The Flying Emporium

A bluish semi-transparent screen popped up in front of the small visitor. Taken by surprise, his immediate reaction was to flinch backwards, but the thing followed him as if it was somehow tied to him.

“What the…!” The dwarf raised his voice, but the moment he saw Severin’s apologizing smile and calming hand gesture, he realized this wasn’t some sort of ambush.

If it wasn’t for his beard covering large parts of his face, one could’ve seen that it was slightly flushed.

The man wanted to clear his throat, but before he could do so successfully, he couldn’t help but read some of the words floating in front of him; causing him to produce a strange, weirdly distorted sound instead.

Aeeh

But this time, he didn’t care about looks.

His eyes grew bigger and bigger, the more he read, until at some point, Severin half expected them to pop out of their sockets.

Five minutes later, his eyes had normal size again and he could finally tear himself away from the screen-to the extent its clingy nature allowed him to-and to gather his wits.

His previous excitement was impossible to miss, but when he turned his attention back to the [Shopkeeper], he almost appeared calm enough for Severin to think that it had all just been his imagination. Almost.

“I have to admit that I’m more than intrigued by that offer of yours, and I want to believe what it says is true. It is just that...” The dwarf paused and tried to think of a diplomatic way to voice his concerns.

“You want proof.” Severin interjected.

“Right.” The dwarf replied determinedly; again, a stark contrast to Emily’s reaction when she had been in the same spot.

Severin wasn’t offended by the request. After all, it wasn’t unreasonable. Especially since the man would forget everything of their conversation since initializing their negotiations, should he ultimately chose to decline the offer, anyway. That meant the risk for Severin to expose himself, or rather the existence of the System, was kept to a minimum. There was no good reason to decline the man.

Other than the fact that he had no idea how to go about it.

Sure, there was the Ball sitting in Magda’s cellar that could easily resolve this situation, but revealing his status page, which, in particular, also included his pathetic health pool, was not something he was willing to do. Not even if the alternative meant he would lose out on a new [Employee].

Severin fell into thought.

If the dwarf wanted proof, then that meant he didn’t think he could completely trust the floating words.

‘Because the blue screen might as well just be the result of some low-level illusion skill? The easiest solution would’ve been for him to simply accept the binding request and then make use of the resignation clause if he should remain unconvinced even after that. But that would first require him to believe that…’ Severin felt a headache coming.

“I can demonstrate and explain my abilities in more detail, but I’m not sure how that would proof anything.” Severin finally admitted his helplessness.

The response was simply a ‘go-on’ hand gesture.

'My ability to craft items hardly requires any proofing. And neither does Emily’s, I suppose.

But what else does that leave me with?

Fuck, this is bullshit!

Maybe I should just start with the blacklisting feature.’

Severin felt exasperated and annoyed but ultimately didn’t transform the demanding man into a grease stain by simply dropping him off the mountain.

Sigh

He felt it was a wasted effort, but started outlining his situation and his capabilities nonetheless.

“All this land, this mountain, is mine. This is not just a random claim I am making only based on the fact that I am the first who has settled up here, but it was granted to me by my… by the same power that is responsible for that screen in front of you.

That is to say, that when it comes to things happening within the bounds of this mountain, I have certain privileges that allow me to oversee things. Privileges that also extend to my [Employees].”

The Dwarf raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

He was well aware of the existence of other so called ‘noble’ classes that shared this characteristic. And that was not only because of his relationship with Markus’ father.

“For example, I am able to track the movement of each and every person within my territory,” Severin continued. “I can also see their names and classes. Like those of your escorts. Sandra, [Bodyguard]. Wes, [Safekeeper].

And of course, of you. Bandur. No class.”

Severin was painfully aware that his words, while maybe able to prove a small degree of his capabilities, didn’t address the main issue. That knowledge, accompanied by the dwarf’s continued silence, once again made Severin feel awkward. His mind started to race again, trying to think about how else he could show off his capabilities. Preferably in a meaningful way.

So much so that he didn’t notice Bandur once again changing color. This time to a more pale tone of color. Similarly, the silence was not because the dwarf was unimpressed.

‘The contract magic?! Maybe that’s something to work with?’ Severin hesitated. He knew well that his [Employees] under the threat of punishment had to ensure that they didn’t reveal any of his secrets. But that didn’t mean he was willing to put himself in a similar spot.

‘A contract that says I won’t ever lie to him simply won’t do. No matter how insignificant the penalty. But maybe a more short-termed…’

Severin’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

“You know who I am?” The man called Bandur could hardly keep his composure.

“I… well. As I said. I know your name. And that you don’t have a class. Just like I had requested of Markus beforehand. I mean. You were sent by Markus, right?”

The last question didn’t seem to have registered with the dwarf at all, though indirectly he still answered it when Bandur followed up with:

“Does he know?”

“Markus? The specifics of my class? No.”

“But he is aware that you know his class?”

Severin didn’t quite understand what was going on right now with all these questions, but still decided to answer them truthfully. “Yes.”

“Hahahaha!” A booming voice one would expect from a person of Samuel’s stature, not from a dwarf, suddenly exploded and echoed through the entire shop. It was enough to leave Severin stunned. Making the following words even harder for him to process.

“And that brat still sent me here!? Haha. I guess that means I have been overthinking things. Should be all the confirmation I need.”

With all of his previous hesitation and doubts apparently washed away, the dwarf continued.

“Though, I think that still leaves us with a different matter to discuss.

As you said, I’m called Bandur.” The dwarf, at last, formally introduced himself and expectedly looked at Severin.

But the latter was still unsure of how to proceed. The change in the man’s attitude was too abrupt.

In the end, he simply reached out his hand again and repeated his own introduction, “Right. Well. Severin.”

Strangely enough, it was this awkward response that seemed to please Bandur.

“As expected. You really aren’t from around here, huh? And by that, I mean from this continent. Otherwise…

You never heard the name Bandur? As in Bandur the Classless? The fifth brother? No? Maybe one of the more unpleasant ones? Bandur the Waste? The Unambitious Fool. The Pretender? Well, about half of Galira has probably been called either one of the last two. What about…”

If before, when he first saw the dwarf, Severin felt like he had been transported to a fantasy novel or movie, now he was sure it had to be a pretty cheap one.

He helplessly shook his head.