Chương 78: 13 – Good Faith

"This is stupid," Mom said.

'You achieved the terms of the bargain. I don't understand why you're mad at me.'""Mom, it's obvious that he expected all products pertaining to the pepper paste as part of a bargain," I said.

"Pepper Spray was included in that." Inwardly, I was beyond impressed. Outwardly, I sometimes thought Mom let the idea of a good bargain override her common sense.

"The word spray was not used once in the entire negotiation, and tell me that the Pepper Spray doesn't fulfill every term he just asked for? A handheld weapon that can disable a fully grown troll. A weapon that anyone can carry, no matter their skills or rank?" Berkenem sighed.

"You're right." Mom blinked.

"Technically, you could hold me to the exact terms of the bargain. And technically, I could come back with a battalion and take everything in this town, including the girl." I stiffened, staring back at the man, horrified by the threat. Mom wasn't fazed. Instead, she chuckled.

"Are you truly that sort of man?" she asked, sounding almost fond. An aunt doting on a favored nephew.

"Could you really do that to a woman you considered marrying once?" Berkenem flushed, recalling when he'd asked if Mom was married the last time he'd been here. My own cheeks reddened with second-hand embarrassment.

"You're placing a lot of trust in my good character," He growled.

"And is that trust misplaced?" Berkenem sighed before wearily looking between Mom and me.

"No. Not for the moment anyway. If this war turns any further in Eshal's favor, my good character might no longer matter. The truth is, we need these weapons, and we won't leave without them. If everything goes wrong here, I will be forced to take the paste and the spray and hope for the best in future interactions."

"It's not going to come to that. Why would it?" Mom asked, with a scoff.

"We have an iron-clad agreement, signed and sealed. All in good order. The greatest scribes in Denarla wouldn't be able to find a flaw in the contract. Mera herself has used the pepper spray to kill three goblins on her own as a complete non-combatant! The pouches clearly fulfill the terms of the bargain. Release my daughter from service, take the paste and the spray barrels, and let us be done with this!"

"No, Mom," I said. Mom turned back to me, surprised. Once again, it seemed she'd forgotten I was old enough to be a part of this conversation. She was right. Her argument would likely win, but she was also needlessly making an enemy.

"Captain Berkenem, I have not been impressed with the military in the past few months. You are the one exception. Where Maulander came and demanded, you have offered payment. Where he drafted our people without a second thought, you have given leniency, even though I am already part of the military, however unwillingly." I paused watching for his reaction. He didn't show any, but I felt I could detect a hint of pride in his eyes. A little flattery never hurt anyone.

"I want to believe in the quality of our armies like I used to. It sounds like you just saved the life of my… my suitor's father. From your perspective, it likely seems like we are the ones acting in bad faith. I don't want that."

"Mera, you really should let me–!"

"Probably," I interrupted.

"You are trying to get everything you can out of this, Mom, but it's souring everything. What do you think is going to happen in three months?"

"Nothing! You fulfilled the terms of the bargain!"" Barely. And I intend to keep making weapons. Who is going to buy those weapons if the general has this conversation to look back on as the beginning of our relationship? The expectation of a new weapon, left unfulfilled by a technicality, and a weapon that is functionally the same? Pepper spray is pepper paste! The only difference is convenience!"

"The way you're acting, you'd give away everything you make free and clear! There has to be a middle ground, Mera!"

"There is!" I said, before turning back to Berkenem.

"I intend to fulfill the deal in the spirit of the bargain we agreed on."

"So… you do have other ideas?" the captain asked, hopefully.

"This wasn't just a trick?"

"I have many ideas. Mom was planning this… reveal, but I didn't have any knowledge of it," I said. I thought Mom would be okay with being the bad guy in this. She was the greedy merchant, I, the idealistic child. It was both true and calculated on my part.

"The spray does fulfill the contract as you agreed to it, but–!"

"That's not necessarily true. It's up to the general to decide whether the weapon meets the standards of the contract."

"–but!" I continued as if he hadn't interrupted.

"You're going to feel bitter about it, and your General obviously won't be happy. To make up for that, we include the pepper spray at no additional cost to you. When I complete another new product, you purchase it, just as you did with the paste and the spray, instead of getting it for free. Otherwise the deal remains as is. I remain Elmerina Soldier unless I create something useful."

"Mera, this is unwise!" Mom said.

"You are conceding to no benefit!"

