Secret Agent Chapter 090 - Initial Pitch (Patreon)

“N-no, that’s alright, Jack, I can see myself home. No, really, it’s fine! I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Zack Adder was slightly suspicious at Roxy’s insistence that she didn’t need an escort home.

After all that?

After her declaration she was going to keep trying to get with him?

It was Sister Paula who put him at ease.

“Jack, Roxy has been walking to and from this orphanage for years. She’ll be fine.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

Thankfully Roxy had already agreed to come once more to walk with him and Henrietta to Kathy’s apothecary to sketch the last of the plants that Kathy usually requested from the Adventurer’s Guild.

And although she tried to scurry away while Zack watched with narrow eyes, each of the orphanage’s children wanted to personally say goodbye to her, and several of them got back in line to say goodbye again, dragging things out even longer. And Roxy couldn’t bring herself to just ditch the kids and go without a proper goodbye.

Sister Paula hid a giggle behind her hand.

And some ten minutes later, Roxy made her way out the gate and power-walked off into the dusk.

She was in such a hurry she even neglected to sashay in that exaggerated way she did when she thought Jack was looking.

But, Zack buried his suspicions.

He had other things to worry about.

Henrietta was set with her art work, although they were rapidly running out of paper. Zack would have to bring more in the morning, probably another two large sheets worth, to cover both the cards they were going to make and the paper they were using for teaching the children to read.

“Well, I’m off, Sister Paula.”

“Noooo!” cried the children.

“We have to say goodbye!”

“To your date with Cori?” Sister Paula asked with a grin.

She was clearly stirring the pot.

Did the Sister have a mischievous side?

“Ooooh!”

“Mister Jack’s going on a date!”

“Mister Jack’s cheating on Sister Roxy!”

“Mister Jack when are you going to bring Misses Snake back?”

“Mister Jack you didn’t look! Look how far I can jump!”

Zack sighed heavily, and Sister Paula chuckled.

“Actually, to the Guild, first.”

“And then?”

“And then I’m meeting with Cori, to discuss business.”

Sister Paula’s grin fell, and she blinked in surprise.

“Oh, business?”

“Yes, business,” Zack insisted.

Sister Paula put a hand to her cheek and sighed.

“Well, may the Goddess grant you luck with your business, then, Mister Jack.”

Sister Paula clasped her hands together and dipped her head for a moment in prayer.

Several of the children mimicked her behavior, as well.

“Thank you, Sister.”

And so Zack, too, was forced to say goodbye to all the children, several of them more than once, and later than he would have liked he made his way out the orphanage gate and towards the Adventurer’s Guild, with the fifteen completed information cards and several laminated test strips in his pocket.

By now, his [Intimidation] was nearly subconscious, and he was able to make his way through the slums entirely unmolested and without challenge. Once he left the slums and he felt the danger had lessened, he shifted to a jog and made his way through the streets.

The Adventurer’s Guild was busy when he arrived. Several parties had arrived and were waiting more or less patiently to use the maintenance tools on their weapons, and most had pockets bulging with thurgenrat tails.

Inside, the butchering tables were occupied with several monster carcasses Zack had never seen before. One was obvious: a bird with black feathers that appeared to be dripping shadow onto the floor, where they coalesced as far as where direct light from the light crystals fell: at that point, they evaporated into nothingness. It was large, the size of a bald eagle, and jet-black talons didn’t glint in the light: they were a matte black that would blend perfectly into the night.

That had to be a shadowshrike.

The rest Zack couldn’t begin to guess what they were. They were already disassembled to the point that they were just piles of bones and organs and flesh and gore, but whatever magic held the smell at bay was working perfectly, and the adventurers crowded around the tables and the food service window were certainly not put off their early supper and after-work drinks.

And there was a line for the receptionist windows.

But, every window was staffed, and the line was moving quickly. Zack wasn’t worried about missing his date.

His not-date!

It was definitely not a date.

It was an appointment.

Right, that was it.

The line moved while he confirmed to himself what exactly his evening plans were, and it was Belinda with her resting smirk-face that greeted him.

“Welcome back, o brave Adventurer, from your quests… Ah, Jack. How can I help you this evening?”

Despite the glimmer in her eye, her tone and words were perfectly professional.

“Hi Belinda, I came up with something, and I wanted to see if the Guild was interested…”

Zack pulled out the info cards, and spread them out on the counter.

“Oh, and what are these?”

Belinda picked one up to look at the drawings, but was instantly distracted by the feeling of the laminate. She picked up a Spotted Blue Button card and bent it gently in her hands, testing the flexibility.

“These are cards meant to aid in gathering requests.” Zack pointed with one hand across his chest towards the request board, though it was blocked by another line of adventurers waiting to turn in the requests. “I noticed a lot of plant gathering requests, and I heard from an apothecary that they weren’t getting completed. I figured something like this could be useful.”

“Useful?” Belinda once more focused on the artwork of the mushroom, then flipped it over to the other side. “Oh!”

On the other side was a stylized depiction of a mushroom under a tree, where it was most likely found, and other drawings indicating how to collect and transport the mushrooms. The visual language was exceedingly clear, and the written directions were short and to the point.

