Secret Agent Chapter 076 - Down To Business (Patreon)

Nate, son of Bartholomew and Mariah, turned and watched over his shoulder as Jack, the taciturn snake [Tamer] paid the rest of his comrades of the morning and left, pockets full of money.

He had no idea what to think of him now.

At first he had been frightening, with that scar and scowl and just that air about him, of danger and threat.

Then he had revealed he barely knew how to use a spear. But he still had that snake, so Nate had refrained from teasing him out loud.

But he got the hang of the spear frighteningly fast. And while the first thurgenrat he killed wasn’t a clean kill, the ferocity of his thrusts was evident. No hesitation. Just savage violence until the monster was dead.

But then he pulled out the sling, and beclowned himself trying to make it work.

To what end? Nate couldn’t tell, until Jack finally landed a slung stone on a thurgenrat, and it practically exploded.

Yeah, Nate had no intention of messing with Jack, ever.

And that was before the return trip when he saw the snake’s kills.

Dozens. Dozens of the monsters killed by the snake, the only evidence of how they died being two little puncture wounds on the body. No sign of any struggle.

He was almost too frightened to even look at Jack, lest he offend him somehow, until he revealed a surprising laziness.

One tail in three, just to collect his trophies? Because he was lazy? Nate had let slip his impatience, true, but he hadn’t expected such sloth from the snake tamer.

He seized the chance with both hands, and then worked harder than anyone else in their party to collect the tails. He was in such a hurry, and kept so busy, he didn’t see what exactly Jack and his snake were doing, but it didn’t matter.

It was free money, right there on the ground.

Nate endeavored heroically to disguise his impatience, and felt he had done a pretty good job of it, all the way up to getting his thirty lindra from Jack in the Guildhall. Even the snake’s menacing glare and flickering forked tongue couldn’t dissuade him. He had earned this pay!

And yet again his world was flipped upside down.

He had had no idea the Guild would buy flowers from the forest.

How could he? Nobody had told him.

And he couldn’t read.

Maybe, if he had known…

Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Nate shook his head. It didn’t matter. He almost had enough money to pay the Church for his Pa’s healing, now. Just one or two more days.

Thank the Goddess the thurgenrats were swarming. Thank the Goddess the Guild was paying triple for the tails.

***

Zack Adder hurried down the roads, but held himself back from running. Sienna was on his shoulders, and now detached from his group, he was getting weird looks from people as he passed. Including guards. Actually running might get him stopped, and delay him even more.

So he moved smoothly through the streets, and soon enough made it to the south-east corner of the city. The roads had missing cobblestones, and the curbs had paving stones missing. Buildings were falling into disrepair, and boarded up windows were a common sight. There was litter on the ground, and wastebins were either empty or overflowing with waste.

Men and children loitered, laying on the ground or sitting, leaning against the dilapidated buildings, and they watched him as he passed.

Of course, their predatory gazes usually fell apart when they spotted Sienna, and Sienna spotted all of them.

Danger people, she cautioned her [Tamer].

One of the watchers, with a different aura than the rest, turned and ran silently down an alley, disappearing from view.

“It’s alright, Sienna.”

Zack flared his [Intimidation]. All the children paled and looked down. Most of the men did the same, and only a few narrowed their eyes and clicked their tongues before pretending he wasn’t there.

They made it to St. Bella’s orphanage without incident, and found the children in an uproar.

Roxy had arrived early, and was playing with the children out in the yard. Sister Paula was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, Mister Jack’s back!”

“And Mister Snake!”

“Hi Mister Jack! Hi Mister Snake!”

“Kids, come on,” Roxy chided, putting her hands on her hips and using her [Acting] skills to exaggerate her movements and draw their attention to her. “Sienna’s a girl snake! You should say Misses Snake!”

“Sorry Sienna!”

“Sorry Misses Snake!”

The children were as loud and chaotic as children were wont to be, and Sienna’s anxiety spiked.

Noisy… Saa, wait.

Instantly, Zack stopped. Roxy tilted her head, wondering why he stopped, and he pitched his [Voice] so that she could hear without needing to shout, given that Sienna was right next his head.

“It’s a bit too noisy for Sienna. Can you calm the children down?”

“Ah! Kids, Misses Sienna doesn’t like loud noises! We have to calm down for her, okay?”

The older children nodded, but the younger children…

“Can snakes play tag?!”

“Let’s play hide and seek!”

“You’re it!”

“No fair!”

Roxy shrugged apologetically. “Sorry Jack, Sienna.” She moved up to the gate while still keeping an eye on the children. “They all just had lunch, and they’re very energetic. It usually lasts an hour or so before they wear themselves out.”

Sister Paula stepped outside the building as Roxy was talking, and quickly made her way over to the broken gate. Zack was happy to see her moving about as normal, after her near death experience.

“Mister Jack, good day. And you as well, Miss Sienna.” She dipped her head to each of them in turn. “However, the commotion is mainly due to Miss Roxy’s visit. It’s like this every time she comes.”

Sienna side-eyed Roxy. Noisy friend woman.

Zack [Stifled] a wry grin and focused instead on greeting the Sister.

“Sister Paula, it’s good to see you doing well.”

“Of course.” Sister Paula shot a meaningful look at Roxy. “Everything is by the Goddess’ grace.”

Zack swept his gaze to the orphanage building itself, next. There was no indication anyone from the Church had come by to make repairs yet. The window by the door was still broken, and only boarded up from Zack’s own hasty repairs the day of the emergency.

He furrowed his brow. “Has anyone come by to repair the building, yet?”

Sister Paula sighed. “No, there are other priorities, I’m afraid. It’s only been a few days, after all.”

