The dining men continued to discuss the miner’s proposition.

Urist said, “We’ve actually breached the first subterrane, so we’ve shifted our focus to securing the caves beneath Sevit. There’s an abundance of resources down there, including forests of trees, tower-caps, and even ledgeshrooms which we can harvest for building materials. Furthermore, there’s a bounty of animals for us to hunt.”

One of the young governors scratched his chin and asked, “Are you proposing we simultaneously colonize the underground?”

“No not at all, we’ve got a good thing going up here and the aforementioned abundance of resources is only a few range’s trek through the tunnels and caverns anyways.”

Pausing, Urist added, “It’s unlikely we’ll find an unexploited ore vein just by following the tunnels. The subterranean races have no doubt already prospected for exposed deposits here, so we’ll bootstrap our traditional mining operation from the limestone strata that lies beneath the upper layer of igneous rock. We’ve encountered large quantities of hematite in the beds of several underground brooks, so we’re confident that we’ll find iron ore nearby. And who knows, it might even be infused! Just imagine how much wealth we’d bring to Sevit if we found stoz iron!

Looking into the eyes of the governors, Urist then said, “Of course, for a fee, my miners can flatten the terrain and widen the tunnels and crawlspaces to make way for drays or even horse carts, depending on the deal.”

There was a moment of silence as the governors contemplated this development, stoz iron, as well as its rift steel alloy is quite literally the backbone of the Lyrian Empire’s military. While it isn’t very useful as a runic inlay regent, when pure enough, both stoz iron and the superior rift steel could be temporarily hardened as long as mana was being continuously fed into it via a mage’s mana control or an infusion rune. It was essential in the manufacturing of lightweight mobile magic siege engines as well as luxury armors and tools.

Draven was about to speak up, but the inane brat Alton beat him to it and said, “To your offer; we’ll definitely consider it. When you mentioned an abundance of unexploited organic building materials beneath our feet, I couldn’t help but recall seeing some stone blocks incorporated into the masonry of several buildings we passed on our way into Sevit. They’re of incredibly fine make, has someone opened a local quarry?”

Before Wes had a chance to respond, Gregor Dunn spoke up, “Weston’s been selling them, apparently he has a subterranean supplier!”

Expertly controlling his facial expression, Wes prepared for the inevitable questions. He liked Gregor, but sometimes he was overly excitable.

Finally, Draven managed to speak first, “What?! You’ve contacted a subterranean nation? Who?! Tell us everything!”

With a measured look at Draven, Wes cleared his throat and said, “My client is very secretive, I know next to nothing about him or his people. All I do is collect the stone blocks at a designated cache, not once have I actually seen anybody. He contacted me telepathically and for the most-part, seems to be of a closely related race.” Nodding in Clifford Graham’s direction, Wes continued, “Clifford is Sevit’s appointed Commission mage, so as per protocol, I consulted him immediately after I was contacted. He should be able to shed some more light on the situation.”

Clifford inserted himself and said, “From Wes’ description, I suspect the supplier, who goes by the name of Ike, is a grynn. In addition to providing stone blocks, he has also sold Wes some ember blossoms…I really don’t have much else to add.”

Draven exclaimed, “A grynn! Varnassi dog! This is a disaster just waiting to erupt!”

Clifford quickly interjected, “Sir, not all grynn are under the yoke of the Varnassi Hegemony, I highly doubt they’d be trading with us if they were. Anyway, grynn are a peace-loving folk, I doubt they’ll pose any risk to us so long as we don’t show aggression, indeed, they could become vital trade partners. Of course, I’m not referring to any other undiscovered communities which may or may not exist beneath us, that’s another matter entirely and to that I suggest we mount an expedition.”

One of the young governors, Kyle Ponce said, “Weston, could you put us in contact with your client?”

“I will ask him next time we speak.”

Draven then said, “I need you to tell me the exact nature of your arrangement with this ‘grynn,’ every detail.”

Kyle spoke up, “Draven, that’s between Wes and—”

Interrupting, with a glare Draven said, “You will tell me.”

Not giving the exchange any time to escalate into hostilities, Wes responded, “That’s quite alright, it’s not exactly a secret anyway. I’ll explain everything.”

…

Wes finished relaying to the governors, and by extension the other influential citizens of Sevit seated at the table, the terms of his agreement with Ike. He wasn’t worried about anyone bypassing him in order to request blocks from Ike directly, and he doubted Ike would go back on their deal anyway. The governors asked for Wes to take them down to see the stone gateway that barred access to the supply cache later, and he readily obliged.

Several of the assembled successors asked Gregor about the fine homes he was constructing. He provided them with drawings he’d prepared ahead of time and promised to show off the houses at a later date. The interest in his work was high and even Draven Campbell was suitably impressed; requesting to commission Gregor’s company to build a mansion. Individual governor would no doubt ask to speak with Gregor privately after they retired from Wes’ dinner meeting.

Afterwards, Wes clarified the nature of his primary business; intercity logistics and trade management.

Alton was very interested in Wes’ as-of-yet unnamed company, so much so that he asked to speak with the merchant privately immediately after the meeting.

With everything wrapped up, the other governors left for the administration building where they’d be staying the night, much to the disappointment of several of them. Alton chuckled at the thought of Draven whining about the sleeping conditions.

