Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (english reading book TXT) 📗

or I’ll have to lie,” I said. “It’s not my secret to tell. Actually, forget what you saw and that you met me. It might backfire.”

“Olaf already suggested I don’t poke my nose into that,” Thrainul grumbled. “I’ve already forgotten where we’ve been and what we’ve done.”

“A secret agent on a covert mission?” Fayana gave me a provocative smile. “You’ve sparked my curiosity, HotCat! I won’t sleep until I learn everything!”

“Take sleeping pills,” I recommended to her. “Thrainul, what are our plans? My business is almost over.”

“The hold’s full of precious loot from the Guardian, not to mention the stuff on the bottom. We need to get it to the upper worlds to sell it. I’ll go to Ironguard; I have connections there.”

“Is it the only port in the Hole with a portal to the outside? I’ve heard it’s controlled by Pandas. They must have blacklisted us. Won’t we get caught?

“Don’t tell me how to live, all right? They don’t have a chance!” The captain puffed. “It’s on me, fine? Where should I send it, the Bazaar?”

“Yes. Just don’t put me as the employer; I’ll send you the nickname. I’m counting on you. Half of the profits from the second batch are yours.”

“It’s a deal. What else?”

“Can you show me our route?”

Thrainul frowned and sent me a file with the screenshot of the map. The serpentine line of our route was marked with dots. I nodded, pleased—just as I had expected, the Abyssal was bound to go past the Crown of Ice.

* * *

Half an hour earlier on the Isle of Madness

 

“Pay you? Hmm...” Rocky said, puzzled. Apparently, he wasn’t prepared for such a turn in our conversation. “What do you need, anyway?”

I dramatically rubbed my fingers.

“You must realize that I can’t transfer real money to you. However, many things in Sphere can be turned into cash,” the Gravekeeper continued. “Well, I can repeat my offer—we should go and wake Romanova together. First of all, she’ll confirm my words. Second, she has something you should like.”

“Which is?”

“We were preparing for a Sphere-wide apocalypse. The Magister wasn’t the only one to get an impregnable fortress and a pocket faction. There is a hidden citadel able to move between worlds—the control center that we planned to use as our headquarters and stronghold in case the Seven Brothers were activated. It has everything: a special faction devoted to the Seven Brothers, protections, lots of blueprints, recipes, and items unseen in Sphere. Right now, all of it is frozen on one of the islands in the Hole.”

“The Crown of Ice!” I guessed. So there was a reason why the mysterious island was shaped like a frozen fortress. It was a castle with unmatched defenses, hiding a great many secrets... Curiosity ate away at me.

“Exactly,” Svechkin said, nodding. “This is where Romanova—the keeper of the citadel, the head of the faction, our Cerberus, and our idea woman—is sleeping. Alone, I have no hope of getting inside, but together, we’ll be able to unseal the Crown.”

“Let’s be specific. What will I get?”

“You can have your pick of one item from the citadel’s treasury. I’ll tell you right away—all of them are completely imbalanced. That’s why we never released them into Sphere. The Balance—”

“Three,” I interrupted him.

“What?” Svechkin asked, confused.

“I’ll pick three items from your fortress’s storage,” I replied. “It’s my payment for not selling you out to the Magister and helping to awaken your girlfriend. We’ll discuss our further cooperation after I get my reward. Seeing as you have no choice, I’ll take your silence as consent.”

Svechkin slowly nodded, acknowledging my demands.

“Now that we’ve dealt with that, let’s continue. We can’t be seen together, you must realize that. The Magister’s no fool, and I can’t give him any cause for suspicion.”

“Agreed. I can’t return to the Abyssal. I must disappear. Wait a second. I have an idea.”

Your reputation with Rocky (Gravekeepers) increased by 10,000. Current value: 10,000/10,000 (Admired).

“Thanks, but why?” I asked, surprised.

“Select me via the interface. You should get a new tab. I hope you have at least a hundred points in Leadership.”

A golden icon with a handshake appeared next to Rocky’s portrait. When I clicked it, a message popped up.

You have reached maximum reputation with Rocky (Gravekeepers)! Rocky (Gravekeepers) wants to become your companion! Warning: refusal might cause unpredictable changes to reputation!

“Click yes,” Svechkin commanded. “I’ll become your pawn so that you can hide me in your inventory via Compress Artifact. Got it? Release me when you get to the Crown.”

“Give my stuff to Thrainul,” he said, pointing at the lonesome hat and the rapier lying on the pile of rocks. “Tell him that you found it next to the specters onshore. Is everything clear? If you don’t release me in twelve hours, I’ll remove the reputation and leave the figurine. Convince the captain to go past the Crown.

* * *

While we were leaving the Sea of Terror, I used my free time to hole up in a corner of the hold and sort out the loot dropped by the Pandorum warriors. There was so much of it that my inventory was almost full. As I opened the bag, I started pulling items from the extradimensional space.

Six bottles of various elixirs. The Pandas didn’t use standard-issue potions—all of them were rare and epic. I fiddled with a light blue vial of Dolphin’s Breath, a flaky black Darkvision, and a crimson Bear’s Blood that boosted Strength by 15 points for 30 minutes. One of the flasks turned out to contain an alchemical poison, Devil’s Kiss, and another, a flaming oil used to coat weapons.

There were four scrolls: Arrow of Luck—a buff for archers, Circle of Light, Cleansing, and Ice Needles. Only the latter was of any value, being a fifth level AOE water spell, but I