Chapter 307: An Exchange of Services (2/2)
”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.