Chapter 6 Part 2

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(Narrator) So what do you plan on doing now?

(Dime) Haider is back with a package for you, Sir.

"It was to go visit the church to help the sick. But it's to make sure Beerwolf is dressed in his new attire." Christopher says. "Beerwolf! Come here please! I'll take that package now thanks, Dime."

Dime drops off a large storage box of black suits with just as many ties, a couple belts, and several pairs of black leather shoes.

Beerwolf comes in as Christopher pulls out a set of his clothes. "Here you go. Be sure to thank Haider next time he visits."

The Wolfman bow's and takes the clothes. "Put them on here. I'll just look away while you do it. Tell me when you're done."

A few minutes pass and Christopher turns back round. "It fits, but you need to wear it properly." he says, approaching Beerwolf. Christopher tucks in his shirt, tightens his belt, fastens the top button, re-ties the tie, straightens the collar, and buttons up the blazer.

"Like that. Got it?" Christopher says, taking a step back. "Make sure you iron out any creases that will appear. The maids will take care of cleaning it for you."

"Thank you for educating me, Master Newman." Beerwolf says.

"I'll have you take etiquette lessons so you know how to conduct yourself." Christopher smiles at him. "I know it's not what you're used to. You really did mess up when you challenged me."

Beerwolf lowers his head at the statement. The box of clothes disappears. "They'll be in your room. Make sure you hang them in your wardrobe. If you lay them about, they'll get damaged." "That's an interesting idea. An anti-crease enchantment. I'll have to do some experiments with that."

(Narrator) I guess he has his side project while he waits on Viridiana.

"Now that we have you outfitted. Go grab this week's leftover food. Me and you are heading out." Christopher commands.

"Right away, Master." Beerwolf says, marching off further into the manor.

"Eh, no matter. It was a little annoying when he says my last name anyway. It won't do any harm."

We pick back up as the front gate of the manor closes behind them. "Ok, first up is The Merchants guild. We have some produce to sell. The guild is on the other side of the district so it shouldn't take us too long to get there." Christopher says.

"We also need to pop into the Apothecary too. We still have a surplus of medicinal herbs we can't use as of yet." Jasyn says.

"Alright. We can donate the money from that to the church when we visit later." Christopher says. "Beerwolf. Your job will be to give any of the homeless on our way one of the biodegradable containers in that package on your back."

"It will be done, Master." Beerwolf replies.

Jasyn holds out his arm for Christopher. He grabs his inner bicep with one hand, and his forearm with the other. Christopher rests his head on Jasyn's shoulder and they start walking. Not too far from the aforementioned Apothecary, an elderly lady stops them to thank Christopher for paying for her medication.

(Narrator) She was sick last week. It's nice to see that she is doing well.

"Take care now ma'am. I'm glad you're feeling much better." Christopher says, waving her goodbye. Jasyn's eyes dart to the roof of a nearby building. "I felt it too. Someone is spying on us."

"Do you think it's?"

"Most likely." Christopher replies. "Let's ignore them for now."

Christopher walks into the fancy shop, arms still attached to Jasyn. "Morning Harro. How's business?" He asks.

"Booming as usual. In no small part to yourself of course."

"I thank you. However, I am here on business." Christopher says.

"More high quality herbs to sell me is it?"

Dime gives Christopher a piece of paper which he in turn, gives to the man behind the counter. "This should be everything you need to know."

The man pulls out a monocle and reads through the document. "Oh my. A hefty supply indeed. I think I can take about 10% of every herb you have available." He hands back the paper. "My stores are fairly low so this happens to be the perfect time for you to come by."

"Aren't you usually high in stock this time of the month?" Christopher asks.

"Bandit's have been attacking the merchants on the road. You're probably the only supplier I have right now." The man says, unlocking the vault.

"I can go to deal with them if you like." Jasyn offers.

"It's fine. The college is sending an expedition for field training. They should wrap this up in a week or so." The merchant says. Pulling out a small bag from the vault.

