Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) by Grayson Sinclair (black authors fiction txt) 📕

but after the second, I didn’t give a shit anymore. Just as I downed my fourth ale, the guest we needed to see swaggered in.

Miguel was a cocky ladies’ man, or he styled himself like one in his skintight black tunic and leather pants. I couldn’t deny he certainly cut a handsome figure, built with the lean frame of a swimmer, with his jet-black hair and dark skin giving him an exotic air. He looked to be around the same age as myself, give or take a few years, though, in fairness, none of us were as young as we looked.

He didn’t even glance in our direction as he entered. He knew we were there; he also knew that we needed his help. No one came or went without him knowing about it and making a profit on the info. He sauntered over to the bar, grabbed a bottle of top-shelf brandy, and took a large swig before setting the bottle down. The bartender didn't so much as a glance in his direction as he walked off; Miguel motioned us to follow him, and we had no choice but to comply.

Down in the basement, Miguel walked over to the far wall and pressed a hidden button on the wall. A false door swung open to reveal a rather spacious and well-lit office. Which was just for show since Miguel didn’t need to hide his criminal dealings; he paid his dues to the Merchants Guild like everyone else.

He sat down in a chair behind a large, expertly carved wooden desk, which was more of a work of art than a piece of furniture. “What can I do for you boys this time?” he asked the three of us with a sarcastic tone, though his eyes never left mine.

I suppressed a sigh at the superiority in his voice, and I couldn't even be angry at him. Much as I hated dealing with him, he got the job done every time. “I require your delivery services.”

Miguel wore a slightly smug smile on his face as he spoke, “And what, pray tell, is it that you need to be delivered? It must be quite important for you to have come to me.” His gaze shifted to one of abject greed. “Did you finally figure out a way to quickly produce more Gloom shrooms?”

I shook my head. “Unfortunately not, I even asked Alistair to try expanding the cave with earth magic, but from what he told me, if we excavate any further, we risk the structural integrity of the rock. Given the location of the cave, a few more gold in my pocket isn’t worth having the ground beneath our home crumble out from under us.”

Miguel’s face fell at my words, and he stopped himself from cursing. “Oh, well. Might actually be for the best right now. Since the demand is so much higher than your supply, we can charge an arm and a leg for each dose, raking in gold hand over fist.”

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms, staring down Miguel. “That’s the first I’m hearing of price gouging. I didn’t think our product was selling that fast from the coin we’ve been getting. You wouldn’t undercut your supplier, would you, Miguel?”

Miguel froze for a split second but covered it with a fake smile. “Of course not, my friend. It’s just grown increasingly popular this past month or so. Your share will reflect the increased profits, have no fear of that. Now, what was it you kiddos needed from me?” he asked quickly.

I let him change the subject and sat back up in the chair, propping my arm under my chin. “I‘ve recently come into possession of a ship. It seems the former crew left it abandoned. I was hoping you’d be able to lend us the services of one of your crews to sail her back to Gloom-Harbor.”

 “Oh, if that’s all you need, that shouldn’t be too difficult to arrange,” he said, fumbling at a drawer under his desk for a moment before pulling out a rather large map of Nexus. Miguel unfurled it across the smooth mahogany surface.

”Where is this ship of yours located?”

I leaned forward in my seat to get a better look at the map. ”I’m not sure the exact island we landed on, but somewhere around there,” I said, pointing at Stormstruck Reef, located near the edge of the map.

He whistled at that. “Morrigan’s Feathers! How’d you end up way the hell out there?"

I told him about our hunt for the dragon and of Alistair’s death.

“My condolences,” he deadpanned.

“Can you do it or not?”

He didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached across his desk and took hold of a small wooden pipe, taking ample time to light it. “Oh, I can do it, but I would need to send two crews out on one ship. Keeping that plus the distance in mind, this won’t be cheap.”

“How much?”

Miguel took a long draw from his pipe, blowing the smoke straight at us. ”Let's call it eight hundred gold for services rendered.”

“Done.”

I pulled out the heavy bag of gold and thrust it onto his desk. The thump of gold caused Miguel's eyes to light once more. The three of us stood up from our chairs, and Miguel and I shook hands. As I turned to leave, Miguel asked one last question.

“Just out of curiosity, what’s the name of the ship you acquired?” he asked, putting heavy emphasis on “acquired.”

“The ship's name is the Delilah.”

He laughed deeply at that. However, underneath his laughter lurked some unpleasant nastiness. “You managed to wrangle Old Avery’s ship out from under him, eh?” he said with another chuckle.

“Something like that…is that all?”

Miguel stood up, sudden enough that he knocked over his pipe, sending still-lit ashes tumbling across the wood.

“Hold up a moment,” he said.