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Chapter 109: An odd man

“You must be Ifrit,” the man said. He adjusted the well-worn suit he wore and fixed his tie. “Is now a good time?”

“That depends on what you want,” Arwin said, grateful that [Arsenal] had deactivated and he was fully clad in his armor. There wasn’t all that much reason to be distraught either way. His mask was really more of a marketing tool than an actual disguise. Even if he’d been caught without it, it didn’t matter much.

“I’m Jake.” The man extended a hand and looked down the bridge of his nose at Arwin. “With the Merchant’s Guild.”

They can’t be here to try to take the land for the smithy from me, can they? Nobody else is using the damn thing. The city can screw off.

Arwin took his hand, a chill running down his spine. “And you’ve come here…”

“To discuss some work you’ve been doing in the market.” Jake’s grip was firm, just barely. He released Arwin’s hand and adjusted his coat once more. He seemed rather uncomfortable in it. “I believe you set up a stall, yes?”

“I did,” Arwin allowed suspiciously. “Why?”

“Did you register that with the guild?”

“No,” Arwin said. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know you existed. How would I have registered with you if there’s no information on you?”

“There most certainly is information. It’s in our handbook.”

“Which is…”

“In our guild office.”

“Right,” Arwin said. “And how was I supposed to know your guild office existed in the first place?”

“Well, you just do.” Jake’s brow furrowed in confusion as if Arwin were speaking to him in a different language. “Everyone knows about the Merchant’s Guild.”

“I don’t.”

“Ah. Well, now you do.”

“Lovely.”

“So, now that you know, you’ll have to abide by our rules,” Jake said with a self-satisfied nod.

“Why?”

Jake’s confusion returned. “What do you mean, why? It’s how things work. The Merchant’s Guild regulates all trade in the city. We make sure all the merchants in it are selling what they promise to sell, and we ensure their promises hold true. It’s how shoppers can rest assured that they won’t get scammed.”

Arwin went to leave a snarky comment – then paused. That sounded surprisingly reasonable. Having a body that made sure nobody was going around and scamming everyone they sold to was actually a pretty decent idea. That didn’t make him like it any more.

“I’m not particularly keen on sharing my profits with anyone,” Arwin said. “I understand your perspective, but I don’t even have a permanent stall. Just a wagon that rolls through every once and a while. I can’t afford exorbitant fees to be part of a guild.”

Jake gave Arwin an understanding nod. “I know where you’re coming from. It’s only logical to want to protect your interests. However, I can assure you that our fees are far from exorbitant. We do our best to scale to everyone’s size. If you’re only renting a small wagon like that and dealing in specialty goods such as custom-made armor and weapons, the only thing you’d need would be a minor vendor’s license.”

And I’m sure I’ll be thrilled to find that said license only costs a mere 100,000 gold plus taxes and other hidden fees. I’ve seen how Milten is run. This city is a shithole.

“And how much would that be?” Arwin asked.

“One gold a year.”

Arwin blinked. “What?”

“One gold,” Jake repeated. “So long as you’re operating on your own and not employing anyone else. If you set up a full storefront, the price will increase. We’ll have to do a safety check on your building and make sure there aren’t any forms of magic that influence people’s decisions to purchase items anywhere inside. Those licenses can range from five to five thousand gold, depending on the size of your operation and the number of employees you have.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Arwin squinted at Jake. Now he was certain that the man was lying. “Just one gold? For an entire year? No other fees? What about fines?”

“So long as you’re selling what you promise to, then there are no other fees. If it’s found that you’re lying about your goods, the guild may force you to take back an item or weapon and fully refund whoever purchased it.”

Oddly reasonable. Again. There’s no way these people have anything to do with the ones running Milten.

“That’s it?” Arwin repeated. “There’s nothing else?”

“Nothing,” Jake confirmed. He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sheepish laugh. “To be honest, the fee is a pittance. It’s only there to ensure that all merchants are willing to comply. We rarely have any trouble.”

“He seems legitimate,” Lillia said. “I took a look at his badge. It’s magical, at the very least.”

“Are you sure you’re in the right city?” Arwin asked, not even bothering to hide his suspicion. “Milten is horrid. The way you talk makes it seems like everything should be sunshine and roses, but you’ll probably get gutted if you walk down the wrong street.”

“Probably,” Jake agreed with a cheerful smile. “Please understand – we don’t take any responsibility for the actions of anyone within Milten. Our responsibility is the safety of customers alone. This city is… less than ideal. It certainly has its flaws. The Merchant’s Guild understands that. We aren’t responsible for those flaws. The only thing we care about is that our own duties are executed properly. If you have issue with Milten, I suggest you bring it up with the local governance.”

