The lands to the North had changed a lot since I'd last been there (though my last trip wasn't exactly through all the civilized areas under the best circumstances). Industry and innovation was all over, I saw a lot of technologies the guard were very far behind on (street signals, better roads, actual authorities not corrupted by necromancers... that last one was of course a judgement on my part). I tell you the modern world is terrifying to me, it seems just as soon as I get used to one facet of it, another completely new facet pops up. Like in previous centuries when things moved forward it was at a slower pace, in the last fifty years the world is rushing around like its hair on fire. New fire arms technology, new cooking technology, new everything technology. Which just means more ways to die! (And I am so adverse to dying, so I find it important to stay up on everything). Shobogon didn't seem to care at all at the modern whizbang things around him (probably since he had grown up with them, where as I was just dealing with them as someone who knew simpler times.
We had caught a paid servant car from the airfield and the gruff drive offered some small talk as he dangerously drove us around the streets of a city whose name I either didn't catch or didn't pay attention to (shocking I'm usually so good about the details). We arrived at a warehouse in area full of them, I was about to ask Shobogon if he had the right address when he paid the hired driver and the guy drove off. Apparently we were at our destination whether I wanted us to be there or not. Inside the warehouse was mostly empty, just a table with three chairs, one of them occupied. I did feel out of sorts, I still had my stupid luggage with me since we had left the airfield without checking in at all!
"Gentleman come in." The voice was loud and seemed to fill the warehouse despite it being a fairly large, if empty, building. Shobogon ran to his seat and left the vase sitting on the table. I put my luggage at the front of the warehouse and took my time coming to the table, because I like people to wait for me.
"Mr. Winslow, sorry we're late." I wasn't aware we were late, we had arrived as soon as possible, but I guess Shobogon felt we were late.
"None sense you aren't late, we didn't set a time for this meeting other than today, who's your friend he looks a bit scrawny for a body guard." I have to admit I hadn't been getting my usual meals for a while, nor had I really been in the best of shape anyway, still made me sad to be thought of as not built enough to be a bodyguard.
"He's my expert."
"Ah I don't need that, but if you feel you do, feel free, greetings Mr?" He left it hanging but something in his eyes told me he already knew.
"Lorentino."
"Trezlan Lorentino?"
"Yes." I sat down with an uneasy glance, he extended his hand for a greeting, but as a necromancer I try and avoid physical contact for a variety of reasons, I politely declined.
"You must be a fourth or fifth with that name for as long as my group has heard it on lips."
"The sixth actually." It was a lie I used to cover up the necromancy, claim to be a descendant of myself, no one really buys it, but much like a lot of polite fictions, it makes things less awkward than the truth.
"I've always found it strange your family stick with Trezlan, such an ugly name." He dropped the shake he offered, and sat down. "Well authenticate Mr. Lorentino."
"Its genuine." He smiled.
"Fantastic, well then Mr. Shobogon would you like your payment now?"
"Of course, I want my cut." I should mention Winslow was dressed in a suit and didn't have any visible weaponry, I say visible, because at the mention of cut a blade extended from his sleeve and sliced through Shobogon's neck, Winslow angled Shobogon's death so as to spill his blood into the vase. And so ended Shobogon, a weird man who made a deal with people he probably shouldn't have.
"Did he offer you a cut Mr. Lorentino?" Winslow laughed and the blade recessed up his sleeve. Men were suddenly in the room that had not been their previously and I was escorted past the corpse of Shobogon outside and into a large car with Winslow. Shobogon was left behind. I did at least retrieve my luggage, because after losing some recently (due to a completely unrelated fire...) I wasn't going to leave that behind. And so my day got a little worse, because it always does.
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