None of the Knights or their charges returned that night.
Thankfully, the sewer dwellers arrived for the normal rounds of sales and supplies. He smiled and did his best not to think about what was happening on the outskirts of time as he peddled his wares. They each asked a lot of questions, though most were about the food he’d shared or the next level down.
“Would there be more?”
“When?”
“What did he plan on doing about the third-level entrance?”
Arthur did his best to answer them as best he could. He told them he wasn’t sure about the food front. However, Theobold had left to check up on those particular supplies.
In terms of the third level, he simply warned people away. Though he found out where it was. As much as he didn’t want to, he felt it would be best to check up on it. See what rank it held. He hoped it wasn’t another A rank.
With all the people eager to spend, he even got another level out of it. He was happy to take their money. However, watching the gold, his gold, walk out of the store made him feel strange.
Not angry. More empty. Arthur swore he would get more.
It wasn’t an enormous loss; he knew. Still, he spent more than he gained today. Something that would keep happening without intervention. The amount he spent paying out quest rewards turned out to be his biggest expense. Which as his only one made sense.
As he ran his hand through his hair, he sighed. He couldn’t see a way out of that particular issue. From what he could tell, the best he could ever manage was to break even. Have his customers return everything they earned directly to him.
However, that was already a lost cause. Now that people had access to money, they were trading it between themselves for all kinds of things. Favors and information, mostly. Though he knew that as he got more supplies, that would change.
“How long will it take for someone to make some kind of black market?” he wondered while checking on his supplies.
His amount of food stayed strong, but the hides and pelts were piling up. Enough that he figured they may not fit in the box soon. While he wasn’t a crafter, he was sure someone could use them for something, provided he could find the right person.
One of the farmers, perhaps? They must be able to make basic things to keep surviving out there.
That thought made his mind turn to Theobold and the Knights. But he shook that away. He didn’t want to dwell. Not when there was nothing he could do to help.
“I was right in not going,” he told himself as he stopped leaning on the counter. “They didn’t need me underfoot. They will be fine.”
“Hey Nyssa, I’m going to see Pydes about a memo I received.”
She looked up from where she was painting. Her whiskers twitched as she set her paintbrush gently down. Over her shoulder, he could see a bird forming. Musical notes sprang out of its beak as it flew over the hills.
“I was meaning to ask about that. What did it say?”
“Upper management is cutting us off,” Arthur said as he moved towards the door.
“What? In what sense?”
She put down the brush and followed. As they passed, Augustus squeaked and nodded.
Arthur grimaced. “She’s not giving us money anymore. We’re paying quests out of our own pocket.”
“That’s not sustainable,” Nyssa stated. “What do we do if we run out of money? They didn’t exactly set us up with a hoard to work with.”
“I’m guessing nothing good, but the memo said Pydes would know more. Thankfully, we’re not losing too much. We’re down less than fifty gold today.”
Nyssa scoffed. “Today. What about when the knights come back or when we have to pay the farmers? Don’t forget us, or her cut.”
“I haven’t,” Arthur promised. “But I don’t have a choice, do I? Hopefully, Pydes can help.”
“He better,” Nyssa grumbled as they climbed the ladder.
***
“Exciting news, right?” Pydes asked. “One thousand! You are progressing quickly.”
When they arrived, the dragon had been wandering the roof like an excited puppy. That confused Arthur, because he was sure he hadn’t seen him moving on the way up. Not that he looked at the roof much.
“You could say that,” Arthur said as he sat down. “Except for the fact that we have no way of making more income than we spend.”
“Oh, that?” Pydes waved a claw. “No worries. That’s easily sorted.”
“How?”
Nyssa sounded skeptical as she looked at the grinning dragon. His teeth flashed in the sunlight as his claws clicked against the stone beneath him.
“Let me pretend to guess,” Pydes said. “You’re worried about having to spend so much on quests?”
“Of course,” Arthur said.
He knew why the dragon had used that phrasing. As his assistant manager, he saw more data than Arthur himself did. A way to make himself invaluable, so even if he’d wanted to, he couldn’t ignore him.
“Worry not. You know how many worlds Mother has done this on? She planned for this. You simply need to level up some more before you run out of money.”
“And what if we don’t?” Nyssa asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “What happens if we run out of money?”
“Well, that depends,” Pydes said, his whole body contorting with his shrug.
“On?” she pressed.
“Well, who do you mean by we? If by we you mean you, Augustus, Theobold, and your father? Nothing. You’ll simply lose access to the boxes and can keep going as though nothing changed.”
Arthur swore he saw the dragon's grin grow wider. More, malicious. To his slight concern, he swore he counted more teeth than every before.
“If you mean to our store manager here? Well. Mother has a way of making sure people pay their debts. This isn’t a charity.”
A shiver ran down his spine, and he clutched his hat in his hands before nodding.
“What level do we need to get to?”
