Lowlife, Scoundrel, Bandit Queen

Chapter 190 190 - Second opinion

Beldragor's pawnshop is essentially just around the corner. Well a few corners, if facts happen to matter, but that doesn't change that I reach the place essentially in the blink of an eye. And, as it turns out, I'm in luck. He hasn't closed shop for the day yet. The little bell above the door rings pleasantly as I enter.

The sound of tingling coins reaches my ears, suggesting that the not so little dragon is napping on his hoard. Or at least he has been, as he calls out, sounding a little grumpy.

"It's almost closing time! Unless you know exactly what you want, get lost!"

Oh my, what a greeting. I let out a laugh anyway, as I approach the counter with bars above it that is separating the shop from the dragon's hoard.

"And here I thought I'd just drop by to see how you are doing and to maybe ask for some sage advice."

He almost immediately perks up. Is it because he knows me? Or because I'm going through the trouble of buttering him up? Well, it doesn't matter as long as his mood does improve.

"Vivi … it's been a … you look different? Did you shed?"

I snort and almost miss a step and another right after when the little dragon breaks into laughter. Of course, he is pulling my leg. He has been living among humans for gods and goddesses know how long. There is no way he wouldn't know about changing clothes.

I stop at the counter and lean on it with an exasperated sigh.

"Yep. Had to leave my usual outfit with the ladies at the Flea and Flotsam to get it patched up. Had a real unpleasant run in with a necromancer while I was out of town gathering mushrooms. Stupid cow shot me with a nasty spell. Punched right through me. Front to back. I think it even left scars. Wanna see?"

His eyes actually get big.

I guess he doesn't get too many chances to just exchange gossip like this without any strings attached. Well, he doesn't know about the string yet. Thus I might as well make it worth his while. I pull my new second hand blouse up a little. Thankfully I don't have to bare a lot of skin. There really are two little matching scars on my right side, one in front, the other on my back.

Beldragor actually gasps.

"That looks like an annihilation spell! A weak one, but still … what kind of crazies do you keep running into?"

I cover back up and straighten my blouse back out while I shrug.

"Bianka the Pale, if the name tells you anything. I got pretty lucky with that hit missing anything vital. Was even more lucky she didn't hit me with the spell she used right after. That one would have cut right through me for sure."

"Oh? What was it? Come on, tell me! And how'd you get her? You did get her, right, that Bianka, can't say I met her, but that's not really surprising. Necromancers are really reclusive at the best of times."

He is blabbering now and really into the story, thus I keep sharing.

"That other spell? It was a continuous beam of green energy that cut a fist deep gauge into solid rock that neither wind nor weather could touch. And yes, I did get her good."

I flash him one of my best smirks before I continue.

"Did my best to make her real mad. Mad enough to make her parry a strike she should have just taken with her weapon. Gave me a chance to smash the crystal she used as some kind of soul anchor."

His eyes grow ever wider, and he is up so far on the tips of his hind legs, that he actually tips over at the final reveal. He still manages to land on his legs though, with catlike grace. He is up in my face before I can even blink.

"A lich? You destroyed a lich? What kind of trouble are you getting yourself into?"

Oh, he has taken the bait for sure. I'd even go as far as to say that he is hooked. I keep acting nonchalantly and just shrug.

"Never a boring day in my life it seems. I head out of town to gather some dubious mushrooms and mostly I just take care not to upset that nesting wyvern just a little beyond where we fought that gian't mushroom and before I know it I'm standing in some ancient ruins. Cyclops skeletons roaming the streets and all."

The dragon lets out a groan.

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"And instead of coming back to get some reinforcements you went right in to check it out?"

I flash him a beaming smile now.

"Yes! Exactly! You know me so well! And well, one thing led to another. And that crazy lich promised to boil my flesh off my bones, so I was really motivated to kill her before she could kill me. By the way, turns out she really did that with adventurers who stumbled across her hideout. Had to dig a proper grave for those afterwards, which is one reason why this trip took so long."

Beldragor is still hanging on my lips, soaking up every word I say. He nods sagely at my last remark.

"That's the decent thing to do. Very responsible. Except you already demonstrated a degree of irresponsibility beyond all measure by facing a lich on your own!"

I scratch the back of my head as I laugh, actually a little embarrassed. He isn't wrong after all.

"Well, in my defense. I thought that she was just some crazy wizard hermit at first. Talking with her skeletons because no one else wants to stick around for reasons. Only found out about the rest when stabbing her throat didn't quite work as expected."

Chatting with the energetic young dragon like this is really refreshing. It almost makes me feel sorry that I still have another topic I need to address with him.

