World Sphere - 53 - The Shiny Platinum

Chapter 53: The Shiny Platinum

We followed Bylura closely. The wolf girl’s ears constantly twitched, demonstrating her alertness as she tried to track everything happening around us. When Callem spoke to me, her ears stilled as she focused on our conversation, “Storme, are you sure you want your building near the skyship docks? Your restaurant may not get a lot of traffic from locals. The upper city near the road to the mountain dungeon or in the eastern part of the city where the Dungeon Academy and second dungeon are located would be better.” 

Callem was offering his advice, but my choice was not based on making coins. I had studied the city maps. I wanted to stay near the docks because they had some of the best security. There was also a small naval dock nearby, and both the navy and city guard had barracks within the warehouse district.

“No, Callem, I plan just to have a small restaurant. I do not want to compete with the high-end restaurants owned by noble families.” I was careful about what I said since Bylura was listening.

As we walked, I studied all the buildings and people we passed. The city was clean, and the people were well dressed, but still had an edge to them from the Sadian attack. Only a few signs of the attack remained, and I could see workers fixing buildings and a few mages assisting with spells. In another few weeks, it would look like nothing had happened. The Triumvirate was trying to erase the memory of the attack as rapidly as possible. The Annuals had been a great distraction in the capital, but here it seemed the people were still recovering.

Bylura stopped at a small tavern off the main thoroughfare just after leaving the warehouse district. We walked inside, and it smelled bad and looked worse. Bylura stated, “This is the cheapest building Loriel’s contact found for you. 1200 gold with an annual tax of 31 gold and 22 silver.” I walked through, and the smell of urine and vomit in the bathroom made me gag. I spammed my cleanliness spell, doing the owner a favor. The upstairs had just three large rooms, and all were stuffed with crates.

“It’s too small for my needs, and I was hoping for something on the main road from the docks to the east city,” I said after my thorough inspection. Bylura scrunched her canine nose. I think she was agitated by the stench, but didn’t want to show it.

Unfazed by my rejection, she led the way back to the main street. “The next offering is quite a bit more coin.”

I asked Callem, “So do you think she was illegally trained to fight, or is she an actual Wolfsguard?” I asked of Bylura. Bylura missed a step, and her ears perked, straining to listen. Callem grinned at me as he understood what I was doing.

“Definitely not a Wolfsguard,” was all Callem said clearly as we walked. 

A much less haughty wolf girl showed the next building. It was in a prime location with excellent traffic from the wealthier citizens. “This inn is called The Puzzled Goose. One of the co-owners was killed in the recent attack, and the other owner is selling. 4500 gold, and tax is 35 gold,” she said smugly. I think Bylura thought I couldn’t afford it. I had my winnings from my bet on Gareth, sixteen platinum, plus another ten platinum from my deal with Loriel. That would put my fortune at 2600 gold if Loriel had thoroughly researched me.

The inn looked well run, had a nice common room that could seat 10 at a bar, and had four tables with six chairs each—not very large. The inn also had a second and third floor, with five rooms on each floor. It would not be a bad option if I hadn’t walked into the kitchen. The kitchen was tiny, and there was a hidden suite on the first floor for the owner. He had bastardized his kitchen to create a low-cost bedroom for himself.

“Not bad,” I said, turning to Bylura. “You have one more property? I assumed you saved the best for last?” I could always rip out the bedroom and restore the kitchen to its former glory, but The Puzzled Goose didn’t feel like the right choice.

The white wolf girl didn’t say anything, and she just walked ahead. I turned to Callem, “Maybe you can give her some tips on hiding her training when she walks?” He looked at me, and the girl’s ears looked to be straining toward us. Callem took the hint with a smirk.

He spoke loudly as we walked, “If I wanted to alter my gait so that an observer wouldn’t be aware that I trained in the Falcon’s Strike style of the sword, I would….” Callem went on to detail four different things he would do to obfuscate his mannerisms while he walked. That was a problem with trying so hard to train muscle memory for sword forms. It bled into your everyday movements. I sometimes found myself cooking using various motions from sword forms. Realizing this, I would commit to resisting so in the future, as I wanted to appear as unassuming as possible. 

