Blood Stained Gold(1)

"Hahaha!"

"What... ten whole... Ha!"

"You... holy shit!"

As I walked through the rough vegetation of the lower Mideastern Jungle Region, I could hear echoes of laughter and talk among friends in the distance. Along with this noise, contrasting with the night sky, the bright orange flames of a fire could be seen through small holes in the packed greenery, and transparent grey smoke could be seen touching the stars. The moon was especially dark tonight, giving almost no light to the world and causing the fire to be even brighter.

I walked through the heavy leaves, thorned bushes, and tall weeds eventually getting close enough to see the camp in its full. In the center lay the fluorescent campfire, giving light to all that surrounded it: People of different hair colors, ethnicities, and even races. Although, there were differences in where people were located. Around the campfire were ten to twenty people, making jokes, laughing, eating, drinking, all sorts. Around them were tents that were made of all sorts of hides.

Standing near those tents, from my point of view, counted ten different humanoids. There were seven Centaurs and three Elves, each had a metal unknot taut around their neck. Most of them had a lifeless stare in their eyes, while a few still had glimmers of hope distilling through. They must've been new "recruits".

After analyzing the situation and crossing off the first possibility from my head, I forsook the untamed vegetation, exposing myself to the plain that lay in front. As I popped into existence, everyone who was having a merry time around the campfire tensed up and looked at me with eyes of vigilance. I only stood there observing each of them. I could more accurately count now. There were seventeen of them, only 6 of which were in Stone Class. The rest were in the 1st half of Coal Class except for one, who I could sense was in the 2nd half of Coal Class. He was probably the leader.

As I was about to courteously introduce myself, the one who was the leader spoke out to me with a wide smile on his face, "Ah, it's you! I guess tonight was the night. Quis, right?"

This caused me to quickly tune my vision onto him. He had a bigger body than most, in the sense of muscle, not fat. His body was covered in a simple dark blue robe which had some imperfections on it but was nonetheless fancy. He had short black hair and ears that were just a bit too big. His eyes were light and fluffy and his lips seemed to be made for smiling. He was a merchant alright.

As I was about to ask how he knew who I was, one of his lackeys got to it before me, "Hey Pecudola, how do you know this kid? What's going on?"

Pecudola lowered his shoulders as he sat back down on one of the logs that surrounded the campfire. He dropped his earlier caution and explained to the man, "Well, before every trip I make sure to ask the oracle for my future. This time she showed me visions of a white-haired boy named Quis, and specifically all of the money he could help us rake in."

The people around him still seemed suspicious of me, but Pecudola ignored that and invited me to sit down with him, "Come Quis, sit down. Before we do anything business-related, let's get to know each other." As he said this, he pointed to the edge of the log next to him. While keeping my guard up, I walked to the log. 

I wasn't too surprised that he knew that I was going to be here. Being able to tell the future, unlike my past world, wasn't something all too impressive here. Any Coal Class of a corresponding Branch could do it easily. Of course, the problem of multiple fortune tellers is present. One wants it to change, and one wants it to happen, therefore a huge debacle comes from it creating an unstable future that a better oracle could predict, creating a difficult cycle. But that shouldn't be a problem for something internal like this. Of course, that doesn't mean that for some reason this person wouldn't want to change that future, so I still had to be careful.

So with vigilance in my step, I made my way to the log, sat on the edge of it, and turned to face Pecudola. Before he started talking again, I made sure to open my mouth so that I could get my words out there, "So, I suppose if we're getting to know each other we should go over the basics. I'll start. My name is Quis Quiliae, I'm sixteen years old, I'm in the Stone Class, I'm from the Wood and Fire Fairy Sect, I cultivate the Firearm Branch, and I'm the leader of The Resistance Faction."

After I finished my introduction, he raised his eyebrow before returning to normal and responding in kind, "Let's see, I'm Pecudola, Pecudola Rev. I'm currently in the 2nd half of Coal Class, my Branch is the Space Branch, and, as you can see, I'm the leader of the Specie Sprouts. Now, let me ask you again, you said your last name was Quiliae, correct?"

I nodded my head, and then he suddenly laughed out loud, "I knew it! So you're Lectica's kid! I see now! Did your parents send you to sell us the products we asked for? Or perhaps they wanted to buy something from us?"

'My parents? This guy knows my parents?-'

Suddenly my mind hardened. What was that? Why do I care about this body's parents?... Perhaps this is a continuation of the side effects I thought I already got over with. It was only a small urge, so it didn't matter. Instead, I should be focusing on how to react to this information. If it were just me and the merchant, I'd probably just say that he has it wrong and move on, but I also had members of my faction watching me in case something went wrong. I have already portrayed myself as the person that I am, but would it be too much to not care about something like parents?

People support people because of many different reasons, but a main one is sympathy. For example, the character I'm playing, Quis, is what you could call an anti-hero. He has bad means, but his ends are what most people would want. The reason why I can get away with this is because my backstory makes sense for such a character. But there are still limits, even for the anti-hero. Not caring about my long-lost parents would fall under the category of a villain. Of course, it's not that cut and dry, but that's the way the majority sees it, therefore it's the boundaries I must play within.

People can support villains, but they have to have a good enough backstory for people to accept them. The backstory I have does not elicit an uncaring attitude when my parents are mentioned. So I have to act like I care. Plus, even though my body's memories are slowly coming back, it could turn out to be useful.

