Published at 26th of August 2026 9:14 am

Chapter 171: The hero of the hour

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We don’t wait long for the guard and the auction house representatives to get to the warehouse. Maybe half an hour, during which I recover the sense tokens (which I include the existence of as a secret that he is not to spread nor make use of) and go over more details of our agreement.

The guard captain and auction house owner are both sceptical of my claim of finding the hideout and dealing with them, but accept it upon Johnathan’s assurance.

“And why did you handle it yourself instead of contacting us?” The guard captain – a grey-haired man with a well-kept but bushy moustache and a scar over one eye – asks.

I shrug. “I contacted the auction house. However, it seemed like they would move before they got here. As for the guard, well… It seemed the thieves were more capable than what a random patrol could handle. Liable to mess things up.” The captain bristles at that, but doesn’t verbalize a protest directly.

“And the pouches of coin you have bulging from your belt and pockets?” He says as if it were a counterpoint.

“Oh, these? I stole them from the thieves. You know, to trigger the curse from the God of Thieves.”

“I see. Then you should hand those over.”

“I protest,” I say innocently. “The curse only triggered because the god believed I would keep the coin, and wasn’t just taking it to manipulate them into cursing their followers. If I were to hand the coin over now, that would be making a mockery of the deity; would not? And is that not against the policy of the imperial sect?” I turn to the supreme hierarch of said sect for answer.

He laughs. “Indeed, it could even be said to be sacrilegious.”

“Being sacrilegious to a god of thieves is not a concern of mine.” The captain nearly spits.

“Perhaps not,” Rakenhal immediately steps forward, managing to appear looming over the captain despite being only a few inches taller, “but it is the concern of the Imperial sect, which has authority in such matters. The coins are to stay with young Monhal.”

“And what about his breaching policy by deliberately provoking a curse on another?” The captain seems to chew on his words as he speaks them.

“Indeed, that was bad of you, Malichi,” he gives me a chastising finger wag. “But to take the coins from him would only be compounding the breach. Besides, I’m certain he didn’t just take them to cause the curse.”

“You’re defending his religious crime by asserting a secular one?”

“And vice versa. But then again, he is a noble, with some authority to mete justice, and from a secular perspective, acts taken to achieve justice are given leeway.”

The captain grimaces, or rather, deepens his grimace. “You’re twisting things up, but fine. I see what you’re about. I know what’s good for me, I won’t press.”

“Excellent. Now, about the reward for returning the various magic items in the building? I trust that will all be going to young Monhal?”

“Surely that’s to be taken from the coin he purloined, no?”

“I hardly see why? They’re two different things, surely?”

The captain bites his lip, but finally agrees after a few more back and forths. Things will have to be tallied, since they sold about half of what they took already. But it looks like I’ll be getting nearly another ten large gold just from the general items in the warehouse and the stollen coin.

After the captain leaves, the auction master has a word. He agrees that their fee for selling the armour would be a fair amount to give me, and only after a little pushing from Rakenhal, too. After all, it’s still much cheaper than what they would have had to pay the sellers for losing their armour. Then there’s talk about the exact wording of any announcement regarding my participation in the event. We make sure I seem heroic rather than bloodthirsty.

Nobody thinks to ask about whatever Rakenhal did to compromise their security. I assume that the security heads will roll for the breach, and an investigation will be done to understand how the thieves got in, but I’m sure nothing will link back to Rakenhal. My first thought is that might put a strain on his relationship with his god. But no, thinking about it more, that’s exactly the sort of thing his god delights in. Standing unseen in the full light of day, all blind to him only because they do not look to see. Not seeing, after all, is the normal state of things, even when an abundance of light is present, and they are a god of light, not vision.

