Chp.35: The extortionist

Everything went exactly as the dragons had predicted.

Just a couple of hours after the party 'One day' visited the shop and bought some potions, more adventurers started arriving. As soon as the news had spread through the guild, everyone clearly had wanted to try and take a look. By the time Sisna closed her shop late in the evening, she had already had many buyers.

The next day, the number of adventurers visiting the shop grew exponentially. The day before, in fact, Rhaegal and the others had gone on a mission and then returned praising the quality of the potions they had purchased. Obviously the other adventurers were attentive to anything the party 'One day' said, and immediately ran to see for themselves.

Within three days, the number of buyers had increased so much that during the opening hours it was almost impossible for Sisna and the others to take a break, and they had therefore postponed the trading hours to an hour after the closing. The domino effect that Sisna had foreseen was coming true: the publicity provided by the party 'One day' had been enough to attract the first large number of customers, and then the adventurers in turn had spread his shop's name further. After all, besides 'Dragon's essence', Sisna sold many other potions of excellent quality; some of them he had bought from other suppliers and then improved using a little diluted dragon blood, while others were further creations of Maldor. In any case, the quality of the potions sold by 'The dragon's shop' was higher than that of any other shop. Also, the prices were very good and fair. As this news spread, more and more people wanted to buy its products.

After a week, Sisna had to admit that her brother had been right. The amount of 'Dragon's essence' that she and her sisters were able to sell every day was not just a hundred: it was at least three times as much. Sisna was so surprised by the situation that she asked Maldor to create more potions for safety, which in the future his sister would deliver when she arrived at the capital. Considering that each 'Dragon's essence' cost one gold piece, with that product alone she was able to earn over 300 gold coins per day. But Sisna also sold many other potions, and while they were lower priced and no category of them earned more than 50 gold coins a day, added together they totaled over 500 gold coins a day. As a result, when added to the 'Dragon's essence', Sisna's shop was earning at least 800 gold coins a day, and would probably hit 1,000 very soon.

The dragons were obviously happy about that: the more money they made, the quicker they would attract attention. After two weeks of work, important figures had already begun to appear in the shop: 'The dragon's shop' had already undergone an inspection by the local city guard, who had become suspicious of that sudden success, but after making sure that everything it was in order they hadn't made any further fuss, and indeed the soldiers too had started coming to the shop. The day after that event, the guildmaster of the local adventuring guild came to the shop in person and wanted to buy a huge amount of 'Dragon's essence' in order to sell it to other guilds, obviously sharing the profits with the shop. Sisna had to haggle a bit, as otherwise she would have run out of products immediately, but she was eventually able to supply him with an acceptable amount of potions and earn a lot of money.

Obviously, not everyone appreciated the success that the shop was having: many other potions merchants tried to boycott Sisna's business by accusing her of selling fake potions and forcing her to reveal her method of realization. However, Sisna had thoroughly studied the laws of the Jurao Kingdom before coming to the capital and she knew that no one, not even a noble, could ask that much of her: the manufacturing techniques of the products for sale were protected by law, and no merchant could be compelled to disclose them unless he or she had committed a clear crime. The merchants were furious and turned to the merchants' guild, but of course their request was rejected: after proving that the potion really had the effects Sisna claimed and that it wasn't dangerous for the health of the people, the guild could do nothing, also because technically Sisna wasn't a merchant under their jurisdiction. As a last attempt the merchants tried to turn to some nobles with few scruples, promising to share with them the secret of the 'Dragon's essence' after obtaining it, but Sisna had by now obtained the support of both the city guard and the guild of adventurers, the which immediately rushed to his aid and threatened to take the matter to court; knowing that with such support Sisna would surely have won the case, the nobles had given up and with them the merchants too, having understood that they couldn't get the better of the new arrival. So, very cunningly, those same merchants had offered to start a partnership with 'The dragon's shop'; even if Sisna would have gotten richer than them, at least at least they would get rich too. Merchants were like this: who won in the world of commerce wasn't the one who stuck to old grudges, but the one who changed according to the circumstances. Sisna had no enmity with the merchants and didn't care for them, so she had decided to accept; in this way, after all, she would have attracted even more attention.

