Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 469-470 (Patreon)

Rodrick left Earnst in bed. That was, he’d found, the best place to leave a body. There weren’t many more locations where nobody would blink

Rodrick left Earnst in bed.

That was, he’d found, the best place to leave a body. There weren’t many more locations where nobody would blink twice at somebody lying still. That went doubly true when the bed happened to be placed within the manor of some stuffy noble.

No servant wanted to be the poor fool that woke their sleeping master. Not many of them were brave enough to venture into the room to check just who it was asleep. After all, only a fool would lay down in a bed that wasn’t theirs.

The old bed trick generally bought him time until night. That was far more than Rodrick needed today. Just a few hours would be more than sufficient. He did feel a bit bad about taking advantage of the servant, but such was life.

It wasn’t about the methods. It was about the results — and Earnst was still alive. Esmerelda’s potion had knocked him right out. That was more than Rodrick could say for everyone else attending this party. By the time the sun set over the horizion, he got the very strong feeling that there would be a few more corpses feeding the earth.

  Rodrick strode through the Blacktongue’s halls. His clothes no longer bore the fancy frills of a pompous nobleman but the plain, worn suit of a weathered butler. Rodrick rather liked this uniform. It was rare that he found an outfit with quite so many pockets and fancy little knickknacks. One never knew when they needed three handkerchiefs, after all.

I think I’ll keep this one.  

He jerked to a halt as a female servant stepped through the hall. She bore a large plate of pastries precariously in each hand as she hurried past him, heading toward the party.

“Let me help you with that,” Rodrick said, plucking one of the plates from her before she could protest.

The woman just gave him an appreciative nod before vanishing around the corner, no doubt already preparing to head back and grab her next load. There weren’t many groups that ate more than a bunch of nobles after a hard day’s work of doing absolutely nothing.

Our tasks are far from over. The party should still be in full swing. As long as everything went roughly to plan, Thane will have defeated Drake in their match by now. Nobles being nobles, they’ll have brushed the whole thing under the rug to continue on with the party.

After all, physical strength doesn’t truly matter to them. That’s what adventurers are for. Thane still isn’t in line to lead the Blacktongues. And if he accepted Arwin’s offer, then he’s off the table entirely. He’s essentially just turned himself invisible to anyone seeking to garner favor.

That makes things easier for us. Means I’ve got two things left to accomplish before anyone realizes something is up.

Rodrick headed down the hall with his new plate of pastries. With his free hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial. He popped the top off before expertly flicking it across the pastries. Each one only needed a drop or two — and then the vial was back in his pocket, any trace of the addition erased.

He didn’t actually know what he would use the pastries for yet. But it never hurt to be prepared. A pastry could get someone quite far in life.

Even farther still when it had a sleeping agent in it.

***

“How are you doing?” Lillia asked, holding a glass of water out to Thane. The two of them sat at one of the many outdoor tables scattered throughout the courtyard. There were a rather sizable number of nobles staring in their direction. Fortunately, Thane had yet to notice that. “You look a little uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable is a word,” Thane said. He took the glass from her but made no move to drink from it. “I don’t know if it’s quite the one I would have used. There are lots of other ones that might be better. I… I just left my family.”

“And good riddance to them,” Lillia said. “They didn’t seem very bothered, did they? The party goes on. Life goes on. If you can remove yourself from a group that easily, were you ever really part of it?”

Thane looked down at the drink in his hand. He didn’t say anything for several long seconds. Lillia didn’t blame him.

The boy had just basically uprooted his entire life off the back of a battle high. Sure, it had been the right move, but she could only imagine how many doubts and fears were assailing him.

Better this than to never get a chance to worry about those things because even a moment of distraction will see all your friends dead.

Not that concentrating helped me save anyone. They died anyways.

Lillia blew out a breath and gently clapped Thane on the shoulder. “They’ll be fine without you, Thane. Or did you miss the fact that your dear brother was going for killing blows during your fight?”

“No. I didn’t. You’re right. It’s just…” Thane looked to the side. That was a mistake. He caught a glimpse of all the nobles staring at them. The boy immediately looked back to Lillia, his face paling a shade. “Shit. They’re staring at me.”

“Of course they are,” Lillia said. “You just made Drake look like an idiot. They’re probably wondering how they can use that to get into his better graces.”

Thane set the glass down on the table and let out a groan, burying his face in his hands. “Shit. What, are they going to challenge me too?”

