Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

Noel and Vadeem grinned as if they had anticipated what the Regressor wanted, the dim lighting in the room was creating quite the fighting scene. I felt a little out of place, like I had just interrupted a secret meeting between mafia heads, but didn’t let it show. Let’s see what the Regressor had to say first.

“I’m sure that the three of you know that running any organization successfully needs certain… tasks to be completed,” the Regressor started, “Especially if we are aiming for the top.”

None of us disagreed with what he said. Even Noel was on her best behavior, although she had a knowing smile on her face.

“I will be frank with you,” Jae-Hyun continued, “We must be prepared for what’s to come, and the only way that we can ensure our own survival is if our guild is unequivocally secured as the number one power in Pandora.”

Ah, so it seems like Jae-Hyun had bigger plans for his guild than I thought. He didn’t just want the best guild, but he wanted it to be the only true power here. Interesting.

He looked at us again, “Things will only progress in scale from here on out. We will be forced to take command of larger and larger forces in the future, and for us to maximize our chances of survival, we need to have full control over this city. We need to be the leading figures for Pandora. Without the people unified, we will only lose manpower as each subsequent Trial whittles down our resources, and if we allow that to happen, then we will all lose. To prevent that, we need to take some affirmative actions now.”

Once again, no one said a word. We were all silently waiting for what he wanted us to do.

“And for that to happen,” he said coldly, “certain sacrifices need to be made.”

He took out four bundles of paper from his inventory, giving one to me and Noel, while he handed Vadeem two. I saw that each page contained very detailed, not to mention professional, pencil sketches of individuals. On the bottom of each page was a list that included their names, height, ethnicity, and other identifying characteristics. Noel and Vadeem had a bunch of sheets in their piles, while only one was given out to me.

The Regressor spoke before I could look at what mine contained in detail, “I’ve given you three portraits of key individuals to look out for.”

I nodded and saw the other two do the same.

He turned to the redhead and gestured at her papers, “Noel, I need you to find those individuals in the coming days. They represent people who are most likely to oppose our plans in one way or another. It would be a terrible shame if an unfortunate "accident" were to befall them. Most of the people on that list who need a… friendly visit are already in Pandora.”

Noel smiled as she took another peek at her bundle of papers, “Accidents? That would be horrible! I’ll make sure that I keep an eye out for these nice ladies and gentlemen, to make sure that nothing untoward happens to them of course.”

The Regressor nodded in satisfaction and turned to Vadeem.

“As for you, Vadeem,” he pointed to one of the piles near the man, “The individuals on your left are people who have the most wealth among the Aspirants, and it would be nice if you could convince them to, say, donate some of their wealth to a better cause.”

Vadeem gave him a wicked smile, “I’m sure I could talk some sense into these lovely Apsirants.”

“The other pile,” he continued, “is a list of people who have classes and skills that are suited to the creation and goods and services. If you could also be so kind as to convince them that working for us is in their best interest, then it would greatly accelerate the growth of our guild.”

“Using any means?” the big man asked.

“Within reason, Vadeem,” he answered with a cold smile, “but remember that we need them to be productive, but only for us. Give them any incentives that you might think will help, whatever vice they might enjoy. Make them rely on our guild to function. No, make it so that they can only function if they are with us.”

Damn, I did not think that Jae-Hyun could be so ruthless. I knew that he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, but I didn’t think he would show his true colors this early. But I guess there was a reason he recruited Noel and Vadeem first, which should say something about my own character since I’m lumped with them and not Yoona.

Vadeem grinned again before stashing his set of papers away, “That I can do. I’ll make sure you have the most productive employees possible, boss.”

Jae-Hyun nodded again.

“Finally, Walter,” he said as he turned his cold gaze my way, “You have one of the most important tasks needed for the future success of our guild.”

I arched an eyebrow in question.

“Your particular set of skills is perfect for this role,” he continued, “The man on your paper is someone that we must recruit at all costs. He will be a part of our… private meeting in the future, so do your utmost to ensure that he becomes a part of our organization.”

I looked down at the sketch and saw a very plain-looking man. Jae-Hyun drew him with a modest smile, and aside from the clothes he wore, he didn’t look all that special. He was wearing a black vestment and clerical collar so he must be a priest by trade. The information below said that his name was Marcus Ashford, 49 years old, and that he should be arriving within the week if he wasn’t already here.

“What’s so special about this guy?” I asked.

“Many things that you will learn if he joins, but most importantly, we are missing a key figure in our party, and he’s the perfect candidate to fill that void.”

He paused but continued when he saw that I wasn’t quite getting what he was saying, “We’re missing a healer, Walter. You almost died in that last Trial because none of us could prevent or treat ailments and diseases, and we can’t rely solely on items to heal our physical wounds. You had to take on way more than was necessary, and I will not allow that to happen again. If we can get Marcus on our side, then he can fill the role of our healer.”

I nodded, “And this priest will be ok with our, uh, interesting method of establishing control over Pandora?”

The Regressor gave me an eerie smile, “He will be more than accepting of it, so do not worry.”

“Alright…” I answered as I put the drawing away, making a mental note of the guy in case he was here already.

Jae-Hyun continued, “And there’s one more thing I need you to do, Walter.”

“Sure,” I answered with a relaxed smile, “What is it?”

“I need you to work on our guild’s public image,” he said, and I could already tell where he was going with this request, “I need you to ensure that the Abyss Guild’s image is squeaky clean.”

“So that no one would ever connect any missing people with our guild’s operations?” I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

He nodded, “Not only that, but we have to be a power that the masses love and adore. We need to be a beacon of hope and authority so that no one would ever question why or how we got into power in the first place. We need to be the rallying force behind all newcomers, so much so that the masses will quelch any discontent by themselves in the future. I need our guild to be the only authority that the people of Pandora will believe in.

Jae-Hyun looked at me hard in the eyes, "Can you do that, Walter?”

Several ideas were already forming in my head, and all I needed to do was to get a good sense of the people coming into Pandora to see which scheme of mine would be the most ideal. There were always ways to exploit people’s desperations, and if there weren’t, then I just needed to create one myself.

I grinned, “Seems simple enough. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good,” the Regressor said, “You have my full support if you need anything.”

“Mine too, little bro!” Noel added in, “Just call me if you need someone to mysteriously disappear. I heard that’s going to be a common thing in this town, a terrible thing really.”

“And you can count on me if you need a little show of force,” Vadeem added with a smile.

Why did it feel like this was not the first time they did something like this? Man, what kind of strange people did I become associated with? Still, if they only needed a propagandist, they got the right man for the job. Spreading misinformation and rumors I could do in my sleep, and that was before getting Noe’s help and all those Charisma skills I had.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” I answered.

“Perfect,” the Regressor concluded, “Please get those tasks done as quickly as possible, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to keep things on the low?”

Noel gave him a thumbs up, “Not a word out of me, boss man!”

And for once, I think I actually believed her.

Vadeem chuckled joyfully, “You know I wouldn’t bring the children into these affairs.”

“Got it, Jae-Hyun,” I said last.

He gave us a silent look of gratitude before ending the meeting, “We’ll have another meeting once this is done, at the same place, same time in a week.”

I nodded, “What will you be doing in the meantime?”

He gave me another creepy smile, “I have some more things to plan out, we have a lot to do in the coming weeks.”

With all of our tasks on hand, we left the dark conference room and back to the building lobby. The reception area was still empty, but I’m assuming that our promised workers would come sooner or later. As if the Regressor had planned everything out, his sister came down only a few minutes after and greeted us.

“Sorry it took so long,” the girl said, “I had to bathe the twins first, I don’t think they had the chance to take a bath… well, ever really.”

“No worries bestie!” Noel answered with a smile.

“Thank you Yoona, I wanted to get them properly cleaned but…” Vadeem laughed awkwardly.

Yoona smiled in understanding, “It’s not a problem, and are you guys going to settle in for the night as well? There are spare rooms on the 6th floor, it’s where Ana and Eva are.”

“I’m going to take a little nighttime stroll, need to work off all that food I ate earlier, so head up without me for now,” Noel looked happier than ever as she headed towards the door, “I’ll find a room myself when I’m back!”

Yoona nodded, “Be careful out there, it could be dangerous at night!”

Yeah… I highly doubt it should be Noel who was the one in danger that night.

“I’ll be careful!” she answered, “I wouldn’t want to encounter any kind of accidents out there! Heard they could be deadly.”

Yoona nodded innocently, “Alright, just send us a message if you need help.”

Noel waved goodbye and left the building, humming a happy tune all the way out.

“How about you, Vadeem?” I asked, “You also going on a stroll?”

He understood what I meant, but shook his head, “Not this night. I’ll go check up on the twins and hit the sack myself. I ate too much food today, even for me!”

“Yeah, I’ll wash up and head to bed as well,” I added.

Jae-Hyun looked at us one last time before speaking to his sister, “Yoona, do you mind if you help me out with something?”

“Sure thing brother!” she turned back to Vadeem and I, “Good night you two! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

I took the elevator up to the 6th floor with Vadeem and left the man to find a room for myself. All the unoccupied rooms were open, so I just chose one closest to the exit and made myself comfy. Right when I was about to take off my clothes and wash up, a new sound interrupted me, and a familiar figure stood by the room’s entrance. I gazed back and nodded at the figure.

“Sorry for always catching you at inopportune times, Lord Arbiter,” Q said with a low bow, “But I needed to contact you about the Tribunals, we can't push back the meeting any further.”

 

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