Touch of Fate

Chapter 189: That Old Game

Brenden stretched languorously before exiting the tiny bed, which was the only real piece of furniture in the cramped attic room. Yawning, he recalled what happened last night, as well as the information he'd gathered while eating. They'd provided a simple, yet plentiful meal, which he splurged on, having had little to eat over the last few days.

Lara had introduced him to the gang's currently leader, a matronly sheep beastman by the name of Griselda, who looked more like a schoolteacher than an underworld boss. The other three adult members of the Hunter's Paw, were Griselda's husband and two sons, also sheep beastmen. Apparently, the four of them ran the tavern, while Lara and her bunch handled the more clandestine aspects of their gang's activities.

Judging from how little income the criminal side of the enterprise actually earned, Brenden suspected that Griselda was simply using the gang as an excuse to provide the youthful beastmen a place to live, and a few regular meals.

[She should just run an orphanage.] He recalled thinking while listening to kind and gentle woman's awkward explanations of why things worked the way they did. Her family members weren't much better, having inherited the submissive personality of their kind. Brenden was convinced that the lot of them couldn't hurt a fly.

[I can see why Lara's crew didn't rely on them for Arbitration. They'd be weaker than the kids when it came to a fist fight.]

Speaking of which, he was also introduced to the rest of the Paws, as they like to call themselves. In addition to the four he'd already seen, there was also a small female rat beastman called Yuni, and a swarm of younger children who roamed about the area in an undisciplined mob. As the newest addition to the group, at least according to Lara, he immediately became their focus for the rest of the night, and was pestered with a dizzying array of questions until they were finally forced into bed by a worn out Griselda.

All things considered, it was a far cry from the gangs he was used to, and after questioning Lara, he was able to piece together the reason. That such a gang could exist at all, was largely due to the unique traditions of the capital city's underworld.

The gangs of Almirn had a lengthy and troubled history, and until relatively recently, it had been filled bloodshed and cruelty. That all changed when Ricklos came to power nearly two hundred years ago. The mysterious man and his shadowy organization swiftly brought the capital's gangs to their knees, but rather than destroying them, as had been the custom up to that point, he forced them to submit to his authority, becoming the de-facto ruler of the Almirn underworld in a few short years.

Ricklos required little from his new subjects, but did prohibit bloodshed between the various gangs. While this created some consternation amongst the old guard, no one was powerful enough to resist. Once a few of the more violent gangs were destroyed after failing to abide by the decree, the capital experienced an unprecedented age of peace, and with it prosperity.

Disputes still occurred, but the gangs were forced to use negotiations and finally competitions to resolve them. While they tried a number of different methods, they eventually settled on using a formalized style of street brawling, ironically called Arbitration. In it, two teams of fighters would seek to accomplish a particular objective, often times simply beating the other team into submission, but other versions did exist.

This style of competition allowed the gangs to continue their combative traditions, while avoiding earning the shadow ruler's ire. It even became something of a local pastime, with major gang confrontations drawing large crowds of observers and gamblers.

Ricklos ruled for nearly 50 years, before disappearing mysteriously with many of his key followers. The suddenly leaderless shadow organization swiftly collapsed, leaving the gangs once more on their own. However, they had grown used to benefits of peace, and so they formed a council with representatives from every gang, in an effort to sustain the changes Ricklos had made.

Since then, the council has more or less maintained the peace, and the gangs continued the tradition of arbitrating their disputes with hand to hand combat. On the rare occasion that some gang violates this principle, they quickly became the target of every other member of the Almirn underworld, without the protections afforded by the council, leading to their swift and bloody demise.

[This would be a bit easier to understand if they actually named all these shadowy ruling bodies.] Brenden thought to himself while applying Lifestyle Magic in preparation for the day.

In any event, the whole Arbitration system had a number of rules and regulations determining how, and in what capacity one gang could challenge another. It was also the primary method they used to compete for territory and influence. Since the defending participant had the right to choose a number of the details about the match, the system tended to favor the status quo. Particularly powerful gangs could develop an advantage, but it was rare for there to be much actual change to the balance between the various gangs.

This of course begged the question of why the Hunter's Paw would chose such unfavorable terms during their Arbitration match? The answer was quite disappointing.

"That's because we were the challengers!" Lara had declared confidently.

A large part of Brenden wanted to simply leave thenbut he hadn't finished eating yet, so he asked, "Why would you challenge another gang when you lacked the ability to furnish a team?"

Looking a bit sheepish, the girl replied, "Wellwe had scrapped enough money together to hire an adventurer to help, and so we challenged the Yonnis with that in mind. The guy we got was really strong, so it should have been easy. But."

Brenden waited patiently while working on his third bowl of stew.

"The Yonnis managed to catch wind of our plan, and paid the guy off, so he never showed. On the plus side, that was the reason we were able to bring you on as a reserve fighter! So it all worked out in the end."

"So, you can hire adventurers to participate in matches? Why didn't you just tell the mediator that I was one of those?" He asked starting to feel annoyed again.

