The trio finally exited from jail – ,or, as it was officially known, the “Amberlight Elf Reception Center.”

The ambience outside wasn't much better. Throughout the entire cave-city, clumps of molasses lingered on the stone-plated floors, the walls, and the roofs of the metal and stone buildings. Even the gem-covered stone dome itself, which once served as a fake night sky for its undermountain dwarvish citizens, was covered in a sticky goop.

In the streets, dwarvish workers and citizens alike trudged along with rudimentary shovels, picks, and even a few pieces of working mining machinery to fruitlessly clean the city. The dwarf workers grunted and cursed the Pump name and the bankmasters as each swing of the pick and slash of the shovel stuck in the goopy substance, leaving them to pull on their tools until the handles broke apart.

“This is awful,” Ini said.

“Yeah, we should do something to help them,” said Ono.

“Ah! No.” Figwit blathered out and grabbed the gnomes’ shoulders. “You have done enough already to the dwarfs. The last thing they need is your help.”

The gnomes frowned. “You are right, Figwit.” Ono said.

“Yeah. If we actually want to help them, we should find a way to get that money we owe.”

The wizard gave a rare smile. “I'm glad you are finally getting your priorities right! The quicker we get the money, the sooner I can stop following you lot around. So,” he hesitated, “what do you have in mind?” Figwit asked, standing up.

Ini raise his finger. “Eh, I have no idea. Let's go eat something first. I'm famished.”

“Yeah, you and me both, Ini.”

The wizard's hope died at the gnomes’ words. With a sigh, he followed them to a nearby sidewalk where the brothers sat down, flanked on their right and front by large clumps of rubble-filled molasses.

Figwit sat next to them. To his shock, the brothers took off their hats and pulled out a slice of bread.

“Wha— -- where did you get those? I didn't see the clerk give you any food back in the reception center.”

“Oh, this?” Ono said and showed to the Figwit the still clearly fresh slice of bread.

“Yeah, they didn't take everything from our hats. Can you imagine, Ono?” Ini asked, and his brother let out a hearty chuckle.

“Oh yeah, they would be out there for weeks if they were to rummage all the levels.”

“L-levels?” The wizard’s face paled as he wondered how deep the abyss actually went. “Alright, I have to ask. How do you do that? How do you store so much in there?”

A confused look passed between the brothers. They looked back to the wizard, their mouths beginning to salivate over the thought of the freshly sliced bread in their hands. “You are a wizard. Aren't you meant to know about this sort of thing?” Ini asked.

Figwit straightened his hat. “I am a Seer,” he said with a note of pride in his voice. “My magic is limited by the positions of the stars, the phases of the moons, and the alignment of the planets. Not all spells are always available to me, but as a seer it is my job to know every combination of the power given by the celestial bodies and know how to cast it on the allowed day. It is a great responsibility, for it’s one of the most complicated magic schools but also one of the most powerful, if the stars are right, of course. As such, it is expected of me to only use such magic when it is absolutely required. To be wasteful with it is a great dishonor to a seer. Only one who's truly dedicated, and a possessor of great mental fortitude, is able to master the way of the stars.”

Figwit finished his self-congratulatory speech and looked back at the brothers. To his disgust, the two gnomes had begun to spread the road molasses into their fresh bread.

“That though ... I have no idea how or why you do what you do,” Figwit added, his face twisting in repulsion.

Ini and Ono looked back at the wizard, their mouths full of dirt and bread. “Well at least you know where your magic is from,” Ini said with a hearty laugh. Bits of debris fell from the molasses onto the road. He reached down to scoop them back up. “Truth is, we are not sure how we do it either.”

“Gnome trickery is what dad always called it,” said Ono.

“Yeah, some gnomes seem to have certain special abilities. Mom and dad always said the purer a gnome’s soul is, the greater his magical prowess is.”

“Is that so?” Figwit asked, clearly interested. Until then, he hadn’t known of gnome magic.

“Yeah, Mom said Grandad was so nice and kind he was able to spread his magic over an entire town.” Ini smiled, clearly proud of his heritage.

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“Really? What sort of magic was it?” Figwit asked, leaning in.

“Oh, funny things. Once, he turned the winter rain into blocks of cheese for a full day.”

“It was pretty funny, up until a lot of the houses suffered heavy dairy-based damages.” Ini and Ono said respectively.

Figwit looked up, astounded at their family pride. “Huh,” he let out.

“Oh, once he also made the town invisible for a few weeks. People were really mad about that.”

“These don't sound like funny things. They just sound infuriating—-- annoying inconveniences at best, horrible disasters at worst,” Figwit protested. He was beginning to notice a pattern in gnome magic.

“Grandpap wasn't just a prankster, he did actually help the town too,” Ono recalled. “Sure, the town might’ve gotten a bit angry at his antics once in a while, but it was alright because in the end he would fix everything and make it as it used to be.”

“Yeah, the town really did love him. As long as he was there, no one ever got sick or cold, and food was always available to every family and house. Grandpap made sure of that.” Ini's voice swelled with pride and love.

As he heard their words, the wizard’s expression changed. With a warm tone, the first one since he had met the gnomes, he told them, “Well, maybe your grandpa wasn't so bad then. I see I have much to learn about gnomes still.”

