"Meeoow!"
"No! Another cat! How many cats do you have in this store? " said Lord Johan alarmed when he saw Moon approaching Roberto.
"For now, only three .. by the way, where could Little Sun have gone?" Zanthia answered, while without saying it aloud she also wondered where the ghost could have gone.
The witch knew that somehow the cats had taken care of the problem so that she could concentrate on the customers and was grateful for it, but she was also worried that she did not know exactly how the situation has been solved.
Zanthia tried to communicate telepathically with Little Sun but for some reason she could not connect. The witch tought about asking Moon if she knew anything about it.
She was just going to do it but instead she was interrupted by the butler finally noticing the sudden appearance of another specimen of the felines.
"Yes, another beautiful kitty! Owner Zanthia, you are a complete wonder! "James exclaimed with a broad smile, then stopped stroking the back of the gray cat just for a brief moment to better focus his attention on the new arrival.
"Hisss!" Shadow voiced her disapproval to everyone with a hiss.
What did this human think? First he had insisted on making caresses when she did not want to. And now that she was comfortably seated in his arm, did he want to change her for another pussycat? No way! Shadow clung tightly to James's arm with her claws. But the butler did not seem to be too much bothered by this.
"…here, here, cute kitten, do not get so jealous. I'll stay with you. " James reassured, still caressing her.
Shadow showed her approval by sinking her nails even harder on his arm. James kept his smile undeterred by the attitude of the animal. How could the butler be bothered by that as accustomed as he was to the whims of the half-dozen feline pets that inhabited his home?
Still, it had to be admitted that James's skin was tough enough for a human being. After all, Shadow was a magical familiar and the sharp edge of her claws was far superior to that of ordinary cats. Of course, James had no idea about this.
"As I said, what we want is to buy some of the products you sell and maybe hire some of your services. It is also possible that there is some other order of a more individual nature but naturally the interests of the company come first and foremost." explained the nondescript man.
"That´s it, that´s it. The interests of the company always come first. Let's focus on the business." added the fat man to show his support.
"So you only come here for business matters. Why did not you say it before? Don't you know how important good communication is? Luckily you have Gomez to help you." she said in a challenging tone to the fat man while shaking her head in a gesture of disappointment.
Lord Johan felt confused and offended at the same time. At what point had he not been clear? It was this young woman who interrupted him constantly with her most crazy assumptions!
Although Lord Johan had dealt with one or two witches before, there had never been such inconveniences. In fact, the fat man of the Abercrombie Company did not remember not even once going through a similar situation. No, not even in his entire career, which, it must be said, was quite long indeed.
"Very well. If it's business you want to talk about, then that is exactly what we are going to do." said Zanthia in a serious tone as she took out one of her own cigarettes and put it in her mouth with a determined gesture. "Gomez, give me fire!"
The non-descript man responded to the order instinctively, the thought of refusing to do what the witch wanted him to do never crossed his mind. He extended his hand and lit the cigarette to the witch. She smiled smugly, which annoyed the fat man and made him frown.
Lord Johan considered that this young woman was taking too many liberties. He was treating his subordinate as if he were an employee of her and not a member of the Abercrombie trading company. But at least it reassured him a little that he hadn't heard again the word marriage in the conversation.
Lord Johan took the cigar to his mouth to calm himself with a puff. However, he discovered that it was almost completely consumed and even already put out.
While he watched with a face of sorrow to the pathetic state that his cigar had been reduced, the witch Zanthia took a long drag on her brand-new cigarette and then opened her delicate mouth to threw a beautiful pair of smoke rings.
The contrast between the two seemed to be the perfect summary of what had happened between them just a while before.
"Now I'm ready to do business! Gomez, present the proposal of the Abercrombie trading company!" ordered the witch.
"Yes! Well, as I said before, we have already had the occasion to verify that the wax golem is a high quality servant. We are sure that it would sell very well as a butler for noble families in several of the most important cities of the Scarlet Empire."
"My wax golems are well known for their excellent manufacture. The technique to create them is a family secret."the witch presumed.
"Indeed. My wife and I are very pleased to have acquired it." agreed Roberto with a smile "But perhaps you have to offer other types of products that are even more interesting."
"My store is full of interesting products. But what other type of products you need? Are you looking for something in particular?"
"For example: maybe you own some golems with great strength suitable for use in the quarries of the Evergreen´s gray hills." said Roberto while lifting a finger to emphasize the point.
Then he added another finger and continued.
"Or maybe there is one or two with great resistance who can dive into the icy waters of the Lake of Desperation in the nation of Neverwhite."
He made a pause and lifted a third finger.
"Who knows? Perhaps there is even a trained golem for combat that we can use in the army of the Scarlet Empire."
