Jaeger was surprised by what he saw. This Darkblade was powerful and was a growth-type weapon, much like his axe. The ties and rejections of the Shadow Sultan were unique, though. He passed the paper over to Lemuria, who shared it with Anton, and with a nod from Jaeger, Kaeleth.

  Each one of them looked it over and displayed different reactions. Kaeleth’s face became more and more excited as she read it; her eyes, when she looked at him, swirled with a palpable frenzied energy. Lemuria grew contemplative as she read over it, tapping her chin before giving him a thoughtful look. Anton’s expression… didn’t change, but his verbal reaction was more than enough.

  “HAHAHAHAHAHA!” The skeleton laughed loud and long, which was disturbing because aside from the clanking of his jaw, his body didn’t move in the slightest. “You and your cursed artifact have not only stolen a weapon, but you stole his blessing.”

  The skeleton was barely able to speak, overcome with laughter as he was. This went on quite some time before he slowed down, taking deep breaths, as though he needed them.

  “Phew, okay. I’m done. Ha…haha. Phew.” The skeleton shook his body as his laughter petered out, his voice changing from jovial to serious, like a lever was pulled. “Let us focus on the immediate gains. You’ve got a divine curse, maledictions, and a System-backed acknowledgment of you and your artifacts, Will.”

  Lemuria, silent until now, spoke.

  “The divine curse is not something I expected to see here.”

  “Why not?” Jaeger asked.

  “Divine curses, even a lower one like this, are not something mortals can cast or use; not unless you’re a high priestess or the hierophant. So, for your artifact to have created this is suspect, where did you say you got it?”

  “I never said.” He grunted before scratching at his jaw in thought. “If I’m remembering right, it was one of my first spoils. I had a great deal of loot when I got it identified, so it either came from a group of highway bandits, ones with a well-filled Killers Chain. Or an orc raider chief, wanted for tax evasion. Or it came from the Profane Peddler who was masquerading as an innkeeper. I happened upon all of them around the same time, so the loot got piled up.”

  “You killed Crusher?” Lemuria asked.

  “What you know him?”

  “Yes, he owed me money. Most of his camp followers worked for me. I appreciate that you didn’t harm them in your assault upon him.”

  Jaeger shrugged.

  “I hunt my targets and give anyone else a fair shot to leave. Don’t thank me anyway, I had help on that one. Someone else made sure the others wouldn’t interfere.”

  Lemuria simply nodded at that. Anton moved forward, his eyes focused on Jaeger.

  “Did you say Profane Peddler? From my understanding, and first-hand account, they were all wiped out we all the guilds came at them.”

  The bounty hunter eyed the skeleton as he moved uncomfortably close.

  “A guild-mate of mine said the same. Apparently, this guy had the good luck of having snuck out on personal business.”

  Giving a bone-shuddering sigh, Anton backed up.

  “That’s not good. More might have slipped the net; best keep your eye out, my boy. Any of them that remain are going to learn you had a hand in this one’s downfall, not to mention their masters. Also, this is probably where it came from. The peddlers had their hands across the world itself; this most likely originates from outside Rangaea’s lands.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  When he’d started this day, Jaeger could have counted the number of enemies he had in this world on one finger; now his hands were needed.

  “How do you know it’s from a foreign land?” Kaeleth asked in a husky voice.

  “The armorial achievement. That’s a term I’ve only heard once: a traveling warrior covered in full plate with a metallic eagle upon their helm mentioned it. I couldn’t tell you anything about them, not race or gender, because they never removed their armor. They said they were on a Quest for their armorial achievement, they did not know the System, and they had an accent so thick you could almost see it. At the time, I didn’t much care, but I should have notes about my early years somewhere. I’ll see about finding those.”

  Jaeger focused back on the conversation but found it had diverted from his interests.

  “I’ll take those notes later, but for now, is this safe to use?”

