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

"I hate this plan."

"I love this plan. Don't be a stickler, Greg," Fiona declared as Fenthick Santino, a rather tall otterfolk with dark brown and tan fur, sat across from her desk in their shop. He wasn't accompanied by anyone other than his assistant, jotting notes on their datapad. "Now, last I checked, we had a teeny tiny little task we were going to help with. Checking out for openings in Underlune. Turns out, it's a buyer's market. We need something of a favor."

"Oh, I have something you want, huh?" Fenthick chuckled, his voice rich and dripping with dramatic timing. "Well, now. What's this favor?"

"I need half your shipment of Antika coffee beans for a big event. It's top-end stuff, and we want to show off the best," Fiona proposed. "I can compensate you for it, and as a bonus, we'll go poking around for these tunnel networks as an expedited thing. Keep in mind, we run a shop as our day job."

He steepled his fingers together, wearing a content smirk. "You know that's a premium product. That goes to my business in the north quadrant, to our lovely little coffee brewery, which provides baked goods for half the northern city. I'm sure people would miss having their premium services alongside their newspaper in the morning."

"And you don't want Karlin, or anyone else, taking a chunk out of your other businesses. Plus, it'll only be a delay of a couple of weeks."

Darla cleared her throat and pulled out a scroll of a map. "Since I'm one of the few darklings topside, I'm sure I could help find these entrances. The question is, what do you want with them?"

"Preferably, ensure they're locked or sealed. It might be too easy to slip back into prior temptations, and I don't like the idea of that thieving dragon lurking right under my feet. He's a bigger thief than the taxman," he added with a growl.

"You? giving in to temptation?" Fiona sounded a touch more skeptical than she should.

"Let's put it this way. It was...difficult to put distance from riper business opportunities," he answered in a very coded way. But after recomposing himself, he tapped his pen along the datapad screen gently, while examining Darla. "Actually…there's a third option."

"What option is this?" Fiona asked.

"Underlune is dangerous. Connecting tunnels from there to the Unified Kingdoms are limited. Teleports work nicely for a while, but bulk shipments are a pain. Clear a path, get me a network road for myself and your father," he paused, smirking at Greg, "And I'll give you the whole shipment."

"There must be a catch," Greg sighed.

"Nah, not this time. Your old man made it clear to me I wasn't supposed to make this difficult, and my old man doesn't want to ruffle feathers."

"Ahem." Lani glared at him, currently also present in the room. "Fi, forgive my perception on this one, but I think we should pass on this one."

"But, coffee…with these supplies, I'm sure I could make something truly special for the trade folks coming in," Darla said, pouting slightly. "Why are we passing on this?"

"Leaving them open leaves Karlin a path into the city. And I have a feeling he still has a keen interest in certain elven shopkeepers," she said flatly. "Better to turn it to rubble."

"I feel conflicted. On the one hand, it's my father. On the other hand, it's my father, with an actual good idea." Greg rolled his eyes and pushed his chair back from the desk. "Lani raises good points. Such a passageway will need to be patrolled and investigated."

"I think between the bunch of us, we can convince Jake to throw some of the Guild members at it," Darla proposed.

"Boyfriend privilege," Fiona smirked.

"Hey, I found him first. Also, what are Doug's thoughts–"

"Oh, like I'd pass up an opportunity like this to slam a door in his face?" Doug rubbed his claws together. "I'm up for a weekend trip. Our last one was a bust. Finding that red-scaled troublemaker down there might put an end to some of our current consternation, at the very least. I'm somewhat mixed on the idea of keeping it open, though."

"Why?" Fiona asked.

"Uh…historically? There have been some monster incursions from deep underground. Way deep. Deeper than the darklings have dared venture," Doug cautioned. "Darla, it pains me to say it, but you won't be the most prickly thing down there."

She let out a scoff and flipped her hair before a grin emerged. "That's what the elven warrior is for. And maybe another plus one–"

"Oh, no. Nuh-uh," Bianca protested. "I really hate that idea on principle."

