Newly Broke Heroine! [Book One Complete, Cozy Fantasy Adventure]

Fiona had two conflicting feelings go through her head. The first was that she was glad to see Lani, given what she knew of her situation as, at best, an indentured servant, or at worst, a slave in all but name.

The other, more dominant worry: she might have informed Varith or his agents about their misadventure into Karlin's metalwork shop.

"Okay, she came here for a reason." Fiona walked behind the armoire. "She's…snooping on those guys. What is she doing?"

"She sold us out, and she should still be on her contract," Doug hissed. "Vale is probably yanking her chain to go do something, now that the easy score is over, and Varith is out of the picture."

"Assume nothing." Fiona wanted to believe there was an explanation. Lani had been helpful in many ways, and she doubted that she would willingly tell Varith or his agents about their plans. She watched the avian casually walk by a man in a plain black button suit. The man was currently browsing the armor stands.

Fiona watched as she phased her hand through his bag as she passed him, grabbed a crumpled paper, frowned, then paced as if going back to examine a display. Fiona saw her put the crumpled paper back into the bag as she walked by again, and the man remained oblivious.

"That is the ultimate snack thief power. I want it," she breathed.

Doug let out a frustrated grumble. "The sweets will never be safe if you get that power. Uh, what keeps her from phasing her hand through people and…you know…"

"Ew, gross," she gagged, but kept her focus. Lani sighed as if disappointed, then approached…another man in a suit?

Fiona noted that there were three of them on the store floor. Hadn't there been at least one of them a few days ago? The same sleek black suit, too. It felt like her danger sense was going off dully.

"Doug, follow my lead. Pretend you don't know her."

"Oh dear gods. Plural," he breathed.

[I don't have a sneaking power, Fi]

Well, we need to work on that one! We need to gear you up with more powers, dear! Fiona relayed back. Wingding's code flaps were so fast, she barely got the message.

Fiona approached Lani, currently lingering around the third man in a business suit. He was a short-haired human just pushing middle age, of muscular build, with a stern face and a light scar over one eye. He kept eying the cases–and the arcane lenses Kali had stuck around the shop floor.

She knew, because his gaze kept lifting upward. And those lenses were supposed to be subtle. Meanwhile, she closed the distance to Lani.

"Greetings and welcome to the emporium!" Fiona announced proudly, causing the avian to startle. She looked toward her and recognized Fiona at once, with a hand to her beak.

"Oh, hi, I-I don't need assistance today."

"Ah, I see. Window shopping?" Fiona said with a subtle glance toward the mercenary. "Nothing wrong with that. I pride myself on my customer service. I saw you were unsure about the layout. This is your first time here?"

Lani picked up the cue, eyes darting to the man, currently inspecting wands in a case. "Yes. Windows. You know the gag is that avians fly into windows. Sincerely not true," she said with a laugh. "Actually, I can almost make out the distortion and imperfections in the glass. Magicite, translucent steel. Very good eyesight."

"So, what brings you to the emporium?" Fiona asked casually. She noted Kali, who had been observing just before, now zeroed in on the interaction. He subtly worked his way to the security closet while doing so.

Lani considered it for a second, one finger to her beak. "First-time purchase. I don't know the rules for arcane purchases. I have my license, if that helps!" Fiona watched her dig into her bag and pull out a sheet of paper not unlike the contract she signed when she got her class. Fiona noted that two of her fingers on her off-hand were splinted together. That must have been recent.

She wondered why she didn't just buy a health potion for that. Though, broken bones tended to take longer to heal.

Fiona examined the scroll, noting Lani's paper looked like a labor contract, with her name scorched off, and a recent date of signature. She paid off her contract? How?

Then she remembered the gold she'd set aside for their efforts in Vale. In the chaos of what went down at Karlin's lair, she must have missed one of the packs of gold from their sales. Plus, a sizable bonus for Lani to hide.

"It appears in order," Fiona murmured and handed the contact back to Lani. "Any particular items?"

"Oh, just ones to cause a party! In a monster's lair," she laughed. "I wanted to try my hand at adventuring. Might need a party of four, though. And matching gear. That gets pricey. Could break the bank."

Fiona pieced together what she might be saying.

Four armed men were about to do a smash-and-grab in her shop, and they knew how to break through Bonnie's wards.

Or, she had no clue. "Splendid! Do you mind if I run this by my guy? He runs checks on paperwork. Adventurers require licensing and training for some items. No one wants the level five mage to shoot their foot with their first fireball!"

"The…levels? What?" Lani squinted as if Fiona had grown a second head.

"Uh, never mind. Either way, we'll go over a few credentials."

"Sure!" Lani once again glanced in the direction of a fourth man, not in uniform, but wearing a regular coat with something bulky on his right side. "O-oh, is there more training? Live fire drills? I don't know if I took those."

Fire alarm? Nice way to get everyone out and get these perps in the open without risking someone getting hurt. She saw Doug walking to the small security booth where Kali sat at attention, and his hand hovered over their little emergency system.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Fiona waved her through. "Oh, it's fine! You can put items on hold. Right this way."

As soon as she was within earshot of Kali, she mouthed Pull the fire alarm. His eyes widened, but she held up her hand and indicated ten seconds.

"They're armed," Lani whispered. "Sorry, I couldn't call. Bad stuff is going on in Vale. It hasn't reached here yet."

"Fi, what is going on?" Kali.

"We're about to be robbed. Three suave-dressed men and the guy in the black jacket, back right. The town guard will be here way too late to respond," Fiona explained. "Doug, you gonna trust me on this?"

He gazed at the arcane lens feed and gritted his snout tightly. "If they're robbing the place, they must know who works here: you. They can't be this stupid. Also, birds? Get clear, don't come back in until we give the all clear."

"I can help!" Lani protested.

"You already did. Kali, hit it, and you two get clear. Wait for us at Tillie's cafe down the road," Fiona instructed.

The young avian didn't waste a second and flipped the master alarm. A shrill warble filled the room, along with small glowing arrows appearing on the floor, indicating the exits.

"Alright, everyone, fire alarm! Everyone, please exit the building, neat and organized, no rushing, leave any gathered items on the floor!" Fiona called out and motioned for the startled crowd to walk swiftly to the exits.

Fiona gave a subtle nod to Bonnie, subtly pocketing her enchanting wand. Greg focused on directing the slower patrons out the door, unaware of what was going on. She sent a subtle message to their relays.

Robbery. Men in black suits.

Kali and Lani scurried out last. The only people left were the men in suits and the last man in the coat. "Shop's closed, folks. The fire alarm went off, didn't you hear?" she called out. Assuming they have weapons or mark abilities, this could go from zero to a hundred real quick.

"We heard. We don't see any fire," one man quipped, the one in the black coat. He was a mountain of a man, easily six feet tall, just slightly taller than Fiona. "We're hoping we can get some kind of…fire sale?"

"Heh, good one, Mister Onyx," one man with a raspy chuckle called out. "We're looking for some acquisitions. Real quick-like."

"Boys," Bonnie sighed, hands on her hips, "I hope you're not about to do what I think you're about to do, because you will certainly live to regret it."

Greg then locked the front door, and metal barricades slid over the entry, sealing the exit. The windows, too, soon were covered by the layered metal shutters. He then unbuttoned his shirt sleeves and rolled them up, his notebook tucked under his arm. "Miss Revere, please remind me, your enchantments do protect against high impact, correct?"

"Why yes, they do," she responded with a toothy smile. "Are all our customers clear?"

"They are," Greg affirmed.

"See, I got this thing about people trying to steal treasure," Doug said with a grin on his face. "Specifically, my treasure. That's a big no-no."

"Are they…trying to stop us from robbing the place, Mister Oranje?" The man with a scar over his eye glanced at the gathered group skeptically, while Darla had nothing in hand. Fiona knew, however, that she had the fastest frying pan in Western Cepalune.

She had to jumpstart cinema in this world someday, and Fiona smiled politely. "Guys. That was your warning. Time to ring out."

"Mister Rosa?" the man in the black coat called out. "Detain them. Or make examples of them, I'm easygoing."

"Mister Onyx, it would be my pleasure," the fourth man said with a grin, pulling a hand crossbow out of his suit–or pulling it from thin air, indicating a hidden dimensional bag. The other suits followed with their own weapons–knives and wands. Fiona would have to commend their arsenal, if it weren't utterly useless.

"You know what? Just take something from the case. I'll give you one freebie, provided you can smash it open," Fiona offered. The man tilted his head in curiosity. "Go ahead, give it a good whack."

"Wait, the alarms!" Oranje cautioned.

But Onyx dismissed the wary one and grinned. "Already disabled. It wasn't hard to cut the connection from the connector box up the street."

"You should take the diamonds, by the way," Fiona cooed, playing dumb. "I hear they're all the rage and very pricey."

Rosa saw Azure frown and bring the buttstock of his crossbow up to smash the case. "Don't do that. She's playing Zenirth mind tricks on you!"

"Shaddup, let me work. We've got two minutes, thanks to the timely fire alarm," the man grumbled. "Police these twerps. I'm about to get my pay–"

The second he slammed down on the glass case, not only did it refuse to crack, but the metal frame glowed bright yellow, and a current flowed across the surface. The spell zapped the man with a powerful blast, sending him flying into another case display ten feet away. He twitched and groaned, out of the fight.

"Oops. Forgot about that little ward, how silly of me," Fiona said with a grin. "He'll be fine. He might have some numbness for about…eh, a day, Bonnie?"

"A week," Bonnie replied confidently. Fiona activated her spell barrier just in time to deflect the two crossbow bolts aimed at her, and Bonnie's spell ward ate a few rounds of blue magical missiles, deflecting off the translucent surface.

Meanwhile, Fiona's weapon materialized to its full length, and she charged forward, watching the men panic. "Welcome to the tsunderedome, boys! Four perps enter, none shall flee!" she laughed maniacally, weapon glinting with high-speed golden beatdowns.

Fiona would say it was pretty one-sided. It only took three…four gentle love-taps to knock down the biggest guy after a brief struggle. His inertial cushion power didn't work when someone brought a storm of hammer blows onto him, and his switchblade knife just didn't cut it against her.

Bonnie's target was no match for her shackles, with her springing into cover to avoid counterfire. She pounced onto the man when his wand misfired and fizzled out, knocking him to the floor. She stood proudly over his prone form, conjuring up energy ropes to keep him subdued.

Greg closed on the last man, along with Doug, who let out a menacing roar that seemed out of place for the tiny kobold. The robber found himself assailed by ropes of notebook paper and Doug's fire magic. He panicked and tried to stamp on the small flames that Doug invoked to keep his pants from catching fire.

Repeatedly.

Fiona gave Doug the elven glare of doom when he tried to combust the poor robber for the third time. "What?!" he demanded.

"Burning things to crisps is for monsters, Doug."

"It's my treasure, until I divest it to cleanse my materialistic soul!" he said defensively, crossing his arms and looking indignant. "Besides, I saw a spider on his leg. A big one. It needed burning."

"Does your historical class give you any actual combat effectiveness?" she pondered, hands on her hips and tilting toward him. She ignored the groans and cries for mercy surrounding them.

"Uh…you know what, I haven't shown that one off. It's a little niche." Doug knelt and grabbed one of the robbers, growling menacingly. "Then again, I don't need that power to start using you as a claw sharpener. Why are you robbing our store? And why are you dressed in dapper suits?"

"It's stylish?" the man coughed. Fiona thought it was Azure, but she'd lost track of the uncannily named men and who was who. Except for Onyx, the only one dressed uniquely. "Also, boss, where's that backup?"

"Uh…wasn't Mister Goldilocks supposed to bring the backup? The one cut off behind the security barrier?" Onyx grunted.

A loud banging sound could be heard at the front door. Bonnie's fur stood on end at the racket, and she spun to look at the doorway, reinforcing the metal with a golden protective barrier. "Okay, that's enough of that!" she barked, keeping a steady stream of power flowing to the barrier, her stance rigid. "No way they're getting in. I have that enhanced barrier up to keep out up to, and including a–"

Fiona heard a mighty exhale, and what sounded like someone taking a blowtorch to the entire door. The metal turned cherry red, then bright red, and finally white hot, before the barrier started to melt.

"If you intended for that sentence to end in 'dragon,' I won't feel offended," Doug replied shakily as a massive force bashed open what was left of the door. A full two and a half meters of dull red scales and icy blue eyes stomped in, dressed in a black two-piece suit, along with more men in dapper suits. These guys were armed with a fresh set of wands, and other assorted melee weapons.

"You know, we don't have a Mister Brown yet, but I'm sure someone may be in search of a fresh change of clothes about now," Fiona groaned, bringing her hammer to bear. "Doug, remind me, you're upgraded to partner for the amount of overtime this cleanup is going to take."