"What's your plan now, Trader?" Isabella asked.

"This revelation doesn't really change anything short-term, or even medium-term. I'm still going to help Karrel, I still want my memories. The way to the second goal is simply clearer now."

"I'd be pissed if I were you." The smith scratched his bearded chin. "That goddess kidnapped you, messed with your mind, and dropped you off in an unknown land."

"Oh, I'm furious." Trader agreed. "But what am I gonna do? Not improve myself, just to spite her? I can't take revenge on someone who no longer exists, and I'm certainly not going to ruin my life to do it. I'm not a raging youth anymore."

[Actually,] she thought to her new assistant, [how old am I?]

[Before your transmigration, you have lived for an equivalent of this world's fifty years. For context, your particular strain of parasites achieves maturity at twenty five years of age.] The Archivist replied.

"Yeah, I'm fifty. Not a child." She repeated out loud.

"For me, you're still no different from Karrel." The demon commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" The man in question asked, offended. "I'm thirty five!"

"Get back to me after your second century." She dismissed him. "I recognise you are both adults, but that doesn't translate into the decades of experience required to be a real player in the game of world politics."

"And you have experience in that, huh? Then why aren't you leading the empire yet? You don't even own a single province!"

"No, you don't know that I control several provinces in the dutchy. The fact I don't own them officially is a deliberate choice."

Just as Karrel was opening his mouth for a retort, Isa stopped him.

"Wait, what's that coming from that wall?"

Trader looked in the direction, and she too noticed a wave of sympathetic magic coming from within the wall. It was faint, but it was there.

"That's my stash. I keep valuables there in case someone breaks in. It's warded, how did you find it?" He walked up to the wall.

"I wasn't scrying for it, something is coming from within."

The artificer laid his hand on a particular brick and pushed mana into it. A part of the wall the size of a doorway pushed in, and lowered into the floor, revealing several metal shelves.

The vault contained several notebooks, weird runic contraptions, and many containers.

"The briefcase, third shelf from the top." Trader pointed.

"That's Luci's payment for the bracelet…" he took the case out and waved his hand. The secret compartment closed, leaving the wall looking exactly as before

Karrel set the briefcase on the table, and opened it. Hidden among the many gold coins laid a silver mirror. It barely fit in the baggage.

"Hello?" A voice came from the mirror. It was Lucienne.

The man scrambled to pick up the object.

"Luci?" He saw his lover's face instead of his own reflection.

"Finally! I told you I left a «bonus», why didn't you check?" Lucienne asked through the magic mirror.

"I just chucked it in my safe after I got home, there's a lot of research we've had to go through. The shop's still running, and-"

"Wait, we?" The dragonkin tilted her head.

"Right, I didn't have time to explain everything."

He moved the table up to the wall, and set the mirror in such a way that it stood up on its own against the wall.

Trader stood beside Karrel. Isabella also took a peek at the mirror.

"Oh, you must be Lucienne! It's great to meet you, I've heard a lot of great things about you. My name is Trader, and she's-"

"Leaving now." The demon cut her off and exited the room.

"What's going on? Who are these two women, honey?" The noble was getting more confused by the moment.

"Oh, don't be jealous, dear!" The symbiote misunderstood. "Karrel only has eyes for you. I've offered three times, but he always refuses, and it's not for a lack of attraction!"

"Alright!" Karrel cut her off. "Let's slow down, and get everybody up to speed. Luci, this is Trader, an alien that fell from the sky. She's helping me become a noble. Trader, this is Lucienne, next in line for the Tiamarr dutchy and the love of my life."

The smith explained the broad strokes of the last couple of weeks. Before he could ask Trader if she wanted to share today's revelation, she laid out everything in detail.

"Why did you tell me all this?" Lucienne wondered. "I could easily exploit those «banes» of yours now."

"Because we are partners in crime!" The alien grinned. "I'm on the side of your sweetheart, and if I go, he can't really run experiments on his own body, now, can he? I'm too valuable to go against, and since we're going to work together, we need to know each other's limits."

The noble sighed. "You remind me of my mother."

"I know you don't mean it as a compliment, but I'll take it as one."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Where did you find her?" Lucienne shook her head incredulously.

"She fell from the sky. Literally. I had to get a new anvil, and I still use a tarp to patch the hole in the roof. Thank gods winter's over."

"Wait, she's that Fleshforger person? There has been quite a fuss about her in the noble circles. I thought it was a dwarf, not… you." Lucienne commented.

"What are they saying about me?" The alien in question asked.

"It's mostly speculation. Since you're technically of noble blood, people have to respect you, and there hasn't been a new player at the table in the dutchy since I was born. The smaller houses would like it if you joined them, while mother is kind of anxious about what you're going to do next."

"But… I haven't done anything? I'm just re-learning my craft and occasionally helping Karrel with his commissions."

"Exactly! And the anticipation of your first move is keeping everyone from doing anything major, because they have no clue how that would impact your decision."

"I'm just a single gal, though." Trader scratched her head. "How much could I even change? It's not like I have resources."

"Politics in these parts are very stable." Lucienne explained. "We are far from the border, but we're not close to the capital, either. There isn't much going on here, most of the time the same allies compete with the same enemies. It's boring, frankly. I never wanted to be a part of this, but now… some fresh blood could change a bit."

Trader nodded, before changing the topic slightly. "So, as a noble, what privileges do I have?"

"Well first of all, any legal proceedings will go smoother for you. If you're ever in court, you will have a good lawyer. The ones that aren't on someone's retainer already would jump at the chance to represent a noble.

