Chapter 76: Preparations

"Mr Asano," Gilbert greeted, "always such a pleasure."

“Morning, Bert. Your message said you found something for me?”

“Ah, yes,” Gilbert said, looking reluctant. “Loath as I am to refer you to my brother, he does have something that meets your specifications quite neatly. Of course, I could offer you something adequate myself, but adequate isn’t the Gilbert’s Resilient Attire for the Discerning Gentleman way.”

Gilbert held out an envelope for Jason to take.

"Thanks, Bert. Good looking out, mate."

Filbert’s Fine Leather Emporium was located in one of the other arcades within the trade hall complex, requiring Jason to pass through the main hall. He passed by Jory’s stall along the way, although Jory himself was still overseeing renovations. Instead, it was being run by Jory’s assistant, Janice.

"Hello, Mr Asano."

“Hello, Janice. I don’t suppose you have any crystal wash back there?”

"Now, Mr Asano, you know what Mr Tillman said. We have to keep some for the other customers."

“Janice,” Jason said, voice buttery smooth. “Can’t you just free up just a few little bottles? It can be our little secret.”

"Mr Asano, Mr Tillman only produces four crates a week, and after you were so generous with the construction funding he lets you take two of them. We keep having to turn people away because we've run out. He'll be stepping up production once his new workshop is up and running."

Jason shook his head sadly.

"You're killing me, Janice. If I don't get that crystal wash, I'm going to end up all dirty. You don't want to be responsible for turning me into a dirty man, do you, Janice?"

Her eyes ran Jason up and down.

“I could live with it,” she said.

“Janice!” Jason said, voice filled with admonishment. “I’ve never heard the like! I think I’d better go.”

He moved on, Janice seeing him off with a coquettish wave.

“What has gotten into that girl?”

Moving through the main hall, he was stopped by some people he didn’t know. It was a pair of young women with iron rank auras.

“Excuse me,” one of them said. “Are you the guy with the evil powers?”

Jason winced. Hannah Adeah was the archer from Rick Geller’s team, who Jason had fought in the mirage arena. She had apparently taken upon herself to distribute the recording of their fight, and Jason had been getting variations on the question for a week. Almost every time he visited the jobs hall or the trade hall, someone would approach him about it.

“No,” he said, wearily. “I don’t have evil powers.”

“You’re not the guy from the recording?” the other asked.

“I am the person in the recording, but my powers aren’t evil.”

“Controlling monsters seems pretty evil.”

“I don’t control monsters!”

Shaking his head, Jason walked away as the pair talked behind him.

“I heard those leeches live inside his blood.”

“I bet that’s true. Kevin Wasserman has a lizard that lives inside in his skin.”

“That makes so much sense. His skin is always clammy.”

Jason sighed, grateful as their voices were lost in the noise of the trade hall crowd. He found his way into the right arcade and entered Filbert’s Fine Leather Emporium.

“Hello, sir, and welcome to Filbert’s Fine Leather Emporium. Which is to say, we are an emporium of leather goods, not an emporium made of leather. Just a little joke we like to say around here. I am the proprietor, Filbert, but you may call me Bert.”

"G'day, Bert."

Filbert, like the other Berts, was thick in the middle and thin on top. He wore a waistcoat and jacket, more snug than most local fashion and definitely too hot for the climate. Jason handed over the envelope. Filbert opened it up and read the contents with a frown.

“I won’t hold it against you, sir, that you chose to offer my brother your custom. Fortunately for you, Gilbert has acknowledged the superiority of my wares. You are looking for some specialised desert boots?”

“That’s right,” Jason said. “I have a contract starting tomorrow involving desert travel. I want something that will work well in sand.”

“Well, if Gilbert sent you to me, rather than selling you his usual tat, then you must be a gentleman of capability and means. He has suggested something he knows one of my fine craftspeople developed.”

Filbert sent off a staff member hovering quietly to fetch something from the storage room in the back.

“While sweet Julio fetches the boots,” Filbert said, “is there anything else I can interest you in?”

The store was laid out with lots of open space, the products displayed on wall racks. It was mostly shoes and accessories like bags and belts. Jason’s eye was drawn to a row of bags that looked like simple leather sacks. He reached out and touched one.

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Item: [Dimensional Bag] (iron rank, rare)

A bag that contains a dimensional storage space (container, bag).

• Effect: Can be used to store items in an extra-dimensional void.
• Effect: Can fill a bag slot, increasing inventory space by eight.

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“Bag slot?”

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Help: Bag Slots

• Bag slots can use dimensional bags to expand inventory size. Increase is based on rank of bag. At iron rank, one bag slot is available and can hold only iron-rank bags.

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Jason opened his inventory, seeing five new squares in the corner. The first square was glowing, while the others were greyed out.

“Dimensional bags,” Filbert said. “Crafted right here, in the workshop from mirage hound leather. A common enough monster in the desert, but quite tricky to catch. Not so much once they’ve been around long enough to turn aggressive, but the leather has degraded by then, becoming sadly useless.”

“You hire adventurers to hunt them for you?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” Filbert said,” but it’s tricky work, and they appear out in the dunes. Hiring someone with the skills to both hunt them and harvest the pelt requires incentive. Thus, I can only offer them at a premium price.”

“I’ll take one,” Jason said.

“Capability and means,” Filbert said. “My fine customers are usually possessed of one or the other, but just between you and I, sir, all my favourite customers have both.”

“I imagine they do,” Jason said wryly.

The store assistant, Julio, brought out a large, single oversized leather boot. Filbert took the large boot from Julio and from inside pulled a box made of stiff, woven reeds, dyed black.

