Expensive Hire

"Can't she make an exception?"

"She doesn't for anyone."

"Why not?" This was the queen they were talking about. If she sided then Otane would become a mess. It made no sense why she wouldn't make an exception for something like this. In fact, shouldn't she be doing this for free if this is the queen they're talking about?

"Why don't you go ask her yourself? I have no idea how she thinks! In fact, let's go there right now. You can see for yourself just how much of a pain in the a*s she is!" Sirks frustratedly told Kies. "Her place is not too far from here. We can walk there in a couple of minutes."

And so they did. The group navigated the busy streets with Sirks in the lead. After walking for around ten minutes, they stopped in front of a small brick building. Unlike the rest of the buildings around it, this tiny brick house was worn and had cracks and chunks missing all over it. The door was made out of wood and had so many splinters that it looked like it might fall apart with just one touch.

"Are we in the right place?"

"Yes."

"Really?" This wasn't what Kies was expecting. Since she charged her customers so much, he expected her to be rich and to be living in a big house or even mansion. But then again, since she was charging monstrous amounts for her services, it made sense for people to not come here.

"Well, do you want to do the honors or shall I?" Sirks gestured at the door.

"I'll do it." Kies places his hand on the door and pushes it open. The door creaks as it opens and a strong scent of herbs blows into his face. It was neither an unpleasant or pleasant smell, but it was on the strong side. Behind him, the three were coughing and fanning their noses with their hands to direct the smell away from their nostrils.

"Welcome!" a deep female voice said from inside the building. It was so dark that Kies had to take a couple of seconds to adjust his eyesight so that he could see inside. But even then, he couldn't see even a meter inside the building. Kies stepped through the floor and heard a crunch when he put his foot down.

Kies looked down and saw that the wooden floor had a bunch of holes in it and was falling apart as well. It seemed that the interior of the building was just as depressing as the exterior.

"Ah, don't worry about that. It may sound like it's going to break but it won't. I should know, I walked these planks for years now," the voice assured him that it was safe.

"..."

Kies took her advice and walked into the dark and gloomy room. Iris was the second one to go in followed by Wompa and then Sirks.

Kies walked across the creaky floor until he made it to what looked like a counter and someone sitting behind it. It was too dark to see her face but there was a person there.

"So, what are you looking for?"

"We're-" Before Kies had the chance to tell her their purpose of visiting her, Sirks butted in and shoved Kies away. He slammed his hand on the counter.

"Hey, old fox."

"Huh? Wait..." The figure leaned in closer to get a better look at Sirks before angrily exclaiming, "It's you! Are you here to give me a hard time again!? You're not welcome here, leave!"

"Hey now, is that how you treat your customers?"

"You're no customer! You're a nuisance! Now leave before I call the guards!"

"Ugh..." Sirks grabbed his forehead like he had a headache already from talking to the woman for less than a minute. It looked like the two of them had some history together, and not the good kind might Kies add.

"Look here wrench, the queen's been poisoned. I need you to help her."

"I don't care who's poisoned. If they're associated with you then they can rot and wither away for all I care!"

"..."

"Hey, he's telling the truth. The queen really is poisoned. So if you can-" The woman didn't let Iris finish her sentence and stopped her.

"Like I said, I don't care who's poisoned. I'm not helping this mongrel!"

"..."

Kies looked at Sirks. Just what did he do to piss off her so much that she refused to even listen to what they have to say? He sighed and pushed Sirks and Iris away so that he could face the lady.

"What are you doing? Did you not hear-"

"Ten percent."

"What?"

"We will pay you ten percent over your price if you accept this job."

"What!?" Everyone shouted at the same time.

"Are you crazy!? We can't even-" Kies gave Sirks a stern look, telling him to be quiet and that he got this.

"And what makes you think that I will accept this still?" the woman asked.

Kies smiled. She took the bait. Her tone changed from an angry one to a more monotone one. Although Kies couldn't see her face, he knew that she was interested in what he was saying. She needed money desperately. These were the easiest kind of people to handle.

"I doubt you get many customers with the price you're giving. This place ain't exactly the nicest looking. Not to mention you don't have candles for lighting either."

"If you're going to make fun of me-"

"I'm not. You're in a tough spot. That, anyone, can see. We're in a tough spot too. I think you can tell since I'm offering you more than you'd normally ask for when you accept a job. In a situation like this, shouldn't we help each other out?"

The woman was silent for a minute. Everyone behind Kies was looking at him like he was crazy. Normally, ten percent more for something isn't that much, but the price was already bloated to begin with, and increasing it by even five percent is a huge amount. But Kies didn't care what they were thinking. He was waiting for the woman's decision.

"Fifteen," she finally says after a long pause.

"Sorry?"

"Fifteen percent. I'll accept the job if you agree to pay me fifteen percent more. The extra five percent is from me having to deal with that scoundrel," the woman points at Sirks.

"What!? How-"

"Deal."

"What!?"

Kies shuts Sirks up before he can complain or say anything else that might raise the price or even anger her out of accepting this job.

"Then we have a deal. I think you know my policies. Pay up now and I'll start working on it."

"Is there a reason why we can't pay later?" Kies asked her. It would save them a lot of trouble if they could.

"I won't accept unless I have the full down payment right here and right now. As for why? I have worked with many people who run away or fall into debt and commit suicide because they couldn't pay up."

"Then maybe you should consider- Ow!" Kies kicked Sirks in the knee to get him to shut up again. He really didn't understand why he was trying to make this harder than it already is.

"I see... In that case, is it fine if we come back with the money sometime later?" Kies asked. They had no money on them right now and could pay her to start working.

"That's okay. As long as you pay that extra fifteen percent," the woman replied.

"Alright then. See you then."

Kies pushed everyone out of the tiny building and closed the door behind them after they made it out. He turned around and saw the three of them glaring at him. He had some explaining to do.

"So, could you tell us what the heck you were thinking?" Sirks demanded. "Fifteen percent!? I think you know d*mn well that we don't have anything on us."

"Well, we just have work for it, don't we?" It shouldn't be that hard to gather that much money if all four of them worked. At most, it would take two weeks and they had that time.

"Are you serious? That's your plan? Do you know how hard it is to make money?"

"No." Kies didn't know how hard it is to make money. "How hard is it?"

"For starters, the only jobs that are available to us are hunting and escort jobs. I don't see that any of us here are merchants, or doctors, or anything in fact. We just know how to use swords."

"And do they not pay well?"

"No! We have to do well over a hundred of them to get that much money, and that's if we don't eat or drink and sleep in the streets the entire time."

Yikes... That did sound pretty rough. Kies was starting to see why the three of them were so angry with him. "Hmm... Is there any way we can rob the treasury?"

"Don't even think about it. We'd have the entire army on us in the blink of an eye."

"Well then... Is there anything else we can do?"

Sirks shook his head. The only thing they can do is slowly work until they have that much money. Unless they somehow stumbled upon a tomb with a bunch of ancient treasures, they had no way to get that much money fast.

"I didn't tell you this before, but we don't have that much time," Sirks suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"The queen has around a month until she dies."

"What? I thought you said that the poison isn't lethal."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that her body can hold out forever. She's in a deep slumber. She can't eat or drink. She can only last so long like that before her body gives out."

"Oh." Well, cr*p. Kies didn't think of that. A month to make that much money through requests? It wasn't possible. Even if he worked nonstop day and night without rest, he wouldn't get anywhere near the amount they need.

"Actually..." Iris' eyes lit up and everyone turned to face her, scared of what bright idea would come out of her mouth. "It might be possible for us to make that much in a month."

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