As they drew close to the Arc Guild, Jen gave Sam a meaningful look and said, “I’m hot, let’s stop at this food cart and get something to drink before we go in.”

Jen then messaged Sam and pointed to a fat finely dressed man sitting outside a small restaurant with several guards around him, “I’m picking up an unusual conversation from that man’s coms device. I’ll link you in while we stand in line for a drink.”

“Master Lee Zhang, I must receive payment for the enchanted crop poisoning rod by the end of the week. The Roulette Confederation is very upset with all the delays.”

Lee Zhang’s slimy voice replied, “Guild Master Smith, I just watched Joe Ford’s wife enter the Arc Guild. That useless whore is asking her brother, Guild Director Devon, for another loan. Even Director Devon does not have unlimited money to keep giving to his whore sister for making her payments to me.”

Guild Master Smith replied, “What do I care about your debtors. When will I get the money!”

“The Farmer’s Guild will not receive a single copper for those poisoning rods until I am able to foreclose on Joe Ford’s farm. That is why you should care! That whore Cristi Ford will regret the day she rejected me for that useless broke husband of hers.”

“You know most of the money belongs to the Confederation, and they will not be happy about the delay in payment.”

“If the Roulette Confederation wants my assistance, they will have to wait on the money and wait until I determine the time is right. They need me, not the other way around! Then, when I control the city, I will make all the farmers join your guild. Do not pester me with your problems again,” Lee Zhang said as he ended the conversation.

Jen was a little shocked after intercepting the coms, and with a question on her face said to Sam, “At least I have his coms ‘signature’ now. I’ll discuss it with Tamako, but not our problem to solve, just a problem we should avoid, right?”

Sam nodded his head in agreement, as they walked up to the guard standing in front of the door of the Arc Guild.

The guard asked, “What’s your purpose?”

Jen replied, “We are looking for goods and information on guild membership.”

The guard advised them: “Guild business in the left hall, and on your right, you will find the Guild’s public store. You’re on Casino City recognized private property. We will summarily execute any gambler activity.”

“Wow! They’re not playing games :)” Sam messaged to Jen as they entered the Guild House and turned towards the Guild’s store.

Jen groaned, “Stop with the old man puns!”

As Sam started to inspect the items that were for sale, Jen messaged him, “Stay alert, I can’t watch your back right now, I’m attempting to intercept voice waves of any private conversations. Intercepting voice waves requires a lot more focus than coms devices.”

Jen strolled through the Arc Guild’s public store next to Sam, and a few minutes later, with a barely noticeable look of accomplishment, as well as a hint of guilt on her face, she located the voices and eavesdropped on Cristi Ford and Director Devon.

“Cristi, your crops are in terrible shape, there is no way you can pay your debts, and I don’t have any more money to loan you. I truly wish I did.”

Cristi Ford’s voice sounded broken when she replied, “Devon, you have been more than generous. Joe and I thank you for all you’ve done for us! Please take a look at this. It is an heirloom passed down through Joe’s family for hundreds of years. It is a very rare and valuable enchantment rod that filters the ambient mana and covers the crops with focused earth mana, increasing the production of crops. No one knows why, but it has not been working since Joe’s father owned the farm. If someone could get it to work, it would be worth a small fortune! Do you think the Arc could sell this on consignment in its public shop?”

Director Devon’s voice was strained with regret when he said, “Little sister, if the enchantment does not work, this rod would not bring 50 silver, and you need 400 silver to pay off Lee Zhang.”

Jen frowned at learning that Lee Zhang would indeed be able to foreclose on the poor farmers. She just knew that he was using those enchanted poison rods to ruin these people’s lives. “But is it our problem?” she thought to herself.

A few minutes later Jen spotted Director Devon and Cristi Ford coming from some hidden back offices as she heard Devon say, “Tell Joe to stop by the Guild next time he is in the City.”

“Whoa, he has two level 16 guards escorting him,” Jen messaged to Sam, who was over looking at some glass case.

Against her better judgment, which was telling her not to get involved, and before the guards could intervene, Jen used her quick movement speed to intercept Director Devon. “Excuse me sir, we are new to the city, and my father has a limited skill in fixing enchantments and creating small charms. We were wondering if the Arc Guild would be interested in selling our goods?”

The two guards were surprised by Jen’s speed and their inability to intervene more quickly. As the biggest guard took a strong but polite grip of Jen’s arm, and while redirecting her to the counter said, “Miss! You are talking to Director Devon. He is the head of the Casino City Arc Guild, please take your questions to the clerk behind the counter.”

Jen recognized the danger of being mistaken as a gambler, and allowed herself to be led away and replied to the guard, “Thank you. I will speak with the clerk. Please forgive my rudeness.”

