Chapter 4
"Welcome!" Mikey proclaimed as he quickly covered the old coal stove and walked around the counter to meet them. "Madam Chaska, you look as stunning as ever. I take it you are here for those new products I mentioned," Mikey finished with a bow as he had switched over to Super Suck-up Salesman mode. A technique made after spending many long hours observing the best salesman he knew, a Used Car Salesman.
Madam Chaska laughed politely, taking the compliment, "Oh my aren't you the little Casanova, Mr. Anderson. Yes, I came today to see if they truly worked, do you have them with you now?"
Mikey nodded as he led them to the counter, "I do indeed Madam, they're right this way. So who is your bodyguard? I don’t think I had the chance to meet him yesterday."
The man was large, easily over seven feet tall with a very muscular build. His face was rough and there was a scar that ran diagonally around one eye that was completely white. With angry red mana matched his short red hair and full beard, his scowl made it seem as if he had been pulled right off the battlefield.
"Oh, you mean Sweet Terry, I'm on my way back to DC but I decided to make a stop here since it was on the way," she said as she motioned toward the large man.
Sweet? That man looks like he chews stone into gravel for fun, Mikey thought as he took out a well decorated wooden box and placed it on the counter.
Terry joined Madam Chaska at her side since he too was curious about these so-called magic pills. When he first saw the boy he had mistaken him for an Uentillie, a Nibilian family notorious for their use of fat to power their spells rather than mana, but the lack of a family crest on his clothing showed him that he was just a fat kid.
Mikey opened the lid of the box and took out a pill similar to the one he just made, "This here is my Super Weight Loss Extraordinaire pill. Mere moments after taking one of these you will see your unwanted fat slide off without any nasty side effects like those of the weight loss potions. Seeing as you are my first official customer Madam Chaska, how would you like a free sample?"
"I don't think that's a good idea-" Terry started to protest before being cut off by the eager hand of his charge.
"Ah, Sweet Terry lighten up, I'm sure that it is perfectly safe. Young Mr. Anderson here isn’t the kind of person willing to deceive others, aren’t you Mikey?" she said as she turned back to Mikey, "Now let's try this miracle pill of yours."
The round young man had picked up on the barely concealed threat, as he swallowed nervously, "Of course mam. Now there are a few things I would like to go over before I let you try it. Nothing dangerous, just a few simple guidelines to follow like any medication."
Once more finding his stride, Mikey continued saying, "First, this pill is capable of expelling two pounds of fat. You heard me right, I said two whole pounds. After swallowing it you will be hit with a sudden rush of energy, that is okay, it just means that the pill is working. Once you feel the rush, just focus on the area that you would like to thin and let the pill do the rest of the work. Easy enough right?"
"Very much so," the cheerful woman answered as even Terry watched Mikey for any hint of subterfuge.
"Well the way that the pills work is that a portion of the fat will be expelled from the body through the pores while the remainder will be converted into energy. If you are wearing clothes at the time, then I can assure that the stains will never come out and it would be better to just throw them away," he warned as he had learned from the loss of his favorite green shirt..
"Ah, I see. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have a bath with me," she said, mildly disappointed that she couldn't try them out sooner.
Walking behind the counter he gripped the curtain that was sectioning the room and pulled it apart to reveal a bathtub and full-length mirror, "We do have a fully operational shower and bath for store customers."
Clapping excitedly, Madam Chaska spoke in a giddy voice that should be reserved for schoolgirls, "Oh, good planning ahead Mr. Anderson, it seems I will get to test them out after all. Let me just call my retainers." With that, she rushed out of the tent leaving only Mikey and Terry inside to stare awkwardly at one another.
Unable to take the silence Mikey spoke first, "Sooo, you're a part of the Secret Service huh? I bet that's fun?"
Terry didn't say anything, and so Mikey felt that was a good enough sign telling him to shut up.
The small boy was relieved when Madam Chaska came back followed by three younger women carrying different clothes and personal items.
"This way please," he said as he motioned them inside the sectioned off room where one of the attendants began to fill the tub with a water spell rather than use the tap.
