to contacting Vincent. Instead of trying to find him, she chose a route she knew he would pass through and waited.

  The exchange was quick. He received the money and returned her share to Tammy. He warned her about the way they were being tracked and asked her to pass the message on to Ben if she saw him.

  With that, he now had seventy-one coins to his name, seventy-five really if he added the wages he had been paid recently and a few coins he had saved. He planned to spend a large portion on continuing to manufacture vaporizers, and the rest on starting work on his gauntlet.

  Before beginning the design, he needed a glove. There was no point in crafting one from scratch, so he headed toward Rin’s dispensary. It didn’t take long to get there, since the dining hall was close to the dormitories and the common area.

  In one of the corridors connecting those halls stood the dispensary, a small kiosk selling assorted goods. The charming clerk gave him an effusive, warm welcome as soon as she saw him. It was always a pleasure to shop there.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Truth be told, he could have gotten the gloves from the forge as well; all he needed was a simple leather glove, the kind used for work and handling sharp materials. But he felt like a change of scenery, and he wasn’t eager to see Phil again. Buying another fifty towers’ worth of materials would raise suspicions, and there was no way around that anymore.

  “Oh, Vin. Good morning!”

  She remembers my name. This girl is good.

  “Rin, how are you? I’m looking for leather gloves, something fine, not too rough.”

  “Oh? Simple light-leather ones?” Rin replied as she pulled a pair of gloves from a drawer beneath the counter. “If you’re looking for protection for delicate work, you’d be better off going to the forge shop. They have silk gloves and other materials for working with heat.” She tilted her head slightly. “Or are you buying them here because you wanted to see me?”

  “It’s a pleasure to see you, but that’s not the case. I’m working on something.”

  “Mmmm…” Rin fluttered her eyelashes, trying to look adorable. “And may I ask what?”

  Her attempt at seduction was so obvious and exaggerated that it was impossible to take seriously. Vincent knew she was just playing around…

  This girl is much smarter than she lets on. Maybe others, more foolish, take her act seriously. Maybe they even feel insulted…

  Vincent paused for a second, considering whether to test her. Does she know about the vaporizer?

  “You see and hear everything, don’t you? I thought you already knew,” Vincent said casually, tossing out a hook.

  “Well, I know what you’ve worked on, not what you’re working on right now…” Rin replied, this time a bit more serious. “Although I still haven’t managed to get one in my hands. Not personally, at least…”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh? How curious. Because I’ve had a lot of new customers buying herb pellets and other incenses.” Rin added pointedly, gesturing toward the herb shelf. The stock looked noticeably lower. “It’s strange, you know? People stay here for years, so I remember every face, and their habits too. A sudden spike in sales can mean several things, but what I suspect is that someone found a more efficient method than collective burners.”

  Vincent stayed still for a moment, thinking.

  “I see you’re well informed… it was probably a mistake to buy all those pipes in the same place a few days ago.”

  “Yes, that was suspicious. At first I thought you were trying to make friends by giving pipes to that group of husks you hang around with. But after watching the vape in use while the others were working, it became obvious that a new product had entered the market.”

  So it’s being used exactly as I planned… I didn’t expect it to be this obvious.

  Seeing the concern on Vincent’s face, Rin was quick to reassure him.

  “Don’t worry, they won’t say anything as long as you don’t overdo it. The tower doesn’t mind people making a bit of extra money… or at least not unless you do something that could harm the tower, other resurrected, or try to escape before fulfilling your purpose.”

  “My purpose?”

  “Of course. Before they can extract everything useful from you. I don’t know what margins you’re operating on, but I’d advise you to stash it under the mattress for a few years. They won’t let you go so easily after you awaken.”

  Vincent nodded. He already knew that.

  “But let’s not stray from the topic…” Rin continued. “You have other problems on your hands, don’t you? Is that why you want the gloves? To avoid getting dirty?” Her mischievous smile returned. “Would you be interested in a deal?”