Lillia snorted. “Of course not. Did you forget what you just did? No. They’ll probably try to spill their drink on you or something.”

“Of course they will,” Thane muttered. Then he went pale and grabbed his bag, pulling it closer to himself. “Wait. My bag isn’t completely waterproofed. My research—”

 “Relax,” Lillia said. “Nobody said you should let them douse you, Thane. You can protect yourself. You can move out of the way. There are a lot of ways you could go about navigating this that don’t involve just sitting around and letting them do what they want to you. Now relax. Take a deep breath and think.”

“But—”

“Forget propriety. You’re with the Menagerie now,” Lillia said sharply. She kept her town low, but firm enough that Thane couldn’t miss anything. “They’re not going to try anything while I’m here. They’re not that stupid. I’d rip them in half.”

Thane’s eyes lit up. “Then—”

“Which is why I won’t be sticking around,” Lillia finished. “Though not entirely the only reason. There are other things I need to deal with.”

Thane’s shoulders slumped again. “But what am I even supposed to do? Fight back? I could kill them. That would stop them, and Ifrit’s weapons would let me do it.”

“You could,” Lillia agreed. “Not the path I’d personally go with, but a viable one. You’d certainly build a reputation for yourself. I’m sure you could even argue it was in self defense. It would be rough, but we’ll all be in Milten soon enough. Good luck enforcing any laws there. Is that the angle you want to go for?”

“What?” Thane’s face paled another shade. “No! I don’t want to kill them!”

“Then don’t,” Lillia said with a grin. She rose to her feet. “You’re bright, Thane. Use those brains of yours for something other than hiding and researching, would you? It’ll be good for your health.”

“How?” Thane asked desperately. “I don’t have any useful abilities for fighting yet. I’m still Apprentice 1.”

“To be honest, you really don’t need any abilities to deal with scum like this,” Lillia said. Her smile fell away and she shook her head. “You just have to get a bit unconventional. There are a lot of ways to do that.”

“Like what?” Thane asked. “Beat them to a pulp but leave them alive?”

“Good idea,” Lillia said.

“That was a joke!” Thane exclaimed. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“I — well, you know! I wouldn’t even be able to! How do I do that with a sword?”

Lillia shrugged. “You’re smart, Thane. We’ve been over that. And I really do have some other tasks to handle. This is a very important party, after all. Just don’t forget that it’s important for more than just Drake. It may be a day early, but this is your party too.”

“But…” Thane trailed off. He threw a glance over his shoulder, then looked back to Lillia. The worry in his eyes was clear. But, even so, he held back from asking her for anything else.

The corners of Lilla’s lips twitched.

Always worried about everyone else.

“We figured you might have a bit of difficulty adapting to being unconventional,” Lillia said. “So we brought you some help. A role model. In… some ways, I guess.”

“A role model?” Thane asked.

Lillia looked over her shoulder.

And, from the crowd, a woman emerged.

Thane’s eyes went wide. He nearly instinctively covered his eyes. She wore armor, but he wasn’t sure if the word armor properly applied to her equipment. She had a bunch of metal scraps mixed with tattered leather hanging from the more… important bits, but by no means were her defenses anywhere near, well, defended.

She had so much showing skin that she may as well have been walking around naked for the purposes of a fight — or just about any other matter.

“That fight was fantastic,” the woman said, giving him a wide grin. She paused for a moment. “How old are you?”

“Too young,” Lillia said.

“Too young,” the woman agreed. She extended a hand. “I’m Vanessa.”

“Thane,” Thane said meekly, trying to direct his eyes anywhere but Vanessa.

“Wow. This is bad,” Vanessa said. “He hasn’t even given me a single good look. I’m honestly a little offended. He can’t be younger than… what, sixteen?”

“By a day,” Thane said. A note of defiance entered his tone. “Just about exactly.”

“Sixteen,” Vanessa repeated. “Yep. I’m offended.”

“What?” Thane exclaimed. “Why?”

Vanessa chuckled. “Just kidding.”

“Good luck,” Lillia said, though it wasn’t clear who she directed the phrase at. With that, she turned on her heel and strode away before Thane could say another word.

Thane almost reached out for her but caught himself before he could. His gaze flicked back to Vanessa — her eyes, specifically — and he swallowed. “You’re going to help me?”

In response, Vanessa grinned. “They mentioned you might need some help in getting more… unconventional. And Lillia also said she’d pay for any damage I caused within reason.”

