Chapter 22: Vacher's Delema

It had been weeks since what the dealers in the city of Fontaine had first encountered the being recently dubbed "The Brass Wraith." What was more troubling was that it left several messages whenever it attacked. It would have been fine if the messages were just simple warrnings to whomever came across them, but several had called him out by name, not any of the fake ones he used in his business, but the name he had worked so hard to bury and conceal.

Were the rumors that this wraith was a ghost like the ones from Liyue true? In the many deals he had done in the black market, it wouldn't have supported him that one of them had ended up killing a tourist. Heck he had to use his connections to cover up the disappearance of a merchant from Mondstat after they got into a freud with a local nobleman he had ties with. However if that was the case, he would have been several degrees removed from any potential offing of the kid.

The whole thing was only causing him further frustration after he found that his assassination attempt of the boy named Carman who had become a resident of one of his buildings was unsuccessful. Was he of foreign descent? That mad things a little more complicated, if he wanted to use the kid's disappearance to get close to the other new tenant, Ryuzu, he would have to divert some of his already limited manpower.

Flicking a coin between his fingers he wondered if he would have to hire new goons from the underground, however, many of the old mercs with good reputations had started to catch wind of the dangers working with anyone related to the Synthe business and either increased their prices or have decided to lay low and wait for the storm to blow over. Would he have to make a new persona?

There were many things to consider, for the moment, despite how much it frustrated him, Vacher decided to put his plans for Ryuzu aside and face the problem of the two figures that have been harassing him. The Pale Lady and the Brass Wraith.

Perhaps he could frame them for something like murder, as of yet, they have only attacked individuals whom the guards could easily identify as criminals due to the Synthe and other illegal goods they were guarding. With the consolation of his Synthe stores and the liquidation of the other assets they should be losing targets. It should be easy to set up a murder to occur in a building where he intentionally leaks Synthe connections too while also tipping off the guards. In doing this he can test to see where these two were getting their information from, and get the government to see the two as criminals rather than some enigmatic vigilante and force of nature.

[Carman 3rd person POV]

It has been a few weeks since he had started to attack Vacher's subordinates' drug dens. It was cathartic to him causing terror amongst the criminals, after a bit he finally felt his need for vengeance was somewhat satisfied. While he still wanted to make Vacher feel the same emotions he did after he realized he had nearly been dissolved, Carman was no longer feeling a strong sense of fear and anger. Now that he had gotten the short term goal of distracting Vacher out of the way it was time to review his plans.

Things were going well at the workshop with Livre, the Fidger spinners were getting more and more popular, with many kids who lived near the workshop having bought at least one each. Carman was getting a decent split of the profits every time a spinner was sold, and now he had gathered enough funds to start considering his options for education.

There were two options of middle class schools he could attend, one was geared more for training civilian engineers and the other a more militaristic approach. One would give him insights on how to solve everyday problems that civilians faced with engineering, and the other was designing weapons and soldier constructs. Both of them were appealing to him however he was sadly unable to take the General Electric approach and do both at the same time.

Shaking head to clear it, he thought about asking Livre for advice, which lead him to the papers on his table. They were the adoption forms that Livre had gotten from the courthouse. It had both Livre and the administration signatures from the clerk, all it needed was signatures from Carman and the orphanage who still had guardianship over him.

It had taken him time to come to terms with his feelings, the turmoil from his shower incident not helping the issue. However, Livre had proved time and time again to be reliable, the rapport they had built over the months working together, and from Livre teaching Carman all that he could wasn't for nothing.

Picking up a quill and dipping it into a pot of ink, Carman smoothly signed his name on the paper. He will see how things go from here, he believed that Livre deserved a chance due to everything he had done for Carman. All that was now needed to complete the paperwork would be to visit the orphanage in person.

-to be continued