Leaving the Golden Pavillon, poor Alex was utterly confused and dejected. Things had moved at a pace, and arrived in a direction that had utterly bewildered him. Sure, his end goal for the pavilion was to garner a working relationship so that he could sell various items they might produce in the future — but that was a long term plan!
"How the hell did that girl know I was a man? Why the hell did I show her the extract, first thing? How did I end up making a bet that might end up with me in indentured servitude for a month if I fail?!" The more he tried to sort things out in his head, the worse his confusion became. Nothing made any sense!
"The plan, was just to sell the weapons left behind at the school," Alex reminded himself, trying to get his mind back on track. "Just introduce myself at the Golden Pavilion to put myself on their radar, then take advantage of flooding the market to raise their awareness a bit more. After that, I was going to try and do a few quality purchases next month to show I was reliable to them, and only after all that was I going to try and find someone in a position of authority to try to but and sell alchemy products with."
"And yet, somehow I skipped all that and jumped all the way to the end point right of the bat with that girl!" Staggering into one of the small alleyways between fancy shops, Alex slowly leaned against a wall and slid down it until he was completely sitting on the ground. "And, worst of all," he mumbled suspiciously, "I didn't even get her name before I left. We made a bet. We shook on it. But we never actually signed a contract, and, in fact, I don't think I ever gave her my name either…"
"What the hell's going on?" Leaning to look back out of the alley, Alex glared suspiciously back at the Golden Pavilion. "Businesses don't operate like that!" For the longest of times, Alex simply sat and stared back at the entrance of the building, tempted to go back in and confront the young lady one more time.
"Best not," he finally decided, sighing deeply. "Who knows what the hell I might agree to next time I see her again." Wrapping his arms around himself, Alex couldn't help but shiver slightly in the shadows where he was resting between the buildings. "I'm not going back in there ever again without a guard or someone present," Alex swore to himself fervently, before finally getting up and dusting the dirt off the back of his britches.
"Nothing to do for now," Alex sighed heavily, as he started walking slowly back down the street towards his next assigned shops — Damian's Exquisite Artifacts and The Old Lady's Footlocker. Standing opposite across the street from each other, both shops had a reputation for attracting only the wealthiest of clientele.
As long as Alex did his job well there, then perhaps his day wouldn't end up being totally wasted!
*************************************************
"Phew! I'm beat." Kicking first one of his high heeled boots off back in his room, and then the other, Alex sprawled out exhausted. "I must've hit a dozen different shops this afternoon," he griped lightly, "and most of those dirty old men thought my breasts were the ones negotiating prices with them, and not me!"
"Well, didn't you tell us to dress like this just for that reason," Roselyn reminded him, sprawling out atop one of his roommates beds. "Besides, I probably visited hundreds of places today! I sold almost three whole bags worth of weapons," she bragged happily. Even if her day was utterly exhausting, she'd earned over a thousand gold at the end of!
"Kahaha! Haha! Young 'ens!" Cackling merrily, like usual, Granny Stone shook her head dismissively. "Me and the big boy here," she pointed the tip of her cane out towards Thorn, "only went to a single place today."
"Only one?" Sitting up on his bed, Alex couldn't help but look both worried and disappointed. "What happened? Trouble with the school? Or the guards? Or something else?"
"Nuh uh. Nuffin like dat," Thorn assured him, leaning up against the wall.
"Aye. Wasn't a bit of trouble," Granny Stone verified. "We were just too busy making deliveries to be bothered going back and forth to all the small shops down in the slums."
"Deliveries?" Sitting up herself, it was obvious that even Roselyn's curiosity was beginning to overcome her exhaustion. "What type of deliveries? Did you guys take a different job while we were busting our butts out here trying to sell today?" From the expression on her face, it was obvious she didn't approve of the situation one bit.
"Kekekekekeke!" Waving her cane dismissively, Granny Stone cackled wildly. "Silly girl. We were busy delivering crates from that fancy-pancy storeroom of yours all day!"
"Eleventy-two boxes," Thorn agreed enthusiastically, opening and closing both his hands repeatedly to show the number.
"Wait! What?!! How many boxes did you guys carry out of the school today?" A sinking feeling was beginning to appear deep in the depths of Alex's stomach. "And where exactly did you take them? And for how much?"
"Eleventy-two boxes," Thorn repeated enthusiastically, opening and closing both his hands once again to show the number.
"I don't think anyone bothered to count the exact number, kehehehehe! At least several dozen crates," Granny Stone shrugged lightly.
"To WHERE??" It was Roselyn's turn to ask and look worried this time.
"Down to Blackie's old place, of course," Granny Stone said matter-of-factly. "Best place to pawn off any sort of stuff which you don't need anymore."
"Granny! That's the Thieve's Guild! You just sold the school's stuff to the blackmarket!" Flopping back onto the bed, Alex felt almost as if he was going to faint! As a student, he might have every right to take a few things out of the Lost and Lost area, but to remove dozens of crates all at once?? No way in hell that would be acceptable!
There was a reason why they were picking and gathering stuff out of the various crates the other day — one thing here, another thing there, and nobody would notice what they'd done! Even if someone did notice, they wouldn't be able to actually prove what was removed exactly. They'd been careful to keep their tracks clean, and now Granny had literally sold them out!
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Forcing his tired self to get up, Alex paced back and forth repeatedly in his room. "Granny, you better head home for now," he finally told her, as he started pushing her towards the exit. "Thorn. Rose. Both of you follow me. We've got to move crates from the deeper parts of the storeroom to the outside, so it won't be so obvious what happened."
"Uggghhhh… More lugging heavy stuff around," Roselyn griped softly, forcing herself up to follow. Part of her was now starting to think that it was her destiny to follow the path of the brute like her parents, no matter what her desires might be.
"Me did gud," Thorn bragged on himself, flexing his huge muscles as he lumbered along bring up the rear.