“Why are you saying it like that?” Thane asked. “What do you mean? And what damage are you talking about?”

Vanessa’s grin just grew wider. “I’ve never gotten to break a noble before. Oh, this is going to be good.”

Chapter 470

“Don’t say that,” Thane said tersely, sending a glance over his shoulder before looking back to Vanessa and making sure his gaze didn’t drop anywhere below her chin. “And especially not in that tone.”

“What tone?” Vanessa asked. She spotted a waiter walking by and strode over to him, grabbing several glasses of wine from his tray and making her way back over to Thane without even missing a beat. Then she arched an eyebrow.

“That tone,” Thane said.

Vanessa threw one of her glasses of wine back into her mouth like it was a shot. She swallowed the entire thing in one gulp, then set the glass gingerly on the table before pounding back the second and third ones in rapid succession.

She plucked a napkin from the table and dabbed at her lips like a dainty countess — except there wasn’t a single drop of wine on them. That would have involved wasting it, and something told Thane that Vanessa wasn’t the type to let that happen.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Vanessa said. “I’m just acting normal. Do you have a problem with me?”

“What? No. I didn’t—”

“Oh, man.” Vanessa blew a stray strand of hair away from her face. “This is rough. You’ve got none of it, buddy.”

“None of what?” Thane asked, his brow furrowing.

“Pizazz,” Vanessa said. “You walk around like your pants are empty, kid.”

Thane stared at Vanessa. She was speaking, but the words didn’t make any sense. It was like she was using an entirely different language. And that, more than anything, irked him. Thane had spet a lot of time studying language. Enough that he should have been able to at least recognize what it was she was communicating in.

“What are you talking about?” Thane asked. “I’m completely lost.”

“Rule number 1. Never let on that you’re confused,” Vanessa said. “Just confuse the other person more.”

“That doesn’t seem very conducive to learning.”

“Who said anything about learning?” Vanessa scratched at her midriff. “This is about face, little noble. Face is the game you all play. You should definitely know it better than me. Doesn’t it flow through that blue blood of yours?”

“No,” Thane said. “I’ve never been good at it. I just stay out of the way.”

“Could have guessed that bit myself,” Vanessa muttered. She shook her head. “But at least that makes it easy. What you’re missing is exposure.”

“I think you’re exposed enough,” Thane grumbled, the words slipping out from his mouth before he could say anything. His cheeks went bright red.

To his surprise, Vanessa burst out into laughter.

“So you do have a little bit of a backbone. That’ll make this even easier still. I was worried we’d have to try and build one. And I don’t exactly have much time to work with. Your friends only hired me for the duration of this party. So we’re going to have to get to this quickly. Quick, choose someone.”

“What?” Thane asked. “For what?”

“That’s a surprise.”

“I don’t like that kind of surprise.” Thane’s eyes narrowed. “What are you going to do? We just need to stay out of the way and avoid anyone coming our way. I’m good at that.”

“Too bad.” Vanessa’s hands clamped down on Thane’s shoulders like an iron vice. “See, you’re my ticket to having fun. And my job is to babysit you. That means I can’t wander off. If you hide, my day gets wasted. So you’re staying right over here. Now, choose someone — or they’ll choose for you. People are already looking.”

“That’s because you’re manhandling me,” Thane snapped.

“I can’t manhandle you. I’m a woman. Or couldn’t you tell?” Vanessa arched an eyebrow and flashed him a grin as his cheeks went red again. “Now are you going to choose someone, or am I?”

Thane’s eyes flicked over the crowd even as his stomach twisted in uneasy anticipation. Whatever Vanessa was planning, he got the feeling it wasn’t going to be enjoyable. But, in the end, he just needed to make sure his research was safe. He couldn’t afford anything happening to it.

“The thin one. Over there,” Thane said. “He’s with the—”

“Don’t care,” Vanessa said as she shifted to snatch another two glasses of wine from a nearby waiter. “Really, knowledge isn’t always a boon. Haven’t you ever heard that ignorance is bliss? Just tell me his name.”

“Jean,” Thane said. “But why—”

“So I know who to insult,” Vanessa replied. She downed one of the wine glasses, then looped her arm around Thane’s shoulders and dragged him in the direction of the thin noble he’d indicated.

“Wait,” Thane started, but it was too late. Everyone in the area already saw them moving, and the few eyes that hadn’t already been trying to dissect him and figure out the best way to curry favor from his brother were now affixed squarely on him and Vanessa.

