An Exchange of Services

As they got closer to the group, it became readily apparent that there was some kind of disturbance. Pretty soon, they could hear raised voices from the crowd.

"But what are we supposed to do? We don't have underground homes like you lot. This attack cost us everything!"

It appeared that they were surrounding a small delegation of Asani guards, who were in turn protecting a single individual dressed in white robes. Mike guessed that he was some kind of representative from the government.

"While I regret that circumstances have led to your impoverishment, I'm afraid it is out of my hands. Did you not receive the stipend set aside for reconstruction efforts?" The Asani bureaucrat replied dryly.

The leader of the small mob of humanoids shot back. "That was a pittance! Barely enough to cover the cost of debris removal! Most of us lost not only our homes, but our livelihoods as well. What do you intend to do about that?"

The functionary sighed, clearly fed up with their complaints. "Once again, you have our condolences, but you have to understand, the Elders have no obligation to help you. Were you not informed of the dangers of living on this island when you chose to emigrate? Besides, even the Asani civilians will have to devote themselves to rebuilding for the next few weeks. And they will not be getting any financial assistance from the government."

His callous response started a new wave of grumbling from the dissenters, but they didn't say anything to counter his words. Gradually, the crowd began to disperse when it became clear that nothing was to be gained from continuing. They were leaving in an orderly manner, but Mike could hear quite a few angry mutters as they did so.

In truth, he could understand both sides of the conflict. The local government likely had bigger things to worry about than the financial ruin of a small portion of their citizens, and that assumed they even treated non-Asani as citizens in the first place. On the other hand, the wingless people had lost their houses and livelihoods in the attack, leaving them homeless and destitute. If the government couldn't help them, they really didn't have anywhere else to turn.

"So, what are you thinking?" Morris asked quietly while watching the crowd leave. "Planning on helping them?"

"It occurred to me, but I decided to hold off on making a decision. While jumping in during a major crisis is one thing, intervening in civil affairs of an independent country for my own satisfaction is a little much."

[Of course, if they are willing to pay me for my efforts, it would be a different story.]

"Going shopping?" Tal asked, indicating the stalls that were lining the square.

"That's the plan." He replied cheerfully before leading them in that direction.

Over the next hour or so, they wandered the area, exploring what the merchants had for sale. While the goods were quite diverse, it was quickly apparent that they were mostly catered to reconstruction efforts. The few sellers with other products were strangely reticent when they inquired about them. It didn't take him long to realize that they were being treated prejudicially because of their race.

After the third time that a merchant refused to sell them anything for suspicious reasons, Mike called a halt to their shopping efforts and brought them over to a bench in the center of the square to reconvene and discuss the matter.

"We're not getting anywhere with this. Does anyone have another idea?" He asked the group.

"Well," Morris replied after a few seconds of thought, "there is nothing to stop us from just leaving."

Mike sighed. "Yeah, I know, but the Asani have access to technology that I think could come in handy. I am not sure exactly what, but I have a feeling that there is something here we will need in the future."

"That would be in line with your previous encounters." Tal added in the ancient language of her people. "Considering the pattern of your adventures so far, we are probably here for some reason."

After a brief translation, Morris continued. "If that's the case, then we need to either find a vendor willing to work with us or consider some other alternative."

"Talk to the humans." Sera added quietly. It was the first time she'd spoken since meeting, and he could tell that she was still processing what had happened.

"There don't appear to be any human merchants working right now…" He replied, a little hesitantly.

"Of course not." She shot back, a little of her usual fire creeping into her voice. "They don't have the luxury of acting like nothing serious happened right after a major disaster. But I bet you can find someone willing to trade with you. Especially if you can leverage your assistance in whatever reconstruction effort they need."

"Works for me. At the very least, talking to them can net us some more information." Mike commented before the group separated to make some inquiries.

He made sure to bring Lily with him, in order to keep her out of trouble, and moved to talk to a pair of humans that were standing in front of a collapsed building, looking at it with an air of defeated hopelessness.

As he got closer, he used Appraise and determined that they were a married couple with the Merchant class and titles related to business. He guessed they were likely shopkeepers of some kind who had lost their store in the disaster. Unsurprisingly, they seemed to be having a hard time deciding what to do with the pile of rubble in front of them.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you something?"

The man glanced up and looked blankly at him for a few seconds before answering. "Ah…yeah. What do you need, lad?"

"We're actually visitors to the island, and we were hoping to find someplace to buy a few souvenirs before leaving."