It was not a big deal for me, but if they found out Bylura was training in combat, I assumed she would either be killed or count towards the Miaden’s house count of 200 Wolfsguard. Watching the girl try to incorporate Callem’s suggestions in real-time was funny, and I didn’t fail to notice that she had looped us around to give herself more time to listen to Callem and practice a new gait.

When we got to the final building, it was huge. It was a full-fledged restaurant, seating 120, featuring a large kitchen, cold cellar, and a second floor with seven staff rooms. It was fully functional, and I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to sell it. It was on the main road, right on the border of the trade and nobles districts. 

“So, Bylura, how much is this one?” I asked after the tour. 

“It is not for sale,” she stated seriously. “It is owned by the Miaden family, but my mistress would allow you to invest 2,000 gold for a 20% share in the profits of the building.”

I scoffed. “20% of the profits? You could just narrow your margins enough to minimize profits and pay me nothing!” My voice was laced with cynicism. Bylura seemed a little taken aback, and Callem’s eyes widened at my insight. “I am not looking to invest. I want my own building,” I stated firmly. “Now, let’s look at two properties I noticed on our entertaining tour today.”

Callem seemed amused as I now led the way to the exasperated wolf girl. I was in front, so the two walked side by side, and Callem started whispering to her and helping her with hiding her martial ability. As Callem had figured out, it would not hurt us to befriend the young Wolfsguard.

The first building I came to was a four-story bakery. The upper three floors were apartments, and the bakery didn’t appear to be doing well when we passed earlier in the day.

The location was perfect, but when the owner was summoned, I couldn’t even convince him to consider an offer. He explained that the apartments housed a fair number of naval personnel and made good profits, even though the bakery was doing terribly. So that killed my first choice.

My other choice was a literal warehouse by the trade docks. It was on the corner of skyship docks and the main thoroughfare. It was solid aged stone and had one side facing the docks that was three hundred feet long, and another section along the road that was a hundred feet long. The building was just over forty feet in height, with a flat roof—a fairly massive structure.

What drew my interest was that the center of the building had collapsed, and no effort had been made to haul away debris from the interior. Bylura looked seriously confused when I asked about the building. She didn’t have a clue, so she was going to have to go and talk with her Miaden contact in the city. I noticed a food vendor cart with seating set up across the street and told her that Callem and I would wait there for her to return. She looked exasperated but hurried off.

As we sat with a hot drink and some sweet pastry rolls, Callem spoke. “I don’t know, Storme. This Loriel seems to be trying to tie you to her. That offer for 20% was extremely generous even if it was a ploy, as you pointed out.” He sipped, and I could tell he was intently people-watching the flow of people to and from the docks. “And this building,” he pointed across the street, “I don’t see what you do in it. Are you just yanking the wolf girl around?”

I gave Callem a devilish smile, “I see that building has potential. The location is perfect, and with some major renovations, the back half could be made into a nice little hanger while the front half could serve as a restaurant and still have enough space for a second and third floor to add housing for an adventuring team.” My excitement didn’t convert the skeptical Callem. It was my coin, and I would invest it how I saw fit.

It was twenty minutes longer before Bylura brought back a middle-aged man in finery with the Miaden house crest pinned on his robes. “Good morn, Storme,” the man sat wheezing and faced Callem. “I apologize for not giving you the tour personally today. The wolf child insisted that she give you the tour personally.” Bylura rolled her eyes at his comment.

“Magistrate Nassir, this is Storme,” Bylura indicated to me instead of Callem, and he flushed in embarrassment. “And I only said I would give him a tour of the buildings because I didn’t know when he was arriving!” she added, irritated. 

An embarrassed Nassir turned to me, “Storme! I can see why Loriel Miaden is interested in such a fine young….” Bylura stared daggers at him, and he got the point. “So…you are interested in the warehouse across the street. Um, let me see.” He pulled some papers out of the satchel under his robes.

