Chapter 61: Making a Quick Call (Patreon)

“I’m telling you, that guy seemed shady,” I said to the others once the door was closed.

We’d stepped onto floor 95, which started us off in a small underground room made of stone. The silver and gold elevators were to our right and there was a single door in front of us that likely led to some kind of trap or monster.

Elise gave me a funny look. “Are you just saying that because he’s a lizardman?”

Hugo gasped. “Is this true, Lucas? Are you a racist? Because if so, I may have to rethink our partnership.”

I grinned at him. “Oh yeah? Well going forward, if you want to sleep out in the woods on floor 98, then have it your way. You do what you’ve got to do.”

“On second thought. We shouldn’t rush to judgement guys,” added Hugo hastily. “Let’s hear him out.”

“It’s just little things,” I said. “Like sure, a lot of people on floor 98 aren’t going to have much money, but there’s a much larger customer base there. Second, I don’t get what the currency means to the merchants. It’s hard to imagine them sending these coins home to their families. But the main reason is that I get a weird vibe from him. I think I’ll use the merchant terminal to ask the others what they think, provided the terminal works, that is.”

Elise’s face hardened and she clenched her fist. “What do you mean, if? That bipedal gecko took all my money, which means I can’t buy anymore health potions besides what I’ve got stored. If he scammed us, then we’ll have to come back down here for a refund.”

“We’ll just ask for the money back though, right?” asked Hemi, sounding concerned.

Elise and I shared a knowing look. We were both on the same page about chopping Raimon up into tiny pieces if he refused.

“Sometimes actions speak louder than words,” I said vaguely as I approached the elevator.

“So we’re going back up to the apartments?” asked Hugo.

“Yep,” I said. “Using the silver elevator here is like saving our progress in a game. We’ll come right back down once we’ve tested the terminal.”

Hugo and Hemi weren’t too sure about returning instead of clearing the next floor, but both of them were curious about what their money had bought. Meanwhile, Elise was practically bouncing on the elevator ride up. Previously, she’d only heard rumors about what the residential apartments were like and now that she was a cardholder, her imagination was running wild.

As soon as the elevator's doors opened to floor 100, she ran out and asked, “which one was Earnest’s?”

I pointed, and she nodded. “If I’m going to take his card, then I might as well take his place too,” she said before going inside.

“Wow, I guess she really wanted one of those cards,” said Hemi.

“Come on,” I said. “We can check out the terminal while she gets situated.”

The three of us made it down the hallway and reached my broken door, when Elise stepped out of the apartment frowning.

“I’ve changed my mind,” she said. “Is it cool if I choose a different apartment?”

“Take whichever one you want,” I responded.

“It’s just the whole place smells like him. Plus there are pictures of him and his kids everywhere. It would just feel weird to stay there,” she said as she tried the apartment door across from mine.

“I think all of the apartments have pictures of their families inside,” said Hemi.

“Yeah, but these other ones would be strangers. I can just pretend they’re stock photos,” she said before heading inside.

I shrugged. You do you, I guess.

Hugo frowned at our broken door. “Are we ever going to fix this door? What will people think if we have company over?”

“Great,” said Hemi sarcastically. “I carry you for five minutes and suddenly I’m no longer company.”

“I’m sorry for my companion’s rudeness,” I told Hemi. “He was raised by magpies and pigeons.”

Hugo flapped his wings without leaving Hemi’s hand and snapped at the air with his beak. “You take that back!”

“And Hugo,” I said softly. “All the handymen in the world are currently tied up with the apocalypse right now. Once that’s been dealt with, calling to get the door repaired will be my first priority.”

“He’s being facetious,” said Hugo to Hemi. “But people will start talking if we let this place become a mess.”

I let Hemi jump in and deal with the bird while I searched for the terminal. It turns out I didn’t have to look far. What had once been a small looking television had now become a screen that had been implanted into the wall next to the payphone.

I pressed my hand against it and a message appeared in front of my eyes like any other System communication.

[Merchant Terminal Activated]

[Loading current Merchant directory]

[Merchants available for contact: Andreas the tailor, Geminy the tavern owner, Raimon the wandering peddler]

Curious, I selected Andreas to see what would happen. A rectangular pane instantly popped up and hovered in front of my eyes with a picture of Andreas on it.

“Hold for one moment,” said Andreas. “I’m with another customer.”

Huh, this thing’s got video conferencing. I wonder what happens if I take my hand away from the screen?

I did just that, but the call remained. I guess as long as I don’t leave this floor, the connection should be maintained. I sat down on the couch and waited while Hugo and Hemi had gone into the kitchen to grab what Hugo called ‘essential snacks.’

The still image of Andreas changed to a live video feed of his head and upper body. He appeared to be sitting down in the back room of his clothing store and I assumed he was getting a similar view of me on his end too.

“Interesting,” said Andreas stroking his beard. “I never thought I’d see someone acquire a terminal so fast.”

“I guess I got lucky. I met a merchant by the name of Raimon on the stairs who sold me one. Do you know anything about him?”

Andreas thought about it and frowned. “Hmm, not that I can recall. That’s not unusual though. There are a lot of merchants who’ve worked during past System integrations. We get shuffled around to different towers or dungeons all the time. There’s probably Merchants I know who are on your planet right now in a different tower. Little unusual for one of them to be on the stairs though. Is that why you called?”

“Actually, I was hoping to see about getting some more replacement clothes of the same type as before.”

“Sure, send over the funds and there’ll be here for you to collect.”

Truthfully, I just wanted to test out the terminal system and make sure that it worked, but while I had Andreas, I figured I might as well press my luck. “I’m uh, not very liquid at the moment. Any chance I could get them first and pay you back later?”

Andreas shook his head. “Sorry, the System doesn’t allow us to loan out items for free. You should steer clear of this floor for a while anyway. Things are getting crazy out here.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are angry mobs roaming the streets over something. I’m not sure what it’s about since I’ve been keeping myself out of the way. You should talk to Geminy if you want to know more. As one of the few people serving alcohol in town, she hears all kinds of secrets. I guarantee she’ll know more about this.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that.”

I mentally thought to end the call and the video screen with Andreas on was dismissed. Next, I tried calling Geminy who picked up right away. She appeared to be in a kitchen wearing some kind of apron and cleaning glasses.

At first, she frowned at the sight of me, and then her eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh hey, you’re the guy that dove through my bedroom window.”

I nodded. “That’s me. The merchant Andreas told me I should contact you. He says you might have information about something that’s happening in the town right now.”

Geminy nervously glanced around and then lowered her voice. “I’m only telling you this because as merchants, we like there to be a certain equilibrium where the majority of residents focus on killing monsters and clearing floors instead of fighting with one another. A resident named Martin has gotten his followers to start harassing people into joining his party. Those who refuse are threatened and I’ve even seen a couple of people get surrounded and then carried out of town. They’re banishing people who don’t comply.”

“That’s awful,” I said. “But maybe some of those people are better off. This way, they can now focus on killing monsters and clearing floors.”

She shook her head. “You don’t get it. Floor 98 is a foundational floor, and the town is at the center of it. There are quests that can only be started or concluded in town, not to mention the resources us merchants provide that Martin is cutting off from people.”

I grimaced. She had a point, but I wasn’t sure what I could be reasonably expected to do about it.

“There’s something else too,” she said. “Apparently, they captured someone important to them. I heard Anders’s men say that they’re going to put him on trial and execute him. They said his name was Damian something or other. Do you know him?”