[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 127 - Shopley

A map of the Seabrim Crater was put down.

Charlie leaned on the table, a curtain of purple-cast black hair falling down her shoulder, circling points of interest. She wrote details along the side in an elegant script, ranking the spots in terms of convenience, profitability, and advantage.

Various Magi put forth their opinions and further information. A few went out to scout the more distant spots, even when Elian returned to provide his assistance again. Miranda and Gwen took their argument to the sparring ritual.

They really beat on each other in there, though they used no weapons or claws. It was a good thing it had barriers.

Mel left them to it, memorizing the preferred spots. She left along with Sabrina and the others to inspect the locations in person.

It was a difficult thing to gauge just by a map. Anything within the crater was obviously of a higher tier and, therefore, they could charge more for goods. There was far more land outside the crater, but they didn’t need to worry about the cost of rent or a lease.

The Rook could literally push two buildings apart and appear between them as if it had always been there. And the best thing was that the local government couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

She even confirmed that with Elian.

He had taken one look at the Rook’s card and hissed. “Forgive me for saying so, Mel, but you’re going to make many enemies with this move. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“What’re they going to do, evict me?”

“There are things that can be done outside the legal framework,” Elian hinted. “I would hate to see you make so many enemies so soon.”

“Meh, life is boring without a little mischief.” Mel patted his shoulder and added, “Besides, the only way to know you’re doing something right is how many enemies you make. Nobody cares about somebody who does everything through ‘the proper channels’. The more people want to stop you, the more you know you’re on the right track.”

It was a rule Mel had used to guide most of her decisions. If you weren’t making waves, you were doing it wrong. People liked the status quo. They got on top of the heap and suddenly put down their foot and said “this is the law now, this is what’s right” and then came down like hellfire on anybody who threatened their rule.

If Mel pissed off people in power by subverting their rules, it only meant she was on the right track.

Nobody ever gained true power by following the rules.

If you could, then we’d have a universe filled with overpowered bureaucrats like Rholont and Elian instead of them being the oddity. Nobody would do the harder thing. They’d just follow the pack to eternal life and power.

Mel wouldn’t have minded taking another flying carriage, but she had a much better idea.

One of the best ways to garner more attention was to do something unusual, and in open view. Flying carriages were everywhere.

Two witches on a broom? Now that was novel. It was a shame she hadn’t seen any other witches in a place so populated. Which, she had to admit, was a little disappointing.

Elian tried to stop them a few more times before giving up entirely and rejoining the Magi in the Starling Tower.

Mel and Charlie were joined by Heath, Sabrina, and the rest. They made a fine entourage that drew every newshog within a mile around the Starling Tower.

Most of them seemed to camp outside the tower. It was the one thing that Mel would miss. The tower was keen on keeping the privacy of its residents. It constantly kicked out people sneaking in or newshogs looking for a scoop.

Naturally, once you were outside the glass doors of the lobby, you were fair game. They didn’t want to try too hard or else you’d never know that Champions were residing there.

Mel looked at Heath and leaned in. She whispered the location they were going to check out. She hopped on Charlie’s staff–not a broom, but close enough–and patted Charlie on the back.

At that signal, they rose into the sky and away from the flashing lights. With the wind whipping through their hair, Mel couldn’t hear anything. It was blissful.

And the company wasn’t too bad either.

The only downside was how painfully slow the staff was. It was faster than Mel remembered from the Convocation, but just barely. Clearly, Charlie had been rationing her strength, something she didn’t need to worry about now.

Down below, Heath was guiding Sabrina and the others toward another location Mel had picked out.

Once they were behind the Starling Tower and out of visual range, Mel tapped on Charlie’s shoulder.

They slowed down and Charlie turned to look at her.

“I know we’ve spent a lot of time going over where would be best for productivity, profit, foot traffic, and all that nerdy shit, but I have a better idea.”

“That’s not all that matters,” Charlie answered in agreement.

“Oh. Huh.” Mel tilted her head to the side. “Really figured you’d fight back on that. All right!” She pointed to a tight space between the tall buildings surrounding the Starling Tower. A place Mel knew well. “I want to introduce you to some friends.”

“Depends what you’re suggesting.” Charlie turned, lowering the flying staff down into where Mel pointed. “I thought you were going to talk about a good view, but now, I’m not so sure.”

“Right there. Slowly now, don’t spook them.”

Charlie gave Mel a doubting look as they lowered into the center of a darkened and forgotten back-alley courtyard. Several circular tents were pitched around the edges.

Charlie’s eyes widened at the squalor. Not out of disgust. Mel had wondered if she was the type considering her background.

This was as much a test of Charlie’s character as a display of Mel’s vulnerability.

Charlie’s eyes shimmered with tears, distraught by these people’s misfortune. Mel didn’t expect her to be compassionate, or to be so upset by abject poverty.

“How…” Charlie whispered in genuine horror. “The multiverse is worse off than Earth?”

Mel didn’t think that likely. Then again, things had been different about this Earth.

Several mondoceroses—the name of the rhino-like beastmen—thickly muscled and wearing rags or other dirtied garments, came out of the shadows. Mel stepped off the staff, held out her arms, and ran into the largest creature among them.

“Wrug!” she cried. “It’s so good to see you.”

