THE MOMENT
"Five?" It was outrageously insulting. "That's all his life is worth to you? Five gold?" They'd been sitting in the tavern laughing it up moments ago, and now the place was empty. He, the stranger, and his friend were the only ones left. Murdock glanced at his friend's corpse. The body wasn't moving and there was no chance he was alive; but, he needed to take a long look to be sure.
"What can I say?" The stranger grinned and even had the courtesy to temporarily holster his pistol. "It's the goin' rate. I do hope you'll be just as accommodating as he was."
"I'm afraid that's a big ask," Murdock shook his head. The stranger had some manners and respected his reputation at least. He made a show of glancing around, notably still keeping his eyes off the visitor. It was a dare more than anything; but, he also wanted to have some idea of a plan, in the event the exchange became less than amicable. The easiest thing would've been for him to make a move and put Murdock in a position to defend himself. But, barring that, they had to talk things through. "I won't just roll over," he added. "I have much more to lose than he did. Even if you do manage to kill me, I'll make sure it costs you quite a bit," Murdock smirked. It was a clear message, and after a moment of consideration the stranger shook his head and took a step back. It wasn't worth it, was it?
"How much more?" he half-turned to leave; but, stopped himself and asked Murdock the question instead.
"You killed my friend for a few coins...," Murdock replied. Whatever happened next, the discussion was over. He finally stood and met the man's eyes face to face. "But, he's barely in the top 50%. You already know I'm a much higher rank and you're still lower than him. The amount of prestige I'd lose for throwing to you is worth at least 100 times those few coins," he smiled.
It was a generous offer, all things considered. Despite his skill, and in fact, because of it, he didn't mind a temporary rank drop. He could easily work his way back up the ladder and be all the richer for it. Still, the newbie didn't know that and Murdock was out to make as much as he could. Trading wins every so often let Murdock keep a lavish lifestyle, and a tempered reputation. He was better at the game than most people thought because they only tended to focus on all the times he lost rather than take into account all the times he built himself back up.
"Can I uh... come back when I have the money?" the stranger asked. Murdock nodded with a chuckle.
"You can, but I'll warn you that 500 gold is the rate for my current rank. If I'm higher up, it'll cost you another hundred per level," he said.
"Oh.. uh, okay, thanks!" the stranger nodded and turned to leave the establishment. Then, a little bit later, after the initial shot, the patrons appeared again, materializing out of thin-air, as well as Murdock's friend.
"That's 20 minutes I'll never get back...," he sighed as he sat down again and picked up his beer. "I should've charged more than five gold."