Chapter 19

  As I entered the Whisper Wind Pub several heads, that were sitting at the tables placed all around the room, turned to watch my entrance. They all gave similar looks to the men stationed out front, but I pushed through the stares and gave them no indication that I was intimidated.

  There was a fire burning, in a fireplace, to the right side of the dining room and as I looked, I could see faint whisps of smoke exiting the fireplace and gathering overhead. “Looks like that was the source of the dirt on the windows; smoke from a chimney that had not been cleaned in a long time,” I thought inside my head.

  As I weaved my way around the tables, I kept my Soul Diviner skill active to prevent any sneak attacks from any of the patrons who might not like strangers in their midst. Taking a measured approach, I eventually reached the bar and confidently took a seat.

  In response, a huge, bald, muscled bound man came over with a towel over his shoulder. He was wearing a simple brown shirt and tan pants that had an apron covered in various stains wrapped around his waist. He looked at me with contempt as he debated whether to serve me or expel me from the premises. Eventually, the server in him won out and he asked, “What can I get you?”

  The bartender spoke in a deep bass voice that hinted that he didn’t take kindly to strangers and nonsense. Not wanting to aggravate the man I answered, “I’ll have a Midnight Prowler.” With those words his demeanor rapidly changed, and he looked at me with renewed enthusiasm.

  “Sure, that will be a one gold.” He said with the same deep voice.

  I took out the gold coin, I had prepared earlier and slid it across the bar to him. He picked up the coin and bit it to make sure it was genuine.

  Seemingly pleased, he thumbed over his shoulder pointing to a door off to the left side of the bar and said, “Passcode is three knocks and the phrase ‘Dark Con’ this week.” Thanking the bartender, I then made my way over to the door and did just as he had instructed.

  With the passcode given, the door opened from the other side revealing a gruff looking man who was equipped with several daggers and two swords. He gave me an indiscriminate look as he gestured to the stairs lit by sconces behind him leading down to, what I thought would be, the cellar of the pub.

  As I made my way down the stairs, the noise from the dining room slowly started to fade away to a still silence that made me slightly warry of where I was headed. Once I had reached the bottom of the stairs, I could see that it was indeed a cellar I had been led to.

  There were crates and barrels stacked up all around the space with burlap sacks of unknown goods placed all around them. I presumed these were supplies for the pub upstairs as the faint smell of flour and ale entered my nose.

  As I took in the cellar, another, hidden, man melded out of the shadows and approached me. I was at once put on guard afraid that I had gotten something wrong and that this was an ambush to silence me, but the man just twitched their head to the right side of the cellar and walked over to where they had gestured.

  Still a little cautious I followed the man only stopping when he reached the stone foundation of the building. Reaching up, the man pushed two stones in the wall at the same time. I then heard an audible heavy click ring out as a portion of the stone foundation slid forward and then opened out into the cellar.

  The passageway beyond was lit only by a single torch that I could see hanging from the wall leaving most of the tunnel beyond shrouded in darkness. The man stepped aside and gestured me forward into the unknown.

  With a little trepidation in my steps, I walked forward into the darkness. Once I was inside the passageway, the stone door closed behind me and sealed the exit. As I was draped in shadows and the flickering of the torch light, Adam decided to say to me, “You really are in the thick of it now, Callum.”

  Giving a pronounced scoff in my head I replied, “Me… don’t you mean We are really in the thick of it. Afterall… this was Your Idea.” In a snarky tone Adam said, “And You went along with it, so the blame for this situation is on Both of our heads.”

  I could not dispute Adam’s retort so, instead, I made my way down the tunnel following several torches that seemed to be leading me towards my destination. As I began to observe the tunnel, I noticed that there were small holes placed at equidistance from each other running along the walls.

  Seeing those holes, I was able to figure out that this must have been an old drainage tunnel that had been blocked off or redirected in the past. A perfect way for the criminal underground to get around the Township without the City Watch catching on.

  As I rounded a bend in the tunnel, a wider expanse could be seen just up ahead that was brighter than what I had been walking through. It cast the last bit of my journey in enough light for me to see that the drainage tunnel needed repairing based on all the cracks running down the sides of the walls.

  As I walked into the open space, I was instantly amazed by what greeted me. What first became apparent was that the entire space was encased in a dome that was similar in construction as the tunnel I had just left. Furthermore, I also saw several other tunnels that were spaced all around the dome leading off to other passages.

  In the center of the area was a bazaar. There were stalls placed all around as people moved in and out to conduct their business. On top of that, the familiar sounds of vendors shouting for attention could be heard over everything happening within the market. There was even the familiar smell of food being cooked by several of the stalls.

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  Seeing all this I wondered how this had not gone unnoticed by the Kingdom or the City Watch. To house all this the tunnel must have been sloping downward and I never noticed. Pulling myself out of my stupor, I then began to carefully make my way through the underground bazaar.

  As I made my way through the crowd, I noticed that most of the individuals walking about were the ‘rough’ sort of people. They wore armor, carried weapons of every type, and had facial expressions that hinted at the fact that they were used to getting violent with others. Therefore, I was a little surprised when I noticed that some people were walking around in noble attire.

  These noble individuals wore outfits adorned with bright colors and jewelry that must have cost a fair bit of coin to purchase. How they could confidently walk around without fear of being robbed was perplexing to me. Adam, sensing my confusion, spoke up and said, “I imagine with an operation of this size a code of conduct must be enforced.”

