The Mimic Becomes a Merchant King

In the days that followed, much of Coin's time was devoted to the business. Things like Colony and a potential Brotherhood attack loomed in his mind all the while, but he felt he did a good enough job at burying those thoughts.

He sat at his desk, reviewing a letter he had received from a coastal salt merchant. The price he offered by the cask wasn't exactly cheap.

Coin clicked his tongue and wrote the number in his ledger, comparing it to offers he had received from other salt sellers. There were only slight variations in the price between them. The deciding factor in choosing a supplier, Coin reasoned, was consistency. With how popular the stuff was, he needed to be sure his supplier wouldn't run out of shipments at random intervals.

"The sea is full of salt, right?" he asked.

Pearl looked up from the sheet music she was busy penning, giving Coin a flat look, expecting a punchline that never came. "Yes?"

"Ah, good. Then I suppose the coastal supplier is the best bet."

"You ask the oddest questions you know," Pearl said, chuckling. "I take it you have buyers in mind?"

"A few cookhouses. A few vendors in Lowtown, and some in the Merchant's Quarter. It's a lot of things to keep track of, you know," he said, motioning to one of his thick ledgers. An assortment of coloured tags poked out from some of the pages. Only a short time in business, and the kobolds already had many things to track. Fortunately this didn't seem to bother them.

There came a sudden clamour from outside, shouts that roused Coin to attention. The mimic moved quickly to the door, Pearl close behind, and found a small crowd had barged into the main body of the office.

The kobolds and Coin's couriers stood to attention by their desks, warily watching the ragtag group. Coin moved fearlessly to the front, meeting the glare of the broad-shouldered man who seemed to lead the intruding mob.

"So it's true. You do got rays in here, doing human jobs!" he shouted, gesturing to the kobolds.

Coin stared at the man, at the smouldering beneath his monstrously thick eyebrows. Like two caterpillars kissing. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Aye! You can toss those rodents back to the gutter where they belong!" he shouted, earning a chorus of drunken cheers from his cohorts.

Coin didn't budge. "There's no law about giving kobolds office jobs." Indeed, when one looked into it, there weren't actually that many laws dictating what kobolds could or could not do. Nothing set in stone. It was largely humans enforcing made up rules against them, or lack of opportunities keeping the kobolds at bay.

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Indeed, Coin had made sure to check. In the Spokes and Lowtown, in particular, kobolds culd be freely hired and employed.

"Doesn't matter! We don't like these types gettin' ideas above their station."

"Their station?" Coin tilted his head. "I don't see how that's for you to decide. Any of you. What the laws says, goes. That's how it works, right?"

"Not here it don't!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Yeah, we's here because um... citizens rights!" cried another, earning a chorus of mildly confused agreement.

"So if you don't throw those rats out, then we'll-"

Coin's hand snatched out and seized the man by the neck, pulling him in with that vicelike grip until they were eye level. The man, once bullish, sweated with fear. "You're not going to do anything. None of you are. Take one step further into this office, and you're all getting your legs broken."

That silenced the whole room. Coin's employees watched him with pride, and a touch of fear. Their boss was more imposing than they thought.

"Someone put you lot up to this, didn't they?" Pearl asked. "You look like the type of fools that can be put up to things with the right incentive."

When no answer came immediately, Coin applied he tiniest touch of pressure to his grasp. "You were asked a question."

"Paid!" the man choked out.

Coin stared past him at the others. "You were paid to come here and cause trouble?"

"Yarrrrr," the man wheezed, letting out a grateful gulp of air as Coin relaxed his grip.

"Oh? And who might that be?" Pearl asked.

"I... we dunno," one of the other men said. The whole crowd had been cowed, sensing that brutal intensity in Coin's eyes. Rich or not, he was not some pushover. He would end them, if he felt a need to, and they understood that instinctively. "Just... some bloke. Bald, big red beard. Ain't never seen him before."

"Not a man from the Spokes, that's for sure," another chimed.

"Yeah. Too clean."

Coin considered this, settling his hands on his hips. A bald man with a big red beard? That didn't sound like anyone he knew. But if someone was paying others to interfere with his business, he could imagine a few folks wanting to do so. The Brotherhood, for one. But he wouldn't put it past Ashur Clyde to try and tamper with things.

"Get out of here," Coin said, shoving the head of the group toward his cohorts. "I see you back around here, or if anyone ends up harming my employees, then your days will become significantly shorter. And if you think I can't find you, you're wrong. I'm very good with faces." And scents, he told himself. Already he was committing their distinct stinks to memory.

As the men scrambled away, Coin turned to face the room. "Are you all okay?" he asked.

"You..." Dymunn swallowed harshly. "This one thanks you, Ser. It is not normal for humans to aid koboldkin."

"Yeah, well, I'm not very normal." He looked from one man to the other. "Please, take a moment to catch your breath. And if you face any more issues like this, let me know. I'll deal with it. Apologies. I'll see things like this don't happen again." He heaved a sigh. Seemed he'd need to recruit guards for here as well.

He and Pearl returned to his office, and the bard had her brow set in intense focus. "Well, we should have expected some underhanded things like this. I just thought it would have happened when we were a little more established and successful. Barely a foot in the door, and already louts are trying to sabotage us."

"Think you can find out who?" He closed the door behind them, and the solitude made Pearl smile and lean in a touch closer. "You know, use your connections? Poke around?"

"I suppose," Pearl said. The bard had many friends in high and low places. That knowledge had been her main contribution to the entire organisation. "Might take some time. But sightings of a bald fellow with a red beard? We should be able to narrow that down."

"Thanks, Pearl." He offered her a smile. "Whoever's doing this? They won't get away with it. I'll make sure of that."