"This ... I'm not sure if I have the kind of golems capable of plunging into the Lake of Despair. I would have to check the inventory of the store."said the witch with a little uncertainty.
"It's just an example. What we want to do is find out what products and services that your store offers to the public are best suited to integrate them to our trading network."
"I see. Ahem ...Why you do not talk to me a little more about this trading network."
After a while everyone present in the room was in front of an oak desk where a huge map of the Scarlet Empire and the border regions was displayed. Roberto Gomez was still leading the conversation, explaining all the extent and scope of the Abercrombie Company's trading network.
While he was doing so, Lord Johan struck the skull of his staff against each spot on the map to emphasize its importance as soon the corresponding landsmark or city was named by his subordinate.
Occasionally Roberto was interrupted during his exposition by comments of Lord Johan or by Zanthia's questions. Instead, James and the two cats were quiet.
James was silent because he was still more focused on caressing Shadow's back than anything else, while the felines did not speak because at the moment there was no reason to reveal their skills to the shop's clients.
According to what Gomez said, the company Abercrombie was practically the heart of the Empire, pumping the blood of the business by the commercial routes that extended by the four nations as if they were veins. They were everywhere, in every city and in every town. The history of the company was also the history of the Scarlet Empire.
When Gomez said that last sentence Lord Johan smiled proudly. It was a cheesy line but it was close enough to the truth.
The company, established by the Abercrombie family under the auspices of King Borto I at the time when Evergreen was only one of the southern kingdoms of the continent, had grown steadily since its founding. Little by little, slowly but unstoppably, all the cities of Evergreen and many of the towns opened branches of the company.
It was said amongs the historians of the Empire that it was at that time that the evergreeners began to trust the great Abercrombie family to buy, sell and consume more and more things.
Stone, wood, bricks, mortar, sand, salt, fish, rice, beef, eggs, wheat, cloth, leather, shoes, clothing, root beer, wine from grapes, cigars and pipe tobacco. Uff, the list of products was endless!
Shadow was so bored that she could not avoid repeated yawns but Zanthia was hearing the long list with the utmost attention and her eyes were shining. Perhaps, the witch was picturing the day her own shop would become such a powerhouse among the trading companies.
Anyway, Gomez continued his explanation.
Apparently, they became one of the most important noble families of the Evergreen kingdom and definitely, the richest. The success of the Abercrombie Company was the lever that moved Evergreen to the top of the southern nations and allowed Borto II to marry the beautiful heiress of the extensive but needy lands of the Neverwhite Princedom.
This last nation was to the West and a large part of its territory was mainly composed of snowy mountains. The proud people of Neverwhite often boasted that in the mythical times they had received from a god, at least according to their history books, the sacred mission of protecting humanity from the white, red-eyed demons who never slept at night and were always hungry.
As Roberto narrated this part of the story, it was the turn of Shadow to hear with attention. At first, the grey pussycat had tought she would die of boredom but now the story was finally getting to the good bits! A great battle!
It seemed that long ago, these demons called Yeti had ravaged the southern kingdoms for eons until an offensive by a king of Neverwhite in mythical times had confined them behind the mountains.
Afterwards, the Yeti´s horde tried to return to the lands of human beings once every ten years, during the so-called White Demonic Winter, when the monsters caused great damage to properties and an enormous amount of deaths amongst the people.
It was only with great effort that they were restrained and repelled by the Silver Knights, a group of elite units that were the spearhead of the nation's army. The Silver Knights were always led in person by the heiress of the princedom of Neverwhite.
The witch smiled. As expected, behind every great deed was a great woman!
According to Gomez, this commander, the brave Princess Hawk of the Stars, was a young and beautiful woman known for her skill with the longbow and her desire to protect her people from this threat.
Or at least that was the non-descript man claimed.
However, Moon knew that some historians considered that she was not so heroic. Some rumors stated that Hawk of the Stars was an overly ambitious and greedy woman and there was nothing that she was not willing to do to achieve her objectives, including accepting a marriage with a man as old and lustful as Borto II. But Moon merely tought about this fact and did not say such things aloud.
Who knew what the truth was?
In fact, the two things were not mutually exclusive. It could have been that the heroine realized that in order to win the battles the best way was to obtain the support of the powerful Abercrombie Company to arm their knights and feed their subjects. That way she could save countless lives and achieve a better political and economic position at the same time.
Whatever the reason, the marriage bond was quickly agreed upon and there were those who said that no director of the Abercrombie company had ever closed a lucrative deal like the one that Hawk of the Stars achieved by selling his beauty to Borto II in that way.
After all, it seemed that the Evergreen Kingdom had delivered all of its coffers to finance the defense of the Neverwhite Princedom without receiving anything else but problems in return.
