Chapter 55: Rat King
The Drowning Rat was busier than usual when Nacho arrived, the common room packed with the kind of clientele that made him feel right at home. He found a corner booth and waited, knowing the Rat King’s people would find him soon enough.
They did.
Mira, the scarred enforcer, slid into the seat across from him without asking permission. Her expression was unreadable, but there was something in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. Something that looked almost like respect.
"You actually did it," she said. "The whole city’s buzzing about the Sanctum robbery. Three guards found asleep at their posts. Vault cleaned out. No witnesses, no evidence, no leads." A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "The boss wants to see you. Now."
Nacho had expected as much. He followed her through the familiar path to the underground chamber, past the hidden doors and secret passages that made up the Rat King’s domain.
The old man was waiting in his high-backed chair, surrounded by the treasures of a lifetime spent in the shadows. His leather face split into a wide grin when Nacho entered.
"The Siren who robbed the Sanctum." He spread his hands in a gesture of welcome. "I have to admit, when Mira told me what you were planning, I thought you’d lost your mind. Now I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been underestimating you this whole time."
Nacho reached into his inventory and pulled out the haul from the vault. The Moonfire Essences, the Starfall Crystals, the Void Pearl, the mysterious artifact box. He set them on the table in front of the Rat King one by one, watching the old man’s eyes widen with each addition.
"As promised. Everything except what I needed for personal business."
The Rat King picked up one of the crystals and held it to the light, watching it sparkle. "Personal business. You mean the phoenix feather." He chuckled, a dry sound like sand scraping against stone. "I heard about that too. The street rat’s sister, the one with Red Cough. Miraculous recovery in the middle of the night. Doctors are calling it an act of the gods."
"Something like that."
"You could have sold that feather for enough gold to live like a king for years. Instead you gave it away." The Rat King set the crystal down and fixed Nacho with a penetrating stare. "Why?"
"Does it matter?"
"Everything matters in my line of work. Motivations, loyalties, weaknesses. The things that make people predictable." He leaned forward, his small dark eyes glittering. "You’re not predictable, Siren. You do things that don’t make sense by any rational calculation. You help people who can’t help you back. You take risks that should get you killed and walk away stronger."
Nacho met his gaze without flinching. "Is that a problem?"
"On the contrary." The old man smiled, showing those unnervingly white teeth. "It makes you invaluable. People who can be predicted can be controlled. People who can be controlled can be betrayed. But someone like you?" He shook his head slowly. "You’re a variable. An unknown quantity. The kind of piece that can turn a losing game into a winning one."
He gestured at the treasures on the table.
"This is worth more than I expected. Much more. I’ll honor our original agreement, seventy-thirty in your favor, but I’m also prepared to offer you something additional. A partnership, rather than employment. Equal say in operations that involve your particular skills."
Nacho raised an eyebrow. "That’s generous."
"It’s practical. I’m old, Siren. Been running these shadows for fifty years, and I can feel the end coming closer every day. The question isn’t whether someone will take over when I’m gone. The question is who." His eyes bored into Nacho’s. "Think about it. No rush. We’ve got time."
The meeting ended shortly after that, with the Rat King’s people counting out Nacho’s share of the haul in gold coins that clinked pleasantly as they filled his inventory. It was more money than he’d ever seen in one place, enough to buy a nice house in the merchant quarter or fund a small army.
He had a feeling he’d need both before this was all over.
Inquisitor Vance found him outside the city walls the next morning, standing at the edge of the old quarry and staring down at the dungeon entrance far below.
"You’ve been busy," she said, coming to stand beside him. The wind caught her hair and sent it streaming behind her like a dark banner. "The Sanctum robbery is all anyone can talk about. Half the Guard thinks it was an inside job. The other half thinks it was magic beyond anything they’ve seen before."
"What do you think?"
She was quiet for a moment, her hawk eyes scanning the quarry. "I think you’re either the most dangerous person I’ve ever met, or the most useful. Possibly both."
"I’ll take that as a compliment."
"It wasn’t meant as one." She turned to face him, her expression serious. "I kept my word. No one knows you were involved. The investigation is chasing ghosts while the real thief walks free. But that means you owe me now. And I intend to collect."
"Lord Daven."
"Lord Daven." She pulled a folded piece of paper from her coat and handed it to him. "Everything I’ve gathered on his operation over the past three years. Trade routes, shell companies, known associates. It’s not enough to arrest him, not with his connections, but it might be enough for someone with your skills to find something actionable."
Nacho took the paper and tucked it into his inventory without looking at it. "And if I do? If I find proof that brings him down?"
"Then the corruption that’s been strangling this city for decades finally gets cut out." Her jaw tightened. "And maybe, just maybe, I can start doing my job the way it’s supposed to be done. Protecting people instead of playing politics."
There was something raw in her voice, something that went deeper than professional ambition. Nacho activated Mind Fortress and caught the surface layer of her thoughts.
Pain. Old and familiar, worn smooth by years of carrying it. A memory of someone she’d failed to protect. A promise she’d made to herself in the aftermath, to never let it happen again.
He pulled back from her mind, feeling like he’d seen something he wasn’t meant to see.
"I’ll find what you need," he said quietly.
She nodded once, then turned and walked away without another word.
Nacho watched her go, then looked back down at the quarry. The dungeon entrance glowed faintly in the morning light, yellow mist swirling with promise. Two more levels until evolution. Two more levels until he found out what an Evolving Tentacle Monster became when it finished evolving.
But first, he had business to attend to. A corrupt noble to bring down. A debt to the Rat King to consider. And somewhere, counting down in the back of his mind, a month that was rapidly running out.
Sera would be coming soon.
The Grand General had promised to follow him to the Mortal World, and she’d made it clear that escape wasn’t an option. Whatever that meant, whatever she wanted from him, he needed to be ready.
He turned away from the quarry and headed back toward the city, his mind already racing through plans and contingencies.
The game was getting more complicated by the day, but for the first time since arriving in this world, Nacho felt like he was actually in control.
