System Change

After leaving the Gracefall’s main manor, Derek walked towards the guest residence while Thomas jogged to catch up. Before long, the duo was walking side by side. Derek glanced at Thomas who kept opening his mouth, then hesitating before closing it.

“What do you want? Just speak.” Derek said.

“Mr. Gracefall, what was he like? I like Bronson, he seems like a really decent guy, so his master shouldn’t be bad, right?” Thomas asked.

Derek nodded. “He is one of the few people that I can see myself respecting, even trusting to a certain extent.”

Thomas spoke in a hushed manner. “What would happen if he found out… you know… about his son?”

“He’s a smart man, he already knows.” Derek said.

Thomas paused his movement, Derek stopped to wait for the boy’s mind to start working again. After waiting for nearly a minute with no change, Derek snapped his fingers in front of the boy’s eyes. The snap was loud, much louder than a normal snap. It sent Thomas tumbling to the ground, the snoring Silvi flying out of his arms.

Silvi landed gently on the ground next to the boy who was finally coming to. She glared at him with what Derek could only describe as a look of disgust. Derek laughed.

Thomas finally stood back up. He looked at Derek. Panicked, he said, “How? What is he… why are we…” Thomas rambled on and on before Derek stopped him.

“Enough.” Derek said. “Like I said, he is a smart man. He knew his son’s character and had already accepted the fact that the boy’s actions would eventually get him killed. You don’t have to worry about him, and you don’t have to worry about him acting against the village, either. In fact, he has used his own name and standing to protect your village and those inside.” Derek explained. “Now, let’s go. We shouldn’t be talking about things like this outside where anyone can hear us, anyway.” Of course, Derek was always checking his surroundings, so there was almost no way for others to eavesdrop on his conversation.

Thomas nodded and reached down to pick Silvi back up. She rested herself in his arms and turned her head away from him. Soon, the three began walking again and eventually reached the guest residence.

Once settled, and in private, Derek told Thomas about what he and Walter had discussed and what he thought about the situation. After the long conversation, they all headed upstairs to different rooms to spend the night.

***

After waking, Derek headed down to the common area to wait for Thomas. He was not in a rush to do things, so he let the boy sleep in. While waiting, a servant brought him some tea and a type of breakfast pastry. The food was rather good, but he was not a big fan of tea. Derek could not wait for Stella and the Crown Restaurant to finish reverse engineering his coffee.

While waiting for everyone to wake, Derek thought about his plans for the day. First, I should look into getting somewhere to stay. I think I would rather find a place in the merchant district instead of the noble district. It will be cheaper, and most of the things I plan to do will be in the middle area, anyway.

Derek looked down at his combat boots, which were falling apart. It’s too much to ask for a regular pair of boots to last with my strengths. I wonder if any of the crafters can repair them. Oh well, that will come last, if there’s time. Derek shook his head. I should have asked Brandi about them before I left. He sighed.

After getting a room at a decent hotel… erm… inn. I guess I should head to the Adventurer’s Guild and get one of those fancy badges. I wonder how they judge. I know they said that gold was for those above level 100, but I am not there yet, but I’m much stronger than someone at that level. I’ll just have to find out once I get there. Derek nodded.

I still need to head over to the Crown and talk to Stella about the Void Beast and contributions. I’ll wait a couple days before I do that, though. I don’t know how long it will take her to work a contract out with her boss. He thought.

After the meeting with Walter, I’m not going to look for any buildings to purchase, anymore. I would be out of my mind to set Brandi up in this city. Derek shook his head. Savannah is definitely a city I have to visit. The only question is if I should just bring Brandi along with me, or if I should let her stay in the village until I scope things out. Derek let out a long sigh. The longer she stays in the village, the more of a chance that someone finds out about her.

That was currently Derek’s biggest concern. With the village soon becoming a pit stop between the dungeon and the city, sooner or later Brandi would be in trouble. Walter was right in saying that the only way to guarantee her safety currently would to constantly be under his or Walter’s watch. I could have her stay at the Gracefall residence for a bit while I sort everything out.

Walter seemed pretty straightforward and trustworthy, but Derek still was not sure about leaving Brandi in his care for the time being. He would have to keep an eye on the man. One meeting was not enough for him to make a decision. Though he had sworn an oath, it was only to not speak of what he knew of Derek. The oath had not included Brandi in it. He had only gotten the man’s word that he would not act against her, and would actively help keep her safe. Derek needed to know what the man’s word was worth.

After settling what he was going to do, Derek waited patiently for Thomas. Eventually, he slipped into Greater Meditation and time passed much faster to him. Soon, at least to him, Thomas and Silvi came down and had breakfast too.

Derek waited for them to finish before speaking. “Today, we are going to find a decent inn in the merchant district, then I am going to run some errands. You are welcome to join, but I think it may be good for you to do some exploring by yourself. You have Silvi with you, so you won’t be in any danger.” With that, Derek pulled some gold coins out of his bracelet and tossed them to Thomas.

“That should be more than enough for you to shop and eat with today. Have fun, explore, make friends. Hell, buy some new clothes so you won’t have to wear armor or that old tunic all the time. Also, you could head to the Adventurer’s guild and register. You should be able to become a bronze member, that’s one of the things I plan on doing today.” Derek explained, then sent to the still sleepy Silvi. ‘Keep the kid safe, okay?’

‘Yes. He feeds me. Is my mount. Keep safe.’ The bunny replied.

Derek eyed Silvi suspiciously. He was sure that the bunny was just as, if not more, intelligent than an average human. He was pretty sure that she was just lazy. I would be too if I didn’t have to do anything but rely on another to get stronger. He thought to himself, as Silvi’s strength grew proportionately to his.

Suddenly, the voice appeared in his mind again. ‘Exactly.’

Derek finally understood. Silvi wasn’t incapable of sending complete thoughts. She was just too lazy to put together full sentences.

Thomas took the money in his hands. “This much? Are you sure?”

“Of course. It’s fine.” Derek replied. “If you need more, just ask Silvi to contact me. I’m not sure of the distance we can communicate with each other, so it will be interesting to find out. Now, let’s go inform Bronson that we are leaving.”

After that, they headed out to say their goodbyes.

***

Some time later, the trio was standing in front of the gate separating the noble district from the merchant district. Derek looked around and his eyes stopped on one of the extravagant inns. It was The Oliphant that Walter had told him about. Derek hesitated, but in the end, he decided that it would be for the best to find a decent inn in the merchant district, just like he planned.

The trio walked up to the gate, and the guards, who apparently already recognized Derek, nodded to him and opened it. Derek gave a nod as a thanks and they walked through. “Alright, let’s go look for a good place to stay.” Derek said to no one in particular.

They looked around at the buildings surrounding the main street. It was their second time to see everything, but the first time they came through, they were being led by Bronson and did not take much time on getting the lay of the land, so to speak.

Derek knew from earlier conversations that the closer one was to the noble section of the city, the more expensive the living arrangements were. He did not mind this, as if he was already able to stay a couple weeks at The Oliphant in the noble district, he would for sure be able to afford to stay in any of the inns in the middle section of the city.

Derek spent some extra time looking inside some of the buildings. He watched as a group of blacksmiths trained in the courtyard of one of the smithies, then he walked over to a tavern to see that no matter where you go, or what time it was, there was always money in alcohol. He also looked in on a few of the inns. So far, he did not like the attitude of two of them, and the third that he looked at was already filled to capacity.

Finally, they walked into a fourth inn. Just after entering, Derek smiled. This was exactly what he was looking for.

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