Part 4, It Started With a Collector
1519 Words
The hunger comes upon Zennes and Kiiwii, and so the duo heads to the dining area to eat. When they enter the dining area, Zennes sees the same blonde man from before.
He’s seated at the bar, and there are a four other patrons there, each one sitting alone at a table. There’s an elderly lady, with wrinkled tan skin and long white hair, a young woman a little older than Zen with deep tan skin and red hair, an elderly man with long white hair balding on the top with a long beard, and finally a fair, thirty year old, bald man. Zen goes straight for the bar, the bar tender smiles as he approaches.
“What’s your drink?” She asks.
“Hm, can you make me a whisky fusion *(1)?” He asks.
The bar tender thinks for a moment, “hold on let me check,” she says as she checks under her table. After a moment she stands up, “I apologize for the inconvenience sir, but our fusion mixer is broken. I can get another one from our back room, it’ll just take a few minutes.”
Zen shrugs. “I got time.”
“Then I’ll be back.” The bar tender disappears, leaving only the patrons.
The blonde man takes a long drink before turning and looking directly at Zennes just a few chairs away from him at the bar. Zennes glances at him from the confer of his eye then glances away. “You’re a guildkiller, aren’t you?” The man asks loudly; Zens stiffens, but only minutely, noticing with calculating eyes that everyone in the dining room immediately focused in on them.
Eavesdropping.
“I do a job here and there,” Zen shrugs, not denying or confirming the drunken man.
“Really?” One of the patrons suddenly pipes up; the bald man in the suit. Zen nods a little, eyes narrowed and calm.
“You must go on a lot of fun adventures,” the elderly woman adds with a gentle smile.
Zen shrugs. “ I guess you could say that,” he says as he scratches Kiiwii’s chin, a tiny smile appearing for a split moment as the raccoon purrs like a cat.
The blonde man grins, a handsome grin on his rugged face.
“That’s pretty neat. I always wanted to be a guildkiller, but now here I am, some collector that sells artifacts.” He grumbles sourly near the end with a small head shake, taking another long drink.
“Hm.” Zen hums, unsure of what to say. Kiiwii cringes with Zen.
“But my job does have its upsides,” the grin on his face widens evilly. “Like right now, I have this pretty sweet deal going on. I’m selling a jewel-encrusted egg that belonged to some ancient royal of Re’Matta to the museum in Gloomy Lagoon. Let me tell you man, the numbers for that egg is high!” He laughs.
“Really?” The bald man repeats in interest, walking closer to the collector and Zennes. Zennes gaze turns bored. “You know I happen to be in the same business, well sort of, I’m an entrepreneur myself.”
The collector snorts. “Yeah? And how’s that working out for ya’?”
The bald mans face drops, and an offended look cross his face. “What’s that supposed to mean? It’s going very well in fact.” He sniffs.
The collector puts in his hands in surrender, but his face betrays his amusement. “Nothing at all, just-“ Zen rolls his eyes; and here it starts “-entrepreneurs don’t make it in this kind of world. You’ll end up jobless, in debt, and working for someone else that pays two zinic an hour!”
The business man face reddens but not in embarrassment. The bald man sneers, “and what would you know? You’re just some old man still living off of daddy’s money. A collector isn’t a real job.”
The collectors face sours. He fists his hand. “You’re just upset about your failing career,” the collector jeers with a sneer. “My social meter is empty now,” he snarls as he throws a few joyn on the counter and stands to leave.
He looks back at the entrepreneur, “better watch yourself bud.” The entrepreneur flinches at the threat. And then, the collectors gone, Zennes doesn’t know if he should laugh or sigh. Maybe he is just too easy going, but he feels like people can be so over dramatic.
“Sorry for the wait sir,” the bar tender says as she appears again. “One whisky fusion coming up!”
“Finally,” Zennes breathes quietly.
OoooooooooooooooooooooO
ONE HOUR INTO FERRY RIDE
A loud piercing scream echoes through the second floor.