Wes ushered Alton into his office where they both took a seat in a pair of wooden chairs.

“What can I do for you Alton?”

“I was intrigued by the description of your company; I was wondering if you were open to investments? I’m very well connected and would have no trouble in linking you with clients for your transportation services. My position helps…smooth things over…”

Wes laced his fingers together and guardedly said, “I might consider the idea, what’s your proposal?”

“In exchange for a 30% cut of the profits, I’ll ensure you always have business and will connect you with others. Additionally, I’ll bankroll your expenses until it’s established.”

“The best I can do for you is 10%, I’ve already spoken with the vast majority of my current intended clients and have my own collection of contacts. Furthermore, I already have my starting expenses covered. If you can’t do 10% then I’m sorry to say I’ll have to pass.

“I can come down to 20%, but that’s it.”

“Likewise, 10% is my limit. That said, I still think we’ll have plenty of opportunities to work together for mutual gain in the future, I’d like to get to know you better anyway.”

If he was being honest with himself, Alton expected this outcome, after all, it’s very hard to sway a merchant with a dream. Forging relations with Wes was the smart business decision, and Alton prided himself in his shrewdness. Therefore, they made pleasant and agreed to meet up at a later date.

Alton still had a pitch to make to Urist.

--------------------

Two weeks have gone by since my murder of the attacking mage… All told, I’m not nearly as distraught as I would’ve expected to be over killing someone. That said, I’ve still been in a funk for a long while, which is slightly reassuring. Part of my numbness to the whole issue probably stems from the fact that he did try to kill me and that I’d acted in self-defense. But that’s hardly a justification.

I mean, he probably didn’t even realize I was sapient like him! From my understanding, dungeon cores are thought to be unintelligent, which I have yet to personally verify. People don’t really think of them as “creatures with instincts” or even actively thinking entities at all, intelligent or otherwise. No, the general perception is that a dungeon core is a ‘natural process,’ not alive. Some sort of “law of nature,” so to speak. Which is bogus, if you ask me, but then again, I might’ve believed that too if I was raised in a world of utterly incomprehensible magic and beings.

On that subject, how is it that so many features of this world align with fantasy tropes from my reality? I’ve already considered this question before, but I think I need to give it a bump in priority.

Still, just because I was forced to kill one person doesn’t mean I’m some sort of psycho. No, I’ve got my morals and I’m sticking to them. That man lost his life because of my stupid decisions and lack of preparation. Consider; what if I’d had automatic nonlethal traps built ahead of time, or defenses that are manually operated by, say, long ropes or even dungeon helpers!

Foolish.

That’s a new priority.

Also, the mage absolutely trashed my dungeon helpers. I’ve no doubt they would’ve been highly effective against a normal opponent, but they simply can’t counter a mage’s area-of-effect spells.

The solution is obvious; I need my own magic. Offensive and defensive.

‘But Ike! You said runecrafting wasn’t a priority right now because it will take too long to establish!’ You, or well, the aspect of myself that is ‘you,’ might be tempted to say. (On second thought, maybe I am a psycho…) Well, who said anything about runecrafting? I can already recharge magicite crystals and operate wands. And don’t forget that I now have in my possession a relative fortune in magicite from the mage’s death. Oh, and I also have a fancy multi-purpose wand which, if I’m being totally honest with myself, I’m definitely going to dissect later.

There’s no reason why I can’t purchase wands from the humans! Just because I don’t yet have the capability of making my own runes doesn’t mean I can’t acquire them through a third party. This…this is the glory, nay, even more, it’s the very purpose of capitalism! I’ve made heaps of money from the sell of stone blocks, it’s high time I spend some of it hehehe.

And speaking of the humans, I’ve just witnessed a…motivating event. I’ve been avoiding contact with Wes for a while now, yeah, yeah, I know he’s been trying to make contact, but I just haven’t been in the mood for it. I really am upset about the mage…

A large caravan of nearly forty horse-drawn wagons and carriages along with thirty-three armored soldiers and three mages arrived today! Fifteen of those carriages were significantly more luxurious than the rest, which I’d later realized was because their occupants were very important people indeed.

Next, I witnessed my recently neglected merchant pal take them into his shop where he’d prepared a meal and gathered other familiar faces such as Clifford, Gregor, and one of the miners whose name is apparently Urist.

While they dined, I learned a lot of unsettling things… These men were appointed by the local chambermen and if what I’d just observed aligned with my understanding of the Lyrian Empire’s political climate, most of them were probably descendants of their appointees. I’m not a fan of that system at all.

In fact, the conversation eventually moved to the issue of “Ike,” that’s me! The governors, as they were called, didn’t seem too receptive to the idea of a mysterious entity engaging in trade with Sevit, and quite frankly, their fears were entirely valid. If I was an evil dungeon, I could’ve casually reduced the entire fledgling city to rubble in an afternoon. Surprisingly, Clifford came to my defense, but one of the governors, Draven Campbell, showed extreme distaste to the revelation of my existence.

This doesn’t bode too well for me, indeed, when one of the governors asked to be put in contact with ‘Ike,’ I almost introduced myself right then and there. Fortunately, I didn’t, because that would’ve revealed my eavesdropping.

I’ll speak with Wes first and then I’ll see what the governors have to say to me.