Published at 22nd of October 2023 9:42 am

Book 2: Chapter 35

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

There was one more task that Garrett cared about that could be achieved at the party, and it happened in one of the private gatherings that evening. True to his word the previous evening, the count sent a servant to inform Garrett which parlor the merchant’s card party would be in, and around nine at night, he had Marta wheel him in. There were already half a dozen people there, including the count himself, who was flushed from a day of drinking and schmoozing. Excitement colored the count’s face even redder when he caught sight of Garrett and he rose to greet him.

“Mr. Klein! So glad you came. How have you been enjoying yourself? I saw you playing cards with Baron Gelavin’s son earlier today and would have come over but didn’t want to interrupt. Come, let me introduce you to some of the others.”

Practically dragging Garrett over to one of the tables, he gestured to the three men that sat around it.

“Gentlemen, this is Mr. Klein, a merchant from Port Reverie who has some of the most fascinating products. Mr. Klein, allow me to introduce Markus Parrow, of Parrow’s Fine Goods, Horace Kneff who owns HK Imports, and Vincent Fenger of Fenger Acquisitions.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” Garrett said quietly, dipping his head as he examined the three men.

“Likewise,” Vincent replied, speaking for all three of them.

Vincent was a thin man with a hooked nose and a sharp look in his eyes whose long fingers constantly fidgeted with a small silver charm that was hooked on the end of a chain. Next to him, Horace Kneff was almost the exact opposite. As wide as both of the men who sat on either side of him put together, he sat with his hands splayed out on the table, his eyes half covered by his eyelids, not moving at all. The large chops on his face and his small, upturned nose made him look like a huge sleepy bulldog, but the expensive decorations that littered his vest were a clear indication that his mind was much sharper than his appearance indicated.

On the other side of Horace sat Markus Parrow, whose name Garrett actually recognized. Parrow’s Fine Goods was one of the companies who had started trying to compete with the Family’s soap sales, capturing a fairly large section of the market outside of the Family’s territory. According to the little bit he had learned from Carraway, Parrow’s Fine Goods was one of the biggest suppliers of goods in the city, and primarily competed in the lower end market, selling to commoners. Markus Parrow was a good looking middle-aged man whose hair was starting to turn white at his temples. The rumor was that he had been the third son of a small-time nobleman in another city before arriving in Insomnium many years ago to find his fortune.

“Klein, that name sounds familiar,” Markus said as Marta pushed Garrett up to the table.

Glancing after the count who was hurrying off to greet another person, Garrett smiled slightly.

“I am certainly familiar with your name. I am currently staying in the eastern part of the city and I see your products everywhere.”

“Ah! That’s right. You have a group over there. Where the Ghoul’s Tooth gang used to be,” Markus said, his eyes narrowing. “So you must be familiar with Carraway.”

“I am. Our group sells his soap.”

“You sell Ryn’s?” Horace Kneff spoke in a slow rumble. “I like it. Much better than Parrow’s. I have almost a complete set.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, come on,” Markus protested, a half smile on his face. “They’re two different things. It's not fair to compare them. We are modifying liquid soap, not using high quality bar soap. They aren’t the same.”

“Right. Which is why I like Ryn’s better,” Horace said, nodding heavily.

“The count mentioned that you’re from Port Reverie?” Vincent cut in, causing Garrett to turn to face the hawkish man.

“I’m from wherever I am currently living,” Garrett replied, his face calm. “But I have some connections in Port Reverie.”

“Connections are good. I’ve been looking to acquire some specific goods from Port Reverie so I might look you up once the gates open up and trade resumes.”

“Ugh, this has been so frustrating,” Markus said, his face twisting into a frown. “I don’t understand why it's taking them so long to re-open the gates. We’re losing money every day and our trade networks are falling apart.”

“Well, it's not going to be any better once they open,” Horace said in his ponderous voice. “The Duke will take his share and then some.”