Swiftly closing the curtains, once again Mikey was left alone with the intimidating figure of Sweet Terry. "So would you like to see some of my other products, Mr. Terry?"
Terry grunted before speaking, "I might as well, since it looks like the madam will take a while."
Mikey smiled, once more applying his Super Suck-up Salesman mode, "Right this way then. Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"No," was his gruff reply.
"That's fine, it just means I can show off a bit more," Mikey responded ijn excitement before walking towards the back of the counter where he took out a pouch filled with throwing knives, "How about a new set of throwing knives. It's only 140 Dollars for a set of 20."
Terry shook his head and took out a knife from somewhere on his body, "I already have a set."
Mikey nodded seeing the small knife, "I guarantee your set is nothing like mine. Perhaps a demonstration." The boy then took out a knife that was almost identical to the one that Terry was holding with the sole difference being the red tape around the handle. "Strike them against each other," he suggested as he handed it over to the large man that looked at him doubtfully.
While the knives being sold didn’t have a filled vein, just being strengthened gave them an advantage against an unaltered blade.
Seeing that there was no harm in it, Terry took the offered knife. Holding both blades in a forward grip he cut them against one another, expecting the usual sparks to appear when two enchanted blades met, so it came as quite a shock when the offered knife sliced his in half. His eyebrow rose as he inspected the cut more closely and saw that it was smooth, he said, "It's a clean cut."
"My knives are vastly superior when compared to my competition. Should you ever face yourself crossing blades with another mage, you can expect to gain the upper hand as you slice his blade and him in half. Now then, would you like a set?" Mikey said with a smile and fox like eyes, letting a little of his greed shine through.
"Not bad, kid. I'll take two sets," Terry answered as he stared at the red-handled knife in his hands.
"Excellent choice sir," he said rubbing his hands together, chuckling maniacally at his first sale, "let me just get you a receipt."
Turning around he started to take out two pouches of throwing knives from his inventory pack, but just as he placed them on the counter an ear splitting scream resounded through the tent.
"Kyaaaa!"
Mikey didn't even have time to blink as he was suddenly yanked by the collar of his coat and the flap to his store bathroom was practically ripped open. Some part in the back of his mind screamed at him that if he didn’t close his eyes he’d be scarred for life.
He didn't see what happened next, but he heard the voice of a young woman scream, "Terry get out!" before a loud smack echoed through the room and he was once again pulled in a different direction.
Opening his eyes he looked at the sprawled form of Terry on the ground with his large hands no longer gripping his coat. Mikey rubbed his neck feeling a bruise starting to form.
Terry slowly stood back up rubbing the large handprint that was branded on his face. "I don't think I will ever be able to forget that for the rest of my life," he said with a shiver. Mikey felt a small amount of pity for the big man but that was quickly erased when he felt the stinging on his throat.
"Unfortunately, I don't have anything to fix mental trauma yet," the chubby teen said standing up as well before stopping and getting an old tape recorder from his pocket and pressing a button to record, "Note to self, Make something to ease traumatic memories."
"You okay kid? I'm sorry for that. Instinct you understand," Terry said, trying to apologize for his mistake while preserving his pride.
Mikey waved him off, "I’m fine, I can see where you're coming from."
"Are you sure? That looks like it's starting to bruise pretty badly," the large man said worryingly.
Taking out a mirror from behind the counter Mikey saw a purple mark where the coat had choked him. "Don't worry, I got something for this as well." Searching into his pack he took out his personal first-aid kit. Opening it up he took a bandage with two veins filled and quickly wrapped it around his neck like a scarf.
Terry looked like he was going to make a comment before he saw the bandage give off a green glow that was commonly associated with medical spells, and the bruise started to become lighter.
Terry’s eyes lit up and he asked, "Hey kid, what is that?"
