“She had an entire mall we could have been purchasing from, and we’ve been eating sewer monster meat this entire time?”
Arthur nodded as he looked into the annoyed faces of Dr. Muriler and Nyssa. Augustus was by the door, his new baseball bat in one hand, as he toyed with the shield attached to the opposite arm.
He’d refused any other armor, moving back to his post as soon as he got his new equipment.
Dr. Muriler squeaked and pointed at the basement.
“Well, yes. They needed it for the fix.” Arthur held up his hands. “I thought you’d appreciate it being fixed. Plus, I’ve got you some other things in the meantime.”
He didn’t need to speak rat to know Dr. Muriler wasn’t happy. However, the annoyed squeaking stopped as he pulled out the lab equipment. Beakers, Bunsen burners, and chemicals were all placed on the counter.
While there was still a hint of annoyance in his rat face, Dr. Muriler looked over the display with excitement. He touched a few and nodded before gesturing to the basement.
“Sure. Go for it. And I’m sorry, but it’s not like we had the stuff to fix it. You were the one who wanted the tube for security.” That earned him a reluctant nod, and he turned to Nyssa. “I’ve got something for you, too.”
“Oh?” She looked at the box.
“Yeah, I found these on sale.”
Her expression as he pulled out the easel and canvas was one he wouldn’t forget. She beamed and took one of the smaller canvas squares from his hands. On her shoulder, the tiny elemental picked up on her excitement.
Splotch squeaked and nuzzled her cheek as it waved its tail. Before his eyes, he watched as the flowers on its back shifted, as though dancing in a breeze. It warmed his heart. When she turned back to him, he gestured at the box.
“I’ve got toiletries too, toothbrushes and soaps and stuff. Plus, some shelves, cooking knives, and a medical kit.”
“A nice haul. How much did it cost?”
“Uhhhh….”
She looked at him with disapproval. “Arthur. Did you spend all our money?”
“No! Not all of it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How much?”
“About six hundred and fifty.”
“Arthur!” She threw up a hand. “You know we still haven’t paid the farmers, right? Nor have you paid us. Which is coming up. Do you have a plan?”
He nodded. “We still have almost four hundred left. Plus, the farmers will buy from us, as will the knights they bring back with them. We’ll be fine until the orchard blooms again in two days. You’re not being paid until after that.”
She smiled. “Alright. Fine. So tell me about the place. What happened?”
That caused him to stop and look up. “Actually, can we talk about that later? I need to tell Pydes.”
“You don’t want to go now?”
He grinned guiltily and looked into the box. “I kind of wanted to place these shelves I got.”
Nyssa laughed and shook her head. “Fine. I’m going to set up my easel. You have fun.”
He watched her set up, doing her best to wrangle an excited Splotch as she did. The little elemental wasn’t making it easier, nor did he seem to want to sit where she put him. It took several minutes of patting him before he fell asleep on a wall root.
Once he was gone, she finished setting up and soon lost herself in painting the small dragon.
“Ok. How are we doing this?” Arthur thought as he tried to pull the shelves out.
To his relief, the actual shelves didn’t suddenly appear in front of him. Instead, there was a holographic blue light that shifted to where he looked. A mental command allowed him to spin it around and set it in its place.
A smile crossed his face as he set to work.
“I’m going to do a better job of this than Derrick ever did. No random clutter, for one. People will be able to find things! Armor and tools at the front. I want to monitor those. Skeletons and mutant stuff near the back? Yes. This is going to look great when I have more stock. Not that I bet most of this will last for long.”
The wooden shelves snapped into place with a click, and it wasn’t long until he’d finished decorating them. A few of the skeletons peered over the top, but they still appeared a little bare with such a small amount of stock.
He was glad they were wood, though; anything else would have clashed. As he finished settling a riot helmet on the shelf, he smiled.
Things were looking up. Yes, there were the demons having bribed security in the mall. However, that was something he could now make Pydes aware of. Once he did, those above him would deal with the situation.
He looked over at Nyssa, ready to ask if she was ready to head to the roof, but stopped. She was in full conversation mode, and so he shrugged.
“What could waiting hurt?” He thought before he walked to the counter to pick up his book.
Gastho was already on it, so it should be fine.
Really, it would all be simple.
***
“This won’t be simple.”
Arthur stared up at Pydes, who was playing host to several of the water elementals. They flew on and off him at what appeared to him to be random intervals. None ever lasted long, and the larger dragon didn’t seem to notice them.
When he finished telling Pydes about the news, he expected a shrug. Maybe a mention of some form of protocol. Not a direct statement like this.
“Why?” He asked, and beside him, Nyssa stiffened.
Pydes looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “You said they have bribed mall security with demon cores to ignore them, correct? From the way you spoke, it seemed common knowledge in the department.”
“Yes, or maybe he’s in a small group? I wasn’t there long.”
“Sorry Pydes.” Nyssa raised a hand. “What’s so valuable about demon cores?”
“They’re a type of addictive steroid. We dragons can use them to strengthen ourselves for short periods. I wouldn’t touch the stuff, but others will for the boost. They’re valuable, though Mother doesn’t appreciate anyone using them. She has them banned on all of her premises. Do you still have one?”
That last part he directed to Arthur, who nodded. “Yes.”
“Right. You’re not keeping it. Give it to me.”
“What?”
“Do it.”
Arthur sighed. “Fine. Give me a minute. It’s in the box.”
