“Ow!” Hadiin jumped and whirled because something had jabbed him in the kidney. He was standing on a corner, just off Market Street, a cheap straw hat pulled down over his eyes to hide his identity.

Cat, back in her white dress and huge, white hat, looked at him from behind her fan, unimpressed. “You’ve probably got a bounty on your head. And what, this hat is your disguise?”

He flushed. “Well, it works for you, dear C—“

She cut him off with a frown. Her eyes swivelled to take in others around them. “It’s Lady Lucia la Luna.”

“That’s a lot of Ls,” he remarked.

She gave him a sour smile. “Bite me.”

“I thought it supposed to be the other way around.”

A long-suffering sigh. “My goodness. Are you always this bad with secrets?”

“Ah. Right.” He rubbed his back. “Is jabbing me with sharp objects going to become a thing?”

“Yes,” she flatly answered. “So?” She arched a brow at him. “Do you have a plan?”

“Plan?”

“Yes. Merchant stuff, remember?” She gestured with red-painted nails to the commercial district in front of them.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do any recon today. I’ve tried to keep my head down.” He rubbed his chin in thought. “To be honest though, nothing jumped out at me yesterday when I was walking around either.”

“Did you check at the guild for ideas?”

He blinked at her. “The guild?”

“Of course. For quests?”

“The Adventurers Guild?” He was confused.

“No. The Merchants Guild.” She closed her eyes in frustration. “Wait. Don’t tell me you don’t know they have quests too?”

He looked at her. And was a little tired of feeling stupid so often recently. He decided to fib. “Of course. I thought we’d go check it out together. After all, it could be dangerous. There’s a high chance of running into Weesely. Even if I didn’t, he could find out I’d been there.”

She sighed and made a slight shake of her head. “You didn’t know they had quests. At the Merchants Guild.”

Hadiin grew exasperated and hissed back. “And what? You’re an expert on all things…related to stuff I can’t mention? There are no gaps in your knowledge at all? I’m new at this!”

She face palmed, making her pert breasts jiggle. “Hmph.”

He sighed and calmed down. “My lady, would you do me the honour of escorting me to the guild? I would very much value your insights into the matter.”

She appeared to weigh the matter. “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to be seen together.” She eyed his bright, shiny green shirt. “You couldn’t have bought a coat to cover that with or something? If he’s on the lookout for you, and he surely is, you’re easy to spot.”

“I will go clothes shopping later.”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

They went to the guild together, Lucia looking every bit the lady.

Along the way, he eyed her fashion. “So you’re a lady, hmm? Nobility?”

“Yes.”

“Then, aren’t you rich?”

“My family is rich,” she countered. “I get a very small allowance to live on. Ideally, my parents would like me to find some rich, entitled noble to marry and spend his money. I have, so far, declined.” Her voice grew quieter. “And since my change, I don’t see that ever happening now. I may never get married now.”

“If you’re from a wealthy family, then why the, um, extracurricular activities at night?”

“You make me sound like a prostitute.”

“That’s not—“

“I enjoy it. It’s me. It’s what I love to do. It makes me feel alive. And I use it to make a difference in society when I can.”

“Couldn’t you do more as a noble?”

“Yes. But I don’t have my own money, remember? And with marriage no longer an option, I suppose my current lifestyle is all I have left. I probably won’t even be able to carry on as a noble for much longer anyway. I ran away from the city after I changed. But eventually, my parents are going to grow even more insistent on marriage than they already are. And people are going to wonder why a certain lady never ages.”

“Fake death. New identity.” He nodded.

She looked at him in surprise. “You’ve done this before?”

“Common in stories where I come from.”

“Hmm. Yes, well. I suppose I’ll have no other choice in a few years.”

At the guild, Hadiin asked about quests at the Service desk and was pointed to an area around the corner that wasn’t in full view of the foyer.

Lucia looked up at the postings. “Even if you don’t see an opportunity you like, these should give you an idea of what the market is like, yes? What people are in need of?”

“Brilliant. Yes.”

Seeing all the opportunities on the board before him, it felt like a fire had been relit in his soul again. Each opportunity fuelled bursts of excitement and the initial rush had him all over the board, eagerly devouring each posting.

“There’s some good stuff here,” Lucia noted. “Decent money.”

“Definitely.” After a few minutes, his excitement tempered. “Ok. There are some great quests. Like this one. A request for wyvern hide book covers enchanted for a bunch of things. And this one for eight hundred bags of magical carrots. Unfortunately, I do not have the money nor the connections for these things.”

“Establish a trade route to Isleria for weapons.” She read and then rolled her eyes. “I doubt you have a ship laying around anywhere, so that’s out too.”

“Establish a franchise seamstress shop. Also requires capital, along with the franchise fee.”

“These don’t seem like they’re for low-level merchants at all.”

“Most of those probably get taken fast. Or there just aren’t that many low-level quests out there. I mean, most commerce is already being done. And a lot of basic quests, like acquiring monster parts, are surely handled by the Adventurers Guild.”

“Guess this was a waste of time then.”

“Well…there is this one.” He pointed to a posting. “I’m actually kind of excited about it.”

“Oh?” She leaned forward and read.

⚜️⚜️⚜️ Belleville Merchant’s Guild ⚜️⚜️⚜️

OPEN VENTURE

Summary: Establish a trading outpost

Location: (see map)

The Belleville Merchants Guild, in partnership with the Kingdom of Lubelum, is sponsoring the establishment of a new trading outpost in the newly created village of Mayfair.

Objectives

Establish a trading outpost to service the people of Mayfair (pop. 17). Establish a weekly trade route with Belleville.

Optional Objectives

Establish trade routes to other small communities in the area and provide services

Requirements

Horse and wagon

About

The merchant undertaking the mission will supply general goods and fulfill the requests of locals for their needs.

The merchant is free to keep any and all profit made during the venture as well as to engage in other commercial activity of their own. The outpost, land allocated, and all inventory will be the property of the merchant.

As the region is located on the furthest boundaries of the Kingdom’s domain, Mayfair will be outside the protection of the crown for some time, until it has grown to a larger size. As such, considerable danger can be expected, primarily from local monsters as well as criminal species (elves).

In light of this possible danger, and the lack of local defences, in partnership with the Belleville Adventurers Guild, a party of adventurers will be contracted to assist in providing security for an initial term of two weeks. Additional time can be negotiated based on the merchant’s performance and the willingness of adventurers to commit to a long-term contract. The cost of hiring the adventurers will be compensated for the initial two-week period. Further contracting and payment will be the responsibility of the merchant.

⚜️⚜️⚜️

Lucia’s face screwed up. “Seriously? You want to go out into the boonies and set up shop for…months? To make, what? A few silver? You’d be better off taking a job in town waiting tables.”

“Ok, I know it might be a little challenging. But I think there’s real potential here?”

Doubt was all over her face. “How? The king is just trying to push the border south even further. As if they haven’t aggravated the elves enough as it is. That’s remote and hostile countryside.”

“There are people there,” he said. “The town’s already been founded, right?”

“All seventeen of them?”

“We’ll be on the border. That’s probably prime adventuring territory, isn’t it? Which means we’ll be able to service adventurers. And take on our own quests in the area.”

“Wait.” She held up a hand. “You don’t think I’m going with you, do you?”

“Why not? It could be a great challenge.”

She definitively shook her head. “I’m a city girl. One hundred percent. I don’t do sleeping on dirt and bugs and all of that. No toilets? No. Especially not for weeks, let alone months!” She glanced around and lowered her voice before glaring at him. “I’m a thief. How am I supposed to do any work out there? Steal pigs?”

“Thieves don’t level up from fighting?”

“What am I supposed to do? Kill…boredom? I can’t face monsters. I told you, I’m not a rogue. I’m not made for a lot of face-to-face fights.”

“Right. Except I’ve seen how strong you are. You could toss most rogues around without even trying. I’m sure you’d be fine against lots of monsters.” He raised his hands to calm her as she tried to object. “And we’ll be taking a party of adventurers. So you’ll be able to work alongside them. They don’t have to hang around guarding the outpost all the time. You guys can hunt monsters and take on quests, they can tank stuff and you can sneak up on dragons or whatever from behind.”

“I don’t think you know much about monster fighting.”

“I don’t. But I’m sure there will be opportunities for you to level up at least some of your skills. And maybe there’s a dungeon or something around there. You may not have a lot of anti-trap skills but surely a thief could come in handy. Not to mention there might be treasure.”

“Might. Might be this or might be that. Most likely, we’re going to sit in the middle of nowhere in the countryside and have nothing at all to do.”

“Just give it a chance. Please. If you’re bored and hate it, come back to Belleville. I’ll stick it out for a while but I’ll be back and forth with the wagon.”

She scoffed. “Once a week.”

“I’ll make it twice. Just for you. And you can drink your fill each time if you want to.”

She crossed her arms and leaned on one foot. “I don’t know…”

“This gets me out of town and out of Weesely’s line of sight. Also,” he paused and pulled her in close, barely whispering, “I think there’s potential money to be made with the elves.”

Her eyes flew open in alarm. “You’d—“

“Shh!” He waved her quiet. “I met some on the road once. They were hostile but I got a feeling. The same kind of feeling I had about the ice cream.”

She spoke through clenched teeth, her eyes warily looking about to see if they’d been overheard. “They’re enemies of the crown!”

“But not my enemies. I have nothing against other species. Do you?”

She sharply shook her head. “No… But if we get caught… Or more likely they just kill us for trying to make contact…”

“I’ve got you to protect me.”

“Not against…them!”

“Look, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. Like I said, I’ll come back twice a week if you’re here. Or, you know, you can make other arrangements. But I’d be very grateful if you joined me.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How grateful?”

“What do you mean?”

“Half. Of whatever we make while I’m out there.”

“Half?” he exclaimed.

“There are two of us.”

“Yes…”

“And you probably want someone to watch your back not just against elves but from those adventurers too. I mean, they’re just going to be bronze ranks. But if you did make a bunch of gold, who’s going to stop them from stabbing you, blaming the elves or monsters, and walking away with your money?”

“Are you saying you’re going to stay out there with me?”

She tapped one foot and thought about it. “I’ll give it…two weeks. After that, we’ll see.”

He grinned. “Really?”

She glowered. “You’d better spend those two weeks making money somehow. And making that place hospitable. I’m not bathing in cold streams every day and sleeping with snakes and spiders.”

“I will do my best,” he devoutly promised, bowing to her.

“Fine.” She snagged the post from the wall and handed it to him. “Go turn this in then. The sooner we start, the sooner we get it over with.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going home to find something different to wear. Lady la Luna can’t go to the country with you. A certain someone else will.”

“Dual identities is going to be a huge pain.”

She sighed. “I know. It already is.” She turned and spoke over her shoulder. “Keep your head down. Meet at the Adventurers Guild in two hours.”

“Why there?”

“Because you’re going to have to pick up an escort, remember?”

The clerks at the service desk were more than happy to help Hadiin with the quest. Apparently, it had been there for a while and nobody had shown any interest in it at all. They showed him a list of suggested goods to take to Mayfair and offered to purchase them for him. As it would save him being in public, he agreed.

A runner was sent to fetch Hadiin’s wagon so that Hadiin could stay relatively out of sight, in case Weesely had someone watching it. When it arrived, it was parked behind the guild in a loading dock and Hadiin packed up all the goods that the guild purchased on his behalf.

Wagon full, and with his hat pulled low over his face, he drove to the Adventurers Guild. The Merchants Guild had sent a runner ahead about the bronze rank team. There was no guarantee that one would be available, but at the rate the crown was paying for those two weeks, someone would probably jump all over it.

Hadiin parked the wagon beside the guild and hopped down. It was his first time here. While the place wasn’t nearly as illustrious as the Merchants Guild, it did have a rustic, worn charm. He took off his hat and made to go for the door when someone hailed him. He looked up the street and saw Lucia, no, Cat striding towards him, a leather backpack on.

She was dressed in curve-hugging black suede pants, a black tank top that bared her belly, and a familiar black jacket that hung open at the bottom, but was done up at the top so that the high collar could hide her lower face. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her eyes were hidden by sunglasses with circular frames. A dagger was belted to her left hip.

“Isn’t that kind fashionable and, well, rather sexy for a disguise?” he greeted her with.