"Oh this? These are my special bandages, they take a portion of your mana and convert it into medical concept infused mana over the afflicted area it is placed. Their light weight, waterproof, and small enough to be concealed anywhere on the body which makes it ideal for mage teams that don't have a few potions or auto-healing enchanted items with them. They also have the benefit of working in the middle of fights, something that most potions can't do," the greedy teen explained, switching to his patented car salesman mode at the end.
The bodyguard gave a low whistle, "Damn, that sure is convenient. How much are you selling them for?"
"Individually they cost 50 Dollars each, but if you get a full box of twelve they only cost 500 Dollars. They can treat most injuries as long as it isn't anything life-threatening," smiled Mikey as he smelled another sale coming.
"50 Dollars for a single bandage, damn kid you're pretty bloodthirsty. I'll take a box," the man said with a smile that was full of teeth, while taking out his wallet.
"You got it! Let's see, including the two knife packs, your total will be 780 Dollars," Mikey said as he typed on an old cash-register he had gotten half-off at a flea market.
Terry gave him the money, and Mikey wrote him a receipt.
Nice, if I can make more sales like this, I will be able to gather enough money to buy more products and feed the cycle of Pure Profit, Mikey thought.
Taking his newly purchased equipment Terry began to wander around the room looking at more of the items that were for sale. Mikey was giddy counting his profits like a certain prehistoric squirrel and his acorns.
"Hey kid, what's with the weird markings that some of these weapons have," the large man said as he looked at a display case where there was a row of refurbished shortened blades and throwing knives. The price tags alone made Terry kiss his teeth. A shortened blade was marked at 3,000 Dollars and a single throwing knife was 400.
Walking behind the case Mikey tapped the glass, "You have a good eye sir. These are a little different from the other weapons here. The tree on the tag of each weapon marks them as a Mikey Mana Machination or MMM for short. The number of branches indicates which tier they are. These possessing only one or two branches are low tier. Each one of these handcrafted military ordinance is embedded with a different ability that is capable of tipping the scales in any battle," Mikey explained, trying to push for his branding like all those videos online used to talk about.
"So what can they do?" he asked, his curiosity besting his professionality about these rather ordinary if old looking blades.
"I will be happy to demonstrate some of their abilities outside once Madam Chaska is finished with her bath. In the meantime, would you like to see a catalog of the various combat focused goods that are currently available," Mikey asked as he finished taking out a self-made catalog from out of nowhere and presenting it to the man.
"Sheesh kid, you won't give up until you take everything from me will you," Terry said as he started to flip through the pages that contained pictures of the weapons and the asking price. As he expected, the prices were outrageously high.
"That's the plan, but I assure you that everything I sell is reasonably priced," countered the rotund youngster as he continued to rub his hands in a greedy manner.
It wasn't until an hour later that the President's wife finally exited the room, Terry and Mikey were playing cards, and the young businessman picked up on a little animosity from the large military man if his blatant cheating was anything to go by.
"Sweet Terry! Little Micky! Notice anything different about me," she said, striking several different poses that Mikey assumed to be seductive, but all it did was confuse him and give Terry shivers.
"You look radiant, my lady. I take it you are pleased with the results of the pill," Mikey said, willing to do anything for a sale like any good entrepreneur.
"Oh, yes! I feel light as a feather," the large woman proclaimed as she did a small pirouette while laughing.
"Yes, I can tell by your chipper attitude. So, would you like to purchase some, two, five, maybe ten?" MIkey asked, letting the greed shine through his mostly closed eyes.
"All of them," came the abrupt reply, startling the young sales aficionado.
The smile on Mikey's face dropped, "What? I apologize I might have heard you wrong. Did you say that you wanted all of them."
She nodded as she smiled to herself, "Yes, I want all of the pills that you currently have Micky, that won’t be a problem, will it?"
Mikey looked nervous as he tried to explain to her, "I apologize Madam but due to their unique nature and precious ingredients one pill alone costs 40 dollars."
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Is that all? You don't have to worry Little Micky, I already figured out that such miraculous pills would be worth a fortune. How many do you have at the moment?" she said as she motioned for one of her female aids to fetch something from her carriage.