Both Cristi Ford and Director Devon both heard what she said about repairing enchantments. Director Devon turned towards Jen and politely said, “Excuse me young lady, I did not catch your name.”

Before Jen could respond, a salesperson on the other side of the room yelled at Sam, “Sir, you must get off the floor! This is the Arc Guild, we don’t allow gamblers to come in here and lay down on the floor! You must leave now, or the guards will strike you down!”

The salesperson’s loud comments jolted Sam out of the focused trance that he was in.

“My apologies, I assure you I am not on a gambler’s quest. I will leave immediately,” but as the guards were headed towards him, he quickly whispered to the salesperson, “I am very sorry for my unprofessional actions, but you should know, the security enchantment on the glass vault is not working correctly.”

Jen gave Sam a look of both astonishment and bewilderment. She just couldn’t understand how one of the most professional and skilled agents at blending in would have made such a scene crawling around on the floor.

While pointing towards Sam, Jen allowed herself to blush as she replied to Director Devon, “I’m Jen, and I apologize for the actions of my father. We shall leave immediately and cause you no more trouble or disruption.”

The Arc Guild’s head of security heard Sam’s comment to the salesclerk and intercepted the guards approaching him. He then turned to Sam, and quietly said, “Master Enchanter, I apologize for the confusion caused by our salesperson. Please allow me to introduce you to Director Devon. He is in a meeting right now and will be free to meet with you in just a few moments. May I offer you some coffee in our private VIP lounge.

Sam, not wanting to cause any more disturbance, simply replied, “Thank you, just let me get my daughter to join us.”

Director Devon noticed everything that was happening and responded to Jen, “Ms. Jen, we are honored to have you and your father visit our Guild. Would you please introduce me to your father and allow me to host you for a drink in my office?”

“Director Devon, this is my ‘father’, Sam,” Jen said, as they approached Sam and the head of security.

Jen looked at Sam with puzzlement still in her eyes, when she said, “Dad, the Director has graciously invited us for a drink in his office.”

Sam replied, “A drink sounds great. Thank you for your kindness, and I truly apologize for my appalling actions earlier. I sometimes lose track of my surroundings when I am….looking at things.”

Director Devon replied with understanding when he said, “No problem. My sister, Cristi Ford, is visiting me, would you mind if she joins us?”

Sam replied, “That would be wonderful. It’s an honor to meet you both today.”

A nosy customer commented, “Why is the Director talking to that vagrant who was laying on the ground!”

“He must have some sort of connections for the Head of Security not to simply kill him as a gambler,” said another customer.

The nosy one replied, “They rarely kill anyone, but you’re right: they normally would have tossed him out in the street with a new lump on his head.”

“I’ve never seen the Director personally get involved with a customer the guards were about to throw out!” said a gaudily dressed merchant.

“Maybe he stole something!” another said.

On their way to the Director’s office, Jen intercepted the coms message between the head of security and the Director. “He told the salesperson that the security enchantment on the Class IV Glass Vault was broken. Only you and I knew about that… and now the clerk knows.”

Devon replied, “That vault was made and enchanted by the Third Deck guild dropper Grayson over 30 years ago, and when he left, he swore to never return to a lower deck again, no matter how much the guild offered to reward him.”

As they entered the Director’s office, the head of security closed the door and took up a position by the door inside the room, while the other guards kept watch on the outside of the door.

Director Devon said, “Please have a seat. What would you like to drink? I have some whisky or water.”

“Whisky,” replied Sam.

“Water,” replied Jen as she gave Sam a tight smile.

While fixing their drinks Director Devon said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were a master enchanter, or I would have welcomed you in my office when you arrived. We rarely see a master enchanter in Casino City or anywhere in the First Deck. As you probably know, most enchanted items in our city are passed down as family heirlooms, found in rare dungeon drops, purchased from the System Shop, or purchased from Deck Droppers with the enchanting skill at great expense.”

Jen replied, “We are from a very small town that was destroyed by the war between the Roulette Confederation and Race Track City. We have never been to an Arc Guild’s public store before, but of course we have heard of its reputation for honor and high quality items.”

Director Devon replied, “That’s right, we hold honor above all else, and we lawfully work towards the destruction of gambling. We can’t control the system, and its offered temptation, but we can work to educate and discourage those that would partake of the euphoria.” Director Devon ended his discussion of the Guild’s mission as he noticed his sister giving him the eye about getting too preachy.

