Blackrock Mercenaries

Mortifying would be the best way I could describe the experience, with illuminating coming in at a distant second. Penny kept a tight grip as she marched me up towards various farm houses. Rita and Sasha trailed behind us, though after the first house they had stopped laughing. That was at least something.

The best thing I could say about the experience was it was short, and that it gave me a good idea about the layout of our little hamlet. There were six or seven families living here, most of them closer to Jenkins and Reeds age than Ted's. Though a few younger faces watched me, cousins or other relatives who worked the farm to gain experience.

Each encounter was fairly standard. We would knock, and a farmer's wife or child would answer. If it was the former, I would have to endure snide comments about why the shade I had picked didn't match my skin. The latter, depending on age, would either ignore it or ask if I was married to Penny.

I learned quickly to deny any such ideas quickly and bluntly. At first, I made the mistake of trying to be clever in my words to not sound defensive. The farmer's wife, who I was chatting too, had continued to press, changing her allegations from Penny to Rita.

That got me a glare, and I made sure to more firmly deny it, before I asked to speak to whoever was in charge. This often meant waiting for someone to come out of the fields, though thankfully, they seemed content to let me refocus on business.

For everyone we spoke to, that meant primarily farming. I wore a polite smile and nodded along as they spoke of tomatoes, squash, or corn. Occasionally, I listened to lectures about work involving wood, leather, or smithing. It quickly became clear that this area was close to being self sufficient with the sheer variety of skills.

One enterprising family was unique. They grew a set of small magical plants that Sasha looked jealous about.

When I had endeared myself to them, I asked them about what services they often used the Blackrock Company for. It turned out to be exactly what Rita had said. They mostly did simple jobs: guarding, hunting, fetching items. It was simple work, and they told me with pride how they paid in food, or tailoring, or blacksmithing. Not that any of them had the skills to work on their weapons proper.

"And how would you feel about a change in price?" I asked a man named Fred, who had a full field of tomatoes.

His wife stood next to him, her hair as grey as his, and she glanced worriedly towards Ted's farm before he answered. "We don't really use money much around here. A bit comes in when Mr. Linsons Caravan comes to town, but we usually end up buying so much from him it cancels out."

"I see." My smile remained fixed, not a skill, but an ability I had honed over many a meeting. "So it's a closed loop, then. You spend everything you make on what he sells you? Which I assume is basic supplies. Needles, thread, cloth, toothbrushes, things for the animals, etc."

Martha, Fred's wife, and a high level farmer in her own right, spoke in a scratchy voice. "It's too much of a hassle to get in and out to Yuliosa for the amounts we need. Between his supplies and what he charges for the mail, it gets expensive. But it's convenient when he's willing to come right to our door."

"He charges you for the mail?" I glanced between them, trying to think of any other service that might do that. We had a free postal service in the city, paid for by taxes, but I hadn't thought of how I was going to get mail out.

"Oh yes, only a few bronze, but it adds up."

I resisted the urge to shake my head. It was a brilliant move from a business standpoint. With no other options, he could charge what he liked. By making it cheap it kept people grateful while lining his pockets. The issue was I didn't have so much as bronze to my name. All my money was gone.

"And how often does he arrive?" I glanced between them.

"Every two weeks." Martha paused and gave a small grimace. "He might be able to get you something for your face, dear. I know you city folk are a bit more open about such things, but if you're doing business…"

Beside her, Fred gave a harsh nod as Penny laughed behind me. I sighed.

"Believe me Ma'am. I am aware. Thank you for your time. Though I regret to inform you, we'll be looking for more financial contracts, so I don't know if we'll be able to fulfill any time-consuming work."

Fred waved me off. "Forget it, we'll be ok."

With that, we said our goodbyes and returned to the main road. Half a day had passed, but as embarrassed as I was, I was also grateful we had talked with everyone. It confirmed what I had already known. This place would be all but worthless for my needs. Unless I tried to build it up into something great, which I didn't have the time or the experience to do.

No, if I wanted to make the type of money that Rita was talking about, we needed a big payday. I half listened as the three women chatted amongst themselves as we made our way back to Jenkins' house. What we required would mean something either multi-step or a big event. Security for the Flower Festival came to mind, but with the way the Mayor didn't like us, that was potentially a dead end.

Jenkins met us at the door, and we made our way inside. As he chatted with Penny, Rita and Sasha moved inside to get tea. My gaze fell onto the portrait that decorated the living room. As it did, the story Jenkins had mentioned about Annabelle came back to me. When I combined that with the rumours that Mulvinia had mentioned, an idea came to mind.

It was risky, and I couldn't bet everything on it. But if we needed a big cash injection, the only way to do that was to have someone with a lot of money be willing to spend it on us. That left the question of how we could entice them. My attention moved to Rita as she came back bearing tea, and I watched her, thinking about her in the blue dress I had seen her in before.