“Doesn’t look anything like my other mode of dress though, does it? I figured I looked like an adventurer. Wouldn’t I be more obvious walking around in a long coat and hood in the weather, in broad daylight?”

“Cat, you’re going to draw every male eye around in those pants. And they look just like the ones you usually wear with that jacket.”

She looked down at herself. “I suppose I could get a long skirt instead.”

“Or baggier pants.”

“You don’t like these?” She twisted, giving him a view of her backside.

“I love them. Let’s get off the street, shall we?” He reached for her.

She slipped away from him and peeked into the wagon. “You got supplies for us, right? Bedrolls, cooking things? Food for two weeks?”

“I…thought I’d wait for you and pick it out together.”

She snorted, not believing him, but spoke kindly. “I guess it’s your first expedition. I’ll just ask someone at the guild to do it. You’re supposed to be out of sight, remember? I don’t want to be in public more than I have to either.”

They went around front and he reached for the door.

It swung open before he could grab the handle.

And there, with a surprised expression that matched his, stood his first partner.

Hadiin’s face instinctively lit up with real joy. “Marian!”

She might have been about to smile but harnessed her poker face in a spectre of a moment. Before she could speak, a woman in a witch’s hat and robe appeared behind her.

“Something wrong, Marian? Oops. Crowded doorway.” She chuckled.

Hadiin swept out of the way and held the door open, bowing slightly as the two women exited the Adventurers Guild. “Marian. I was hoping to run into you.”

“Oh. You know each other?” the witch asked. For some reason, she was wearing a sword instead of a wand or staff.

Marian gave him a look, then grumpily sighed and crossed her arms. “You remember I told you about the ice cream and the person I was working with? This is ice cream guy.”

The witch’s eyes widened slightly. “Ah. I see.” She reached forward with a friendly smile. “Hello. I’m Ravellis, [Sword-witch]. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Hadiin returned her greeting with a warm smile and handshake of his own. “Hadiin. [Merchant].”

Cat stood beside Hadiin, smirking behind her high collar. “I didn’t recognize you at first,” she said to Marian.

“Sorry?” Marian glanced back and forth between her and Hadiin. “Do we know each other?”

Cat’s smile reached her eyes, which danced with naughtiness. “The first time I saw you, you were face down in the big pile of gold coins, naked. Hadiin was putting a smile on your face. Or was that just the gold?”

Marian’s eyes flew wide in shock. She turned on Hadiin, mouth open, then looked at Cat again. “Wait. Are you the one—“

Cat defensively held her hands up. “The one who got stabbed. Not the one who stabbed you. Don’t worry.”

A frown creased the sorceress’s forehead. “Why are you here?”

She casually gestured to Hadiin. “We’re partners. For the moment.”

“About that—“ Hadiin tried to speak.

“What?” Marian’s frown targeted Hadiin. “You partnered up with the person who tried to rob us? And who probably would have cut our throats if the other assassin hadn’t shown up?”

“Hey,” Cat objected. “I was only there to rob you. Which would have been a lot easier if you hadn’t been curled up around the pile of coins like a baby around a security blanket.”

Marian’s face coloured. She glared at the vampire, then at Hadiin again. “Hmph. Didn’t take you long to replace me, did it? And with a criminal, no less.”

“No no!” He shook his head. “She’s another partner, not a replacement.” He nudged Cat. “Stop being difficult.”

“He kind of saved my life,” Cat added, becoming more serious. “Or came along before someone could end it at any rate. One thing led to another. But don’t worry, he’s been talking about apologizing and getting back in your good graces since we met.”

Despite herself, Marian looked a bit off balance with that. “You were?”

He bowed his head. “Marian, I owe you a huge apology. You were absolutely right: I reacted poorly that night. And my priorities were mixed up. I’m so sorry.”

Looking uncomfortable, she didn’t have an answer to that.

Ravellis shouldered her, a teasing smile on her lips. “Oh come on. Isn’t it better to make up than to hold grudges?”

Marian looked sour but relented. “Fine.” She looked away. “I suppose I may have…overreacted a bit too.”

“Aw.” Ravellis hugged her. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? Good for you.”