That was a really roundabout way for Jake to say that he didn’t give a shit about the problems that plagued Milten. A fair take, all things considered. It seemed respectable that the Merchant’s Guild was even bothering with trying to manage anything this far out into the kingdom.

“I see,” Arwin said slowly. He went to get a gold. His fingers met nothing but leather. He’d spent every single gold he had. Lillia spotted the look on his face and pulled out a gold of her own.

“Here,” she said, handing it to Jake. “I already paid for the tavern.”

“Have you come up with a name for it yet?” Jake asked.

“No. It’s been about five minutes since we last spoke.”

“I was just checking,” Jake said as he tucked the coin into a pocket. “Names are of utmost importance, you know. It’s very difficult to properly register anything without a name. Fortunately for you, Milten does not have any ‘monster themed inn and or taverns’ within it. We’ll make sure to give you another visit once you’ve put up a sign so we can get everything properly set up.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lillia said.

“Best of luck to both of you,” Jake said. He stepped away from the lantern and headed toward the moonlit streets, pausing as he reached the door to look back at them. “If you get that smithy of yours set up and start selling from it, please remember to register with us. We will fine you if you fail to do so now that you know about our existence.”

“So you wouldn’t have if we didn’t know?”

Jake flashed Arwin a grin. “No. But it’s too late for that now, isn’t it?”

He strode off and disappeared into the night. Arwin blinked. Part of him expected Jake to pop back up, but the man seemed to have left. He looked back to Lillia.

“That was… odd,” Arwin said.

“Tell me about it,” Lillia said. “I fully expected him to be grubbing for more money. It seems weird for any sort of authority group to actually not be a terrible piece of shit. Maybe he’s unique?”

“I suppose it’s too much to hope that one guild isn’t completely horrible?”

Lillia snorted. “Optimistic. I’ll believe it when I see it. Maybe they’re fine right now, but who knows what will happen in the future. They tracked us down pretty easily. I wonder how that happened?”

“I haven’t exactly been quiet about my location. It could have been anyone,” Arwin said. “I don’t suppose we’ll find out unless we ask. It doesn’t seem like anything to worry about at the moment.”

“We’re in agreement there. For the amount of gold they’re asking, it’s not a huge concern. We’ll just have to keep an eye on things to make sure they don’t surprise us with something,” Lillia said. She shook her head and let out a huff. “Whatever. How’d your work go? Did you manage to finish? I see you’re holding a bow.”

Arwin’s face split apart in a grin and he hefted the weapon in question. He went to unveil its stats, then froze an instant before he could and lowered the bow again. Lillia frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to take a bath first. Your rules, not mine.”

“Wait, that’s not fair. I want to see what the bow does.”

Arwin just chuckled and headed into the bathroom, much to Lillia’s chagrin. She couldn’t do anything other than stand in the common room and glare at his back. That said, he was just as eager to show her the weapon as she was to see it, so his bath didn’t take long.

He headed back out to find Lillia pacing back and forth in front of the counter.

“Finally,” she muttered. “Show me!”

There was no reason to make her wait any longer. He’d already built up all the anticipation he wanted. Arwin removed the concealment and let the Mesh identify the bow for Lillia.

Her eyebrows steadily crept up on her forehead and her mouth formed into a small o. She read over it several times, then finally tore her gaze away from the Mesh to look up at Arwin.

“Godspit,” Lillia said with a disbelieving laugh. “A Unique Set item. We haven’t even figured out what my Set does yet and you went and started another one? This thing is terrifying, Arwin. I’m not sure I love the part where it hasn’t accepted you as a master.”

“Me neither,” Arwin said. “But I’ll be honest, the only thing I really want to do is shoot something nasty with it.”

“Like a Wyrm?”

Arwin grinned. “Like a Wyrm. I’ll need a string and a big ass arrow, though. I don’t suppose your hair…”

“Is just normal hair.” Lillia rolled her eyes. “What, do you think my body is made out of precious metals?”

“I don’t know,” Arwin said defensively. “It’s not like I’m an expert on it. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.”

“You’re an idiot,” Lillia said through a laugh. She flicked her hand at him. “Hide the stats on that before someone sees it and gets a heart attack.”

Arwin did as she suggested. “So… dinner?”

“You made that thing and are worried about dinner? I thought you didn’t need to eat normal food.” Lillia’s tone made it clear that she was paying him back for making her wait to see the bow.

Suppose I deserved that. I still don’t regret it.

“I don’t, but that doesn’t stop it from tasting good.”

Lillia shook her head and laughed. “Fine. Come on. I’ve got more sandwiches.”