Chapter 53

The Angel Express - 7:51 AM

I woke up to the sound of banging. My eyes shot open and I looked about the room, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. My outfit was still on the sofa near the door, all in one piece now thanks to the luxury washer that came with the train. I had piles of traps and tools strewn about everywhere in order to clear up inventory space, but there was still enough junk still left in my inventory that it would take me a lot of time to run out of ammo.

[[Notice]]

You have slept in a Safe Zone that you own. All HP and other resources have been returned to full.

I snapped my fingers and dismissed the notification as I stood up. My hands felt much better now and I had no problem getting dressed as a new series of bangs came from outside. Grabbing my Vague Stick, I opened the door to see a clean Corwin sitting outside and staring towards the dining car. “No barking?” I asked the guard dog.

Corwin wagged his tail and pressed his head into my hand, and I pet him before heading towards the dining car. Based on the fact that Kayla and Jeff weren’t complaining, I assumed they wouldn’t be here. The banging on the door intensified as I moved into the next car, and I saw a large shadow in the frosted privacy glass. I narrowed my eyes, not sure who else knew I was here other than the Mills. Had they been captured by the Faithful?

“Who is it?” I called through the door. The banging immediately stopped.

“Open up, Anthony Franklin,” came a familiar, gruff voice.

“The fuck?” I asked myself in surprise before looking down at Corwin. “Don’t attack, be a good boy.” The dog huffed but sat down. I opened the door to see the hulking form of the Dealer standing there with a burlap sack in his hand. The anthropomorphic alligator wore a red button up shirt with blue jeans and a matching denim flat cap. His black eyes stared at me over the spectacles he wore on his elongated snout.

“You gonna invite me in or just stare at my handsome mug all day?” he asked,

"How did you find me?"

"I told you I'd track you down based on the blind spots you leave in your wake, didn't I? For a veteran treasure hunter like me, it was child's play."

"Did you sell me out to Seraphim?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"And get rid of my golden goose? Never," the Dealer said with a barked laugh. He gave me a look over and mumbled out the names of my equipment. He grunted in amusement as he saw my belt. “Ah, so you did kill Seraphim’s Writhing Zeppelin. You’ve put a lot of people in a tizzy, you know.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” I snapped open the menu for the safe zone and started going through it until I found the proper screen and gave the Dealer a temporary pass. Motioning him in with a tilt of my head, I headed towards the bar.

“Is that a base form Evolution Hound?” the Dealer asked as he took a step inside and closed the door. He leaned down and put his scaly hand out for Corwin to sniff. “You willing to part ways with him? I’ve got a Patron asking abouts, but I haven’t found one yet.”

His words caused me to frown. An Evolution Hound was a rare species of monster dog that could, as the name suggested, evolve. By feeding them skill books, they could change their shape and attributes to better suit whatever kind of skills they were given. That explained Corwin’s interest in the Explosive Thrust skill book, though I had chalked it up to just wanting whatever had been put down on the table like Kayla’s dagger.

Still, having one was a huge boon to Jeff and the team. I had seen Evolution Hounds that could grow metal fur, use eye lasers, breathe underwater, teleport, and more. The evolutionary lines they could go down were many and varied. My thoughts went to the skill book I still had tucked away in my inventory, but I wouldn’t do anything without a discussion with Jeff. I wasn’t about to go mess around with another man’s dog.

“He belongs to a friend,” I said. My suspicions had been clear since the moment I saw him, but I had been hoping he really was just a dog. I watched as Corwin allowed the Dealer to rub him behind the ear before falling onto his back to give the alligator man access to his belly. “And no, I don’t think you’re going to buy Corwin off of him.”

“Dunno about that, glitch, I have some deep pockets.”

“And his owner is one of those guys who don’t care about the depth of one’s pockets.”

The Dealer shrugged and gave Corwin one last pat on his belly before standing up. “Shame, that. How come he hasn’t fed him yet?”