Even though here weren’t as many people here as there had been during the duel, there were still more than enough to be a nightmare.

“Sorry,” Vanessa said under her breath as they advanced. Her firm grip kept Thane from slipping out no matter how hard he tried. “But I had one other job as well, Thane. You’re not my primary objective.”

“And what is that?” Thane asked desperately, but he was getting the feeling that he already knew the answer by the look in Vanessa’s eyes and the sloshing wine glass in her free hand. The fact it had survived this long while in drinking distance meant she had other plans for it.

Vanessa came to a stop directly in front of Jean. That, unfortunately, meant that Thane did exactly the same thing.

The thin noble made no move to hide his disdain as he gave them both a once-over. His lip curled and he cocked his head to the side.

“What do you want? And better yet, what is someone like you even doing here?”

“I—” Thane started.

“What was that?” Vanessa asked. “You have a problem with me?”

“Look at yourself,” Jean said with a scoff. He gestured vaguely in Vanessa’s direction. “Disgusting. It’s one thing to invite someone of your profession to an event like this. But to invite such a low class one… unacceptable. If you had even a shred of respect for yourself, you’d leave at once and—”  

“My profession?” Vanessa leaned forward. “And what would that be?”

“You know as well as I do. There’s no point trying to hide it,” Jean said with a laugh. He nodded to Thane. “Looks like the younger Blacktongue was so desperate for companionship that he invited a woman of the night to stand by his side during the day.”

“A woman of the night,” Vanessa repeated. She leaned down so their faces were an inch away from each other. “You calling me something? Then have the guts to use the real word, you little prick. What exactly is it that you think I am?”

“You can talk all you want, but anyone can tell what you are,” Jean said coldly. “All they need is a single look at the way you dress. You’re a whore.”

“There we go,” Vanessa said. “And I’m sure you wish I was. Unfortunately, even if you had enough money or the looks to get me into bed, I’d snap you in half like a twig. And I might say, your eyes haven’t left my chest once since we’ve started talking. You ever see a woman your daddy didn’t pay to talk to you?”

Someone in the crowd behind Jean snickered. It was a small laugh, one from more surprise than anything else, but Jean heard it. His ears went bright red and his eyes thinned in anger.

“Watch your words. You’re talking to—”

“Did I hit a nerve?” Vanessa asked with a wide grin. “I’m sorry. I must be a little drunk. Of course, anyone would have to be. Dealing with you idiots for more than a few minutes while sober… that sounds like torture. So why don’t you tell me why you were staring me down so I can go back to downing your shitty wine and pretending you aren’t here?”

“What are you talking about? You came to me,” Jean said.

“Only because you were trying to burn a hole through my chest armor with your eyes,” Vanessa said with a smirk. “Or was your gaze directed at Thane? He doesn’t frequent brothels, so you might have to look elsewhere.”

“What? It absolutely wasn’t,” Jean spat in disgust.

“Then you were looking at me,” Vanessa said. She arched an eyebrow. “So… why? You like the look of this… what did you call me? Woman of the night?”

“If you don’t want to be stared at, you shouldn’t wear clothing like that,” Jean snapped.

He was definitely staring at me, not Vanessa. She’s just managed to twist things around to the point where admitting he was looking at me would be more embarrassing than her. She’s crass… but that’s actually an impressive manipulation of the conversation.

“I don’t mind the looks,” Vanessa said. “It’s who they come from that I have trouble with. If you’re going to stare, you might as well have the money to back it up. You couldn’t afford me.”

“Are you kidding?” Jean let out a scoff. “Someone’s inflated your ego. You can’t cost more than ten gold.”

“You want to take me?” Vanessa thrust her chest forward. “For ten gold? Is that a joke?”

Jean’s eyes flicked to Thane. Then a grin spread across his lips. “So you are for sale. You really should have gone with one that stuck to her arms a bit better, Thane. Nothing’s more embarrassing than getting your own escort bought out from under you. Twenty gold, but we’re going here and now. Then you can go right back and join Thane once I’m done with you.”

“You’re disgusting,” Thane snapped.

Vanessa held her glass of wine out to Thane.

“Hold this,” Vanessa said, her eyes never leaving Jean. “Twenty gold. And we go at it. Have ourselves a good time. I’m sure we can find somewhere suitable so that I can ply my trade.”

