Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 531-532

“Is this meant to be an intimidation tactic?” Haley asked as Lillia sat down across from her in the back room of the Devil’s Den.

The dwarf’s two guards stood at her back — though any intimidation factor the three may have had was slightly reduced given that Haley’s head was only barely able to make it over the table. The chair wasn’t quite tall enough for her.

“Why would I need to intimidate you?” Lillia asked, interlacing her fingers and leaning on the table. “We have no reason to be hostile. Do we?”

“There’s blood on your table,” Haley said flatly.

Lillia grimaced. Evidently cleaning hadn’t gone quite as well as she’d hoped. It wasn’t her fault they didn’t have a room to properly dispose of bodies.

Well, technically it is my fault, but I’m not building a torture-room. This is a meeting room that occasionally gets used for slightly more nefarious purposes. If people would stop trying to screw with us, then it would just be a meeting room.

“It’s been used as a butcher room once or twice,” Lillia said. “Space is hard to come by, you know. We’re not exactly living out of a castle.”

“You could have fooled me,” Haley said. “This place is so heavily fortified with magic that it might take a small army of humans to break in. I’d say it’s no less defended than many of the nobles’ villas are. Probably more.”

It took a small force of will for Lillia to keep a grin from crossing her lips. Haley didn’t know the half of it. The vast majority of the Menagerie’s true defenses were completely hidden — unless Uriel was traipsing through the streets again.

“We have a lot of enemies,” Lillia said with a shrug.

“But less than you used to,” Haley observed. The dwarf’s sharp eyes bore into Lillia. “The Iron Hounds. Jessen. A run in with Twelve of the Setting Sun, of all people. One after which he has not been seen.”

“We found that our views differed,” Lillia said with a shrug.

“The Blacktongues’ manor, in flames after a birthday celebration for their new heir. One in which their second heir joined your guild,” Haley continued. “A number of their biggest clients stolen. And we haven’t missed what happened to the Ardent Guild. They were set up to be the strongest force in Milten, but they’ve been completely forced out by a mysterious partnership between the Montibeau family and the Dawnseekers. Both of which have close ties with the Menagerie.”

“Is doing business illegal?” Lillia asked. “Or are you just buttering me up?”

“The Menagerie is a crafting guild,” Haley said. “Except you’ve somehow placed incredibly high in the Proving Grounds, gotten Ranked by the Secret Eye in combat guild lists, and annihilated just about every single group that stood in your way. That includes a rogue dwarf warrior.”

Rogue? Looks like Indrana is twisting the narrative a bit. He was definitely here on her orders. But if they’re not mad at us about it, I don’t really care how she frames things.

“We make do,” Lillia said. “And not all of us are crafters. Is there a direction you’re going with this?”

“No,” Haley said after a moment. “I was simply making an observation. Your guild seems suspiciously strong for such a small group. But in the end, all of that comes to naught. It won’t convince the real big names to sell or buy rare items from your Auction House. Not without some proper backing.”

“Yes, you’ve made that point already,” Lillia said. “And while I’m sure we’d be able to find a solution, we certainly wouldn’t say no to smoothing the process along.”

And more importantly, getting the Dwarven Council invested in this so you’re not one of the groups trying to tear it down. We can’t go up against both the Council and the Adventurer’s Guild. But as greedy as the Council is… if we get them to invest enough into us, they’ll almost certainly stay out of our way unless we start an overt war. That’s the whole point of this plan.

The one thing I’m not sure about is those two dwarves that came after Art’s group. Even though it sounded like Rodrick redirected them, it seems like they were in different armor than Haley’s group.

Were both groups sent by the Council? Or were the others by someone in the Council working toward their own goals? That’s going to make a big difference to how I can approach this, but it’s not like I can just straight up ask. Saying anything will just end up revealing that we had a decoy team and were planning on using the Council for cleanup from the start.

“So?” Haley asked, tilting her head to the side. “You say we both want the same thing. Show me a piece of equipment from the Vault. Everything hinges on that. You say you’ve got it. The only reason you’d make me wait longer is because you’re trying to pull the wool over our eyes. And I don’t suggest that, innkeeper. I don’t suggest that at all.”

“Are you threatening me?” Lillia asked.

“Yes,” Haley replied. “But only if you’re lying. There’s nothing at all to concern you if you’re being honest. So why are you delaying?”

“Because the last dwarf that came by promising he wasn’t looking for too much trouble tried to attack someone on our street,” Lillia said, her eyes narrowed. It wasn’t easy finding reasons to keep Haley waiting. The dwarf wasn’t asking for anything unfair. Getting a look at their newfound loot was a very reasonable request. But given the fact that Lillia didn’t have shit from the dungeon yet, she couldn’t exactly show Haley much of anything. “I’d like to make sure you’re not waiting to backstab us the moment you lay eyes on anything.”

“Are you insinuating that the Council would stoop to such a low level?” Haley asked.

Lillia stared at the dwarf. She knew for a fact that the Council — or at least, someone on it — had stooped to that level. And they’d done it no more than a few hours ago. For Haley to sit here and imply anything else was so ridiculous that she didn’t have a single response to offer up.

