Chapter 14

As they left the dungeon, others came. The smallest parties were made up of five and the larger ones numbered in the dozens.

They gave the trio a quick once over and went about their business. At the entrance, the triangle barrier had been removed and in its place was a neat row of desks staffed by some very pretty ladies. They handed out pleasant smiles and papers. Worshipers lined up to put their signatures to the paper before moving on.

Before Axel could ask, Roddrick explained the scene. “They work for the Coalition church. To be specific they work for Turin. It’s a way to keep track of who goes in and out of the dungeon and what they take out.”

“Well, I’m not doing that,” Axel said.

“I don’t think they will give us a choice.” Rayner pointed toward a party of worshipers heading right for them.

“Don’t make a fuss you two. It’s not all bad. Even if it’s to keep track of us, there are benefits.”

“Those are?” Axel raised his brow, dubious of Roddrick’s claim.

“For one, those papers the worshipers signed are binding contracts. The terms are insured by a curse on those who do not follow it. As long as they read carefully to avoid any tricks, there should be little issue.”

This reminded Axel of the contract he’d signed with Grace. She never mentioned anything about a curse or that it was binding.

He’d thought he had asked her all the right questions to prevent being tricked. The more he learned about their relationship the more nervous he became that he may have signed away more than he knew.

The worshipers who Axel had no doubt planned to bully them into signing those papers stopped several paces in front of them. They positioned themselves in a way that reeked hostility.

Great! Axel liked making a proper first impression.

Not wanting to start a fight with enemies with unknown abilities, Axel withheld the temptation to go for his dagger. He curved an eye to Rayner to see if he would also restrain his new barbarian tendencies and to his relief, Rayner’s hand stayed far away from his hammer. So far it appeared the muscled teen was controlling himself.

Apparently, Roddrick didn’t trust them to speak without starting a fight and stepped forward to address the hostile party. “We welcome you to watch us sign the required documents for entering the dungeon.”

Caught off guard, the teen that looked to be the leader of the party gaped, collected himself, then spoke. “What you should have done is waited and registered then.”

“When we heard the dungeon would be open to all worshipers, we could not help but run off straight into danger. We acknowledge our mistake and seek to rectify it as soon as possible.” Roddrick remained calm and even made movements in the direction of the sign-up area.

Nothing upsets a belligerent person more than facing a calm one. This proved true in the leader’s reaction. “Hey! You,” he pointed for emphasis, “you don’t decide your punishment. I do.”

“Oh, Erik I never knew that you, as a level one, had authority ... over me.” Roddrick’s eyes fell under shadow and Axel could feel the mana spill out of him.

The effect on Erik and his party was chilling. They froze in place; their knees shook and eyes dilated in fear. Only Erik resisted, and he gritted his teeth to do so.

When one of the party members fell to their knees under the pressure of Roddrick’s mana, Axel expected Rayner to step in but his friend looked on with dispassionate eyes. This put him of all people in the position of having to interfere.

While having his enemies on their knees instead of at their throats was preferable to Axel, he knew they would not die here. Humiliating them like this would only create an unneeded enemy.

Stepping forward, Axel placed a hand on Roddrick’s shoulder. He increased the strength of his grip when the man failed to stop his mana assault.

Then, suddenly, nothing. The pressure lifted. The party rose again, weak at the knees.

Axel expected Erik to mutter an oath of vengeance or glare at them. Instead, they simply left. A balled fist was the only reference to the hate he no doubt felt toward them.

Once Axel was sure the enemy party was out of hearing range, he whirled on Roddrick. “Hey, ummm, what the fuck was that?” Axel practically seethed.

“Sorry.”

“I didn’t ask for an apology. What I want to know is, what the fuck was that?”

Rayner answered for Roddrick. “That guy was the one from the meeting. The pissed-off teen.”

“And that explains what exactly?”

“I think he and Roddrick have a history.”

“Nothing so deep as that,” Roddrick said. “I have seen Erik at other gatherings such as this and he’s always been a brat.”

Axel read between the lines. “He gave you a hard time about being a corpseeater.” Roddrick nodded. “So now after just telling us to keep cool and sign the papers—a thing I didn’t agree to — you go all macho on him.”

“I have no excuse.”

“I think you do and I want to hear it.”

“Let it go, Axel. It’s over,” Rayner said.

Not to Axel, it wasn’t. And surely not to that party. They would cause trouble for them in the future. “Oh, I didn’t forget about you. How come you didn’t step in.”

“I recognized one of the party members. He’s the one who refused to heal me because we don’t share the same religion.”

“The worshiper of the goddess of mercy.”

Well, that explained it. He would hear Roddrick’s full explanation later. This man was supposed to be their great sensei after all. He couldn’t be losing his cool like that.

“This isn’t over but for now let’s get this reregistration or whatever over with.”

Smiling at the lady at one of the desks, Rayner took the papers and gave them a thorough read. The lady squirmed in her chair as Rayner crossed off and rewrote sections of the contract. His brow raised as he did so, challenging the lady to disagree with his changes.

