The Karmadont Chess Set (The Way of the Shaman: Book #5) LitRPG series Read online

  “Where should we store the loot? Where are the storehouses?” one of the raiders asked me, tearing me away from my studies.

  “The storehouses?” I shot the player a puzzled look. “I haven’t the slightest idea…”

  “No one does. We looked all over Altameda and couldn’t find any. What are we going to do? If we dump the loot on the ground, it’ll vanish instantly…”

  “Leite will kill me,” I grumbled, returned to the castle management screen and hired some more personnel—a castle majordomo. That’s minus another 1.5 million…an expensive bit of fun. A good majordomo who also happens to be…

  “Master,” said Viltrius in a slightly squeaky voice and bowed. “What are your orders?”

  …a goblin.

  Green all over and with prominent ears that stuck out from his head, Viltrius was wearing such whimsical, circular glasses that one glance at him told you that you’d never eke any gold or items from him. It was also clear that in his charge, the castle would be so spotless that it would sparkle like the sun itself on a clear day. No doubt he’d count even the dust and dirt, pack it away in tidy little baggies and store these on their proper shelves until they came in handy.

  “We’re doing inventory today,” I told Viltrius. “My players will bring you items to catalog and store. Basically, I need you to make sure that we don’t lose anything.”

  “Yes, sir!” The goblin shut his eyes for a moment and then said, “There are twelve storehouses available in this castle. Two of them are currently active. Shall I activate the rest as well?”

  “Do as you see fit. If activating the others costs money, there’s obviously no point in wasting funds.”

  “I understand the task required of me,” Viltrius bowed again and after a pause, uttered a phrase I did not expect: “I am extremely pleased, Earl, to have been put in charge of such a high-level castle. I am grateful to you that you have chosen me. Believe me—all your items will be perfectly preserved.”

  Stunned, I couldn’t think of a reply to the bowing goblin. The raider standing beside us didn’t seem to think any of this was odd, but to me, the point was crystal clear: The NPCs generated by my castle were endowed with medium-level Imitators—at least! These weren’t your ordinary toy soldiers who would follow your orders like zombies. No, these were almost fully-formed individuals with their own personal histories. So this is what a high-level castle could do!

  Meanwhile, Altameda’s walls continued to tremble. The castle seemed to be waiting impatiently for when I would finally input its teleport destination. But no one was paying any attention to the shaking anymore. Anastaria showed up about thirty minutes after the plundering of Glarnis had begun and basically forced me to ask Ehkiller for help. We needed high-level miners, smiths, lumberjacks—anyone who could help us strip the Imperial steel from the Glarnis throne room. By that point, we had already summoned all of our gatherers and craftsmen, yet their levels weren’t high enough to do the bulk of the job. I was forced to agree and call Stacey’s dad…

  Over the last nine hours, my castle had sunk in two great jolts, crushing several tarrying players but also indicating that we were making progress in our plundering activities. The Altameda guard wasn’t sitting by idly either. They fought off three assaults and picked up all the fallen loot. According to Barsina who had stayed back in Anhurs, Undigit was running around like mad trying to assemble another raid, gathering players for what he billed ‘an exquisite adventure—the annihilation of the Legends’ of Barliona castle.’ Judging by the number of players pooling near the walls, he was making good progress. I was beginning to get the impression that we were not much loved in Barliona…

  “Dan, we might not survive the assault,” Anastaria remarked, climbing up to join me on the battlements. “I checked out the gates. They’re at 24% Durability—not enough to handle a full-scale attack. Glarnis has been almost picked to pieces. They’re clearing the last of the storehouses down there. So…well, we are cutting it close here…”

  “Did you see the loot that Rorg and his warriors won?” I asked the girl. Every five minutes, Viltrius was reporting on the incoming inventory, the activation of new storehouses, the allocation of funds, and various other tidbits of info. My head was beginning to spin and yet I did manage to notice one interesting notification among this torrent of news: Several Legendary items for players of at least Level 300 had found their way to the shelves of our storehouses. “I’m sending you the description,” I sent Stacey a link to one of the more curious finds, which would serve a Paladin-Healer extremely well. “What do you think—shall we return them to their rightful owner? For a finder’s fee of course…”

  “You poking fun?” Anastaria almost yelled. “These are the bracers of Bezrosh, one of the leading Paladins in the Azure Dragons! If you return them or even sell them back to him, I’ll never speak to you again! Have you seen the ones I’ve been wearing? They’re boring old Level 280 Epic bracers! Dan—where’d you put them?”

