Fin woke in time to witness three dwarves, each giving Brando a chunk of gold and offering a bow of respect. Fin sat up and tilted his head to return their respects. He was happy to see the look of pure joy on each of their faces, but he was unprepared to see them start to form another line. His head felt a little better, but he was in no condition to start the process over again.

Fortunately, Brando informed the dwarves that Fin was too exhausted for anything more today. The speech seemed practiced as if he had been telling people the same thing for hours. He asked Brando about it, and the answer confirmed his suspicions.

"You've been sleeping all day," Brando said, raising his fingertips to indicate that there was some good news, too. "But you wouldn't believe how well my plan worked! Look at this!"

He lifted and set two lunch boxes in front of Fin. The effort to lift the boxes alone signified the massive wealth they held. Brando unlatched and unbuckled the lids, but it dispelled all doubts of the fortune inside when he lifted them. Inside each lunch box sat a heap of rough chunks of gold. The dull green glow of moss light was not enough to dispel the allure of the precious metal.

"My plan worked," Brando reiterated. "I don't even think this is all of it. The dwarves have been finishing and then immediately coming to find you."

Several more dwarves did come to drop off their donations to Fin before He and Brando decided to leave for the day.

Even though Fin had slept all day, he was still tired enough to sleep again. After washing up, he unstowed the wealth in his inventory and dumped it on his bed. It was a ritual that Brando had become accustomed to and even expected. Brando wished he could borrow Treasured Sleep for just one night, but he would settle for any sleep.

The following day, Fin opted to go to the back room of the smithy before upending a lunchbox full of gold. Brando shook his head with distaste when he realized Fin was keeping the second one for himself. Olhoff shook his head for the other reason.

"Am I supposed to believe you two mined this out of the ground yourselves?" Olhoff asked rhetorically. "You're not turning me into some third-party accomplice, are you?"

Brando was, for once, grateful for Fin's propensity to sleep on hoarded treasures. He could imagine Olhoff's reaction if the pile of gold on the desk was doubled, and it wouldn't be good. However, he knew that they were just delaying the inevitable at the pace they were at. At some point, the pile of gold delivered will be double, at least.

"It's nothing like that," Fin cheerfully disregarded Olhoff's concerns. "We've found some investors that want to help us with our cause."

"I'm sure it has to do with rescuing the slaves and not the massive gem mine we would be liberating," Brando added sardonically.

"I see," Olhoff said, slowly looking from Fin's eyes to Brando's. "How many investors have you found so far?"

"We don't need more investors as much as we need fighters, tacticians, and siege equipment," Fin guided the conversation away from the secret mine cult they were cultivating. "If you can help with that, I would count it as a big favor."

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Olhoff shook his head with the look of sincerest disappointment that only a child showing empty pockets to a bully could mimic. Before he could formulate a proper rejection, Tory peeked in and informed him that his brother had arrived.

"We will be out in a moment," Olhoff said, placing the gold on a scale, writing down the weight, and producing a receipt. "I cannot assure that the weight will be the same after removing the impurities, but the result should be close enough."

Having tested Olhoff's honesty on multiple occasions, Fin knew that his word was worth the gold in the lunchbox. He took the receipt and thanked him before going back into the display room. There, he was greeted by Kerchel, who produced two velvet sacks that could only contain one thing.

"The gems are done?" Fin asked with excitement. "How do they look?"

"Words cannot explain the absolute majesties these gems turned out to be," Kerchel said with a genuinely joyful smile. "Come look!"

Fin anxiously watched as Kerchel put on a black cloth glove and slowly removed each gem. He placed each gem delicately on top of its respective pouch on the sales counter.

The largest gem had shrunk but still maintained much of its size. The color seemed lighter, too, with a deep burnt orange in the middle that lightened to a near yellow along the edges. The gem was nearly circular with a flat, glossy surface on the top and bottom. The sides of the gem were a culmination of curved gradient angles and the added texture of alternating triangles. Kerchel watched in horror as Brando picked it up with his bare fingers.

Fin ignored Kerchel's chastisements toward Brando as he looked at the blue stone. It was similar to the first shape, like two trapezoids connected at the base, but it was longer vertically. The deep blue color made Fin think of the sky on an absolutely perfect day. However, he had no intention of keeping the gem or selling it if possible. This would be his gift to Heidle as thanks for all his help.

"I have buyers lined up for each of them when you are ready to sell, but," Kerchel sighed longingly at his new creations. "I believe the larger one will be more than sufficient to cover the costs of the armor."

As Kerchel's words registered, Fin plucked the blue gem off the table before realizing he made a mistake. Fortunately, Kerchel's back was turned, and he could replace the gem without notice.

"If that is the case, I don't believe I will be selling the blue gem," Fin said when he was far enough from the table to absolve him from suspicion. "I want to give it back to Heidle. He's the one that funded our trip here."

"Very well then," Olhoff agreed, picking up the gem with his black glove. He eyed Brando suspiciously before wiping it off, putting it in the bag, and handing it to Fin.

"I can sell the bigger one then," Kerchel coughed, bringing the eyes of the room to him. "I may require several small fees to find a buyer, haggle over the price, and make the sale. I believe I can sell it for three thousand gold with no problem at, let's say, ten percent?"

Fin learned how to take percentages once, but the concept was rusty in his head. He grew up a farmer after all, not a wizard. It took him a moment, but he was able to work out what ten percent of three thousand was, and he was not about to pay thirty gold to sell a gem he could sell himself. He made a counteroffer of one percent and refused to budge.

Kerchel tried to haggle the percentage up, but when Fin threatened to sell it himself, he accepted the deal. It wasn't the three hundred gold he had wanted, but thirty gold was decent enough, even for selling such a high-scale gem. Besides, in luxury sales, you pay for the seller's connections more than anything, and he already had two interested buyers lined up.

Kerchel agreed and held out his hand. Fin hesitated before shaking his hand or solidifying the deal. Three gold was still a lot of money just to sell someone else's gem, so he decided to get his money's worth.

"Before I agree, can I also ask one more thing from you?" Fin asked, holding the power of the deal aloft. "Can you get me a list of mercenaries, prices, and availability for when my armor is finished?"

Kerchel shrugged and held out his hand. "I can do that. Do we have a deal?"

"We have a deal, and hopefully, it's the first of many," Fin shook the dwarf's hand before realizing he needed one more thing. "I also need some chalk."