Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 183: The rest of it

Arwin and the rest of the Menagerie made it back to their street without incident. But, when they drew up to the door of the Devil’s Den, there was someone waiting for them.

Madiv stood by the door leaning against the wall. There was a canvas bag at his feet. He spotted them coming and pushed himself upright, adjusting his suit and smoothing out his hair. Arwin was pretty sure that was something that generally should have been done before anyone saw the merchant and not after, but it was probably the least of the vampire’s worries.

“You have been missing for some time,” Madiv said as they drew to a stop before him. “I have acquired the Ivorin that you requested.”

“That’s perfect timing, actually,” Arwin said. He ran a hand along his armor, feeling the grooves running through it. He needed more Ivorin to patch it up, not to mention make his gauntlets and boots.

There was also the matter of making some suits of armor to sell the following day, but he had to balance innovation with creation. It was a little awkward to be a smith that didn’t even know how to make a full set of armor.

Madiv pulled a bar of metal out of his bag and held it out so that Arwin could take a look. It definitely looked like Ivorin. If Arwin was honest with himself, he was slightly surprised. He’d fully expected the merchant to show up with a bag of rocks.

“This is… actually Ivorin,” Arwin said, taking a moment to listen to the metal’s desires before speaking. “Where did you get this?”

“Is that of any concern?” Madiv asked, tilting his head to the side. “My sources are my own. I acquired it, did I not?”

“I suppose you did,” Arwin said. “Forty gold per bar, was it? How many did you get?”

“Ten.”

Wasn’t Ivorin meant to be painfully rare? How’d he get so much of it in such a short period of time? As incompetent as this guy is, he gets the job done.

“Huh,” Arwin said. “Well, let’s go inside. I’ll get four hundred gold for you. I have to say that I’m pretty impressed.”

“Why?” Madiv asked. “Did you doubt my abilities? I serve—”

He let out a strangled grunt as Lillia stepped past him, elbowing him in the stomach as she unlocked the door to the Devil’s Den. She sent him an exaggerated look of shock.

“Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

“Apologies,” Madiv said through a wheeze. “I will endeavor to wear bright colors so that my Q—”

Lillia turned back toward the door, elbowing him again in the process and turning the rest of his sentence into a whoosh of air from his lips. He quickly straightened and adjusted his clothes, opening his mouth.

“Think for a moment,” Arwin said, clapping Madiv on the shoulder. The vampire flinched — not in pain, but in annoyance at the contact. They held each other’s gaze for a moment before Arwin nodded to Lillia and lowered his voice. “I believe Lillia gave you an order the last time we met, didn’t she?”

Madiv’s lips pressed thin and, after a second, a flicker of realization passed through his pale features. “Ah. The name. I had thought My — ah, Lillian had decided to express her gratitude through physical violence.”

Olive suppressed a laugh, but Reya wasn’t quite as successful. She let out a snicker before quickly covering her mouth with a hand.

Arwin’s eye twitched. “Has she ever chosen to do that before?”

“As far as my humble knowledge extends, no. But the air is ripe with change. Anything is possible.”

“You’re going to have to keep that attitude if you want a fart’s chance in a hurricane of getting a single other customer,” Arwin muttered. He shook his head and gestured for Madiv to follow him. “Come on. Come inside so we can properly introduce you to the rest of the guild.” Everyone headed into the Devil’s Den and gathered in the common room. Arwin made a quick detour to Lillia’s room to find the area where he’d stored all their gold, then liberated 400 of it from the pile and brought it back to Madiv.

He took the Ivorin out of its bag and dumped the gold in its place before handing the considerably lightened tarp back to the vampire merchant.

“Right. Everyone, for those of you that haven’t guessed, this is Madiv,” Arwin said. “He’s an old friend of Lillia’s and, as you saw, happens to be a merchant.”

“I knew it,” Reya said through a groan. “Seriously? This is why the Ardent guild is pissed at us?”

“Hey, he did show up with a bunch of metal,” Rodrick pointed out. “I don’t know shit about the guy, but he’s effective. No need to judge too harshly yet.”

No, I’m pretty sure Reya is right.

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“I do want to know just why the Ardent guild hates you so much,” Arwin said, casting a look back at Madiv. “You’ve somehow managed to cause problems for us already. I don’t suppose you’ve got a good reason for that?”

“I am unaware of any such guild.”

“You pissed them off without even knowing who they are?” Anna raised an eyebrow. “That’s actually impressive.”

“I am unaware of any guilds in this backwater city,” Madiv said. “They have not garnered my interest to a degree that would motivate me to seek out more information as to their names.”

“The guild with the golden sword on the red badge,” Arwin said, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “A merchant guild.”

A flicker of recognition passed through Madiv’s features. Lines of distaste creased his brow. “Ah. Yes. I am aware of this guild.”

“So what did you do?” Lillia asked, leaning against the doorframe that led into the kitchen. “Steal their customers?”

“No. I had an altercation with a warrior bearing their crest. He seemed to believe that he was entitled to a kill that he did not earn. I rectified his misunderstanding.”

“You killed him?” Reya asked, her eyes going wide. “And people know?”

“I did not kill him. I am not an animal.” Madiv let out a derisive scoff. “It was only his first offense. I shattered the bones of his arms and hung him by his wrists from a tree.”

