Chapter 31: Vision

Subject: Caim Location: Maliscade - Protoflora: Envisioned Ecosystems (Gate District)

Caim listened to Gwen demonstrate what she now knew about Novette. All of this from examining the state of her records. She was doing her best to summarize. Gwen’s insights were nothing short of enlightened.

I’m making all kinds of hopeful guesses, but a surprising number of them have landed. Gwen is a prodigy.

Caim wanted to know just what about the girl made her so capable. She was passionate about her profession, but what interested her most about what she did? It would take longer to get these answers.

“While the entries are orderly and descriptive, they were written by someone who doesn’t want to be selling plants for a living. I’m not saying they were rushed, it’s pretty obvious. I don’t want to offend you… can I go on?” Caim asked, worriedly.

Novette waved her hands to casually indicate that she was not in the least offended. She wasn’t in denial about her reality.

“Thank you. These are just my initial thoughts, anyway. You’ve done well for yourself, but you’re wasting your potential because you have no passion for it. I would suggest changing your business strategy to take advantage of your obvious strengths.”

Gwen stopped talking, trying to decide how to articulate the rest. Bad news, from the looks of her furrowed brows and clamped lips.

“Err… but the person who made these sales would be tortured by that kind of work. You have no talent for sales because you have no love of the profession.”

Novette respectfully listened, and her face said she had no disagreements. Gwen’s blunt analysis still didn’t offend her. If anything, it looked like she was relieved to have someone understand.

“To get by, I’ll do what I have to.”

“But you shouldn’t have to,” Caim interjected. “You can help out, Gwen, right?”

Gwen looked conflicted.

“Caim, not everyone has the freedom of a seeker... I can’t restructure an entire business in so little time. I’m sorry, I wish I could, especially after you’ve been so generous.”

Novette waved off the apology.

“What if Novette were to compensate you for your work? Couldn’t you help out?” Caim asked.

“I do my best to keep my promises and agreements, and I have a contract with you. An informal one, but these things mean a lot to me...”

Gwen’s inner conflict was showing in her shaky voice. Here, she was presented with a business opportunity. Caim had already applied the “merchant” archetype to her, expecting her to want to pursue a new venture like this, and use it to reverse her misfortune. So, where did these misgivings come from?

“I wouldn’t want to interfere in an agreement, even if I could pay you, which I can’t. I do spend a lot on these materials deliveries, but working on hobby research projects… it keeps me sane.”

“You’re your own person, Gwen,” Caim argued. “You have time, and you need money. I think if you made a similar agreement with Novette that you did with me, it would work out.”

Both Novette and Gwen perked up.

With Caim’s help, the two drafted an informal agreement of their own. One where Gwen would devote time to helping oversee certain changes on a trial basis. If Novette was satisfied with the results, Gwen would be hired on.

This excited Caim because he could see the path to his own goal forming. He needed people with different talents. He needed people who were, in some way, outsiders in Shroud society.

Gwen fit this mold, but he had yet to probe Novette’s feelings about life in the city and life in the nation as a whole.

“I shouldn’t get too into the details right now,” Gwen lamented, obviously wishing she could go on.

“Actually, if Novette is fine with it, why not show her a little of what you could do for her? I’m also curious. I’m impressed by what I’ve seen so far, and it would help me out in an indirect way.”

Novette shared that she was also curious, and Gwen didn’t need to be told twice.

Subject: Caim Location: Maliscade - Protoflora: Envisioned Ecosystems (Gate District)

It was as if the young merchant had memorized the book in her hand after having possession of it for only a brief time.

“Here, I’ll show you an example of what I’m talking about,” Gwen said while pointing to an entry in Novette’s record book. “A large portion of your sales are focused on this selection of products, the ‘home decorations’. You also made another chunk on the ‘gift bouquets’. Though, you seem to run out of those a lot.”

“I don’t usually have time to concentrate on preparing those arrangements,” Novette attempted to convince Gwen, but Caim saw through it.

“You don’t have time? How much time does it take to prepare them? I think you could pull in a lot more coin if you worked on meeting the high demand.”

“She doesn’t like making them,” Caim clarified, reading between the lines.

Novette looked down in silence, showing that he was right. She didn’t like butchering her precious plants to sell them in packages, only for them to die. She’d rather sell them in pots and other containers for customers to then nurture themselves.

“We can return to that later, I don’t want to suggest anything that makes you unhappy. There are a lot of potential improvements that don’t involve forcing you to do stuff you hate. Anyways… you continue to invest in a selection of plants that no one seems interested in buying. You are wasting a lot on providing products that no one seems to want.”