  Ding! You have received a message from your private circle. Do you wish to read it?

  “Tell Viltrius that I’m green-lighting the third storehouse,” I said in Stacey’s wake and reached for my mailbox. Something tells me that even if Viltrius and I had been against it, Anastaria would still have her way. Me she could negotiate with, and the majordomo could always be replaced…Well, whatever, I wonder what that letter says?

  Hello Dan! A massive attack on your castle is scheduled to begin in twenty minutes. They are planning on using the Black Death spell along with several catapults—they were just now procuring them. Keep this in mind as you marshal your defenses. Mirida the Farshighted.

  Damn! I was trying to avoid you! What the hell are you warning me for and—what’s more interesting—when the hell did I add you to my personal circle? Now, whether I liked it or not, I’d have to see Marina and have a chat with her. I’d really prefer to avoid the topic of how I ended up in Barliona. At any rate, for the moment—who knew what the future would bring? Perhaps even in the near future…

  “We only have ten minutes left!” I warned Magdey and Clutzer and thanked Rorg for the good work he’d been doing. After that, I headed to the throne room—the only place where I could activate the castle’s teleportation. It turned out that there wasn’t anything complicated about this process. If I wanted, I could even keep the castle in its current location by simply inputting its current coordinates.

  “Stacey, heads up—we’re about to jump. Listen, they’re sure to find us—that’s a given. So what’s our plan after we teleport? If they launch a full-scale assault, we can kiss the castle goodbye. They’ll raze it back to Level 1 and we’ll have to rebuild it from scratch.”

  “That’s exactly why we’re teleporting to Lestran—you’re an Earl, after all! As soon as anyone attacks you in Lestran, you’ll be able to summon not only the local NPCs but also the Governor and the Imperial army to your aid. You really need to study the laws of this place, Dan! At the moment, it’s true—we’re at Hatred with Narlak and so they’re trying to kill us while the Guardian sits idly by. By the way, it occurred to me that the Narlak Council must have been under Geranika’s control. He didn’t merely pay them off—he owned them. And you know what put me onto this idea? Or rather, who? Geyra! She managed to hide her Shadow alignment somehow—to the point that even Urusai who had access to the phantoms didn’t know it. Remember—as soon as the phantoms saw Cain, it was like they lost their minds and paid Geyra absolutely no attention. How did she manage to remain invisible to them? Something tells me that if we manage to answer this question, we’ll be able to get our class abilities back.”

  “Okay, we’ll get to the bottom of it…” I reassured the girl and opened the clan chat in order to welcome everyone on board HMS Altameda:

  “We are scheduled to depart in a minute. Anyone outside of the castle will remain here at the mercy of the mob. Hurry up!”

  I let a minute elapse and turned to Anastaria, grinning:

 
“…And we’ll get to the bottom of this mystery so thoroughly that they’ll make another movie about it. We don’t know any other way of figuring things out. Let’s go!”

  Current location has been assigned. Request for castle location and taxation documents submitted.

  Taxation?