What the hell kind of merchant class do you have if you’re beating the life out of a warrior? Actually, I’m not sure if I should be surprised. The Mesh doesn’t seem to mind letting people stick onto some abilities from previous classes when they change, and he’s still a Vampire. I’d imagine there are some benefits that come with being a monster.

“You know what? I think I know why they stuck anyone that works with you on a blacklist,” Olive said. She blew out a breath and glanced at Arwin. “Not to be impatient, but I’d really like to hear what it was that you’ve been holding off on telling me.”

“That’s a fair request,” Arwin said. “We’ve got a lot ahead of us in the next few days, so no point wasting time. Reya, are you still willing to help Madiv out?”

“Yeah, if you want me to.”

Madiv sent Reya an incredulous look. “This is the master salesman?”

“You got a problem with me?” Reya asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Where is your suit?” Madiv demanded. “Your livery! How do your customers know of your competence when you dress like a mere adventurer?”

That clearly hadn’t been the objection that Reya had been expecting Madiv to make. She blinked, then let out a snort. “Your suit doesn’t make you look like a good merchant. It makes you look like you’re going to try to sell me a shitty rug.”

Madiv looked down at his suit. Then he looked back up at Reya. “I see. The solution is to wear women’s armor to demonstrate your wiles while proving that you are capable of protecting your goods.”

“Oh boy,” Reya said. “This might take a bit. Come on.”

She stepped out of the tavern and Madiv followed after her. The rest of the Menagerie watched them leave without a word.

“That can only end well,” Rodrick said.

“At least he seems willing to learn,” Anna said diplomatically. “I think Reya will be a good teacher. It’ll be a good experience for her to actually be the one that knows what’s going on for once.”

Arwin nodded, but his thoughts were already elsewhere. They’d kept Olive waiting for long enough. She’d proven her worth, both to the guild and as a person. There wasn’t any excuse to keep her in the dark any more.

A tendril of shadow curled out from the corner of the tavern and snagged a chair, bringing it over to Olive. She glanced at it in surprise.

“What’s this for?”

“You might want to sit down,” Arwin said. “You wanted to hear about who I am, didn’t you?”

Olive sat down without another word. Her gaze danced across the room, picking up on the shift in mood quickly. “Yeah. Why does it feel like I’m attending a funeral?”

A small, bitter laugh escaped Arwin before he could stop it. “That’s a surprisingly astute observation, as I’m supposed to be dead. Do you recall hearing about the final fight between the Hero and the Demon Queen, the one that ended with a massive explosion?”

“Yeah,” Olive replied, her brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to piece together what Arwin was talking about. “Did you desert the Guild during the final battle or something?”

“More like they deserted me.” Arwin couldn’t keep the note of bitterness from his voice. “I was at the center of that explosion, together with the Demon Queen.”

The befuddlement on Olive’s features only grew stronger. “What? You managed to survive a blast like that? Are you really not lying about your Tier? There’s no way the Hero and the Demon Queen would both get killed while a random smith wouldn’t.”

“You’re right. They didn’t die,” Arwin said. As always, finding the right words to actually explain what had happened was a thousand times harder than thinking them, but there was nothing to do but push forward. “I lived. I haven’t always been a blacksmith, Olive.”

He could see the moment Olive put his words together as clear as day. Her brow lifted as she drew in a small breath, her lips parting as her gaze focused. Olive flew from her chair, knocking it to the floor behind her in the process. “Nine Underlands. You’re the fucking Hero? You lying son of a bitch. You said you—”

“I was,” Arwin barked, cutting Olive off. “I’m not the Hero anymore. My class and Tier were both taken in the explosion. I’m nothing but Apprentice 6 now. I swear to you that I have never put anything less than my complete effort into everything we’ve done.

The wind left Olive’s sails, but the shock remained within her eyes. “Why? And how do I know you’re telling the truth about this?”

“Because I wasn’t the only one that survived that explosion,” Arwin said. He looked to Lillia and Olive’s eyes went wide.

“Fuck,” Olive breathed. “I knew that wasn’t makeup. Nobody likes demons so much that they dress up like that every single day. Why did I even believe it?”

“Because it’s a lot easier to believe than the alternative,” Rodrick said.

She let out a bark of laughter. “What, easier to believe that the Hero and the Demon Queen retired to a shithole town and started dating? Was the war even real? How much of what I know is bullshit?”

“With regard to the guild? Probably most of it,” Arwin said. He blew out a heavy sigh. “I know this is overwhelming. There’s a reason we didn’t mention it mid-dungeon. If you give us the time, we’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Lillia’s shadows slipped out and righted Olive’s chair. The one-armed warrior looked from her to Arwin suspiciously.

“What about them?” Olive asked, nodding to Rodrick and Anna. “Guards or something?”

“No. We’re just adventurers. Ones with our own story, but nothing directly related to theirs,” Anna said. “We heard what you’re about to. For what it’s worth, I think you’ve met who they really are. Whatever their pasts may have been, the Arwin and Lillia you know now are the real ones.”

Olive’s hand unclenched and she lowered herself back into the chair, her eyes boring into Arwin’s.

“Okay. Tell me the rest of it.”

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