“Novelty shape dimensional bag,” Filbert said, resting a hand on the boot-shaped magical bag. He opened the box and took out a pair of boots that were a different thing altogether. Matte black, with sleek lines, sides embedded with a mesh of black shards.

“I rather like these particular boots,” Filbert said. “If you’re looking to spend time in the dunes, you won’t find anything close to this quality anywhere close to this price point. I should warn you, however, that it has been the more skilled clientele who enjoy the most success with this design. The ordinary adventurer would be better served by a more… basic product.”

“That’s some fine salesmanship, Bert,” Jason said as he looked the boots over. “Who wants to think of themselves as an ordinary adventurer? It’s a profession for those looking to be extraordinary.”

“Sir, I can assure you, I stand behind my products.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Jason said. “I’ve found your brothers to be upright in all their dealings. I was actually complimenting you. I appreciate someone who wields their words with purpose and care.”

“I’m glad to hear it, sir. Although, as upright dealings go, it seems you haven’t met my brother Hubert.”

"Haven't had the pleasure, no," Jason said, taking the boots from Filbert's hands.

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Item: [Sand-Cutter Boots] (iron rank, rare)

Boots incorporating the chitin of a sand-cutter, inheriting some of its power (apparel, boots).

• Effect: Improved ability to walk on sand.
• Effect: Increased jump height and distance.
• Effect: Enhanced kick attack. Highly effective against enemies with strong earth affinity.

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“What’s a sand-cutter?” Jason asked.

"Ah, you have a good eye, sir. Are you familiar with the grasshopper and the mantis?"

“I am,” Jason said.

"Well, the sand-cutter is about halfway between, except it's four-feet long and lives in the desert."

“That sounds horrifying,” Jason said.

“They’re actually quite good at hunting mirage hounds,” Filbert said. “Shame you can’t train them.”

Filbert rubbed a hand over his mouth, thoughtfully.

“You know,” he said, “I did just hear about an adventurer that can control monsters. I wonder if I could get into contact with him.”

“That’s an unfounded rumour,” Jason said darkly.

Filbert, sensitive to the mood of the customer, returned the boots to the box.

“I imagine you’d know, sir, being the capable adventurer. So it was just the boots and the dimensional bag?”

“Thank you, Bert.”

***

“The first green pill will change your aura,” Belinda said. “Don’t use any mana or they’ll be able to sense your real aura through the fake one. I don’t have to tell you how fast they’ll be on someone with two auras. Once you’ve got the goods, get to the change point where I’ll be waiting.”

“I know all this,” Sophie said. “We’ve been over it many times.”

“Would you rather be bored from hearing it too much, or caught from hearing it too little?”

Sophie let out a sigh.

“Right, yes. No using mana.”

“At the change point,” Belinda continued, “I’ll give you the blue pill, which will purge the aura of the first green pill. That will take a minute to completely go through your system, during which time you change outfits. Then I give you the second green pill for another false aura. You leave the goods behind and catch the loop line to Marina South.”

“I don’t like leaving you behind,” Sophie said.

“I have to clear the goods of anything they’ve done to track them,” Belinda said. “The change point and the contingency point are the only places I have shielded from whatever they might be using.”

“No one knows what we’re after,” Sophie said. “How would they know what to tag?”

“Ventress has been pushing people hard,” Belinda said. “We don’t know if she’s compromised any of the people I sourced our assets from. If she’s figured out the target, or even narrowed it down, she may have warned the potential targets. Even if she hasn’t, you know the kind of people we’ve been stealing from. They probably tagged their valuables themselves.”

Sophie shook her head.

“I hate this,” she said. “I’m amazed we haven’t been caught already.”

“Thank the Adventure Society,” Belinda said. “Because you aren’t even iron rank, they’re refusing to let anyone higher than iron go after you. So the only bronze-rankers you’ll have to deal with are any that decide to chase you in the moment. That’s why you don’t want to get caught swapping your aura mask.”

“And if a silver comes after me?”

“I can’t imagine a silver who would deign to bother with you. They don’t want to be seen doing iron-rank work. But that’s why the disguise isn’t magical; it’ll hold up under magical scrutiny. So will the fake aura, so long as you don’t use any mana.”

“Are you sure about those pills?” Sophie asked. “The guy sells low-quality potions to poor people in Old City. Every other alchemist I’ve heard of rakes in money from rich people on the Island.”

“He knows what he’s doing,” Belinda said. “And just as importantly, doesn’t know what we’re doing. He doesn’t ask questions, because he’s sweet on me.”

“How sweet will he be when Ventress sends Darnell to break his elbows?” Sophie asked.

“She can’t,” Belinda said. “He’s in the Alchemy Association and the Adventure Society.”

“And you?”

“What about me?” Belinda asked.

“Are you sweet on him, Lindy? Is your judgement compromised?”

“My judgement has gotten us this far,” Belinda said, “and I’m hardly the one with the questionable taste in men. Could you pick one guy who wasn’t a con man or some kind of swindler?”

“They’re more fun.”

“Three of your lovers tried to sell you to Cole Silva. That would inspire most people to examine their taste in men, but you pick up every lying, scheming weasel that stumbles into view.”

“Not every one,” Sophie said. “And they weren’t lovers; they were just a bit of fun. And things didn’t exactly work out for them, did it?”

“The point is that you need to raise your standards. We aren’t in a great place to be socialising right now, but if you are going to pick a guy, pick a good one.”

“Then find me a good guy who’s also a lying, scheming weasel,” Sophie said.

Belinda groaned.

“I don’t think there is anyone like that,” Belinda said. “He’d have to be a crazy person.”

She pulled out a pocket watch to check the time, then put on her game face.

“Four minutes,” she said. “Time to go.”