Isekai-eh Chapter-39 (Patreon)

Jed’s choice to respond to Ignias’ challenge didn’t endear him to the man.

Not that Jed cared, but it did draw a fair amount of attention as Jate made his way over. “What appears to be the problem, my good gentlefolk?”

“This man has been cheating me and my fiance for the last hour, ensuring his partner claimed the prize. I demand a chance to cleanse my honor,” Ignias proclaimed for the entire deck.

Jed scoffed. Not only had he lied about the cheating, he hadn’t even gotten the time right. They’d been playing for twenty minutes, at most.

“Sir, I’m afraid that is not-”

“What’s that entail?” Jed asked, a smile still tugging at his lips. How could it not. This felt just so… absurd. After everything he’d gone through since plummeting out of an airplane, this somehow seemed the least believable to him.

“A duel. Your shot against mine,” Ignias said, hand on his hip.

“At high noon?” Jed asked, no longer able to hold back the smile. “So the sun can’t get in our eyes?”

Ignias narrowed his eyes. “The sun never gets in one’s eyes. What are you playing at?”

“Just a saying,” Jed said, managing to keep a straight face. He’d messed that one up.

Ignias glanced at Gwen, as if looking for the trap.

“Hey, if my partner wants to help you lose a few pounds between the ears, I’m not gonna stop him,” Gwen said, shaking her head, hands folded behind her head. “Not when you started this.”

The thought of having to kill the man sobered Jed somewhat.

“I am not some amateur,” the man said, reaching to his waist, the revolver practically springing into his hand faster than Jed could follow.

“Ah, that’s the trick,” he said, gaze shifting to Adella.

She offered him another cold smile, swirling the contents of her own glass gently.

“I’m afraid that, as a resident of Hex six-oh-six, not to mention, an employee of the Queen’s Gambit, the good fellow Jed is exempt from the dueling rules of Hex six-twelve,” Jate interjected, stepping forward. “As such, he is not obliged to give your challenge satisfaction, sir Finch. You have been reminded repeatedly that other hexes do not settle matters of honor with duels to the death.”

“‘Sides, I was the one cheating,” Gwen said, plopping her feet on the table.

The declaration made Jate’s mustache twitch, turning to eye Gwen.

“And I accept your duel. High noon, like my partner said,” Gwen said, smile wide.

“I will not have my honor stained by harming a woman,” Ignias said.

“Wow. Sexist and a coward,” Jed said, chuckling. “That’s okay. I’ll duel your fiance too. Keep it nice and even.”

For the first time since she sat down, Jed thought he caught a flash of genuine alarm on Adella’s face. Then it was gone. “I am afraid I’m not a woman who has practiced such arts.”

It was said with disdain, though her eyes flicked to Gwen only to stay there as Gwen met her gaze, smile only growing.

“This is madness,” Ignias said, though he didn’t bother clarifying which part.

“So, you don’t have what it takes to face me,” Gwen said, taking her feet off the table and reaching for the silver. “Guess it’s time for me to take this.”

“Ahem,” Jate said, frowning. “As you have admitted to cheating, I’m afraid the silver belongs to the other players. As Jed is clearly your partner, house rules dictate he be excluded.”

“Wow. Cheating us out of our money and our duel,” Gwen said, eyes locked on Ignias. “Guess that honor of yours isn’t worth the silver its printed on.”

“Very well, you harlot,” Ignias spat, tugging at something in his jacket. It took him three solid tugs to pull a finely decorated handkerchief free. Then he smacked it down on the table… and waited.

“Sir Ignias is waiting for you to place a token of your own on the table, to be held by a representative,” Jate explained, his expression one of deep regret, which made Jed feel a little bad about the altercation.

Only a little though.

It was obvious this was a game these two had played before and Jate hadn’t kicked them off or stopped them. Maybe not on the pleasure wheeler itself, but it had surely happened. He doubted Ignias intended to lose his temper. It was Adella who seemed to be holding the reins.

A pair of yellow lensed goggles landed on the table. “Those good?”

Jate’s gaze flicked to her hat before shifting to the goggles. “Those will serve, Hunter Gwen.”

“Hunter Gwen?” Ignias responded, sizing Gwen up all over again. “It seems I was mistaken. My apologies hunter. I look forward to cleansing my honor. We shall settle this in the morn.”

“We shall not be making port for another two days, and you’ll not be dueling on the deck,” Jate said, glaring at the larger man.

“Of course. Then two days hence,” Ignias said, giving Gwen a nod before turning and striding away.

“So… he’s only sexist to women who aren’t hunters?” Jed asked Adella as she stood.

She hesitated, looking between them, eyes narrowed. “Well played, Hunters. But the game is not over.”

“She does know I have literal superhuman reflexes, right?” Gwen asked as they watched the pair retreat.

“I doubt she intends to fight fair,” Jed said, pushing to his feet, only then realizing Ignias and Adella had left the silver. “Jate, how many have they killed so far?”

“If I could prove it, I would have exiled them from the ship,” the man said, twirling his mustache. “Yet they have challenged nearly a dozen passengers. Only three before you have accepted.”

