Rishaki prepared to open her shop for another day of commerce. Honestly, she still didn’t get too many customers, but each time someone entered her shop, she found it to be a valuable experience—either from the transaction or just the interaction alone. She valued rarities and uniqueness above all else. And there was nowhere in the world with more unique characters than the Fiends For Hire compound.
She went through great lengths to make her shop feel special each day. First, there was a light dusting of all the antiquities around the room. None of them were actually for sale—well, everything was for sale for the right price—but they were intended as decoration, and were some of Rishaki’s favorite pieces that she had collected over the years. Thankfully, robbery was the least of her concerns, so she was comfortable leaving them out in the open.
However, she outright refused assistance from Mallea and Crucion. They’d offered to clean her shop for her every day as part of their routine. While they were certainly very capable, she could trust no one but herself to properly tend to her precious trinkets.
Once the dusting was done, she’d fluff the curtains that obscured the entryway that the patrons would have to push through. Then, she’d light a bit of incense along with the oil lanterns that were the only source of light in the shop. Lastly, she’d start the fog machine hidden behind her counter. It didn’t produce enough that anyone would suspect something was off, but it gave just a hint of mystical haze.
The entire purpose of all this ambiance was to make the customer feel like they were transported to another realm—one where they could find anything that they desired, where all their wishes could come true. Rishaki would of course put just as much effort into her appearance, making herself look like a gilded enchantress from folklore.
“Good morning, Rishaki,” her first customer was always the same.
“Good morning, doctor,” she laced her fingers in self-defense since her arms had been resting on the counter. But alas, Farian still grabbed her hand and kissed it just as he did every day. She understood that he was only looking out for her best interests, but forward, handsy men were the worst thing in her eyes.
“Here’s today’s list,” Farian slid her a handwritten note.
“Ah, it’s actually legible today,” Rishaki snickered to herself. For once the note didn’t look like a hastily scrawled prescription.
“Ah, yes, I had Andi write it out today. Even I can’t escape the doctor’s curse of bad handwriting.” What he had handed her was a list of rare herbs and experimental medicines. Rishaki didn’t only deal in rare jewelry and collectables. As long as it was limited, rare, precious, or sparkling in some way, she would trade in it.
“Let’s see, half of these I have in stock. Two I can get by tomorrow, the last one will take a few days at least,” she skimmed through the list. “And what are you offering for it today?”
“This eyesore…” Farian pulled out a small box and lifted the lid. Inside was a belt buckle. It was solid tungsten with a hand-engraved pattern. Small rubies dotted the buckle in a circle near the edge with one giant ruby in the center. Rishaki picked it up immediately and inspected it, the rubies at war with her own eyes for their luster.
“And where did you get this piece?” Rishaki knew the answer but she always felt the urge to ask.
“Same as always,” Farian sighed. “Another patient’s family who demanded that I take something extra. I always appreciate the sentiment, but I wish they had better taste. Do they seriously think that I’d wear this stuff?”
“Well of course, I accept,” Rishaki really wanted to inspect it thoroughly and was currently resisting the urge to check the purity with her mouth. It was an act that repulsed some customers so she’d wait until she was alone, settling for a deep whiff of the metal for now. “How many of these things do you have anyways?”
“Enough to keep coming here every day for the foreseeable future,” Farian smiled at her.
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to just come and sell them to me in bulk?”
“And miss the chance to see you every morning? I wouldn’t dream of it!” Damned charming bastard. She’d get back at him some day for all his toying. Maybe tomorrow she’d put some stinging lotion on her hands.
Rishaki retrieved the items for him that she had in stock from the chest she’d been sitting on. While no one else could access it, she liked them all to know that everything in it belonged to her. Before Farian left through the curtain, he called back to her, “By the way, you could use more protein and less sugar in your diet!”
◆◆◆
“Ah, my savior! It is rare to see you in my shop!” Rishaki greeted Phon with glee.
“Let’s cut the pleasantries, Rishaki, you know why I’m here.” The merchant had to appreciate someone who knew what they wanted.
“Yes, of course!” If Phon didn’t have a special place in Rishaki’s heart, she’d probably write her off as a lost cause of a customer. People who wanted for nothing had no use to a merchant. But, if the merchant was skilled enough to figure out who they wanted to appease instead of themselves, they could exploit them even more. “Your brother’s birthday isn’t for a few more months. Why such a rush?”
“I just want to make sure I have the upper hand on anyone else,” Phon’s mind seemed to wander to some specific people in particular. “So do you have it yet or not?”
Stolen story; please report.
“Of course I have it,” Rishaki was almost insulted. “What kind of merchant do you take me for? I promised a week, and it has been a week. I will always live up to my word. Now here we are. Feel free to examine it,” she slid a battered and dusty old book on the counter. “Grin’s handwritten manuscript for his very first story. The only one in the world.”
Phon took the invitation and gave it a glance, but not with her hands. She did so by closing her eyes and sifting through it with her vision. “How much do I owe you?”
“$5,000,000 commons,” Rishaki told her with a straight face but Phon’s eyes nearly melted out of her skull hearing the price. “Don’t look so surprised. We both know its worth. But since you are my savior, I will give you a discount of 10%. So only $4,500,000 commons.”