“Don't worry, Figwit! You will have plenty of time to learn!” Ono said.

“Oh goody,” the wizard answered, his smile suddenly vanishing as he remembered his duties.

#

“Well, well, well. If it isn't the Pump Brothers.” A worker dwarf clad in a yellow metal vest and helmet mocked as he approached the gnomes sitting on the roadside.

“Oh, hey Darian.”

“Darian! Hey.”

The brothers gleefully greeted the approaching dwarf. “You know that dwarf?” asked Figwit.

Ini squealed in excitement. “Know him? We and Darian have been in the construction business for years! We are practically best friends.”

The dwarf groaned. His arms were crossed and his back was straight and narrow, like a metal rod shoved into the earth. “Sure, we are the bestest of friends.”

“Yeah, see?” Ono said to the facepalming wizard.

“Hey, Pump face, you two really outdone yourselves with the molasses job. Nice work,” the dwarf said as the brothers began to smile.

“Oh thank you, Darian.”

The dwarf got closer to the brothers, furrowed his brow, and let of a torrent of spittle.

“No, really. I should be the one to thank you. Thanks to your little disaster the kingdom hired my company to start the cleanup job. You know, the actual professionals. The ones who should have gotten the molasses contract in the first place.”

“Oh, that's nice Darian. Your company deserves it,” said Ini.

“Yeah, the town is lucky to have you working on it,” added Ono.

At their side, the wizard’s mouth hung open at their oddly positive response.

“It deserves a lot more than just that.” The dwarf continued his barrage as he scowled at the brothers. “Especially after all the contracts that you two have taken from me.”

The gnomes continued smiling as they heard his words. “Oh, don't worry about that Darian, it was nothing.”

“Yeah, c'mon. Your company is great. It shouldn't have to bother with small projects and contracts like ... what was it, Ono?”

“The sewage piping job in Helmira, the Koboldia river dam ...”

“Oh yeah, also the Small Counties’ new Agrarian Bank. And of course ...”

“The High Mage’s Skypiercer Tower!” the brothers said in unison. In front of them, the dwarf's face glowed red with anger. He tried to speak through his gritted teeth.

“Yes, thank you so much. For taking those small jobs away from me.”

“You’re welcome!” the brothers let out with a warm smile. The dwarf stepped forward and raised his fists to punch the brothers. As his fists prepared to meet with the gnomes’ faces, Ini and Ono closed their hands and met the dwarf’s.

“Fistbump!” they let out. The dwarf expelling a yell of rage before backing away from the brothers.

At their side, Figwit couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

“Hey, Darian, wait!” Ono called out.

“What!” Darian shouted, his face still red with rage.

“Well ... you see, Ini and I are in a bit of a problem.” The dwarf’s redness vanished. He raised his eyebrow and stopped to look back at the brothers.

“We are in a lot of debt to the government here, and we don't have any idea of how to pay it,” said Ini.

“Think you can help us?” Ono pleaded.

A devious smile spread across the dwarf’s face.

“Help? Yeah. Yeah, I know what you can do.”

The gnomes stood up and focused as the dwarf continued. “Outside the mountain here in Amberlight there's some marginal land. Hasn't been used ever, really. I have no idea why; there's plenty of uses for that swampland.”

“Swamp?”

“You can't make money of a swamp,” Ini said.

“What? Of course you can! Only a fool would look at a marshland and not see the goldmine that it is. You two aren't fools --—you are such ... great and ... good professionals.” The dwarf gritted the words through a fake smile.

“I mean ... yeah, I guess we could build something on it and sell it.”

“Doesn't the land belong to anyone?” Ini and Ono respectively asked as the dwarf sealed the deal.

“No, of course not. Cause no one here in Amberlight has your smarts to see how profitable such a place could be. You can just show up and use it to make money!”

“If I were you— — -- and I wasn't so busy with this contract already— —--I would have started working there myself. But oh, woe is me,” Darian said and brought his hand to his head, feigning theatrics.

The gnomes looked down, thinking. Beside them, Figwit raised his eyebrow at Darian and shook his head.

“I guess it's our best option.”

“We'll find a way to turn that swamp to gold! Thanks, Darian!” the gnomes yelled as he turned his back on them.

“No problem ... suckers,” he muttered.

The gnomes rose from the floor, wiping molasses from their clothes.

“Alright,” Ono declared with a newfound vigor, “Well, we have a plan now.”

“Yes, let's go see this marsh outside the mountain,” said Ini.

The brothers headed off toward the rail station. Behind them, the wizard followed.

“Are you two really sure about this?” he asked.

Ini looked back. “What’s the matter, Figwit? I thought you wanted to get rid of us as quickly as possible.”

“Yeah, the quicker we get that money the quicker we get out of trouble and you can go back to reading peoples fortunes or whatever it is you do. It's a win for everyone!”

“I ...” Figwit considered his words. He prepared himself to speak, to warn the gnomes about Darian's deception. But at the blatant mockery of his chosen profession he quieted. “You know what? Yeah, sure. Let's go see this swamp. I'm sure it will be filled with opportunity.”

“Yeah!”

“That's the spirit! Fistbump!” the brothers proclaimed as they set onwards to fortune, opportunity, and freedom.