Chapter 12: The Merchant's Smile and the Jar of Flies
Location: The Old Wine Cellar (Hidden Base).
Time: The Morning After the Raid.
The twelve children sat on blankets, eating warm bread and stew. They were quiet, their eyes darting around the cellar, expecting the whip.
Ren stood in the corner, watching them.
"They are broken," Kaelith whispered, standing beside him. "The slavers kept them in cages for weeks. It will take time to fix them."
"We don't have time," Ren said. He looked at Caelum, who was awkwardly trying to comfort a crying six-year-old girl.
"Caelum is soft," Ren noted. "That is good for morale. But I need to be the hard one."
Ren clapped his hands. The sound echoed in the cellar. The children froze.
"Listen to me," Ren said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the weight of [Void Presence] (dialed down to 1%). "You are not slaves anymore. But you are not free, either."
The children stared at him.
"The world wants to eat you," Ren continued coldly. "The Nobles want to use you. The Monsters want to digest you. If you go back to the streets, you die. If you stay here, you work."
Ren pointed to the dark tunnel leading to the Underground River.
"This is the headquarters of The Void Walkers. You will learn to read. You will learn to fight. You will learn to survive. In exchange, you give me your loyalty. Total loyalty."
A boy, the oldest of the group (maybe ten), stood up. He had a bruise on his cheek.
"And if we refuse?" the boy asked, his voice shaking.
Ren smiled. It wasn't a cruel smile, but a challenging one.
"Then I give you five silver coins and I open the door. You can leave. I won't stop you."
Ren tossed a bag of coins on the floor.
"Make your choice. Be a victim, or be a Walker."
Silence stretched for a long minute.
The boy looked at the coins. Then he looked at Ren. He kicked the bag of coins away.
"Teach me," the boy said. "I want to kill the men who put us in cages."
Ren nodded. "Good answer. What is your name?"
"Jax."
"Welcome to the Guild, Jax. Kaelith is your instructor."
Ren turned and walked away, heading for the ladder.
"Ren," Caelum caught up to him. "That was... intense."
"They need a commander, not a nanny," Ren said. "I'm going to the Archive. I need to understand what we pulled out of that dungeon. Keep the estate running. And Caelum?"
"Yeah?"
"Thorne is missing. People will notice soon. Be ready."
Location: The Bibliotheca of Infinity (Mental Space).
Time: Noon.
Ren stood at his desk. Grim, the ink-doll, was floating nervously around the object on the table.
The [Jar of Famine].
It was an ugly clay pot, sealed with wax that smelled of sulfur. Inside, the buzzing sound was constant. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
"Analysis," Ren commanded.
[ Item: Jar of Famine ]
[ Origin: The Continent of Gluttony. ]
[ Contents: A Swarm of Corpse-Eater Flies (Dormant). ]
[ Active Effect: If opened, the swarm will consume all organic matter within a 1-mile radius until resealed. ]
[ Passive Effect (While Sealed): Accelerates hunger in enemies within 10 meters. ]
Ren drummed his fingers on the table. "It's a biological weapon. If I open this in a city, everyone dies."
Grim held up a sign: DANGEROUS. BURY IT.
"No," Ren said. "We don't bury weapons. We study them."
Ren touched the jar with his mind. He didn't open it. He used [The Index] to scan the concept of the jar.
[ Skill Extraction Available ]
[ Skill: Pestilence Sense (Rank C) ]
[ Effect: You can detect disease, poison, and decay in a wide area. ]
Ren blinked. "Useful."
He learned the skill. It wasn't an attack, but it was a perfect radar for dungeons like Gluttony or Sloth.
"Grim, file this jar in the Restricted Section. Row 99. Lock it down."
Grim saluted and dragged the heavy mental projection of the jar into the darkness.
Ren exited the Archive.
He opened his eyes. He was back in his room (the stable loft).
He heard a commotion outside.
Horses. Heavy wagons. And a voice that sounded like gravel grinding on silk.
Ren's blood ran cold.
"Vargo."
Location: The Main Courtyard.
Time: 1:00 PM.
The Vargo Trading Company had arrived, but this wasn't the usual monthly supply run.
There were twenty wagons. And fifty mercenaries. These weren't caravan guards; they were heavily armored shock troops wearing the crest of a Black Serpent.
Vargo sat on a palanquin carried by four ogres. He was dressed in black silk, smoking his long pipe.
Caelum stood on the manor steps, flanked by his own house guards. He looked small against the mercenary army.