"Who's this?" Fenthick asked, looking intrigued with the way he cocked his head to one side. "Oh, another one for your collection, Miss Swiftheart?"

"Collection?" she echoed. "The last thing I ever collected were Mokepon cards. Like gatcha games for nine-year-old kids, but somehow worse." She also gave him the glare of doom for emphasis. "Also, I'm a strictly one romance at a time kind of girl."

He shrugged softly. "Fair enough. So, when do you think you could attend to this?"

"Soonish. We'll bring the Adventurer's Guild. We'll make sure you get credit if we end up finding anything of value," she added. "Bonnie, Greg, we might need to borrow some more gear from inventory."

"You know something, Fi? I'm glad you brought this idea up," the vixen said with a smirk creasing her muzzle. "You know how I've been trying to deshrinky Doug? I figured out part of the solution, and it might have to do with finding a mana core, down in Underlune."

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"But I thought you could only find them in dragons. And maybe a few people from other worlds," she added in a less-than-subtle hint.

"Actually, not quite," Bonnie corrected. "Small batches of it grow intermittently in Cepalune; it's like it took root here." She pulled open her datapad, with Darla leaning in. "It's also been spotted in areas where there have been large deposits of aurelium. I dunno why you find both of them in the same place, but Fiefdala has lots of areas that are untapped, just not easy to get to."

The illustration showed a multifaceted blue crystal growing from the earth. The image showed it seemingly glowing with an internal light. "If Karlin has dug tunnels throughout the area, and mind you, he's had time for it, then I'd like to check it out."

"Better wear a hard hat as opposed to your witchy outfit, then. It's going to be close quarters, and I like my kitsunes with their noggins intact," she added with a coy smile.

Greg sighed in resignation. "You are all stark raving mad, you know that?"

The assembled team gathered at a derelict building on the south end of Fiefdala, currently closed for renovation. The sign out front indicated it was supposed to be a new apartment building. The sign was clearly a lie, since the place was moldering brick, weathered wood, and had more broken windows than intact ones.

"This place is a dump. Are we sure Greg's father isn't luring us into a building one termite bite away from collapse?" Fiona asked aloud after looking at the datapad.

Jake, off to her right, shook the snow accumulating on his cloak and rubbed his paws together. "We checked the place out when you forwarded it, and our scrying teams found nothing. Yet, people occasionally get spotted coming in and out. Vagrants, mostly."

Fiona looked at the rest of the neighborhood, two and three-story buildings that weren't as polished or magical as the rest of the city. "Why does this part of town look so run down?" she asked. "I haven't been through here often."

"Not enough funds to go around. It was scheduled for a big facelift a few years ago, but given the issues of coin, I can see why it got delayed." Darla consulted the coordinates and pointed to Jake. "You know why your guys didn't find anything? It's not a magical means of egress. It's probably a mechanical means. Dwarven engineering can make entryways in rock look absolutely seamless."

Bonnie and Doug also stood nearby, glancing around. Doug continued to chatter in the cold, despite the winter gear he was wearing. "Can we just go inside where the wind isn't going to freeze my wings?"

"Eh, yeah, let's get cracking." Jake motioned to the other three adventurers nearby to follow as they pushed their way past the doorway, currently left hanging open with a broken lock, and Fiona took a look around, letting out a soft sigh as the arcane switch failed to trigger any of the arcane lights.

This place was a pit. Broken tiling, more moldering wood, and dead plants sat in unattended planters. The first floor had a collection of a commons area, what used to be a kitchen, and a few storage rooms.

Yeesh. This place would have been better served if they'd just bulldozed it and started over. There is so much work to be done here. She pushed forward, geared up in her aurelium armor, on the off chance this turned into something other than a routine exploration. Broken wood cracked under her feet, and she wisely stepped to the side of the hallway. "Watch your step. Basement is that way." She pointed toward a more intact door on one side, made of ancient-looking wood, and an ornate keyhole was present on one side.