As Jen finished a sip of her water, she said, “Director Devon, I apologize, but I think there is some confusion. My Dad is not a Master Enchanter, but he does have a little skill with weak enchanted charms and the ability to make minor repairs to enchanted items. We’re planning to open a store in the city selling our weak charms and fixing enchantments. Nothing we would sell would be as high quality as what I saw in your public store.”

When Jen said her “dad” was not a master enchanter, she barely needed her psych ability to feel the disbelief coming from the Head of Security, and she also took notice that Director Devon was able to do a much better job at hiding his disbelief and emotions.

The Director could tell that Jen handled the negotiations for her dad. He thought, “This is probably better, enchanters are supposed to be weird, confusing, and difficult.”

The Director looked towards his sister when he said to Jen, “I hope we can help each other in the future. You’re welcome to call upon us for any assistance or questions you may have about opening a store in the city. I know you haven’t opened your store yet, but our chance meeting may be good for both you and my sister.”

“What do you have in mind?” replied Jen.

“You see, Cristi was visiting me today about a broken enchantment rod that she was looking to sell or fix.”

Sam had been feigning polite indifference to the discussions, but he sensed his part and pretended to perk up when he heard the Director mention the broken enchanted rod, and in a stream of questions directed to Cristi, he said, “May I have a look at it? What did the enchantment do? Do you know how it was broken?”

The Director nodded at his sister, and she pulled the rod from her ring and said to Sam, “This enchanted rod has belonged to my husband’s family for hundreds of years. We don’t know why it stopped working, but when it worked, it filtered the mana in the air and would send out mana that quadrupled the farm’s crop production.”

Sam looked at the enchanting rod for just a second and blurted out, “How much would this be worth if it worked properly?”

Sam’s bluntness felt rude and caught the Director off guard, but Jen quickly said, “I’m sorry Director. My dad is very blunt. His intention is only to determine if the value of the enchanted rod is enough to justify the expense of trying to fix it.”

The Director thought to himself, “ I don’t really know these people, can I trust them to deal fairly with my sister? But Cristi really doesn’t have any other options.” He said to Jen and Sam, “If it was fixed and actually worked, the system would probably purchase it for 8 gold, but it might sell for 9, maybe 10 gold if we sent it off to an auction. I think the system would probably sell this type of enchanted rod for 12 or 13 gold.”

Sam then said, “I think I can fix it but maybe not. We might be willing to buy it, or maybe we could split the sale proceeds…”

Jen interrupted Sam again and said, “Dad! Let me handle this.”

Sam replied, “Of course honey, please take care of this while I look at this enchantment a little more.”

Jen turned to Cristi and said in a gentle voice, “We wish to negotiate a fair price in exchange if my Dad is able to fix it, but I feel you must be under some pressure if you are selling a family heirloom that helps your farm produce the highest quality crops. Of course, it is none of our business, but if there is more to your story, maybe we can help in another way?”

The Director started to intercede for the privacy and honor of his sister, but Cristi said, “It’s OK Devon, I am asking for their help, and I don’t believe Jen would have asked if her intentions were not honorable.”

The Director cringed inside as he was thinking, “This is the Decks, Sis! Most Strangers don’t help others or feel any need to act honorably. They’re going to take you for every copper now.”

Jen sensed that the Director was upset with his sister’s decision to tell them her troubles.

Cristi explained, “We’ll lose our farm if we do not pay 4 gold to a creditor by the end of the week, and besides our farm, this is the only thing of value we have left.”

Jen did not reply immediately as she took a moment to finalize a plan in her mind, and then said, “This is our offer. If my dad can fix the enchanted rod, we will buy it for 4 gold right now, but you will also get to use the rod until the end of the crop season. Additionally, my dad and I will inspect your farm and help you identify the best location to use the rod. At the end of the season, you can buy the rod back for 6 gold. If you cannot buy the rod back for 6 gold, we’ll auction the rod off to the highest bidder. Any proceeds up to 6 gold will belong to me and my dad, and you will receive any amount over 6 gold.”

Cristi, and especially the Director, were stunned at the generous offer from Jen and her dad. Cristi said, “I don’t know what to say, your offer is far too generous!”

Jen replied, “Then say, ‘yes’ you’ll accept our offer.”

Cristi nodded in disbelief for a second, but quickly said, “Yes, I accept. Your kindness and honor are accepted and appreciated greatly. My family will also do everything we can to help you settle and prosper.”

The Director was watching Sam and noticed that the strange enchanter was not really paying attention to anything, but was in some sort of trance intently inspecting the rod.

Jen looked at the Director and said, “Before I continue, you have already explained that the Arc Guild holds honor above all else, but Cristi, I need to make sure that what we say in here today, and what we do for you, your husband, and your farm remains confidential.”