Going towards the box, Mikey rattled off a number, "I have 448 pills at the moment."
"Splendid! I'll take them," she exclaimed as the servant from earlier returned with a chest full of money. Mikey's eyes glazed over as he saw all of those stacks of dollar bills neatly piled on top. With speed that betrayed his rather large size, he wrote a receipt for her, not questioning why the President's wife would ever walk around with that much cash.
"The total comes to 17,920 dollars madam."
The female aid took out 18,000 from the chest and placed it on the counter. "Here you go Micky, keep the change."
The boy could only nod as he handed her the wooden box containing the pills. After some time ogling the money he remembered something, "Madam Chaska, if I may add a word of advice. The pills should only be taken every eight hours and I suggest drinking a lot of water to help replace the fluids lost in the process."
"Thank you, Micky. Now is there anything else you might have for me," she said as she looked around the tent for the first time.
"Indeed I do Madam, I was just going to show Mr. Terry some of my more higher grade items, and would be happy to let you watch. I also have a catalog for the more feminine goods that you may be interested in," he said as he handed her another handcrafted booklet containing pictures of different pills, creams, and jewelry.
"You are very well prepared,young man. I am curious too in what other items you sell," she finished as she excitedly left the tent while flipping through the pages and reading the small description each had, her small group just a step behind.
Mikey followed them after grabbing some of his first branch knives.
Walking out of the tent, Mikey saw that the woman was already sitting at a table that was definitely not there before. The large procession of hovering carriages a distance away explained the table but not how she had tea made so fast.
Mikey shook himself out, trying to pump himself up, before slapping a good luck talisman on his forearm and going to meet with Terry a few feet away. "Now then, you said you wanted to know what a First branch level MMM could do right, Mr. Terry? Allow me to demonstrate."
Taking out one of the three blades he had brought out, he handed it to Terry, who was careful to hold it by the handle.
This throwing knife had been snapped in half before Mikey resharpened it and filled a vein which gave it the ability to triple the speed it was thrown at in exchange for a little mana.
"Now this knife is not only twice as powerful as the ones that you bought from me a few minutes ago but also has a nifty trick built into it. Why don't you take one of those regular knives and throw it at that tree over there before trying to do the same with this one," Mikey suggested as he pointed to a tree that was 100 feet away.
The angry looking red-head took out a knife from his newly purchased pouch before taking a stance facing the tree. With the flick of his wrist he sent the small knife flying at the tree truck where it embedded itself all the way to the hilt.
One of his fellow bodyguards gave a low whistle as they had moved closer to see what was happening, even Terry was shocked by its sharpness.
Gripping the handle of the MMM he tried to throw it like the previous one, but it was just as his fingers stopped touching it that he felt a small fraction of his mana be sucked into the blade, then it shot through the air three times faster than his previous throw.
To those with untrained eyes of someone like Mikey it just disappeared into thin air as soon as it left his hand, only for a hole to appear through the trunk of the tree and those behind it.
"These blades can still be enchanted on top of the ability they possess," Mikey loudly boasted as he jogged in the direction of the MMM throwing knife, closely followed by Terry and some of the bodyguards. It was relatively easy to locate, all they had to do was follow the row of trees that had holes in them until they came towards a stone boulder where just the end of the handle was sticking out.
Mikey stepped forward channeling some mana through his arms and removed it like the blade was a fragile piece of glass, showing it off to the others that it didn't even have a scratch.
“I think the blade speaks for itself boys.” Mikey said, his smile beaming at the body guards that surrounded him.
Once they were back with the others Mikey took out another knife and showed it to the group of men that had begun to encircle him as they stood protectively in front of Madam Chaska. "Now this knife has a different ability. This one likes to eat mana. I know the possibilities are astounding. Just a quick swipe through an active spell will remove the concept's empowerment.”
"If one of you could fire a quick spell at the blade, that would be great," he asked as he held the knife as far away from his body as he could. One of the bodyguards volunteered as he brought out a lighter and started the circle for a fire spell only for a panicking Mikey to stop him, "Wait! On second thought why don't you hold it Mister Terry." He then hurriedly handed the knife to the large man, who held it in front of him.