"Merchant Vargo," Caelum said, his voice steady (thanks to Ren's training). "We did not order a supply run this week."
Vargo smiled. His gold teeth glinted in the sun. He lowered his sunglasses, revealing his snake-like vertical pupils.
"Lord Caelum," Vargo said smoothly. "My condolences on the temporary loss of your father. I am not here to sell grain."
Vargo snapped his fingers. Two mercenaries dragged a body forward and threw it on the cobblestones.
It was the Boatman. The cultist who had escaped the river raid. He was dead, his skin turned purple from torture.
"This man worked for me," Vargo said, his voice losing its warmth. "He was supposed to deliver a... specialized package... to my partner, Steward Thorne."
Vargo leaned forward.
"But the package is missing. The Steward is missing. And my employee was found hiding in the woods, babbling about a 'Demon with Black Eyes'."
Vargo looked directly at Caelum.
"Where is Thorne, Lord Caelum? And where is my property?"
Caelum's heart hammered. He glanced at the dead boatman.
"Thorne stole from the treasury," Caelum lied, keeping his face impassive. "He fled in the night when I discovered his embezzlement. I assumed he ran to you."
Vargo stared at Caelum. A heavy, suffocating mana pressure (Level 30+) washed over the courtyard. The guards trembled. Caelum felt his knees buckle, but he locked them. The Silent Lung. He breathed through the pressure.
"Fled?" Vargo mused. "Thorne was a greedy pig, but he wasn't stupid. He wouldn't run from me."
Vargo stood up from his palanquin. He walked up the steps, towering over Caelum.
"I will find him," Vargo whispered. "I have trackers who can smell a drop of blood from a week ago. And if I find out that House Arken has interfered with the Shadow Pavilion's business..."
Vargo didn't finish the threat. He didn't have to.
Suddenly, Vargo stopped. He sniffed the air.
He turned his head toward the stables.
"That smell," Vargo murmured.
Ren was watching from the hayloft window, hiding behind [Shadow Veil]. But Vargo wasn't looking at him.
Vargo was looking at Onyx, the Abyssal Warhorse, who was grazing in the paddock.
"A Tier 4 Abyssal Beast," Vargo licked his lips. "And... something else. Something ancient."
Vargo turned back to Caelum. The hostility vanished, replaced by a merchant's mask.
"Very well. I will search for Thorne myself. In the meantime, I will leave ten of my guards here. To 'protect' the estate in the Duke's absence."
"That is not necessary," Caelum protested.
"It is part of my contract with your father," Vargo lied smoothly. "Safety first."
He waved his hand. Ten heavily armed Black Serpent mercenaries stepped out of the ranks and took positions around the courtyard.
They weren't guards. They were spies. An occupying force.
"Good day, Young Lord," Vargo climbed back onto his palanquin. "I will be staying at the village inn. We will talk again."
The caravan rolled out.
Ren watched them go. He looked at the ten mercenaries left behind.
"We are under siege," Ren whispered.
He jumped down from the loft and sprinted to the back door of the manor. He found Caelum in the hallway, shaking.
"He knows," Caelum gasped. "He knows we did something."
"He suspects," Ren corrected. "If he knew, we would be dead."
Ren looked out the window at the mercenaries patrolling the grounds.
"We need to blind them," Ren said. "And we need to get stronger. Vargo is Level 30+. We are Level 14 and 10. We can't fight him head-on."
"So what do we do?"
Ren's grey eyes gleamed.
"We accelerate. Tonight, we raid the Archive."
"What?"
"Not the Dungeon," Ren said. "My mind. I have unlocked a new section of the library. Row 2: The Hall of Alchemy. If we can't beat Vargo with swords... we'll beat him with economics and poison."
Ren pulled out the Jar of Famine (mentally).
"And I have just the recipe."
End of Chapter 12
Summary of Events:
The Guild: Ren establishes "The Void Walkers" with the 12 orphans. Jax becomes the first recruit.
The Loot: Ren analyzes the Jar of Famine. It's a biological weapon (Corpse-Eater Flies). He learns the skill [Pestilence Sense].
The Antagonist: Vargo arrives with an army. He interrogates Caelum about the missing "Livestock" and Thorne.
The Siege: Vargo leaves 10 elite mercenaries to "guard" (occupy) the estate, effectively putting Ren and Caelum under house arrest.
The Plan: Ren decides to pivot to Alchemy. He plans to use the Archive's knowledge to create potions or poisons to counter Vargo and fund the guild.