"I wonder if your brother and sister would be on that expedition." Jasyn says.

"They'll be itching for a good fight. That much I can guarantee." Christopher jokes.

"So what sorry sap have you ensnared this time?" The shopkeep says.

"Oh this is Beerwolf. Our new butler. He challenged me to a fight yesterday and said he'd submit to me if I beat him." Christopher says.

"So he's a moron." Harro says.

"You can say that." Christopher chuckles.

"That's so hurtful, Master." Beerwolf whines.

"How did you get him a uniform so fast?"

"My brother graciously took some time away from studies to put in an express order at the tailor at the south noble district for me." Christopher says.

"That was nice of him. Here we go. This should be satisfactory." Harro says, placing a bag of coins on the counter.

Dime takes the pouch and shows Christopher the amount given. "Ok then Dime, go ahead and place 10% of each herb we have just inside of the storehouse next door. His employees will take it from there."

(Dime) I have boxed and shipped the packages to the storehouse with the Loreafan Kingdom crest stamped on the top, Sir.

"Thank you for your business Master Christopher. I look forward to your patronage again soon." Harro says with a chuffed smile. He waves them out the door of his establishment.

"So where to next?" Jasyn asks.

"I would like to visit The Tower Bakery. I'm craving one of their Pulled Pork Subs." Christopher says. He looks back at Beerwolf. "There's a butcher just next door. You and Jasyn can go there to get you something to eat. Just don't get your suit dirty. I dont have the resources to enchant them yet. Besides, the Maid's are first in line for them. So be careful." He says. Beerwolf nods.

Nothing interesting happened inside the shop. But I guess I could tell you why it's called The Tower Bakery. It's exactly like it sounds. It's a five story bakery, each floor designated to a certain type of baked goods. The 1st floor is bread and sandwiches. The 2nd floor is savoury pastries like pasties, sausage rolls, basically anything with meat or veg in a pastry shell. The 3rd floor has sweet pastries like apricot turnovers, donuts of several variations, Profiteroles and so many more. The 4th floor is designated to cakes, muffins, and tarts. And finally the 5th floor, which is for pies, large meat or fruit dishes surrounded by pastry.

"Alright, I've got my lunch. I guess I'll wait outside for those two to be finished in the butchers." Christopher says. He sits on a bench separating the road in half, happily swaying while he reads a spell book.

"What are you reading?" Jasyn asks, leaving the butchers.

"Just doing a little studying. I borrowed this from his majesty. It's about slave crests and forbidden summons." Christopher says casually.

"Isn't it dangerous to be reading that out here?" Jasyn asks.

"Sure. Only the person holding it can read it anyway." Christopher says, turning the book towards him.

"Huh. The pages are blank." Jasyn says, leaning in to look closer at the forbidden tome.

"Like I said, only visible to the one holding it." Christopher says.

"How does that work?" Jasyn asks.

"An enchantment I'm guessing." Christopher says. "Did you get everything you wanted?" he asks, closing the book. Dime takes it off his hands.

"I've never seen someone eat a dozen fat raw steaks so fast in my life." Jasyn says.

"Sounds like you haven't had a good meal in a while. Have you?" Christopher asks, tightening his lips and arching his eyebrows to show sympathy.

"The food back in my village was always in short supply." Beerwolf says.

"How about we move your village to Loreafan? They wouldn't have to worry about food if we did." Christopher says.

"That would be difficult. Even for you. These Wolfmen are Maranus Citizens. I don't see King Shavik approving of it." Jasyn says.

"I know His Majesty on a fairly personal level. If I get a good deal with him, it could happen. Politics is all about weighing the benefits from the drawbacks. And I don't see any drawbacks of this deal for either party. I'll have to draft up a diplomatic treaty of some kind, stuff like this can take a while so this deal needs to be perfect." Christopher puts his hand over his mouth with a realisation. "Sorry about that. I started to ramble on again."

"As long as the village agrees with it. I'm ok with it." Beerwolf says.