I let a flash of excitement from my body's reaction to the information leak into my eyes as I said with a straight face and voice, "No, to be honest, I don't even know who my parents are. About six months ago, I woke up in the Wood and Fire Fairy Sect with no memories of the past... But, do you think you actually know my parents?"

He suddenly laughed out loud, "Know them? I've known your parents for twenty-five years! We go way back... But I suppose that since you have come here while in a state of amnesia, you have something else in mind?"

Heh, he really was a merchant. To move past something that should be a big bombshell to him... he must want to not speak on the matter at all. For all he knows, he could get a lot of money out of me by selling information about my parents. I gave a small smirk in response to this and replied to him, "Yes, I do. You see, I heard that you have an interesting situation going on with Convir. Does that ring a bell?"

He gave a similarly wayward smile and asked me, "I'm not sure. But let's say, hypothetically speaking, that it did. What could you offer me that would cause me to give up the deal that I would hypothetically have with Convir?"

I gave a small chuckle at his attempt to scam me, "Who's to say? It depends on what deal you have with Convir. Do you care to tell?"

"How much will you buy that information for?"

"I'll buy it with knowledge."

"What kinds of knowledge."

"Mathematical economics."

"... What now?"

...

A silence undertook the camp as everyone seemed a bit stunned by the words I just used. This was the effect I was going for. Make something seem mystical, and it'll gain value. Although the information I was offering would be valuable either way, this guaranteed that it wouldn't be swept under the bridge as something insignificant.

Soon enough, everyone's eyes landed on me asking me to explain what I meant, so I did, "Ahem, you see, using the power of math, you can better maximize your profits. Think of it as a Math Branch Technique, that everyone can use, and can boost your profits manyfold."

I could see the gears turning in his head as he processed my words and thought up a response, until eventually, it left his brain, and entered mine, "How about we eat some food, and then get back to this. I hate making deals on an empty stomach. Bring out the food and drinks!!"

As he said this, the Elves that were stationary before, walked into one of the tents, and two came out with platters of drinks, with the final one bringing food. One of them, specifically the one of the three that still had hope in her eyes, gave me a plate of chopped bore meat with some vegetables, "Here you go sir."

I gave a slight smile and thanked her before she walked back to her post. I was the only one with food since everyone had eaten before I arrived, but it didn't matter. This was just a buy for time. I gave Pecudula an offer he hasn't gotten before, so he needs more time to go over it in his head. This was even more evident by the fact that he didn't make any conversation with me while the "banquet" was ongoing, instead leaving that task to some of his underlings.

I took a bite of the food presented to me, as I took a second look at the slaves surrounding the camp. As I did, one of the Coal Classes, who named himself Rubilio, said to me, "Did one of the elves catch your eye? If so, I'm sure the boss wouldn't mind letting you have some fun once the deal you're offering gets into motion."

I shook my head, "No, I don't care for such frivolous things. I was just wondering where you got them. I thought you could only find elves in the Stone Region. Did you guys make a trip?"

He put his finger to his mouth as he thought for a second before responding to me, "No... That's right, I remember now. The boss mentioned something about some kind of border outbreak and whatnot. Apparently, a large community of elves pushed through the border into the Jungle Region, but I'm not sure what happened after. This was pretty recent too, within the last three months recent. And the one that served you is one that the boss just recently found. It's a pretty lucky score too. They make for good-"

"Knock it off Rubilio, he just said he doesn't care for that stuff."

"Ah, yeah, sorry if I offended you a bit."

I just shook my head, "Not at all." Even though I said that something about the way he talked did rub me the wrong way. They were all very formal with me, subservient even. I was a whole Class below most of them, so it would only be natural for them to treat me worse, but they didn't. That undoubtedly had to do with Pacudula. It's no wonder he's the biggest merchant of the Southern East if he could create such loyalty in his group.

Soon enough, around thirty minutes passed by and Pecudula called for my attention, "Quis, I hope you enjoyed the food and drinks. I suppose that's enough though, let's get back into the business. I'll take your word for it and assume that this information that you're offering is as valuable as you say. And because of that, I'll tell you the deal I have with Convir. We have a situation where he monopolizes the markets of certain items, sells them to us specifically, and we sell them for a giant profit margin. Of course, we also give him rare materials in turn. How about it, do you think you can top that?"

I smirked and said my condition, "How about we do this instead? I won't be able to monopolize any kinds of materials, yet, but what I can do is a lot better. I can guarantee you, that by the next time you come here, I'll have complete control over the sect, and at that point, the money you're making now will seem like peanuts. All I need from you is an investment. Of course, I don't expect to get this investment for free. How about this, you give me a tenth of the product you have now and let me sell it through the sect. If I can't multiply it by five within the next week, then I'll owe you even more information. But if I can, then you let me keep the profits and even more. Come next year, we'll have ourselves a flourishing business."

He raised his eyebrow and said to me menacingly, "So it's a bet then?... Alright, you've got yourself a deal."

He stretched his hand out, and in return, I extended mine. As our hands grew closer, the wind seemed to pause and a chill ran through my spine. Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, blood splattered.

I turned to the chaos as fast as possible and saw a very familiar tree sticking out of a man's mouth, or at least what remained of it. I looked up and, on top of the tree was the person I thought it was.

He slightly waved his hand to me and said as if he hadn't just murdered someone, "Yo, I thought I'd find you here Quis."

It was Spiravit.