The Flying Emporium

Severin’s store was currently located in the Golden Mountains, one of if not the most profitable and therefore popular regions on the continent of Galira amongst adventurers of all (skill-) levels. More specifically, it was floating above the busiest, most densely populated adventuring hub of said Mountains; of course, it wouldn’t be a quiet day; Severin’s prayer remained unanswered.

That was, even on a regular day, quiet would have never been a possibility.

But it wasn’t a regular day - none of the days since the Emporium had arrived at its new location had been.

Enough time had passed for more and more people to realize the mountain was more than just a random stray floater; if it wasn’t the increasing number of flying artifacts that could plainly be observed coming and going, then it was the spreading rumors directing the attention of ever more people and potential customers to Severin and his store.

Similarly, on the other side of the portal, back in Malcos, things started to pick up as well, with not just outside adventurer’s being drawn in, whose influx of course couldn’t remain unnoticed for long, but also non-classbearers, though not actual customers, taking advantage of the comparatively cheap transportation fee to fulfill many a regular person’s dream of visiting and witnessing the storied Golden Mountains in their fully glory, with their own eyes.

Even now that he was not actually working in the front of house all that much anymore, not just by their increased workload or the record-breaking profits, but simply just by looking at the numbers of dots on his minimap, Severin could plainly see a drastic increase of daily visitors.

So even if nothing out of the ordinary happened this day, it certainly wouldn’t be quiet.

***

Having cleaned the mess he had caused in the store’s backroom, there was just enough time left for Severin to drag himself over to the kitchen to enjoy a short, hearty breakfast prepared by a similarly groggy Bandur before it was once again time to open for business.

Time was short, and since, with the others around, there was no opportunity to continue their conversation in person, Severin didn’t linger, and soon was on his way back–not through the secret underground passage connecting all of his facilities, but through the fresh morning breeze to shake off his sleepiness.

It was on this occasion that the wind carried over to him the fragments of a few sentences exchanged between some early arrivals, that he knew this day would not, in fact, be ordinary; even without further context, the meaning of just the words claim, record, and eagles was very clear to him. The news didn’t come exactly unexpected.

That said, for now there was nothing much he could or would do about it, and Severin simply continued on.

Soon he was preparing the day’s first batch of elixirs.

What did, in the following, come somewhat unexpectedly, however, was Bandur’s reserved behaviour.

Though once everyone was settled and begun their work, the dwarf telepathically continued yesterday’s interrogation, it wasn’t the bombardment of questions Severin had initially expected.

Instead, the questions seemed more specific and deliberate, more sober, than on the night before and with enough time between each of them to carefully consider every one of Severin’s answers.

And Bandur wasn’t the only one who needed that time to process Severin’s words; Severin himself soon realized the questions weren’t quite as easy to answer as they might have seemed on a first glance, and instead forced him to some self-reflection.

Not just during his last outburst where he had complained about the ruthless nature of adventuring and a general lack of empathy, but also during his visit of Malcos, Severin time and again lamented some of the most egregious differences of this world and his own, as he witnessed with his own eyes what he perceived to be gratuitous violence during the Games, or social injustices in regards to pay and living conditions of non-classbearers;

these aspects were exactly where Bandur now latched on to.

Questions regarding government systems, laws and rights, social norms and contracts, education and opportunities. Questions which led to matters like equality, standards of living, and distribution of wealth.

Questions that, when he answered them, became increasingly awkward in light of his earlier comparisons.

What if actual differences like that between classbearers and non-classbearers existed between groups of people back on earth?

Would they live together as peacefully as they did in Malcos?

Even if there were less developed living districts, none of them could be considered being slums; they might have been modest, but certainly proper.

Sure, even in his comparatively short time in the city, he had seen, or rather heard, disparaging remarks regarding non-classbearers, and he himself had drawn unkind looks upon him solely because of his, at the time, plain clothes that very much made him look like a classless person himself, but compared to what it could have been, things could only be considered peaceful.

At the same time, Severin had to repeatedly remind himself that his personal upbringing wasn’t exactly representative of life back on Earth in general, but that in terms of place and time he had been born, Severin had been rather fortunate; just because he didn’t experience senseless violence and injustice on a regular basis himself, didn’t mean those didn’t exist.

And then, on the flip side, there was Jasmine, who still, on a daily basis, kept inquiring about the availability of cooling and heating spheres, actively making an effort to improve the living conditions of her father’s less well-off subjects; a cynic Severin felt this would be rather remarkable even back home.

Sigh

‘Maybe I could squeeze in a couple of hours every week to try leveling my [Artificer] class a bit…’

Severin was still trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that came with the realization one had made a fool of themselves, when a welcome distraction appeared right in front of his eyes; the news he had picked up on in passing this morning apparently had already spread throughout the Mountains and amongst adventurers with its impact now starting to show.

[Congratulations!

Word has spread about your exceptional goods and expert services, attracting customers from near and far to your Emporium.

You have therefore successfully completed the Quest [Spread the Word II].

Your reward, the handy and unique [Class-Orb Removal Device], has already been deposited into your store’s inventory, and is ready to be deployed so that your valued customers, old and new alike, can continue to grow and thrive alongside you.]

“Well, haven’t you become wordy?”