"There is every benefit! We are going to need that coin, Mom, and as much as this is, it's not going to be enough to make sure we're fortified and fed for the winter! I won't let us be saved by a lucky upgraded talent in the middle of battle again!" I'd seen the coin now, and I wanted to secure a steady source of more. With that coin, I could truly begin making things. I could figure out my damn concrete. I could get glass, though that likely wouldn't be of any value to Neogon right now.

I'd have Travis and Mularet make more arrows than we had blades of grass, and I could get the town started building real walls. I wasn't attached to the pepper spray. We knew the formula for it and we could make more if we needed it. We even had a patent that might begin securing its own income in the future. With this coin, my goals with it had already been achieved. Mom wanted to hold on to what she saw as a liferaft, while I was hoping to plant foundation stones on the riverbed.

Money and goodwill were worth more than the spray itself. Mom was pinning too much on Berkenem's good character. I wasn't so trusting. I'd rather deal in good faith and have him return with another pouch or two, excited for what I was going to make next.

"That… will mollify my commanders somewhat, but it still leaves me without you. You and the paste were the entire reason I returned."

"Imagine how disappointed you'd have been if I hadn't been injured and were still heading south with Maulander!" I replied. He grimaced.

"At least I'd have gotten the paste and the spray."

"Please, Mom has already proven she'd have robbed you half blind for it. Good faith or not, the deal you struck is fulfilled. The stakes now are your reputation and whether you can secure a supply of new weapons for the foreseeable future. I'm not a combatant, sir. I'm a crafter. You have me in every way that matters, and if this is how you pay me?" I held up the coin pouch and shook it for good measure.

"You have my loyalty, too." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Mom had been surprisingly placid this whole time, glancing between the Captain and me, her expression constantly shifting between frustrated and satisfied. I met her curious eyes before abruptly turning away. She was probably thinking about April. Cataloguing every conversation we'd ever had, searching for foreign influence. Every story I'd ever told had to make her wonder where it had come from.

How insane was her daughter? We still hadn't talked. I'd prefer we never did. Eventually, Berkenem sighed.

"Well, a deal is a deal. You even told me you were tricking me. Somehow, I'd hoped it was just that you were being overpaid, which you certainly are. Thank you, Mera, for having the foresight to see when we need to work together instead of creating divides." Mom preened under the mild glare he gave her. I watched in real time as his need bubble requirements decreased. Good. The better I knew him, the less I'd have to pay Seb for his metal in order to craft it.

Every penny was going to count as the inklings of a plan began to form. I knew how I wanted to use this money. Mom might have different ideas, but, I already had something she could do as well. I thought she probably would. She'd see the need as much as I had.

"I suppose that means we're done here. I will leave on the morrow with every barrel our wagons can carry," he said. I stood too, and Mom did as well.

"I wish you luck, and I'll see you tomorrow as well. During the night, could you do me a favor and gather as much loose rock and ether dust as you can find? There is still plenty of the stuff past the eastern watchpost." He nodded.

"Until tomorrow then. I'd say it's been a pleasure, but I think I'll bring a scribe with me when we next negotiate." Your Diplomacy skill has improved! He was smiling, which made me think I'd managed to smooth things over pretty well.

"You'll need more than one," Mom said. Berkenem laughed. At times like this, I could see it. Atrinaska. The fourth daughter of the duke of Estermont. The woman who'd recreated teleportation magic from old records and wanted to use the skill to make a merchant empire. She wasn't happy with this bargain. I could tell in the way she stared at me, but she didn't want to present a divided front. Berkenem left, and we waved goodbye until he was out of earshot. Mom glared at me before gesturing me back into the house.

I followed dutifully, the heavy weight of two pouches filled with gold clinking as I followed. Mom closed the door and the shutters as soon as we were inside, giving us as much privacy as we could get before turning to glare balefully at me.

"What in the hells was that, Mera!?" she shouted loud enough to be heard on the other side of town.

"You could've been well and free of them!" I shook my head.

"No. I couldn't. There is nothing stopping them from drafting me all over again. He might not have a malicious bone in his body, but he's only a captain. Neogon–!"

"Neogon wouldn't do anything I didn't ask him to," she said.

"It didn't matter how bad the deal was! The moment Neogon hears you're my daughter, he'll bend over backwards to get you out of military service." I blinked.

"You… really do know the general?" I asked.

"He was my brother's bodyguard before Estermont fell. He often protected me as well," she said hesitantly.