Marian softly batted the woman’s hat but not with any real animosity. She turned a milder expression on Hadiin. “So? What are you doing here at the Adventurers Guild? You weren’t actually looking for me, were you?”

“Partly. Hoping I’d find you here. I wanted to talk before we left.”

She straightened as if alarmed. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes. I have just taken—“

“We,” Cat corrected.

“—we have just taken—“

“Sorry,” Marian broke in. “I didn’t get your name.”

Cat opened her mouth to reply and paused in thought, then seemed to give in to something. “Lucia.”

Hadiin gave her a sharp look. “But—“

She shrugged one shoulder. “Forget it. Two names is a huge pain.” She offered a hand to Marian. “I’m Lucia.”

Marian and Ravellis both shook.

Hadiin continued. “So. We took on a quest courtesy of the Merchants Guild. The Adventurers Guild is sending a party with us as well as security. And I was hoping that you’d like to join too.”

“Where are you going?” Marian asked.

“We’re headed out into the countryside to help a new town start up. Should be plenty of opportunities for levelling and commerce. What do you think?”

“How long is this for?” Ravellis asked, looking very interested.

“Two weeks,” Lucia answered. “To start. Assuming we don’t all get killed by monsters or elves. Or sick of a hole in the ground for a toilet and come running back to real civilization.”

Ravellis looked excited. She bounced on her toes and grabbed Marian’s arm. “Oh, let’s do it, Marian. Let’s go.” She looked at Hadiin. “Have you booked a party already or is the spot still open?”

He looked confused. “You joined a party?” he asked Marian.

“Yeah. For today. We just got back from a quest.”

“She killed a giant zombie spider!” Ravellis gushed, evidently very impressed. “And a zombie owlbear. And a necromancer. And—“ She seemed to recall something unpleasant and her face fell.

Marian put her arm around the woman and hugged her close. “We lost someone as well. He died.”

“I’m so sorry!” Lucia exclaimed. She reached out and touched Ravellis on the arm.

The witch made a sad smile and wiped a tear away. “Sorry. We didn’t really know each other well but it’s still a shock.”

Hadiin saw an opportunity, a way to make things up with Marian and maybe even get her back on his team. “Let’s talk to the guild. If you have a party, surely we can say that we want yours to be the one that comes with us.”

Marian looked hesitant. “The party is supposed to provide security? I don’t know if…” She gave Ravellis an uncertain look.

The witch nodded, resigned. “We just lost our swordsman. And the rest of our members might not be the best for protecting anyone. Marian is the only one who could do much at the moment.” She looked at the sorceress. “If you’re even staying with our party. I understand if you don’t want—“

“I do.”

“Th-thank you, Marian.”

“Hey. We’re going to be friends.” The two women embraced. Then Marian took a big breath. “We should recruit someone else if we can though. We need a tank.”

“Tank?” Lucia frowned, not understanding.

“Someone in armour, on the front line,” Hadiin explained. “Let’s try inside. Surely the guild will help us with that.”

Agreed, they entered the building.

The clerk at the desk, a young man, looked conflicted about their desire. “I’m sorry. You’re not really experienced enough for this quest,” he told Marian and Ravellis.

“But,” Hadiin cut in, “the kingdom is paying for a team, right? Perhaps there are one or two adventurers who would be willing to join us for the first two weeks?”

“And after?” the clerk countered.

“They may want to stay. Who knows?”

The clerk was undecided, but reluctantly put a call out.

There were about a dozen adventurers in the guild at that moment. Only one responded: a grizzled old man who was as short as Marian but stacked with so much muscle that he was twice as wide. His half-plate armour, bracers and greaves were battered with use and he carried a huge-headed, short-handled hammer. Though he was not wearing his helm, his shaggy gray hair was unkempt. With a trim gray beard and calm, wise eyes he seemed like the kind of man who was both veteran of a thousand encounters and a respected grandfather.

The clerk nodded approvingly. “Gold rank. More than acceptable.” He sent the old man a warm smile.

The newcomer introduced himself. “Corvinus.” His voice was gruff and growly. “Wouldn’t mind a nice, easy vacation in the country this time of year. Give these old bones a rest.”