“To him, Corwin’s just a dog. Doesn’t want him to fight, though he got his first taste of Vespae blood last night,” I said before taking two cups from one of the cabinets. I set them down on the bar, and the Dealer took a seat in front of it. Corwin joined me and laid down. “What do you want to drink?”

“Tea, Earl Gray. Don’t need to add anything,” he said, and I got to work. “So you didn’t tell him about what he is? You want this man to die because he doesn’t want his dog to fight monsters?”

I bristled. “Of course not. Corwin is just Corwin, and that’s all he needs to be." He didn't need to know that there was only one skill book we hadn’t used yet.

The Dealer chuckled. “You didn’t know, did you? Well, that explains a bit more about this whole mess.”

“Is that why you’re here? Why you found me?” I asked perhaps a tad bit more harshly than I meant to. “Because of some kind of mess?”

“You don't need to raise your hackles at me, kid. Yes, because of a whole mess that has you right in the middle of it. And your words just gave me a little bit more to work off of.”

I grimaced, glad that my back was to him. “What is it you want, Dealer?”

“Got a contract for you to sign. I found the Trident of Poseidon exactly where you said it was, and I’m ready for whatever little nugget of information you’re ready to tease me with next.”

"No issues with the acquisition, then?" I asked as I furrowed my brow. The Dealer had never been big on contracts.

"Asides from the Leviathan guarding it that you failed to mention? No," the Dealer chuckled. "No issues there. Already got a buyer lined up. Some player's about to get really lucky."

I nodded. Edmund Sampson of England would get a message after their first scenario from the Patron Neptune and be given the Trident of Poseidon once he agreed. It would be in adequate hands until Poseidon's ward showed up to claim it.

The sound of papers sliding onto the counter caught my attention. I set the teapot on the oven to boil and turned around. The Dealer had set a single sheet of silver paper on it, and I narrowed my eyes. I picked it up and shifted it in the light. It had a pleasant sheen to it, but the only ink I could see was an X and a line where I should sign it.

“You must be taking me for a fool, Dealer. You know players can’t read System Contracts and you expect me to sign something I can’t read? Especially since you usually deal in handshake agreements. You had to have known I’d call you out on that.” I crossed my arms. A System Contract was rare, but not unheard of. Whatever agreement was put on it bound those who sign it to a pact that the system itself enforced. Not even the administrators could go around it, and some of the more morally dubious Patrons even used it to keep their contracted players in check.

“I give you my solemn word as the Dealer that there’s nothing in there that will hurt you,” he said, taking his hat off and placing it over his heart. “Shall the system strike me down now if I’m lying.”

I snorted. “Yeah, I’m not sure that’s going to cut it. I’ll admit that I do trust you, but not enough to blindly sign a System Contract with you on your solemn word alone.”

The Dealer put on a predatory grin. “Oh, I think you will, Anthony Franklin, because you know how I feel about my reputation. But you didn’t know about my reputation or how to find me because of some Patron.” A chill went down my back as I narrowed my eyes. “No, if you had a Patron backing you, then you’d know all about Corwin here. You knew all about that stuff first hand.”

“Just what nonse-“

“I know that you know my reputation first hand, Anthony,” he said again, raising his voice over my own. “You’re going to sign it because you know that I would not lie on my own name, Anthony. You know that I’m going to milk you dry of any delectable morsels of knowledge you’ve picked up so far because you’ve done it before. You’re going to trust me on this because you are a re-gres-sor.”

My heart started racing. “What-“

“I can not discuss it until this is signed,” the Dealer said, his voice quiet as he tapped the System Contract with a curved claw. “If you tell me to get lost, then I get lost with no hard feelings, but you won’t see me again. I’ll have nothing to do with you, and you know why that is already.”

Because you become a target, I didn’t say. The kettle behind me began to whistle and I grabbed his cup, turning my back to him to prepare the tea. I forced my mind to calm as I busied myself with the Earl Gray tea. Fighting him was off the table; no one had killed a treasure hunter this early, it was a simple matter of numbers. Getting him to talk was off the table as well as he had already doubled down. Whether I trusted him or not had nothing to do with it, I decided.

