RotDG Chapter 68: Underworld Investigation III

There were three different organizations within the city of Albus which had prior connections to the Blood Swords— three groups I could turn to for information regarding Wyll and the Crimson Covenant.

The Nightshade Pact, the Hollow Blades, and the Iron Maw.

I considered each and every option and what Nicky had told me about them in her letter. Immediately, my attention was drawn towards the Nightshade Pact. At first glance, they seemed like the best bet to go for to get what I wanted, since they very likely dealt with Wyll before. After all, they were an illegal weapons trading organization, and he was searching for the Artifacts of Death, so it was within the realms of a very realistic possibility that they had at least at one point in time been in contact with one another.

However, that was also the problem— the Nightshade Pact was only in the business of selling weapons. They did not delve into any information brokering operations. And if they did, their potential clients would not want to work with them, out of fear of being sold out.

Perhaps the Nightshade Pact would be willing to give out such information to their close allies. But even if they were the closest thing to allies of the Blood Swords here in Albus, the Blood Swords were not considered anywhere near close allies to the Nightshade Pact.

That was why I dismissed the idea of approaching them first. 

Meanwhile, the Hollow Blades were mercenaries. I highly doubted that they would be able to offer up much in information, considering it was unlikely for them to have ever crossed paths with Wyll. And even if they did, the chances of them offering up information was unlikely at best.

So that left only the Iron Maw. And I knew they were my best bet at giving me the information I wanted.

Sure, there was hardly any history between the Blood Swords and the Iron Maw. In fact, there was some possibility of bad blood, since my predecessor— Nicholas the Bloodied Blade— had promised them more business opportunities in the future.

However, he suffered an untimely passing by my hands, which brought the relationship between the two groups to an abrupt halt. 

But the Iron Maw was also an organization that dabbled in any and every business venture. Or at least, that was what Nicky. So that should have included trading information. So they would be not only more willing to give me— but also more capable of giving me— what I wanted than either the Nightshade Pact or the Hollow Blades respectively.

So I made my decision as I left my room. I sent another message to Nicky, requesting information on how to contact the Iron Maw. Then I waited at the rooftop of a small chapel-like building away from campus as I summoned Vorth.

It was the roof of a dormitory for [Nuns]. But I was let in, because all of the [Nuns] who resided in this building were Sisters of the Luna Gez Sect. Frida had told me in the past that if I ever needed assistance and she wasn’t available, I could ask to speak with any of the [Nuns] there to give me what I wanted.

And all I wanted right now was privacy as I spoke alone to my summon. I explained the situation to him— what happened with Myrla and Sonia after I had dismissed him the other day— then told him of my current plan of action.

“I will wait before I can summon you again, before I meet up with the Iron Maw for anything,” I said as I stared out into the city of Lux as the night sky hung overhead. “And I will only summon you if things are starting to go south— so I need you to be prepared for anything.”

“Of course, master,” Vorth said as he bowed his head to me. “I will give my life for you again if it is necessary.”

“Thank you, V—” I smiled back at him, almost saying his name, before pausing. 

I looked around the area. While there was ostensibly nobody eavesdropping on our conversation, I couldn’t be too certain. 

Especially not here in Lux. 

“By the way, I’ll have to come up with a different name to call you around others,” I said as I shook my head at the spectral sentinel. “Do you have any suggestions?”

“A few do come to mind,” Vorth said as he placed a hand on his ‘chin’. “For example, I believe calling me your favorite summon would be ideal.”

I gave him a flat stare. He crossed his arms in thought.

“And if that is not to your satisfaction, I believe a name such as ‘the greatest summon of all time’ would be even better.”

“I’m just going to call you V, how about that?” I sighed.

Vorth just pouted in response— even if he didn’t have a face. “Fine.”

I dismissed him for now, so that the cooldown time I had to wait later to summon him again would not be too long for me. And I just waited for my follow-up message from Nicky with all the details to find out how to contact the Iron Maw.

It didn’t take too long for me to receive that message. When I did, I immediately set off, leaving the city state of Lux, navigating through the inner city of Albus to make my way to the outer city to find the Iron Maw.

***

According to Nicky, one of the Iron Maw’s points of contact in Albus for the Blood Swords was going to be found in a rather famous inn located at the outskirts of the outer city. It was called the Golden Gryphon— but the actual place I was looking for was in the basement of the inn.

It was the Gryphon’s Talon. It was supposed to be an illegal and exclusive gambling den that was operated by the Iron Maw. There, I was going to have to ask for a man who went by the name of Marlowe. He was the one who had been responsible for selling those elven drugs to Nicholas, and he was also one of the higher-ups in the Iron Maw.

If anyone was going to be able to help me get the information I wanted, it was going to be him.