  “A deal?” Vincent asked, glancing around. He still wasn’t sure he could trust someone who, in theory, worked directly for the tower. “Do you want to sell my product?”

  “We’re not interested in working on commission. We want the blueprints. To know how you do it.” Rin kept smiling, but her eyes weren’t cheerful. “We managed to get only one, and honestly, we don’t understand how you’ve been able to produce so many. A professional should be able to make two a day at most… yet you have dozens in circulation.”

  Vincent stepped back from the counter, incredulous. Was she the one who’d been following me? Why is she speaking in the plural? he thought.

  “So it was you who marked me?”

  Rin shook her head.

  “We didn’t follow you. We don’t need to. We don’t resort to those methods. We’re just merchants looking for a small profit,” she assured him quickly. “You can’t stand up to them, there are too many. They won’t kill you, but they’ll make your life miserable. You and Lily alone can’t handle them. We, on the other hand, are many.”

  “And who are you, exactly, if I may ask?”

  “Vendors… smugglers… simple clerks. Everyone finds their own way to pay their debt to the tower.”

  So it’s a third group… a guild of sellers? No, nothing that official. The tower’s smugglers.

  Vincent thought about it for a moment. This could be an escape route.

  “So what’s the deal?”

  “We want to know how you’re able to produce so much, the machine or spell you’re using to do it. We won’t give you a cut of the sales, just a single payment… ten gold coins.”

  “That’s very little. You’ll need to make a better offer.”

  “You’re probably thinking you could make much more on your own, and that’s true… assuming they let you keep going…”

  That subtle warning stirred something inside him, a hatred that, despite being far removed from his new reality, despite having lost parts of his memories, still lingered. Suddenly, the beautiful girl and her porcelain face seemed cruder; her delicate, pretty nose scrunched up until it looked almost pig-like.

  “Are you threatening me?” Vincent asked, hostility seeping into his voice as he cast a sharp glance at Rin. “I need to know if you’re my enemy too.”

  The sudden flare of hatred made Rin recoil, dropping her playful demeanor. She raised her hands, trying to calm him. She hadn’t expected such immediate hostility, and she was smart enough to realize Vincent wasn’t someone she should antagonize.

  “Not at all, please. We’re friends. We’d never resort to such crude methods, that’s not how we operate,” Rin insisted. “We skirt legality, so we wouldn’t do things like that.”

  Vincent relaxed a little. It was very likely Rin was telling the truth, though if he hadn’t reacted the way he did, it might have suited her to let him think it was a threat. As the hostility faded, Rin’s nose returned to normal.

  “Then? Explain yourself.”

  “You’re fighting against many interests. And those who own them will argue for maintaining the status quo by any means they can.”

  If there’s been no innovation in this tower, it’s for a reason. No matter where I go, my inventions will always face obstacles.

  “What I’m saying is that it’ll be hard for you to keep them at bay while you keep producing those devices. You could pay for protection, hire some muscle to back you up, become a ringleader like the ones chasing you… or you could just sell your invention and be done with it.”

  Vincent thought about it for a moment, but the sudden memory of the pigs and his death flooded him with adrenaline. Maybe it was impulsive, but he didn’t want to give up. Not without a fight.

  “I’m afraid I can’t get rid of my problems that easily… you see… my ego is rather large.”

  “Ah… I see,” Rin said with a smile. “In that case, I wish you the best. And know that you can always come to us if things start to heat up.”

  “Well, you can help me… I need some herbs. Maybe you could guide me…”

  “Oh?”

  Vincent had piqued Rin’s curiosity.

  “I know you have herbs to soften, nourish, and restore meridians… but do you have any that can block them?”

  Rin’s smile changed, though it didn’t fade. As she stepped back into the kiosk, her expression darkened; her grin turned slightly macabre, yet playful. Whatever Vincent was planning, it was going to be interesting.