Cristi understood the risk Jen and her dad might face if the true skill (she thinks) Jen’s father has were to become public. Cristi immediately said to Jen, “I bet on my honor and ability points, witnessed by the System that I can keep your involvement secret. Unless you request otherwise.”

Director Devon looked angry at his sister for betting on her ability points and the system, but nothing could be done now, and he said, “The Arc guild will agree to keep your confidences.”

Jen looked directly at Cristi and gave her a sincere, “Thank you,” and then looked at Director Devon and said, “and thank you, Director. We haven’t told you everything we would like for you to consider, and I hope you’ll understand why when you see this.”

Jen then lifted her hand and pulled from her ring the sword and armor of the bandit Ganjo and said, “We would like to know if the guild would be interested in selling this armor we looted from bandit Ganjo’s dead body.”

The Director was completely taken by surprise with the turn of events. The Head of Security’s eyes almost fell out of his head, and Cristi looked like she was about to faint. The Director was at a loss for words; he couldn’t understand how these two were able to kill the high-level bandit Ganjo, and everyone knew you would’ve had to kill him to get his sword and armor!

The Director finally said to Jen and Sam, “I apologize, but the guild requires us to check that you have come by these goods honorably.”

Jen replied, “Director, no need to apologize, we killed the bandit in order to free some farmers and three other weird people that Ganjo forced into slavery.”

Director Devon gave his chief of security a thoughtful look and wondered if the three weird people were the ones from Earth that were rumored to have teleported into Ganjo’s territory.

Director Devon pushed his thoughts of travelers from Earth aside as he obtained an ability gambling oath from both Jen and Sam that they killed the bandit Ganjo. He advised, and then asked Jen, “We can send it off to the auction next month on your behalf. Our fee for handling the sale confidentially is 10% of the net proceeds obtained at the auction. Is that agreeable?”

Before Jen could answer, Sam said, “Aha! I’ve got it!” Sam had been inspecting the enchanted rod and working on decrypting its meaning in order to find the error, and he had just realized the problem.

Everyone was now looking at Sam, so he explained, “This enchanted rod is actually made up of 10 smaller separate rods, connected along here.”

The location on the rod that Sam was pointing to did not look any different than the rest of the rod to everyone else in the room. In explanation, Sam broke the 10 pieces apart. Cristi almost fainted, believing that the rod was now irreparably broken.

Sam then started connecting the rods together again explaining, “My guess is that at some point, someone must have dropped the rod, and the 10 parts became unlinked. They then linked the 10 pieces back together, but they had linked them in the wrong order for the enchantment to work.”

Sam finished snapping the pieces together and twisted the rod causing another clicking sound. “There, all fixed!”

To Jen he said, “Go ahead and pay 4 gold to Cristi.”

Sam privately messaged Jen to confirm she was in agreement, then he said to Cristi, “There’s one more thing. In addition to increased production, this enchanted rod will also increase the physical size of the crop. Can you show us your farm today, so that we may get this rod installed and working?”

Cristi’s world had just done several summersaults. She had been leaving the guild with no money, but now, she had a chance to make things better for the farm. She felt light-headed and was close to fainting, but she refused and stayed conscious, she didn’t want to wake up and find a different reality. Cristi finally said, “Yes, it is just outside of the City. It will not take long to get there.”

Director Devon looked at his little sister full of love and relief, and said to her, “Go ahead and take them to the farm, Cristi. I will have the 4 gold sent to Lee Zhang, and he will be paid in full before the end of the day!”

Director Devon then said, “Master Sam, I have one more question before you go, would you be able to fix the glass vault in the showroom?”

“My daughter was correct when she said I only have a small skill in fixing enchantments. For example, if you were to see a gauntlet that had the middle finger and the thumb mixed up, you would know exactly what was wrong with it, but that doesn’t mean you have the skills of a blacksmith to fix the gauntlet. This is like your glass vault that I cannot fix.

“However, if you saw someone trying to put on a suit of armor, and they kept trying to put the gauntlet on their foot, you could tell them that the gauntlet belongs on their hand. This was like your sister’s enchanted rod: a simple correction that my small skills were able to make.”

As Sam and Jen were walking down the road with Cristi, Jen heard the Head of Security say, “Those two are very, very dangerous people. I don’t think I could have killed the bandit Ganjo in a one-on-one fight. Don’t be fooled by Master Sam’s actions. I watched the way he communicated with his daughter very closely. I think he may be a good man, but if someone were to even threaten his daughter, I don’t think an entire army could stop him.”

The Director’s reply was lost to Jen as they moved further down the road.

Jen and Sam did not fully realize the ally they created by helping Director Devon’s sister.