Hadiin figured those old bones could probably still bash down stone walls. And he was gold rank! What a fantastic addition to the team. He shook the man’s hand and winced as his fingers were crushed. “Happy to have you along, sir.”

Lucia coordinated with the clerk for supplies. Some of these could be purchased directly from the guild. They sent a runner for the rest.

When things arrived and it came time to load the small wagon, they found that it filled up quite quickly with all the trade goods already on board.

Ravellis looked disappointed. “I guess we’ll all be walking the entire way. And it is some distance.”

Marian seemed to realize something important. “Ah. And the other two members of our party have shorter legs. Not that I really want to walk all that way either. I assumed we’d be able to ride.”

“Don’t a lot of adventurers get themselves horses?” Lucia inquired.

“Oh no,” Ravellis shook her head, “not at our level. Horses are expensive, both to buy and to maintain. Feed, saddles, stabling. There’s no way we could afford that for all four of us.” Her hand flew to her mouth as she had a surprise thought and she looked at Marian. “Oh! And what do we do with…you know?”

Marian sagged. “Ugh. Right. The chest.”

Hadiin looked back and forth between the two. “Chest?”

“Mimic chest,” Marian clarified. “We have one.”

Lucia exhaled sharply. “You what? You have a monster? Like, as a pet? A member of your party?”

“No no. It’s from the necromancer quest. There was a mimic chest in his lair. That’s, um, well, that’s how one of our party died. It ate him.”

“Seriously?” Lucia seemed shocked. “And so you brought it with you?”

Marian continued. “Our sage figures the mimic is valuable. Like, maybe some rich person will buy it to guard their stuff. So we had it chained up and brought to the guild.”

“Unfortunately,” Ravellis took over, “the guild refuses to keep it or, uh, feed it, while they’re looking for a buyer. So we have to take it with us.”

Lucia was disbelieving. “You want to take a monster. On a quest. After it ate your friend.”

“Oh, I wasn’t his friend,” Marian stated. “He was kind of a jerk.”

“Still…” Ravellis gave the sorceress a reproachful look.

“I know. Sorry.” She put an arm around Ravellis and hugged her.

The sword-wich turned her eyes on Hadiin and winced as she asked, “I don’t suppose you could buy a bigger wagon?”

He rested his chin on a fist and thought about it. “How about a second wagon? That would offer more flexibility, wouldn’t it, having two vehicles?”

“You have money?” Marian asked, surprised.

“Yes. Actually, there is something important I forgot to mention.”

Marian’s face turned stony. “What?”

“Ahem. Well, you remember that unfortunate thing that happened at the hotel with all the blood and stabbing and such. Well, I’m pretty sure that guy from the auction was behind it.”

“Weesely,” Lucia added.

“That guy?” Marian stuck her tongue out in distaste.

“Yes. Unfortunately, I blundered and got involved with him. Long story short, I escaped from his secret dungeon and now I’m sort of on the run. I think he may be hunting me. Which is a part of why I took a quest out of town. I’m going to lay low for a while. But I did manage to recoup the money that was taken.” He shared what he hoped was a winning smile.

Marian just stared at him, expressionless. Slowly, she raised her hands. Flames appeared.

Ravellis leapt forward and caught her arms. “Marian! Stop.”

“Just a little fire. I’ll just burn all his hair off. Maybe that mustache. A bit of skin. Nothing life threatening.”

Lucia leaned forward and tried to be helpful. “I like poking him with daggers, myself.”

“Ladies!” Hadiin put his hands up, sweat breaking out. “The point we should focus on is that I have enough money for a second wagon and supplies. Great supplies. The best of supplies. Maybe a magical, portable toilet? Heated blankets?” He looked back and forth between them, lump in his throat, hoping luxuries might prove conciliatory.

Marian gave him a sickly sweet smile. “Just how much do you have?”

“T-two hundred and fifty gold…?”

Marian clapped her hands. “Ladies? Shopping trip. Hadiin’s paying.”

The other two cheered.

Corvinus chuckled. “Ah, lad. I hope you didn’t tell them how much you really have.”

Hadiin facepalmed.

The chuckling grew louder. “I’ll find us a good, solid wagon and a pair of cart horses while you take care of the ladies. You can pay me back later.” He moved off, still amused.