It opened without resistance when she turned the latch and revealed a staircase down below, the smell of mildew and mold present. She activated her goldshine ability to light the way, her bangle glowing with a more controlled amount of light so they didn't blind themselves.

Bonnie sneezed behind her. "I hate mold. Ugh. I hope we're not inhaling anything toxic."

"It's just a little mold," Fiona assured her.

"You're not the one with the sensitive nose, Fi." Jake also let out a grunt right behind her. "You know what I mean, Jake, yeah?"

"It's a little overwhelming. Like deep mushrooms. Almost meaty." Fiona got to the bottom of the stairwell and observed the stonework forming the foundation, along with wooden and stone support trusses. It felt a little cramped in here, and she ducked to avoid hitting her head on one of the beams.

Doug snapped his fingers. "I smell it too. Those are Rofella truffles. They grow deeper underground and are common in Underlune. Right, Darla?"

"If you find any, grab them. I could use an ingredient like that, and work some wonders," she said with a contented sigh of delight. "It's harder to find topside, and exporting it is pricey."

"But, where's it coming from?" Fiona pondered. "My nose follows sweets. It doesn't follow fungi. No thanks."

Bonnie took another sniff, then pointed. "I feel like it's coming from the south end of the building." Fiona took a quick walk toward a rather unremarkable wall of brick and mortar, shining her light on it. "Jake, did you have any other folk with enhanced smell when you came here?"

"Nah, I just sent in a couple of guys to check it out; they didn't say anything." Jake pressed one hand against the wall, pushing against it gently, then scratched a bit of mildew off one of the bricks with his finger claw. "It's just a wall. Apparently. I really don't know what else I was expecting."

"A mirror, maybe?" Fiona asked. "Jake, if you see a mirror, and everyone else says they can't see it? Question your life choices. Immediately."

He gave her a haggard look. "Fi? Sometimes I wonder if you are actually crazy. Now, regarding our search...if we didn't find it by magical scrying, why would this trip be any different?"

Fiona pulled out her hammer, wearing a grin. "We can persuade secret doors in other ways."

"Put that hammer down, you maniac, before you take out a load-bearing wall," Doug interrupted. He pushed past her and examined the bricks, before taking a long sniff. He tapped a claw against the wall, then repeated the motion, spacing his taps a few inches apart. "The scent is stronger. And I think I hear the faintest airflow through here. Darla, why would a passage to Underlune be located topside?"

"Yeah, so, you remember me mentioning that Underlune is pretty chill? That isn't always a hundred percent accurate. Some smuggle things to and from the surface. But they would never dig all the way. They had people on the surface dig down and meet them partway." Darla tapped her chin gently before snapping her fingers. "Dwarves do this whole thing with hidden mechanical buttons. Why use magic when you can hide something the old-fashioned way? Look for…let's see…one brick that isn't like the rest. They almost always leave a subtle sign."

They fanned out, checking out the basement walls. This is absurd. I can just bash a doorway, problem solved. But that was old Fiona's solution. She wasn't going to keep bashing her way to solutions, even as it might be the simpler solution.

"Hey, over here, found it!" Doug waved over to one corner of the room, where everyone gathered. He tapped a brick that sat just slightly outraised from the others, eyes gleaming with delight. "Pretty sure this is it. But everyone, maybe step back a few feet?"

Bonnie waved her wand over the seam, then the immediate surrounding floor. "No magical triggers. None that I can pick up. Let's do it."

Doug pressed the obscured button with one claw, and the bricks all began to slide away, the sound of gears and counterweights creaking audibly. A passageway with a steep stairwell in a rough-hewn stone corridor lay before them, a lukewarm breeze emanating from below. "Well, who's going first?"

Fiona took a step forward and grinned. "Me, obviously. If there's anything dangerous enough that even I run away from, you guys have a head-start," Fiona declared, feeling for her hammer and grappling hook out of habit. She illuminated the way with her goldshine ability, down the sloping stairs into the unknown.