However, gossip ceased with the victory of the Silver Knights against the forces of the Yeti.
Once the west was temporarily safe, Hawk of the Stars did not renege on the marriage bond but stayed by the side of Borto II, grateful for the improvement in the situation of her people. The wedding was the most pompous event in the long history of the two kingdoms.
At this part, Zanthia sighed. The young witch was thinking that one day maybe she would have a pompous wedding too. If only she would meet a suitor that fit her tastes!
She only asked that the suitor would be beautiful, rich, nice, considerate, talented and shared her passion for cats. That's was not much to ask, isnt it?
Ok, maybe it was. But a girl can dream, can't she?
Anyway, as Zanthia daydreamed Roberto actually kept narrating the story....
Some months later Hawk of the Stars became pregnant and she left the army. It was at that time that Borto II appointed her to be the Director of the Abercrombie Trading Company.
Under her experienced leadership the institution continued to grow and expand at an even more aggressive pace, like a spider that weaves its nets with haste in order to anxiously hunt for more prey.
The birth of the firstborn of the ruling family marked the beginning of the Scarlet Empire, with a territory composed of the lands of the two nations.
So now, more than a thousand years after these historic events, the Abercrombie Company occupied a large part of the Scarlet Empire with its main focus being Evergreen and Neverwhite before the other two nations that were part of its territory.
The Wildlands east of the empire were too poor to deserve too much attention from the company. Instead, to the south were the Graymountains with their lands so rich in gems and precious metals but these were the territory of the Percy, the main commercial rivals of the Abercrombie.
Roberto's long exposition and explanations had exhausted everyone. Specially, Zanthia had the horrible feeling of having forgotten something important.
While the Abercrombie company man spoke, Zanthia had discretely given a couple of sneaky looks by the shop but everything seemed to be in order. Gomez talked and talked.
Lord Johan tried to interject a comment or two from time to time but he also kept quiet as soon the witch laid eyes on him.
As for Moon , she was using an illusion spell to record all the details of the scene by order of Zanthia. The witch intended to examine the map and the rest of the information later with tranquility, after the white cat had filtered the unnecessary parts.
James and Shadow were in their own world of caresses and purrs. No one else had entered the store so they were relatively quiet. However Zanthia did not feel calm or comfortable.
What was it that she had forgotten? A feeling of uneasiness invaded her slowly but surely as time passed. However, something happened that distracted the witch.
It was an unexpected system prompt!
[SYSTEM: Long-term mission unlocked. Objective: Establish the shop of horrors in the capital cities of the four nations of the Scarlet Empire to obtain a free improvement to the store and two special abilities of level 1 at the choice of the owner.]
[SYSTEM: Locations currently established: 1 (Capital, Evergreen)]
Wow! A long-term mission! Those are the ones that give the most important rewards!
The last mission of this kind that Zanthia had fulfilled had given her the ability to move the shop once, allowing the witch to escape her controlling mother and her annoying younger sister.
The witch had high expectations about the rewards granted by the system for completing in this type of missions and it seemed that this one in particular had some very interesting prizes.
A free improvement to the store was already very useful but receiving two other special skills of choice was even more attractive. Actually it was too attractive to be true. Zanthia decided to worry about that later.
"So as you can see, we have many business opportunities in different markets," concluded Gomez.
"Working with the Abercrombie Company is the most important thing that will happen to you in your life." presumed Lord Johan with a smug face.
"In fact, the best course of action is to do a small trial deal first before closing larger transactions," James interjected for the first time in the conversation.
The butler's words made a lot of sense. Actually, their original intention had been only to buy some wax golems to test the reception of the product in the market.
But as things had happened, Lord Johan had been harassed by the monster of marriage and James had been dazzled by pets, so the two most capable representatives of the Abercrombie were almost completely nullified so far.
In this situation, Roberto Gomez had assumed the responsibility of being the witch's main interlocutor but the commercial skills, life experience and bargaining ability of the nondescript man were not up to par, at least compared to the other two man.
So he had inadvertently proposed a deal of greater scope than what was originally intended to be offered.
In fact, it was such a big deal that it almost looked like a commercial alliance. And that they had not even seen the rest of the products in the store.
Even when he was distracted by the kitten, the butler's mercantile instinct had made him react in time and put cold cloths on the hot situation to prevent possible damages to the company.
"Yes, there will be time to talk later. Owner Zanthia, please show us only your golems for now."
"As you wish, gentlemen! Come on this side, please!" accepted the young witch and proceeded to guide them to the part of the store where all the automata were displayed.
Everyone went after her. Although Zanthia looked perfectly calm on the outside, in truth she was actually feeling quite nervous inside. For some reason, the witch still had the strong sensation of forgetting something. What would be what she had forgotten?