Cost and Benefit

Garrett looked at the strange goblin bowing before them. It went from a cowering and whimpering mess to suddenly about serve them tea in a cafe. "Wait, you have a name?"

"Yes, I am Soxart," the goblin said, wiping his glasses with a small rag he pulled out of his pocket. His voice was gruff and a tad scratchy yet had a strange air of confidence. He adjusted them back onto his nose and looked back at Garrett and Plex. "Strange. I didn't expect to see anyone else down in the abandoned Darge."

"Isn't this generally a hotspot for adventurers?" Garrett asked, trying to recall the information he learned about the Darge over the different timelines. "Why is it so strange to see anyone else?"

"Haven't you seen them by now?" Soxart asked, only to be met with a strange look from Garrett. Soxart sighed and rubbed his temple. "Prism's security forces are crawling all over this place. Apparently, they're looking for something."

'...It's probably the treasure of Amer-Turul...'

"Ever since then, no one has really come down here in years," Soxart finished, adjusting his gloves.

"Wait, then why are you here?" Garrett asked, rubbing his chin. "And wait a minute, why can you talk? You're a goblin." He instinctively felt his hand reach for his sword, recalling the painful experiences he had so far with goblins.

"Easy easy! No need to get violent here!" Soxart said, frantically waving his hands. He cleared his throat and continued once Garrett returned to a relaxed pose. "Yes, I am a goblin, but I am not like my, how shall we say, brethren? Every few years, a goblin is born with vast intellect. Usually, this results in them becoming the Goblin King and leading the goblins toward claiming goods and resources." Garrett could clearly tell that Soxart was trying to skirt around the fact that goblins raided and massacred villages. "I am one of the lucky goblins born with vast intellect."

Almost immediately, Garrett drew his sword. "So, you're going to become a Goblin King and attack innocent people?"

"Wait wait wait!" Soxart said, waving his hands again in an attempt to calm Garrett down. "You didn't let me finish!" Garrett relaxed his pose and slowly sheathed his sword, but ready to draw it at a moment's notice. "I don't want to be the Goblin King. After all, there are much better ways of gaining power and resources." Soxart's lips curled up at the ends as he began to pull something out of his backpack. Garrett began to draw his sword, but it was too late. Soxart had whipped out a small board attached to his backpack. Four table legs extended from the bottom of it and Soxart sat on top of his bag, spreading his arms for emphasis. "Money!" He even pulled out a small lantern from his bag and set it on the table. It illuminated with a muted yellow light but shone brighter than Plex's face light.

It took Garrett a few moments to snap back to reality after witnessing the strange scene. "Wait, what just happened?"

"Boss, I believe that Soxart is attempting to sell us something. He wishes to exchange his wares for coinage and other payments," Plex said, looking over the set-up.

"Quite right, my mechanical fellow," Soxart said, snapping his fingers. "I'm what you might call a wandering merchant." His timid and more cowardly nature seemed to melt away into a confident and smooth businessman. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Wait, I'm surprised you aren't scared of Plex here," Garrett said, noticing Soxart's demeanor. "I thought you would have mistaken him for one of Prism's robots."

"I was at first, but looking at him, he's not part of Prism's army," Soxart said, pulling a collapsable stick out of his bag. He pointed one end of it to different parts of Plex's body. "That right there are sure signs of Dwarven craftsmanship. And no self-respecting dwarf would ever work for Prism."

"Ah, I see," Garrett said, nodding as if he knew that. His eyes then turned to the barely hanging on Vanessa, and then back to Soxart. "Do you have anything that we can use to heal her? Some kind of healing potion or something?" Garrett tried to think back to anything that he learned for healing in this world. "What about Sprig or herbs?"

"Lemme see her," Soxart said, gesturing for Plex to come closer. Garrett nodded and Plex walked up to the table, bringing Vanessa to the light. "Ah, well, no herbs or potions are about to save her in this state."

"So, there's nothing we can do?" Garrett felt something heavy sink into the bottom of his stomach.

"What? No," Soxart said, clearly a little annoyed at being interrupted. "She's a demon and she's just been without a pact for too long."

"A pact?" Garrett asked, looking at Vanessa. "What are you talking about?"

"How dense are you, Illima?" Soxart said, reaching out and grabbing Garrett's sword. Garrett tried to protest, but Soxart already had the sword in hand. He reached out and took Garrett's hand and gently brought the blade over Garrett's palm.

"Hey!" Garrett groaned in pain as the blade sliced his skin, leaving a trail of red.

"You wanna save her or not? She doesn't look like she has much time left. Why'd you wait so long anyway?" Soxart gently wiped the blade's edge with a cloth and put it back in the sheath. "Now, we do this." Soxart guided Garrett's hand onto Vanessa's shoulder, right near her heart. "Now, repeat this. 'I, and then insert your name here, declare a pact with, insert the demon's name here. May my blood bind us and our energy shared until this contract is severed!'"

Garrett thought quickly until he recalled Vanessa's full name. He also desperately hoped that she still had the same name. "Here goes! I, Garrett Bates, declare a pact with Vanessa Fletcher! May my blood bind us and our energy shared until this contract is severed!" Garrett's hand suddenly was engulfed in a red glow, which spread up his arm and through Vanessa's body. He could feel something draining his energy and being poured out his hand and into Vanessa.

Life began to return to Vanessa, no longer looking sickly and frail. Her breathing became deeper and less labored until her eyes shot up and sat up. She took a gasp of air as she looked around frantically, trying to process everything. "I'm alive? Oh! I'm alive!"