He knew his statement wasn't particularly believable considering the circumstances, but he hoped that a combination of shock and their presence there would compensate. Thankfully, both of them seemed too deeply affected by the incident to really notice.

"Souvenirs? Then you want Margret's, she's just down the…" He pointed in the direction of another ruined building, and trailed off once he realized what he was doing. "Sorry, she might still be around somewhere, but it will probably be awhile before she's back in operation."

"If she's not dead…" His wife muttered under her breath.

"I see. That's unfortunate. In that case, maybe you can point me in the direction of someone who handles magic items or mechanical devices. I have a friend back home that would definitely love to get his hands on some of the things you have here."

This finally managed to break through the haze of loss surrounding the pair, and he was treated to looks of careful suspicion. 

"I'm sorry, but I don't know if I can help you there. The Asani maintain strict regulations about who can and cannot deal in those types of goods. Settlers like ourselves aren't allowed access to them."

"Really? That's seems quite strange to me. I had figured that people intelligent and resourceful enough to make their homes on one of the most exclusive locations in the world would be able to figure something out." He replied with an ingratiating smile.

The man hesitated for a moment, a few conflicting emotions warring in his eyes, but his wife cut him off with a sudden outburst. "As he already said, we don't deal with that kind of product, and we don't know anyone who does! Why don't you leave us alone already?"

"My apologies, I didn't mean to offend. I was just hoping to arrange a trade of services. If you can't help me, that's alright. I'll go find someone else. Have a good day." He started walking away and had to suppress a smile when the man called out to him.

"Please wait a second. What do you mean an exchange of services?"

"Well, I assumed that you would benefit from the assistance of an experienced Earth Mage to help you clear the rubble and rebuild, but I was evidently mistaken. Maybe some of your neighbors would be more interested." He turned to Lily, who'd been quietly watching the exchange up to this point. "Come on, let's go try someone else."

The woman broke in at that moment, moving forward with a surprisingly polite smile on her face. "Now, now, Sir Mage. There is no need for that. I assure you we can certainly come to an arraignment."

"I thought you said that you didn't know anyone that traded in the goods I'm interested in."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Sorry about that. It was a bit of a misunderstanding. You see, we don't actually know anyone specifically, but we can certainly tell you where to go to find out."

"Carla!" The man interrupted, a bit fearfully. "Are you insane?!" He continued in a quiet whisper. "Do you want the Loremasters to raid us?"

"Relax, dear. These nice young folks are only looking for some harmless souvenirs. Surely there won't be any kind of investigation about this."

"Still…"

Mike gave his best reassuring smile and added a bit of mana to his voice. "You won't regret it. I promise."

The tension in his shoulders held for a few seconds, before they sagged. "Fine…we can tell you where to go, but only if you help us rebuild our store first."

Mike shrugged, stepped forward, and channeled his mana into the ruined shopfront. He could sense the lingering essence of the original structure in the stones and the way that the individual pieces fitted together. With an effort of will, he tried to reassemble them.

Gradually over the course of a minute, the building began to take shape. As if time were flowing backwards, bits and pieces of masonry rose up and put themselves back together. He had to summon a bit of stone here and there in order to make up for the parts that had been crushed into dust or were too far away, but pretty soon there was a fully intact structure standing in front of him.

He released his mana and turned to the openmouthed shopkeepers. "Now, I wasn't able to fully recreate everything in the store, so you'll have to restock the inventory and put in new windows, but the building itself should be repaired now."

With a little bit of glee, he noticed the commotion his sudden display of magic had caused, not just among the other humans, but the civilian Asani as well.

[Alright, now if the original contact doesn't pan out, I should have some other options in the near future.]

The pair was enormously grateful, and confessed that they'd assumed he would simply help them clear the rubble, not fully rebuild their store. In the midst of their profuse thanks, which might have as much to do with their fear of his abilities as their actually gratitude, they explained that he could find what he was looking for in a settlement referred to as Skyridge, a small town near the edge of the Asan. There he could find other Settlers, a term for non-Asani living on the island, who were known to engage in some rudimentary smuggling.

Thanking the couple, he led Lily back to the meeting place he'd set up with the others. It was deserted by the time they arrived, so he took a seat and settled in for a wait. While he was doing so, he realized that the Lily was giving him an odd look.

"What?"

She cocked her head to the side a bit, as if confused. "You were…deceptive and persuasive."

"Perhaps, but it was necessary."

She nodded blankly then fell into silence for a few seconds. Finally, she muttered, "I'll have to remember that."

He wasn't quite sure what she meant by that, but didn't have time to ask as the other three chose that moment to show up and explain what they found.