Once Christoph understood what the unique duo wanted, he began explaining the situation. “Recently the price of Alice Springs water has skyrocketed.”

  “You mean that really expensive water that is exported exclusive from the Crater Mountain range?” Eldin asked for clarification.

  Christoph nodded. “Hemmingway Mercantile has an annual conference they host for all the merchant companies on the continent. We have always provided the finest amenities and resources for this important event. But I will not be extorted by Alice Springs simply because the town is going through a haunting.”

  Eldin didn’t know why it was so important to have a specific brand of water imported to a conference. It was weird for the merchant across from him to be so worked up about overpaying when he could simply use a different brand of water. The solution was so simple. “What do you mean by the town is going through a haunting?”

  Christoph snorted when he heard Eldin say haunting. “It’s a silly superstition. The people all think there is a malevolent spirit named Alice that haunts the springs where they get their water. And that she attacks people.”

  Eldin had read about spirits, though their existence was literally impossible. All living beings had a spirit, which was a mixture of light for wisdom, darkness for knowledge, and energy for power. It was a well-known fact that when something dies, its energy disappears. There was nothing that actually supported the basis of ethereal beings of energy existing after death. “If I understand this right. Due to the haunting in Alice Springs, the workers refuse to collect water unless they are paid more money?”

  “Exactly!” Christoph fumed. “Superstition or not, this is extortion. And it’s the last time I am going to tolerate it. I need you and your friend to go to Alice Springs and prove that there is no evil spirit attacking or preventing them from working.”

  While he agreed with Christoph’s examination of the current situation, part of his mind wondered if there really was a malicious spirit hanging around Alice Springs.

  Lumina was thankful that Eldin was taking the lead on the job request, he was after all the leader of their small party. She wasn’t sure she would be able to focus on negotiations with someone so obviously fat. Having spent her entire life growing up near active lumberjacks, this was her first time actually interacting with someone so incredibly rotund. She couldn’t help but wonder what it felt to have such a massive amount of extra skin hanging from her belly.

  She could hear the guards outside talk about how weird it was that a Fereece had walked in to talk to Master Hemmingway. She also heard them speak about the recent shipment of Fereece that had just been sent off to be prepared. “Shipping Fereece to be prepared?” Lumina thought to herself, trying to grasp what the soldiers meant by their gossip. Surely this wasn’t one of those rich people that participated in selling and buying her kind. Were they?” Her thoughts were interrupted when Eldin elbowed her, finally focusing on the current conversation happening in the room.

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  “Master Hemmingway has agreed to letting us act as guards for the auto transport leaving tonight.” Eldin stated. He wasn’t sure why his friend had spaced out. He was trying to make a good first impression with such an influential individual, and yet Lumina was completely unaware of what was happening.

  Happy to be accepted for a well-paying job that actually played to her strengths, Lumina thanked Christoph for the opportunity. Not to mention she would get to visit another area.

  With business finally settled, Christoph took the time to get to know more about his new targets. “It’s not every day you meet a young elementalist and a warrior Fereece. How did you two end up here?”

  With how much Lumina had been spacing out, Eldin took it upon him to re-tale their short story of how they ended up in Gildale and what their plans were.

  Christoph usually feigned interest or surprise when creating relations with a client, but his reactions to the boy’s story were genuine. Despite how ludicrous it was for one so young to be an elementalist, it made sense why he had never ran across Lumina. They were both children of those legendary heroes. It also explained why the Fereece across from him was so calm and fearless. Not only had she been mercilessly trained by the most terrifying woman in the world, but it was clear Lumina had no idea the horrors that usually awaited her kind.

  Christoph managed to keep his excitement well hidden. Before him was a trove of na?ve untapped potential. Using them to his benefit would be as easy as buying a small business. He wanted the elementalist on his payroll, he wanted to sell the Fereece. The only problem was doing both at the same time. Regardless, Christoph was happy that he already managed to hook both of them to work. All he needed to do was bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. “You two need to get going if you are going to catch the transport before it leaves.” He stated.

  Both Eldin and Lumina quickly left after thanking the portly merchant for his time. They left the building and made their way to the east gate where the transport was set to leave. As they travelled, Eldin noticed that something was off with his friend. Aside from the noticeable change in her usual happy demeanor, he could tell that she had something weighing heavily on her mind. “Something up? You didn’t really talk much back there.”

  Lumina continued following Eldin, “The guards in the building were talking about the recent shipment of Fereece. That Christoph guy may be actually capturing and selling Fereece.”

  Eldin hadn’t noticed anything particularly off about the merchant aside from his size. But he also knew that Lumina’s hearing was incredible. If it was true that Mister Hemmingway was apart of buying and selling Fereece, they would need to be extra careful around him.

  Arriving at the east gate, the two easily found the large metal wheeled vehicle that was preparing to leave. As they approached, one of the men hopped out. “What are you two doing? We’re about to launch and I don’t want to run you over.”

  Eldin produced the request showing that they were to be the guards for the convoy.

  The man read the paper then looked back to the two in front of him. “You two can’t seriously be our protection.” He commented. It was clear that he was less than enthused to have two green horns on the trip. He wanted to wave them off, but the letter had been signed by his employer, and the last thing he wanted was to get on Master Hemmingway’s bad side. Giving the two one more glance, he decided that having a woman during the trip could actually be nice, even if it was a Fereece. Extending his hand to Eldin, he said, “Names Flip. Come aboard then. Were about to leave.”