Belinda looked from the card in her hand to the fourteen other cards spread out before her.

“Would the Guild be open to renting these out to Adventurers taking gathering requests?”

“Hmm…” Belinda picked up two of the other cards, for Belladonna primitiva and Pilgrim’s Balm leaf, and looked them over as well. “Renting them out, huh?”

“Yes.”

Belinda neatly stacked the three cards in her hands, tapping their edges against the countertop to align them… or tried to. The lamination wasn’t perfect, so they weren’t perfectly sized. Zack made a quick note to himself that he might need to get them trimmed to uniform size after laminating, probably at Ed’s stationary shop.

“Hmm…” Belinda pondered the cards. “This isn’t something I can decide on my own, I’m afraid.”

“Would it be possible to meet with someone who can represent the Guild to discuss, then?”

“Yes, of course. May I borrow these to show Rosa? I’ll ensure they’re returned to you later.”

“Of course.”

With great care, Belinda pulled out a flat wooden box lined with what appeared to be velvet, and gently laid the three cards inside. Zack interrupted her before she closed the box.

“Here. The cards are supposed to be tear and water-resistant, but if you want to test them, here’s a test strip I had made.”

“Ah, thank you. And we can perform tests on this?”

“Yes, go ahead. It’s disposable. Really, the cards are designed to be replaceable.” Zack tapped the other cards spread out on the counter. “My artist and I can make copies as needed.”

“Hmm…” Belinda pulled out a fresh piece of paper of her own, and a quill and inkpot. “Would you mind describing what your intentions are for the Guild and how these… cards will be used?”

“Sure.” Zack explained, and Belinda took thorough notes. Her handwriting was quick and neat, easily legible even upside-down, from Zack’s perspective. When he was done, Belinda wrote a few notes of her own to finish off the report, and set the paper aside to dry a moment.

“Jack.” She looked up at him with the most serious expression he had seen her make yet. “You do realize that this is going to make it easier for other adventurers to gather plants in the forest, right?”

Zack nodded. “Yes.”

She frowned, quirking one of the sides of her mouth down. “You’d make a lot more money, and contribution points, just fulfilling the requests yourself. Not to mention, if more adventurers start gathering, you’ll have to go deeper into the forest to find these plants, yourself…”

“Well, I consider myself more of an actor than an adventurer,” Zack said. Belinda blinked at him, confused. “I work at the Rose Theater. It’s closed this week, but it’ll reopen in a few days, so I won’t have time to go out into the forest gathering. I’d rather just profit off renting out these cards, than go myself. Plus, it’ll help out the apothecaries…”

Belinda squinted at him now, closely scrutinizing his expression.

“You’re sure? You’re really, really sure?”

“Yes.”

Belinda held his gaze for a moment longer, then her usual smirk returned. “Well, alright then. You can’t say I didn’t warn you. If you’re returning to work at the Theater, when is a good time for you to come in and discuss these with a Guild Representative?”

“The morning. Usually work starts at the Theater around noon.”

“Is early morning okay?”

“Yes, that should be fine.”

Zack would have to give Sister Paula a heads up on the day of the meeting, that he wouldn’t make it for [Reading] lessons, but that should be alright.

“Okay then, I’ll take this to Rosa to look at. When do you expect to come to the Guild, next?”

“Tomorrow, probably. I figured I’d go hunting again.”

“And you still have the clearsteel case, right?”

Zack winced slightly. “Yes.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. You can hold onto it as long as you like, just don’t sell it off or anything. If you’re going hunting with your [Familiar] tomorrow, I would ask that you bring the case with you so that, if there’s an opportunity for a short-notice meeting, you have somewhere safe to keep your [Familiar] during the discussions.”

“Ah, of course. I’ll do that.”

Belinda smirked… grinned a little wider. “Excellent. Farewell, brave Adventurer, on your… business ventures.”

“Thanks.”

Zack collected his cards and tucked them safely into his pocket.

Even though he was wearing his leather armor, and he was armed with his knife and sling and his bag of ammunition (rocks), he hadn’t done anything more strenuous than a light jog, so he felt no need to change or go wash up back at Vlad’s apartment. And either his discussion with Belinda had taken longer than he had thought, or he had lost more time at the orphanage, but the sun had well and truly set by the time he stepped outside again.

It was time to go to Finney’s.

Finney’s restaurant was the restaurant just down the street from the Rose Theater where Zack had once joined the Troupe in an after-party. There, the biggest supporters of the Theater had paid for the Troupe’s food and drink and in exchange they had had the opportunity to rub elbows with the actors, actresses, and even the stagehands that had made the performances possible.

Zack could only assume that Cori had recommended that particular restaurant because she either knew, or assumed herself, that Zack would be familiar with it.

He intended to be cautious with her, given that he had so much to hide about himself, but if he could develop an information-sharing relationship with her…

Well, that would help out a lot.

So it was with some hope that he arrived at the restaurant. He walked inside and saw Cori sitting at the bar, her blue hair instantly noticeable even in the somewhat dim interior lighting.

Out of habit, he scanned the rest of the restaurant, and one table stood out in a way that set off his [Paranoia].