And so, by now, 'The dragon's shop' was earning over 1,500 gold coins a day, was visited and supported by both the adventurers guild and the city guard, and had many connections to all the other potion merchants in the capital. It had practically become a financial giant. It was only a matter of time before some shady characters showed up, just as the dragons desired.

It happened one evening, a month after the store had opened. Kialandì was greeting the last customers and was about to close, when a strange individual slipped through the door and entered. "Excuse me, sir, but it's closing time. I have to ask you to leave and come back tomorrow"

But the man didn't move. In the face of that display of arrogance, Kialandì's eyes narrowed. Seen from the outside she might have looked worried, but in reality she was just excited at the thought that the one they were waiting for had finally arrived. She took a good look at the man. At first sight he seemed like an ordinary person: he had normal clothes, neither too rich nor too poor, he had no distinctive signs, and he didn't even have a very developed physique or one that could identify him as a warrior. His face was very simple, with very small and lively eyes, black hair and a beard, just as black, just mentioned on the cheeks and a little longer on the chin. Simply put, the man was indistinguishable from any normal shop customer. "I'd like to speak to the owner" he said with a smile. His voice, too, had nothing strange: it was just that of an ordinary human.

"Kialandì, why did you let this man in?" Jatara asked, who was rearranging the shelves. "Sir, the shop is closed. You have to go out"

"He wants to talk to our sister" Kialandì explained.

Upon hearing this, Jatara narrowed her eyes as well. She, too, immediately understood what was happening. However, she knew that to keep up appearances she had to act normal. "In that case, come back tomorrow. Our sister is busy now"

"Oh, I'm sure she can find some time for me" the man said, opening his suit slightly and revealing a long knife hidden inside it.

Normally Kialandì and Jatara would have laughed at that threat, but at the moment they were pretending to be two helpless girls, so they looked scared. "O... Ok, let's calm down" Kialandì murmured. "Come on, sister. Let's go to call Sisna". And after saying that the two quickly disappeared into the other room, just like two scared girls running away. The man obviously didn't notice that it was all an act and waited patiently.

Sisna arrived shortly after. She kept a blank face, but the man seemed amused by it, as if he assumed she was just trying to look confident. That was almost certainly what would have happened… if Sisna had been a normal human woman unable to defend herself. The man didn't know that what he was facing was a monster disguised as a delicate flower. "Who are you?"

"My name doesn't really matter. In my circle they call me 'the businessman', because I manage to convince everyone to do business with me" the man answered with a mock bow. "But please, just call me John"

It was clearly a fake name, but Sisna didn't care. "My sisters told me you threatened them with a knife. Get out of my shop immediately or I'll call the guards"

"Threaten them? Oh, no, it's all a misunderstanding. It wasn't my intention to threaten anyone" John answered without losing his smile. "I only opened my dress because it was hot. I have a knife to defend myself, since at night there are bad thugs in these streets. Your sisters must have misunderstood, I will personally apologize to them. I just wanted to talk to you"

Sisna raised an eyebrow. It was all a clear technique intended to scare her. Every movement and word of that man, even the tone of his voice, was designed to make her awe. She knew this because she had seen Haku do the same many times when he was 'interrogating' prisoners or 'dealing' with Sarpa. "Fine, I'll give you five minutes. Tell me what you want and then leave" she said, pretending to have given in to the pressure.

John smiled even more, satisfied with the situation. "Thank you. I'm happy to be able to talk to you, you know… you've made quite a name for yourself in this town, Miss Drachia. The potions you sell are extraordinary, and you've also shown that you have some business skills. I bet with what you've already earned, you could buy two more shops like this, right?". The man took Sisna's silence as an assent. "Clearly you are an excellent merchant and you always know what is the best choice. That is why I am sure you won't hesitate to accept the offer I am about to make you"

Sisna knew what the man wanted to do, but she still pretended not to understand. "What... offer?" she asked in a voice made deliberately trembling, as if she were tense.