Second, others have to treat you according to the code of conduct. It's a lot, you can read up on it on your own time, but the gist is that if someone disrespects you, they have to publicly apologize, which is a hit to their social standing. If they refuse, you can challenge them to a duel."

That made the parasite perk up.

"Oh, that's going to be fun. Wait, do I have to learn how to use a weapon, or can I just use my claws?"

"I've never fought in a duel, so I'm not all that familiar with the rules. But people fight in their draconic forms all the time, so it should be fine." Lucienne shrugged.

"It's been bugging me," Karrel cut in, "why are you so obsessed with fighting?" He turned to the blue woman.

"Well, first of all, I'm paranoid, so I need to be as prepared for an altercation as possible. Secondly, it's the ultimate stress test for the body. I can learn a lot about what works and what doesn't, because every misstep is immediately punished. Honestly, I don't get why you are so opposed to it in the first place."

"Because I can die!" He replied. "I still have nightmares about that «sparring session» two weeks ago."

"Wait, really? That's bad. You might have TIMA. We should have had you checked by priest Gallian." She frowned.

Karrel tilted his head in confusion, so she clarified. "Trauma-Induced Mind Aberration. Most common in soldiers and abuse victims."

"I'd definitely call what happened abuse."

"What in the name of Nogard happened two weeks ago?!" Lucienne shouted full of anger. How could they so casually talk about her love getting hurt?

"Long story short: we made friends with a demon and she offered a sparring session, but she kinda forgot we were just mortals, so we got pretty beat up. Karrel lost an arm, I lost my head, we both lost our chill, we teamed up and beat her ass with a wild magic surge. Yes, incredibly stupid, but we were losing even two on one and we weren't at our most stable."

"A demon-" the dragonkin started, but interrupted herself. "You did-" she shook her head, and tried again. "How are-" she sighed. "There's just too much to unpack here! No wonder your mind got injured, love. How are you dealing with it?" She asked Trader.

"Meditation. And lots of sex." The parasite replied with a grin.

Lucienne let out air through her nose, slightly amused.

"Okay, anything else I should know about? Any toes I shouldn't step on?" Trader asked.

"I would suggest you feel out the dynamics between the local houses on your own. It's far too much to describe in a single conversation. One thing you should remember is that my mother won't tolerate anyone moving against her directly. If you wish to weaken her, strike at her allies."

"I'm not planning to strike against anyone right now, but I'll keep it in mind."

"Even by doing nothing you'll earn someone's ire. To be a noble is to have enemies. I must be going now. I hope my suspicions about you prove false, Trader. I'll call you in a few days' time, my love." Lucienne finished, and her image disappeared, leaving only a mundane reflection of Trader and Karrel. They stared at the mirror for a few seconds.

"Well, I can definitely see the reason you'd fall for her. Two big reasons." The symbiote remarked, grabbing at her own generous bust.

The smith rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Please don't try to have sex with my fiance."

"I check out everyone in terms of how hot and how dangerous they look." She defended herself. "And your gal scores high on both accounts. Intelligent, too. We'll get along great!"

"I hope so. Alright, time to get back to work. That crossbow gave me an idea."

She tilted her head, and gestured for him to go on.

"See, it really dawned on me that I need to be ready for a fight. We have that heist to do, and later on we're gonna do some highly illegal experiments, so it's best I can handle my own if you're not around. So I'm gonna use a design I saw a few years ago. It launches a metal projectile, but instead of using elastic strings like bows and crossbows, or magic like cannons, it propels the shot with an explosion. And given I have a live-in alchemist, getting black powder shouldn't be too difficult, and it can't be dispelled like hand cannons. It's called a《gun.》" He explained.

"You launch a projectile using an explosion? And you want to hold this device on your person at all times?" She looked at him like he was mad.

"The face you are making is exactly the reason the patent has been sitting on a shelf gathering dust. And why I've managed to buy full rights for just ten gold coins."

"Oh gods… how am I the responsible one now?" She shook her head, but there was a smirk on the alien's face. "Alright, but how does that relate to the crossbow? You said you wanted it to work independent of magic."

"The guy wanted real bolts so he could cast spells on them. Now, I could enchant the 《bullets,》as they are called in the patent, right as I make them. But I am a master enchanter, as you've said. So the plan is to have mundane bullets, and enchant them on the spot to fit the situation. The biggest upside of enchanting is its versatility, after all."

"Do you have a copy here?" Trader asked, referring to the patent.

"Give me a moment."

Sure enough, after a few minutes of sifting through cabinets full of greenprints, he pulled out the one for a "gun."

She took it and set it on the table. The author of the greenprint wasn't as reckless as she originally thought. They specified that the ignition chamber, where the projectile-launching explosion would occur, had to be made with a material that was supremely durable and capable of dispersing the impact.

"It won't be good enough as is, but the idea itself is sound, surprisingly." She finally said. "I can design and provide the powder, but it's gonna cost you."

"Yeah, of course. How much do you want?"

"I want my own house."

He blinked. "What."

"In exchange for paying for the taxes on it, I'll supply you with however much…" She took a second to look at the greenprint "《gunpowder》 you need. Sounds like a fair deal to me, considering the initial testing will require so much of the stuff you'd compete with mining operations."

He tried to come up with a rebuttal, but eventually he realized he would most likely save money on this. Prototyping an almost completely new technology was going to take a lot of trial and error. And she'd volunteered to figure out the necessary chemical composition for the gunpowder. That alone would cost a hefty sum from any other alchemist, not to mention he'd have to share the design with a stranger. Isabella was off the table, because frankly he wanted to work as little with the demon woman as possible.

"Alright, deal." He reached out a hand, which Trader shook eagerly.