While he fumbled with the papers, I slid the tray of pastries to Bylura, who had been drooling and eyeing them. She reluctantly took one and then another. Secreting both into clothes for later.

The magistrate finally continued when he found the correct document. “So the building is owned by Dunnar Miaden…who died in the assault when the building collapsed from an attack. No beneficiaries. It has been emptied….” He paged through some more documents.

Callem studied me and the magistrate while sipping on the aromatic tea in his hand. He was content to watch me handle the interaction. He had been treating me like an adult for some time now. It was almost as if he had already guessed I was older than I appeared.

“So here…yes, the chain of custody. The warehouse belongs to the Miaden central family now…so I guess we can sell it to you.” He paged through some more documents, “A warehouse this size…fair price should be 12,000 gold.” He looked at me, and I just gestured to the half-destroyed structure. “Ah, yes…it does have some problems, and all contracts have been dissolved.”

“And as you have already mentioned, Loriel wants to do me a favor. And I will need the property rezoned for restaurants and housing.” I said while being patient as he got a little more flustered. 

He began to scribble on a page, doing some math. “7,800 gold with the rezoning….” He offered tentatively. He was looking for approval of the offer.

“6,300,” I countered, “or 7,000 if you clean the debris and supply the material to fix the collapsed section.” I might have been reaching with the math I was doing in my head, but I thought I was close to an appropriate valuation based on the buildings Bylur had showed us. Nassir was doing his own math on paper to see if he was making a sufficient profit for his house.

“7,000 gold,” he nodded, looking up. “Yes, 7,000 gold for the property is doable. We can clear the building in approximately 20 days and provide you with the replacement stone in even less time. Most of it will be recycled stone from the Miaden construction mages. The crews are mostly finished in the rest of the city. Should I start the paperwork?” He asked hopefully. 

I looked at the building. It was on the corner with the long side facing the plaza on one side, and the other side had a narrow alley it shared with a similar warehouse. My warehouse had open space in the rear, about 200’ of rough ground, before reaching the city wall. I guessed there might have been an old warehouse standing there in the past.

“The land behind the warehouse to the wall. How much for that land as well? I don’t plan to build anything, but I don’t want any surprises popping up.” I planned to have my hanger entrance on that side and didn’t want a spiteful noble building a structure there in the future.

Nassir pulled out some maps and cross-checked some things, “The city owns it. I can sell it for 1500 gold without any building permits. I cannot negotiate on the price. It is fixed,” he added worriedly, perhaps thinking the sale was in jeopardy. 

Eighty-five hundred gold before any renovations. I nodded slowly as I looked at Callem, who seemed amused. “Callem, can I have the platinum?” He gave me an appraising look.

“Here you go,” he said slowly handing over a large pouch. I reached into the bag and pulled out the ten platinum coins still in the same bag I had received from Loriel. Bylura instantly recognized it. Then I pulled out a roll of fifty platinum coins that actually came from my dimensional closet. Maybe doing this in a public place was not the brightest idea but I wanted to close the deal before the Magistrate altered his offer.

“Callem, will add twenty-five coins when you return with the paperwork signed.” Bylura and Nassir’s eyes were fixed to the exorbitant wealth on the table. Passer byes probably thought it was silver.

“Now?” Nassir said, dry-mouthed. He slowly took all platinum. “I will proceed immediately.” He stood like he might be deciding to run away with the fortune. 

Bylura said with some exasperation, “You are just going to trust him with your coin without any guarantee notes?”

I said, “yes,” and I got the exasperated look from her that I wanted. “Bylura, if you could do me a favor and send an architect to Hen’s Hollow for a week to work with me on my new building. I am sure Loriel knows a good one.” My indifferent spending made the wolf girl turn and leave in a huff.

