“Ah. So that’s how it is?” I asked the naga woman.

“That’s how it is,” she replied.

“Too bad, I rather like your type too. Ah well, guess these won’t be going into your [Inventory]. Later.”

I turned and started to walk away, waiting to see how long it took her to notice that I’d retrieved both wolves and the cart. She started laughing in that way that people who think they have all the cards normally do.

“Of course they’re going into my inventory, how do you think you’ll ever get them back? Tell Jada I’ll send over a messenger with the couple coppers at some point, if I feel like it! Thanks for gifting me these wolves!”

I stopped in the doorway and turned to look at her. “What wolves?” I asked innocently.

She looked where the cart was and just saw a puddle from the wet wolf, and her smile immediately vanished. Then she whipped her head around to look at her table and saw it was empty too. In the blink of an eye she was on me. She’d coiled her body around me and had both of her blades at my throat.

“What did you do? Where did they go?”

I gently prodded her ribs with the end of my arm cannon. “I’m currently loaded with magma stones. The exit wound should be quite impressive.”

She looked down at my cannon poking her and started to chuckle. Gently she set me down and withdrew her blades before giving me an icy look.

“There’s no way that half-rate artificer Jada built you, and I know for a fact there’s no way she could afford you or steal you. She couldn’t have found you in a labyrinth or something, she’s too old. So just how did she possess you?”

I calmly walked up into her personal space and looked her in the eye. “You seem to be making an awful lot of assumptions about my status and who my master is.” I couldn’t give too much away here, though; I would be in a lot of trouble if the Guild knew what I really was.

She backed away from me to the other side of her table, and I could feel the situation getting away from me; this really wasn’t where I wanted to be. I still needed the wolves to be processed.

“Just what are you? You don’t talk like a normal Automata...” she asked with equal parts fear and curiosity.

I looked at my arm cannon then back at her. I’d have to tread lightly. “Are you going to give me a fair price for these wolves?”

“Sorry, yeah, of course! Jada and I have been friends for a long time, I would have given her the proper amount. I was just having some fun at her Automata’s expense!”

“You’re that kind of person, eh? I can’t say I hate that if it doesn’t go too far. Let’s start over, my name is Prime,” I said, as I converted my cannon back into a hand and held it out to her.

Slowly she came out from behind her table and took my hand in one of hers. “Nagina... but my friends call me Najii.”

“Good to meet you, Najii.” I put my hands up to her table and dropped the two wolf corpses on top. “I need the mana crystals from both of these and the full skin from the wet one, as intact as you can. The rest is yours. Please deduct the dismantling fee from the sale of the rest.”

She looked over the bodies again and absently twirled her blades in the same way that some people twirl pens or coins over their fingers. It was kind of mesmerising to watch, honestly. “There’s a lot of meat here, and the fur from the dry one is in good condition; the bones are strong too. Okay, it’s fine. I can get those crystals and skin now if you want to wait, or do you want to come back later?”

It was amusing to see her switch to full business mode; she clearly knew her trade and didn’t even question my use of [Inventory]. “Now would be fantastic. Do you mind if I watch?”

Her eye looked over at me, searching for something. “You’re an odd one, aren’t you, Prime? Are you really an Automata?”

“As far as I know.”

She shrugged and got to work. It was pretty amazing to watch her; the hands holding blades made quick and accurate cuts as open hands pulled open the incisions and another hand reached in to pull out the mana crystal while the last hand was ready and waiting with a cloth to clean it out. It was like watching an expert surgeon with a team of assistants all working in perfect sync. The amount of time it took her to extract both crystals was less than a minute. With the same practiced efficiency she quickly had the wet wolf skinned and was even able to dismantle the meat and bones as she went. It was like some sort of butcher ballet.

In the span of about ten minutes she had completely broken down the wolf and had all the parts neatly arranged and ready for weighing and further processing; even the blood had been neatly collected. She was now at a washing station and was carefully cleaning the skin and fur before setting it on a rack near the fire and holding her hands out to it. I couldn’t really tell what she was doing here and didn’t want to give myself away by [Inspect]ing for magic.

“Wind?” I asked.

“Yeah, I know some Wind magic, so I’m circulating the hot air from the fire around and through the skin to dry the fur.”

“Oh, I see. If you could keep the underside from drying out, that would be helpful.”

“Sure, that’s easy enough, but that’s no good if you are planning to use the pelt for leather.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve something else in mind for this pelt.”

Again, she gave me that look that said “are you being serious right now?” “Okay. I guess it’s done then.”

“Great work, thanks,” I said as I put the mana crystals and the cleaned pelt into my [Inventory]. As I walked out the door, I turned and raised a hand to her. “It was nice meeting you Nagina, I expect that you’ll send the payment over to Jada by courier.”

“Yeah... you too,” she said, confused, shyly waving a single hand.