"I gotta stop talking now though. I've overwhelmed myself with stuff again." Christopher jokes, scratching the back of his head.

"Let's get to the Merchants Guild. We gotta get to the other side of town before noon. We won't see any homeless to give this food to here in the Noble District." Jasyn points out.

"Good point. Let's smash this out before noon then." Christopher says, standing up from the bench.

"Let me see if I have the right idea. Even though I have a Royal Membership to the guild. You won't sell to me. Why?" Christopher says, leaning on the front desk.

"That's right sir. We have reason to believe that this membership has been stolen, since only royalty can own such a card, sir." The newbie behind the counter says.

Christopher opens a gate and leans over to Beerwolf. "Go find Marquis Beauregard Bloomand for me. This should take you to this palace. Be respectful and cautious while you're there. Dropping in unannounced is not something the guards take lightly." Christopher places his crest on the pocket of his suit. "This is a temporary stamp, the guards will have no choice but to let you pass them. And most importantly, don't take too long." Christopher sighs and rubs his temples.

"Right away, Master." Beerwolf takes the pack off his back and walks through the gate.

"We are supposed to be on our way through the mid-class district by now. I never foresaw such stupidity from the Merchants Guild. You rookie, have royally fucked up." Christopher says, giving the man a serious look.

"Could you please leave this establishment, sir." The rookie says.

"Oh I'll leave. As soon as the Marquis gets here. That is MY membership card. You have committed treason for withholding from me. It was under King Shavik's decree that the guild would give that to me. Your higher ups are informed as such." Christopher says. "You are defying His Majesty by holding that card."

Beauregard comes in through the gate behind Beerwolf. "What seems to be going on here?" Beau asks, resting his hand on his hip.

"That's a question for the rookie here." Christopher says, pointing his thumb at the sweaty individual.

Beauregard spots the membership card in their hands. "Go get Vall. You should know him, kid. Quickly now. And leave the card down here."

"Right away, Marquis." They head to the top brass up the stairs behind him.

They return with Vall, the person with the highest authority in the guild a few minutes later.

"Ah, it's the Marquis!" It didn't take too long for the dwarf man to catch his eyes on Christopher. "Oh, I am terribly sorry, Sire. I didn't see you standing there."

"Your perfectly fine Vall. You know I'm not very fond of formalities." Christopher says.

"So what seems to be the problem, Your Majesty?" Vall says.

Christopher sighs and drops his head. "I'm never going to get used to that. Your new employee has denied me access to my Royalty Card privileges. His acts have me questioning if it was a good idea to put my Kingdom's doors inside The Merchant's Guild."

"Please don't do that, Your Highness. I'll make sure they are properly reprimanded for their heinous actions." Vall says in a panic, bowing his head swiftly.

"That won't be needed, Vall. All I ask is that you educate your staff. The doors have been placed, sure. But none are active for the public until they are all placed and everything is official in the political spaces. You're the only building with special privileges to use Dime to transport supplies. Which means you're sworn to secrecy on orders from your King. But your staff need to know at the very least. Got that." Christopher says.

"I apologise greatly. We will have this issue sorted out before your next visit, Your Kingship." Vall says, head still bowed.

Christopher grabs his card off the counter. "Shall we get to why I came here? This whole ordeal has made me severely late."

"Right away. I am assuming you have crops to sell to us, yes?" Vall asks.

Dime hands Christopher a piece of paper. "According to these statistics provided by Dime. We still have a surplus of 6,770 tonnes of crop. I would like to sell 5,000 tonnes to the guild. Which at the 50% sell bonus I get from The Royalty Card. Should come out to…6 Platinum, 43 Gold, 35 Silver, 60 Copper."

"Of course, Your Highness. While I prepare the coin. Would you be so kind as to transport the crop into our storehouses in Irejescorst? They are experiencing some drought in the southern regions of the country." Vall says.

"Hmm. I will make sure they receive it. However it could take a few weeks, depending on how many doors are still to be built in that area." Christopher says. The paper disappears from his hands and dimes words appear ahead of him.