System Change

Derek’s walk through the merchant district of Torith was uneventful. He thought about stopping by the inn to see Silvi and Thomas, but decided against it. It was funny to him, though. He received fewer stares from the people around now that he was wearing a Gold Rank badge on his shoulder. At least the badge is good for something. He mused.

Eventually, he ended up at the gate separating the merchant district from the noble district. He stopped in front of the gate and looked up at one of the guards. He waved. The guard frowned, but another guard noticed Derek at the gate and ran over to whisper something in the previous guard’s ear.

“Please excuse us, Mr. Hunt.” The guard that seemed to recognize Derek jumped from his perch on the gate and walked towards Derek while speaking. “As you are not a noble, we must document your entry and exit to and from the upper district.”

Derek nodded at the guard to continue.

“Ah, I see you went and obtain an Adventurer’s Guild badge, and a gold one at that. Congratulations. That will actually make things much easier.” The man pulled out a clipboard and jotted something down before he asked, “Now, I must ask what business you have in the noble parts. Because of your Gold Rank in the Adventurer’s Guild,I don’t need specifics, just why you’re entering.”

Derek frowned. He did not like having to tell others about his business. Then again, it would make it pointless to have walls separating the city if anyone could just pass through the gates. “I am here to see Stella from the Crown Restaurant. She should be expecting me anytime now.”

The gate guard nodded and jotted something else down. “Do you, perhaps, know how long you will be staying in the district?”

Derek furrowed his eyebrows. “No clue. Could be anywhere from five minutes to five hours. It depends on how our discussion goes.”

The man nodded and wrote more on the clipboard. “Alright, thank you for your cooperation.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge, not unlike what he got from the Adventurer’s Guild. “Please take this, it is a guest pass into the noble district. You inject your mana into it just like the one you are wearing. This will activate the guest pass.

“The difference between this badge and the one from the guild is that the mana injection only lasts 24 hours and cannot be activated again for a week. It has a tracking spell linked to that covers the entire city. If it is not returned to a guard post within that time frame, guards will be sent out to collect it… and you. Also, we will be alerted if the badge is ever more than two meters away from your mana signature. If a crime is found to have been committed and your badge is known to have been in the vicinity at the time, you will be questioned. Do you understand?”

Derek nodded and took the badge. He injected his mana into it, accepting the notification that appeared. He then looked back at the guard. “Why did I not have to have one of these when I came through earlier?” He asked.

“That is because you and your… friends came through with Sir Bronson, as his guests. Later, Sir Bronson arrived and reported your stay at the Gracefall Manor. As for why you did not need badges, it is because as guests of the Gracefall House, you became their responsibility. As you are no longer staying as guests of the Gracefalls, you are required to… jump through these hoops.” The guard explained.

Derek nodded. “I suppose I can’t store this thing in my storage ring?” He asked.

“Unfortunately, no.”

Derek placed the badge into his jean pocket and lifted his hand. “Thanks for the information… Mr…”

The man took his hand. “Bellamy, Bellamy Sanz. You can just call me Bellamy.”

“Bellamy.” Derek nodded and released the man’s hand. “It was a pleasure.”

Bellamy nodded back then turned to the other guard and nodded again. Soon, the gate opened and Derek walked forward.

Soon, he was standing in the noble district. I didn’t think that Bronson had gone through that much trouble for us to stay here. I guess it’s not much trouble if you know the people and are used to doing it, though. Derek thought. I wonder, if I would have chosen to stay in one of the inns in this district, would I have still been Walter’s responsibility? Derek’s respect for both Walter and Bronson increased once again.

Soon, he was standing in front of the Crown Restaurant. He opened the door and walked in. The same bouncers-like guards as before were standing around the entrance and took note of his arrival.

“Hey beavis, is Stella in?” Derek asked.

The guard flushed red in anger before calming down. He did not bother to reply, and just nodded his head to the woman behind a hostess station. She was already looking at him.

Derek walked over to the woman. He did not recognize her from before. “Hi, I’m Derek Hunt. Is Stella in?”