As we waited for Nassir to return, Callem asked, “That was a lot of coin. They will assume it was my coin as I just won twenty platinum betting on Gareth, but spending that much may start to raise questions. What is your plan with the building, Storme?” Twenty platinum? Gareth’s odds had been five to one before the first round. Callem had really bet four hundred gold on Gareth? He had a lot of faith in my friend.

I was calm as I explained. “I am thinking long term. Half of the building will be a hangar. I am going to build my own skyship. The other half will be the restaurant and have residences on the upper two floors. The dungeon delving team will help gather resources to build the skyship and live on the upper floors. I also plan to be attending the Dungeon Academy here in Aegis City next year. This way, Gareth and I have a place to live.” I laid out my plan to Callem. 

Callem’s eyes were studying me. After a pause, “And where does Aelyn fit into your plan?” Callem finally asked.

“With the skyship, we can get to the lowlands and find someone to remove her indentured tattoo,” I said without hesitation.

Callem slowly nodded, his mind processing my plan. I was sure I would be told all the fallacies of it eventually. “Give me the twenty-five platinum. It is best that Magistrate Nassir sees the coin coming from me when he returns.” I handed him a pouch from my space that had thirty platinum in it.

Callem started to question me about my aspirations of directing my own delve team until Nassir returned about an hour later sweating profusely and with a folio of papers.

The transaction went relatively smoothly with Callem signing as the primary and me as the secondary in the case of his death. I would be too much of a target if I was the primary owner at such a young age and no support from any the three ruling families. Nassir took the coins and paperwork back leaving Callem with a rune-scribed title parchment for the warehouse and the land behind it. 

 “I am looking forward to interviewing your prospective dungeoneers with you. Since we are not doing that today, when do you think you will need my help with that aspect of your grand plan?” Callem said while making eye contact. His golden eyes seemed to look right through to my soul. 

“You are on board with everything?” I asked Callem, slightly shocked. I was still waiting for him to poke holes in everything.

“On board your future skyship?” he chuckled. “I am too old for such an adventure. But joking aside, Wynna and I will move to the city while you two are attending the Dungeon Academy.”

I was sightly shocked that he planned to continue to support and protect us. “I would be happy to include an apartment for you two at the Shiny Platinum. In return you both can appear on the deed when it is rezoned.”

“Shiny Platinum?” he questioned.

“That is what I plan to call my restaurant,” I replied smoothly.

Callem huffed in thought. “I guess that is a fitting name with your skills. We accept your generosity of a room and it will lend credence that Wynna and I were both somehow involved in financing this project,” Callem said. He smirked, his white beard showing a smile underneath, “Would we be able to eat for free at your restaurant?”

I started laughing, “Agreed, as long as you don’t plan to build any obstacle courses in the warehouse side.” 

Callem stopped laughing and looked at me with a serious stare, “Agreed. But if you are putting Wynna’s name on the deed, she will want input into its design. You opened that can of butterflies! We still need to purchase weapons for your classmates. Do you have any coin left?”

I rolled my eyes, “What do you think?”

We entered a weapons shop. The weapons didn’t match the quality of the ones I created with my skill, but they passed Callem’s discerning eye. I wandered around while Callem started talking with the old smith and adding various weapons to the counter. This smith did not use the folding steel method. His weapons were still all high-quality steel with almost no defects I could find as I sent my metal shaping skill into them. I actually was able to learn a lot about how a smith worked as I wandered the shop.

During the two hours we spent in the shop, Callem purchased four bundles of weapons that were carefully wrapped together. He knew the old smith personally, and they engaged in lively conversation about old times while discussing the weapons Callem was selecting.

Callem slung the packs of weapons onto his back as we headed back to the skydocks. We had over two hours to wait for the next skyship to Solaris City. The cool part was that I could clearly see my new building. It felt empowering to know that I owned that structure.

I was already getting ideas about building a rooftop garden, so we could watch the skyships come and go from there. All traffic from the docks would pass by the building, and even though it was not in the upper city, I was certain a restaurant with the proper offerings could do well.

Eventually, our skyship called for boarding and we started our return trip to Hen’s Hollow.