Thane mutely took the glass. It was a move more out of instinct than any desire to actually hold anything. He had absolutely no idea what Vanessa was doing, but his ears felt like they were on fire.

Why is she making me do this? It’s humiliating.

“There’s no way,” someone from the crowd snickered. “She’s making him hold her drink while she’s at it.”

“Done,” Jean said instantly, not even bothering to hide his leer. “There are some rooms in the Blacktongue manor that should be—”

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” Vanessa said with a sultry smile. “We can do it here and now.”

Jean’s eyes widened. “You’re mad. You want to get naked in the middle of a party? While everyone watches? You really are low.”

Vanessa took a step closer to Jean. “I said I would ply my trade. Who said anything about getting naked.”

“What else were you thinking? I wanted a massage?” Jean scoffed. “Come on. You’re paid for, woman. Unless you’re planning to back out of your word, that means you’ll be doing exactly what you promised to.”

“Oh, I fully plan to give you what you paid for,” Vanessa said. Her lips pulled back, and the sultry smile evaporated as something savage took its place. “I said I would ply my trade. And don’t get me wrong — there’s nothin’ wrong with the world’s oldest profession. But when did I ever say I was a woman of the night?”

“What are you—”

Vanessa’s knee shot up.

It slammed into Jean’s stomach with a painful sounding thud. She hadn’t held back in the slightest.

He doubled over with a pained cry, only for Vanessa to grab him by the hair. Before anyone could react, her knee shot up again. It connected with his nose, which let out a loud crack. Blood splattered across the ground.

But Vanessa didn’t let him go. She lifted Jean into the air by the hair. He let out a mixture of a strangled sob and a moan.

Then Vanessa dropped him. In the same motion, her foot whistled up. It shot right between his legs and connected with a loud, sickening crunch. The blow carried enough force to launch Jean right back up into the air.

He fell back to the ground in a crumple of limbs and agonized sobs.

“Sumbubbyy! Hebp!” Jean begged, his voice nasally from his broken nose.  

The nobles in the crowd all backed up. Not one of them moved to interfere.  

“Help? From what? You paid me to do this, you idiot,” Vanessa said with a laugh. “I have to say, I’ve never had someone pay me money to beat the life out of them, but every day’s a gift.”

“What are you talking about?” a noble from the crowd demanded. “You just assaulted him!”

“Damn right I did,” Vanessa said. She drove another violent kick into Jean’s stomach. He rolled across the ground, completely unable to defend himself. Vanessa stalked after him and drove her foot down into his back, pinning him to the ground. “I’m a Thug. My job is beating the life out of people, monsters, and whatever object my client points me toward. Bring a truthteller or any potion you want me to take. I haven’t said a single lie. All I’ve done is fulfill my contractual obligation.”

Vanessa flicked her hand through the air, summoning the Mesh forth. She manifested her class information in the air before herself, her lips pulled into a crooked grin.

A stunned silence hung in the air.   

“Shit,” one of the nobles said. “Thane had her dress like a prostitute to bait him into taking her on.”

What is happening? I didn’t do anything!

Vanessa turned back to Thane. She flashed him a genuine grin as she plucked the wine from his hands, then turned back to Jean. Vanessa crouched beside him, then upended the glass over his head.

Then she stuck her hand into his pocket and pulled out a coin purse. She counted out twenty gold, pocketed them, then stuffed the purse back into his pocket.

“There we go,” Vanessa said, brushing her hands off. “Job done. As paid for. Unless you’d like a little more?”

Jean didn’t respond. Thane wasn’t entirely sure he was still conscious.

“Any more takers? I can go all night if you catch my drift.” Vanessa waggled her eyebrows.

Nobody said so much as a word. They barely even breathed.

“Damn,” Vanessa said. Then she shrugged, grabbing Thane by the wrist and pulling him away. She didn’t seem to care about the mixture of awed and horrified stares that burned into their backs.

“What was that?” Thane whispered.

“My other job,” Vanessa replied with a grin. “I was told to have some fun. And hey, now they think you’re some genius manipulator that forces his staff to air their bits out so they can bait people into a fight. Evil, huh?”

“I’d never do that!”

“You should work on that,” Vanessa advised. “And give it a try sometime. It’s freeing. There’s nothing quite like a cold breeze along — er, shit. Too young. Keep looking the other direction, kid. Now, let’s go find some more victims, shall we? Word spreads fast, and I want to break a few more idiots over my knee before it’s too late.”