The woman glanced at a book on the stand and raised her head with slightly raised eyebrows. “It seems she is expecting you, and I am to bring you up whenever you arrive. Please, follow me.”

Derek followed the woman up to the same floor and office he had gone to the other day. The hostess knocked twice on the door. “Madam, Mr. Hunt is here to see you.”

“Come in.” Stella’s voice rang out from behind the door.

The hostess opened the door and stepped to the side, letting Derek have a clear view of Stella and her intoxicating smile. Today, she was not wearing a provocative dress.

She was standing, dressed in a tight, forest green, long-sleeved laced tunic trimmed in black. The lace was loose, causing Derek to put more focus into looking at her face. The tunic fell into a short black pencil skirt with stockings underneath.

Derek smiled at the beautiful woman. “Stella! Good to see you again. I’m not too early, am I?” He asked while walking the few steps over to her desk.

“Of course not, Derek. I was actually able to contact my employer just after you left the other day and work something out.” She answered, then nodded at the lady standing at the door that she could leave. The door closed. “Please.” Stella gestured to the empty chair in front of Derek. “Have a seat.”

Derek sat. “So, how’s things going?” He asked.

“They couldn’t be better. In fact, not only was I able to work out your compensation for the Void Beast, my botanist has already made a coffee prototype.” She took a crystal from one of her desk drawers and injected mana into it. Afterwards, she put it back. “I’ll have the staff bring up what we have so far.”

Derek nodded. “That’s great!” He was genuinely excited. He was more excited about the idea of not running out of coffee than he was about the money.

Stella smiled. “I see you visited the Adventurer’s Guild after you left.”

“Yeah. I figured I could do more with a badge than without.”

She nodded. “That’s true.”

The two chatted for a few minutes about unimportant things before a waiter arrived with the prototype coffee.

After the waiter left, Stella poured Derek and herself a cup. “Please. Tell me what you think. You are the expert after all.”

Derek nodded and took the cup, bringing it to his lips. He took in a deep breath of the aroma. Well, at least it smells like coffee. That’s already big. Then he took a sip. The taste was coffee-like, but weak. It’s better than nothing, though. He thought and took another drink.

After setting the cup down, he spoke, “Well, the flavor just isn’t there yet. With what you currently have, I would suggest brewing it with less water, or double brewing it for a stronger taste. The problem may just be that your people aren’t used to strong drinks, so they are diluting the coffee with too much water.

"I’m not sure how roasted the coffee is, but if you have your people roast them longer, then you will get a much richer, bolder flavor. Where I’m from, you can get light roast, medium roast, or dark roast. I prefer medium roast, myself. With it, you get a bit of the stronger original flavor of the coffee combined with a bit of the bold flavor from the roasting process.”

Stella nodded and made some notes on one of the papers scattered around her desk. “I will let them know. Thanks for the information.”

Derek smiled. “Well, I am by no means a coffee expert. I would just like to be able to drink all I want without having to worry about not being able to find it anymore.”

“Well, thank you anyway. I actually think the product is going to bring in more money than I initially expected. It has something in it that stimulates a person and their energy. If we are able to increase the drug’s effects, it could be sold as more than just a beverage during a meal.” She explained.

“Of course, there are other plants and medicines that do the same, it’s just that none of them taste good while also providing the benefit. Also, having the stimulant occur naturally in the beverage is much easier than having to extract the stimulant and add it to other medicines.” She continued.

Derek nodded. “Yeah, we call that caffeine where I’m from. We never bothered with enhancing it. It was used by very low level people who needed more energy to work late or to wake up faster. Because, as you know, it would take a ton of enhancing it to work on someone with a lot of Endurance.”

She smiled. “Exactly.” Then she pulled out a stack of papers from her storage ring. “Well, let’s get down to business. I’m sure that you are anxiously waiting to see what the Void Beast is worth to us.”

Derek nodded.

“Well, I have some good news. My employer seemed to take an interest in you and decided to give you a premium offer in hopes for your further cooperation with the restaurant.” She slid the papers over to Derek.

After reading, Derek’s eyes went wide. “Is this right?”