Once I poured the tea into both cups, I turned back around and set his drink in front of him. The Dealer took it, took a sip, and mumbled appreciatively. “Planet’s got some good stuff on it.”

“After you’re done with your tea, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” I said sternly. “I’m sorry that our working relationship will end this way, but if you can’t speak the terms of the contract and I can’t read it, then we’re at an impasse. There’s already a lot of work that I have to do, though I expect you to stay true to your word and not speak of this to anyone.”

The Dealer took another sip of his tea before putting it down. His lips curled unnaturally, showing off both rows of sharp teeth, and suddenly he was laughing. The stern look on my face was replaced with confusion as he slapped his knee. “Ah ha ha! You are the real deal, aren’tcha, kid? Nerves of steel and decisive, I like that.” I watched as he pulled a pair of reflective sunglasses with a black frame and yellow lenses from his bag. He handed them to me.

[[Item]]

Shades of the Scribe

While wearing these glasses, written language is automatically translated for you. Hidden text appears if any is present.

“I’ve already got a pair,” the Dealer said as he tapped the frame of his own glasses. “So consider this a prize for not breaking down. Shows a lot of guts.”

I mumbled out vague nothings before putting on the glasses and pulling the contract in front of me so I could read it.

[[System Contract]]

The Treasure Hunter known as “The Dealer” will keep any and all information he gets from the Player known as “Anthony Franklin” a secret from any who have not been given permission by the subject. This includes other players, treasure hunters, monsters, and administrators. The Dealer will be placed under an Administrator Black-out when with Anthony.

The Treasure Hunter is allowed first right of refusal for any information the Player may be willing to give in exchange for points, goods, or services rendered.

X The Dealer

Signature of the Treasure Hunter

X

Signature of the Player

“This is it?” I asked incredulously as I read over the informally written contract.

“That’s it,” the Dealer replied as he finished his tea. He pointed at my cup. “You gunna drink that?”

I pushed the cup towards him in answer. Then I read through the System Contract again. Nothing changed as I read it for a third time, then a fourth time. “Dealer, this is barely anything.”

“Yeah, don’t really like to get bogged down by the rules, so I just put what I thought was necessary for you and I to go into business together. I don’t want to get too deep into anything until that’s signed because my end of the conversation might draw unwanted attention, you know?”

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’ll sign it if you add a clause saying that this agreement only lasts until one of us permanently perishes.” While I was not expecting to run into something that would end up killing me, something could happen to the Dealer because of this agreement. If he were to die then I needed to be able to reach out to other treasure hunters and, likely, hire them for various things.

“Guess being a player isn’t exactly a walk in the park,” the Dealer grumbled. He pulled a pen from his pocket and added it in. “Anything else?”

I would have asked for the banana bread recipe, but that would probably be pushing it. The Dealer slid the contract over to me again and I looked it over. “Why does the first clause have you being able to withhold information but leaves me free to do with our talks as I please?”

“Because the second one is more important to me,” the Dealer said as he finished off his second cup. “More tea?”

I frowned, but poured more tea for the treasure hunter. For sure, the information I had would be tantalizing to any treasure hunter. Grumbling, I set his tea down next to the silver paper and snatched the pen. I signed the contract. “Alright, so now that that’s settled, how did you find out?”

The Dealer chuckled as he picked up the contract and shook it. A second one fell to the table, and he slid it towards me. “That’s your copy,” he said as I slid it into my inventory after a cursory glance. Rolling up the paper, he slid it into his sack and pulled out a small, black cube. A hologram box. I arched an eyebrow at it; these were usually used by administrators and their teams.

“You know a guy, huh?” I asked, knowing he wouldn’t say who.

“Bingo. Went digging after you arrived because how could I not?” he asked. “And this is what I got.” I assumed he did this every time but there wasn’t any dirt on me then. I furrowed my brow as he placed the cube on the counter and clicked the top of it.

And I immediately knew where I had messed up.