NOVEL NEXT Chapter 397: Marketing Guru
A nervous laugh escaped Nala as she awkwardly shuffled on the spot, her tail twitching.
"Ah, well, you see...it's not exactly what you think…" She began, before her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Okay, yes, what Grandma is saying is absolutely true. I am going to sell them."
Just as a look of mild disappointment crossed Julie's face, Nala quickly held up her hands, her expression turning earnest.
"But! But it's not just for me! I swear! Half of every coin I make from these will go directly to the children's school at the edge of the village. It's...well, it's not in the best shape."
"The whole community funds it, but we're a small village, and there's never enough for proper books or supplies. I just...I wanted to help out in my own way."
Wanda sighed, but there was no heat in it.
What her granddaughter said was the gospel truth. Every time the cunning girl pulled off a big scheme and came back with a heavy coin purse, a significant portion of it would mysteriously find its way to the schoolmaster or the village elder for community projects. She never kept it all for herself.
Aisha's ears also twitched, her eyes lighting up with joy at the mention of helping out children, her one one weakness she couldn't avoid.
"Children? If that's the case, then there's no need to hesitate!" She snatched the stack of papers from Nala's hands and thrust them at Julie. "Captain, sign every single one of them. Now."
Julie nearly fell over. "W-Wait, what?! Do you realize how many papers there are? My hand will be ruined!"
But Aisha's gaze sharpened, her smile sweet but terrifying. "Captain. You will do it."
Julie froze, her heart skipping. "…Y-Yes, ma'am…" She muttered, reluctantly picking up the pen.
Nala clapped her hands together like a child given candy. "Thank you, thank you! You're the best, Captain Julie!"
As Julie sighed and began scrawling her name on one sheet after another, Aisha leaned closer to Nala.
"What about me? Can I sign something too? I don't mind in the least."
Seeing her opening, Nala's eyes gleamed with renewed purpose. This was going even better than she'd hoped.
"Oh, would you? That's wonderful!"
She rummaged in her pouch again, but this time she produced a single, thicker piece of parchment. It was already covered in neat, calligraphic script, with dotted lines at the bottom, looking very much like an official document.
"It would be better if you wrote your name on this paper instead." Nala said, handing it over with a slightly sheepish look.
Aisha took it, her brows furrowing as she scanned the text. "What exactly is this? It looks like a contract."
Nala rubbed the back of her neck, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
"That...is actually a contract for endorsing the fish provided by our village that I prepared earlier. If you sign it, it's basically you giving me permission to market our smoked lake-trout as your personal favorite."
"You know, something you eat every time you're in the region, something you even have specially imported for its superior quality."
This audacious request stunned the table into silence. Wanda sighed again, deciding to elaborate.
"With so many fishing villages around the lake, the competition is incredibly high. A small, remote village like ours struggles to survive when the larger towns undercut our prices. For years now, Nala has been finding her own ways to market our village, to make sure the fish from here spreads far and wide."
"She's trying to help everyone, and honestly, she's been quite successful so far. Because of her schemes, many families here are living a happy life with enough money to get by."
Nala puffed out her chest, looking immensely proud of herself, while Skadi burst out laughing.
"Hah! She's got guts, I'll give her that!" Then she leaned across the table toward Aisha. "Just sign it already! It's not like you'd be lying. The fish is amazing! I can't stop eating it!"
Nala chimed in quickly. "Exactly! And half the profits will also go to the children's facility in the village. You'll be helping them too!"
Aisha stared at the paper, biting her lip. Then she sighed and chuckled softly.
"Well...it's not like I'd be lying. The fish really is delicious. Fine. I'll sign." She wrote her name in elegant script, and the moment the ink dried, Nala's eyes gleamed with triumph.
"Yes! Perfect!"
"Oi, oi!" Skadi piped up, slamming her mug down. "What about me? What do I get to do? I want to help too!"
"One second!" Nala said, before slithering away with astonishing speed.
She returned a moment later with two things: a large wooden platter piled high with glistening, perfectly fried fish, and a nervous-looking man carrying a strange, boxy apparatus with a large glass lens on the front, a magical camera.
She handed the heaping plate to Skadi.
"Alright, Skadi, I need you to give me a brave pose! Something that perfectly suits a heroine as strong and courageous as you! Can you do that for me while holding this plate?"
Skadi's face lit up as if she'd been given the greatest quest of her life.
"Can I? Just watch me!"
She shot up from her chair, kicked one leg out, puffed out her chest, and flexed a bicep, all while precariously balancing the platter of fish in her other hand. She let out a mighty roar, her expression a hilarious mix of ferocious and utterly ridiculous.
"Perfect! Perfect, this is absolutely perfect!" Nala squealed with delight, turning to the cameraman. "Take the photo now! This is the one!"
A bright flash momentarily blinded everyone, and the cameraman nodded, having captured the image. Skadi relaxed, immediately snatching a piece of fish and chomping down on it.
"So." She asked through a full mouth. "What was that for?"
Nala beamed, already envisioning her next marketing masterpiece.
"I wanted to add a photo to our tavern to show everyone that the legendary Skadi Silvermoon of the Holy Guard has eaten here and thoroughly enjoyed her meal! I'm going to hang a huge picture of it right on that wall over there to bring more customers in!"
She said, pointing to the largest, most prominent wall in the tavern.
"Is that alright with you?"
Skadi slammed her fist on her chest, nearly choking on her fish.
"Alright? Of course, it's alright! It's no big deal at all!" She bellowed proudly. "You'd better make sure it's a nice, big photo, you hear? So that everyone who comes in can see how beautiful, and cute, and adorable I actually am!"
"Of course, of course!" Nala replied, bowing her head. "It will be the biggest, most glorious picture you'll ever see."
And as she watched her three new, very powerful marketing assets, she thought to herself,
'Everything went absolutely perfectly.'
Julie also noticed the sly little smile curling at Nala's lips as she gathered the papers together. For a while, she said nothing, just watching, quietly amused.
Finally, she spoke up with a knowing tone.
"You know..." Julie said, setting her quill down for a moment. "Back when we were talking earlier, Cassius warned us about you. He said you were sneaky, that we shouldn't underestimate you. I'll admit, I thought he was exaggerating. You looked so sweet and harmless...but now?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly, though there was a hint of a smirk.
"Now I see what he meant. You're no innocent little girl, you're effective. A dangerous little snake."
Nala blinked, caught halfway between pride and embarrassment. She scratched the back of her head, her cheeks coloring faintly, and mumbled.
"Th-Thank you for the praise. Thank you for the praise. There's no need to mention it…"
Julie gave her a look halfway between exasperated and amused. "That wasn't praise." She muttered, but she couldn't help the corner of her lips twitching.
The girl's ability to twist things around was almost...charming.
Nala, emboldened, then shifted her weight awkwardly and asked the question that had been gnawing at her since her performance.
"Um...actually. Do you know where that sneaky snake—No, I mean Cassius went? I saw him at the start of the dance, but when I finished, he wasn't at the table anymore. Did he...did he leave before he saw?"
Aisha, busy stacking more papers in front of Julie and helping her organize the endless autographs, shook her head without hesitation.
"Not at all. He watched the entire thing. Mesmerized. So much so that when we called out to him, he wouldn't even answer. His eyes were fixed entirely on you."
Nala's heart gave a sudden, traitorous flutter at those words. "H-He did?" She asked softly.
Aisha nodded, her tone matter-of-fact. "The moment you finished, he muttered something about needing fresh air and stepped outside. If you want to see him, he's probably out on the deck overlooking the lake."
Nala's eyes went wide, her heart skipping a beat.
"W-What? N-No, no, I don't want to meet him or anything! There's no need for that at all!" She blurted, flustered, her tail twitching nervously.
But Skadi smirked knowingly, leaning over to pat her shoulder with a heavy hand.
"Don't be so embarrassed. It's obvious, you've fallen for Master. It's only natural. He's amazing, after all. Women fall for him left and right...I did, as well. Ages ago. Fell for how cool he is."
She puffed her chest with pride before reaching over to snag Aisha, dragging her close.
"And this one too. Don't let her fool you. She's fallen hard, and these days she's so bold with him it drives me nuts."
Aisha flushed scarlet, her ears twitching as she squirmed. "L-Let go of me, you mutt!" She hissed, trying to push Skadi's arm off her shoulders.
"The Captain too!" Skadi crowed mischievously. "She's fallen as well—"
Julie whipped her head around so fast her hair brushed her face. "Shut up, Skadi! Be quiet! Don't spread rumors that aren't true!" Her voice cracked slightly, betraying the heat in her cheeks.
Hearing this, Nala froze, her eyes darting between them. She had already pieced together that Cassius was close to all three of these incredible women during their earlier walk.
But hearing it spoken aloud, so boldly, hit differently.
She didn't care that he had more than one woman, it was common for men of power, especially one as charismatic as Cassius. What unsettled her was who those women were: brilliant, strong, admired across the continent.
Figures people looked up to.
While she...she was just a little snake girl from a fishing village, a cursed outcast barely keeping her grandmother's tavern and her village afloat with her tricks.
Her chest tightened.
Could she really stand beside them? Stand beside him?
That gnawing, familiar ache of abandonment surfaced, the memory of parents who never came for her, a clan who cast stones instead of open arms.
And with it came a terrifying thought: that maybe, just maybe, Cassius would grow bored of her too. That one day he'd throw her aside, just like everyone else had.
She lowered her gaze, her hands tightening around the stack of papers in her arms, trying to ignore the hollow feeling that was blooming in her tummy...