Mulvinia said he was looking for somewhere to celebrate the upcoming solstice. Sure, Yuliosa wouldn't be anything like the big parties in the major towns, but somewhere they could play king might entice them. Combine that with three beautiful women who could lead his guards on a one of a kind of hunting expedition against rare monsters? It shouldn't be a difficult sell if we played our cards right.

The issue would be getting rid of anything that might cause problems.

Rita noticed my stare and glanced over at me with a frown. "What are you planning?"

"Do you know how to dance?"

"What?" She looked shocked as Penny laughed and Sasha raised a hand to her mouth to stifle her snicker.

"Do you know how to dance? I saw there was an event for it at The Flower Festival." I shifted my attention to Penny and Sasha. "That goes for you both as well. Unless Hester is taking you, Sasha?"

"He is, yes. Why?" She sounded confused.

Penny bounced in her seat, and then stood, moving to a more open space where she twirled. "I've done a little bit."

"Not provincial dances. Proper dancing," I pointed out.

"It is proper dancing," she pouted at me. "But no, I'm not exactly ballroom material."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

There was an irritated tone in her voice, but my attention turned to Rita. She looked away, and then shook her head, her tail drooping behind her. Her lack of knowledge didn't surprise me. It would make things awkward, but I could probably teach her enough to get by.

"Chad," she said my name with a hint of disdain. "What are you planning?"

"Dresses too. I know you and Penny have them. Are they your only sets? Does Yuliosa have a tailor?" My words were coming out distracted, and though I could see Jenkins mouthing something, it didn't register until Rita had a claw under my chin.

"Chad. What are you planning?" Her words were icy.

I blinked and came back to the situation. "Right. We need to make a lot of money, far faster than I had originally planned. There's only one way to do that. Get someone with a lot of money to give it to us. That means robbery—" Penny laughed. "—Or finding someone who is willing to spend without much care. The latter is a possibility, but I need to know what I'm working with."

"Are you planning on selling us to someone?" The room fell silent as Rita's green eyes locked onto mine. "Because I think you're smart enough to know what the suggestion will get you."

"Depends on what you mean by selling. Mulvinia, the serving girl back at Myrtles Inn, told me there's a hunting party going around looking for somewhere for a minor lord to celebrate the upcoming Solstice. I want it to be here, or Yuliosa. Then we're going to convince him you three are expert guides, bodyguards, trackers and whatever else he needs. That while here, to go without your services is like going without air."

"So it's not a sex thing?" Her expression left no doubt what answer she was expecting.

"No. I'm here to make you money, and that's not the type of business you're running." I looked at her. "If you could shift your claw?"

She did, stepping back. Jenkins shook his head, and when I met his eye, he gave me a disapproving look. I wasn't sure why. Penny returned to her seat, and Rita joined her. Soon, all three of them watched me, and I cleared my throat before I continued speaking.

"This, I believe, will let us get the money we need for this new debt, as well as give us the best chance. However, it can't be our only method. That's why when we go to visit Mr. Callahan at the end of the week, we'll need to stop in the town and see what we can make."

Penny raised a hand. "What about travelling? You said we could."

"And we'll have to if we want to find this hunting party. But we need to establish ourselves locally first. If we do that, anyone who asks around will hear our names said with pride, which will make selling our cover easier. We want people to like us, which will mean getting Rita unbanned and The Howlers to a reasonable level. Hopefully, we can lean on the Mayor somehow."

"You're underhanded," Sasha said.

I gave my best courtly bow. "Thank you."

She seemed satisfied with that answer, and Rita spoke, not bothering to raise her hand like Penny did. "And what if we can't get this noble or he doesn't enjoy hunting or whatever else? You're banking a lot on a partial rumour here."

"There's an increase in goblin raids. Someone will want our services," I answered smoothly. "That might be an opportunity to look into, anyway. We'll want good references, and some coin in our pocket for clothes and the like."

"Wait wait wait. You want to take us travelling to fight goblins, scam the nobility, and make money?" Penny bounced in her seat again.

"That's the plan."

Penny beamed. "Rita, marry him. This guy's great."

Jenkins choked on his tea, and Sasha moved to help him. Rita glared at Penny, who didn't appear ashamed in the slightest. She was watching me with obvious excitement, her tail moving so rapidly I was glad there weren't any loose papers around.

"You marry him. He's already covered in your lipstick," Rita shot back.

"Nah." Penny shook her head. "He's too scrawny for me."

I sighed and waved at Rita. "Can we get back to the matter at hand? What do you think of the plan?"

"It's not much of a plan. We travel and hope we find the people we're looking for? That seems risky. Plus, without us here, what if something attacks Leyloon?"

Her questions made sense, and I nodded along with her words. There wasn't really anyone who could take her place, but I needed her to go along with my plan. Without leaving, there simply wasn't enough gold on hand to get to what we needed. That didn't even include finding a place where we could pay off the bounty.

"How often does something like the Varglatog happen?" I directed the question at Jenkins.

"Once or twice a year?" He scratched his chin. "Why?"