“Huh, that… makes me wonder what the real game is here,” Jed said, eyes drifting to the silver. “Can we say they left the silver as a tip?”

“That is an interpretation of events all in attendance would agree with,” Jate said, nodding to the attendant who’d been hanging back near one of the mini-bar carts. The man nodded, stepping forward with a smile as he collected the small pile of silver.

With that settled, Jed turned to Gwen. “Now. I believe there was a dance you were going to show me?”

…Isekai-eh…

The next two days were relatively peaceful as they practiced their skills, both warp-based in the privacy of their cabin, and more mundane, in the fighting ring with Ethward and Cathon.

Amusingly, Gwen didn’t once practice her draw.

Ignias and Adella didn’t speak to them, though Ignias nodded to Gwen whenever they passed.

It turned out that Jed wasn’t nearly as clumsy at dancing as he’d first thought. All he had to do was think of it like grizzly wrestling, except instead of avoiding his partner, he was supporting them.

Not that any of the moves matched, nor was his strength high enough to pull off the advanced moves they’d witnessed Ethward and Cathon perform their first night there.

The twirls were fun though, and they took surprisingly little practice.

Despite their more intimate relationship, or perhaps because of it, it was surprisingly easy to wait for the Lover’s Embrace to be brewed. Mythlyn was good about pretending she didn’t see anything. Jed doubted she was wandering the hallways. Plus she always showed up shortly after they were finished to take her place at his side, so… yeah.

Still, she didn’t complain, and he knew her well enough to know that if something was bothering her, she’d let him know. So he let it lie.

The day of the planned duel started with the sound of rain pelting the window of their cabin. Rolling to his side, Jed confirmed it was darker than the heart of his highschool girlfriend before settling back. “Think duels get canceled on account of rain?”

“They better not. Looking forward to improving that arsehole’s face,” Gwen said, kissing his cheek before climbing over him and Mythlyn, heading to the bathroom.

“He’s really not that ugly,” Jed said, chuckling as he watched her go.

“And yet he’ll look better without it,” Gwen shot back from behind the half-closed door.

A short time later, they found themselves under the covered portion of the pleasure wheeler’s deck, looking out at the rain-dappled water as they ate breakfast with Ethward and Cathon.

“Never had the nerve to sit at our table,” Ethward said, nodding across the open deck to where Ignias and Adella were partaking of their own breakfast. “Probably cause they saw us dancing first night they came aboard. Knew we were Hunters.”

“I threatened to disembowel him if he got close to you,” Cathon said before popping a grape into his mouth, smiling at Ethward. “With my fingers.”

“Or… it could be because my lover is a bit overprotective,” Ethward said, chuckling while shaking his head. “And we talked about this. You can’t disembowel people for talking to me.”

“Can too,” Cathon said, smiling wide as he turned away to look out over the water. “Just have to time it right, is all.”

“Shouldn’t. You shouldn’t disembowel people you don’t like talking to me,” Ethward clarified, glancing towards Jed who simply held his hands up.

“I don’t know,” Gwen said, chuckling as she grabbed a grape of her own. “Doesn’t seem like such a bad policy, especially if they’re like those two.”

“Plenty of people who just want a friendly game of cards,” Jed said, shaking his head. “First impressions can be wrong.”

“Which is why you shouldn’t disembowel people just for talking to me,” Ethward repeated, taking Cathon’s hand.

“I haven’t disembowled anyone for years anyway,” Cathon said, patting Ethward’s hand. “Too messy. If I meant him harm, I’d just stab him through the heart. Neat, simple and less noise. No warning either.”

“This would be so much more amusing if I didn’t know you meant that,” Ethward said, shaking his head slightly as he sat back.

“Straight through the heart would be both challenging and risky, assuming he is using only his fingers and not the dagger on his hip. I wonder if his mutation somehow increases his motor control beyond a typical Hunter’s.”

Gwen snorted, putting a fruit she’d grabbed back on the table as she started laughing, leaning forward.

“You ready for your duel? Ignias might be a hothead but I’ve seen him perform. Useless in a real fight, but dangerous in this sort of duel,” Ethward asked Gwen once she’d calmed down.

“I could kill him for you, before the duel,” Cathon offered, popping another of the grape-like fruit into his mouth. “It would sadden me if you died.”

“Normally I’d say you shouldn’t offer things like that,” Ethward said, sitting back. “But this time…”

“You think Gwen’s in real danger?” Jed asked, setting the melon he’d been eating back on the table, his appetite suddenly gone.

“Hard to say. Seen you two fight, and she’s fast…” Ethward said, glancing away.

“But Ignias has done this for a long time,” Cathon said, frowning. “It is a dangerous sport and he is still alive.”

“Don’t suppose there’s a way to use the fighting ring’s enchantment to make sure they both survive?” Jed asked, looking towards the middle of the pleasure wheeler.

“Wouldn’t know where to start. You’d have to ask the Brewer,” Ethward said, passing a fruit to Cathon that the other man squinted at before taking and eating.

“Don’t you trust me, partner?” Gwen asked, hand on her hip.