After that, I get a chance to finish the auction for the armour. Only the nobles who were still bidding are called back, and half send representatives. The format is altered to make things less awkward between the diminished participants – placing dividers between us so nobody gets cowed by a superior noble. I don’t know if that increased or decreased the final price, but I end up winning it for sixty-one large gold. Much more than I hoped, though I do get several large gold back as my reward. It’d be a real conflict of interest to let me in on the bidding if I didn’t fully intend to win it.

They even let me take it immediately, though I opt to have it delivered at a more convenient time. Another part of the reward that Rakenhal negotiated for me. He definitely is working hard to seem oh so useful. Indispensable, even. Though I suppose I probably could have talked them into the same thing. After, if I was going to abscond with it, I wouldn’t have bothered returning it. I just need to pay within a month, or I’ll have to start paying interest on what I owe. It shouldn’t be too hard.

I only had forty at the start of the auction, but with my rewards and what I took from the thieves, I should have about fifteen more. The rest I should easily be able to make gambling plus my other methods. I shouldn’t need to use what Rakenhal will be paying me for my interviews.

I don’t know why I don’t want to use his coin to pay for the armour. Coin should be coin, after all. But I just don’t want to. It’s not unreasonable, I don’t think. I want the gift to be from me, and that will be diluted if too much comes from one unreasonable source.

On the note of those payments, I’ll probably end up keeping it all invested. Just repeatedly cycling it and having it grow. I don’t want to live off it. It will only be used when the time is right. When the mission needs it.

After that’s settled, we go back to the temple for Rakenhal to swear his oath and stand vigil until dawn so he can properly repeat it. We tweak the wording a little and add a few other things favourable to me. I also ask several other questions to make certain that he’s not planning on betraying me somehow, or has already done something that will cause me problems.

Once we’re done, we’re closer to Allan’s place than either of mine, so I go back there. He’s up, and clearly hungover. The sun is still low in the sky, and shadows stretch along the wall and his face.

“Oh… I didn’t expect you back… You know, I heard the strangest thing about you. Of course, I must have misheard the name, or the person telling me did. They said they were at a particularly prestigious auction where thieves came and stole the main attraction. But, no worries, a dutiful citizen of the empire tracked it down all on their own and recovered it. Said they were an academy student. Even said they were my cousin… They said it was you.”

I tense as I listen to this strange cadence of his, with him stressing each short sentence with a strange weight. This isn’t like him. He almost seems angry, but somehow worse. I especially don’t like the nearly empty bottle in his hand. “Yes,” I say flatly, “that is what I was coming to talk to you about. But if you’re not in a state to discuss things…”

“I’m in a state.” He snaps.

“…Yes, I can see that.”

His face twitches, but he forces himself to breathe deeply with his eyes closed. He sets the bottle down and walks away from it, staring out the window. He rubs his face then, placing his hands to his side; he breathes rhythmically, his fingers twitching as he does. It’s like he’s trying to force himself to stop being intoxicated. A feat I didn’t know possible, but when he turns back to me, he has every indication of having achieved it. His eyes are no longer bloodshot, nor does it seem like he’s forcing his words through a headache. There’s still a tension to him, but it no longer seems like he’s falling apart.

“All right,” he says, a smooth smile forming. “That’s better, yes? Let’s discuss.”

Is his control truly so great that he can negate the toxins in his system on command, or is he just that good at seeming? I don’t know, and it terrifies me. I ignore the fear and sit down.

“It’s as you said. I went to an auction and ended up recovering some stolen items. I guess I’m the talk of the town again.”

“I didn’t even know you were going to that auction.”

I shrug. “I don’t tell you every time I go to a social event. I’ve been to several card games without mentioning.”

“No, but… surely you knew about how prestigious such an event would be. The number of powerful people there. Why did you go? Were you trying to make connections for your mission without asking for my help?”

I shake my head. “I went because I wanted to buy something?”

“What?”

“Well… you know… the main attraction.”

His mouth hangs open for a fraction of a second. “Did you get it?”

“Well… I mean, it was a bit more expensive than I was hoping, but yeah.”

