As though someone was listening to his words, the sounds of firing stopped. He heard a loud voice, Captain Swordsman’s, demanding people stop panicking.
“Lady Pigeonette will sweep the area. Please stay calm. You are safe. All the gunmen have been defeated. Someone check on the wounded. You! Knight! Take the girl inside. Move people!”
Augustus squeaked as Arthur pushed for him to get off him. He needed to see what was happening. Leo stood by the door, ushering shocked and confused people inside. Penny walked with them, an arm clutching a shoulder that looked burned. Tears streaked her face.
Nyssa was on her feet, already organizing people by severity. No one argued when she took Penny downstairs first. The poor girl had sobbed, and Arthur could see why. Her arm looked as though someone had struck it with miniature lighting.
“Leo, is it safe outside?” He called over the voices of the people inside his shop.
“Yes, sir. It seems so.”
“Ok. I need to check the damage. Augustus with me. Leo, Theobold. Watch the store.”
With that, he shoved his way against the crowd and made it outside. The first thing he noticed was that the young man who’d come to the store was on the ground near the door. His entire body was burned almost beyond recognition, as though he’d taken the brunt of the hits.
Arthur couldn’t work out how. From where he’d been standing, the crowd should have blocked most of the shots that came toward him. Others lay on the ground in similar states. He winced as he looked at Sewer Dwellers and Scavengers alike.
None he knew well, thankfully, though he recognized some. The woman who’d complained about his stock selection earlier lay there. Her friend shook her as though that might get her to stand up. Jemima was looking down at the man who’d sold him the Slagsoul and asking about the moss.
Others dotted the ground, but he did his best not to stare at them. Instead, he focused on looking calm as he made his way over to the attacker’s corpses. If calling them corpses was even correct.
Most lay crumpled and beaten, but others were sliced in two. One even hung from a lamppost by a whip that appeared far longer than it should. As he approached, both Captain Swordsman and The Explorer turned to him.
“Arthur,” The Explorer said. “Did you see The Hero?”
“Is that the man you came with?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes. He didn’t make it.”
The Explorer sighed. “Of course. We’ll have to wait a day for him to resurrect. An annoyance for sure. At least he drew some of the fire. Do you know where they got such weapons? I have seen them before, but never here.”
“Magic?” Captain Swords asked.
Arthur shook his head. “Tech. They got it at the same place I’ve been getting my new supplies. If you don’t mind, they attacked my people. Unless you have use for it, I’d like to lay claim.”
With a shrug, The Explorer stepped aside. “Be my guest.”
Captain Swordsman nodded. “You can make better use of it than I. None of my squad uses weapons like these.”
Arthur bent down and looked into the men’s pockets. Once again, they held a bag of coins. He sighed and shook his head. “Again? I still have my last one under the counter. Maybe Pydes can put them with the one he has? It’ll be something to bring up next time I get to go up.”
When he picked up one of the guns, a pop-up appeared.
He got the same message each time, and he simply sent them back to the store. Once the weapons were gone, he started on the clothes, leaving the pants. A snort from behind him made him turn to see Theobold.
“The same place as the others, boss?”
“Yes. But take the scooters around to the rickshaws first. We’ll have to fuel them somehow, but we can figure that out later.” His mind at the possibilities they presented, but he ignored them for now.
After all, the guns had a familiar seller, one that he knew where to find.
"Boss," Theobold said as he grabbed one and moved off.
“Arthur. We need to discuss this.” Captain Swordsman looked around at the people who still milled about. “This was a tragedy.”
The Explorer nodded. “Indeed. We need to discuss this. Such a brazen attack cannot go unanswered.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I have new weapons to sell, isn’t it?. Let’s move away from the corpses. People are staring. Why don’t you step into my office?” He did his best to smile, even as he felt like he wanted to cry.
***
Billy, Lucy, and Thomas vacated his office as he sat behind his desk.
Both Captain Swordsman and The Explorer had carried chairs in, and now they all sat in the cramped room. Arthur tried to keep his breathing steady as he listened to Augustus and Leo keep the peace outside.
“So,” he started. “You wanted to talk?”
The Explorer nodded. “We did. The Hero and I, that is. Now that he’s gone, well. We needed to know what your intentions with this battle are.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you intend to play this the same way they are? Will there be blood on the streets? More so than tonight. If so…”
Captain Swordsman picked up where The Explorer trailed off. “We can’t allow that to happen.”
Arthur leaned back in his chair. He could feel his locket heating up as he played with the coin in his hand. Not one from the bags, as those still sat tucked into his pants pocket. He could feel them there, a comforting weight, even knowing what they are.
“It’s not my intention to escalate things in that direction,” He said. “However.”
“However?” Captain Swordsman repeated.
“Demon cores are powerful things, and they sell for a lot. If I can harvest a lot of them, I can get more perks, like my repeating stock. With those kinds of bonuses, it would be easier to offer people protections.”
“So you plan on sending people to hunt demons?” Captain Swordsman sounded offended.
Arthur shrugged, the heat of the locket feeling good against his throat. “I’m saying that I’ll be issuing a quest to get more. We have more powerful weapons and armor now. Unlike the cultists and their demons, I’m not sending people on suicide missions. Anyone who takes up this quest will be properly equipped for the task.”
The Explorer nodded. “The Hero would be one of the first to take it up. He’s decided The Cult has become a big enough threat for him to get involved. It’s been a fair while since he’s come back to town.”
“You can’t be serious?” Captain Swordsman asked. “We don’t have the numbers to take them out. They’ll keep responding in force, and you’ve seen the type of weapons they’re bringing to bear. Can your armor stand up to that?”
“No,” Arthur admitted.
“Then how is what you’re doing any different from them?”
“Because I won’t be sending them to fight men with lasers. The Demons die like any other creature from The Pit, or sewer. Rab killed one yesterday with a mace. I don’t want to fight the gang members, only their monsters. I’m not going to force anyone to take it, either.”
Captain Swordsman shook his head. “So it’ll be war then.”
“Until I can figure out a way to shut them down or take them over.” Arthur stood and gestured outside. “I have a plan to do that, but I’m going to need help. Yours and Lady Pigeonette’s, hopefully.”
“What plan?”
At that point, he tipped the money from the bags onto the table. The coins spilled out, each with dragon faces looking up at them. He did his best to ignore them as he looked toward the two men. “These are counterfeits.”
The Explorer picked one up and eyed it. “Good ones too.”
“You can tell?”
“With all the places I’ve been, you learn to see things like that. Go on. Your plan?”
“Right. You see, there’s this place called the Multiverse Mall…”
It took a while to get them up to speed, but once he’d finished speaking, both men were nodding. “So you’re saying if we can find their lab, we can destroy it?”
“Or if you can get me in contact with Dr. Lisa Moore. I know she’s the one who makes them, or at least knows how to.” A memory of Penny mentioning a woman who came to the farms and Nyssa’s freak-out over the SEM mentioning Genomian Inc. came to mind.
“Actually, she might visit the farms. Not that I know how often.”
“A simple thing to discover.” The Explorer laughed. “Shall I tell Charleston to detain her if she shows up again?”
“Yes. And then maybe set up a meeting?” Arthur was thinking on his feet as he spoke. “If we can convince her to stop or come work for us, that would solve our problems. Potentially.”
“Better than a prolonged war,” Captain Swordsman said as he stood. “In that case, how should we proceed?”
It took a moment for him to understand the question. Then it hit him. He’d been leading and explaining, and they’d been listening. From the way they looked at him, whatever was happening; he was in charge. At least this part of it.
He smiled, unable to deny that it felt good. Right. The coin in his hand flicked through his fingers as he nodded towards the door.
“Let’s get the quest set up, and then I need to talk to some people about ordering weapons.”
***
Jemima raised an eyebrow.
All the Sewer Dwellers who were willing to brave the third level of the dungeon got access to the quest. As did the entirety of Penny’s entourage. None of the Scavengers had received it—not that they’d stuck around once their injuries were healed.
“You want us to hunt them?” She asked and looked over at Jeff and George, who both shrugged.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqnajgGBxH
All around the room, he could see a variety of expressions. Some looked determined, while others looked worried.
Arthur nodded. “Yes. Though this is entirely an opt-in. A bonus for those who feel they want to move away from hunting crocodiles. Each of the demons has a core; these I can trade for better weapons, equipment, and perks.”
“Where can we find them?” Someone called out.
“There are plenty in the new store they opened. Theobold can direct you if you have trouble finding it. Otherwise, south-west of the city.”
A collection of voices broke out, but he still got notified that people were accepting the quest. While they talked, he started trading as people bought food and water to take back into the sewers. Still, he couldn’t help but sigh. It wasn’t the same amount he’d have made with the sit-down service.
More people accepted, though several declined the quest throughout the next hour. He noticed that Captain Swordsman was one who accepted it, while Lady Pigeonette didn’t. Not that her turning it down surprised him.
Penny left with her escorts in tow. The entire group looked downcast as they hopped onto horses and rode away. He was glad to see no harm had come to any of the animals. Though he wished he’d had time to talk to her before she left. It would have been nice to get confirmation about his theory about Dr. Lisa.
When everyone had left, he nodded to Leo.
“Make sure you do a shift change with Augustus and Theobold. I’m heading to bed. I need to speak to some people.”
“Sir.”
With that, he turned and moved into the backroom. As he lay there, eyes closed, all he could think of were the bodies. Even the weight of the bags of counterfeit coins in his hand didn’t make him feel better. He’d even gotten the original he’d taken off the gangsters who’d brazenly walked in.
All of them would be useful for what he needed to do. Arthur simply hoped he wouldn’t get caught by security once more.
“The Multiverse Mall,” He thought as he drifted off to sleep.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlmbh9qAJl