“Good news. Fifteen,” Pydes said. “When you do, you’ll unlock access to a particular free upgrade everyone gets. She waited until now because, well… I admit, I don’t know. Drama perhaps?”
“And the upgrade is?”
“Oh, you’ll see. I’m looking forward to it. One of the fun parts of my job.” Pydes said, and his tail flicked, making an audible cracking noise that reminded him of thunder. “I also wanted to congratulate you on your delegation skills. Nice to see you taking the management part of your job seriously.”
“Thank you,” Arthur said, unsure what else to say.
He hadn’t done it for that. Arthur simply didn’t want to go fight again. Especially not against monsters. If he needed to defend the store directly, that was one thing, but hunting for combat wasn’t his thing.
“Is there anything we should do in the meantime?” Nyssa asked.
Her tail flicked, and he saw her grab it and place it in her lap. With one hand, she scraped the tip over the stone in a repetitive pattern. It took two loops before he realised she was drawing a small flower.
“Do? Keep making money.” He shrugged. “Don’t let a Riccardo happen again. Other than that, I have little to offer you.” There was a loud snap as he clicked his claws together. “Oh! Apart from that, Gastho will have something to show you once you hit level fifteen, as well.”
“A busy time then,” Arthur said, doing his best to keep the snark out of his voice.
He’d been expecting a little more than being told to keep going. A quest maybe, or some new tech tree unlock. Not get the advice to keep going, and you’ll be fine, eventually.
“It is.” Pydes grinned. “Anything else you wanted?”
“No.”
“Excellent.”
With that, he turned and walked back to the front of the roof. His body instantly stilled as he stared out over the roof. As they made their way back to the ladder, Arthur shared a look with Nyssa. Who appeared to be thinking the same thing—this is going to get hard.
***
Arthur was leaning on the counter watching Augustus train with his rebar when Jemima showed up empty-handed.
His security chief stopped smacking at a nearby pole and squeaked a greeting, which she returned with a wave. Nyssa, on the other hand, didn’t look up. She was humming softly to herself as she finished the bird. Her hands darted around the wall.
Arthur had to admit, the image was really coming together.
“Hey Arthur,” Jemima said. “You’ve got some time?”
He looked around at the empty store and nodded. “Sure.”
That got a small chuckle, and as she approached the counter, he could see worry in her eyes. Though her smile was genuine, the tension was real.
“What’s wrong?”
“There was another attack from below.” Jemima said. “Another croc got nabbed in front of a team who went too close to the entrance.”
“I see.”
He waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. It felt odd. She’d always been so confident in herself. That she was struggling here was strange. When she remained silent, he continued.
“How can I help?”
“The kids.” She said it almost as one word. “I was wondering if they could come up here and work with you.”
“Ahh,” Arthur thought.
If she’d asked before, he would have said yes in a heartbeat. Money had been flooding in, and he wasn’t worried about needing to pay wages. Now, however? Now he was losing coins, and payday was approaching. All three hundred and sixty of it.
Without knowing how much the kids would cost, it was hard to give a straight answer.
“I see. I’m not sure if I have much to offer them. We don’t exactly see much action here.”
Jemima’s back straightened, and she looked a bit like her old self again. “Lucy would be happy to work the counter. She knows how to count and read a bit. Billy would love to help Augustus. Thomas… well. Thomas is young, but he can lift things and follow directions.”
“Well,” his brain jammed as he tried to think. He wanted to help the kids as well if things were getting more dangerous. From what he’d heard, they were staying out of the way, hunting the juveniles. However, if more things were grabbing the crocodiles, that might not be sustainable.
“Let me get my supply line up and running,” he promised. “Then we can talk about hiring them. I might have more things for them to do then.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate it. You’re a good friend, Arthur.”
“Sure,” he said, doing his best to smile as he tried to figure out how to make it work. “How are things going down there, anyway? With the knights gone, I mean.”
“The same, but slower? I guess. Jeff, George, and I are trying to keep people away from the ramp. One group is trying to capture some crocodiles to breed them. But we don’t exactly have anywhere to keep them contained.”
Arthur tried to imagine that, but couldn’t. Still, the idea of farming crocodiles in the sewers amused him. “That sounds like a lot. Is there anything you need? I might have some basic crafters coming in.”
“Honestly, not too much. Better weapons? The food you brought before, obviously.” She chuckled as she mentioned the last bit. “More creature comforts?”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He meant it, too. “Anyone gotten sick of working the sewers?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“Just a thought. Now that Riccardo is gone, it might be worth seeing if there is anything worth scavenging. Now we have a box that can fix stuff. I’m just not sure if there is anything useful left.”
Jemima shook her head. “People already picked this place pretty clean. Maybe further afield? But I don’t know how safe that would be.”
“Not very,” came a familiar cooing voice, as an onyx-colored pigeon strutted into the store.
“Hello Arthur,” Lady Pigeonette said. “I’ve come to call in my favor.”165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOkngxhTWP
