It had been a day since the rchants Guild eting, and Balthazar was back at his pond, sitting by the shore while the last remnants of sunlight disappeared behind the horizon.
Between the chaos of the previous evening’s events, a night of little sleep, and dealing with the aftermath of everything that had happened, the crab had found little chance to be by himself until that mont.
Madeleine was the first to find him after he left the town hall, her expression worried and her voice high-pitched as she demanded to know if Balthazar was alright. After explaining everything that had transpired in that eting to the baker, the crab found himself having to repeat the sa report multiple tis to everyone else who ca by, asking if the rumors about Antoine’s return were true.
Last Balthazar had seen, the corrupted rchant had been dragged out of the main hall by the arriving guards, still unconscious, while Abernathy did his best to keep a very much still seething Bergen distracted.
From what the crab was told, Antoine would be taken away and shipped to a place off the shore of Mantell called Hollow Island—a place reserved to the most foul of criminals, condemned to a life sentence on a stormy rock in the middle of the sea and a daily routine of forced labor and two cold als a day.
Abernathy’s description of the island’s dungeon made Balthazar almost feel bad for anyone dood to stay there, but every ti he rembered Suze’s pale and almost lifeless face while lying poisoned on the hall’s floor, a bitter wave washed away any sense of pity he might have mustered for the forr guildmaster.
Antoine made his own bed with no regret or remorse, and now he received what he had coming.
As for Tristan, after needing to be told several tis that he really was to beco the new guildmaster of the rchants and that the whole thing was not, in fact, a joke being played on him, he returned to the pond to accompany Balthazar.
As soon as he stepped inside the bazaar, news seed to have reached the trading post faster than them. Henrietta hopped on him at once, her croaked voice also a slightly higher pitch than usual, asking if he was fine and if Antoine had hurt him in any way.
After yet another retelling of the events of the eting, including a short and simplified version given to Druma, Bouldy, and Blue, the eight-legged rchant was spent and fell asleep before his shell even hit his cushion at the center of the pond’s islet.
Morning proved just as busy, with every adventurer coming out from under the rocks to visit the bazaar and ask about last night’s gossip while pretending to browse.
Balthazar wouldn’t have minded it so much, if they had actually spent so coin, but most would just act like they would co back later after they’d heard enough about Antoine’s failed stunt.
Charging a couple of crowns for each minute of gossip was an idea that crossed the rchant’s mind a few tis.
“Ahhh…” Balthazar said with a sigh as he sat back by the edge of the water.
Pulling his winter hat closer to the base of his eyestalks, the crab decided it was ti to bring up his level-up screen now that things had finally cald down around the bazaar.
As he opened the system screen, a different notification than what Balthazar expected appeared.
[Congratulations! You have reached the rank of Master rchant.]
[You have gained a unique perk!]
[Master of Trading]
[Trait]
[You have beco a shrewd trader with an unquestionable skill for deal-making, and other traders and rchants will notice it! You have a natural advantage in any barters started with others of the rchant class, and any initial offer you make will seem far more reasonable than it might have been if coming from anyone else.]
“Huh… Neat, I guess,” the crab said with a nod. “But my offers are always already reasonable anyway. Not my fault if that traveling salesman last week didn’t see the advantages of buying socks with pre-made holes in them for ventilation.”
With a shrug, Balthazar moved on to the level-up screen.
[You have reached level 35]
[Choose a base stat to increase by 10]
[Health: 330/330]
[Stamina: 30/30]
[Mana: 50/50]
The crustacean chuckled to himself.
“Oh, maybe I’m going to raise my stamina this ti… Heh, of course I’m not.”
After increasing his health to 340, the crab looked at his attributes.
[You have 3 unspent attribute points]
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[Attributes]
[Strength: 5]
[Endurance: 5]
[Agility: 5]
[Perception: 5]
[Intellect: 20]
[Charisma: 99]
“Hmm, that’s right, my Charisma is maxed out,” Balthazar muttered to himself while tapping his chin with the tip of his pincer. “Now what do I do with these points?”
With a quiet “hmm” and eyestalks moving from side to side, the crab scanned the attributes list as if he didn’t already know its contents.
“Why bother with strength? My backpack lets carry whatever I want with ease, and for everything else, I’ve got Bouldy,” he said to himself. “Endurance is just so… boring. Agility? Yeah right, because that wouldn’t look ridiculous, an acrobatic crab hopping from branches and doing backflips. Hard pass. Perception… No, thanks, I already wish I could tune out so many details, like when that one adventurer earlier ca into the bazaar with an entire jungle hanging inside his nostrils. I didn’t need to perceive that! And Intellect? Pff, I’m a rchant, not a mage!”
With a huff, the crab crossed his arms and frowned.
Where was he supposed to spend his points when every other option was vastly inferior to the only attribute that truly mattered—Charisma?
“I guess I could always save them for later, when inspiration strikes or a ti of need?”
