[It went well, possibly not as well as we could have hoped, but better than I expected.]

Eran paces around me in the pavilion as the Colony takes down their stalls and begins to pack away the goods once more. It’s a lot of effort, but ten thousand ants make short work of laborious tasks like these.

[Can you elaborate on that for me?] I ask and Cobalt, standing next to me, nods as well. [I need a bit more of a breakdown than that.]

[Of course.]

Eran holds out her hand and one of her retinue is ready and waiting with the documents she desires.

[Final contracts weren’t agreed on today, but we can judge by the level of interest shown by the arkesh what they are likely to bid on. I know for a fact that several ka’armodo mages were looking through their setsulahs’ eyes, but most were content to wait until their envoys return to report on what they saw.

[In terms of the goods that garnered the most interest, there weren’t any surprises. Luxury items, rare materials, the jewellery trick worked exceptionally well, thank you, Anthony, furniture, carvings, rugs and tapestries. Basically all the more artisanal, hand-crafted items. Food and drink were ignored almost entirely, as was anything made with non-infused wood or stone. Ingots, weapons, armour and the like were also largely ignored, which surprised me a little. I’d hoped to make at least some inroads there.]

As Eran runs her eyes down the pages handed to her, Marzban steps up to expound upon that last point.

[Ka’armodo obviously can’t use weapons and armour made for humanoids and prefer to forge their own, however they are known to purchase some arms for their Setsulah. It isn’t a large amount of trade, barely a trickle, but we’d hoped the competitive prices and relative quality of the Colony’s work would draw some interest.]

I suppose it makes sense that they make their own armour for themselves. There aren’t exactly any other experts in forging plate and vests designed to fit around giant lizards whose body shape changes when they reach a certain age.

I mean, ka’armodo are big. Not as big as I am, obviously, I tower over the little darlings now, but even so… big. When I’ve seen them moving around the port town, they just straight up carry the setsulah on their backs, for crying out loud. I’ve seen them crawling along with up to ten people just sitting on a rich-looking carpet, holding onto a golden ring lodged into their scales.

Any sort of protective gear for a creature that big is going to be expensive. If a lizard-wizard is going to hand over that sort of money, might as well give it to the ones who know how to meet their needs the best: other ka’armodo.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

[It’s still a little suspicious,] Eran mutters, frowning. [They barely paid attention to the raw metal ingots, stone and woods at all. It isn’t as if they couldn’t buy those and then forge them, and the Colony’s prices are more than competitive.]

[Possibly they were sending a message?] Marzban suggests. [For trinkets and such, they are happy to purchase from outside, but anything more serious than that…]

[They’ll stick to their trusted partners. You could be right.]

More anti-monster bias?

[Who do they usually trade with?]

I’m expecting them to say the Legion, but I’m surprised on that front.

[With the Stone Empire and the Silver City, mostly. Those are longstanding relationships that go back thousands of years. Even we struggle to get into the market sometimes.]

Huh.

With everything packed away, the Colony picks itself up and we march once more through the crowded port of the Sand Basin. With a giant, mythic monster at the lead, the roads open up pretty quickly, which is nice, and we make good time.

Of course, who do we find waiting back at the nest, overlooking the entrance? The Legion, of course. Despite wearing full armour, I recognise Morrelia in the group of twenty or so. They aren’t too close to the nest, but they’re close enough to be noticeable. I suppose the commander wants to remind us that they’re always watching. As if I didn’t know.

Their stupid mages are always trying to slither their mana into the nest or into my general vicinity. I’m not sure exactly what they’re doing, possibly using light mana to spy? Our own mages, as well as myself, are constantly on alert and monitoring fluctuations in energy around us, so we snuff out these attempts whenever we find them.

Of course, mana-masking exists and it’s possible to go to great lengths to conceal one’s magic. Who can possibly say if we manage to get them all? Perhaps if we had Brilliant along, we’d be able to be more confident, but it's not worth pulling her out of the nest for something like this. She’s got important stuff to work on.

My siblings pile into our temporary abode while I stand watch over the front, then I decide to take a sneaky risk.

I mean, Morrelia is right there. Helmet or not, I may as well attempt to reach out and say hello. I demand polite greetings!

Marshalling all of my Cunning, I take hold of the mind mana, twisting it in on itself, weaving the threads so fine they become like strands of silk. With the utmost care, I slither my mind bridge through the air, snaking around obstacles, taking the scenic route, until I finally reach her helmet.

Ever so gently, I poke my magic against the enchanted metal, knocking against her shielded mind. With such a finely woven bridge, there’s no chance I can punch through her defences, but if she takes it off, I can make the connection.

Prod-prod… prod-prod… prod-prod.

I keep tapping away until finally I see her shoulders slump ever so slightly. For a short moment, she brings her hands up to her head, removes her helmet and brushes her hair out of her eyes before lowering it back down, but not quite pushing it down all the way.

Of course, I seize my chance!

[Hey, Morrelia! How’s things?]

[Are you trying to get me killed?]