Haley cleared her throat as Lillia’s gaze bore into her.

“Perhaps I can understand your misunderstanding,” Haley said. “But please make no mistake. The dwarf that made the mistake of attacking you previously was under Indrana’s direct order. He did not represent the Council as a whole.”

“And how do I know you do?” Lillia asked. “We’re not trying to stir trouble here, but we won’t be pushed around either. You’re asking for a lot of proof without providing any reassurance of your own. You could always wait for the actual auction to start in a few days, you know. The items will be on full display there. There’s no need for you to put your neck on the line if you’re that convinced that we’re trying to trick you.”

Of course, that means you lose access to any ways to influence us to keep some of the choice items off the auction — and you don’t get to invest in the Auction House early, meaning a guild that the Dwarven Council isn’t affiliated with could hypothetically swoop in.

There’s nothing that a ruling power hates more than letting someone else take a victory out from under their nose.

“No. We want first look,” Haley said firmly. “Your reassurance is the armor we bear. Look.”

The dwarf pressed a segment of her armor. It snapped open with a click, revealing a complex insignia embossed into the metal beneath with shimmering gold. Arcs of blue magic wove through the metal in a dim pattern.

“Shiny,” Lillia said.

“Only an official ambassador of the Council bears a mark like this,” Haley said, closing the slot once more. “It is proof of my identity. No smith could ever replicate this mark, and nobody would be able to wear this armor other than myself.”

That’s true enough. The description says as much. But I don’t actually care if you’re officially with the council or not. What other shit can I distract her with? I’m running low on excuses. She’s going to start really suspecting something is up soon.

“I see,” Lillia said. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms in front of her chest, letting her gaze linger on Haley for a long second. “Then, in that case—”

And then Lillia paused.

“Yes?” Haley asked, arcing a bushy eyebrow. “Go on.”

Lillia smiled. Some familiar people had made their way into the domain of the Devil’s Den. They were back early.

“I suppose I’m satisfied,” Lillia said as she rose to her feet. “Wait right here. I’ll go get something for you to take a look at. And, in the meantime, you can think about exactly what it is you’re going to offer us.”

Their plan had been successful. Now, all that remained was to lock the Council into a deal before the dwarves could figure out that they’d been played.

Chapter 532

Arwin had only managed to take two steps into the Devil’s Den before Lillia emerged from the darkness to arrive before his group.

“You have good timing,” Lillia said with a relieved grin. “Everyone okay?”

“It was simple enough. Arwin steamrolled everything,” Anna said.

“Don’t give me credit for everything,” Arwin said. “Everyone did great. It was a team effort. Is Art’s team—”

“All fine,” Lillia confirmed. “And you’re needed. Grab some random thing from the loot. The Dwarves are already here. They were ahead of schedule.”

Arwin blinked, but he wasn’t taken aback for long. He shoved his hand into the bag with all the magical loot they’d gathered. It was completely chock full of beautifully crafted magical equipment, the vast majority of it gold or some other precious metal. There was something amusing about having a literal fortune stuffed into an old tarp bag like a bunch of potatoes.  

He didn’t bother reading any of the items’ stats too closely. They’d already checked over everything while they were collecting it in the dungeon. None of the items here were so powerful that he couldn’t afford to let the Dwarven Council hear of them.

He just chose a small dagger and palmed it, making sure nobody in the dining room caught a glimpse of the item. Olive and Kien took the bag from him without a word. They nodded, then shuffled it off toward the basement and away from any prying eyes.

Lillia grabbed Arwin by the wrist. Then they were off, hurrying toward the back room.

“We’re going toward the torture room?” Arwin hissed. “Don’t tell me—”

Lillia glared at him without missing a step. “Why does everyone call it that? It’s not a torture room! Torture just happens there sometimes! It’s entirely a coincidence. You don’t call the kitchen the murder-room because I kill a few chickens in there, do you?”

“Why are the dwarves in the not-torture room, then?”

“Because it’s isolated,” Lillia grumbled. She paused at the entrance of the room to send another glance at Arwin. “Is it really that suspicious?”

“Yes,” Arwin admitted. He scratched the back of his head. “Sorry.”

Lillia just sighed. “I’ll have to do something about that. We can worry about it later. You ready? It’s not Indrana’s people. It looks like there are factions within it, but these dwarves claim to be impartial and serve the council as a whole.”

“Anything else?” Arwin asked.

Lillia shook her head. “No. They seem reasonable enough. Not stupid. They’ve definitely got an agenda, but who doesn’t?”

“Fair enough,” Arwin agreed. “Introduce me, then?”

Lillia grinned. And, with that, the two of them swept into the room. The door slammed shut behind them with an ominous thud, making the three dwarves waiting at the table all flinch slightly.

You know, Lillia really isn’t doing herself any favors with regard to the spooky torture-room when she does stuff like that. Then again… it doesn’t hurt to have the dwarves on edge.

“Ifrit,” the lead dwarf said before Lillia could even try to speak, her eyes latching onto Arwin instantly.

