Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 99

Dante looked at the papers with more than just a bit of disbelief. As the first lady said, they were deathmatch contracts, all of them issued to fighter 7332. Which was him. He wasn’t surprised by the contracts, he had expected them. But he was surprised by how quickly they were sent out. Especially the first lady’s mention of them being an hour old. That didn’t seem possible.

From the moment he exited the Combatant’s Hall to the time that Henry found him inside of the private room, no more than fifteen minutes could have passed. Not only did that mean that someone on Eric’s side had these contracts set up within minutes, but it also meant that the first lady had sent Henry out in those few minutes. The relay speed of information was unfathomable.

The first lady saw his surprise and clearly mistook the reason for it. “Ordinarily, deathmatch contracts are immediately approved as long as neither of the fighters are subordinates of mine. This is a rather unique case, because two of these three challengers are very important to a faction that opposes me. Which is why I asked for you.”

Dante watched as she picked through a few papers and read through them. “Seventeen consecutive losses in the Combatant’s Hall, then you went on to easily defeat Eric Navos. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that you were hiding your strength.” She looked up from the paper, as though gauging his reaction. “I think we may be able to help each other.”

That was unlikely. He still kept an interested expression on his face though. “How so?”

“I’m sure that you are aware of your current… predicament. War Leader Navos’ son won’t allow you to live comfortably, if at all, but if you help me I am willing offer you my protection. Should you prove to be useful, I could even offer you a full-time position with several benefits.”

He couldn’t imagine a person that was stupid enough to accept the conditions she was giving him. She wanted him to kill at least one, or possibly even two important people. And in return for digging his own grave, he would be given a ‘position’, and protection from the people who would then want to kill him in retaliation.

She probably didn’t even think he would win. Just that it would be worth a shot, a risk she could take without incurring losses.

Dante looked down at the three deathmatch contracts that were placed in front of them. One of the challengers had the last name Navos, the other two were people he hadn’t heard of before. “You want me to kill them?”

The first lady gave a slight nod. “Indeed.”

“I refuse.”

There wasn’t the slightest change in her expression. “Might I ask why?”

Dante gave a light shrug. “I’m not confident in my ability. The reason why I lost so many fights on purpose was so that Eric would underestimate me. If he hadn’t, I couldn’t even say for sure that I could have beaten him.” Dante gestured to the three papers. “There is no way the people they sent to fight me are weaker than him. On the contrary, they are likely far stronger. If I agreed to your suggestion and tried to fight one of them I would be signing my life away.”

Dante continued. “Even if I was successful, War Leader Navos would involve himself directly to kill me. And I doubt he would do it through a deathmatch. I would be living in constant fear.”

She nodded. “Your reasoning is sound, and your answer was to be expected.” The first lady smiled lightly, it actually seemed genuine. “You can’t fault me for trying though.”

She picked up the three contracts and stacked them off to the side. “It will be a small matter for me to delay the approval of these contracts for a few days, but I will eventually be pressured into signing them. Once that happens, you will be coerced into agreeing to at least one of them. I would suggest you leave Sloria before that happens. Henry is waiting outside, he will escort you past the guards.”

Dante couldn’t help but stare at her blankly. He couldn’t believe that she wasn’t going to pursue the issue and try to force him into doing what she wanted. Didn’t believe it. At first, he thought it was a trick, but she was obviously done with him. The first lady had already shifted her attention to a different stack of reports, completely ignoring him.

Dante stood and moved to the door, pausing for a brief moment as he waited for… something. Some threat or command to return. But the first lady remained silent, so he opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

Henry was waiting for him, the old man looked him up and down with interest. “That was certainly quick. I assume things didn’t go well?”

“Actually, things went better than I thought they would.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I can drop you back off into the second section of the city. The four gates lead to the Hall District, Residential District, Shopping District, and the Barracks. Which would you like to go to?”

“The Hall District.” Meeting with the first lady hadn’t taken much time, so he didn’t see the point in holding off on his shopping.

Henry nodded. “Follow me then.”

The two of them retraced their steps until they returned back to the Hall District. When they arrived, Henry politely said goodbye before stepping away.

Dante then made his way to the Merchant’s Hall.

Upon stepping into the Merchant’s Hall, the first thing he noticed was the orderliness. The room he stepped into had four different staircases, one in each corner of the room, and a large section of desks against the far wall. Those desks were flooded with attendants, and around half of them were busy assisting either buyers or sellers. Other than those people and the occasional passerby that ascended or descended the stairs, the room was vacant.

Dante stepped up to a free attendant, an elderly man that was scribbling numbers on a blank piece of paper. “Excuse me sir, could you help me?”

The elderly man placed his writing utensil down gently, then moved the paper to the side and looked up at him with clear eyes. “Certainly, how may I help you?”

Dante smiled amiably. “This is my first time at the Merchant’s Hall, and I need to purchase quite a large number of items. I’m afraid I’ll need help locating them.”

“Oh, that makes things easy then.” The elderly man reached down into a cabinet and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. “Just make a list of everything you are looking for. If you don’t know an item’s name, a detailed description will usually do.” He placed the two items in front of Dante. “The time it takes for us to find the items will depend on the quantity and variety of what you are looking for, but it shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”

Dante gratefully accepted the pen and paper. The idea of just filling out a list and letting others find the things he was looking for was incredibly convenient.

Dante began to write, first starting with the alchemic ingredients he needed. Mostly just large quantities of various plants and reagents that were needed for the few alchemic pills that he could make. He then moved on to the jars he would need to store the ingredients when his pen paused on the paper. Dante looked back up at the receptionist. “How expensive are storage containers with preservation enchantments?” All of the alchemy jars he had were acquired by Victoria, and he definitely didn’t have enough.

The elderly man didn’t even pause, he was able to instantly recall the information. “The going rate for preservation enchanted storage containers is 2 gold per cubic foot, and to the best of my knowledge our containers range from 2 cubic feet to 10 cubic feet.”

They were more expensive than he had thought, and they didn’t even have the smaller jars that Victoria had given him, it was a good thing he had asked first.

He decided to get twenty 2 cubic foot containers and ten 5 cubic foot containers. It was a large monetary loss, but since his storage skill didn’t preserve the items he stored, he considered it to be necessary.

There was only one other thing that he knew he needed, enchanting powder. He didn’t really know what that entailed, as his knowledge was lacking. But from his time spent with Leah he knew that there was more to the powder than just grinding down Chaos stone. Other added items were needed.

Since the receptionist had said that he could just describe an item that he needed, he asked for a variety of enchantment powders. He added a few details, mentioning that he needed them for tier one and two enchantments, which would be fine for now, and that he wanted no more than ten gold worth. It wasn’t that he wanted to spend so much, but he was fairly certain that the powder would be at least somewhat expensive, and he would need quite a bit to practice with.

After that, he handed his list over to the elderly man. “Is there a way for me to browse other items while I wait?”

The elderly receptionist gestured to the stairs as he accepted the list. “The upper floors have items that are set out to be sold. The value of the items on display increases with each ascending floor.” He then looked over the list carefully, muttering to himself as he made notes on it with a pen. “Since most of the items are located in the same general area, I should have everything collected in an hour or two. Will you be staying in the Merchant’s Hall so that you can collect them, or should I send the items to your residence?”

“I’ll be browsing the items on the upper floors. Just come and find me when everything is ready.”

After the receptionist nodded in confirmation, Dante turned and stepped up the stairs.