"And what about the other jobs you do, Rita? How often do they actually hire you for actual work, and not as an excuse to share food?"

"Not often." It was Sasha who answered. "They keep us in work, but not real work. We haven't gotten much of that since Rita got banned from town."

"So, what's the issue?"

Rita's tail flicked, and she sighed. "Fine. We can try it your way. But I want you to keep training with Penny."

"Fine, but I'll have to teach you all how to dance."

That seemed to catch her off guard, but Penny nodded. Sasha raised an eyebrow. "You know how to dance?"

"Among other things." I shrugged. "You have to learn weird things to impress clients."

"Alright. But not if we have work. Anything else?" Rita stood up when I shook my head and walked out.

Sasha and Penny both bid their goodbyes not long after, though I secured their agreement to the lessons. That left me alone with Jenkins, who gave me an approving look.

"You handled yourself well with her," he said, as he sipped his tea.

"She's not so bad." I followed his lead, the cup warm in my hand, and the taste slightly bitter, a more eastern style of brew. "What do you think of the plan?"

He stroked his chin again. "In my opinion? It's not the worst idea. I don't know why you're worried about getting the money so fast, but I think if you're seeing fake Shifters around, then getting away from here can't be the worst thing. Can you keep them safe?"

"They'll be keeping me safe," I countered.

Jenkins laughed. "True enough. How's the light outside?"

"Not too dark," I said, after glancing out a window. "Why?"

"Because Rita's right about you needing training, and I intend to help her. Go to the spare room and grab my crossbow. Then meet me outside. I want to make sure you can shoot."

"I had firearms training before I could buy a gun."

"Bah." He snorted. "That just means you won't shoot yourself. I want to see if you can hit something else. Or I can let Penny train you on that too if you haven't got enough of that yet?"

His pointed look at my face was all the encouragement I needed. I sighed and moved off to grab the crossbow he wanted. The room it was in was empty, another spare bedroom. My attention moved to the crossbow, and then I noticed the dismantled crib in the corner. Each part was a painted a soft pink. I stood there for a few seconds before I took what I needed and left.

By the time I came back to the kitchen, Jenkins was gone. The back door was open, so I followed him out to see him placing a small log on top of a pole. He turned and smiled at me, waving me to stay where I was. I did, and when he reached me, I handed him the crossbow.

"You used one of these before?" He asked me, as he checked it over and counted the bolts attached to the underside.

"No." I glanced at the log. "As I said, I had my gun."

"Solid weapon, but noisy. Alright, let me show you."

The lesson wasn't long, as the crossbow itself wasn't too complicated. Soon, he handed it back, cocked and ready to fire. As Jenkins stood beside me, he gestured for me to turn my attention to the log. It couldn't be over five meters away. That was closer than my firearms instructor had left his targets.

"Here's what you need to do." His voice was soft, and I picked up how even his breathing was even as he spoke. "I want you just to watch your target for a bit. Keep it in mind. Figure out where on the log you want to hit it."

I tried to do what he said, studying the log in front of me. It wasn't anything special, but there was a knot that looked like it would do for a target. My attention rested on it, taking in the cracks. A shiver ran through me as my mind turned to the Timberaine Tyrant. The monster of wood and foliage that had tried to grab us.

"Raise weapon!" Jenkins barked from beside me.

I did, resting the stock against my shoulder as I continued to stare at the log. My finger remained off the trigger, which got me an approving grunt from Jenkins. When he placed a hand on my chest, I flinched away.

"Stop." His tone was steady. "You're not breathing right."

"How so?"

He chuckled. "You're going too fast. Slow and deep breaths are what you should aim for. If you're panicking, then you're not aiming at what you want to hit. You're aiming at what scares you, which isn't here. Think about something calm. Where do you feel most at home?"

That was easy enough. In my mind, I pictured a simple meeting room. Comfortable chairs surrounded a long table with pitchers of water and bowls of fruit. I was standing behind a lectern, waiting to give a report I had spent the week preparing.

My back straightened, and under Jenkins' whispered instructions, I shifted my feet. The weight difference with the crossbow required a slightly different stance. When he was happy enough with how I was standing and breathing, he nodded and pointed.

"Wait. Wait. Fire!"

I did, and the bolt landed slightly left of the knot I was aiming for. He let out an approving whistle. "You actually have training, don't you?"

"You didn't believe me?" I raised an eyebrow as he took the crossbow to reload it.

"It wasn't that I didn't believe you." He grinned slightly as he worked. "I expected you to be terrible, anyway."

"Your words wound me."

He laughed at my deadpanned response and shook his head. "I doubt that. Now come on. Let's see what you can do with more practice."

The sun had fallen by the time he called the training session complete. With weary steps, I made my way to the river to wash up and got ready for bed. As I entered my room, I found a small package on my bed with a note from Reeds saying Sasha dropped it off.

Inside was a poultice she said would remove the makeup. I didn't question it, too tired from the day's events. Instead, I used it, and then moved to hop into bed, and drifted off to sleep.