  The castle’s jump from one location to a new one wasn’t much different than an ordinary teleportation. There was a flash and a very quick loading bar and we were already at our new site—‘strangers in a strange land.’ I’d give quite a bit right now to see the looks on Undigit’s and Donotpunnik’s faces. They’d assembled a huge army, equipped it with catapults, called in warriors from Narlak and mercenaries and—all of a sudden—there’s no one to fight! I’d be pissed…

  “Earl, allow me to congratulate you on acquiring such an excellent castle.” I hadn’t even stepped off my throne when a Herald appeared in the throne room. “Your request has been approved. I have been sent by the Emperor to notify you of this and to accept the payment for the property taxes. In view of the castle’s location, the nominal rates in Lestran Province and the province’s relations with your clan, as well as the current level of the castle, the total amount comes out to 24 million gold annually. Or, one million for each level. There are two methods of payment—a one-time sum, subject to a 5% discount, or a monthly installment. Which of these methods do you prefer?”

  “Forgive me, Herald…” I said, stunned by such insolence. A few more tax payments like this and my clan won’t have any money at all! “Why should I pay anything at all if Altameda was a gift made personally to me by the Emperor himself? Does the Emperor wish to bankrupt my clan?”

  “If you are unable to pay the taxes, or if you do not wish to, your castle shall be put up for auction within the next two months. No one wishes to compel you to do anything, Earl. You could have refused to accept ownership of Altameda. You could have chosen the castle located near Sintana which would have incurred a tax of a mere 1.5 million gold per year. However, you chose Altameda and now you have two options available to you: Either the castle is sold and you receive half of the proceeds from the sale, since under the laws of Malabar, the remainder belongs to the Empire, or you can pay the taxes on your property. Everything is quite simple, transparent and lawful. Please make your decision!”

  “Monthly payments it is,” I said through clenched teeth. “You may withdraw the first installment from the clan’s treasury…”

  Eight million four hundred and forty thousand. That’s exactly how much money our clan had after the Herald vanished. My amulet came alive vibrating once again, but I didn’t rush to answer it. I knew very well who was calling—Leite. I knew very well what he wanted to say too, but I didn’t have any other choice at the moment. Minus two mill every month—I would simply have to accept this as a fact of life from now on.

  “Leite, I’m sorry, I really hope that this is the last major outlay,” I said, finally answering the call. It seemed that my accountant refused to be ignored because my amulet kept ringing for an entire minute. “At any rate…”

  “Mahan!” Leite’s voice didn’t have even a hint of anger in it. To the contrary—it sounded like my accountant was even pleased… “Have you seen our storehouses?”

  “Not yet,” was my honest answer. “All I’ve been doing the past ten minutes is paying various taxes for the castle…”

  “Listen to me!” Leite interrupted, impatient with my bumbling. “We have three storehouses active in the castle at the moment. I looked up the properties and we have another nine available. I’ve already been contacted by several clans who want us to help them guard their property. What do you think? Should we agree? We managed to hold out for eight hours against a siege by none other than the Azure Dragons—that’s a very long time for a castle that specializes in storing valuables. And everyone can still remember that the castle survived the Armageddon spell with hardly a blemish…I have two contracts before me right now and there are another seven clans waiting for your decision. Our storehouses are enormous. All of Glarnis fit into just two of them, so… How does seventy thousand a month from each clan sound to you? If we scrounge up about thirty clans all together, we’ll be able to cover our tax burden and then some.”

  “You’ve already crunched all the numbers?”

  “It’s the first thing I checked. I figured the taxes would be higher actually, but you chose a good place to relocate to…But that’s not all!”

  “Why, what else is there?” I asked surprised. As the clan treasurer, Leite had full access to everything located in our storehouses. I guess he’d spent the past eight hours familiarizing himself with their contents.

  “I already sent Ehkiller his share, but even after that we still have about twelve thousand stacks of Imperial oak and steel in there! One unit at auction at the moment brings in 200 gold and a stack has 40 units in it…I suggest that we sell half of the steel and oak—very slowly, mind you, so as not to flood the market—and thereby recoup our costs for the guards. But I need your permission to offload the materials. Give Viltrius the order. And in general—will you change the castle settings so that I don’t have to pester you every time I need to take something out of the stores? Am I your treasurer or not?”

  “Done,” I grinned, having granted Leite full access. “Don’t I remember you trying to refuse the post?”