His fellow bodyguard used a small lighter to ignite the circle of mana he had drawn in the air before launching the ball and just as it looked like it would hit him, Terry slashed at the small ball of swirling colors cutting it in half. With half the mana removed the fire ball lost its heat and slowly died out.
The knife had now gained a faint aura of colors that made one nauseous just looking at it.
"When it gains a layer of mana like that, it means the ability took. Now simply slash or stab at something to release that pent-up mana." Mikey continued from his hiding spot.
Terry walked to a tree and lightly stabbed it into the bark, barely even an inch, before the trunk exploded causing the large tree to fall over and spawn new limbs while decaying the roots.
Mikey was left open-mouthed before looking at the guard that had thrown the fireball, "Just what kind of concepts did you draw on to make that happen?"
The man scratched his chin as he thought, "I just let all the big ones like burning, destruction, new growth, and comfort flow through rather than focusing on one aspect, but it shouldn’t be that different from my normal fireballs."
And you just threw that at your teammate, who only had a knife to protect himself! Scary, Mikey thought to himself as once again Mikey was reminded of the large ocean between himself and these trained Mage soldiers.
Terry reappeared next to them and he handed the knife to the slightly shaken boy, "Not bad, would it affect a spell with a wide area of attack?"
"Huh? Right the knife, No. Moving on, Next up is this one that loves to shock people on a successful attack," the large boy said, quickly moving on to the last knife before the bodyguards started accidentally adding too much mana area destroying spells.
"Hands," Mikey called out as he motioned for them to show him their hands.
They looked reluctantly at each other before Terry sighed and offered his hand, which prompted the other four to do the same.
Mikey slashed at their palms lightly just enough to draw some blood. Out of the five that were cut, three of them stopped moving all together. To the men that were affected it was as if they had simply lost all control of their bodies and were simply paralyzed. They grew panicked at the lack of response from their body and tried to either force themselves to move with pure brute strength or by channeling flesh weaving spells into their limbs, but everything proved futile.
Once the three seconds had passed they dropped to the floor on all fours partly shaken at the paralyzes. For a mage whose entire life depended on simply being faster than your opponent, three seconds of immobility without a shield spell was a death sentence.
"As you can see, no amount of strength or mana can break the hold it has on you if you are affected. It wouldn't matter if it's a student or a high-level mage, once affected it is impossible to break free," he explained as the men got back up.
The only other guard that wasn't affected besides Terry stepped forward as he took out a fat wallet, "Okay, I'm sold how much for one of those knives?"
Mikey smiled a fox-like grin, "Yes, these marvelous weapons do tantalize great warriors like yourselves right. Well good news, you can own one of these MMMs for the low price of 3,000 Dollars! Now before you think the price is a little steep, remember that in our line of work where we face death every day, the slightest advantage could mean the difference between returning home to our families or becoming another corpse on the forest floor."
It took a few minutes but Mikey was able to outfit all of the First Lady's guards with their very own MMM. Between the guards attendant and Terry, Mikey had made an extra 36,000 making him giggle nefariously.
While some of them started to test their new weapons like excited children, Mikey still had a job to do and walked towards the President's wife.
"Madam Chaska, did you find anything that interests you?" Mikey said as he bowed down in front of her..
"I am unsure, what do you recommend?" she said, continually indulging the odd young man.
His salesman senses were tingling at the question, "I think I might have something that might interest you. One moment please." He got up from his bow and calmly walked towards his tent again, and once he was out of sight ran towards his pack where he began to rummage for the jewelry boxes. "Come on, I know I put them at the top! Here it is!"
Back at the table he placed a large rectangular black jewelry box that opened up to reveal a large selection of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings, ranging from plain to ornate. He had bought some second-hand jewelry at the local flea market since all of the cheap toy jewelry kept breaking before he could add a vein.
"Do you enjoy shopping my lady?" he asked as he took a silver ring with a blue gem on it.