"You see, with your abilities you will certainly grow your business a lot, Miss Drachia. I would be surprised if in a year at most there will be your shops in many parts of the capital and even in other cities. But sadly, earning a lot always has a dark side. You may attract… unwanted attention". John's voice thinned, like the hiss of a snake. "This city is much more dangerous than it seems. There are many nasty people here. And you are still a single woman, and you have many sisters to take care of... there will be many people who will want to take advantage of it. Of course, the guards will protect you if you were in need; but what if they didn't arrive in time? What if someone broke into your house and prevented you from asking for help? What if they ambushed you in a dark and deserted alley? Or worse, what if they attacked one of your poor sisters? You have many contacts with the guards and the adventurers' guild, but don't think that will be enough to protect you. But I can do it... for the right price, of course"

'Fool. Attracting unwanted attention was just what I wanted!' Sisna laughed in her mind. "Are you saying that if I don't pay me something bad will happen to me or my sisters?"

"Of course not. I said something bad could happen to you. After all, I don't work with criminals, I can't know what they think" John said rhetorically. "But clearly, the richer a person is, the more the chances of being attacked increase. If you will accept my protection, I can assure you that no one will ever dare to harm you or your family. And the price won't be very high: I'll settle for 20% of your earnings. Simply every month I will come here to collect, you will give me the money and you can be calm for the next thirty days. So, what do you think?"

'Very smart indeed. By taking only 20%, he ensures that my shop is not in danger of closing, and can continue to provide him with money. This demonstrates that organized crime is really made up of people who know what they're doing' Sisna thought. "Then it's decided..."

"I was sure of it" John said with a smile.

"...that it will never happen" Sisna concluded, wiping the smile off his face. "I wouldn't have gone this far if I listened to the first one who tries to extort me money. Get out of my shop now"

John looked annoyed, but he didn't flinch. "As you wish. Anyway, I'll be back in a few days, in case you've changed your mind" he said as he left the shop with the same ease with which he had entered.

As soon as the man was gone, a malevolent smile spread over Sisna's face. Her sisters reappeared from the other room and judging by their expressions they had heard everything. "He took the bait as we wanted" Sisna said. "Very soon we will have what we need"

Before starting that plan, the dragons had studied well what to do. A simpleton might have thought that once they contacted the organized crime it was enough to pay those people handsomely to get the false documents they needed. But that wasn't actually the case. In human society, money could buy everything, but it gave no guarantee. Sisna had no doubt that if she accepted John's offer and then offered him tens of thousands more gold coins in exchange for those documents, he would accept. However, this would have left many possibilities open.

What if those who fabricated the documents didn't work well enough? Or what if the organized crime thought they could make more money by bringing them to justice? Or what if they decided to take their money and provide them with documents, but then went to the authorities to pocket the reward for providing information about the criminals? There were too many possible scenarios. Since impersonating a qualified mage wasn't a small crime, dragons could afford any 'what if'. They needed absolute certainty that they were getting exactly what they wanted.

And dragons knew only one way to get what they wanted with absolute certainty: fear. It was a powerful weapon that could harness everyone, even more than money. They had always used it, and it had always worked: with Sarpa, with their fairy captives, with the adventurers, with everyone. If the organized crime had feared them, then they would have given them exactly what they needed, and they would have done an excellent job, because the prospect of their revenge would have been enough to erase any rebellious thoughts.

That's why Sisna had rejected John's offer. While she might have terrified him, he was just a useless pawn. She needed to terrorize organized crime bosses, and so she needed to know where their base was first. But she doubted that John knew where it was, so she needed someone better… and to do that, she had to show that she didn't bow to common criminals, so they'd send a big shot after her. Everything was part of a precise plan, and unknowingly, John was part of it.

"Sister, when we have what we need, can we eat his face?" Jatara asked.

"Yeah, I want to taste it too. Who knows what human flesh tastes like when tasted with these avatars" Kialandì said.

"You can eat him and everyone you will want" Sisna replied. "But for now, let's focus on the plan"