Magic is Programming

Chapter 20: Deceit

Darmelkon casually carried his chair back over and sat down in front of Carlos. "Something to show me? Not to discuss terms or negotiate?"

Carlos nodded. "To establish some background information. You called my behavior 'curious', and I think it's time to explain a bit of why I'm so blas about the situation." Carlos carefully kept his breathing calm and even. His heart was beating a bit fast, but he reminded himself that he was pretty sure Darmelkon truly didn't want to kill him, and did his best to project a facade of confidence.

Darmelkon just nodded and moved his hand in a small circle, gesturing towards Carlos. "Proceed."

"First, do you know what makes a person immune to the suppression of these cuffs? I'm sure it rarely comes up, so it won't surprise me if you don't know."

Darmelkon raised an eyebrow. "Immune to suppression cuffs? Hmm. That sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't call it to mind. I take it you're about to inform me, and demonstrate your possession of this immunity."

"Oh, of course! Why else would I bring it up? It's simple, but rare: a person who has 10 soul structures cannot be suppressed by such an item. And for the demonstration, a simple light spell." Carlos chanted the spell's incantation, and held out his now glowing hand for Darmelkon's inspection.Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience

Darmelkon frowned at the sight. "10 soul structures. That means at least adamantium rank. A high lord's family. Hmm. That would explain some things, but raises questions of its own. Supposing this is true, what is a scion of a high noble house doing here alone, without servants or escorts? Why recruit a commoner like Amber? And what house are you from?"

"I'm sure either the Enchanter or at least his Guild can confirm it for you. As for traveling alone, it is tradition in my house for young members coming of age to go on a journey to experience life as the common people do, and prove ourselves capable without needing to rely on the support of our house. That I got myself into a position where I have to reveal my status is something of an unfortunate failure in that regard. And for Amber, she is talented and shows great promise, and part of the reason for this tradition is that friends made without benefit of rank are often the truest and most loyal. I like her, and with just a little help I'm sure she will go far." Carlos technically wasn't even lying. He was just omitting that the main reason for experiencing life "as the common people do" was that he actually was a "common person".

Darmelkon sat back and stared at Carlos for several seconds, holding one hand on his chin. "I can understand the logic behind such a tradition," he began slowly, "but I have not heard of any high noble house doing such a thing before. And you haven't mentioned what house you are from, still."

"The tradition is secret, of course. Best to minimize the chance of anyone catching on and figuring out who I am before I tell them. And I am forbidden to reveal which house I am from unless absolutely necessary." Forbidden by himself, because he was his own head of house, but of course he didn't say that.

"I see. Very well. I will be cautious about provoking your unidentified house's wrath. I assume that was your purpose in telling me of this."

Carlos nodded. "It was."

Darmelkon returned to his former position several yards away, and closed his eyes, with a slight frown on his face.

Carlos rested his head on his hands, and thought. Implying to Darmelkon that he was a noble seemed to have gone well, but so far that was just a hedge against the worst. He needed something else, something to actually get them out of this cave and free.

The obvious and simple way was to give Tornay and Darmelkon what they came for, but what they came for was Purple. ...Or was it? There were other dungeon cores, and even Purple himself had been there in his dungeon near Erlen more than long enough for someone to collect him if they wanted to. No, they were really after knowledge, the knowledge Darmelkon had offered to buy, of how to move a dungeon core without that expensive ritual he'd mentioned.

So, why not just tell them? What would happen if he did? ...He wasn't sure, but he had a couple friends he could ask. [Amber, how do you think they would react if I told them I talked Purple into letting me move him?]

Amber snorted. [Easy. They'd think you're lying. I've never heard of anyone talking with a dungeon core before, much less convincing it to do something outside of a wish.]

[What if I have Purple demonstrate letting me move him?]

[They'd just think you established control of him some other way. From what Darmelkon said, control of a dungeon core is well established as possible, and they think you just found a cheap way to do it.]

