It had been weeks since what the dealers in the city of Fontaine had first encountered the being recently dubbed "The Brass Wraith." What was more troubling was that it left several messages whenever it attacked. It would have been fine if the messages were just simple warrnings to whomever came across them, but several had called him out by name, not any of the fake ones he used in his business, but the name he had worked so hard to bury and conceal.
Were the rumors that this wraith was a ghost like the ones from Liyue true? In the many deals he had done in the black market, it wouldn't have supported him that one of them had ended up killing a tourist. Heck he had to use his connections to cover up the disappearance of a merchant from Mondstat after they got into a freud with a local nobleman he had ties with. However if that was the case, he would have been several degrees removed from any potential offing of the kid.
The whole thing was only causing him further frustration after he found that his assassination attempt of the boy named Carman who had become a resident of one of his buildings was unsuccessful. Was he of foreign descent? That mad things a little more complicated, if he wanted to use the kid's disappearance to get close to the other new tenant, Ryuzu, he would have to divert some of his already limited manpower.
Flicking a coin between his fingers he wondered if he would have to hire new goons from the underground, however, many of the old mercs with good reputations had started to catch wind of the dangers working with anyone related to the Synthe business and either increased their prices or have decided to lay low and wait for the storm to blow over. Would he have to make a new persona?
There were many things to consider, for the moment, despite how much it frustrated him, Vacher decided to put his plans for Ryuzu aside and face the problem of the two figures that have been harassing him. The Pale Lady and the Brass Wraith.
Perhaps he could frame them for something like murder, as of yet, they have only attacked individuals whom the guards could easily identify as criminals due to the Synthe and other illegal goods they were guarding. With the consolation of his Synthe stores and the liquidation of the other assets they should be losing targets. It should be easy to set up a murder to occur in a building where he intentionally leaks Synthe connections too while also tipping off the guards. In doing this he can test to see where these two were getting their information from, and get the government to see the two as criminals rather than some enigmatic vigilante and force of nature.
[Carman 3rd person POV]
It has been a few weeks since he had started to attack Vacher's subordinates' drug dens. It was cathartic to him causing terror amongst the criminals, after a bit he finally felt his need for vengeance was somewhat satisfied. While he still wanted to make Vacher feel the same emotions he did after he realized he had nearly been dissolved, Carman was no longer feeling a strong sense of fear and anger. Now that he had gotten the short term goal of distracting Vacher out of the way it was time to review his plans.
Things were going well at the workshop with Livre, the Fidger spinners were getting more and more popular, with many kids who lived near the workshop having bought at least one each. Carman was getting a decent split of the profits every time a spinner was sold, and now he had gathered enough funds to start considering his options for education.
There were two options of middle class schools he could attend, one was geared more for training civilian engineers and the other a more militaristic approach. One would give him insights on how to solve everyday problems that civilians faced with engineering, and the other was designing weapons and soldier constructs. Both of them were appealing to him however he was sadly unable to take the General Electric approach and do both at the same time.
Shaking head to clear it, he thought about asking Livre for advice, which lead him to the papers on his table. They were the adoption forms that Livre had gotten from the courthouse. It had both Livre and the administration signatures from the clerk, all it needed was signatures from Carman and the orphanage who still had guardianship over him.
It had taken him time to come to terms with his feelings, the turmoil from his shower incident not helping the issue. However, Livre had proved time and time again to be reliable, the rapport they had built over the months working together, and from Livre teaching Carman all that he could wasn't for nothing.
Picking up a quill and dipping it into a pot of ink, Carman smoothly signed his name on the paper. He will see how things go from here, he believed that Livre deserved a chance due to everything he had done for Carman. All that was now needed to complete the paperwork would be to visit the orphanage in person.
-to be continued
It had been a busy yet oddly quiet time at the workshop for the past week. Livre mused on how much life Carman brought to the shop, his personality when interacting with customers drew them in, inspiring wonder in the children in a way Livre couldn't match. Was it because he was the same age as them and was showing a lot of knowledge? Or was it because he was breaking difficult concepts into terms the children could understand? Or rather was it how he would take the time to answer the children's questions without getting annoyed like most adults tend to become?
Holding one of Carman's toys, Livre couldn't help but get captivated by the multiple moving parts and gears Carman had worked into the design. The particular fidget spinner had been made specifically for Livre, and he often found himself messing with it while on break or while in a lull between serving customers.