“Yes, I see what you mean, but I think offering a selection is important… and, honestly, I like caring for the unwanted ones too much to remove them from my store,” Novette defended.

The botanist in Novette was at war with the merchant identity she was forced to assume.

“I understand that. You don’t need to convince me that you’re deserving of your own preferences, but more profit means more freedom,” Gwen countered. “Eventually, I want you to explain to me what each of these ‘services’ listed in this section are,” Gwen said while pointing to a place in the book. “I want to know what you enjoy doing, and how we can apply your strengths to your existing products, and open up new avenues of income!”

They went on and on like this, working out the broad strokes of a larger vision. This venture, being a part of Caim’s own project, mattered to him, even if he didn’t understand everything Gwen suggested.

Caim continued shaping the thoughts swirling in his head. He still wanted a simple life as a seeker, but he wanted something to look forward to. He wanted more than this.

Just like before, when ARC, Caim’s past affiliation, used a tainted gift to try and bring peace to a nation. But he was just a kid then, and they didn’t have magic at their disposal. He was alone, but if he found like-minded allies, maybe it wouldn’t end in tragedy this time.

I’ll have to bring this up with Vera if I can speak to her. But I don’t want to play into her hand. She might be thrusting me into a losing battle, all over again, as part of some hidden plan of her own.

“I live in the adjoining greenhouse,” Novette confessed. “It isn’t the best setup, but it cuts costs. Another day, maybe I could show you what I mean by ‘lighthread grow lamps’? It’s beautiful technology, really.”

Gwen nodded, but her face revealed that she wasn’t as interested in this detail as Novette was. If anything, learning the shopkeeper didn’t actually have a proper home was more attention-grabbing to her.

“I don’t need to know that right now,” Gwen clarified, shaking her head. “I know nothing about what plants need. I was only asking for details on what your overhead is, what you pay in maintenance fees, how much space you have leftover for expansion, what it would cost to upgrade your existing setup and other details that would help me gauge what would be worth investing in to increase your profits.”

“Oh, I… uh… I can give you that information later if you want. I don’t currently have much space free in the greenhouse, but I know there’s a vacant space off the main street. I don’t know how much it would cost to rent, though. You’re really eager… aren’t you. And you know so much.”

“Like I said, I know nothing about plants. I need to learn everything that is important to sales. When your payment hinges on the success of your partner, you’re more invested in their success. I like arrangements like this.”

Gwen was doing most of the talking, and Caim was able to get a better understanding of her personality just by observing. The stereotypes he’d applied to her were only loosely accurate.

“Now, you mentioned earlier that some flourishflora are more useful to use as power. Could you somehow grow more of those and offset the cost of keeping those lights of yours on?” Gwen inquired.

“Maybe, but I would probably need to involve an engineer for that. I know which flourishflora to use, but the lights use basic Charke fuel canisters. I don’t know how someone would go about messing with the technology to tap into plant fuel.”

Even though she was impoverished and deep in debt, Gwen was fighting with pen and paper to change that.

“Understood. We’ll return to that too. I have one last thing that I wanted to mention. You are… well, you’re very pretty.”

Novette smiled and blushed, flattered by the compliment. Gwen looked embarrassed for sharing.

“T- There’s a reason I bring it up. I think people would like to keep buying from you, a friendly… beautiful face. You know? Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Novette nodded and giggled. She seemed to be enjoying both the compliment and how flustered Gwen was getting trying to express herself.

I already know quite a few incredible people, Caim mused. If this plan is going to work, I still need to learn more, and I need to complete more contracts. I wish I didn’t have to, but I have a role to perform in this, too.

Subject: Caim Location: Maliscade - Protoflora: Envisioned Ecosystems (Gate District)

When it was finally time to go, Novette looked spent. She hadn’t expected such a barrage of questions, or anything else that the duo had introduced.

Gwen was exhausted too, but her exhaustion was like that of someone who’d just finished a rigorous workout. Basking in satisfaction, but excited enough to remain alert.

“We need to go to the Guild,” Caim announced. “I know your hours.”

They were very legibly written on a paper stuck to both sides of the door. They were sporadic, hours numbered between 1 and 32. Oddly, minutes exceeded 60.

“Yeah, I see that too,” Gwen added, “but do you even get 16 hours of sleep with this random schedule?”

“I live next to my shop, so I can almost always get enough rest.”

“Good. Well, I’ll stop by as soon as I get the chance. When you have the time, I want to get started on this!” Gwen declared.

Gwen’s stomach growled, and her cheeks reddened. She froze.

“You’re hungry, no need to be embarrassed,” Caim said.