  “There must be a central figure who runs this underground bazaar and enforces their rules heavily. Hmm… let me try something.” I then felt Adam’s mana being manipulated before a burst of sound was released all around me.

  It only took a second after the sound wave ended for Adam to say, “It is just as I thought. My spell has revealed several figures placed all throughout the bazaar standing guard and watching all the proceedings.”

  “In regard to these rules being enforced by these guards, I would make a wager that one of those rules asserts, Do Not steal from the vendors or the other patrons. The thinking for this rule must be ‘If you can’t trust your surroundings, then people will never return to do further business.’”

  Adam’s explanation made perfect sense. It was the only way that such an operation could remain trustworthy enough to thrive in the underground. And if nobles could confidently come here to acquire items that were less than reputable, then they would continue to return and spend more coin at this bazaar.

  All the while, making sure to put pressure on the right areas to ensure the bazaar goes unnoticed by the City Watch or Kingdom. It was, admittable, a brilliant way to run this underground market.

  To find the spell Adam and I were looking for, my plan was to wander the bazaar and scope out every stall that sold spell diagrams. From there, I would return to the ones that looked promising and if they did not have a spell diagram that would work for us, I would inquire if they knew where I could find it.

  Hopefully, that would not alert anybody too dangerous and allow me the freedom to get in and out of this criminal network without incident.

  After making a circuit of the bazaar, I had noticed that there were four vendors who specialized in selling spell diagrams. From my position on the opposite side of the dome, from where I entered, I went to the nearest vendor and started to browse their wares.

  The vendor had some high-status spell diagrams that not even the Guild’s Record’s Hall possessed, but when I inquired about a status board concealing spell diagram, they loudly stated that, ‘they didn’t deal in products that could get them locked in the Capital jail for the rest of their life.’ It seemed ironic to me that they were dealing in black market goods, but did not want to go that far.

  The next two vendors had similar spell diagrams for sale and similar reactions to my question. Which left me feeling dejected that I would not be able to find what Adam and I needed to safely join the Adventurer’s Guild without scrutiny.

  Putting all my hopes on the last vendor, I hesitantly approached his stall. The seller was an older man in gray robes with white hair and a white beard that reached down past his neck. He had a blank expression on his face as he contently smoked from a pipe while sitting down.

  Looking over the spell diagrams he had available, hope began to rise within me. I knew that some of these spell diagrams were illegal if one was not properly certified by the Guild or the Council. And if this old man had these just lying out, then he might have other spell diagrams stowed away or know where to find others like them.

  Giving another quick glance over the spell diagrams the old man puffed out one last bit of smoke before he started speaking to me. “Seeing anything that piques your interest good sir.” He said in a raspy voice which spoke of a lifetime of smoking from that pipe. Pulling my head upwards and away from his products so I could look the old man in the eyes I answered.

  “What you have out definitely piques my interest, but none of it is what I am specifically looking for.” In response to my words the old man gave a small smile and said, “Well, this is not everything I have available for purchase. If you tell me what you are looking for I just might have it in stock somewhere.”

  Hearing those words a small smile began to form on my face from underneath my mask. I then began to tell the old man what type of spell diagram I was looking for. Now, where the other vendors dismissed me promptly, the old man only nodded along listening intently.

  After I was done, the old man paused for a moment and then began to say, “What you are asking for is highly coveted by those around here. Therefore, it is not an item that one comes across often or cheaply.”

  “I, nevertheless, know of one individual who has what you are looking for, but they will not part with it for any amount of coin.” I was expecting a response like that so I replied, “That is acceptable to me, I would be more than happy to pay good coin just for the opportunity to study the spell diagram.”

  Hearing my response caused the old man to adopt a confused expression as he considered my words, but eventually he gave his answer. “I could get in contact with the person I know, but what would be in it for me to do such?” I quickly pulled a bag of coins from my cloak and tossed it to the old man.

  The old man caught it without the slightest fumble and then proceeded to peer at the contents of what I had just tossed to him. “Will that be enough of a brokers fee for getting me in contact with the individual you know of?”

  A smile was plastered on the old man’s face as he answered, “Yes. This is amount is adequate for what you are asking for. Come back here tomorrow night and I will let you know what my associate’s response is.” Nodding to the old man I then began to make my way to the tunnel that I had entered from into the bazaar.

  As I proceeded through the tunnel I began to replay the interaction with the old man in my head. The bag of coins I had given him was about half of all I had saved up from my hunts and if the price to study the spell diagram, if I was permitted to view it, was more than what I had left, I would be in trouble.

  Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I reached the end of the tunnel and tried to figure out how I was going to get back into the cellar of the pub. It was not long before I noticed that there was a handle adhered to the stones and a bolt just above it. I figured the bolt was connected to the stone switch on the opposite side, so I pulled the bolt back and, grabbing the handle, I pushed the stone door forward.

  I emerged into the pubs cellar where the same person who let me into the tunnel, was watching me exit. I then closed the door behind me and began to exit the pub and make my way home hopeful that I was not noticed to be missing.

  As I began the walk through the Township, my mind then turned back to the old man and whether his contact would even consider meeting with me. This was really Adam’s and mines only chance to move forward with our plans and if we were blocked, I didn’t know what we would do.

  Once again, I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and continued walking forward as dwelling on it would just make me anxious. Tomorrow night I would finally learn whether Adam and I had some hope or if we were knee deep in horse manure.