When Danton finally managed to calm his nerves, he sat down at the table and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll tell you everything I know. But you won’t find the answers you’re looking for here.”

“Anything’s better than nothing.”

“Is that so? Let me start by saying that there are seven legendary swords like Veritas, though many scholars debate the status of the last.”

“Stigma.”

“Yes. Before the fall of the Ashmorn Empire it was considered the seventh of the set, the sword of darkness. It had a rather ominous reputation even then. When the empire fell and several individuals attempted to wield the sword only to perish, it became clear that something had happened. Someone placed a powerful curse on it. It would eat away at the soul and kill the user in short order.”

“How did it end up over here?”

“Collectors, mainly. There are loopholes, people found ways to transport the sword without needing to touch it themselves. No self-respecting warrior would use it as a weapon, fearing for their life. It was sold off to the highest bidder by the new Kingdom that came into possession of it. For years it sat above a fireplace in some noble house. It was eventually stolen, and passed from person to person, leaving a trail of soul-dead in its wake.”

“Until it reached me.”

Danton didn’t seem so certain, “I heard rumours that the Inquisition came to hold it at one point, though now that it is in front of me, I can see that it was false. The Inquisition would never allow Stigma to leave their sight.”

It sounded to me like nobody knew the real truth. It did align with what Cali had told me the previous day, so perhaps her theory was more of a possibility than I initially assumed.

“There is no known way to break the curse. You have only a small time left, I strongly suggest you spend it with friends and family.”

I stared back defiantly, “Screw that. I didn’t come all this way just to give up and die.” Not to mention that I didn’t have any friends or family to spend my last days with. “Can’t I just kill something really powerful and [consume] them?”

He scoffed, “I’d like to see you try. How much experience do you have boy?”

Ren Kageyama Level 33 Grandmaster Rogue [Cursed] HP: 120/120 Strength: 47 Intelligence: 69 Endurance: 65 Perception: 62

I knew exactly how much experience I had, and it wasn’t enough. I’d gained three more levels since I last checked, but no new skills. All of the bandits didn’t know shit. The cliff had arrived. The amount of experience I needed to gain levels and skills was increasing exponentially. I needed expert help, or someone tougher to consume than your average criminal.

He saw the look on my face. “Exactly. Why spend the last of your days seeking a foe you’ll never find? Those types of creatures abhor civilization. Unless you feel that wandering the wilds for the rest of your days is a worthy use of your time.” He didn’t seem so worried now that he was trying to brow-beat me into letting myself die. Two-faced, that was the impression I got from him.

“Is that all you have to say? I don’t find any advice that proposes killing myself to be useful.”

“Teacher, shouldn’t you try to be helpful?” Sakura insisted, “I brought him here because you always talked about how interested you are in the legendary swords.”

“Interested in studying them, not having a bloody brush with death.”

“It won’t kill you unless I stab you with it.”

“That’s beside the point!”

Sakura bowed to me, “I apologize for his rudeness.”

Danton stood from his chair and slammed the table, “Stop that! I’m just trying to keep you safe, and you, young man, don’t you know better than to…”

I cut him off, “-Expect anything? Big talk coming from a guy living in a house like this. I don’t have family, I don’t have friends, I have the clothes on my back and this sword. If I give up on living, I won’t have anything left. People like you aren’t special, I get assholes like you looking down their noses at me all the time. As long as you sleep okay at night, nothing’s wrong.”

Danton’s face hardened as I barraged him with my words. I wasn’t thinking, I just wanted to chew him out for treating me like dirt.

“I’m going to live. I’m going to take this sword and shove it up a dragon’s ass and eat his soul if I have to.”

“You’re treading a dangerous path.”

“How? How is it any worse than what other people do to get ahead? I’ve seen murderers and rapists given a parade through the middle of this damn city. I know who I am, I know what I’m capable of doing and what my principles are. I don’t need your permission to do anything.”

Danton exhaled heavily through his nose and returned to his seat. He shook his head and muttered something under his breath. “I can’t stop you from doing anything. Do as you please, but leave Sakura out of it. Her parents will throttle me until I’m blue in the face if she takes so much as a scratch.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Aw,” Sakura pouted.

“Sakura, I already told you – I’m just a rogue. I have my own priorities. Cali’s tagging along because she wants to.”

“But I want to too!”

“You won’t once you realize what kind of jobs I do. I’m cleaning up other people’s messes. It’s unforgiving, dangerous, and the pay is awful.” She looked crestfallen as I rejected her attempts to join the party, it was for the best, puppy-dog eyes or not.

Danton closed his eyes and clenched his knuckles, “Fine. I’ll tell you one more thing.”

“Hm?”

“I’ve heard from some of my contacts in the East that things are falling out of balance. The separation between man and beast has been crumbling. They have no idea why. If you truly desire to fight the unbeatable, there is as good a place as any. Though if you must choose between certain death and potentially defeating one of them… I suppose it would be a worthwhile trade.”