Lara tilted her head, "You can't have an adventurer be part of your team for more than one Arbitration match, so if we wanted to make useI mean, make you an ally, it had to be as a reserve fighter. You're going to be sticking around, right?"

Brenden suppressed another wave of irritation at the girl's obvious attempt at manipulation. Up to this point it had largely been his fault for stepping in without understanding the situation, but it was also clear that the rabbit beastman had been using a combination of subtle and overt techniques to recruit him, with varying levels of proficiency. Not that any of them worked on him.

"Haven't decided yet. I want to sleep on it." He had replied simply, hoping to forestall any more conversation on the matter until he'd enjoyed the full round of creature comforts the tavern could provide.

Surprisingly, Lara had let the matter go after that, and he was able to finish his meal in peace before heading up to the only room available. With a decent night's sleep under his belt, Brenden felt ready to tackle the problem of leaving. If he could just manage to sneak out now, while everyone else was still asleep.

"I am here to challenge you, Hunter's Paw! Come out and face me if you dare!" A booming voice sounded from outside, interrupting his plans.

Looking outside the small window, he saw a large group of men and women, dressed like gang members, standing in front of the tavern. At the front was a tall, burly bear beastman who looked to be the speaker. Despite a lined face and grey hair, which told the story of a man well past his prime, the beastman was rippling with barely concealed muscle.

Standing a little ways away was the boulder shaped man from yesterday. Evidently, he had been called into to mediate again.

[Sounds like the Paws are in for some trouble. Oh well, it's not my problem.] Brenden thought while getting his gear together. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed Lara stepping to speak with the bear beastman.

Shrugging, he headed downstairs. Hopefully, he could sneak by while they were occupied. As he was opening the front door of the tavern, he heard the leader of the gang roar with laughter. "HAHA, you are an interesting one, missy. Tell me, who is this leader of yours that you have so much confidence in?"

The bell that hung above the doorframe chimed once in the still morning air, drawing the attention of everyone outside. With a sinking sensation, Brenden saw Lara's face split into a mischievous grin before she started pointing at him. "Well, mister Fang, he's right there!"

The bear beastman, apparently named Fang, gave him a speculative glance. "Taking on my entire team by yourself, are you? I don't know if you're foolish, brave, or both. While I admire that kind of mentality, don't think you'll get away with looking down on the Night Kings."

"Hold on now, I don't know what she might have told you-" Brenden started trying to explain, but was interrupted by Fang, who appeared to neither hear nor care about his protestations.

"Let's see how well you back up your claims. First one to bring him down, drinks for free tonight!" The bear beastman roared, inspiring a round of cheers as the assembled gang members charged at him in a frenzied mob.

[.....I'm going to murder that rabbit.]

Realizing that the time for words had passed, Brenden sighed and stepped forward to meet the approaching horde. At the very least, this would give him a chance to practice his skills. Cracking his knuckles, he braced for the onslaught.

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Fang couldn't believe it. The unassuming dog beastman had systematically destroyed his prided team with ease. While a few of his gang members had been defeated with legitimate blows, most had been simply tossed aside, like so much garbage. In the span of a few moments, the two dozen best fighters to have assembled in the Night Kings were quashed, and Fang himself was left facing the terrifying man alone.

Although no slouch himself, the old bear knew he had met his match. There was only one path open for him, now. With an alacrity that his body had almost forgotten, he sprang into action.

"The Night Kings surrender. We will now fall under the command of the Hunter's Paw and their leader." Fang said a kneeling position. The mediator nodded disinterestedly, before starting to wander away. He never was one to waste time after a match.

The young man shook his head in denial, "Look, that's not what-"

"Our great leader bids you to raise your head, as all among the Paw are equal." The rabbit beastman from earlier broke in suddenly, and began to spout all kinds of haughty things.

[Is she his Speaker? An interesting choice...a young female rabbit beastman...perhaps...is he following the legend of Fortune's Herald? Is he aiming to become the next King of Thieves? Then all of this was part of his plan....]

Fang felt his old blood start to stir at the thought.

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Brenden grabbed the troublesome rabbit by the head, putting a bit more force into it than before. "What is the meaning of this?" He growled.

"Owowowowow, that hurts! Your crushing my brains!" She complained loudly, and feeling a modicum of concern, he relaxed his grip until she started talking.

"Well, leader, it looks like you've acquired a strong gang to assist you in your rise to power. Congratulations! I hope you won't forget your friend Lara once you're rich and famous." She was rubbing her hands together greedily.

[.....Does this creature not have any shame?]

A round of laughter the bear beastman interrupted his interrogation. "HAHA! I have to say, lad, I'm impressed! When I heard about a new expert taking up with the Hunter's Paw, I thought it was a joke, but clearly, I was played for a fool. I should have known a 1 vs. 25 match with sovereignty rights on the line was too good to be true, but I fell right into your trap just the same." He laughed again, "As expected of a real contender for the King of Thieves! I'm looking forward to what you show me next!"

Both him and Lara looked over at the rival gang leader in confusion.

""...What?""