The large, rhino-faced man broke into a big grin and patted her on the back with a hand that could have swallowed her entire head. “Did not think to see you again!” he boomed. He looked over her head. “Friend?”

Mel nodded and pointed at Charlie. “She’s sort of my counterpart, I suppose. We have a favor to ask of you.”

Lavo walked up and smacked one of the other members of her group. He looked like he was pulling out a weapon. “You draw and you feel sorry!” To Mel she said, “Mel! Good omens. Come, share soup! Special Pyre makes good soup!”

Mel gestured for Charlie to come along as they were guided back to the familiar alcove where Mel had been consoled by people who were forgotten and uncared for.

Charlie stayed close to Mel, less confident in these surroundings. She still hadn’t put those walls back up.

Bowls were ladled with a thick savory stew and handed out to each person. “What want?” Lavo asked.

Mel took a few spoonfuls of the soup, genuinely surprised at how good it was. It was a far cry from the thin broth it was before.

Friggin’ Fire Oppa.

“Nobody knows the Seabrim Crater better than you and your people, right?”

Lavo shook her head. “Mondoceros here before settlers. This was a holy place, our home.” She looked up at the tall buildings and sighed. Her large shoulders sagged. “We survive. What knowledge you want? If we have, you have.”

Mel had to be careful here. She knew she would be asking a lot of these people. The mondoceroses were impossibly strong, but didn’t seem to be that skilled with magic.

That immediately made them less useful to a lot of the greater multiverse, which practically ran on magic.

More importantly, they were invisible. Nobody wanted to see them, so nobody did.

If it had been up to Mel, she would have given them a massive gift of money and material to better their lives. The problem was, as Mel knew firsthand, that doing so would not only be insulting but temporary.

She needed to find some way for them to earn their living consistently, even when Mel was gone. She couldn’t be around forever.

“Tell me if I’m wrong,” Mel said. “A lot of the Seabrim Crater is ruled by these settlers you spoke of, not by the natives.”

Lavo wasn’t the only one who nodded.

“But there are a lot of mondoceroses here and other native people, I’m guessing. They didn’t just disappear.”

More nodding.

“Then I would like your help in setting up a new business.”

Lavo shook her head adamantly. “I am sorry, friend Mel. We not good for business. Mondoceros will only hurt you. Do not let us drag you down.”

Charlie whispered to one of the mondoceros. He shook his head, then she gingerly reached out to touch his heart, black bones showing through.

It was beautifully dark.

Aspect Skill: [Premonition of the Reaper]

Golden glowing mana enveloped Charlie’s hand.

Aspect Skill: [Lifeweave]

Some of the mondoceros began whispering about angels of death as Charlie used healing magic on the man.

Mel bit her lip. “What if I said we don’t care? We’re not really in it for the money, necessarily.”

“No matter,” Lavo said with a shrug of her large shoulders. “Even if you throw money in pit, the Magistrate will not let you do this thing.”

“We have a way around the local government,” Mel said with a wink.

Lavo crumpled her large gray brow. “How? Must get permit. Permit this, permit that. Everything little slip of paper! No food, no grain without slip. How you no slip?”

Mel took a spoonful of stew to think over Lavo’s question. “Magic. My friends and I come from somewhere else. We have something that can be put down…just about anywhere. We can sell things from it without a license from the Magistrate.”

They muttered to each other when Mel used the “M word”. It sounded like a hive of bumblebees the size of hippos.

Lavo, who Mel had understood to be the matriarch of the group, held up a thick-fingered hand that could crush granite. The men and women silenced. “Why?”

It was a simple question. Just a single word. But what Lavo wanted to know was more than Mel could offer her at the time. If she laid her plans completely bare, Lavo would turn her down out of pride.

This was to help both of them, but it would undoubtedly help Lavo and her people more than Mel. If they wanted the most money, they would simply put up their Rook wherever the most foot traffic was.

Build from the ground up and you’ll never question your footing again, Mel thought to herself.

“The truth? We want to be different.” Mel grinned. “It’s kind of what we do.”

Lavo looked at Charlie, then back to Mel. “The Magi?”

Mel nodded.

“The Magi you speak to us about?” Lavo asked in what Mel guessed was her attempt to be circumspect.

“Yes.”

An understanding passed between them.

Lavo’s demeanor changed completely after that. From wary to open and welcoming. She understood what Mel was asking her for, thankfully, without Mel having to hint at it.

She needed more than Heath or Sabrina to watch her back. With Lavo and her people helping Mel, they could be her eyes and ears. More importantly, Lavo and her family could get the help they needed without feeling like they were receiving charity.

In fact, they would see it as helping to guard Mel’s back. The more mondoceroses working for the Magi, the better it would look.

“What need?” Lavo asked.

“I need to know the best place to set up a…shop or a tavern. Not sure. Something that the locals would flock to. Good food, cheap drinks, stuff people need. You know where that could be?”

Lavo’s grin nearly split her head in two. “Lavo knows.”

“I could use some friends to help run it,” Mel added. “People who know the local hookups for materials. The Magistrate won’t like us subverting them. I’m expecting them to blacklist our business or starve us out. We’ll need back channels.”

Wrug chuckled. It sounded a bit like a car backfiring. “Would like to see them try. Wrug know people.”