421 421 Fair Deal
The Elder extended her hand for Priya to shake.
“I think that we have a deal. Every ten days, we will need a load of cargo. We will send you a message with the previous plane, but for the next load, just bring us the same thing, with some different fashions if possible. Every lady loves a new dress, and we can’t have duplicates this early on.” The old woman laughed.
The women in the guard patrol chuckled, and the other Elders, as well as the Mayor, all nodded in agreement. There was nothing worse than finding the perfect outfit and then seeing someone else wearing it better than you.
Priya shook her hand with a smile. “That won’t be a problem. There are five hundred pages of magazine pictures to go through, and the girls want to make each of the outfits in at least five different colour and fabric styles. I’m sure that they can find something to send to you, even without improvising.”
That phrasing made Wolfe suspicious. He knew that the Witches had a lot on their to-do list, even with all the extra help. How much time could they have found to sit around reading fashion magazines and messing with the [Camouflage] Spell?
The weapons and the armour amulets were high-priority items, so there was no surprise that they had a lot of them on hand, but the sheer number of different clothing items that they had sent had shocked him.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm He could sense his bonded Witches laughing at his confusion. As they had assumed, Wolfe was one of those people who would wear their favourite items forever. He didn’t understand the necessity of a proper wardrobe.
The Colonel changed the topic back to what was important to him. “We will need a lot of those backpacks as well. I mean, a LOT of them. Every villager, farmer, merchant and soldier is going to want one of their own, and the price is reasonable enough that they can afford to buy them. So, even just the ones that are closely allied with us will add up to over five thousand probable sales.
If I can get central command to approve them, I can likely get them approved as a regular kit for the Gormana detachments in the area, and that will be significantly more.”
“You understand that the Gravity Charm needs to be regularly refilled with mana, right? If it’s lightly loaded, perhaps once a week. But if it’s being packed full of gear and supplies, it will need a few units worth of top-up every day.” Wolfe explained.
It was the same for self-cleaning and self-repairing charms. But they were significantly longer lasting and usually only took a fraction of a unit worth of stored mana a month unless they were actually damaged.
“That’s no concern. We have started carrying mana crystals with us for that purpose. We’re not using them as currency, though the value is still the same. I’m not sure if you’ve seen one yet.” The Colonel replied, then took out a small crystal from his pocket.
It was just like any other mana crystal, but it had the Gormana Army logo carved into it and a unique feeling that Wolfe could identify as having come from this village.
“Interesting. So, you’ve location-tagged the crystals to prevent forgery. Not a bad idea. It will help them keep their value, and the logo will help identify allies and their hometown.” Wolfe replied.
“It will give us the trade routes of merchants as well. The Witches can sense them, so they know where the crystals came from and if they were refilled. We don’t recharge them. We grind them down and make new ones every time to keep the tag pure.” The Mayor added.
The Mayor sent a text message that brought a group of younger men running out with flat carts to load all of the gear onto, and a final round of handshakes was made.
“Well then, we will see you soon with more supplies. Please feel free to let us know if there are concerns about strong monsters in the region, as we can send stronger hunting teams out to deal with them.” Wolfe informed the villagers.
“You would come to hunt powerful monsters for us just out of generosity, or is it part of the agreement, and I misunderstood?” The Mayor asked.
The Elder had negotiated the deal, so she knew that it wasn’t part of the deal, but she was staying silent and hoping that Wolfe had taken it as part of his duties.
“Of course, it’s not in the deal. But I will happily come to hunt them. They’re incredibly valuable for materials.” Wolfe replied with a wink, and the witch sighed.
“I should have known it was something like that. You seem like the sort that would save villagers from marauding monsters only to sell them the carcass at a premium rate.” The Mayor joked.
Technically, that was what he had done the first time that he was here. The snake was only Rank Two, but it was on the powerful side and perfectly capable of eating people. Wolfe did his best to look offended, though, as he didn’t want to ruin what little bit of good image he had managed to build for himself in the minds of the Witches.
“I would never do such a thing. We are allies. I will sell you the parts at fair market value.”
The Mayor shook her head in dismay while the Elders shrugged. Fair was fair, and if he came to hunt it, they would pay for the parts that they needed.
“Alright, everyone please get on the plane. I’m sorry that there aren’t comfortable seats, so you’ll have to hold onto the grab rails, but it will be a fairly short flight home. Then, we can get our two new additions settled in and get back to work preparing for the winter. It has been a pleasure meeting you all, and I will see you again soon as I accompany many of the flights out of the Fae Forest.” Priya instructed, then stepped forward to give everyone a proper goodbye.