"Oh well, that's happened and I walked away from it able to tell the tale. A bit of an eventful trip you could say, but I'm not quite done yet. Say, did the guild, our guild not the adventurers, ever get around to putting plans regarding that wyvern and her nest into motion? Or has the town decided to do anything about it?"

Beldragor chuckles at my words at first, but he quickly gets serious again as I shift the topic.

"The city council and the lord are still arguing back and forth. We would have adventurers who could deal with it in town right now for sure, but hiring them wouldn't come cheap. And as for Jerzy and Jurand, I think they are still busy reaching out to contacts in the other cities of the frontier, hoping to organize some kind of accident that will result in a short term mess with some broken eggs that will save us all some long term trouble."

I nod sagely and calmly, but inside the confines of my mind I'm rather worried and bothered by these news. Finally I sigh.

"Well, hate to break it to you, but we might be in trouble then."

One of the dragon's eyes twitches a little and he moves as close as the bars in between us permit to give me a little sniff. Can he still smell the wyvern scales I collected and carried in my pack until very recently?

"You poked around there again? Didn't you? Please tell me you didn't do something insanely irresponsible that makes that fight with the lich look like a lovers quarrel."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I didn't do anything insanely irresponsible."

His eye twitches again.

"Vivi! I'm serious! Out with it! What do you mean? Argh! And why do you tell me and not Jerzy? Or Wiktor? The adventurers' guild? Or anyone else other than me for that matter?"

I reach out through the bars to pat his head. Surprisingly enough he actually leans into it a little.

"I'm serious too. I didn't do anything. And I'm telling you, because I trust you more than any of the other options you just named. Anyway, I was thinking about checking on it, just to make sure, you know. And as I'm on my way there, I almost ran into some strangers. Three of them at the very least. Armor, weapons, all top notch. It's a good thing I was too busy staying unnoticed, or might have gotten a little jealous. I only saw two up close. One, a woman, was a gnome. The other, a man, might have been an elf with some orc blood or the other way around. Hmm, their Slyd sounded a little strange too."

I could demonstrate what the female gnome looks like in perfect detail, but that would require that I reveal my secret trump card and while I trust the adorable little dragon more than anyone else in this town, I don't trust him that much yet either. Thus I shrug before I add a closing statement.

"Sorry, that's the best I can do. I made sure to get away from there unnoticed once they passed me. Ignored the racket during the night too and only went to check later the next day only to find lots of very recent landscaping and both the wyvern and the eggs gone. Oh! No wait, there is something else! They used a huge spell circle to do whatever they did! Seven casters if I'm not mistaken. No clue if that's helpful. Is it?"

He taps his chin thoughtfully with one claw and nods at my closing question.

"It is. Of course it is! It might just be the most important observation. The people you observed on their own could have been adventurers. Some of the real prominent groups have top notch gear. Some even make sure the colors and looks match. But no group of adventurers I have heard of anywhere in the frontier or even just nearby has seven spellcasters. I'm not sure if any of the local lords could mount an operation of that scale either."

He sighs and slumps a little, letting his head come to rest on the counter. He looks up at me from there, pretending to be thoroughly miserable.

"But still, trust issues aside, why'd you bother me with these details? Jerzy or Jurand would be in a much better position to make the right conclusions!"

I flash him a beaming smile.

"Well, now that you know all the important details, you can tell them!"

For the briefest of moments he goes very still, gawking at me. Then he recoils slightly as he realizes that I just played him. He is not willing to just give in though.

"Ugh … fine, I'll do it. Could you do me a little favor in exchange though?"

He hasn't been unreasonable in his demands so far, thus I shrug and motion for him to tell me what he has in mind.

"My scales could use another polish. My sister invited me over again for tomorrow's late night show at the circus. I don't want her to nag again."

Well, that shouldn't be too much trouble.

"No problem. When? Right now? Or would tomorrow morning be alright with you?"

"Tomorrow morning, anytime before noon really, would be perfect!"

He immediately perks up again considerably as I agree with a final nod. And he extends a paw so we can shake hands to seal the deal too, which earns my [Haggling] skill some more progress.

It seems today is a good day to make deals big or small. There is just one more question on my mind.

"Say, what do you think, should I mention the thing with the wyvern at the adventurers' guild? Or should I keep quiet about it? To give us a little head start no matter how bad things may already be. So far those strangers probably don't know that we know either after all."

The dragon doesn't need to think about it either hard or long and his answer is pretty much what I already expected and would have done anyway. It's still good to hear someone else say it.

"Keep quiet about it for now. No actual lies though. This is big enough that skills capable of revealing lies could be used. Just don't mention it as long as no one asks."