It doesn’t take long at all until Raven reaches out to us. They know the center of our territory, and so, sending one of their birds with a letter is easy. In fact, it’s been barely a day until they do so - with Opal having only just checked in on Jean.
He seems reasonably comfortable around Anna, and to be getting along well with Trey. They’re similar in age, so it does make sense. Jean is more quiet, and Trey asks him a lot of questions, but he does still write out replies when he’s feeling braver. It’s kind of cute seeing the two interact.
Which is why I get a little annoyed when Raven threatens to kill Jean’s grandma. That seems kind of crude. Granted, it’s exactly what I would do, but that by no means makes it acceptable.
“Well,” Opal says, tapping their chin. “We have a meeting spot.”
“He wants us to hand over Jean,” Inu notes, a deep frown set in her face. She cares about the kid most of us, probably. “We can’t just do that.”
Sylves gives a sinister smile. “So we take her away from there.”
“How?” Thatch asks, leaning against the wall. He would have looked cool doing it, if he didn’t also look ragged and exhausted. “They’ll bring bloodline, maybe some other gangs, too.”
Opal’s grin widens. “Think they’ll murder each other over the healer? Whoever has the kid would be a target.”
At that, I shake my head. “No,” I reply simply. “Too much death attracts attention. Everyone here can only afford so much bloodshed before the guards show up. They let this happen because of bribery and stability. People with decent self-control stay in power longer. No one will slaughter others over this.”
“So what’s the plan?” Inu asks, narrowing her eyes.
Thatch gets it before I answer. “We rent out time,” he says quietly. “With Jean. We negotiate for him to stay with us, but he heals everyone equally. That… could work.”
Sylves tilts her head, then grins. “Do we charge for healing?”
“Definitely,” Opal nods. “That way we can offer Raven free access in exchange for Isabelle.”
“And if they threaten to kill her,” I say, “then they’re putting the healer at risk, and the blame’s no longer on us.”
Inu shakes her head. “What about snitches?”
Thatch shrugs. “We invite all the gang leaders to the meeting. Bloodstain, Coldscar, Lucky, Reign. Who’ll be our messenger?”
Rolling their eyes, Opal raises a hand. “Me, obviously,” they say. “I can get out.”
“We’ll make Norman do it next time. Thank you for your sacrifice, Opal,” I dip my head at them, glad that I will not be speaking to any of these people. Truly, I am fortunate to have other people who can do the talking for me. I just show up and stab things. A good, honest living.
At that, they snicker, and give me a nod. Inu continues. “So, we’ll get all the gang leaders. Set up a spot for healing at a reasonable price. And if Jean doesn’t wanna do it, we’ll get Snow to heal instead?”
I nod. Opal gives a bright smile. “Well,” they say, “you guys get started on logistics, then. I’ll leave it in your capable hands. Later!” And then, with a soft pop, they vanish.
Staring at the empty spot, Thatch slouches and sighs. He looks around for help, and I see Sylves suspiciously begin hovering upwards and away. Despite literally all of us staring at her, she continues her ascent and quickly dips.
“We’re totally using her authority to keep people from telling the guards, yes?” I ask.
“Absolutely,” Thatch nods.
“For sure,” Inu agrees.
And with all relevant personnel agreeing, I leave my two friends and Richard to set everything up. They’ll need to construct a place for Jean to live and heal people in, as well as guards to keep everything safe, make time for Sylves to do her bargains, get him to agree - though I doubt that’ll be hard - and make sure everything goes smoothly.
Which sounds like a huge hassle that I am entirely unsuited for.
Therefore, I make my swift exit. Only to put my talents to use on projects I am better suited for! No other reason, nope. No other reason at all.
- - -
Jean readily agrees to the healing thing. It’s an easy way for him to get more experience, because of course his class is healing-related. He does have one condition: We let anyone in who is hurt. No restrictions. If someone can’t pay, then he wants to heal them anyway.
And, well, he’s the healer. Helping out a few poor people, mostly flobs, isn’t exactly something I’ll complain about. We won’t let him be exploited, of course. If someone can afford to pay, I’ll personally shake the money out of them if need be. But I can see why he would still want to treat people who don’t have savings.
After all, it’s the right thing to do. That’s why I did it, too. Heal people first, take their money after. The gratitude usually helps them be less grumpy about parting with the chits. Ah, well. Since we need Sylves’ and her bargain every time we set something up, we can probably judge on a case-by-case basis.
It’ll be fine.
In the meantime, I digest my most recent essence infusion from my job, carving more cores. The spear I made for Raven is a good prototype, but I want things that are better than that, without giving away my own skills.
So I’ve been starting to break down the skills in my archive into runes.
See, stealing Respitia’s golden flames might be blasphemous - in fact, I’ve gotten multiple rather angry messages from her - but I’m pretty okay with that. The knowledge I stole from her is already powering my healing, and every time I break more of the healing skills granted by her sponsored classes, I get a bit more essence.
She truly is my greatest donator.
[The Creeping Darkness is beginning to feel a little forlorn! You are sponsored additional essence (Shadow)]
I smile at the notification as the essence streams into me, letting me interact with Kuro that much more. The critter pokes a head out from my cloak, taking a peek at the enchantment’s I’m carving. Runic inlays that spark with faint, golden light when I channel mana through them.
Of course, I include inscribed core-shards and pseudo-cores in this weapon. That’s all I can afford for a prototype. Even if it breaks, I can remake them. And I so very badly wanna sell flame-weapons to Raven.
Already, I’ve caused them trouble with the guard. Now, this would cause them even more trouble. Because I’d wager Respitia doesn’t want unauthorized people using her titular colour scheme. “Now, I could, of course, be bribed into not selling these,” I hum out loud, pointedly staring into the sky.
[Respitia the Pure stomps her feet at your audacity.]
Hmmm. No sponsorship message. “Shame,” I say, turning back to the inscribing work, giving it a quick test. A crescent of golden flame lights up along the edge, for just a moment, before flickering out. “Well, I’m sure someone else will pay plenty for this.”
Then the mana destabilizes, and I swiftly create a barrier of [Solidification] before the minor explosion burns me. “Oops,” I mutter, then smile slightly. Well, what else are prototypes for?
[Job up! Core Controller 5 > 7]
I carve some more, letting the time tick down until the meeting. Just a few hours.
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