When I arrived at the Golden Gryphon, I didn’t immediately enter the establishment. Instead, I scouted around the area as I waited until I was certain I could summon Vorth into battle if the situation arose. 

The inn itself was relatively busy— the main hall had a bar and tavern that was bustling with life. All kinds of folks gathered here, from adventurers to merchants. All just to wind down after such a long day at work for them.

There was music being played by a [Bard], and I could see the silhouette of couples dancing with each other through the window. A drunkard stumbled out of the front door of the inn, before slumping over the side of the entrance. But it didn’t look like he was kicked out— just done for the night.

Even if it was pretty early into the night.

Eventually, my cooldown for my [Spirit Summon] Skill came to an end, and I knew I could call Vorth to my side in an instant again. So I readied myself to make my entrance.

Tonight, I was no longer going to be Velmond’s Blessing— the [Healer] who had cured the Blight and enrolled into the Holy Academy. Instead, tonight I was returning to being the Bloodied Blade.

The leader of the Blood Swords.

So I donned my skull-like mask, covering my white hair with a hooded cloak. I wore a pair of heels to stand taller than I normally was, and to finish my disguise off, I used a speaking stone to mask my voice so it was impossible to tell who I was from my voice either.

I went above and beyond doing what I had to do to hide my identity. After all, there weren’t very many white-haired thirteen-year-old boys wandering the city of Albus who were capable of fending for himself. Especially if I ended up in a predicament where I needed to summon Vorth.

The less anyone knew about me, the better. Even if they thought I was a teenager or a young woman, it didn’t make a difference to me. I was the Bloodied Blade right now, and I simply wanted to separate myself from… myself as much as possible.

Finally, before I headed into the inn, I looked over my Status one last time.

Name: Nox (Eli)

Race: Human

Rank: Silver - Level 33

Class: [Soulfire Healer]

Class Skills: [Greater Holy Fireball], [Lesser Domain Of Light], [Heal], [Holy Fire], [Basic Light Magic Conjuration], [Boon Of Vitality], [Aura Armor Of Light], [Boon Of Strength], [Purifying Touch], [Lesser Poison Resistance]

Titles: [Returning Death God], [Velmond’s Blessing], [The Bloodied Blade]

Title Skills: [Remembrance Of The Fallen], [Death Magic Supremacy], [Basic Blessing Of Life], [Aura Blade]

General Skills: [Spirit Summon: Vorth the Spectral Sentinel], [Elemental Magic Proficiency], [Quick Dash]

Attributes:

[Strength: 100]

[Speed: 100]

[Magic: 616]

[Vitality: 115]

[Dexterity: 115]

Free Points: 0

I was a Level 33 Silver Rank now, after the battle with the mawdrith. Since then, I had distributed all my Free Points mostly equally between my Attributes, although I placed a heavy emphasis on my [Dexterity], just so I could always react quickly if the situation arose.

Of course, there were some situations where I was not going to be able to react in time if my enemy was that much faster than me. That was why I cast both [Aura Armor Of Light], [Boon Of Vitality], and [Basic Blessing Of Life] on myself before I entered the establishment.

They were all Silver Rank Skills— although, [Aura Armor Of Light] was probably equal to a Gold Rank Skill since I was casting it beyond its maximum output to keep myself as safe as possible. And while I couldn’t have used a direct death magic protection spell like [Protection Of Vindication] because it would have left too much of a trace with the death magic mana it left behind, I could have used a blood magic spell like [Sacrificial Blood Barrier] since it was more subtle to fully ensure my safety here in the inn.

Unfortunately, since the Crimson Covenant were known blood magic users, I wasn’t going to take a risk using blood magic around the Iron Maw either. After all, they were loosely allied with the Sapphire Stalkers, making the Crimson Covenant their enemy by association.

Or at least, that was a possibility— I didn’t know for certain. If the Iron Maw were as mercenary as Nicky described them to be, it was possible they wouldn’t care who they were doing business with no matter what.

But I wasn’t going to take that risk.

Instead, I just entered the inn, protected by multiple defensive spells, ready to summon Vorth if things went awry. I approached the [Innkeeper] who was standing at the front desk, just watching the bustling crowd dancing and drinking in the common room.

She was a short older lady— which meant that I was just slightly taller than her with my heels. And she looked up to me with a bright smile as I approached.

“Welcome to the Golden Gryphon, how can I help you?” she asked as she clapped her hands together.

In response, I slid a single gold coin towards her as I said the code word which Nicky had told me about.

“The Gryphon never sleeps.”

Her eyes widened when she heard that, before she quickly pocketed the coin. She straightened and drew back from the counter. 

“Of course, I will show you to the golden room immediately.”

And with that, she led me towards a door behind the counter, before bringing me down a stairwell that descended for dozens and dozens of steps. Until, finally, I arrived at my destination.

Next chapter