Greymoon has a poor reputation here in Avennia, but it's not a bad place to go on vacation. You'll just want to watch out for the fiends that climb out of the Yawning Chasm. Oh, and the haunted western forests; those ghosts are not nice. Now that I think about it, the eastern lands are rife with bandits and other ne'er-do-wells, so it's best to avoid the roads there. The capital was on fire last time I was there, so I'm not sure how it is these days.

The beach is lovely. Bundle up, though; their coastline is pretty far north.

-Basen Koh on vacation spots

Reid and Kris entered the lobby of the Greymoon Shadow's Society building. A fire roared in a massive hearth on the far wall, and a few people loitered around the room. They looked dangerous and disinterested. None looked at him, but Reid still felt like he was being watched. A giant wolf's head mounted above the hearth did nothing to ease his worry. The snarling visage tracked them with unblinking eyes as they entered and headed toward the desk on the other side of the room.

A man in a finely pressed suit held up a finger as they approached the desk, indicating they should wait for him to finish writing in an open book. Kris pulled an apple from somewhere, and Reid couldn't help but remark on it.

"Where did you get an apple?"

"Oh, I bought a bushel a few weeks ago. Do you want me to bring in a few for you? They're delicious."

He crunched the apple.

"No, I mean, where were you carrying it? You don't have a bag."

Kris chewed on his apple, trying to finish his bite before responding. He swallowed and tried to say something, but he coughed on a bit that must have still been in his throat. The quill in the attendant's hand paused.

"Would you mind having a seat? I'll call you over when I'm ready."

"Oh. Sure, sorry," Reid said.

They picked out two of the chairs in front of the hearth. The heat sunk into Reid's body and drove out the chill from the rain. He removed his coat and gently shook it out next to the chair. It made a small puddle, but he didn't know what else to do with it. There didn't seem to be a coat rack in the lobby, so he just laid it over the arm of his chair and sat down.

Kris crunched his apple again, Reid's question forgotten. The sound made Reid flinch. It wasn't a normal reaction. Reid thought he must just be nervous.

A man pushed himself off the wall and approached them. He had daggers visible on his belt and smaller knives strapped to his chest.

"What are you doing here," he said, stopping a few feet from their chairs. The man rested a hand on a dagger.

"Uh, we're just here to discuss a contract."

Reid's heart was pounding. He imagined a thrown knife catching him in the gut.

Kris took another bite of apple, and Reid nearly jumped out of his chair.

"Are we going to have a problem?" the man asked. He lowered his head, his expression dark.

Reid had no idea what was happening, but he was unbearably wound up. Something wasn't right. It was more than just a random threatening person. He knew people didn't just attack each other for no reason. He knew he was safe, but his body was in a downright panic. He wasn't breathing. He couldn't blink. His fingers dug into the arms of his chair in a white knuckled grip.

Kris glanced up and looked at Reid.

"Are you alright, Reid?"

Reid pitched forward, paralyzed with fear. He didn't feel the floor as he crashed into it.

"Jerim! That's enough. They're not even proper mages."

Reid couldn't see who was talking, but all his fear and anxiety suddenly vanished like it had never been. He pushed his face off the floor and got into a sitting position.

The man who'd approached them was laughing to himself and walking away, flipping a dagger into the air. Another man walked up and offered Reid a hand.

"Sorry about him. He likes to mess with people."

"What...what was that?" Reid said, accepting the help to his feet.

"Just a spell. It didn't actually hurt you. Maybe just fried your nerves."

Kris stood up and glared at the new man. "And you think that's alright?"

The man was taller than Kris or Reid, with sinewy arms, long black hair, and a scar that passed over one closed eye. He looked like he ate bog lurkers for breakfast.

"I didn't say that. You're in the Shadow's territory now, though. You ought to be careful."

The man walked away without another word.

"Maybe we should have brought Basen," Reid said.

"No, I think you were right. That wasn't just a random guy having some fun."

They sat back down, and Reid leaned in.

"It wasn't?"

"No...they want us to feel afraid or fight back. Basen wouldn't have taken that lightly."

Reid tried to process that. "So Basen gets in a fight, and they refuse to talk to us? Or that breaches his contract somehow?"

Kris shrugged. "No idea, but I know how these types of people operate. Basen has dealings with just about anyone, so long as they aren't actively hurting other people. What that guy just did to you? That's the line. They'll push us up to it to see if they can get the upper hand. Play it cool, and if you feel that again, let me know."

Reid nodded. He was glad he'd waited for Kris. The man wasn't a powerful mage, but he was older than Reid and had experience in a lot of different things.