Zack pressed his lips together. The Sister was right. Despite everything he’d done since then, it really had only been a couple days since the emergency.

And this part of the city was in poor condition, anyway.

“Speaking of which, could I ask a favor of your Sienna, Mister Jack?” Sister Paula asked, looking back and forth between the Adventurer and the Snake.

“What is it?” Zack raised his eyebrows.

“I suspect rats have gotten inside the orphanage. Normal rats, not monsters,” Sister Paula hurried to clarify. “It would help if your Sienna could hunt them down, inside the walls.”

Sienna’s lifted her head abruptly, her interest piqued.

More hunting? Saa, more hunting!

“Are you sure you’re okay with the noise?” Zack asked.

Sienna paused, seeming to reconsider.

“The inside should be much quieter, especially if Roxy stays outside. And the weather is so nice today, why don’t we have our discussion out here? Sienna can handle the inside.”

Many hiding spots inside. Sienna seemed to be okay with the plan.

So it was decided. Roxy drew the children away for a moment, and Zack brought Sienna up to the damaged building. She slithered into a hole in the wall and immediately Zack could hear the scratching of rat claws as the invaders scrambled to escape their hunter.

“Henrietta,” Sister Paula called softly. “Mister Jack is here. Would you bring two chairs outside for the discussion?”

“Yes, Sister,” a young girl called back with a voice like a chime, and Sister Paula moved to grab two chairs as well.

“Please, let me,” Zack said.

“Thank you,” the Sister smiled at him, but in the end she and Henrietta both carried a chair each out to a corner of the yard, where Roxy was drawing a line in the dirt around a corner of the fenced area.

“Okay, everyone, it’s grown up talk time! Unless you’re a grown up, you have to stay on that side of the line!”

“Okay, Sister Roxy!”

“Tag, you’re it!”

“Look, I’m a snake! Hiss hiss! Wiggle wiggle!”

The children continued to play, but they did stay on the children’s side of Roxy’s line.

Zack set down chairs for himself and Roxy, and then Sister Paula arrived with her own chair, and lastly, Henrietta. She was a slender young girl approximately aged twelve or thirteen with bright blond hair, pale blue eyes, and notably long fingers. She struggled with the chair, arms visibly straining, and set it down with a hefty sigh.

They all took their seats, Roxy and Sister Paula facing the orphanage and the children, while Henrietta and Zack faced outward.

“So, Mister Jack,” Sister Paula began. “Roxy told me you have some business for not just Henrietta and I, but possibly the whole orphanage?” She kept her face mostly neutral, but a small amount of skepticism was visible.

Zack nodded.

“That’s right, although for now it’s just an idea. I’d like to get your feedback on how viable it is.”

Sister Paula nodded. “Go on.”

“Fundamentally, it’s the same as the Rose Theater’s posters,” Zack began. “The Guild—the Adventurer’s Guild—actually, are you familiar with the Adventurer’s Guild?”

Sister Paula glanced at Roxy, then turned back to Zack and shook her head. “Not particularly. I understand they leave the safety of the city to fight monsters, and are paid to do so. But I’ve never been outside the city, myself.”

That gave Zack pause. But he compartmentalized.

“So you’re not familiar with the request system?”

“No.”

“Okay, so the way it works is that requests are made. For example, I know an apothecary who requested the collection of a certain plant: Belladonna primitiva. The way it’s supposed to work is that she makes the request, the request is put up on the request board—”

“I’m sorry,” Sister Paula interrupted. “The what?”

Henrietta, and even Roxy, also looked confused.

“They write down the request on a piece of paper, and pin it to a board on the wall. That’s the request board.”

Henrietta frowned, but Roxy made an expression like she understood something.

“Uh, Jack…” Roxy began, but stopped when Sister Paula spoke.

“Jack, the children here are too young to become adventurers.” She gave him a stern look.

“Hang on, let me finish explaining. My point was that the request system isn’t working. The apothecary I mentioned wasn’t getting anyone to take her request and collect the plants she needed. I looked at the request, and I think I know why.”

Zack leaned in, and only after checking with his [Private Conversation] skill, asked a very important question.

“Can most people not read?”

Henrietta blinked.

Roxy glanced at Zack.

Sister Paula simply nodded. “Of course. It takes a long time to learn to read, and for most, it’s not necessary.”

Zack leaned back in his chair. “I thought so.”

Sister Paula frowned at him, but Roxy interjected. “Uh, you see, Jack is…”

But Zack answered for himself. “I’m from a place where most people can read,” he said, and left it at that. Sister Paula’s skepticism grew just a little more, and then it plateaued. Jack was, after all, the Adventurer who had saved the orphanage several days ago.

“I see,” she said evenly.

Henrietta just sat, looking more and more confused.

“Now, for plant gathering,” Zack continued, “an adventurer has to be able to identify the requested plant, harvest it correctly, and bring it back in good condition. And every plant to be collected is different, and this is the important part: none of the requests I saw posted on the board even had any of this information written down, and none of the requests had any drawings of the plants to help identify them.”

Henrietta’s eyes widened, and she sat up straight.

Sister Paula remained skeptical, however. “So you want us to illustrate the requests?” she asked.

“Not quite. I want to make and rent out information cards.”

None of the three women sitting with him understood exactly what he meant.

“But first, I don’t understand enough about the orphanage and how it works. What the children can do, and how they fit into society here in Fortinium. I don’t even really understand much about the posters for the Theater, other than that the Troupe pays to have posters copied and put up around town.”

Roxy shot Sister Paula a glance, and the Sister nodded.

“Very well, I can explain.”