"I'll admit that is one of my favorite pastimes," she said as she observed Mikey’s micro-expressions.
"Good to hear that. Then you will be interested in this little bobble. This ring will allow you to store three cubic feet of items inside without it weighing anything, and the best part is that no mana is needed to activate it. Why not give it a try?" he finished as he handed it to her, luckily the ring was big enough to fit on her finger.
The young Mage in Training took out a wooden carving of a rabbit from the depths of his clothes and placed it in front of her, "Just take any object you wish to store with the same hand that has the ring and imagine it going into a small invisible box, the ring will do the rest of the work."
She took the carving in one of her meaty hands and closed her eyes in concentration, picturing it going into a box before it simply disappeared from her hand as if it had never existed. She looked at her hand curiously before gaining a smile of excitement as she looked at the young man.
"Now to take something out, focus on the ring, and you should see a small room with everything contained inside. Think about the object you want to bring out as if you were grabbing it and it should appear in your hand again," he explained to her but was instead far more focused on the plate of cookies that one of the girls had brought out for him.
Madam Chaska did as instructed and pictured taking the small rabbit statue out of the blank room, and then it suddenly appeared in her hand. "Amazing! Micky, how are you able to do that?"
Mikey looked up from stuffing his face, small crumbs on the side of his face,to say "You mean how all of my things have special abilities? I just push mana into the piece to enhance the veins. From what I know, it is an ability that I solely can do.”
"Well whatever it is, I'll take it. What else would you like to show me?," she said, matching the Young craftsman's energy despite knowing he was implying there was an innate mana circulatory system in inanimate objects which would have nasty implications.
Swallowing the rest of the snacks Mikey took out a plain looking ring that looked like it was made of stainless steel.
This was an item that he himself had created using a rather new method using talismans. What he had done was make a talisman that would protect someone from being raped and then transfer that blessing onto a ring so that it could become permanent. It had taken many wasted materials, and a lot of pain but he had created them to protect women and men in terrible situations.
"This little beauty is what I like to call the ring of chastity, or the chastity ring. It prevents all forms of sexual activity as long as you wear it and cannot be taken off by anyone else but the wearer. It will also stop illusion spell specialists from tricking you into taking it off, as only an unaffected mind can take it off. Anyone foolish enough to try anything will be forcibly discouraged like so. They can also disappear if you wish," he finished as he showed them his own hand and made them witness as his own ring appeared on his finger.
Madam Chaska tilted her head in wonder, "Why does little Micky have a ring?"
"Ah there's a reason for that my lady, it actually has to do with why I chose to join the Mage School despite me being a pacifist."
"Really, I was actually wondering what made you want to be a Mage Micky," the plump woman said as she leaned in close, extremely curious for some reason.
As it turned out, the old Mikey did have a reason for joining the Mage School other than no longer being in the crowded orpAnage.
"Well you see mam, I'm an orphan, I never knew my parents. I was raised by the caretakers for a majority of my life before I joined that Mage School, back then I used to have some friends in the orpAnage, but then something happened," he explained.
“It was shortly after that event when kids in my orpAnage and even the surrounding orpAnages started to go missing. We were all given a lecture to stay away from old men if we should ever meet them while out in the City-State. I eventually joined the Mage School to protect myself if the time ever comes." he finished his tale. It took a while for Mikey to realize the main reason the version of himself that was here before was so different was desperation. Whatever had happened back then had scared old Mikey so much that he threw himself into training day in and day out.
Madam Chaska looked mortified at his rather dark reason for wanting to be a Mage.
I will make sure to tell the Chieftain to keep a watchful eye on him from now on. It would take a high official to kidnap an orphan after all the procedures she put in place and she would find that official who was responsible for kidnapping children in her country, then she would make sure to make them pay, she thought.
It became sober after that, each person with their own thoughts on the matter. It was finally Mikey who broke the silent atmosphere, "40."
"Huh, what did you say Little Micky?" the plump woman said kindly, as she was drawn out of her thoughts.
