SHUFFLE OF FATE: A Deckbuilding LitRPG
CHAPTER 16: THE IRON GUILD
The tavern went quiet. It wasn't the sudden silence of a brawl starting; it was the suffocating silence of fear.
The man in polished steel armor stood up from his corner booth. He didn't walk; he marched. His boots clanked rhythmically against the wooden floorboards, each step echoing authority.
Kai didn't look up from his stew, but his hand drifted under the table, gripping his deck.
The soldier stopped at Kai's table. He placed a gauntleted hand on the wood.
"You're sitting in my seat," the man said smoothly.
Kai looked around. The tavern was half-empty. "There are plenty of tables."
"But I like this one. It has a good view of the door."
The soldier smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He pulled out a chair and sat opposite Kai, uninvited.
Up close, Kai could see the details of the armor. The chest plate bore the emblem of a Hammer and Anvil—the sigil of the **Iron Guild**.
Kai used **[Inspect]**.
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[Target: Lieutenant Kaelen]
[Affiliation: Iron Guild]
[Level: 12 (Warrior)]
[Threat Level: High]
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"Level 12," Kai thought, his heart skipping a beat. "He's more than double my level. If I fight him here, I die."
Kaelen leaned back, resting his elbows on the table. "You made quite a mess in the alleyway last night, Kai. Or do you prefer 'Spider Guy'?"
"I was defending myself," Kai said carefully.
"Of course. Grogan and his boys are idiots," Kaelen dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "Trash cleaning trash. We don't care about them."
Kaelen leaned forward, his voice dropping to a whisper. "What we care about is how an F-Rank rookie managed to subdue three men without drawing a blade. Witnesses say you used white silk. Stronger than steel."
Kai stayed silent.
"A Rare Skill Card," Kaelen stated. It wasn't a question. "Silk Binding. Drop rate is 0.01% from the Broodmother. You must have been very lucky... or a thief."
"I found it," Kai repeated his cover story.
"It doesn't matter how you got it," Kaelen interrupted. "What matters is that you have a powerful asset, and you are currently unaligned. In Sector 7, unaligned assets tend to... disappear."
He placed a piece of parchment on the table. It was a contract.
"The Iron Guild is generous. We are offering you a position. Rank: Probationary Grunt."
Kai scanned the document. It was slavery in fancy font.
* *Duty: 16 hours a day.*
* *Pay: Room and Board only.*
* *Clause 4: All Rare-tier items must be surrendered to the Quartermaster as an initiation fee.*
"You want my card," Kai said flatly.
"We want to protect you," Kaelen corrected, his smile widening. "Think about it. No more sleeping in slums. No more thugs jumping you. You give us the card, you serve the Guild, and you live."
"And if I refuse?"
Kaelen's smile vanished. The temperature at the table dropped.
He reached out and grabbed Kai's metal spoon. With just his thumb and forefinger, he bent the thick iron until it snapped in half.
*Snap.*
"Sector 7 is Iron Guild territory," Kaelen said coldly. "We maintain order. We charge a tax for that order."
"I paid my Guild registration fee," Kai argued.
"That's the City Tax. I'm talking about the Protection Tax. If you operate independently in our streets, you pay us."
Kaelen stood up, towering over Kai.
"Since you refuse to join, I am classifying you as a High-Risk Independent Contractor."
He tapped the table with a metal finger.
"The tax is **2,000 Coins**."
Kai choked. "2,000? That's impossible! I've been an F-Rank for two days!"
"You have a Rare card. Sell it, and you'll have the money," Kaelen shrugged. "Or earn it. I don't care."
He leaned down, his face inches from Kai's ear.
"You have three days, Kai. If I don't see 2,000 coins on my desk by sunset on the third day... I won't hang you from a lamppost."
Kaelen pointed to Kai's legs under the table.
"I will shatter your kneecaps. You'll never walk—or crawl—out of this city again."
Kaelen straightened up, adjusted his armor, and walked out of the tavern.
The silence lingered long after he was gone.
Kai stared at the broken spoon on the table. His hands were trembling, not from fear, but from rage.
They didn't want him. They just wanted his power. And if they couldn't control it, they would crush it.
"2,000 coins in three days," Kai whispered.
Slime hunting paid 100 coins a day. He would never make it.
He needed a job that paid fast. A job that paid reckless amounts of gold for reckless amounts of danger.
Kai stood up. He left his unfinished stew.
He remembered seeing a poster in the dark corner of the Job Board. A poster that had no Guild seal. A poster for a place where laws didn't apply.
**THE UNDERGROUND PIT: NIGHTLY FIGHTS. CASH PRIZES.**
"If they want me to pay," Kai pulled his hood up, his eyes burning with determination. "I'll pay with blood."