Rayner had just saved them from signing a deeply flawed contract judging from all the marks on the pages. Other worshipers took notice, glancing over at them with curious expressions. One walked over to them to see; Rayner let him, frowning when the man copied the changes on his own paper.

This started a stream of other worshipers striding over to see how they’d been ripped off. Axel sensed an opportunity.

Leaving behind the flustered ladies, dismayed at this change in their plan, Axel stood with Rayner and ordered the mob of worshipers around him. He waited till they all quieted down.

“Rayner, what changes did you make?” Axel said in a low tone.

“Everything was pretty standard at first, except for the fees they will charge for their service. It’s hidden in a seemingly beneficial plan that helps assess the value of recovered treasure. I remembered because the people who can check durability are the same who assess weapons and that is an expensive service.”

“I get it. Mandatory treasure checks mean mandatory fees, even if the treasure is junk. Sneaky girls.”

“Yeah. I think all the ladies are members of the Coalition worshipers’ entourage.”

Axel looked back to the pretty ladies who were now huddled together, likely discussing what to do about their new predicament. Lucky men those worshipers, and rich ones as well if this is how they raked in the money.

“Everyone, you by now know there are irregularities in your contracts. I recommend you renegotiate, with my friend here’s help. For a small fee, of course.”

Rayner looked outraged, but it was too late, and the worshipers swarmed him with their crappy contracts. Axel left with Roddrick back to the lady’s desk but behind her were all the other women who had nothing left to do now that Rayner busied himself destroying the product of their trickery.

The lady in front of them beaded sweat, and the others loomed over her, expressions angry. They wanted her to get a pound of flesh from him for messing up their plans.

“How will you get out of this one my boy? Those are a lot of angry women,” Roddrick said, not being of any help.

Plastering on a charming smile and taking a seat, Axel addressed the upset women. “Ladies, it’s not all bad. In fact, this is a win-win.”

“How so?” one of them said.

He was still figuring that one out. “Well, you see, um ... the other worshipers would have figured out the scheme eventually and finding no profit in exploring the dungeon, many would have quit. Although the Coalition worshipers you work for may be pleased with that result at first, such a benefit would be short term, I assure you. For without the mass of worshipers exploring the dungeon it would take months, possibly years to have an accurate map of the dungeon.”

At this, Axel’s receptionist shook off her nervousness to counter his claim. “If it takes years so be it. The resources would be theirs for the taking at their leisure.”

Undeterred, Axel found an opening. “Yes, they would. But what would you ladies gain?”

“Admiration,” she said.

“The admiration of your, what? Master? Boss? What exactly are you to them?”

The group of women stirred, his line of questioning causing them discomfort as he hoped.

These women were basically fangirls. At best they were power-seekers, but he’d seen none of the ladies here were worshipers and unable to take advantage of the treasure obtained from the dungeon unless it was for purely monetary value.

Mari explained to him such men and women of a worshiper’s entourage hoped to gain important positions at the worshiper’s side. They wished for more than to be eye-candy and harem members.

Worshipers, Axel found out from experience, needed quite a bit of maintenance to stay combat-ready. Worshipers connected to the government and the church like those under the employ of the Coalition could get very cushy positions.

Those positions included, but were not limited to, becoming healers, priests, court officials, and nobility. It could be these ladies were starting out doing the grunt work before moving up but Axel gambled that they had been stuck in such roles for too long. Basically, they were glorified whores and paper pushers.

As if his expression laid bare his thoughts the women became defensive, fixing their short skirts and tightening their loose shirts. All were in uniform and their movements had him shifting in his seat.

His receptionist coughed into her delicate hand and made a final attempt to defend her position. “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

“Or drowns all the passengers unfortunate enough not to have a ship.”

“ ... Do you have a proposal?” she said, finally giving up, her shoulders slumped.

“Yes, I do. Before that, I want to make it clear my goal is not to pour rain on your ambitions. I saw people getting ripped off, including myself, and took action to stop the injustice.”

She peered over his shoulder back to the crowd of worshipers mobbing Rayner, coin practically being thrown at him, coin that was supposed to be hers. She quirked a fine brow.

“And if I make a profit while doing so, then all the better. I’m only human.”

“So you are. Get on with your proposal.”

“First, do any of you have a skilled worshiper who can go into the dungeon on your behalf and serve your interests and your interests alone?”

“We do.”

“Perfect. I know the location of treasures we were unable to pick up, treasure that, with my direction, that loyal worshiper can find.”

“You want this in exchange for what?”

“Goodwill.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Try again.”

“That the information I give to you stays with you. The appraisal of my treasures does not leak to other worshipers.”

“This is hardly worth betraying those who we serve.”

Axel smirked. She had no official title given to her by the worshipers. The best she could come up with was a servant. He made sure she knew by keeping the smirk on his face until her eyes wavered.

She whispered with the other ladies to decide but Axel, not wanting to leave it up to chance, gave one final push. “What I offer is independence. Have your own resources to fall on if this entourage thing doesn’t work out. A woman has got to have options, right?”

Taking one final look with the other women, she extended her hand. “My name is Ellen.”

“Axel.”

Having plowed through the crowd, many coins richer, Rayner rejoined Axel and Roddrick after the two finished getting their items appraised.