The ringing of the bell over the entrance broke Livre from his trance. "Good afternoon, welcome to Leschot's Clockwork Shop, here for toys and clockwork repair. What can I do for you today?"
"It's me, Carman." Said a child's voice, looking down over the desk Livre was surprised, "Ah, so it is, sorry about that I was once again mesmerized by this little gadget you made for me. It's function may be simple, but there's something about many gears spinning smoothly in tandem that just draws one's attention. Do you agree?"
Looking around Livre noticed that Ryuzu wasn't around, "I see that Ms. Ryuzu is out adventuring, were you getting bored in the apartment or something? I remember you wanted to take some time off to pick a school to apply to. Is there something you need from me?"
Carman walked around the desk and sat on the other chair while turning to face Livre, "Yes, I've been having a bit of trouble coming to a final decision, there are pros and cons for either of the schools, they have equal commute times, their facilities are up to date, and their teachers are up to standard with the curriculum being reviewed every 3 years to keep in touch with current understanding of clockwork engineering. However, one school teaches the civil engineering and the other teaches military engineering. I have uses for both, and have been leaning towards the military engineering school, but I keep finding reason why the other school might be good as well."
Carman continued to list reasons why each school had potential to aid in his future endeavors, at the end he asked Livre for advice.
"....so you can see where I am having trouble picking, I was wondering if you had any advice that could help me in this decision?" Said Carman
Taking a brief moment to digest the information Carman had just given him he found that none of Carman's points were wrong, infact it was clear he had been deliberating over them for a while and had weeded out most of unimportant details. In the end, he glanced at Carman and said, "Carman, while I'd be happy if you followed me in the field of civilian engineering, I'm sure that your talents could be better put to use in creating better technologies to protect people. I've seen how much information you gather from the broken gardemeks I have seen the notes on improvements you jot down on scrap paper. So long as you don't go down the wrong path and make weapons of mass destruction or let your knowledge and tech fall into the wrong hands, I am sure you will do amazing things, surpassing anything I could dream of. If you want to learn about civilian engineering l will teach you everything I know, it might be a bit out of date in places, but I'm sure that my knowledge can help you kickstart your development. I'm the end, it is up to you to decide the future you want to live, the school is just that, a school, it's a useful place for sure, but I have connections to other clockwork engineers who can help you get the information you want to develop. Never forget that I am here for you." Said Livre while parting the top of Carman's head, ruffling the redhead's shortened hair.
"Thanks Da-Livre." Said Carman, cutting himself off and correcting the last word with a bit of redness creeping up his face.
Livre's hand stopped as his mind froze, what did Carman almost call him, surely it couldn't have been what he was thinking right? A mischievous grin curled Livre's face as he lowered his head to Carman's level and pattern him on the shoulder, "What was that you were about to say Carman? come on, don't be embarrassed."
Carman flet a slight shiver work it's way down his spine as he noticed the single minded focus, no obsession that Livre seemed the have suddenly developed, he hopped down from the chair and circled around the desk. He didn't feel any danger from Livre, but the smirk he could see on his face was unsettling. The embarrassmenr from almost calling Livre "Dad" was working it's way throughout Carman's mind.
"Come on Carman, you can say it, no need to be shy.." said Livre as he stood up from his seat and started to walk towards Carman.
"Nuh uh, never" said Carman who bolted to a nearby cluster of shelves, Livre in pursuit running in the slow exadurated way adults tend to do when playing with small children.
Running and taking a few turn, Carman somehow made his way behind the desk and into the storage area, he quietly tries to catch his breath. He looked around the corner for Livre.
"Is he there?" Asked a voice behind Carman.
"No he doesn't seem to have....." Said Carman before realizing that he was supposed to be alone in this part of the shop.. slowly turning is head he came face to face to Livre.
"Boo"
If asked, Carman will rebuff any statement saying that he jumped three feet in the air and screamed increasing in both volume and pinch exponentially until it was so high only animals could hear him. Anyone who was in the nearby area on the other hand would say otherwise. Dashing off after Livre's scare, a few papers fell out of Carman's overalls landing on the floor as he dashed out of the workshop leaving behind a laughing Livre.
After recovering from his laughter, Livre stopped over to pick up the papers Carman had dropped, unfolding one of them, tears were brought to his eyes, not from laughter this time but a cocktail of emotions including joy and surprise as he saw the adoption paper with Carman's careful signature on it.
-To be continued
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