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Chapter 8.3: Blood Tracker

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Tempers flared briefly as Scott and the slave trader had a discussion about what had just happened. Scott insisted that he had not made a bid. The trader insisted that he wanted to be paid.

“I’m telling you I didn’t want to buy that guy. Who has six hundred thousand Fayth to spend like that!” exclaimed Scott.

He was not as bothered by the auction anymore since he knew that the people on sale were there by choice and were essentially immortal beings playing a game. However, he was quite annoyed about owing the trader six hundred thousand Fayth. He would be bankrupted once more. Sure, he could not take that money with him anyway once he left this server, but he could use it here until that time.

“Be that as it may, you are the registered winner of the auction. You are obligated to pay.” said the trader.

Scott growled at the trader briefly then sighed. “Fine, but you did not seem like the type of person who would pull something like this. It’s good to know.”

“Oh, what do you mean? You came to an auction and made yourself known through a time-honored practice of attention grabbing.” said the trader in a slightly defensive tone of voice.

“I wasn’t even looking at the stage. If two people were fighting to the death out there, would you consider that a bid as well?” asked Scott.

“Of course not.” the trader placed a hand to his chin then nodded slowly. “I see your point. However, I can’t just let this go. My reputation as a trader is at stake.”

Scott chose not to tell the man what he could do with his reputation. Instead of that, he opted to try a different tactic. “I wonder what your sister will think of him.”

The trader leaned forward. “Oh? My sister?”

“Yes, my little group has business that will keep us from having any other members join up on a long term basis for now. I figure that if I give him to your sister, she’ll have someone else to help protect her mermaids and possibly even keep them busy during the full moon.” said Scott.

The trader made a slightly strangled noise then coughed once. He said, “That sounds like something she would find useful. However, I just realized something about the blood tracker that you purchased.”

“Hmm? Is there something wrong?” asked Scott with a faux-curious expression. The trader was being quite obvious about his change of heart. If his sister got ahold of one of his premium slaves she would be able to know a good bit about his recent dealings. Unlike normal slaves, the premium ones were only kept in cages if that was the sort of thing that they were into for the sake of roleplaying. The others were allowed to roam free until the day they were sold.

While it was possible that she would send someone to simply purchase such a slave, it was more likely that she wouldn’t. Scott highly doubted that the man allowed the mermaids he was looking after to roam free. Since they only had legs at night during the full moon, they were completely incapable of roaming around on their own most of the time anyway.

The blood tracker was a different story. He had heightened senses of hearing and smell that would let him know many things that some might miss.

The trader paused for a moment then sighed. “Honestly, no. I would just prefer it if you would not trade him to my sister.”

“Well, you could always make a trade.” said Scott.

“A trade? Are you referring to the mermaids?” asked the trader.

“Yes, of course. If I pay you for the guy I just accidentally bought, you can buy him back for the price of the mermaids.” said Scott.

“Well, that would make the books balance out normally. There’s a problem with that, though.” said the trader.

“Oh?” asked Scott.

“Yes, I am more than happy to do as you suggest but we have a contract. Remember the paperwork that you signed?”

Scott nodded. “I do. What about it? Can’t we draw up a new one?”

“No, not really. Normally yes, but I had you sign paperwork that includes a morality clause. I can’t release those mermaids to you under any circumstances unless you have a writ of meritorious service.” said the trader.

“Could you release them to someone else and then have them trade with me, and in turn trade the tracker back to you?” asked Scott.

“I like the thought, but it ends up being the same thing. Besides that, if I place a requirement like the need for a writ of meritorious service on someone, I have to keep that same restriction for anyone else interested in those mermaids.”

“That seems like an odd restriction.” said Scott.

The trader shrugged his shoulders. “My hands are tied. There is a law in effect in Eizen that requires fair and equitable trade practices. I can’t require something from you and not require the same thing from another person unless it includes something minor like a monetary discount.”

“So, no matter what I’ll need a writ?” asked Scott.

“If you know someone who has one, we might be in business. Otherwise, I can’t make that trade. I run an honest shop. In my line of work, in this city, I have to.”

Scott frowned. It would be so simple if he could just get around that damned writ! Sure, spending so much money would be like a punch in the gut, but what was he going to do with it? He can’t take it with him to the other server anyway. He might as well do some good with it.

“What do we do then? I need to get those mermaids home, but the city is taking its sweet time in giving us that writ.” said Scott.

“How much have you done for the city?” asked the trader.

“We’ve killed off hundreds of monsters, taken down smugglers and done who knows how many random messenger missions. I honestly forget how much we have done. We’re currently trying to finish a mission to subjugate some well-hidden bandits.” said Scott.

“Well hidden bandits...Hmm?” asked the trader.

“Yes. We can’t seem to find them.” admitted Scott.

“Ah, we might have a solution at hand my friend.”

“By all means, do tell.” said Scott.

The trader tapped his nose with his forefinger. “The blood tracker race is the best race of hunters in ARS. Their entire thing is hunting and tracking. If he can’t find your bandits then it is not possible to do so without magic.”

“I suppose we could use him for a while to that purpose, but once I have the writ I would be out well over half of a million Fayth as you agreed to release the mermaids to my custody anyway.” said Scott.

“No problem. I’ll buy him back, as long as it has been at least twenty-four hours. That would be minus the ten percent handling fee, though. So, you’d be out sixty thousand Fayth.”

“Sixty thousand, huh?” asked Scott thoughtfully. Maybe he should just dump the wolf-guy on the mermaid queen then remind her where her people were. It would cost more, but he would feel less irritation.

“That is actually a reasonable rental fee for such a slave. I did not exaggerate when I said that they were the best trackers in the world.”

It was the best deal that he would be able to make in the situation and honestly sixty thousand Fayth to finish this quest was small change. He had made that in one day of hunting recently. The sooner he herded the mermaids back to their home, the sooner he could finish training then begin the destruction of Corpse Rat.

“I’ll have to confer with my people, but I suspect that we have a deal.” said Scott.

The trader released a sigh of relief. “Good, and I hope so. I don’t want to force a slave on anyone who does not want one. That’s barbaric.”

Scott blinked then quirked his eyebrow. Barbaric indeed.