“You don’t understand,” she whispered back. “That isn’t why…”

She’s embarrassed because she can’t afford to eat. That was pretty insensitive of me...

“Novette is a kind person, isn’t she?” Caim asked, subtly implying that the shopkeeper wasn’t someone who would judge Gwen for something like that. “I’m glad we met her.”

Gwen looked a little more relaxed.

“Would it be alright if you kept our names out of this whole agreement?” Gwen asked Novette.

Novette sweetly nodded back. It didn’t look like she understood why Gwen was asking, but she didn’t need to know. She looked like someone who had just caught a glimpse of something she’d wanted for a long time, and was blinded to the extraneous details.

Caim could relate. He watched her leave through the plant-covered door to the greenhouse, a slight skip in her step. When she was gone, Gwen and Caim were alone in the shop.

“Hey, Caim? Are you really this nice of a person?” Gwen asked, very suddenly.

It caught him by surprise, so he didn’t answer right away.

“I don’t think of myself as a good person if that’s what you’re asking. I also don’t think I’m bad. Your question is difficult to answer properly.”

“Yeah, I get that. It’s hard to put it the right way. You said you like honesty, so I’ll be blunt. You seem different, depending on the situation. You are relaxed and cheerful, but then suddenly, you get serious.”

Gwen was building to a rant, the words tumbling out with no end in sight.

“You know nothing about basic things. But, other times, you know way more than me about random things. It’s like you’re not from Shroud at all. That would explain it if you grew up in the allied nations beyond the wall or something. I went to school in Shroud, and it’s why I know what I do. You must have had a good school, too, right?”

“School was very different for me than it was for you. Since I arrived here, many people have said things like that, and those are only the people who voiced their thoughts.”

He shrugged. This conversation would have made him squirm just this morning, but now, the future looked just a little different.

“I’m not from the allied nations. I promise you that.”

“Do you really want to help me out? You aren’t trying to exploit me?”

She shouldn’t trust him. They barely knew each other.

“I don’t want you to suffer because people won’t give you a chance. You’re talented, and I benefit from our partnership. I’m not naive enough to think it's possible to help everyone like I helped you today. I need to help myself first.”

Gwen was a perceptive one, but this explanation seemed satisfactory.

“What do you want for yourself?”

Caim spoke softly but seriously.

“At a point in the far future and only if I survive that long, I want to change Shroud. I don’t need to know all of the policies and systems governing it to decide that it needs change. I want to change Malisacade first, and I think the first step would be getting rid of these festerfonts. There must be some way to do that, right? Or, at least, we could get them under control?”

Gwen was speechless. He was taking a big risk opening his mouth, but it was difficult to stop himself.

Frankly, religious rule is toxic thought itself. Religion has no place in government, and it is one step I’m confident leads to something better. It’s a change that I don’t have to second-guess.

If he was truly out of control, that is what he would have added. Fortunately, he didn’t.

“First… please never say something like that again. Heresy is death for lower citizens like us. Second, a Blight Seeker can’t just decide that they want to change the government and expect people to think they are anything but raving mad. You… you...”

“Can I trust you not to tell anyone, Gwen?”

She meekly nodded. Gwen wasn’t afraid of him, but she was afraid of the government.

“I can’t do it alone, and I can’t do it yet. I’ll keep it to myself, but this goal won’t change. In the meantime, I want to learn more about magic, Flourishflora, and everything about the Blight in general. Not in that order. I want to complete more contracts, get stronger, more wealthy, and meet many more like-minded people like you and Novette.”

“I’m not like you. I’m sane. I don’t like the way things are, but dying isn’t worth it. We don’t even know Novette that well. We are just business partners.”

“That’s how it starts. We will decide whether we can trust her. All we are doing is helping each other out. That’s all I want right now.”

“To be honest, you aren’t making sense, talking about these goals like you could actually make them happen,” Gwen answered, exasperated.

“It’s my vision. I won’t be spreading this vision around. Right now, I’m just trying to survive too. But survival alone wouldn’t satisfy me. I need to figure out how to go about it intelligently, and causing too much friction would only get people hurt, but between hurting some people and letting others get hurt, It’s an easy choice. I don’t mind dying. I’ll let you choose how committed you’re willing to be.”

As these words left his lips, Caim felt something resonate. Knowledge flooded in, and he believed he could use this to show Gwen just what he meant.

Caim turned to a plant by the door and held out his hand. Flourish Catalyst’s seed floated out and made contact. Brighter threads of green and yellow light wrapped themselves around the plant and took effect immediately.

Gwen’s eyes lit up, watching the spell work. The effect was noticeably more pronounced, even surprising Caim.