They were allowed to stew for a few more minutes before the man at the reception desk waved them over.

"What can I do for you today?" the man said. He continued sitting, but he had a level of physical poise and formality that made Reid uncomfortable by sheer proximity.

After a moment of silence, Reid remembered that he had dragged Kris here, so he should probably do the talking.

"Well," Reid said weakly. He cleared his throat. "Ahem. Excuse me. We're here to inquire about the terms of contracts between the Greymoon Shadows and the Immaculate Collection. A loan and an ongoing lease."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I see," the man said. He pulled a sheet off a meticulous stack on one side of his desk and began writing in a quick, neat hand. "Who is the guarantor of the contracts?"

Reid had a guess for what that was, but he hadn't encountered the terminology on the contracts he'd seen in the past. "The guarantor, as in, who is ultimately responsible for the loan?"

"That could be an interpretation, but to be clear, in our business loans, the business is responsible for making payments. The guarantor is the one who provided collateral against the loan, if required."

"I don't know if there was one," Reid said. He didn't know if the contracts he'd looked at had been the full terms and conditions of the agreements, but neither had mentioned a guarantor.

"That would be unusual."

"Basen's an unusual guy," Kris said.

The man paused at Basen's name, just for a moment. He wrote a few last notes on his sheet and stood.

"Allow me a few minutes to collect your contract records. I will call you through that door when we're ready."

The man left, and another person in a fine tailored outfit took his place. The new person didn't spare them a glance until Kris cleared his throat.

The man didn't look impressed with needing to speak to them.

"Yes?"

"Do you have a garbage?" Kris asked, holding up his apple core.

"No."

The man looked back down and ignored them.

They were scarcely back to their seats when the first man from reception called them through a door. Reid expected to enter a room, but instead, they walked down a long corridor. That wouldn't have been unusual, were it not for the apparent prison cells that lined the passage.

Thick iron bars obstructed his view as he hustled to keep up with the receptionist. The sound of the prison was a depressed silence. Other than the sound of their shoes on the stone floor, Reid only heard the occasional wet cough. He didn't know if this was real, but the Greymoon Shadows didn't try to hide their attempts at intimidation. Without the influence of the dread inducing spell, Reid was about to ignore the cells. He could admit to himself that he was nervous about the actual loan terms, but he wouldn't be afraid of these people.

They entered a small room with four chairs around a circular table. A woman was already in the room, reading a series of papers.

"Thank you, Passis, I'll take care of our guests from here," the woman said. She rose from her chair, and the man from reception bowed low and left the room, closing the door behind him. The woman shook hands with Reid and Kris.

"Welcome. I'm Chief Assessor Kiala."

"Reid Aveno."

"Kris."

"A pleasure to meet you both. Please, sit. I understand you're inquiring about the contracts we maintain with the Immaculate Collection. What is your relationship with the business?"

"I'm working for Basen to manage the shop. So I guess Shop Manager."

----------------------------------------

Title Set - The Immaculate Collection - Staffing

Reid Aveno

* Title: Shop Manager

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His ledger was still new, so he had difficulty suppressing his surprise at the new update. Kiala didn't notice, as she'd begun taking notes as soon as he spoke.

"And I'm just an extra hand for anything that needs to get done," Kris said.

His entry in Reid's ledger didn't update, so Reid guessed it hadn't been specific enough.

Kiala looked up at Reid.

"An impressive position for one so young."

Reid wasn't sure what to say, so he just nodded and smiled. Kiala picked up a few forms and began sorting them. She sat with the same degree of formality as her coworkers. She was older than Reid, by how much he couldn't say, but she still maintained a relatively youthful appearance.

"Passis, our attendant, tells me you're here to inquire about contractual terms, correct?"

"Yes," Reid said. Kris was examining a loose thread on his vest and seemed to have checked out of the conversation once contracts were mentioned. "Terms and the status of the contracts like what we owe, our standing with your organization, and that sort of thing."

"And you are an authorized representative of the Immaculate Collection and its owner, Basen Koh?"

Reid didn't want to lie since he didn't know if they had some magic in the room to detect such things. Basen had given him full rein of the shop, but he didn't know Reid was here. Reid needed to phrase his response so it was entirely truthful but didn't raise more questions.

"Basen has given me full control of the management of his business and the selling of his inventory."

Kiala set down her papers and met Reid's eyes. He felt her taking his measure—deciding if he was lying or if working with him was even worth the effort. He tried not to look away or react. She slid over a single paper. He'd passed whatever assessment she'd made.

"There are two outstanding contracts: a single loan and a lease contract. This paper has information about your loan."