He walked down, ignoring the frozen form of Augustus as he did so. In moments, he scooped the heart from the box and moved back to the roof. The first thing he noticed was that Nyssa was now the one being swarmed by elementals.
“Here.”
“Thank you.” Pydes nodded and touched the heart.
In moments, they turned into cubes, but this time they shook violently before launching into the air. Arthur watched it pass through the clouds and vanish. A minute later, he got a notification for a new quest with an interesting reward.
“So what? The more I give you at a time, the better the rewards are?” he asked, adjusting his cap.
Pydes nodded. “Yes. It could be anything from gold to perk points. This is a generous offer; I’d take it seriously. Mother isn’t this generous often.”
Arthur couldn’t help but agree. If the goddess handed out additional perk points, that was something he could use. The question would be how to get them with any sort of regularity. He doubted any of his sewer dwellers would sign up for that fight.
All the knights outside the compound were busy playing guard. He figured the Assembly might. With The Cult scooping up the gangs, they might not have much else to do. It couldn’t hurt to ask. Besides, if he offered them a decent amount of it, it might be in his best interest with the Orchard.
Provided it was something he could pay for.
“Before we focus on that, why shouldn’t this be simple?”
Pydes sighed and leaned in. “Gastho told me you told him. I got the same response as he did. Mother’s secretary told us he’d deal with it. Which, I know, means he will probably sit on it. Useless git.”
Arthur frowned. “How far up does this go?”
“I... I don’t know.” His voice was soft as he looked at Arthur. “This will take time to deal with. If you can investigate it, you should. Otherwise, focus on what you can do. Which, from the looks of the store, you’re doing admirably.”
“Thank you.” The words came out slowly, his mind racing.
He couldn’t believe that Pydes couldn’t do anything, but he understood why they were trying to get him to leave earlier. If they were pulling this counterfeit scam, having someone with a direct line to their target around would make things awkward.
“Alright. Well, if you find out something I can do, let me know?” Arthur asked, thinking more about the quest rewards than the company, if he was being honest.
“Of course,” Pydes said, bowing his head as they turned away. “Thank you for letting me know about this. I’ll try to keep you in the loop.”
***
“Welcome to Apocalypse Assortments. How can I help you?”
The two men that stood at the counter were new, and both looked as bizarre as each other. One was light-skinned and dressed in a lime green catsuit, thin enough that he could see the runners’ physique beneath it.
His friend had a more olive complexion and wore construction overalls with two power drills slung on loops at each hip. Both were smiling as they looked around.
“Sounds like we can help you. Captain said you wanted to show us off?” This came from Catsuit, who flexed as he spoke, each word coming out slightly too fast to be comfortable.
Arthur noted that a few of the women noticed his movements as they poked around the new shelves. Once more, people cleared them early, thanks to some generous discounts.
While he knew that wasn’t the best, he also knew his people couldn’t afford Mall prices.
“Plus, it’s an investment,” He thought. “The more they survive, the better things they can bring back up. If they find something interesting down there, I can sell it, and buy them better gear. The system in action.”
“I did. Meals are free as a thank-you. You would be Mr. Nimble, correct? And...?”
“Power Drill,” the man said in a deep voice as he nodded. “We appreciate it. Things have been boring since the gangs all but vanished.”
“You still hitting safe houses?” Arthur asked as he watched Thomas pass a plate to Lucy.
She needed to wind around people more now, with the shelves in the way, and was slower. To his relief, no one was complaining. Everyone still seemed happy, though he hoped the farmers would come soon. It would be nice to have variety.
“We are.” Mr. Nimble nodded a little too quickly.
Power Drill shrugged. “Not much to stop us. It’s been strange.”
“Well,” Arthur said, leaning on the counter. “How do you feel about doing quests?”
“Oh?”
Both of them looked interested in that, and he nodded. “I need demon corpses. Bad. If you can get me some, I’ll pay well.”
Mr. Nimble looked at Power Drill. “Think the Captain will go for it?”
“Pigey won’t.”
“True.” Mr. Nimble looked back at Arthur and shrugged. “We’ll run it by. Can we eat?”
“Sure, go find a seat.” He waved them off with a sigh before smiling at the next customer.
The rest of the night was steady, which he appreciated. Sewer Dwellers came in, and he sold most of his new stock. Bandages and plasters were big sellers, as were the torches. From what he overheard, most people wanted to see what was on the next level now that they had people with real armor.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmL5a8zXnT
The entire experience had gotten him another level. A trend he fully expected to continue. Rare and better items, which some of the armor was classified as, gave him fifty experience points a sale. Which made getting to see the armor in pieces even better.
A few even offered to set up the moss in the sewer. He made another quest for that and handed the moss out for free. They carried it off on sticks and pipes to see if they could scrape it to walls.
Leo had remained in the back room, happy to stay out of everyone’s way. That worked for him; it was one less thing to worry about.
Things were winding down when the sound of a muffled explosion filled the air. Arthur twitched, as he tried to figure out where it’d come from. Nearby someone screamed, and others started speaking rapidly.
However, nothing came to attack.
Theobold poked his head out of the back room looking worried, and Augustus stopped his march with Billy to check around. When it was deemed safe, people sat back down and started to chat.
Though, Arthur could feel a shiver run through him—something wasn’t right.
That was when he heard the sound of the explosion.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXvCKUNdVX
