The Hunter_Library of Rain

The Hunter

 Rain watched each of the people at the auction. The individuals who continually won their auctions were dismissed. They didn’t stink of desperation enough for Rain. She also rejected the people who were here for the spectacle of watching the ves being mistreated, like the couple sharing her table.

 She was d to note that Ome looked profoundly ufortable in the current situation. It spoke well of his character. That didn’t stop Rain from kicking him under the table and giving him a look. She couldn’t afford for him to ruin this just because he didn’t fit in with a group of soulless viins.

 Returning to the room, Rain continued to thin out the candidates. Anyone who looked like they had a ss was out. So were those who didn’t bid on anything. By this point, she had narrowed it down to a small handful of people, and with no other way to narrow down her search, Rain picked the person who looked like they would be easiest to make contact with, the lone man who had been sitting at the table when Rain entered.

 He had bid several times exclusively on young girls and lost every time. With each loss, he guzzled more liquor andined.

 “Arkit! I''m Lord Isster! My Fathermanded one of thergest navies in the inds! I deserve these girls.” he slurred, mming his cup on the table as he was outbid yet again. “You people are nobodies. You should let me have what I want!”

 Every time he opened his mouth, Rain felt her n get easier.

 Rain had started to realize that the information she had gotten from her past self had some serious holes and didn’t understand how things worked in the isles, but in this case, it pulled through for her.

 She could feel that the more entitled a person was, the more they felt the world owed them, the simpler it would be to control them. All she would have to do was offer him everything he felt he deserved - for a small price - and he would dly ept.

 It was time to start.

 Sliding a needle out of her sleeve, Rain pricked her finger under the table. She waited as a drop of blood welled up, then reached for the ss of alcohol in front of Ome. As she grabbed it, she made sure to scrape her finger across the rim of the ss so her blood ran down into the drink.

 Standing Rain took the drink to Lord Isster and ced it in front of him with a bow.

 “My master wishes to offer you a drink. Someone of your stature deserves better treatment than this.”

 “Finally, someone recognizes who I am!”

 Rain watched the man from her bowed posture. Surely he wasn’t dumb enough to drink something given to him by…

 Apparently, he was.

 Rain forged the connection as the fool drained the tainted ss.

 “What are you still doing here? Unless you have more for me to drink, go away!”

 “Of course, Lord Isster.”

 As Rain walked behind Isster to return to her seat, she slipped a bonded ver into his jacket pocket.

 Having a third coin really was nice.

 The chance that he would find it and spend it before going home tonight was high, but it wouldn’t destroy Rain''s ns if he did. It would just make them more challenging.

 With that done, Rain had aplished everything she could, and she didn’t want to be in this ce a moment longer than she had to.

 Walking up to the sitting Ome, she whispered into his ear.

 “That''s all for tonight; let''s go.”

 Ome got unsteadily to his feet, and Rain grabbed his arm to help him bnce as they headed for the door. When Rain felt Ome could walk alone, she released his arm and approached one of the staff that she didn’t recognize.

 “My master wishes to know when you will be selling more children?”

 The man turned away from where he had been lustfully looking at what was happening on the stage and answered her question.

 “The nextrge sale will be Threeday.”

 “Thank you. I will return with a junior member then to bid for my master.” Rain said with a slight nod before returning to walk behind Ome as they exited the building.

 Rain stayed vignt as they walked through the next few streets but didn’t see anyone following them. There was only the regr traffic.

 “You did well, Ome. here’s your payment.” Rain said, handing Ome an old.

 “Can I take off this mask?” Ome asked, taking the coin.

 “Go ahead.”

 Ome removed the mask before going to the side of the street to vomit.

 Rain could understand how he felt.

 “I ain’t never want to see that again!”

 “I hope you never do. Good luck with your life, Mr. Ome.”

 Rain left the man where he stood looking ill. If she was being honest, she didn’t feel much better than he had. Why people would frequent a ce like that for fun, she would never know.

 Rain continued to walk aimlessly, looking for an empty ce to warp away. But it seemed that tonight, she had chosen the wrong way. The crowd only seemed to be getting thicker.

 Curious about what was happening, Rain slipped through the pack of people to get to the front of the crowd. When she finally squeezed through to the annoyance of the people around her, she found the source: the body of a man wearing the hat of a merchant. Hey on the ground face up. He was clearly dead, but the only marks on him were dark veins covering his face originating from his temples.

 “...and now Fin, why are they killing all the merchants?” a man to Rain''s right was saying to one of his friends.

 Apparently, this was the third death like this in thest week. From what Rain could tell by the muttering, everyone had thought the first two might be a new disease. However, now that a third body was found, with all of the victims being merchants, it was clear they had a dangerous ck sser on the loose.

 ***

 It wasn’t until the early morning hours that Rain felt the connection with Isster solidify, indicating that he had finally gone to sleep. And about time, too. Rain had been waiting for hours. What had he even been doing?

 Regardless, Rain needed to wait a few more minutes to be sure he was alone. Then, hoping he hadn''t found the coin she had left in his coat, she warped to it.

 When space unfolded, Rain found herself in a fine room that bore the wares of age and neglect. The fine carpets were matted in the areas of greatest traffic, and the furniture had lost its gleam. The coat Rain had left her coin in was slung over the back of a couch, and Isster was passed out on a bed reeking of alcohol. He apparently hadn’t had time to change or get under the covers.

 No one else was in the room, allowing Rain to ease her tensed muscles. With how loudly he was snoring, she would have no problem moving around. Any noise she made would be drowned in his cacophony.

 Quickly scouring the room, Rain found what she was looking for: a loose board on the bottom of his wardrobe. Prying the board off, Rain ced a bag with forty old coins inside the dusty hollow. Then, she produced a book from her cloak. The book had a firmly molded crimson leather cover imprinted with interweaving runes. Rain had picked it from her library specifically for this. Looking at the drunk, Rain whispered.

 “I will lend you this book for one day or until you read one page from it.”

 She wasn’t sure if she actually had to say the terms for her ‘Lend’ skill to work, but since she didn’t have to worry about being overheard or waking him up, she figured it couldn’t hurt.

 That done, she ced the book next to the bag of coins and set the board back into ce. Then, she hid her bonded ver under Isster’s bed.

 Perfect.

 Rain warped back to her room. It was time to start the show.

AliNovel

The Hunter