  Anton had one of his arms deep inside the chest of his robe and seemed to be searching for something. His reply was distracted.

  “Hmm? Oh yes, quite safe for you. I wouldn’t let others hold it, though; not many people rank enough to be considered anathema to the Sultan.”

  “And these maledictions?”

  “Think of them as activated mini curses. They’ll hurt anyone you strike.”

  Jaeger was satisfied with that and sheathed the yatagan before getting dressed and setting it back into the sash he’d made for it.

  “One last thing, Anton, the script that vanished, do you have any idea what it said?”

  Anton’s arm was now out of his chest, but a frustrated air surrounded him.

  “Drat, it must be in my other chest.” He muttered before raising his voice and replying. “No, but it was most likely a message or motto in the Sultan’s divine tongue. I’ll see if I can’t translate it, but I do have other things to do.”

  “Sure.” Jaeger looked to Lemuria. “The sword’s secured against tracking, so I think we’re good to start your job.”

  She simply watched him for a moment, not unlike a snake warily gazing at something, weighing whether it was prey or predator. She came to one conclusion or another and pushed out a pair of crates from under her desk. With ease, she popped the top on one and drew out an envelope.

  “Inside, you’ll find a few soft targets that you can obtain an invite pass from. I’d recommend the flesh trader. He runs a repugnant racket and is known to change his looks more than his shoes.”

  Jaeger pushed the folder to Kaeleth; he’d look it over when they left.

  “We’ll take that under advisement. Anything else?”

  “That depends on who you’re first target is. I’ve got a few traveling options depending on who you go after that should speed you along.”

  Kaeleth tapped his shoulder as she passed the folder over.

  “The flesh trader might be our best option. Many of the others would require a lot of prep work to pretend to be them, and if I’m to act as bait, I need to appear relatively like myself. There’s only one other invite that includes an elf, and we can’t handle that.”

  Jaeger flipped through the folder looking for the entry.

  “Who is it?”

  “Melissa Hardgrove and her adventuring party.”

  He’d heard that name recently, was Jaeger’s first thought, followed by a flash of remembrance.

  “They recently killed a Cerorinth.” He mumbled aloud as he envisioned the Cerorinth, but for once, his magically enhanced brain came up with nothing.

  “A Cerorinth!?! When? Where?” Anton had his hands on Jaeger’s shoulders in seconds and was questioning him in a frantic voice.

  “Calm down, Anton. I don’t know any of that, I just heard she handled one about the same time I came back to Patterson after dealing with the Swords of Greenwood.”

  Anton let go of Jaeger and disappeared. He simply started walking away, mumbling to himself, before his body faded away; he’d moved maybe ten feet away.

  “What was that?” Jaeger asked Lemuria. She had a concerned look on her face.

  “Nothing that matters for now. I would recommend you not mess with that party, though. And not just because you are also an adventurer.”

  For a brief moment, he thought about arguing or demanding information. Before he realized that even if he had his questions answered, they wouldn’t help with the job. So he stuffed down the curiosity, vowing to find out after the job, and forced himself to move on.

  “I suppose we’re going after the flesh trader.”

  The lamia madam/priestess clapped her hands.

  “Perfect. I have a boat down at the docks that is expecting you. Bring them this note.” She dipped her tail tip into an ink pot and rolled it across a piece of parchment, and handed it to Jaeger. “They’ll take you to the docks in the city where the flesh trader operates. Once you’ve dealt with him, they’ll then take you to the duke’s island estate.”

  Kaeleth frowned at that.

  “Island? You never said it would be on an island. You said this was in Danse Macre.”

  Lemuria nodded at that.

  “It is. This island, and the chain around it, were recently bought out by the merchant princes of Danse Macre. The duke then bought this one from them. The party is partially to show off his newest estate.”

  “That will make leaving more difficult if we get caught.”

  “Then don’t.”

  {End of Book 2 – He’s no Hero, just a humble Bounty Hunter.}