The Rat

Marco was the Guild Leader of Whispered Ridge, a smaller guild that made most of their money off information. They collected rare monster parts, and sent them to the capital for appraising, then sold the information they obtained to The Hall, or any scions who had the coin to hire their services.

Though, that was just what they did on paper. In reality, Marco was a link to Antras's Undercity, a network of black Markets that stretched as far as Mechalos. They dealt in espionage and dark magics. Even Helen didn't ask too many questions about what went on down there.

As long as Marco kept the dealings away from the common folk, she would pry too much. A necessary evil she said.

"Is Marco's office open?" Vondell asked at the Guild office's reception. They had a small section for themselves on the second floor. As rich as Marco was, he didn't want to waste coin buying a villa.

"Lord Black," the receptionist said, a little startled as she looked up and found Vondell standing over her. She recovered quickly and began looking over the documents in a rush. "I was not informed you'd be visiting." 

"He's downstairs, he'll be coming up in a moment. We can wait," Vondell replied, before moving to take a seat at one of the waiting chairs.

"N-No, if Lord Marco is here with you, you can walk right through," she said, standing up to direct him in. 

She led him through a door towards a small office, before leaving. Marco's office was simple; a wooden desk, two chairs, and not a single document in sight. With the type of organization he was running, one couldn't leave information in paper form; too easy to steal.

He only waited a minute before Marco came through the doors.

"One more day and I'll have a direct link into the quest's inbox before they're posted on the board," he announced as he hung his cloak behind the door. "If you're looking to pick a quest up before anyone else, I'm your guy."

"For a fee of course," he added.

He sat opposite Vondell, looking at him with a serious expression for a moment before relaxing. A black metallic block hung on a chain around his neck. Despite his small build, Marco was still among the strongest in The Hall.

"I heard you slept at my sister's place last night," he said.

Vondell looked at him with a raised brow. ~How did he already know about that?~ he thought to himself.

"Also heard you didn't pay. Though I can't blame you. Helen seems intent on keeping you short on coin. Probably wants you to use the credit system she's been pushing," he added, before folding his hands.

"You don't do well with pleasantries, do you? Always straight to business," he sighed before putting on a serious expression.

"So to what do I owe the conversation with the Great Lord Black," he said in a grandiose manner.

Vondell pulled out the pink blade the assassin had used yesterday before placing it on the table.

"Of course. Not only did they let you in with your sword, but they even allowed a sealed weapon," Marco sighed, before picking the blade up.

"Do you know which organization it belongs to?" Vondell asked.

Marco took a moment to look at it, before handing it back to Vondell.

"I don't," he replied. "But, I might know someone who does," he added.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Despite their long, 'acquaintanceship' Marco had never been one to give even a whisper for free.

"How much?" Vondell asked.

"10 coin handling fee. And whatever the contact asks for," he said. "Wait. 9 coin for you, since you're so famous now," he added.

Vondell stared at him with a skeptical gaze. 

"What do you mean by that?" Vondell asked after some silence had passed.

Marco looked down at the blade and picked it up again. "This is a high-quality dagger, you know. It's exactly what I'm missing from my collection," he said with a smile.

"You want to keep it?"

"After you're done with it," Marco replied. "But this is an entirely different deal from our first of course," he added.

Vondell nodded. He had no intentions of keeping it anyway. There could be some sort of curse imbued in it, or worse yet, a tracking array that not even his heightened senses could pick up.

Marco dropped the knife and stood up, before holding out his hands. He made a box shape, and then a triangle, before whispering something. In that instant, a cloud of black smoke began to emanate from behind him, slowly consuming the entire room.

If Vondell hadn't seen this spell before, he would've assumed Marco was trying to kill him.

Once the entire room was shrouded in darkness, Marco pulled out a bronze watch, twisted the knob, and placed it on the table. It began ticking as he sat down.

"Word has it that you're going to be the new Primary of Antras. Though that isn't a surprise," Marco said.

"That's bullshit. I told you, I have no intentions of being Primary. Itzel will fill that role," Vondell shot back. They were short on time, so they both spoke quickly.

"Itzel is personally vying for you to take the position. He's already spoken to a few of the council members about bypassing several laws to have you in the seat," Marco said.

Vondell thought about that for a second. ~Why would Itzel try to place me as Primary? We've already spoken about this,~ he thought to himself.

"That doesn't matter. Regardless of what Itzel's doing, I won't be Primary."

"Well, you're right, it doesn't matter. Regardless, all the new scions in town have it that you're the one to watch out for. Several of them are planning to have you join their guild, several more are planning to have you killed. An accident while you're out on some quest," Marco said.

Vondell rested deeper into his seat. Helen had really fucked him over.

"Who?" he asked.

"Can't say. Won't say. I don't want to be in the middle of this once blood is drawn. All I will say is that they're from very important families. Important even in Leeds City," he said, with a knowing expression.

~So I meet someone with a bit of influence and I can be certain they want me dead,~ Vondell thought to himself. The situation felt a little hopeless.

"How did they know about me?" Vondell asked. Right then, the clock stopped ticking.

Marco looked at it, then back at Vondell. 

"Last question, surely the blade is worth a few extra seconds of Lord Marco's time," Vondell scoffed.

Marco sighed, before pocketing the watch. "Did you think you could just slay an Ancient Priestess and remain a shadow in Antras? Scions have been named Grand Knight for slaying smaller things," Marco said.

"I don't know what you've been planning, acting all mysterious. But that's going to come to an end soon. Antras isn't the backwater city it used to be. It's starting to attract attention, and that means that its greatest assets will attract attention as well," he added, before standing up.

He made a triangle gesture, and then a box one, before whispering something. The cloud of black smoke began to collapse around him.

Vondell was deep in thought as Marco released his array. He was right, Vondell's time in the shadows would soon come to an end. It had worked for the first few years, but it would soon be time to step into the light.

It wasn't like Empyreans could be slain from the shadows anyway. And it wasn't like he wanted to. If he was going to do this, he needed to do this in the light.

So that everyone would see that Empyreans could perish like the rest of them.

So that everyone would see, they did not have to be bound by the whims of cruel gods.