Listening to them complain, Garrett got the distinct sense that they had rehearsed these same complaints over and over, or at least had spouted them so often that they had become rote. Looking around, he gestured for Marta, who was still standing behind him, to lean down.

“Would you mind getting one of the boxes I brought?”

“Of course, sir.”

Bowing, Marta hurried off, accompanied by the merchants’ curious glances. A few minutes later she returned with a small, ornate box that she put in front of Garrett. They were still bemoaning the lock down that kept them from doing their normal business, but after a few minutes, curiosity got the best of them and Markus gestured to the box.

“What’d you bring to show us?”

“Just a trifle,” Garrett replied, opening the lid of the box to reveal a simple glass crystal with a glittering rainbow flower inside of it. “I only have a few currently, but I’m hoping to have a few dozen more after my shipment from Port Reverie arrives the day after tomorrow.”

Sitting up sharply, Vincent stared at Garrett with an intense gaze and even Horace’s half-lidded eyes opened wide, looking like they would bug out of his head. Giving Garrett a careful look, Markus reached across the table to take the box, pulling it closer.

“This is interesting. It looks like glass work, is that right?”

“That’s correct. I’m not sure about the process, but it's a nice bauble,” Garrett replied.

“And is this all that you’re currently shipping?”

“No,” Garrett said, shaking his head. “I can move just about anything.”

“You said your name was Garrett Klein, right?” Vincent asked, taking out a small card from his breast pocket. “Where do you live? I think I’d like to come visit and get to know you a bit better after this weekend is over.”

The other two shot glares at Vincent, as if annoyed that he had made the first move, and hurried to get their own cards out. After exchanging information with them, Garrett spoke with them quietly for a bit longer and then left the salon, returning to his room with Marta. Along the way, Marta kept almost speaking before catching herself, and when they finally shut the door, she couldn’t help herself.

“Can you really move goods out of the city?! Are you a smuggler?”

Turning to look up at her, Garrett raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

“No, I can’t walk. It would be incredibly hard for me to smuggle anything. But I know a very good smuggler. Why? Do you need to move some goods?”

“What? No, no. I just think that’s really interesting. You keep revealing all sorts of fascinating sides to yourself. Makes me wonder what else you are hiding.”

“How did it go?” Grant asked, looking between them.

“Good,” Garrett said, taking off his coat and tossing it onto the bed. “I think with this, my persona will be firmly established. We’ll take our leave tomorrow morning. Tell them that we have some business to take care of, but give the count the three boxes we brought as a thank you. How was Henri’s report?”

“They’ve put the word out on the mirror,” Grant said, “but no sign so far. That woman must be awakened because she just vanished. It's like she flew away with it.”

That’s not too far off.

Amused, Garrett began to gather his things to pack them up before preparing for bed. They all went to bed early, and as he laid down in that large four-poster bed, Garrett found himself missing his small, simple bed in the inn. Though, if he was being honest, it might just be that he was missing the comfort and safety of the Dreamer’s Throne. Closing his eyes, he found Viper among the many connections and took control, appearing in Dreamer’s Rest. The awakened dreamers were all sitting around the table, talking about their upcoming attack on the meat processing plant.

Garrett had been having them avoid entering the plant until they were a bit more comfortable fighting against nightmares, but since they had cleared the surrounding area and planted flowers around the building, he thought that it was probably time for them to clear it out. Like normal, Kinsley was the most excited, and Asher was the least excited, but since Viper was coming with them this time, Asher was willing to entertain the idea. When Garrett took control of Viper, Maren was just starting to explain the plan that they had come up with.

“I’ve been through the plant a few times in the waking world, and it should be roughly mirrored in the dream. There are three main areas that we’ll need to clear. The first is the main floor of the plant. That’s where the animals come in and are killed and their blood is drained. From there, the animals are skinned and the meat is divided from the bones, and entrails, and split into two areas. The refuse pile is under the plant in a basement, where it's supposed to be burned. Some of it is burned, but a lot of it gets dumped in the sewers under the plant. So the basement is another area we’ll need to make sure is clear. Then, finally, the meat is sent for packing so it can go out to the butchers. That is the third area.”