"40 Dollars. That is how much I am selling the chastity rings for. They're relatively easy to make, if a little tedious and I want to make it affordable to everyone," he explained,
"Yep, this isn't like the weapons from earlier, I want every person to have the ability to walk around without fear or worries. It's something personal you could say, since you see my mother… she too was a woman!" he suddenly declared as if it was some great kept secret, getting facepalms by some of the people around him thinking he was going to say something important.
"How chivalrous of you Mickey," the Madam responded with a kind smile. "Well I will certainly help out, and I am sure that my husband will be more than happy to contribute to your cause once I tell him about it."
"Thank you Madam Chaska, it would be a great help," he said as he stood up from his seat and gave her a low bow.
"None of that Mickey. Now how about you show me the rest of these items," she said pointing to the jewelry box.
After many purchases, Mikey was happy as he waved their carriage away, Madame Chaska had spent enough to make this entire endeavor worth it. He had also given her a small bottle of anti-aging cream for her purchase of over 1,000 Dollars and because she still had his poster. "Bye! Don't forget to recommend me to all your friends!"
The sun was already beginning to set as they disappeared into the forest, while he went back inside his tent to count the day's earnings.
Back in the carriage Madam Chaska was playing with the space ring, taking objects in and out while talking to her servants.
"Delta, what are your thoughts about what Micky said? Do you think someone could have slipped through our security procedures following the incident?"
"I am unsure. It does sound like something he would be capable of doing. Back when I used to be a War Mage in the City he was known to look at mages as simply tools that could be sacrificed at will and he did have his own personal protection squad back during the war, that if rumors prove true, were stripped of all emotions." The servant in question answered, indicating a man that was on the forefront of both the servants and Madam Chaska’s minds.
"…I see. What do you think the chances are of him going after someone like Mickey?" she said as her usual cheerful look was replaced by a cold and calculating one, reminding all that despite her jolly personality she was still a woman with substantial influence, and was therefore no stranger to treachery and backroom politics.
“I’ll have to talk to the Chieftain once more.” Madam Chaska said with finality.
It was then that the President's wife took out a book from her ring and began to open it to the front page. One of the other female aides saw it and had to ask, "Madam Chaska, what are you holding?"
Looking at the cover of the book that had the picture of a young woman dressed in colorful flowery robes holding a sword in one hand, the noble fat woman spoke, "Oh this, Mickey was kind enough to give me this. He said that it is a novel he is working on getting published soon and that I could have a free copy. I'm curious to see what he thinks of the world through the words he’s written. Don't worry I'll let you read it after I'm done, Epsilon."
Meanwhile, Mikey was laughing gleefully at his profit.
"Okay let's see, including the 30,000 from the space ring and the 12,000 from the chastity rings the total amount of should be… 96,700 Dollars. Now I just need to subtract the initial cost of the material used for the items and I should be able to find my actual profit," Mikey said as he started to write in his accounting book. Bookkeeping had been a necessary skill that Mikey had needed to develop in his old life. "With this, I will finally be able to buy some real furniture for the store, and maybe some real weapon displays."
Putting the money and the book in a secure area, the overly rotund teen stretched almost halfway to his toes this time.
Just as he was getting ready for bed, he heard a noise come from the store front, "That's strange, I'm pretty sure that I closed the flap of the tent and activated those protection talismans."
Stepping into the store part of the tent he took a nearby sword and called out, "We're currently closed right now. If you wish to buy something, please come back tomorrow."
He heard something knock over a row of weapons and turned toward the noise but saw nothing. To the side of him he heard more scurrying and brandished his weapon more tightly. Then he heard something land on his counter and had to stop himself in mid-swing when he saw what it was.
There, on the top of his counter was a month-old bunny rabbit with the purest coat of snow white fur he had ever seen. It had a strange black pattern running on the side of its head that reminded Mikey strongly of Runic marks and right in the middle of its forehead was a black crescent moon birthmark. But what really took Mikey off guard was the set of red eyes that were currently glaring at him.
"Huh?"