“I have no doubt he’s going to be laying in the street dying less than a minute after you start,” Jed said, taking her hand. “I’d just rather not see you laying there alongside him. Especially if Adella finds a way to cheat.”

“Guess I can live with that,” Gwen said, squeezing his hand.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go talk to the Brewer,” Jed said, pushing to his feet.

He found the man exactly where he always did, working in the room full of glass tubes.

“Ah. Jed, good to see you. I’m afraid your Lover’s Embrace still has a few days left on it. A bit more energy involved than is usual, but nothing I can’t handle,” the man said, pulling at the end of his fine mustache.

“No. Not here for that,” Jed said, leaning against the wall just inside the door, afraid to touch anything. “Ethward says you’re responsible for the fighting ring’s healing effect.”

“Ah yes. A rather tricky effect, though one I am quite proud of,” the man said.

“Is there any way to replicate it outside the ring?”

“That would be quite impossible,” the man said. “Well. Not impossible. One could build a similar construct, I suppose. However, the fine control over both ingredients and arena are key.”

“And that’s not the sort of thing that could be thrown together in a couple hours, eh?” Jed asked, tapping his foot against the smooth floor.

“Hardly. It took me nearly a year to craft the Gambit’s fighting ring,” the man said even as he pulled a book out from behind a sliding counter door. “Here, see for yourself.”

Jed did so, looking over the design. It was…

He blinked, flipping between the pages, expression blank as he flipped back to the beginning. “You… So, it creates a temporary warp anchor within the recipients, then uses the ring to target specific organs, controlling the replenishment rate. And since their warp energies are still… yeah, we could do this.”

“It would hardly be simple, though I would once have said it would be impossible to escape the station.”

“Know a bit of warp alchemy yourself, do you?” the Brewer asked, leaning over the book.

“Not exactly,” Jed said, smiling at the man. “But this doesn’t use much alchemy, does it? More positioning, formations and math.”

“No, I suppose not,” the brewer admitted. “So, you believe this will help with Hunter Gwen’s duel with Ignias Finch?”

“Heard about that, huh?”

“It is not a big ship,” the Brewer said, smiling as he pulled a few sheets of paper from the shelf. “I believe this storm will delay our arrival until this evening. As I understand the terms, that means the duel will likewise be delayed. Perhaps I can prove to be of assistance after all.”

“That’d be great. Just let me tell Gwen, eh?”

“Of course.”

After running out to talk to Gwen, then confirming with Jate that the rain would indeed delay their arrival, Jed retreated with the Brewer. He left Mythlyn’s revolver with Gwen, the two of them working on some plan of their own.

The day went by quickly as Jed worked with the Brewer to understand his designs, making notes about what he’d do to make his own.

They made landfall under dark skies, the rain only letting up shortly after Tersue’s Eye had drawn closed. The golden gangplank went out, but the stalls stayed stowed, waiting for better weather.

“It’s like this sometimes,” Jate said as several of the attendants made their way ashore. Jed stood next to him, just out of the light drizzle that refused to entirely let up, Mythlyn once again back at his hip. “Weather forcing us to bunker down. If you keep an eye on the ring, you’ll pick out the patterns. This one’ll last a day or so, you’ll see.”

Nodding, Jed took the man at his word. He figured it’d be easier to predict weather on a world where the weather was always moving the same direction, over the same terrain. Easier, though not certain, since the warp could and did mess things up every so often. Not to mention the dimming of the station, which would be coming in two days, if his calculations were right.

Once the attendants were clear, Jed bid farewell to Jate, setting off into the drizzle, glad for his duster and hat both. They made the weather almost pleasant, other than the occasional gust of damp cold across his cheeks. As the challenged, Gwen had the right to pick the location of the duel. And while her status as ‘the challenged’ might’ve been a little dubious in Jed’s opinion, Ignias had agreed, mostly so he could ensure he’d get to pick the weapon.

And then the fool had chosen revolvers.

To Jed’s surprise, there was an official dueling ground down the beach from where they’d landed. It was little more than a stretch of mostly level sand. According to the dockworker who’d directed him this way, it gave each of the duelists a clear view of the ring on either side. So they could know their spirits would be brought back into the cycle. Given the overcast sky, Jed would have to take the man’s word for it.

Either way, it didn’t matter. Their job for the night was to clean up the area so the modified device he was working on with the Brewer would work.

The man had kindly given Jed permission to borrow the portable components of his fighting ring, curious to see if what Jed wanted to pull off was even possible. Jed was around ninety percent sure it’d work, but they were there to raise that number high as they could.

He remained silent as Mythlyn worked. While he could detect the imbalances, his ability to smooth out the warp energies was still more feeble than a new-born kitten. And not even a mountain lion kitten, one of those regular kittens his highschool girlfriend had always sent him pictures of.

It only took Mythlyn an hour to clear up the energies. Once she was done, they made their way back to the ship, though not before Jed stopped off to grab a gift for Gwen.

The next day came in with only a few hints of cloud in the nearby sky, though Jed could see a storm coming from the direction of Vaskerville.

He hoped it wasn’t an omen.