Discussion

Hearing Silver's words, Mia and Greil sat up straighter. The two shared a nod, and Greil stood from his stool, grabbing the other two drunken men under each arm.

"Mind showing me to a room?" Greil smiled at Silver. "I'll go put these two kids to bed."

"Sure sure." Silver waved his hand. "Up to the second floor, first room on the left. The second one can be used by Miss Mia."

"Thank you kindly, Doctor. I'll be on my way." Greil nodded to Silver before making his way up the stairs, disappearing on the second floor. Silver turned to Mia.

"Now, I am sure you're aware of our current agreement, right?"

Mia's eyes swirled. "Yup, one delivery a month, and you tell me what to bring each prior visit. In turn, I quote you a price for the goods, with a fixed delivery fee. Is there any issue?" She played with her hair, twirling it around her finger. "We've done pretty good so far I think." Her eyes met Silver's. "So?"

Silver smiled gently, patting her head. "Yes, you have done quite well for me, good job."

Mia pouted, making Silver chuckle. "I'm not a child anymore, Doctor."

"No, and my you have grown. No, I'm not disappointed in your efforts Mia, but things are going to need to pick up around here." Silver waved his hand at the tavern. "You see, just a tavern in the middle of the desert isn't exactly what I have planned."

Over at the side, Kosmas' ears perked up. 'Am I finally going to get a clue about why Boss is doing this?' he thought. 

"In fact, if it wasn't for the timely passing of the three fellows I have now, even this tavern wouldn't have een ready for your stay tonight." Silver's eyes flashed with a dangerous glint, before just as quickly returning to their calming nature. "I had originally thought there was more time, but I was wrong. So, I have no choice but to pick up the pace."

Mia cocked her head. "So you want more deliveries, eh? I'd have to put a halt to my other routes, just to get more men in."

"I know, and I'll compensate you with triple the pay. For now, I think we should do weekly deliveries, with a large delivery at the end of each month."

Mia gasped. "That much?! What on earth do you want, and how much??"

Silver pulled out a small pocketbook and began reading. "For the weekly deliveries, I would like at least one ton of medium-grade trees, unprocessed. On top of that, a ton of stones. For food, about 100kg of non-perishable items is a must, with some meat on top, whatever you can get on yout way will do. For the monthly shipment, there are more rare things, so I had to give you some more time to procure them."

Mia thought for a moment, hand cradling her chin. "I can do that," She nodded. "Anything else?"

Silver sighed, taking seat right next to her, the vomit somehow avoiding every inch of him. "I heard that there are many Vahad refugees recently."

"Yeah, they're losing the war pretty terrily this time. You want men?"

Silver nodded. "Men that can work for the most part. I also need families. Women, children, scholars, and elderly. Not this next delivery, but in at most two weeks I should have a place to house them, as long as you can get me fifty men by next week."

Mia hesitated. "I don't think anyone is going to want to go honestly." She pointed outside, to the barren land right out the window. "Not many people would walk this far to what they think is their deaths."

"Then don't tell them where they will be going. Spread some rumors of a new town being built. Say it guarantees safety, as long as they can contribute in some way." Silver knocked his knuckles on the bar. "By the time they figure out the destination, just make sure they can't go back." 

"Alright, I'll do my best. I might not be able to get a whole fifty though." Mia shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about really. To get back with the horses we have this time will take three days alone. It won't leave much time for recruiting."

"That's alright, just do what you can."

"Uh, hey Boss?" Kosmas interrupted from the side. He stammered, clearly not confident in interrupting Silver.

"What is it Kosmas?" Silver didn't seem to mind, much to Kosmas' relief. In fact, he didn't seem to care much at all, not even looking at Kosmas, too absorbed in whatever was in his notebook.

"Um, yeah, uh… You said you were bringing my wife over? I was just, um, wondering when that would be? It's been a while since I last saw her and-"

"Oh yeah, don't worry about it, I've got it handled." Silver didn't even look up from his notebook. "She should be on her way in about a week. When she'll get here… hmmm. Maybe in three weeks. I'm not too sure, escort jobs are slow things you know. Don't worry though, she's in safe hands."

"Thank you Boss." Kosmas let out a sigh of relief, before grabbing a rag to clean the bar. It was only then that Mia realized all the vomit was gone, along with every dirty mug. The entire time she and Silver had been chatting, Kosmas had ever faithfully doing his job as the tavernkeeper.

"Now." Silver closed his book with a snap. "I believe that's all settled. Mia, I'm sure you've had a long day, why don't you go up and try to get a bit of rest? I'll have Kosmas bring up a tub and some hot water for a nice, relaxing bath, okay?"

It was then that Mia realized how tired and filthy she was. Her face reddened as she realized the only stench in the tavern was her "That would be lovely," she mumbled, blushing.