“My thought is that we can enter through the dock area where the carts pick up the meat to take it out of the plant, clear that area, and then proceed to the main area. Once we’ve made sure both of those are clear, we can either retreat and come back the next night, or if we’re still feeling up for it, we can head to the basement. I’m guessing that is where we’ll find the real monsters, since whatever is down there has been feeding on the blood and entrails of animals for years.”

Shuddering, Estel’s normally calm expression cracked and she looked genuinely nervous.

“Do we really have to do this? Whatever is in there gives me the shivers.”

“We have to,” Kinsley replied, his eyes practically burning. “If we don’t it's never going to stop sending out nightmares and we’re going to be stuck clearing nightmares from that area forever.”

“Ugh. Fine, you’re right.”

“Don’t worry,” Pax said, patting Estel’s shoulder. “Between me and Viper, you’ll be perfectly safe.”

Nodding, Viper scooted his chair back.

“We will head out tonight to do our final preparation, and then tomorrow night we’ll clear the meat processing plant. Make sure that you’re well rested.”

With that the team split up to run their normal patrols and Garrett controlled Viper to leave Dreamer’s Rest and return to the waking world. He was down in the crypts, getting ready for the first shipment of goods from Port Reverie by making sure there was a clear path between the tunnel they had dug under the wall and the section of the sewer system that led to the warehouses in the dock district. Since he seemed to have that under control, Garrett transferred his consciousness to his other guardian, the Long-Haired Ghost.

He had not gotten time to fully explore the Hollow Space the night before, so he now began to sift through the scattered memories that the ghost possessed. The first thing he looked for was a name, to try and figure out what to call her, as he was sick of referring to her as the Long-Haired Ghost. Though she didn’t seem to have a name of her own that she remembered, he found a memory of someone calling out the name Isabelle, so he decided to use it. Pleased that his guardian now had a name, Garrett let Isabelle’s consciousness take more control and began directing her to do some of the tasks that she did by pure instinct.

After asking her to figure out how many Pale Fiends there were in the mansion, she spread her long hair out, almost like she was extending antennae, and let out a low shriek, causing them to vibrate. The sound rippled through the mansion, acting like a sort of sonar that gave her feedback on where the Pale Fiends currently were. After counting, it appeared that there were seven still roaming the halls, three of which were carrying flowers. There were dozens of flowers still in the Hollow Space, so Garrett ordered Isabelle to go capture the four Pale Fiends without flowers and bring them over.

Like a shot, she took off, flying through the dark hallways toward the closest of the Pale Fiends. It seemed to sense that she had come with ill intent because it tried to float away from her, but she was too quick and her hair wrapped around it, dragging it back to the room with the mirror where the flowers had arranged themselves. One of the three-bloom flowers detached itself from the wall, climbing onto Isabelle’s hair and picking its way over to the trembling Pale Fiend before burrowing into the thrashing nightmare’s mind. It took longer than normal for the flower to plant itself into the nightmare, since the Pale Fiend was resisting, but because it was bound up by Isabelle, it eventually succumbed to the dream flower and settled down, joining the ranks of Pale Fiends under Garrett’s control.

Good. Keep going. I don’t want anything wandering around here that isn’t under my control.

Nodding, Isabelle shot off once again, this time sweeping up the three remaining Pale Fiends before returning. After they had all been converted, Garrett continued to get to know his new space. It turned out that his instinct had been right, and the small mirror was the key to getting in and out of the Hollow Space that the larger mirror contained. According to Isabelle, the Hollow Space contained over ten miles of passages, stairways, rooms, and even a dead garden, though the space often changed, shifting and twisting into a new configuration. The only thing that remained constant was the room with the mirror, that served as the primary exit and entrance to the space.

What about other exits? Are there ways to link other mirrors to this space?

Thinking for a moment, Isabelle slowly nodded her head and her wide mouth opened.

“Yes, master. But only once your will is made manifest.”

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