“Just Arwin, please. You’re here to make a deal with us, so there’s no reason we can’t use our names. And there isn’t much I need to hide from anymore,” Arwin said with a wry smile. He and Lillia approached the table. “And you are…”

“Haley,” Lillia said. “The representative of the Dwarven Council. They’ve been very impatient about getting a chance to see some of the items we got from the vault.”

Arwin shrugged. He flipped the dagger out from behind where he’d hidden it behind his palm and set it down on the table. The little weapon was really rather impressive, but not for any of the reasons that most people would have noted.

Its enchantments were good. There was no denying that. It was magically strengthened, would forever have a sharp edge, and had an ability that allowed it to cut through magical defenses— though that was likely limited by the strength of the defense in question.

But none of that truly held Arwin’s attention. The true selling point of this dagger was the method in which it had been made. It was flawless. There wasn’t a single missed hammer strike or imperfection within the plain golden blade.

Every single detail was stunningly perfect. No part of it was wasted. It all served a purpose. No impurity, no distraction, no confliction existed within the dagger. This could be considered a perfectly pure weapon. One that embodied its purpose to such a near impossible degree.

As far as Arwin could tell, the weapon had never properly seen the inside of a forge.

None of the items in the vault had.

They were, for lack of a better word, natural. Nobody had forged them. Not in any manner of crafting that could ever be considered forging. It would have been more accurate to say the weapons had been grown.

Each one of them was made from a single piece of metal that had seemingly formed itself into the shape it desired. Arwin had never seen its like before. The items were fascinating. He had every plan of studying them for himself once he got a chance to try and unearth what technique had been used to create them.

Perhaps some wouldn’t have cared about the craftsmanship. But something told Arwin that they would be hard-pressed to find a group more interested about the method in which an item had been made than the Dwarven Council.

Sure enough, the moment Haley spotted the dagger, her eyes widened. She didn’t get a chance to control her expression. The awe crossed her features instantly.

“What is that?” Haley murmured, extending a hand for the dagger.

Lillia caught Arwin’s eye. He pulled his hand back.

“We said you could look,” Lillia said with a shake of her head. “Not that you could have anything. Don’t push your luck.”

Haley swallowed. The dwarf’s eyes lingered on the dagger for a second longer before moving back to meet Arwin’s gaze. “The other items are like this?”

“Yes,” Arwin said. “They aren’t all weapons, but they were forged in the same manner. I noticed it as well. Fascinating, isn’t it?”

Haley pressed her lips together. She was silent for several long moments. Then she nodded. “Would you consider selling—”

“No,” Lillia said.

“I didn’t finish,” Haley said.

“You didn’t need to,” Lillia replied with a smile. “We know what we have, Haley. And we’ve made it very clear what we’re doing. The Menagerie is more than happy to partner with the Council, provided you offer sufficient compensation. We have a number of interesting items that will be up for auction. And when word gets out, I imagine we’ll draw the attention of others who have interesting objects as well. We’re not going to sell our stock and our chances of drawing attention to our Auction House.”

Halye pursed her lips. “Very well. Let us discuss terms, then. The Council is interested in investing.”

“Partnering,” Lillia corrected. “We don’t need investment. Just backing from one of your puppet guilds to add to our legitimacy and a few guards to back up our defenses should be more than sufficient.”

“And what, specifically, will you give us in exchange?” Haley tilted her head to the side. “You make it sound like those are small boons you ask for. They are not. We do not back guilds easily.”

“And we are not an easy guild to back,” Lillia countered. “You’ll get access to the VIP section of our auctions. That gives you a chance to bid on items before anyone else.”

“Hardly a large boon,” Haley observed. “The opportunity to spend money in competition with other wealthy patrons? That seems to favor you much more than it does us.”

“We’re in Milten,” Arwin said flatly. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Are you really implying that the Dwarven Council doesn’t have the resources to outbid someone coming all the way to the outskirts of the empire? That’s embarrassing.”

Haley paused. Then the corner of her lip twitched. “Perhaps. That’s a fair argument. But the implication that Milten is some unknown town is no longer true. It has grown in fame. Especially with our backing, the auction will not be small. There will be wealthy individuals here. We do not want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on trinkets.”

“Then you’re in luck.” Lillia’s smile grew predatory. “The VIP section of the auction isn’t going to be dealing in gold at all.”

Haley hesitated. “What?”

“The only currency accepted in the VIP section of our Auction House will be rare materials and ingredients,” Lillia said smugly. “And that, I believe, should be simple enough for an organization like the Dwarven Council. You’re sitting on a mountain of rare materials. There won’t be many people able to compete with you in that regard.”

Realization passed over Haley’s features as she realized that she’d talked herself into the exact spot that Lillia wanted her in. The dwarf’s eyes narrowed. A second dragged by. Then, reluctantly, she nodded.

“That is true,” Haley allowed.

“Then we have a deal?” Lillia asked innocently.

Haley studied the two of them for a few more moments. Then she blew out a small sigh. It wasn’t one of true annoyance. The Council had so many resources that they probably could have tossed the Menagerie more than they could ever use and not even notice. Haley knew she’d been outmaneuvered… but the deal was just too good to pass up.

“Yes. On behalf of the Dwarven Council, I agree to your terms,” Haley said begrudgingly. “We accept your deal.”