He felt some slight relief that there really were only two contracts. Reid scanned through the loan information. It wasn't the contract but rather an itemized list of fees, interest charges, capitalization, and payments—though that section was empty. It was about what he had expected. They owed two more gold than he'd guessed due to an accelerated non-payment provision Reid hadn't seen in the contract. The longer Basen went without paying, the higher the fine became.

----------------------------------------

Debt Registered - Greymoon Shadows Loan

Total Owed: 210 gold 50 silver 50 copper

Loan Standing: Good

----------------------------------------

"Good standing?" he was so surprised to see it that he didn't think before he spoke out loud.

"While it does appear that the Immaculate Collection is a little behind, we value the relationship we have with all our small businesses," she said with a straight face. "The loan does not specify repayment terms outside of some minor non-payment restrictions."

According to the fine print at the bottom of the document, "minor" meant that the loan would default if Basen went a full twelve months without payment or if the total outstanding balance reached double the original value. Reid didn't plan on needing to worry about those cases.

"Thank you. The loan is fairly straightforward, but I wanted to know what we owe as of now."

"Very good. You may keep these statements for your own records. Do you have any other questions on the loan?"

Reid shook his head.

"The next contract is the building lease. The terms are on the sheet along with outstanding payments due."

Reid gasped when he saw what they owed.

----------------------------------------

Debt Registered - Greymoon Shadows Lease

Total Owed: 125 gold 87 silver 23 copper

Lease Standing: Poor, first non-payment warning issued

----------------------------------------

"As you can see, there is a problem," Kiala said. "We have not received any inventory or safety inspection reports. Those are required in the lease terms to ensure the safety of our property. Each month without the safety inspection is a ten gold penalty, and each month without an inventory report is a two gold penalty."

"And the rest of the charges?" Reid asked. There were roughly another ten gold's worth of charges that just said "other fees."

"You can find the contract terms on the back of the sheet. If you'd like an itemized report, I can have one delivered to the Immaculate Collection by the end of the day."

Reid found the terms. They were just as confusing as what he had looked at yesterday.

"It's unclear to me how these penalties and fees are assessed. What do we need to do to avoid more penalties in the future?"

Reid pulled out a pen and paper from his bag. He thought his ledger would probably keep track, but it wouldn't hurt to have a written record, too. He wrote as Kiala explained.

"Of course, Mr. Aveno. The safety inspection is the top priority. That needs to be done at least once every three months to ensure the safety of our assets. The inventory report is a listing of all three star or higher items along with their general classifications. We've taken on a great deal of risk by allowing a shop with such a high number of potentially dangerous magical items. We manage that risk with the inspections and reports."

As much as Reid hated to say it, it wasn't unfair. Basen himself admitted the shop had dangerous items. Kiala produced another sheet from her folder and scanned the contents.

"There are some other minor issues, but most will be taken care of by the inspection reports we receive. Minor fees due to mishandling of goods. We assess them because we don't know if there is a problem or not."

"So if the inspection comes back essentially clear, you'll refund the charges?"

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way."

It had been worth a shot. Reid looked over the terms sheet for the inventory reporting and noticed a concerning bullet point.

"All items in the shop need to be certified?"

"Correct. We don't accept item reports without verification. I can recommend you an excellent identifier that the Greymoon Shadows use frequently."

Reid had no doubt the man would be expensive and some of the money would end up back in the Shadow's pockets. The cost would be outrageous.

Reid tried to figure out how much it would cost. His encounter with the first merchant at Mr. Foursprout's stall had said identifying and certifying a four star item would cost fifty silver. He could estimate the cost for lower and higher star certifications and then search his ledger for how many of each item type they had out front in the shop. Unfortunately, Reid couldn't do that instantly. Kiala didn't let his silence linger and continued.

"As of right now, we've only issued a first warning for non-payment on the building lease, but as you can imagine, the existing outstanding debt will begin to grow quickly. We're willing to make payment arrangements, but in the end, we can't simply allow tenants who do not pay their debts. Were it not for Mr. Koh's influence and importance, the property would have already been served a notice to vacate."

Reid nodded. "I appreciate the consideration."

"Will there be anything else for you today?"

Reid sighed and gathered up the information she'd given them. "No. I'll be in touch when I figure out how we're going to start repayments. Are fees assessed on the lease due date?"

Kiala nodded. "Payments made against outstanding debt are resolved in the order that they were incurred, as well. So until you are current, you will still receive non-payment fees on the monthly lease amount."

"Sure, why not. Well, I appreciate your time."

"It was my pleasure. I look forward to our continued partnership."