The sound of steps coming from the back of the bazaar prompted Balthazar to settle for his decision and to dismiss the system screen. The points would have to sit in the bag until later.
As he turned, the rchant saw the brand new guildmaster approaching.
Tristan was still wearing the sa outfit from the previous night, but just his stride and the way he carried himself already made a world of a difference.
He was like a new man, more confident, assertive in his walk, chest full and chin up. If Balthazar didn’t know better, he might have mistaken his business partner for an entirely different person.
Out of curiosity—and a small sense of self-satisfaction—the crustacean checked the other rchant through his monocle as he made his way to the shore.
[rchant Guildmaster - Level 12]
Nice. Balthazar thought. Too bad he can’t level up to sothing that fits his new status better.
“Hey, partner,” Tristan greeted, his tone just as friendly as ever, despite the new confidence behind it. “I was looking for you. They told you left this back at the hall.”
The trader sat on the rock next to Balthazar and placed a square bottle of dark brown glass on the sand between them.
“Oh, the Babarhum,” the crab said, staring down at the nearly empty container. “I thought it was all gone after we used it to cure everyone of the poison.”
“No,” Tristan said, grabbing the bottle by the top and giving it a shake that made the liquid inside slosh around. “There was so left at the end, and for so reason nobody wanted to have it.”
Balthazar let out a short chuckle. “Heh, I wonder why…”
The two associates shared a mont of silence as they watched the orange of the sky give way to a bar of purple that preceded the blackness of the night sky.
“I just ca back from the guild’s offices,” said Tristan. “Signed all the papers. Technically, I’m the guildmaster of Ardville’s rchants now.”
Balthazar nodded slowly.
“Well, I’ll remind you that, technically, I am not a citizen of Ardville, so you’re not my guildmaster.”
The crab shot a cheeky glance at the other rchant and a smirk escaped the corner of his mouth.
“Haha! I wouldn’t want to be!” the new guildmaster said. “I’m sure I’m going to have my hands full as it is without the famous rchant crab as a guildmber!”
The two business partners shared a brief laugh before the crustacean spoke again.
“What about as an associate? Think you will still have ti for that?”
“Of course, partner!” Tristan replied with a smile. “I may be the master of Ardville’s rchants guild now, but I won’t forget how I got here, and who helped get there. I will fulfill my duties as both guildmaster and your business associate as best as I can, that much I can promise you.”
The crab nodded before gazing at the bottle standing between them for a mont.
“You know, Tristan,” Balthazar started. “I have a confession to make. Rember back when we first t, and I had you run so jobs for , before we started working together properly?”
“Yes,” said the human. “Back when I was still drunk out of my lon most of the ti.”
Balthazar sighed.
“Right. And at the ti I used to promise you so Babarhum for every completed task. But, well, I have to admit… I never actually fulfilled my side of that bargain. I’d always make you think you had so sips of it, while never actually giving you any.”
A silence lingered between the two rchants for a mont as Tristan stared emptily at the dark bottle sitting in the sand between them.
“I suppose in a way, deep down, maybe subconsciously, I always knew that.”
The crab’s eyestalks rose slightly. “You did?”
“Yes,” Tristan said, lifting his gaze from the bottle and smiling at Balthazar. “And I thank you for doing that. Even back then you already had my best interest at heart, partner.”
“Uhhh…” the crab said hesitantly, rembering how he just didn’t want to waste the rare and valuable rum on a drunkard back then.
“It’s alright,” the forr drunk said. “No need to say anything, partner. Just know that I have my eternal gratitude. For everything.”
“Yes, uhm, right. You’re… welco.”
Another awkward silence settled between the two rchants, until Balthazar glanced down at the bottle again.
“So… I guess I technically still owe you. Do you want to…”
Tristan looked at Balthazar and followed his gaze to the Babarhum sitting on the sand.
“Oh! No, no, no, partner. Not at all! I am done with alcohol. For good. Not even a drop for ever again.” He paused before chuckling. “You know, unless soone poisons and the only cure at hand is a rare rum provided by a talking crab. But what are the odds of that happening twice?”
The two friends shared a hearty laugh for a while as the moon rose in the sky.
“Well,” Tristan said, hitting his knees before standing up. “I have to go back to town now. Lots to do and prepare now. Going inside to find Henrietta, and then I’ll be off, but I’ll see you again tomorrow morning, partner!”
After their goodbyes and watching the graying man walk back to the bazaar with his back straighter than Balthazar had ever rembered seeing, the crab let out a contented sigh and turned his gaze to the shore of the pond again.
A light caught his attention.
Several dozen paces away from where the crustacean was, near so rocks, he spotted a figure sitting on a stone with a dim lantern next to it.
After getting up and approaching slowly, Balthazar squinted at the shadowy figure, trying to make out what it was doing.
It was soone sitting alone and facing the water, hands moving rapidly while speaking to themselves in a low voice.
As the crab approached and the light revealed more of the figure, he muttered to himself, “Now what are you doing out here on your own?”
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