Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 75 That Is How Nobility Works

“Thanks for hanging onto that for us Alice.” Isaac said and leaned against the receptionist desk.

“You're welcome.” She replied and set her bottomless bag on the desk for him to transfer the coin.

“Now that I have one, how does it work?” Isaac asked.

Alice smiled at him. “The things you don’t know surprise me.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of coins. “Just reach in, picture what you want, then grab it.”

Isaac raised an eyebrow. How that magic worked he couldn’t even begin to understand. Mental direction without a connection being made just didn’t make any sense. “That simple?”

“Yes.” Alice nodded. “Now you try.”

Isaac did so. He reached into the bag and thought about platinum coins. He closed his hand around them and pulled it out. “This is weird.” He left his bag open enough so he could see what was going on inside while he stored those coins. The inside of the bag was dark and hazy. Something Isaac was not used to seeing. Darkness was his thing after all.

Alice giggled watching him inspect the bag with trepidation. “It’s fine. The guild uses them, the bank uses them, merchants all around the world use them. Just don’t forget about what you put in there.” She warned.

“Alright.” Isaac eventually said and started shoveling coins from one bag into the other. Once he was done he handed Alice back her bag. “I think we should take a break today. We can go back to work tomorrow.”

“We should still spar.” Lenna advised.

“Sure.” Isaac replied. “After we leave all this coin at the bank.” Lenna nodded her reply.

“See you tomorrow then.” Alice told them.

Isaac gave her a smile and Lenna gave her a nod. “Don’t work too hard.” He said and waved while leaving.

—

The bank clerk was used to people arriving with large sums of coin and quickly withdrew the coins, counted them, marked down how much there were, and took them to the back to be stored in some undisclosed manner. “Is there an easier way to pay for super expensive things than shoveling coins out of a bottomless bag for ten minutes?” Isaac asked the man.

“There are a few methods. Bank notes are common for merchants. We have some blank ones that you can purchase. You simply write your name as the sender on each one with our magical pen. That way it cannot be changed or tampered with.” He explained. “When you find the need to use one simply fill out the rest and that person may bring it in to us and we will make the transfer.”

“What happens if there isn’t enough to fulfill the bank note?” Isaac asked.

“The bank is run by the city in which it resides. A warrant would be issued to ensure payment.” The clerk replied matter of factly.

“Understood.” Isaac replied. “What are the other ways?”

“We have offices upstairs. A clerk like myself would join you for your discussion over payment and then we would make the transfer while both parties are still present.” He went on. “The last option is bars. All bars are twenty pounds making them each worth exactly one thousand of whatever coin they are made from. Uniformity is key.”

“Thanks. That’s all we needed for today.” Isaac thanked the man and he and Lenna left to go spar in the arena.

—

“Should I put the bag in my Inventory? It’s empty now right?” Isaac asked Lenna.

“No. I heard stories of people getting shunted into the astral.” Lenna replied quickly.

“The astral? How? Where?” Isaac fired off.

“The space between planes. Spatial magic doesn’t play nice.” Lenna replied.

“Okay…” Isaac tried to understand magic again and was once more failing spectacularly. “Well I already have storage. You want it?”

“You just don’t want to carry it.” Lenna accused as she took the bag from him.

“No, yes, maybe. But still I have a place to throw things I don’t want to carry. Now you do too.” He argued.

Lenna just rolled her eyes and squared off against him with her training sword. Isaac entered his fighting stance with his own a few feet from her.

The rest of the pair’s day went pleasantly. The next day found them back at the Adventurer’s Guild. “Back to work already? Did you even spend all that gold?” Alice asked when they arrived.

“No.” Lenna replied.

“Not really.” Isaac agreed.

Alice shook her head. “You should get some better gear.” She told Isaac. “And you should get a new coat of paint. Maybe a steel brush and some polish.” She said to Lenna. “You both look like you’re broke.”

Lenna looked down at her singed and scratched armor. Alice was right. Her armor did need some love. It had saved her enough times to warrant a coat of paint and some polish. Isaac already knew how badly he looked and sighed. “Yeah. You’re right. What would it cost to have someone else take care of all that do you think?”

Alice chuckled. “You get one large payout and think about hiring a servant like you are some Lord… Oh, yeah. Actually that makes sense. Do you even own a property in the city?”

“No.” Isaac replied with a frown. “How much do you think that would cost?”

“It depends. A small house on the bad side of town is probably around five hundred gold. A middle class house like where Alexis and I live is somewhere between eight hundred and twelve hundred gold I believe.” Alecia went on. Isaac and Lenna now knew which sister it was since she slipped up and mentioned her sister by name.

“What about a really nice one? With a built-in library, maybe a space to train, oh, and enough space to hire a cook.” Isaac asked.

Alecia laughed. “More than I even want to think about. I don’t know if you even have enough to buy one let alone hire staff to cook and keep the place clean.”

“Well, back to work with us then.” Isaac replied and went back to scanning the bounty board. “I kind of want to take this one.” He stared at a bounty to ‘deal with’ a group of thugs who had been charging business in the bad part of town protection money. The protection was from said band of hooligans.

Lenna read the bounty. “It just says ‘deal with’. What does that mean exactly?”

Alecia knew which bounty they were referencing and looked up from her paperwork. “They aren’t picky. However you see fit. As long as they aren’t harassing people anymore it’s fine.” She commented.

“What methods are off limits?” Isaac asked her. He needed to make sure he wasn’t going to get himself in trouble by taking the job. It looked simple enough and the pay was good. It had been raised from a silver tier bounty to an electrum one since the last time they had seen it. “Also, why did it get raised a difficulty?”

“No collateral damage, no torture or other unsavory acts of violence. If you are going to kill them make sure it is in a way that can be easily cleaned up and is off the streets. The guard only really cares about what happens on the street so oftentimes bounties like that have other consequences.” She explained.

“Like getting ambushed by a gang while heading home from work?” Isaac asked grimly.

“Yes.” Alecia replied.

“I see.” He turned to look at Lenna. “What do you think?”

“I trust your judgment.” She told him.

Isaac shook his head. “And I trust your input.”

Lenna sighed. “What are the pros and cons?” She asked, expertly diverting the decision back towards him.

Isaac thought for a few moments about it. “Well, for pros we have money, people downtown liking us, probably, a short job we can do in a day, maybe even one we can do without fighting anyone directly. Like you said, I can be scary.”

Lenna nodded along. “Fair points, but mostly speculation.”

“Yeah.” Isaac replied with a frown. “For cons we have probably killing people, which isn’t really a big deal if they deserve it to me personally, potential of it turning into a much bigger problem if they have a backer, potential of us getting ambushed by thugs, which really isn’t a big deal either, the limitation of having to only fight indoors.”

“Also mostly speculation and potential trouble.” Lenna commented.

“What’s the verdict Alecia?” Isaac asked the receptionist who had been watching and listening.

“Well, I’m sure the duke would like them getting removed. His hands are pretty much tied when people aren’t on any property he owns.” She replied.

“He owns?” Isaac asked.

“Yes, the roads, walls, orchestral hall, his manor, everything outside of the walls and the same for Ben’s End and Charles III.” She explained.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. “He owns it all?”

“Yes.” She replied. “That is how nobility works here in Altia.”