“Heh, you’d think you’d give this as a gift to someone who saved your life,” Phon smirked.
“Save my life again, and I will give you a 20% discount!”
◆◆◆
“Hey, I got your message, Rishaki. So you found some then?” Tize asked after he pushed through the curtain.
“Quite a few actually,” she pulled out an ornate box and set it on the counter. “Feel free to browse at your leisure.”
Tize opened the lid and began inspecting the dogtags one at a time. They all belonged to Horage soldiers who had passed during the Drazah War and for some time after. “I don’t know a lot of these personally, but I’ll take them all and make sure that they are returned to their families. How much do I owe you?”
“Your money is no good to me, soldier,” Rishaki insisted. “I would rather have you owe me a favor instead. Just be warned that I always keep a tight ledger of my debts and will call upon you in the future.”
Tize stirred a little, but at least managed to keep calm when Rishaki suddenly pulled a pistol, though his fingers did drift to his own weapon. It didn’t take him but a moment to realize that it wasn’t aimed at himself. “Eyy, you, get out of here!” Rishaki yelled to someone behind Tize and then fired the gun which turned out to be a mere squirt gun, though it wasn’t obvious at just a glance.
“Ahh, c’mon Rishaki, we’re great friends, aren’t we?” Tize found Roque standing at the entrance when he turned around, some water dribbling down his suit. “I was the one who got you here after all.”
“Since I’ve arrived, you have swindled me eight times! Would you call that a friend?!” Rishaki spun her head to the side to spit in anger.
“Well, they were great deals on my end,” Roque showed no remorse and sold her a smile.
“I hope they were the best deals ever, because you are banned for life,” she put her foot down.
“We’ll see about that,” Roque’s grin twisted a little. “I’ll be back with an offer you can’t refuse!” He left through the curtain but brushed shoulders with a new customer on the way.
“Ahh great, now the second nuisance is here!” Rishaki lowered the squirt gun, but still kept it in hand in case she’d need it again. “Are you actually here to buy something this time or just waste my life with your browsing again?”
“That’s not fair!” Niloy pouted. “I spent my entire paycheck here last time, so I’m just a little light at the moment, okay? Forgive me for wanting to see what I might want to buy when we get paid again tomorrow.”
“You might want to think more strongly about how you spend your money,” Tize gave his unsolicited fatherly advice. “We get paid well, but even you’ll be living in poverty if you keep blowing it all like this.”
“Eyy, soldier, away!” Rishaki shooed him. “Our business is done. It is now time for business between women.”
◆◆◆
Xard was the next customer to enter, but he didn’t approach the counter. He stood off to the side, leaning against the wall in an attempt to look cool and disinterested. Meanwhile, he let the guest he brought do the talking.
“Greetings, I’m Sier, a private detective that services the entirety of Segrevide,” the woman introduced herself. “I would like to discuss a piece of evidence that may have accidentally ended up in your possession.”
“Nothing accidentally ends up in my possession,” Rishaki smirked at her.
“What about this?” Sier held out her phone, a picture of a shotgun displayed on the screen. It wasn’t one that would be easily mistaken for others since it was entirely painted gold.
“Ah yes, that did accidentally end up in my possession,” Rishaki retracted her words immediately. “Many weapons and criminal oddities have of late. Apparently, word spread of a magic chest that you could throw anything into and it would disappear forever. The perfect place for people to store things they’d never want to be found. For me, it is just free stuff, and occasionally garbage which I have the chest incinerate.”
“I’m guessing you still have the gun then?” Sier asked for clarity. “If so, I would request that you hand it over since it is a key piece of evidence.”
“How much are you offering?” Rishaki initiated the bartering.
“Uhh, was kind of hoping you’d hand it over for free. Isn’t it worthless to you?”
Rishaki couldn’t help but giggle at that. “It doesn’t matter what it means to me. What matters is that it has worth to you, detective.”
“Don’t bother trying to reason with her, Sier,” Xard chimed in. “She’ll always get something in the end.”
“But since I can tell that you are a very altruistic detective,” Rishaki patted the woman down with her eyes. “And by that I mean poor. I will strike a bargain with you. There is a job I would like you to take. If you complete it, I will give you whatever evidence you want, and I’ll even give you your golden gun as a downpayment.”
“How much evidence do you have, exactly?” the detective's intuition had been spurred.
“However much you need.”
“So what’s the job?”
“My late husband,” Rishaki’s words turned bitter the moment she mentioned him. “I was not his first wife. There’s no hard feelings there. He was young and stupid, and so was she. It did not last, end of story. However, they had a child together.”
“I have never met the girl—guess she would be a teenager at this point. But maybe now that I am single and lonely, I am feeling more nostalgic for family, even if she is not my blood. I would ask that you find her for me. Do not take her from her life, just check how she is doing—if she is doing okay—and report back to me. Simple enough, yes?”
“I’ll take the case,” Sier whipped out a business card, handed it over to Rishaki, and received an overly sized golden shotgun in return.