552. Business I

552. Business I

Nobby and Brittany returned a couple of hours later, with fresh weapons at their side. Nobby revealed his new axe and shield, each simple in design, but more than likely well made. Brittany revealed a pair of shortswords, which were also simple in design, but seemed to be well made.

“Not a bow?” Adam asked.

“I already have a deadwood bow,” Brittany said. “Magical arrows are easier to lose.”

“A fair point,” Adam replied, smiling at the pair. ‘I should make them each +1 weapons. Brittany already has a +1 shortsword, but it’s not exactly hers.’

Brittany still wasn’t sure if she was actually an Expert, though Kitool had confirmed she was close. An Expert. Someone who could easily dispatch the average person, even when facing multiple people at once. She could feel a slightly tingling sensation in her gut, but it quickly disappeared when she remembered the old man they had met in the previous year. Adam, who could easily dispatch Experts, had fallen instantly to him.

“Jurot?” Adam called.

“Yes?”

“Do you think our adorable cousins are already crawling?” Adam asked, sighing. “It’s about that time, isn’t it?”

“Children grow strong in the Iyr,” the Iyrman replied. “I am sure they are crawling well.”

“No,” Adam whispered, frowning. “How can they do this to me?”

As the hours passed, Adam called for the farmers into a private room of the guild, one of the many facilities the guild provided to the adventurers. The room was fairly plain, and Adam ordered food for the group to eat as they discussed.

“Thank you for meeting with me,” Adam said, reaching out to shake their forearms, before motioning for them to eat and drink at their leisure.

“Of course,” Rick replied, settling himself opposite Adam, beside his companions. He waited for Adam to broach the topic as he helped himself to some fried doughy snacks.

“We haven’t known each other that long,” Adam began. “Roughly a year.”

“That’s right,” Rick replied.

“I’ve known Nobby only a little longer,” Adam admitted. “I met him about two years ago now, near the beginning. He was a porter, like his uncles, but Jurot was smitten with his physique. Not in a weird way, of course, just in the way that he wished to make the boy a cold blooded killer.”

Rick slowly nodded his head as he listened to Adam’s words. The pair lived in different worlds, so it was still weird for Jurot to want to make someone into a cold blooded killer, in his humble opinion.

“Two years and he became an Expert. Technically this is the third year, but roughly two years, right?” Adam smiled.

“So the business will provide education?” Rick asked. “I know my letters and numbers, I had to, but the business will provide education for others too?”

“All members of the business will learn their letters and numbers,” Adam assured. “These benefits will also extend to your spouses, and your children.”

Rick narrowed his eyes further, noticing the smile on Adam’s face. It was innocent, but there was a slight hint of a smirk.

“Words. Numbers. Religion, if it’s appropriate,” Adam offered.

“How much will these benefits cost?”

Adam tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“How much will housing, food, and education cost us, and how much are we going to be paid?” Rick was sure Adam had said it was all free, but he probably meant that some of these things would be free.

“Let’s take a step back for a moment,” Adam said, slightly confused. “The business probably won’t pay a lot of coin monthly, however, these benefits are all benefits you’ll receive on top of your pay. They won’t cost anything.”

Rick leaned back, trying to process what Adam was saying. “Healthcare, housing, food, and education, are all free?” He couldn’t have misheard twice, could he?

“Like I said, you won’t be earning much coin on top of these benefits, but all basic needs will be dealt with by the business. Eventually, the business will expand to an inn, so we’ll need farmers and such, fresh food that we can use to make the most delicious meals.” As Adam spoke, he wasn’t sure how feasible an inn would be. Though he was excited for it, enchanting provided so much more coin for the time involved, and a single business was much easier to deal with than managing so many different inns.

“If we were Experts, how much would you pay?” Rick asked. “I assume you wouldn’t want us as farmers?”

“Well, you might have to work as farmers, but as a guard...” Adam tried to think about how much he wanted to pay them. Technically, they were already decently strong before they joined the party, around Level 3 or so. However, Level 5 was quite different. He recalled the price being roughly one hundred gold a month or so.

“We’re figuring that out still,” Adam admitted. “You wouldn’t join our business for the pay, you’d join because it’s stable living, with all your basic, and less basic, needs dealt with. You’d make enough money that you could spend it on some fun weekly, at least, and it would depend on the rank, how long you’ve worked there, so on. Of course, if you work as a guard, expect some magical weapons coming your way in the future.”

Rick leaned in, narrowing his eyes, his eyes stern. “Magical weapons?”

“Yeah?” Adam replied, as though it were obvious.

Rick blinked, trying to understand what he was hearing. Most of their needs would be dealt with, save for clothing and taxes, and they would have free healthcare, housing, food, and education. Education alone was worth accepting the deal, even if they received almost nothing as payment. Yet, there was also a magical weapon on offer?

‘He’s crazy.’

Thus begins Adam's empire building.