  “When was that? I must have woken up on the wrong side of bed that morning. Okay, I’ll set up a company to advertise our services. Mahan—our situation isn’t as bleak as it seemed at first glance! By the way, you should stop by the first storehouse. Take Plinto and Anastaria with you. I think you’ll like what you find in there.”

  Leite hung up and various notifications began to pop up about payments he was making for advertising—it seemed that the Warrior had already prepared everything ahead of time and called me strictly to obtain my formal approval. Well, as long as he wasn’t cursing up a storm like usual, I was happy…

  “Stacey, what are you doing?”

  “I’m exploring the castle, why?”

  “Let’s go look at the first storehouse. I’ve been told there’s something we’ll like in there. We’ll bring Plinto with us…”

  The castle storehouse was quite the epic sight—I had never seen one before and imagined them like the Dragon’s treasure vault—a huge space housing heaps and piles of all kinds of stuff amid which only the vault keeper knew how to find the item you needed. As if! I don’t know what it’s like in other castles, but Altameda’s storehouses contained orderly rows of shelves upon which various goods were organized according to a clear logical pattern. Judging by the description of the storehouse, each place on the shelves had its own three-digit address and included the name of the items stored in it as well as their quantity. This was effectively an inventory management system! I see now why Leite hadn’t objected to my hiring Viltrius even a little.

  “Are these the fruits of your labor?” I asked the goblin to make sure and received only a satisfied smile and a bow in reply. “Leite told me that there’s something for Anastaria, Plinto and me here. Any idea what that might be?”

  “Yes, Master. As I mentioned earlier, the castle already had three onsite storehouses activated…”

  “Onsite?” I asked puzzled.

  “Located within Altameda. If you look at the map, you will see that currently we are deep within the Elma mountain range. The doors to this storehouse are merely static portals with an altered appearance. If the castle is captured, one of the owners—that is, you, or the honorable Anastaria and Plinto—may revoke access to the storehouse. Then the captors won’t be able to get any of the items stored here. Even if the castle is destroyed, you may access its storehouses from the trade guild. All the necessary legal documents can be found there too.”

  “Got it…So then about our items..?”

  “Please follow me. At the risk of repeating myself, Altameda had three storehouses active, two of which were entirely empty. However, the thir
d one held three items whose purpose was unclear to me. When I made my report to Treasurer Leite, he designated each of the three items for you, for Anastaria and for Plinto. He then asked me that I bring you to them. And here we are—and there are the items in question.”

  The goblin indicated a row of shelves among which three spots immediately drew my eye. Three items rested on three red velvet pillows among the clutter of Imperial steel and oak, stone and various other loot that we had pillaged from Glarnis.

  “This knife is for you, Master,” added Viltrius, gingerly picking up a small knife from the pillow and offering it to me. “In any event, such is the opinion of Master Leite.”

  Until the item reached my hands, its properties remained hidden as I hadn’t felt like digging around the storehouse database. But as soon as I took a hold of its hilt…

  Almair. Description: Knife used during the creation of the Karmadont Chess Set. Item class: Legendary. Information for owner: Remember the majesty of Emperor Karmadont and do not forget about time!

  “This horn is for you, Anastaria.” Viltrius picked up the next item and handed it to Stacey.

  Narlashtar. Description: Horn used by Shatrizal to summon the armies to the final battle with the Dragons. Item class: Legendary. Information for owner: Remember the majesty of the Great Mother of the Sirens, Shatrizal, and do not forget about time!

  “And finally, this ring must be yours, Plinto,” the Goblin concluded, handing the Rogue a ring that seemed to be leaking fog.

  Kragnistal. Description: The ring of the Vampire who sacrificed himself to save life in Barliona. Item class: Legendary. Information for owner: Remember the majesty of the first Vampire Patriarch and do not forget about time!

  “It is time to return to Altameda,” said Viltrius, after giving us a moment to appreciate our presents. “As I see it, Treasurer Leite was not mistaken.”