He glances me up and down for some reason. Perhaps wanting to reassess me somehow and being stuck with the immediately physical. “How… why?”

“Well… mostly gambling, plus some other revenue sources… As to why? Well…” I blush and half-whisper the next part. “I bought it as a gift.”

“A gift‽... A gift? A gift?” His tone shifts drastically with each repetition of the words. The first utterance being that of shock at the absurdity of spending so much. The second as if he had just rediscovered the concept of gifting. The third as if the idea of me giving something to someone is the most intriguing proposition he has ever heard due to some unknown potential significance. “For whom?” He says this with a budding smile, eager to hear the development in my life.

“A um… friend?”

He laughs. “Shall I ignore the questioning tone? They must be some friend if you’re spending that sort of coin on them, no?”

“…Yes.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

… I can’t really say no to that smile. The sort of smile that I haven’t seen on him since before I became Anar’s favoured. So, I tell him of Terry. Everything I can think of, including the midnight ritual and the circumstance of my gift giving.

“I’m happy for you, Malichi. This might be the best news about you I have heard. I… I didn’t really think that you’d find someone that you would care about so much. At least I was worried you wouldn’t. This means so… This is why you didn’t tell me, wasn’t it? Because you knew I would start ascribing meaning to it. About possible changes it would bring to your future. Because you didn’t want to get my hopes up.” His tone shifts, staring ahead at me in realization.

I gulp, but nod.

“All right… You’re right. He’s not a solution. Still, I’m happy for you. It’s a thing by itself, even if it doesn’t lead to any change. Even if it doesn’t save you somehow. I can just be happy for you in the moment.”

“…Thanks… Is there any advice you can give me?”

“For love?” he asks, hopeful.

“…Yeah… I guess.”

He chuckles, but shakes his head. “I mean, you know how I am, right? I treat love as a game, with lots of players. Which is fine, cause all my lovers do too. But I don’t think you want to learn that type of love, do you? Not if you’re spending that much on a gift. Ha! I mean, I’ve bought expensive presents, but not anything more than say… three large gold? Well… there was that one time… Never mind.”

“I guess you’re right…” I say, a bit disappointed.

He shakes his head, grinning. “Well I suppose I do have some advice for people in general wich might help. Though you seem pretty tired. Maybe when you get up?”

I nod, then bite my lip, knowing what I need to say. “There is one more thing that you should know about.” I tell him about the Hierarch, and my deal with him. He looks grave.

He stares out the window as I finish “Well, that’s certainly one way to sour a good mood. This is… troubling. I don’t know what it means or… You said he swore on the setting and rising sun?” I nod. “And the exact wording was?” I recite it. “…Okay… he should be safe then. I guess there’s some nuance of theology I wasn’t aware of in the sun church, but I don’t think he’ll betray you with that oath, though I’ll research it to make sure… This may even be a good… No, I shouldn’t get my hopes up… Still, I think we don’t have to worry about this… Well, for you at least. Learning that a high official would behave like that is its own concern… Though that can wait until you sleep.”

I nod and head to the door, but… he looks so tired. Feeling the wrongness of him sitting, stooping in the half-dark, I stop and walk back to him, standing directly in front and look him in the eyes to speak plainly. “You’re fraying, Allan. I know you have hopes for me that you despair that I’ll ever achieve. But how can I if you break apart now?”

He looks me in the eyes for a brief while, then chuckles and glances away. “Yeah… I know… No, you’re right. I’ll try not to throw myself so hard into my… distractions. At least for a little while.”

I stare at his face, trying to determine if he means it. I think he does, but he could be tricking me… I don’t think he is, though. He just looks tired. I feel strange knowing that it’s a fatigue that I’ve caused. To know that I’ve only made his life more difficult since I’ve met him. Seeing the strain I’m having on him. Not knowing if there’s anything I can do to help him. So, I leave and go to sleep.

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