"Do you know that half the reason the rift front armies were established at all was the survivors of Estermont banding together to try and find a way back in? Maulander and Neogon were both citizens of Estermont, though Maulander was only a Lieutenant back then."

"Well. That's… irritating," I said.

"Why did you let me keep talking!?"

"You interrupted me twice. I assumed you enjoyed digging your own hole," she said. I growled.

"It doesn't matter anyway, does it? You do have plans. I could tell. And you need the money to get them started. I was also intending to mend the burn of my deception, but I was leaning towards giving him back the second pouch. What do farmers need with a hundred gold pieces?"

"I'd have thought what we needed the money for was obvious," I said.

"We're going to feed the town for the winter. And we're going to make new weapons." Mom's eyes widened. Then narrowed.

"You… No. Surely you're not so stupid as to just give free food to everyone. You want to buy grain. And then sell it to the townsfolk? That won't work. No one here has any money," Atrinaska said. I grinned.

"Yet! No one here has any money yet!" I said.

"We don't have long, though, and I'm going to need a lot of stuff. Uhm. Is it all right if I go back out to my lab again?" Mom rolled her eyes.

"That was only ever for your own safety, but no. Not alone anyway. I might've been a bit more accommodating of your lab if I knew…" She trailed off, looking at me worriedly, unspoken doubts filling the air between us.

"What do… uhm. You don't…!" I started awkwardly, trying to find the right words.

"You still believe me? You don't think I'm crazy?"

"The more things I think of that you've done, the more sense it makes…" she said.

"Name me one of the skills you have? One of the ones… April had? One that I'd never have heard of." I opened my skill sheet. It had been a long time since I'd looked at it directly.

Name: Elmerina Farmer Age: 18 Status: Peasant Level: 17 Health: 180/180 Mana: 223/570 Attributes: Strength: 11 (Enhanced to 20) Dexterity: 13 (Enhanced to 22) Vitality: 10 Intelligence: 19 Wisdom: 16 Charisma: 20 Skills: Acting: 61 Alchemy: 39 Ambush: 4 Arithmetic: 14 Bartering: 21 Blacksmithing: 16 Bluffing: 69 Carpentry: 49 Cartography (Atrophied): 7 Chemical Resilience: 78 Cleaning: 49 Combat: 13 Cooking: 45 Crafting: 88 Deception: 51 Disguise (Atrophied): 39 Drawing: 14 Driving (Atrophied): 48 Endurance: 71 Etiquette (Atrophied): 17 Event Planning: 30 Farming: 71 Fire Magic: 5 First Aid: 26 Fletching: 3 Footwork: 13 Horsemanship: 1 Household Magic: 23 Improvisation: 38 Improvised Weapons: 7 Knifefighting: 2 Language (English): 29 Language (Tacurian): 19 Leatherworking: 28 Mana Pool: 2 Mana Regeneration: 1 Manipulation: 42 Marketing (Atrophied): 24 Masonry: 17 Multitasking: 19 Networking: 112 Observe: 67 One Handed Weapons: 3 Persuasion: 66 Photography (Atrophied): 29 Plumbing: 7 Pottery: 55 Propaganda: 30 Public Speaking: 63 Running: 84 Singing: 55 Stealth: 1 Storytelling: 73 Technology (Atrophied): 13 Videography (Atrophied): 48 Weaving: 17 Writing (Atrophied): 50"My Photography skill.

In April's world, there were devices that could capture a scene on paper like a painting. But the device did it instantly. There was a whole skill around making photographs look good."

"Incredible!" Mom said. Her voice sounded genuine.

"It was," I agreed.

"I… won't be able to make anything like that. But I can make a few things. The first one that comes to mind is bombs, but I need to be able to make glass jars for that. I'm thinking some sort of sticky liquid might be for the best, since the one thing we have plenty of is fire mages."

"Bombs?" she asked.

"Think fire magic, like yours, but a handheld item that can be thrown and explode on impact. No need for mana at all." Was there any reason ceramic pots wouldn't work for something like that? Did they have to be glass? I didn't know. … I'd have to test it! And I had a fire mage now!

"Mom? I have… a lot of ideas. But you're right. I want to buy food, and I think I need you to make a trip to Denarla for it. Fast. In the meantime, I'll use this money to get everyone in town to help me build a granary. What do you think?" A slow smirk traveled across Mom's features.

"I think we might make a merchant of you yet."