[So, to satisfy them I'd need an alternative method that either fits with what they already know, or that they can test themselves to prove it.]

[Yeah.]

Carlos considered that for a while. He didn't have an alternative method of actual control. What would it take for them to test and verify the truth, if he told them? Any test involving Purple, they'd probably dismiss as him using whatever control they thought he had to fake the result. They would need another cooperative dungeon core, and what were the odds of finding such a thing? And of Tornay or Darmelkon successfully talking it into cooperating?

[Purple, can you answer a hypothetical?] Carlos wasn't sure how smart Purple really was, and how much of his stilted grammar was just inexperience with language.

[Um. Yes?]

[Great. Suppose Enchanter Tornay finds another dungeon core and wishes to talk with it. How do you think it would react?]

[React to Tornay?] Carlos could almost feel Purple thinking it over. [Would confused. Would be confused. Grant wish. Talk. Wary. Cautious.]

[And if Tornay asked it to move? Like I asked you?]

[Would refuse. Not trust.]

[Even if it's low on mana and desperate like you were?]

[Yes. Would sense greed. You were curious. Friendly. Wanted to help. Tornay wants power.]

[Ok. Thank you.]

So much for that option, then. That left semi-honest negotiation as a possibility to explore. Darmelkon was a businessman and had already expressed a desire to negotiate, and maybe Carlos could lean on his supposed nobility to convince him to give up on this venture. Carlos looked over at Darmelkon and raised his hands.

Darmelkon carried his chair over again, sat down in it, shifted around a bit to find a more comfortable position, leaned back, and clasped his hands over his waist. "Will this be the last time you call me over? Shuffling my chair around repeatedly, while less boring than just sitting for hours, is still tedious."

Carlos nodded respectfully. "I think so, Lord Merchant. I have considered your offer. Unfortunately, I believe that even if I told you how I moved this dungeon core, neither you nor Enchanter Tornay would be able to make use of the knowledge. It required certain unique circumstances and personal characteristics that you would be unable to duplicate."

Darmelkon raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I see. And you expect me to just believe that?"

"Not really. It's true, but you have plenty of reason to believe I would lie about it. Perhaps more to the point, and certainly more believable, is that you will not get the information you want from me without using methods that would provoke my house's wrath." No need to mention that his house's wrath would consist entirely of Carlos's own wrath, of course.

Darmelkon frowned. "I see. You realize that this leaves me in an unfortunate position, if I take your threats seriously."

"Yes. You spent at least 100 gold chasing us, and now you will not gain the return you hoped for from your investment."

"Hmm. You at least speak more like a noble than a commoner."

Carlos eagerly seized on that point to support his bluff. "That would be rather difficult to fake, would it not? If being immune to suppression cuffs wasn't already enough proof. In any case, to at least somewhat compensate you for the loss, I can offer a favor from my house, to be called in at a later time."

"You still have not identified your house. How can I call in a favor without knowing who to call?"

Carlos frowned, thinking. "I will contact you once I have received permission to identify my house. In the meantime... What would you need to enable you to track me down wherever I go?" Darmelkon surely had some kind of extraordinary tracking capability to have tracked them to this cave.

"A drop of your blood would be best."

Ah. Carlos supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Lots of stories and games back on Earth had magic that could use a part of someone's body, such as a drop of blood, to scry on them or locate them. "Ok. So, I offer a drop of my blood and the promise of a favor from my house, in exchange for releasing myself, Amber, and our dungeon core, returning our belongings, giving up your pursuit of my knowledge, and helping convince Enchanter Tornay to do the same."

"That last part might be difficult, you know."

"Yes, but the rest is meaningless without it."

"Fair enough." Darmelkon pressed a spot on the arm of his chair, and the quiet sounds of the cave that Carlos hadn't noticed were missing returned. "Enchanter Tornay! We have some important things to discuss!"