The East? That would mean going beyond the Federation to the coast. A wild a stormy landscape across the mountains and through the bogs.

“Thanks,” I replied tersely. I took Stigma back from the table and struggled to get her into the sheathe wrapped around my chest. “Sorry Sakura, looks like that’s all.”

“Aw. It was nice meeting you! Feel free to drop by whenever you’re in Blackwake again.”

Danton groaned, “Sakura…”

She turned on him with a surprising flash of anger, “Just because you won’t be a good host doesn’t mean I have to too.”

I bowed to her, “Thanks for the offer, hopefully I won’t have to rely on your generosity again.” Eager to get out of Danton’s way, Cali and I left through the front door and emerged back out onto the bustling streets. I could feel the weight of Stigma cutting into my shoulder. I adjusted my armour, “That was a strange detour.”

“Danton, the name sounds familiar.”

“Probably connected with the nobles like Fourst.”

“Possibly.”

“Let’s do what we came here to do and go back East.”

It was time to find Bell and finish him off.

We returned to the barracks and spent a few hours observing, but I noted that the number of guards outside the building had waned significantly. Either one of two things had occurred – they decided that he wasn’t worth the time and resources and trimmed them down, or they’d moved him to their originally intended destination.

A bright idea occurred to me.

I dragged Cali back to the other side of the city with me. Bell wouldn’t leave that building lest he desired to have a miserable time drinking on his own at a nearby tavern. I needed to head off the other potential outcome. To do it I was going to call on a favour we were owed. We approached the gates to the estates with little trepidation. I held out the now crumpled papers that granted me entry as an employee of one of the families.

To my relief, the guard simply waved me through without really checking them.

“Why are we back here?” Cali asked.

“They wanted to move Bell into a house here, but I doubt they were going to pay out of pocket to buy a house – property in Blackwake is extremely expensive. So what does an order knight with influence do? He asks for one of the noble families to do it for him.”

“You believe he’s here.”

“Yes.”

The estates had seen better days but the recovery was occurring very quickly. Workmen and servants hurried to and fro, delivering new and recovering furniture to the estate houses. A little bit of money could grease the wheels. Things would be back to ‘normal’ in short order. I was heading for Adam’s house. After the long walk up the paved driveway, my legs were starting to ache. Who even needed a house this big? It was just inconvenient.

Knock knock.

Almost immediately a maid responded. “Hello sir, what is your business?”

“May I speak with the master of the house? My name is Ren Kageyama.”

“One moment please.”

She hurried away into the drawing room to the left of the main entryway. Adam’s father emerged soon after, his face lighting up as he saw me, “Ah! The man of the hour is here! Come in, come in.”

“I won’t be staying long,” I said, “I was just hoping you could do me a quick favour. It’s nothing big.”

“Anything, anything for you my friend.”

Except for money. Obviously.

“Have you heard of a guest moving into someone’s house in the past day or so?”

“Ah! Miss Callady told me about it,” he nodded. “Lord Forester made an urgent request of her recently to home a lost soul. Why do you ask?”

“He happens to be an old friend of mine, but he didn’t tell me where he was staying.”

“Surely he’s a good man if he knows you. Ah, well, if you wish to meet him again – he’s staying in that house over there.” He passed me and moved onto the front porch. I followed the tip of his fingers to a pastel pink manor parked down the street.

“Thanks. I hope you’re doing well after the… cult incident.”

“We are, thanks to you. That’s the last time I ever fall for a scheme like that.” I somehow doubted that anyone else would find a magical brainwashing book on my watch. But he didn’t need to know that. He reached into the pockets of his robe and withdrew three golden slabs, holding them out to me. “For you.”

I looked down at the golden bars with shock. Nobles really were full of surprises. “Are you sure? That’s a lot of money for two people.”

He nodded and pushed them into my open palms, “You saved the lives of every family in this estate. Even though actual money has become somewhat tight recently, everyone pitched in to do this. It never sat right with me that you were paid so little for such a deed.”

I wasn’t going to say no to a generous offer like that.

“Thank you very much. I’m humbled.”

“No, no. It’s an appropriate payment! I shudder to think what would have happened to the children if we were never freed from his clutches.”

“Well consider the debt repaid,” I smiled, “For both the money, and the information.”

“Feel free to drop by in the future,” he added, “I may even have work for a talented man like you.”

“I’ll consider it, it looks like we’re taking a long sabbatical to the East coast after our business is concluded here.”

“Very well. Take care!”

I waved goodbye to the jolly old man and turned back to Cali with a beaming grin on my face. We just hit the damn jackpot. He could have easily stiffed me and said that the original payment was enough, maybe nature had fallen out of balance if the nobles were engaging in what they considered charity. I placed the new bars into my other pocket to keep them separated from the one Bell gave me.

“Onwards to Lady Callady,” I declared.