Zennes is up the second he hears the scream, and while Kiiwii is usually a heavy sleeper who could sleep through a war air horn, the poor raccoon had been sleeping soundly on Zennes chest. Therefore, making him an unfortunate victim of Zennes’s sudden wakening.
“What is it?” Kiiwii grumbles in a sleepy tone, slumped on the floor.
“There was a scream,” he explains quickly as he throws on his white kimono, rushing out of the room with a slowly following Kiiwii behind him.
“I’ll- ahhhhh- catch up with you in a second Zen,” Kiiwii calls to his companion sleepily.
Zennes hurries to the center of the sound, finding everyone except the collector from the dining hall earlier, standing in the hallway. They were anxiously talking to one another, probably having heard the scream as well.
They quieten as Zennes appears. The elderly woman from the dining hall before smiles in relief.
“Thank goodness we have a guildkiller here,” she smiles in relief, reaching to take Zens arm. Uneasily, he lets her take his arm.
Before Zennes could get a word in, a male ferry worker with dark tan skin and short, black afro hair suddenly shows up. “Is everyone alright? What was that sound?”
The elderly man speaks up in a firm, but soft tone, “we’re alright sir, but we have no clue who made that sound.”
The ferry worker rubs his chin, “well the scream definitely came from the second floor, and there are only six rooms on this floor, so it must’ve come from the only room on this floor that hadn’t come out from the commotion.” They all look to the lone door at the end of the hall, still closed and supposedly occupied.
The ferry worker strides towards it, the rest of the floor, including Zen and Kiiwii, following closely after.
The worker knocks firmly. “Hello? Ferry maintenance, is everything alright in there?”
No answer.
The worker pulls out a key, and unlocks the door. He pushes it open and everyone’s eyes widen at the scene.
It’s the collector from before, with a sapphire encrusted knife handle sticking out of his chest. There were multiple stab wounds on his chest.
“I know medicine,” Zen explains shortly as he pushes his way into the room, hurrying towards the collector. The collectors eyes are open, glazed, Zen touches his neck but doesn’t feel a pulse.
Zen looks solemnly at the worker. “He’s dead.”
“Who could’ve done this?!” The young red headed woman exclaims in shock.
“What if we’re next?!” The business man asks in worry and fear.
“Why doesn’t this young man find the killer for us?” The old lady suddenly suggests, looking at Zennes. “Guildkillers do this kind of work right? Find the killer for us, keep us safe.” She pleas. Zen grimaces.
“Well yes…” he answers unsurely. There were jobs like this occasionally in guilds, but they weren’t the types Zen usually took. He specializes more in stealth.
The ferry worker glances at Zen. “What’s your name?”
“Zennes.”
The ferry workers eyes barely widen for a moment in recognition, before resting.
“How about this, we’ll pay you to find the killer if you can find the killer before the ferry boards Gloomy Lagoon. If the killer isn’t found before the ferry boards, we lose any case and we could be letting loose a killer,” the worker says to Zen.
Zennes sighs internally. So much for a non-eventful trip. Why couldn’t he just relax?
“Alright. I’ll do it.” He says, not like he has much of a choice.
OoooooooooooooooooooO
Cinna, the Goddess of War and Victory, may be many things, but impatient is not one of them.
She could wait anything out; a fox out of its hole, a mouse into its trap. And she prided herself in being a patient mastermind. But she liked to be entertained as well.
After all, what’s the point of playing if she isn’t getting some entertainment every now and then?
And right now, her source of entertainment is from a little mortal guildkiller and his speaking-animal side kick.
“I wonder, what are you going to do now with your special power, little guildkiller,” she ponders aloud, her long, wavy black hair floating elegantly as she hovers near a crystal ball with an image of Zennes and Kiiwii inside. Her pale fingers graze the ball, touching near Zens face.
“I want you to surprise me, show me what you can do.” She urges with a wicked smirk, despite knowing the mortal couldn’t hear her through the crystal orb.
“And I expect a show.”
*(1) whiskey fusion: a drink in Fuetar using a blend of whiskeys with a “fusion blender” that creates a new drink.
- Writer
